Tournaments
Brackets, Swiss rounds and round robins, from the same sign-up
Make a Tournament event and people enter by registering, alone or as a team. When entries close, Talk draws the bracket in the format you chose (single or double elimination, round robin with optional playoffs, Swiss, or judged rounds), keeps it up to date as results come in, and shows a live Bracket and Standings page anyone can follow.
What it does
Tournaments in Programmable Talk
Five formats
Single elimination with byes for the top seeds. Double elimination with a losers' bracket and an optional grand final reset. Round robin, in groups if you like, with the best of each going into playoffs. Swiss, one round at a time. Judged rounds for pitches, hackathons and bake-offs.
Swiss pairing
Everyone plays every round, against someone on the same score where possible, never the same opponent twice while another pairing exists. With an odd number, the lowest-placed player who hasn't had a bye sits out with a win. The number of rounds defaults to enough to separate one winner.
Standings that settle ties
Points for a win, draw and loss are yours to set (3, 1 and 0 to start). Ties go to head-to-head, then score difference, then (in Swiss) Buchholz: the sum of opponents' points.
Seeding and best-of
Seed at random, by a rating question on the sign-up form, or in your own order. Set best-of per round, so a final can be best of five while early rounds are best of one.
Teams, check-in and self-reporting
A captain registers the team and invites teammates by email; each accepts on their own page. Check-in can open before the start. Players can report their own results, and matching reports confirm the match.
Calls and live pages
"Your match is ready at station 4" goes to both sides by email, and by text to those who asked for texts, on your own Twilio account. The public Bracket and Standings pages refresh on their own while people watch.
How you use it
- 1
Make a Tournament event
Pick the Tournament template, then on the Tournament tab choose solo or teams, the format, seeding, best-of and points.
- 2
Take entries
People enter by registering, through any way in: a QR code at the venue, a link in your Discord, a poster. Capacity and the waitlist work as for any event.
- 3
Draw and run it
Generate the bracket, call matches, and enter results (or let players report them). Correct a result and everything after it is worked out again; if that would undo later results, you're asked first.
- 4
Share the live bracket
The Bracket and Standings pages are on the event's site, with a page per entrant showing their matches.
Good to know
- Not for rated play
- Swiss pairing here aims for fair, rematch-free rounds. It isn't a certified pairing program for rated chess.
- Sizes
- Up to 512 entrants, teams of up to 50, and up to 10 judging criteria.
- No payments
- Entry fees stay on Eventbrite or Luma; Talk takes no payments.
Works with
Twilio, on your account
Match calls by text go through your own Twilio number. Texts carry the public bracket's link, never a personal page.
Webhooks and the API
match.completed and tournament.completed go to your own systems by signed webhook.
Judges' links
For judged rounds, each judge gets a private link to score entrants on your criteria. No account needed, and you can revoke it.
Questions
What's the difference between Swiss and round robin?
In a round robin everyone plays everyone, which takes n−1 rounds. Swiss plays fewer rounds: each round pairs people on similar scores, so the strongest meet each other late without everyone playing everyone.
Can a round robin lead into a knockout?
Yes. Split the field into groups, choose how many from each go on, and the best of each group are seeded into single-elimination playoffs.
What happens if someone drops out?
Their matches without a result become forfeits, and the bracket is worked out again. They stay in the record, so the bracket holds together.
Can I fix a result entered by mistake?
Yes. Everything after it is recalculated. If the correction would change who played a later match that already has a result, you're asked to confirm, and those later results are cleared.
Is it only for esports and chess?
No. The same setup runs board games, sports leagues, trivia nights, and judged competitions like pitches and hackathons.