In chess, a tiebreak is used when two or more players have the same score at the end of a round or tournament group. The following are some of the most common tie-breaking methods used in chess, listed in order of priority:
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Number of wins: The player with the highest total number of wins breaks the tie.
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Number of wins with black: The player with the highest number of wins with black pieces breaks the tie.
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Buchholz Cut 1: The sum of the scores of each players opponents, excluding the lowest scoring opponent.
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Buchholz: The sum of the scores of each player's opponents.
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Sonneborn-Berger: This method gives the win to the player who has defeated the players with the most tournament points.
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Wins/draws against all other players: The tie-breaker score is based on wins/draws against all other players.
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Tie-break points: When a player wins a game, they get tie-break points equal to their opponent's regular tournament points. When they draw, they get half of that number.
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Aggressive play: This system rewards aggressive play by scoring 4 tiebreak points for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 for a loss, and 0 for an unplayed game.
The tie-breaking method used may vary depending on the tournament or competition. Some tournaments may choose to disable tie-breaks, in which case both tied players will advance to the next round.
