On Tournaments

Aris Ariel Diaz and Arwin Layson

De La Salle University
2401 Taft Avenue, Manila

Abstract
A tournament is defined as a digraph such that for every pair u, v of distinct vertices, exactly one of the
(u, v) and (v, u) is an arc. In this paper, we examine some properties and results regarding tournaments.
Further, an exposition on the proofs of results regarding tournaments in G. Chartrand’s Introduction
to Graph Theory is also presented. This paper covers transitive tournaments, strong tournaments and
Hamiltonian tournaments.

1 Introduction
The following definitions and examples are lifted mostly from the books Inroduction to Graph Theory
and Graphs and Digraphs both by Gary Chartrand.
Definition 1.1. The underlying graph UD of a digraph D is the graph obtained such that if (u, v) ∈ A(D),
then [u, v] ∈ E(UD ).
Example 1.1. Consider the following graphs. Notice that UD is obtained by simply removing the directions
of the arcs of D and replacing the resulting multiple edges into a single edge.
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UD : ... ... ...

Figure 1.1: UD is the underlying graph of D.

Definition 1.2. A digraph D not containing multiple edges is an orientation of a graph G if G = UD . D
is said to be an oriented graph.
Example 1.2. Consider the following graphs. Notice that G = UD and G does not contain multiple edges.
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Figure 1.2: D is an orientation of G and D is an oriented graph.

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Definition 1.3. A digraph D is connected or weakly connected if UD is connected.
Example 1.3. The digraph D of Figure 1.1 is a connected digraph since UD is connected.
Definition 1.4. A digraph D is strong or strongly connected if D contains both a u − v and a v − u
path for every pair of distinct u, v ∈ V (D).

Example 1.4. Consider the digraph below. Notice that for any pair of vertices there is a path from each
one to the other. .... ....
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Figure 1.3: D is a strongly connected digraph.

2 Tournaments
From the definition of orientation, we can see that an oriented graph is a special type of a digraph.
Moreover, the oriented graphs that we will consider are digraphs whose underlying graphs are simple. We
will see that tournaments are extensions to the study of digraphs.
Definition 2.1. A tournament Tn is an orientation of the complete graph Kn . Equivalently, a tour-
nament can be defined as a digraph such that for every pair of distinct u, v ∈ V (Tn ), exactly one of the
following holds: (1) (u, v) ∈ A(Tn ), (2) (v, u) ∈ A(Tn ).
The definition above actually is consistent in a layman’s definition of a tournament conducted via round-
robin (i.e. a structure such that each competitor plays with each competitor exactly once). Vertices of a
tournament T can be viewed as teams and arcs as matches wherein an arc is directed from the winner to
the loser. This is why there are no loops in any tournament T because a team playing against itself would
not make any sense.
Example 2.1. Consider the digraph in Figure 2.1. The outdegree and indegree of each vertex, represent the
win-loss record of the corresponding school in the UAAP Season 75 Men’s Basketball Tournament Round 2.

Figure 2.1: A graphical model of UAAP Season 75 Men’s Basketball Tournament Round 2

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Definition 2.2. A tournament Tn is transitive if whenever (u, v) ∈ A(Tn ) and (v, w) ∈ A(Tn ), then
(u, w) ∈ A(Tn ).
Example 2.2. Consider the digraphs in Figure 2.2, notice that the tournaments T1 , T2 , T3 and T4 below are
transitive. ...
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................................................................................................ ................................................................................................. ................................................................................................
T1 : T2 : T3 : ...... . ...... T4 : ...... . ......

Figure 2.2: Transitive tournaments of order 4 or less

Theorem 2.1. A tournament T is transitive if and only if T has no cycles.
Proof. We will directly prove the theorem in two parts.
(⇒) Let T be a transitive tournament. We must show that T has no cycles. We will prove this by contra-
diction. Suppose T has at least one cycle, say < v1 , v2 , v3 , ..., vk >. Since T is transitive,

(v1 , v2 ) ∈ A(T ) ∧ (v2 , v3 ) ∈ A(T ) ⇒ (v1 , v3 ) ∈ A(T )

(v1 , v3 ) ∈ A(T ) ∧ (v3 , v4 ) ∈ A(T ) ⇒ (v1 , v4 ) ∈ A(T )
..
.
(v1 , vk−1 ) ∈ A(T ) ∧ (vk−1 , vk ) ∈ A(T ) ⇒ (v1 , vk ) ∈ A(T )
Also note that (vk , v1 ) ∈ A(T ). This is a contradiction.
(⇐) Let T be a tournament without cycles. We must show that T is transitive. Let (u, v), (v, w) ∈ A(T ).
Since T has no cycles, (w, u) ∈ / A(T ). This implies that (u, w) ∈ A(T ). Thus, T is transitive.
To visualize Theorem 2.1, suppose there are n teams in a tournament T . Let a1 defeat a2 , a2 defeat a3
and so on. If T is transitive, there is no team ai that has defeated aj , j < i < n. Conversely, if for any team
ai has not defeated aj , j < i < n, then T is transitive. Further, Theorem 2.1 implies that a clear and definite
ordering (depending on wins and losses) is only possible in a transitive tournament.
→
−
Theorem 2.2. If u is a vertex of maximum outdegree in a tournament T, then d (u, v) ≤ 2 for every vertex
v of T.
Proof. Let T be tournament and u ∈ V (T ) such that u is a vertex of maximum outdegree say k. Consider
the disjoint nonempty sets (refer to Figure 2.3)

X = {x ∈ V (T )|(u, x) ∈ A(T )}

X̄ = {w ∈ V (T )|(w, u) ∈ A(T )}
Case 1: X̄ = ∅
→
−
We know that d (u, x) ≤ 1, ∀x ∈ V (T ).
Case 2: X̄ 6= ∅
→
−
Case 2.1: If there is some x ∈ X such that (x, w) ∈ A(T ) ∀ w ∈ X̄, then d (u, w) = 2.
Case 2.2: If there is no such x ∈ X, then ∀ w ∈ X̄, (w, v) ∈ A(T ). In this case, od(w) ≥ k + 1 > k since
(w, u) ∈ A(T ) .

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Figure 2.3: A step in the proof of Theorem 2.2.

To better understand Theorem 2.2, suppose that we have n teams in round-robin tournament. Let T
be a tournament modeled after the said tournament. Suppose team a1 ’s win-loss record is the best in the
league. Theorem 2.2 states that given any team ai , ai has either lost to a1 or ai has defeated a1 but a1 has
defeated a team that has defeated ai .
Theorem 2.3. Every tournament contains a Hamiltonian path.
Proof. Let T be a tournament. We will prove by contradiction. Let

P :< v1 , v2 , v3 , ..., vk >, v1 , v2 , ..., vk ∈ V (T )

be the longest path in T and the length of P is k − 1. We must show that T has a Hamiltonian path.
Suppose P is not Hamiltonian. Thus, there is at least one v ∈ V (T ) that is not on P . This implies
that (v, v1 ) ∈
/ A(T ) and (vk , v) ∈ / A(T ) otherwise, P would no longer be the longest path in T . Thus,
(v1 , v) ∈ A(T ) and (v, vk ) ∈ A(T ). Since every tournament is an orientation of a complete graph, there is a
vi on P such that (vi , v) ∧ (v, vi+1 ) ∈ A(T ). If this is the case, then there would be a path

P 0 :< v1 , v2 , v3 , ..., vi , vi+1 , ..., vk >

in T which is of length k > k − 1. This is impossible since P is the longest path in T . Thus, P is
Hamiltonian.

P : v.........1......................................v...........2..................................v...........3..................... . . . vi vi+1 vk−1 vk

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Figure 2.4: A step of the proof of Theorem 2.2

Theorem 2.3 states that given any collection of teams that participated in a round robin tournament T ,
there exists an ordering of the teams such that a1 defeats a2 , a2 defeats a3 and so on. This does not mean,
however, that a1 is the best team or an , for some integer n, is the worst team since we can only have a
definite ordering of the teams if we have a transitive tournament.
Theorem 2.4. Every vertex in a nontrivial tournament belongs to a cycle of order 3.
Proof. Let v ∈ V (T ). Consider the following disjoint and nonempty sets

U = {u ∈ V (T )|(v, u) ∈ A(T )}

W = {w ∈ V (T )|(w, v) ∈ A(T )}
Certainly, U, W 6= ∅ since T is a nontrivial strong tournament. We already have a w − v path but T is
strong, so there must be a v − w, for some w ∈ W , path in T . Necessarily, such a path must contain the arc
(u, w) for some u ∈ U . Thus, v belongs to the cycle, < v, u, w, v >.

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Figure 2.5: A step in the proof of Theorem 2.4.

Theorem 2.5. A nontrivial tournament T is Hamiltonian if and only if it is strong.
Proof. We will prove the theorem in two parts.
(⇒) Let H =< v1 , v2 , v3 , ..., vn , v1 > be a Hamiltonian cycle in a tournament T of order n. Let u, w ∈ V (T ).
Then, u = vu , and w = vw such that 1 < u < w < n. Consider P1 and P2 .

P1 =< vu , vu+1 , ..., vw >

P2 =< vw , vu+1 , ..., vu >

Certainly, P1 , P2 are u − w, w − u paths, respectively. Thus, T is strong.
(⇐) Let T be a nontrivial strong tournament. By Theorem 2.4, we know that T contains cycles. Consider
a cycle of maximum length in T say,
C =< v1 , v2 , ..., vk , v1 > where 3 ≤ k ≤ n
If C is a Hamiltonian cycle, then we are done. Suppose not. If there is some v ∈ V (T ) not on C such
that (vi , v), (v, vi+1 ) ∈ A(T ), for some vertices vi , vi + 1 on C where 1 < i < k − 1, then

C1 =< v1 , v2 , ..., vi , v, vi+1 , ..., vk , v1 >

is a cycle whose length is greater than that of C. This is impossible. Thus, (v, vi ) ∈ A(T ) ∀ vi on C or
(vj , v) ∈ A(T ) ∀ vj on C, for every v ∈ V (T ) that is not on C. Since T is strong, there must be vertices of
each type. We partition the vertices of T not on C into two disjoint and nonempty sets

U = {u ∈ V (T )|(vi , u) ∈ A(T )}

W = {w ∈ V (T )|(w, vj ) ∈ A(T )}
for some vi , vj on C. Since T is strong, there is u − w path for all u ∈ U and w ∈ W . Since (vi , w) ∈
/
A(T ), ∀w ∈ W for every vi on C, then (u, w) ∈ A(T ), u ∈ U, w ∈ W . However then,

C2 =< v1 , v2 , ..., vk , u, w, v1 > for some u ∈ U, w ∈ W

is a cycle whose length is greater than that of C, which is impossible since C is a cycle of maximum length
in T . Thus, C is a Hamiltonian cycle.
Theorem 2.6. If T is a strong tournament of order n ≥ 4, then there exists a vertex v of T such that T-v
is a strong tournament.
Proof. Consider a strong tournament T of order 4. Theorem 2.4 states that every vertex of a strong tour-
nament belongs to a cycle of order 3. Thus, T − v is a cycle of order 3 which is clearly, a stong tournament
of order 3. Now, our only concern are strong tournaments of order n ≥ 5. Suppose that there is a strong
tournament Tn such that for every v ∈ V (Tn ), Tn − v is not strong. By Theorem 2.5, Tn − v contains no
Hamiltonian cycle. Consider a cycle of maximum length in T say,
C =< v1 , v2 , ..., vk , v1 > where 3 ≤ k ≤ n

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If there is some v ∈ V (T ) not on C such that (vi , v), (v, vi+1 ) ∈ A(T ), for some vertices vi , vi+1 on C where
1 < i < k − 1, then
C1 =< v1 , v2 , ..., vi , v, vi+1 , ..., vk , v1 >
is a cycle whose length is greater than that of C. This is impossible. Thus, (v, vi ) ∈ A(T ) ∀ vi on C or
(vj , v) ∈ A(T ) ∀ vj on C, for every v ∈ V (T ) that is not on C. Since T is strong, there must be vertices of
each type. We partition the vertices of T not on C into two disjoint and nonempty sets

U = {u ∈ V (T )|(vi , u) ∈ A(T )}

W = {w ∈ V (T )|(w, vj ) ∈ A(T )}
for some vi , vj on C. Since T is strong, there is u − w path for all u ∈ U and w ∈ W . Since (vi , w) ∈
/
A(T ), ∀w ∈ W for every vi on C, then (u, w) ∈ A(T ), u ∈ U, w ∈ W . However then,

C2 =< v1 , v2 , ..., vk , u, w, v1 > for some u ∈ U, w ∈ W

is a cycle whose length is greater than that of C, which is impossible since C is a cycle of maximum length
in T .

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Figure 2.6: A step in the proof of Theorem 2.5 and Theorem 2.6.

References
[1] Chartrand, G. (2005). Graphs and Digraphs. Boca-Raton: Chapman and Hall, CRC, pp. 111-125.
[2] Chartrand, G. (2005). Introduction to Graph Theory. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Ed., pp. 161-175.