A Tournament Director (TD), in its strictest sense, is the individual who runs the tournament from the time registration ends and a champion is declared. In a general sense, the TD also serves as a consultant for the organizer regarding the technical aspects of the tournament and, in other instances, takes the place of the organizer and handles the other functions of registration, flyer distribution, mobilization, etc.

The main responsibility of the TD is to ensure the smooth running of the tournament. Therefore, prior to the close of registration, the TD prepares for the drawing of matches and, in classified events, segregates the classified from the non-classified players. This preparation involves writing the names of participants in a card form to facilitate the drawing of matches. Another preparation is the set-up of the bracketing. The match brackets are drawn up based on the number of participants. This is also called charting of matches.

In the draw doubles, triples or four-person team events, the cards are stacked into two boxes for doubles, three boxes for triples and four boxes for the four-person team events for the drawing of pairings. It is very critical that the drawing of pairings and the drawing of matches are made very transparent and beyond doubt or manipulation. It is common to request special guests and participants to draw the pairings and matches.

Matches are announced and players are directed to their board assignments. It is expected that the TD observe proper decorum, civility and professionalism in making announcements and in the use of the microphone at all times.

The TD makes the announcement of team numbers, names of players and board assignments at least three times in the first round of matches.

In cases where defaults have to be made, the TD makes the decision for default and recommends this to the Tournament Committee or Technical Committee for final decision. If these committees do not exist, the TD makes the final decision for defaults and also handles any protests and clarifications from players. Thus, the TD must know the basic rules and guidelines of the tournament or league he is administering so he can fairly interpret and implement them.

In instances, where the TD also handles the registration, the decision to start the tournament rests on the TD. The TD should make sure that dart events start on schedule!

Once the matches have all been drawn, the bracketing chart is posted for the public to follow.