This is the first half, theory; the second half will be the technical aspects (the practical portion). -- What is a round robin? A round robin is a format of field comparison testing such that every team in a field is compared to every other team in that field. In quiz bowl terms, the means of comparison is the playing of matches; the field may be a division or bracket, or an entire tournament. For the purposes of playing quiz bowl, generally we can state: A round robin is a series of games in which every team in a field plays every other team in a field an equal number of times. Terminology A format is any idiom or algorithm used for the comparison of a field. A field is a set containing every team subject to comparison; in general, this will be every team in a tournament, or an integral fraction (1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5) of that amount. Games or matches are acts of comparison between two teams in a field. A round is a set of games that occur on a given set of questions. An iteration is the playing of one round robin in which each team in the field plays every other team only once. A strict round robin is a round robin in which no result is overridden by factors outside the round robin. A loose round robin, meanwhile, is a round robin in which events and decisions exterior to the round robin, such as championship games, ladder play, or split bracketing, may cause the final standings of the tournament to vary from the standings produced by the round robin. Background A brief history of the round robin Round robins, like the method of Swiss pairs, emerged from the world of chess. The first round robin tournament was played in London in 1851 between seven European players (Adolf Anderssen won), and was organized by the London Chess Club. During the emergence of the modern collegiate quiz bowl circuit, round robins quickly became the norm; today, it is considered standard for all collegiate tournaments and most high school tournaments that a round robin be a major portion of the schedule. Advantages of the round robin The key logistical advantage of the round robin is its flexibility. In theory, a round robin algorithm can be used to compare any number of teams; Swiss pairs and single and double elimination, while adaptable to other numbers, work optimally only for numbers of teams in powers of two. Furthermore, in a strict round robin there is no opportunity for the "Swiss gambit" and its variants, in which teams deliberately lose games in order to gain a later advantage. Finally, it is demonstrable that round robins, properly undertaken, provide fairer comparisons and fairer results than single-elimination or double-elimination formats. Disadvantages of the round robin Quiz bowl round robins consume a large quantity of material resources, and are very time-inefficient, compared to other formats. Round robins also carry greater requirements for assembly of questions and stricter rules for the equal quality of matches than other formats. These requirements are discussed below.
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