Free chess calculator
Tiebreak calculator
Tied on points? The tiebreaks decide it. Enter each opponent's final score and how you did against them to get your Buchholz, Median-Buchholz and Sonneborn-Berger.
Their total points at the end of the event. Set it, then add your result against them.
When players finish level on points, tiebreaks reward the harder road. Buchholz adds up how well your opponents did — beat a strong field and you rank above someone who beat a weak one. Median-Buchholz trims the luckiest and unluckiest pairing; Sonneborn-Berger leans on who you actually beat. Check your event's regulations for which one is used, and in what order.
Straight answers
What is Buchholz?
The sum of your opponents' final scores. The idea: two players on the same points aren't equal if one faced a much tougher field — Buchholz rewards the harder road.
What's Median-Buchholz?
Buchholz with the single highest and single lowest opponent score removed, so one freak pairing (a runaway leader you happened to play, or someone who withdrew) doesn't distort the number. Also called Buchholz Cut 1.
And Sonneborn-Berger?
It sums the scores of the opponents you beat, plus half the scores of those you drew. It weights not just how strong your opponents were, but which of them you actually got the full point against.
Related tools
Educational chess content. Rating math uses the standard Elo model; results are estimates and vary by federation, pool and time control.