Prof. Frits Spieksma, Eindhoven University of Technology
Chair: Prof. Carlo Filippi, Università di Brescia
When: May 6th, 2026, 11:30 AM
Where: Room D4, Brixia Building, via San Faustino 64
At first sight, the schedule of any particular league or tournament may look like a rather mundane matter. Indeed, it is obvious that one has to pick certain dates and times for a set of matches to be played. However, that is not all there is to it. There is a, sometimes subtle, relation between the schedule of a tournament and its outcome. Thus, the schedule of a tournament should be designed with care, ensuring that, among the interests of all other stakeholders, fairness among players (or teams), receives the attention it deserves. We will review examples that shed light on the relation between the schedule on the one hand, and the outcome on the other hand. From these examples, we extract analytical insights that allow us to construct fairer schedules. We intend to illustrate our findings by considering examples from the Champions League in football, the TATA Steel Chess tournament, and the Premier League of Darts.