SPEC.md

Tournament Report File Format Version 2026 (TRF26)

Source: https://handbook.fide.com/files/handbook/TRF26.pdf

Approved by FIDE Council on 12/05/2025 — Applied from 01/09/2025

Format of Tournament Report File (TRF) — Version 2026 by Christian Krause (Torino, June 1st 2006)

Agreed general Data-Exchange Format for tournament results to be submitted to FIDE, for testing pairing and tie-break programs, and for in-tournament data exchange.

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Remark 1 Each line shall have a "CR" (carriage return) as last character. Comment lines are allowed as long as the first three characters of the line are ### (triple pound sign).

Remark 2 The columns R and P in all the following tables tell the importance of the field for Rating and Pairing (plus tie-breaks) respectively:

• ■ Mandatory
• ◙ (mandatory for title events)
• □ Warning if wrong
• (blank) Not taken into account

Remark 3 In-tournament Data Exchange (ITDX) is the ability to use the TRF to exchange tournament data among Tournament Handler Programs (THPs) and between THPs and Pairing Engines during the tournament.

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Tournament Section

Data-Identification-number (??2 for tournament data)

Tag	Description	R	P
012	Tournament Name	■	■
022	City	■
032	Federation	■
042	Date of start — format: YYYY/MM/DD	■
052	Date of end — format: YYYY/MM/DD	■
062	Number of players
072	Number of rated players
082	Number of teams (in case of a team tournament)
092	Type of tournament
102	Chief Arbiter	■
112	Deputy Chief Arbiter (one line for each arbiter)
122	Allotted times per moves/game
132	Dates of the round (format: YY/MM/DD; pos. 92–99 round 1, 102–109 round 2, … )	■
142	Number of rounds — mandatory only for ITDX
152	Initial-colour (W or B; mandatory only if it differs from the colour of the highest ranked participant who was paired in the first round, or for ITDX before the first round is paired)

Tag 162 — Scoring point system for individuals

Defines the point distribution in individual games (valid also for game points in team competitions). Mandatory only when the elements differ from the default values.

Position	Description
6	One of W, D, L, A, P, X
7–10	Points for that result (format 11.5)
15	(optional) Another result code
16–19	Points for position-15 result
24	(optional) Another result code
25–28	Points for position-24 result
(and so on)

Result codes and defaults:

Symbol	Result	Default
W	Win OTB or by forfeit, or full-point-bye	1.0
D	Draw OTB or half-point-bye	0.5
L	Loss OTB	0.0
A	Absence (zero-point-bye or forfeit loss)	0.0
P	Pairing-allocated-bye	same as W
X	Unknown result (e.g. adjourned game)	same as D

Tag 172 — Encoded Starting Rank Method

Mandatory only if there are National Rating Support (NRS) records.

Position	Description
5–7	FIDE code of the federation
9–13	Coded ranking method

Ranking method codes:

Code	Meaning
FIDE	FIDE rating only
NRO	National Rating only
FIDON	FIDE rating if defined, otherwise National Rating
NIDOF	National rating if defined, otherwise FIDE rating
HBFN	Highest between FIDE and National Rating
LBFN	Lowest between FIDE and National Rating
OTHER	Any other uncodified ranking method

Other tournament tags

Tag	Description	R	P
182	Pairing Controller Identifier — name/ID of the program or user making the pairings	◙
192	Encoded Type Of Tournament — coded value from Tournament-Type Code Table	◙	■
202	FIDE Tie-Breaks used to break ties — comma-separated list of codes from Mandatory Tie-Breaks	◙	■
212	FIDE Tie-Breaks used to define standings — like 202 plus PTS code

Tag 222 — Encoded Time Control

d[:d]
Wd[:d]-Bd[:d]

Where d is a Time Period Descriptor:

• (std) → M/S
• (full) → M/S+I
• (all) → S
• (inc) → S+I

S = seconds allocated, M = moves in the period, I = seconds added per move.

Examples:

• 90'+30" → 5400+30
• 100'×40+15'+30" from move 1 → 40/6000+30:900+30
• Armageddon (White 5', Black 4') → W300-B240

Team tournament tags

Tag	Description	R	P
352	Colour sequence (W or B) for boards in team competitions (example: WBWBWB)		■

Tag 362 — Scoring point system for teams

Defines distribution of match points. Mandatory only when values differ from defaults.

Symbol	Result	Default
TW	Team Win	2.0
TD	Team Draw	1.0
TL	Team Loss	0.0

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Player Section (001 records)

Position	Description	Contents	R	P
1–3	Data Identification number	001	■	■
5–8	Starting-rank number	1 to 9999	■	■
10	Sex	m / w	□
11–13	Title	GM, IM, WGM, FM, WIM, CM, WFM, WCM	□
15–47	Name	Lastname, Firstname	□
49–52	FIDE Rating		□
54–56	FIDE Federation		□
58–68	FIDE Number (including 3 digits reserve)		■
70–79	Birth Date	YYYY/MM/DD	□
81–84	Points	Format 11.5		■
86–89	Rank	Exact definition — ties allowed	■	■

Round results (repeated per round)

For round 1 starting at position 92; round 2 at 102; round 3 at 112; and so on (10 columns per round):

Position (round 1)	Description	Contents	R	P
92–95	Player or forfeit id	Starting-rank number of scheduled opponent; 0000 for bye/absent; four blanks equivalent to 0000	■	■
97	Scheduled colour or forfeit	w / b / - (bye or not paired) / blank (≡ -)	■	■
99	Result	See table below	■	■

Result codes:

Code	Meaning	Rated
-	Forfeit loss
+	Forfeit win
W	Win (game lasted < 1 move)	Not rated
D	Draw (game lasted < 1 move)	Not rated
L	Loss (game lasted < 1 move)	Not rated
1	Win
=	Draw
0	Loss
H	Half-point-bye	Not rated
F	Full-point-bye	Not rated
U	Pairing-allocated bye (at most once per round)	Not rated
Z	Zero-point-bye (known absence)	Not rated
(blank)	Equivalent to Z

Note: Letter codes are case-insensitive.

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National Rating Support (NRS) records

Same column structure as 001 (static part), introduced by a 3-letter federation code instead of 001.

Position	Description	Contents	R	P
1–3	Rating Federation	3-letter FIDE Code		■
5–8	Starting-rank number	Links to the corresponding 001 record		■
10	National Sex	Optional if same as 001
11–13	National Classification
15–47	National Name	Optional if same as 001
49–52	National Rating			■
54–56	National Origin	Federation, nation, state, region, county, etc.
58–68	National Number
70–79	Birth Date	Optional if same as 001

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Team Section

Record 013 (to be phased out)

Defines registration order and board order when board order is fixed.

Position	Description	Contents	R	P
1–3	Team-Section-Identifier	013	■	■
5–36	Team Name		■	■
37–40	Team 1st player	StartingRank Number from Player Section	■	■
42–45	Team 2nd player
47–50	Team 3rd player
…	…
102–105	Team 14th player

Record 310 (new — replaces 013)

Position	Description	Contents	R	P
1–3	Section Type Identifier	310	■	■
5–7	Team Pairing Number	1 to 999	■	■
9–40	Team Name		■	■
42–46	Team Nickname	Format: AAAAA
48–53	Strength Factor	Format: 111111
55–60	Match Points	Format: 1111.5		■
62–67	Game Points	Format: 1111.5		■
69–71	Team Rank	Not unique — ties allowed	■	■
74–77	Team 1st player	StartingRank Number	■	■
79–82	Team 2nd player
…	…
139–142	Team 14th player

Example:

### SSS NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN FFFFF EEEEEE MMMMMM GGGGGG RRR  PPP1 PPP2 PPP3 PPP4 PPP5
310   1 India                            IND     2486   15.0   28.0  11     1    5   15   28   44
310   2 Ukraine                          UKR     2478   14.0   26.5  14     2    4   20   27   22

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Accelerated Rounds (250 records)

For both individual and team tournaments. For ITDX, these records cause any acceleration method in record 192 to be disregarded.

Position	Description	Contents	R	P
1–3	Record Identifier	250	◙	■
5–8	Number of fictitious match points	Format: 11.5; empty for individual competitions		■
10–13	Number of fictitious (game) points	Format: 11.5; must differ from 0.0 in individual competitions		◙
15–17	First Round Number	First round in which fictitious points are assigned	◙	■
19–21	Last Round Number	Last round (may coincide with first)	◙	■
23–26	First Player/Team ID		◙	■
28–31	Last Player/Team ID	(may coincide with first)	◙	■

Example (Baku Acceleration Method in an 11-round team Swiss with 178 teams):

### MMMM GGGG RRF RRL PPPF PPPL
250 00.0 02.0 001 003 0001 0090
250 00.0 01.0 004 006 0001 0090

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Prohibited Pairings (260 records)

For both individual and team tournaments.

Position	Description	Contents	R	P
1–3	Record Identifier	260	◙	■
5–7	First Round Number	First round in which the listed players/teams cannot meet	◙	■
9–11	Last Round Number	Last round (may coincide with first)	◙	■
13–16	Player/Team ID	1st player/team	◙	■
18–21	Player/Team ID	2nd player/team	◙	■
23–26	Player/Team ID	(optional) 3rd player/team
(continue)

Example:

### RR1 RRL PPP1 PPP2 PPP3 PPP4 PPP5 ....
260 001 002  125  180  184  216
260 001 002  208  222  231
260 001 002  215  290  302  304  307

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Bye Section (240 records)

Byes that bring points to those receiving them (FPB, HPB, ZPB for individuals and teams; PAB for teams).

Individual and Teams — Half/Full/Zero Point Bye (240)

Position	Description	Contents	R	P
1–3	Record identifier	240		■
5	Type of bye	F full-point-bye / H half-point-bye / Z zero-point-bye		■
7–9	Round Number			■
11–14	Player/Team ID	1st getting the bye		■
16–19	Player/Team ID	2nd (if any)
21–24	Player/Team ID	3rd (if any)

Example (two teams getting HPB in round 3):

### T RRR  111  222
240 H 003  026  047

Teams — Pairing-Allocated Bye (320)

Position	Description	Contents	R	P
1–3	Record Identifier	320		■
5–8	PAB Match Points	Format: 11.5		■
10–13	PAB Game Points	Format: 11.5		■
15–17	Team Pairing Number	PAB Team in round 1 (000 if none)		■
19–21	Team Pairing Number	PAB Team in round 2		■
(continue)

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Forfeited Matches (330 records)

Position	Description	Contents	R	P
1–3	Record Identifier	330	■
5–6	Type of forfeit	+- win with White / -+ win with Black / -- double forfeit		■
8–10	Round Number			■
12–14	Team Pairing Number	White team		■
16–18	Team Pairing Number	Black team		■

Example:

### TT RRR WWW BBB
330 +- 004 023 047
330 -+ 008 027 005

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Out-Of-(default)Order (300 records)

Required when a team plays in a different board order than defined in record 310, or plays with an unoccupied board.

Position	Description	Contents	R	P
1–3	Record Identifier	300		■
5–7	Round Number	Format: 111		■
9–11	Team Pairing Number	Team playing out of default order
13–15	Team Pairing Number	Scheduled opponent		■
17–20	1st Player ID (or 0000)	From Player Section position 5–8		■
22–25	2nd Player ID (or 0000)			■
27–30	3rd Player ID (or 0000)			■
32–35	4th Player ID (or 0000)			■
(continue)

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Abnormal Assignment Points (299 records)

Special record for non-standard point assignments.

Position	Description	Contents	R	P
1–3	Record Identifier	299	■
5	Type of abnormal assignment (AAT)	W win / D draw / L loss / F FPB / H HPB / Z ZPB / + forfeit win / - forfeit loss / (blank) penalty/bonus		■
8–11	Match Points (teams only)	Format: [-]11.5		■
14–17	Game Points (teams) or points (individuals)	Format: [-]11.5		■
20–22	Round Number	000 or empty means all rounds
24–27	(Team) Pairing Number	1st team/individual
29–32	(Team) Pairing Number	2nd team/individual
(continue)

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Informative Records for Teams (801 / 802)

Not required but recommended for human readability.

Record 802 (fixed-length, shorter version of 801)

Position	Description
1–3	802
5–7	Team Pairing Number
9–13	Team Nickname
15–20	Total match points
22–27	Total game points
29–31	1st round opponent or bye type (PAB, FPB, HPB, ZPB)
33	1st round colour (w/b or empty for bye)
35–38	Game points round 1
39	Forfeit indicator (f/F or empty)
42–44	2nd round opponent or bye type
(continue, same pattern)

Example:

### TTT NNNNN MMMMMM GGGGGG  T01 C GGGGf  T02 C GGGGf  T03 C GGGGf
802   3 GEO     19.0   32.5  FPB    4.0    16 w  2.5    11 b  2.5
802  15 BUL     12.0   24.0    2 b  2.0   ZPB    0.0    29 w  2.5