DinkFair organizer guide
How to Reduce Repeated Partners
Use partner counts before opponent counts when rotating doubles teams.
Count pairs, not names in slots
Alex and Bailey is the same partnership whether Alex is listed first or second. Store pair keys in a consistent sorted order.
Optimize partners first
Partner variety changes the team itself, so DinkFair scores it before opponent variety. A schedule with zero partner repeats and one opponent repeat beats a schedule with one partner repeat and zero opponent repeats.
Know when repeats are inevitable
Four players can form only three distinct doubles partnership arrangements. A longer session must repeat a partner configuration, so the receipt should report counts rather than promise perfection.
Can four players avoid repeated partners forever?
No. Four players have only three unique ways to split into two doubles teams, so a fourth round must repeat a partnership arrangement.