Team Block
How team blocks work on SAScholastic.As a general rule, SAScholatic's pairing system does not pair contestants from the same team/school against each other.
The exception to this general rule is sections where more than half of the contestants are from the same school. We also follow USCF Rule 28N1 for contestants with score of plus two or better (2-0, 3-1, 2.5-0.5, etc.). USCF rule 28N1 states...
a. If a score group can be paired among itself without players from the same team facing each other, this should always be done.
b. For score groups of less than plus two (plus two means at least two more wins than losses), if there is no way to pair the score group without players from the same team facing each other, these players should be raised or lowered into the nearest appropriate score group to avoid pairing teammates.
c. For score groups of plus two or greater (at least two more wins than losses), players should not be removed from their score group in order to avoid playing those from the same team.
* - Tournaments run on SAScholastic.com prior to April 15th, 2016 were run using a strict team block that prevented pairing teammates if there was any way possible.