Double round-robin

A double round-robin repeats every pairing of a single round-robin twice. Each participant plays every other participant in two separate games, normally reversing colors so that each pair has one game from each side.

With n players, each participant plays 2 × (n - 1) games and the event contains n × (n - 1) games in total. An eight-player event therefore gives each player 14 games and produces 56 games overall, as in the 2026 Candidates Tournament organized by the International Chess Federation.

The return game reduces the influence of having only one color or one opportunity against a particular opponent, but it doubles the number of games compared with a single round-robin. It remains a collective standings event, not a separate match between every pair.