In a chess tournament, each of six players will play every other player exactly once. How many players will be played during the tournament?a)36b)30c)15d)12

In a chess tournament where each of six players plays every other player exactly once, we can calculate the total number of games played.

Let's consider the first player. They will play against five other players since they cannot play against themselves.

For the second player, they will also play against five players, but one of them is the first player whom they have already played against. So, the second player will play against four new players.

Similarly, for the third player, they will play against five players, but two of them are the first and second players whom they have already played against. So, the third player will play against three new players.

This pattern continues until the last player, who will play against no new players since they have already played against everyone else.

Therefore, the total number of games played can be calculated as follows:

5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 0 = 15

So, the correct answer is option (c) 15.