user11144: Again, wonders of Swiss.
Before the last round, I had bwbwbbwf. My opponent had bwbwbwbw.
The f wasn't a colorless bye (I'd give up chess then :-) but a forfeit after pairings were out (due to sudden sickness of my R8 opponent). Is a forfeit unconditionally as colorless as a bye? (In that case, the colors are obvious, since my preference is strong w and my R9 opponent's weak b.) I read §C042D5 as affirmative of that assertion, am I correct?

user4418: FIDE document C.04.2 General handling rules for Swiss Tournaments gives the answer:

Only played games count in situations where the colour sequence is meaningful. So, for instance, a player with a colour history of BWB=W (i.e. no valid game in round-4) will be treated as if his colour history was =BWBW. WB=WB will count as =WBWB, BWW=B=W as ==BWWBW and so on.

Hence your "bwbwbbwf" converts to "bwbwbbw=" in the notation of the document and that will be treated as if your colour history was "=bwbwbbw". So you will have a strong preference for white, as you say.

11144: <p>Again, wonders of Swiss.</p>
<p>Before the last round, I had bwbwbbwf. My opponent had bwbwbwbw.
The f wasn't a colorless bye (I'd give up chess then :-) but a forfeit after pairings were out (due to sudden sickness of my R8 opponent). Is a forfeit unconditionally as colorless as a bye? (In that case, the colors are obvious, since my preference is strong w and my R9 opponent's weak b.) I read <a href="https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/C0402" rel="noreferrer">§C042D5</a> as affirmative of that assertion, am I correct?</p>
 4418: <p>FIDE document <a href="https://handbook.fide.com/chapter/C0402" rel="noreferrer">C.04.2 General handling rules for Swiss Tournaments</a> gives the answer:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Only played games count in situations where the colour sequence is meaningful. So, for instance, a player with a colour history of BWB=W (i.e. no valid game in round-4) will be treated as if his colour history was =BWBW. WB=WB will count as =WBWB, BWW=B=W as ==BWWBW and so on.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Hence your &quot;bwbwbbwf&quot; converts to &quot;bwbwbbw=&quot; in the notation of the document and that will be treated as if your colour history was &quot;=bwbwbbw&quot;. So you will have a strong preference for white, as you say.</p>
