Carousel Tournament Seeding
Optimize player placement for carousel (King of the Hill) tournaments. Players are assigned to boards, play their opponent, then one moves up and one moves down. The goal is to seed players so no one has an unfairly difficult set of opponents. · Ratings refreshed Aug 3, 2026, 12:05 AM · Data through Jul 26, 2026
Step 1: Enter Players
How Carousel Tournaments Work
The Format
- • Players are assigned to boards (2 per board: Top & Bottom)
- • Each round, players at the same board play each other
- • After each round: Top moves DOWN one board, Bottom moves UP
- • Boards wrap around (Top at board 1 goes to last board)
- • Each player faces exactly N opponents based on starting position
The Problem
- • Random placement often creates "death pools"
- • Some players may face 5-6 top-ranked opponents
- • Others may face mostly lower-ranked opponents
- • Starting position completely determines your opponents
- • Smart seeding can ensure fair schedules for everyone
Key Metrics
SSI (Schedule Strength Index)
Sum of opponent ratings. Lower variance = fairer tournament.
Death Pool Detection
Flags players facing too many top-ranked opponents.
Rating Correlation
Ensures strong players don't systematically face harder schedules.