What is a Quad Format Tournament?

All players are lined up from highest rating to lowest. Unrated players are usually placed at the low end, unless there is some reason to place them higher in the list.

The top four players are placed into their own section (thus the “quad”), then the next four highest in another section, and so on down the list. The players in each quad play a round robin, that is, one game against each of the players in their section, for a total of three games each.

If there is not an even multiple of four players, the lowest section (usually) will have the few extra players and play a three round Swiss tournament rather than a round robin.

The quad format is popular in one day events, and results in players of the most similar playing strengths being paired together for all three rounds. Generally the current monthly supplement rating will be used to divide players by rating. However, the most current rating shown on the USCF MSA site may be used if it is significantly higher (usually for relatively new or scholastic players), in order to make the most uniform groupings.