Tournament Report File

A Tournament Report File, abbreviated TRF, is a text file designed so different programs can exchange tournament information predictably. It is not free-form text: records begin with identifying codes, and fields occupy fixed columns, meaning exact character positions within each line. Spaces therefore carry structure and should not be stripped during editing.

A TRF can contain event details, players, pairing numbers, federations, scores, final ranks, and each round's opponent, color, and result. The specification also supports data used for ratings, pairing verification, tie-break calculations, team events, and exchange between tournament programs while an event is running.

What it does not record

TRF reports what happened across the tournament, but it normally does not store every move of each game. That role is commonly filled by PGN, Portable Game Notation, whose movetext records the played sequence and whose tag pairs identify details such as players, date, and result. An event may need both formats because they answer different questions.

The stated version matters. TRF has evolved, and some records or fields are not available in every version. Importing software must know which version it expects and preserve each field's length, order, and meaning.