Knock-out format
When there are too many players for a single-round Round-Robin tournament, a knock-out format is used.
In a knock-out, the players are put into smaller groups and then the winner(s) of that group are combined with winners of other groups to form a new group. The winner(s) of the final group are the winner(s) of the entire tournament.
An example of a small round-robin is shown below:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Points | Tie Break |
1. Player 1 (1200) | X | ½ - 1 | 1 -½ | 1 -1 | 5 | 11.5 |
2. Player 2 (1200) | 0 -½ | X | 0 - 1 | 1 - ½ | 3 | 7.5 |
3. Player 3 (1200) | ½ - 0 | 0 - 1 | X | 0 -½ | 2 | 6.5 |
4. Player 4 (1200) | 0 - 0 | ½ - 0 | ½ - 1 | X | 2 | 4.5 |
Round-robin is very effective because each player plays every other player and then the winner is determined by the score. However, in most tournaments, there are too many players to have a single round, and a knock-out format is used.
The number of players advancing from each group is decided by the Tournament Director before the tournament starts. It could be one player per group or more, depending on the tournament rules.
Check out this article for more information on the different settings possible for Daily tournaments: How do Chess.com daily tournaments work?