In quad tournaments, the pairings for all rounds are determined by the pairing tables, and colors are determined for the first two rounds. Players “toss” for color in the last round.
I have looked for an explanation of how players are to “toss” for color, but I cannot find it. Is there a description of “tossing” for colors in the rules?
Related to this, what happens if a player is late for the start of the last round? Does the opponent set up the board, start the opponent’s clock, and then “toss” for color if and when the opponent arrives?
The “toss for color” wording is left over from the pre computer days when somone would “toss” a coin. See rule 29E2 for more info about assigning colors by lot.
Another common strategy is for someone (one of the players or the director) to take one pawn of each color and, behind their back, put one in each hand. Then you pick a hand and play with the color of that pawn.
The “toss for color” in the last round is used for Quads when the TD places the players in rating order similar to a Swiss. In that arrangement, two players by virtue of the pairing numbers will automatically get white twice according to the Crenshaw/Berger tables. Round robins (and a Quad is simply a Round Robin of four) typically draw lots to determine pairing numbers, but that can be cumbersome for several Quad sections. Most TDs allow for toss in the last round to make up for the pre-ordained color allocations. Pairing programs can simulate the drawing of lots by randomly arranging the players, eliminating the need for toss in the last round.
While the players can be placed in rating order, in any round robin it is supposed to be random. An alternative might be to assign the same color to the top two players. The next round will equalize colors when the top two swap opponents and colors will all be equal going into the last round.
You can find RR pairing and lot generation programs on my website, but with only four players anyone can do it in their head.
