5 Player, Round Robin tournament *Need Help

[Pyro Maniac]

I'm hosting a 5-player round robin tournament for ITG (the dancing game series), where every player plays each other, one versus one...one match at a time.

Basically, I've looked through the system and its explanation on having an Odd number of players. It suggests using a 'ghost' or 'dummy' to take the place of a 6th player, and anyone who plays the ghost will receive a bye, and then we should continue on to the next match. However, there is a problem with the scenario they offer me. Due to the type of tournament it is (dancing game), stamina is a very important factor in each player's performance. Because stamina is a factor, the order of matches that is suggested (...it eventually plays the 3rd ranked seed once, then a bye for another player, then the 3rd player plays again) would not work out.

I believe the sequence goes something like this (* = 6th player = bye,  go directly to next match... and the problem lies in bold);

1v6*
2v5
3v4
1v5
6v4*
2v3
1v4
5v3
6v2*
1v3
4v2
5v6*
1v2
3v6*
4v5

The sequence of matches suggests that players [2 or 3, take your pick] will end up playing two matches in a row...which is NOT what I want. I want each player to have at least one match-length break, and (although this is not a priority), to have the better ranked players [1, 2, and maybe 3] to have breaks the length of 2 matches (or just longer breaks compared to the worse players). By giving each player a break the length of at least one match (match = 20-30 minutes) or more, it will allow them to recover so that their stamina is not dead for the next match. It might also provide some thinking time as far as strategizing a win. As a last side-note, we are hoping to take the least amount of time and most efficient use of our time, and want to go through the matches without any universal breaks (where no one is playing).

If anyone can please post the best possible order of matches for this situation, I would really appreciate it  

Thanks again,
-Pyro

[Ian Wakeling]

I don't think it will be possible to do any better than the following

 1  (A C)
 2  (D E)
 3  (B C)
 4  (A D)
 5  (B E)
 6  (C D)
 7  (A B)
 8  (C E)
 9  (B D)
10  (A E)

Writing down the slots that each player has been assigned gives the following table:

A  1,4,7,10
B  3,5,7,9
C  1,3,6,8
D  2,4,6,9
E  2,5,8,10

So A is the only player to have two free periods between all matches and should be your number 1 seed.  E is the number two seed since they have 2 breaks of 2 periods and 1 break of 1 period.  C and D are equal third and fourth seeds.  B is the fifth seed since there is a break of only one period between all 4 matches.

Hope that helps,

Ian.