Board Conflict Dialog

In multi-section tournaments, “board conflicts” can occur when two or more sections are assigned overlapping board number ranges. This dialog alerts you to those conflicts and offers options to resolve them.

When Board Conflicts Occur

Definition: A board conflict happens if sections have overlapping board number assignments.

Example Conflict:

• Section “Open” uses boards 1–25
• Section “Reserve” uses boards 20–40
• Conflict: Boards 20–25 are assigned in both sections (overlap)

Common Scenarios Leading to Conflicts:

• Adding players mid-tournament: If a section grows and needs more boards than originally planned, it might encroach on another section’s range.
• Multi-section events with fixed board allocations: Simply having multiple sections in one tournament can lead to overlaps if ranges aren’t planned carefully.
• Board spacing enabled: Using the “Space boards by 2” setting doubles the board count needed for a given number of players, which can cause overlaps if not accounted for.
• Manual board assignments: If you manually set starting board numbers (FirstBoard) for sections and choose values that collide.

When the Dialog Appears:

• The Board Conflict check runs right before pairing a round (after you click “Pair Next Round”).
• It only runs for multi-section tournaments (two or more sections).
• If any overlap is detected (and you haven’t suppressed the warning), the Board Conflict Dialog will appear before the pairing is actually done.

(There is a checkbox to suppress this warning for the rest of the session; more on that below.)

The Board Conflict Dialog

Dialog Components:

• Title: “Board Number Conflicts Detected”
• Header Message: Brief text explaining that conflicts were found.
• Conflict Details: A scrollable text area listing exactly which sections overlap and on which boards.
• Checkbox: “Stop showing this warning (this session only)” – if checked, SwissSys will not show this dialog again until you restart the program (useful if you choose to ignore and don’t want repeated prompts).
• Buttons:
  • Auto-Adjust Boards – automatically fix the board overlaps (described below).
  • Open Board Manager – open the Board Manager for manual adjustments.
  • Ignore – proceed without fixing (not recommended unless you will handle it yourself).
• Help Button: A “?” in the top-right corner that opens this help topic.

Example of Conflict Details: