Answers.Body: <blockquote>
    <p>Is there an option in the pairing program to set this?</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Of course.</p>
  
  <p>Different approved Swiss pairing programs will do this is different ways. You should check out the User Manuals for the different programs to see how this is done.</p>
  
  <p>For instance, in <a href="http://www.vegachess.com/tl/tl_files/music_academy/distrib/vega_en.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the Vega program</a> go to the File menu, Round Manager, Avoid Pairs option and you can specify groups of players who should not be paired against each other for certain rounds. Generally speaking this should not be done in the last round where one of the players is on more than 50% even in the case of Iranian v Israeli since this can affect prizes and important placings.</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>Algorithmically, is it done in such a way that these matches are
    considered played already (through some flag
    "playedAgainstEachOther=true") or in some other way?</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>This is a programming question rather than a chess question and does not belong here.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2024-09-22T05:45:01.900Z
Answers.Text: Iran vs Israel today at the last round of the women's olympiad. Last round yes :)
Answers.UserDisplayName: cmgchess
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2024-09-22T09:44:52.340Z
Answers.Text: @cmgchess Surprise, surprise, the arbiter stops the clocks after 15 minutes and awards the match to Israel 4-0 because the Iranian players didn't turn up. You can't blame them. Iran is killing women for not wearing the hijab. They would likely face a similar fate if they had turned up and played.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Brian Towers
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2017-02-04T21:43:01.043Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2017-02-04T21:48:30.797Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2017-02-04T21:48:30.797Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Brian Towers
Body: <p>In connection with the Hou Yifan incident in Gibraltar I read that when doing the pairings they avoided matches between players from Iran and Israel (for whatever reason...). </p>
  
  <p>How is this technically done in a Swiss pairing system? Is there an option in the pairing program to set this? Algorithmically, is it done in such a way that these matches are considered played already (through some flag "playedAgainstEachOther=true") or in some other way?</p>
  
Tags: <rules><swiss-pairing>
Title: Intervening with swiss pairing
ThreadText: # Intervening with swiss pairing
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2017-02-04)
  
  In connection with the Hou Yifan incident in Gibraltar I read that when doing the pairings they avoided matches between players from Iran and Israel (for whatever reason...).
  
  How is this technically done in a Swiss pairing system? Is there an option in the pairing program to set this? Algorithmically, is it done in such a way that these matches are considered played already (through some flag "playedAgainstEachOther=true") or in some other way?
  
  **Tags:** rules, swiss-pairing
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2017-02-04. Score: 3
  
  > Is there an option in the pairing program to set this?
  
  Of course.
  
  Different approved Swiss pairing programs will do this is different ways. You should check out the User Manuals for the different programs to see how this is done.
  
  For instance, in [the Vega program](http://www.vegachess.com/tl/tl_files/music_academy/distrib/vega_en.pdf) go to the File menu, Round Manager, Avoid Pairs option and you can specify groups of players who should not be paired against each other for certain rounds. Generally speaking this should not be done in the last round where one of the players is on more than 50% even in the case of Iranian v Israeli since this can affect prizes and important placings.
  
  > Algorithmically, is it done in such a way that these matches are
  > considered played already (through some flag
  > "playedAgainstEachOther=true") or in some other way?
  
  This is a programming question rather than a chess question and does not belong here.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_2**: Iran vs Israel today at the last round of the women's olympiad. Last round yes :)  
  > **username_1**: @username_2 Surprise, surprise, the arbiter stops the clocks after 15 minutes and awards the match to Israel 4-0 because the Iranian players didn't turn up. You can't blame them. Iran is killing women for not wearing the hijab. They would likely face a similar fate if they had turned up and played.  
  
  ---
  
  