A knockout bracket shows who plays whom, round by round, until one winner is left. It works for football, chess, table tennis, video games or a family quiz. Here's how to set one up fairly.
How many players?
A bracket works perfectly with 4, 8, 16, 32 or 64 players, because each round halves the field. With any other number, some players get a bye: they go straight to round two. Eleven players need a 16-player bracket with five byes, for example.
Seeded or random?
- Seeded: rank the players, strongest first. The bracket puts number 1 against the lowest seed, and so on, so the two best can only meet in the final. Top seeds get the byes.
- Random: a fair draw when nobody knows who's best. It's the easiest choice for a casual event.
- As listed: use your own order when you've already done the draw.
Make the bracket
Type the players or teams, one per line, into the tournament bracket maker, choose seeded order, a random draw or as listed, and it draws the bracket with the byes in the right places. Print it for the wall, or keep it open: click a name to send them through to the next round, and the bracket fills in up to the champion.
Tips for the day
- Agree the rules (time per match, what happens with a draw) before the first round.
- Run first-round matches at the same time if you can; a 16-player bracket has 15 matches in total.
- Splitting a big group into teams first? The team generator does it in a click.