Full-point bye

Also known as: FPB

A full-point bye is an unplayed round in which a participant receives the same score that a win would award.

Explanation

A full-point bye (FPB) awards, without a game being played, as many points as a win is worth under the tournament's scoring system. The International Chess Federation (FIDE) still recognizes FPB as a bye type in its tournament report format, so it can appear in official tournament files and results.

FIDE, however, treats the assignment of full-point byes as deprecated, meaning officially discouraged even though the concept is still recognized. Its tournament-software requirements say that software allowing such assignments must warn users about that status. Current FIDE Swiss-system rules also explicitly describe the full-point bye as FIDE-deprecated.

It should not be confused with a . A PAB occurs because the pairing system has an odd number of participants and must leave one without an opponent; a full-point bye is a full score assigned without a game for another reason. It is also different from a , which adds no points.

Common confusions

Full-point bye vs. PAB

Both can award a win's score without a game, but a PAB comes from an odd pairing field. A full-point bye is assigned for another reason, and FIDE deprecates that practice.

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