Given a list of opponent seeds (for example seeds 1 to 16), I'm trying to write an algorithm that will result in the top seed playing the lowest seed in that round, the 2nd seed playing the 2nd-lowest seed, etc.
Grouping 1 and 16, 2 and 15, etc. into "matches" is fairly easy, but I also need to make sure that the higher seed will play the lower seed in subsequent rounds.
An example bracket with the correct placement:
1 vs 16
1 vs 8
8 vs 9
1 vs 4
4 vs 13
4 vs 5
5 vs 12
1 vs 2
2 vs 15
2 vs 7
7 vs 10
2 vs 3
3 vs 14
3 vs 6
6 vs 11
As you can see, seed 1 and 2 only meet up in the final.
I've come up with the following algorithm. It may not be super-efficient, but I don't think that it really needs to be. It's written in PHP.
<?php
$players = range(1, 32);
$count = count($players);
$numberOfRounds = log($count / 2, 2);
// Order players.
for ($i = 0; $i < $numberOfRounds; $i++) {
$out = array();
$splice = pow(2, $i);
while (count($players) > 0) {
$out = array_merge($out, array_splice($players, 0, $splice));
$out = array_merge($out, array_splice($players, -$splice));
}
$players = $out;
}
// Print match list.
for ($i = 0; $i < $count; $i++) {
printf('%s vs %s<br />%s', $players[$i], $players[++$i], PHP_EOL);
}
?>