Tournament Bracket Generator

How to use the Tournament Bracket Generator

1. 1Enter a list of names, one per line, best seed first, and whether to shuffle.
2. 2Pick the units or options from the menus if the tournament bracket tool offers them.
3. 3Read the tournament bracket in the large result box.
4. 4Look at the extra rows for related figures.
5. 5Press Copy result to keep the answer.

When you need the tournament bracket

School sports days, office table-tennis contests, game nights and local clubs can use it to run a knockout. Organisers use shuffle for a fair random draw when there are no rankings.

The standard seeding keeps the top seeds apart until late: seeds 1 and 2 can meet only in the final. A tournament of n players always has n − 1 matches, however many byes there are.

How the tournament bracket is worked out

The bracket size is the next power of two above the number of players. Seeds are placed so that seed 1 meets the last seed, seed 2 the second last, and so on. Seeds beyond the list are byes. With six players, Ann, Bob, Cara, Dev, Eli and Fay, the bracket has eight places. Round 1 is Ann (bye), Dev vs Eli, Bob (bye), Cara vs Fay. There are then two semi-finals and a final, five matches in all.

Every answer on this page comes from that one rule, so you can check any result by hand with a calculator. The figures shown underneath, such as other units, are conversions of the same answer.

• Fair seeding
• Byes for top seeds
• Shuffle option

Mistakes to avoid with tournament bracket

This tool lists the matches and the structure of later rounds; it does not track results. For a double-elimination or round-robin tournament, a different format is needed. Names should be unique. The maximum is 128 players.

On phone and computer

On a phone, type into the boxes one after another and read the tournament bracket underneath; Copy result puts it on the clipboard for a message or a note. On a computer the inputs sit on the left and the answer on the right, so you can change one figure and watch the tournament bracket move. The tournament bracket generator works the same on both. A bracket is easier when teams are ready. Make groups with the Random Team Generator, choose who goes first with Spin the Wheel, and keep track of points with the Online Scoreboard.

Features

• Best seed first
• n − 1 matches
• Single elimination only
• Clear messages when the tournament bracket inputs make no sense
• Copy the result with one tap
• Private: nothing is uploaded

Frequently asked questions