The 2025 Ultimate Guide to Chess.com Clubs
Back to TopPreface
Welcome back, chess friends!
This post aims to talk about Chess.com clubs.
How do they work? What events do they promote? What tournaments and arenas do they organize, and how are these competitions structured? What are the different roles of the people who run the clubs?
All this and much more in today’s post.
Enjoy the read!
@DocSimooo
Club Name & Thumbnail
About Club
Forums
Notes
Announcements
Members and Leaderboard
Club Events
My Settings
Who Runs the Club?
Coordinators
Admins
Super Admins
Admin Settings
Invite Members & Manage Landing Page
Club Audit Log
Club Settings - Edit Club
Challenges and Seek
New Club Tournament / Match
Club Daily Match
Club Match
Club Vote Chess
Club Daily Tournament
Club Swiss Tournament
Club Arena
Multi Club Arena
Shareable Swiss Tournament
Shareable Arena
Chain of Clubs
Leagues and Federations
Valuable Tips for a Lively, Active Club
Epilogue & Personal Wish
Endnotes
The 2025 Ultimate Guide to Chess.com Clubs
From setup to success
Introduction
Hi there! I signed up on Chess.com a few years ago. At first, I only played every now and then, challenging friends in the Daily format. Then I discovered Live games with fast time controls, which seemed impossible to me. My thinking time was far too long (I didn’t know the basic principles of the game yet).
Clubs, too, were a puzzling mystery for a long time.
And yet, they represent the true added value of Chess.com — the feature that turns a chess platform into a meaningful social space.
That’s why I decided to dedicate a post to clubs: to explain how they work, what they offer, and what we can offer in return to make them valuable places.
This guide has some depth, but I’ve kept it easy to read. You can browse the table of contents and jump straight to the chapters that interest you. I’ve also added links to other Chess.com pages and related posts for those who want to explore specific topics in more depth — so you can focus on what matters most to you.
Let’s begin!
Club Name & Thumbnail
There are clubs of every type and category. Some are true fan clubs dedicated to great chess players of the past and present, while others represent the members’ country or continent of origin. There are clubs for animal lovers, for those nostalgic about political movements, religious-inspired clubs, and clubs for professional groups (philosophers, mathematicians, physicists, internal medicine doctors, etc.).
In any case, the club’s name and logo (thumbnail) are its first “business card”, so they are very important.
About Club
The About Club section is the private heart of the community, visible only to members who have already joined (private description).
This is where you outline internal guidelines, etiquette, participation rules, and all the practical information members need to understand how the club works from the inside.
It also includes the elements shown in the sidebar: the club name, logo, short description, motto, welcome message, and quick links to important topics or resources. Together, these elements form the internal “base camp” where members understand the club’s philosophy, structure, and rhythm of activities.
While the public description introduces the club to outsiders, the About Club reveals its inner workings: guiding principles, the events it promotes, expectations for members, and criteria for selecting administrators.
Hyperlinks to relevant forums help keep everything brief, clear and easy to navigate.
Ultimately, this section defines the club’s identity — a welcoming space shaped by the interests, backgrounds, and experiences of its members. Many clubs end up offering similar events, but what truly sets one apart is the underlying vision that inspires it.
Forums
Forum, from Latin, literally means “square” or “marketplace” — the public space once used for political, commercial, and judicial gatherings.
It is therefore the context in which various topics are publicly discussed among club members.
A forum can also be created by group members, not only by the organizers.
There are clubs focused on study, which organize forums to explore the game in depth (openings, middlegame, and endgames), or that propose challenging puzzles… and so on — the topics are endless.
On "TBA", for example, there’s a very original forum featuring a fun ranking of chess bloggers, each of whom has been assigned a blog Elo rating based precisely on the quality of their blog. It’s something very close to a Hall of Fame.
On "Knights of Happiness", there is a forum with periodic posts sharing encouraging aphorisms about self-esteem and personal growth, and another one dedicated to solving challenging puzzles.
Notes
This is the space for small talks and everyday interactions among members. It’s a kind of chat that’s widely used.
There’s also a live chat (in real time), both for group conversations within the club and for private chats between two people, but it’s quite basic and not used very much.
Announcements
Announcements are used, as the name suggests, to announce a club event — often chess tournaments, live arenas, blogger competitions, or even upcoming streaming videos, and so on.
They allow for more advanced editing than what’s possible in the forums, so the visual quality of an announcement is comparable to that of Chess.com blogs and articles.
Would you like to join the next club tournament?
Read the announcement carefully and feel free to sign up — you’re very welcome! ☺️
Members and Leaderboard
Here you can find the list of club members. You can scroll through it alphabetically, by membership seniority, by most or least recent online activity, by most or least recent visit to the club, by score in the various time controls, and so on. The list can be filtered to show only administrators, friends among the members, or to view the general ranking based on rating for each time control.
Separately, there is also a Leaderboard section, which shows the members’ score rankings for the different time controls.
Club events
In this section, you can see the events that are currently taking place, the ones coming up soon, and the history of past events with their results. It also gives you an idea of which activities are most popular among club members.
My Settings
This section is very important for customizing alerts and notifications. You can choose whether or not to be notified when:
a new game starts,
a new club vote chess match begins,
a new live event starts,
or when a note, announcement, forum post, or related comment is published.
This way, everyone’s preferences are respected, and people who aren’t interested in certain discussions won’t be flooded with unwanted messages.
Who Runs the Club?
The activities of the clubs are based on the voluntary work of a few people who, out of passion, decide to dedicate their time to this endeavor. It is therefore a service to the members, rather than an honorary position.
This is a very important point to bear in mind. For this reason, in the club I recently founded, these roles are not permanent but rotate periodically, in order to give—of course only to those who wish—the opportunity to offer their own original contribution.
The true lifeblood of the clubs, aside from the organizational work of the administrators, comes from the members themselves. The strength lies in the unity of the group, yet every individual is valuable and deserves to be appreciated.
With these essential points in mind, here are the main duties and responsibilities of those who work behind the scenes:
Coordinators
Coordinators are responsible for organizing club activities.
They can:
Create new club events (e.g., matches and tournaments).
Start challenges and seeks.
Launch new Vote Chess games.
They do not have the authority to manage members.
Admins
Admins have all the permissions of a coordinator, with additional member management responsibilities.
They can:
Organize club events (same as coordinators).
Post new announcements for the club.
Invite new members to join the club.
Silence, kick out or ban members [1, 2, 3].
Access the club's audit log to review actions taken within the club.
This “power” to take action toward members must be exercised with great responsibility. Members are people, and as such, all deserve the utmost respect.
Every human being is a Buddha, and those who sometimes act inappropriately often do so because they are experiencing a state of suffering that motivates (though does not justify) their behavior.
Let’s strive to understand one another and to cultivate mutual compassion.
Super Admins
Super Admins have the highest level of control in the club. They possess all the abilities of Admins and Coordinators, plus the power to:
Edit club settings (e.g., club description, banner).
Promote or demote members, including other Super Admins (Note: the original club founder cannot be demoted).
Remove closed or inactive accounts from the club.
Manage the club's landing page.
Here’s a fun gif that shows how to manage members — promoting them or removing them from a role.
Invite Members & Manage Landing Page
Every day, you can invite up to 30 people to join the club. Simply type their name into the search bar and send the invitation.
You can also copy and paste the invite link to share it via message with anyone you’d like to invite.
Chess.com allows club administrators to create a custom “Landing Page,” but this page is not visible to users who simply browse or search for the club on the site.
Visitors—whether logged in or browsing in incognito—will only see the Public Description on the club’s main page.
The Landing Page appears only when someone who does not have a Chess.com user ID clicks the special link generated in the Manage Landing Page section.
This makes it a promotional tool rather than a true public-facing club page.
When these visitors open the Landing Page through the link, they see a visually styled introduction to the club along with a prominent JOIN button. If they do not yet have a Chess.com account, clicking JOIN prompts them to register or log in; only then can they actually join the club.
However, if the invitation link is opened by someone who is already a regular Chess.com user (i.e., they already have a user ID), clicking the link automatically enrolls them in the club, bypassing the Landing Page entirely, which is not shown at all.
In practice, the Landing Page is useful only for sharing external invitations—through messages, social media, or websites—but it does not replace the Public Description, which remains the only text visible to all visitors who find the club directly on Chess.com.
Club Audit Log
Here you’ll find a chronological log of absolutely all the club’s activities — every single one of them: new members joining or leaving, tournaments created or cancelled, admin appointments, new forum topics posted, announcements, and so on.
Club Settings - Edit Club
This is where you configure all core club settings: the name, thumbnail, background image, the entire public and private presentation, and the sidebar.
Once again, our friends from Scacchi in Tempi Dispari—or Chess in Uneven Time—stand out, and the Knights of Happiness have drawn inspiration from them.
Within Edit Club, you can also write and update the private description, which is visible only to members and appears under About Club alongside the sidebar elements. This text often differs greatly from the public one and focuses on event guidelines, internal rules, and practical information to help members navigate once they have joined.
So… what makes your club shine among the thousands already on Chess.com? 😅
Personally, I focus on the human side—the values of friendship and connection.
A club built on these values attracts everyone, even top players—after all, they’re human just like us!
With time, dedication, study, and teamwork, expertise will naturally grow, even if the club begins with amateur players.
In Edit Club you can choose which types of club challenges to participate in by checking the ones you’re interested in:
Live Arenas
Daily Matches
Vote Chess
You can also fine-tune the privacy settings — for example, deciding whether to make the member list and/or forum content visible to non-members, whether new members are automatically accepted or must be approved by an admin, and whether all members or only admins can create new forum topics, etc.
Challenges and Seek
This area is used to check which challenges have been received from other clubs and whether there are any open challenges for tournaments and arenas that you can join.
And we’ve finally reached the point… what chess events are there, how do they work, and how can you create one?
New Club Tournament / Match
All these events should not be confused with the tournaments you can find every day by going to Play → Play → Tournaments → Live.
These live tournaments are automatically generated by Chess.com and cannot be created by club administrators or by any individual user.
Now, let’s move on to the tournaments that a club coordinator or administrator can organize!
1) Between two Clubs:
• Club Match
2) Collaborative challenge game between two Clubs:
3) Challenges between members of the same club:
• Club Daily Tournament
• Club Swiss Tournament
• Club Arena
4) Live multi-club event:
• Multi Club Arena
5) Live invitation events for individual players:
• Shareable Swiss Tournament
• Shareable Arena
Chain of Clubs
A chain of clubs on Chess.com is not an official feature, but rather a network of clubs that agree to invite each other to tournaments.
This system takes advantage of the platform’s multi-club notification feature: whenever one of the clubs hosts an event and invites the others in the chain, all members of those clubs automatically receive the announcement.
This greatly increases event visibility and participation.
To coordinate activities, a central or “hub” club is often created, serving as a communication point for the administrators of the participating clubs.
This central club functions only as an internal coordination space — where admins can plan events, share calendars, and make common decisions.
No notifications or event invites are sent from this hub, and each club retains its full autonomy.
Ultimately, it’s the Multi-Club Arena feature itself that triggers automatic notifications for all members of the invited clubs — as long as those clubs are manually added when creating the event, regardless of whether a central ‘hub’ club exists. Therefore, the hub-club coordination feature must truly add value; otherwise, the hub club’s very purpose would be undermined.
Leagues & Federations
A League is a championship between clubs with rules, schedules, and standings.
They can be based on different formats, for example:
Daily Matches
Live Matches (Blitz, Rapid, Bullet)
Vote Chess
Why join a League?
It gives regularity to matches and increases members’ enthusiasm and participation
It builds team spirit and motivation
How to join:
Usually, a club admin must contact the League organizer (often listed in the forum or on the League page) and request the club’s registration before the season starts.
On Chess.com, Federations are mainly networks of physical clubs connected to national chess federations or officially recognized structures (including FIDE). Their goal is to represent the clubs of a country or a federative organization, organizing official or nationally coordinated championships and events.
It is very unlikely that private amateur clubs can join them.
Valuable Tips for a Lively, Active Club
Practical advice to grow truly active members, not just “empty numbers.”
- A Clear and Attractive Identity:
A club works best when it has a strong personality — a specific identity rather than a “generalist” one: The Mikhail Tal Fans club, the Improvers club...
Define a mission and maybe a slogan — something that captures the spirit of your group.
- Make Your Club Easy to Find:
Boost your club’s visibility subitting posts on the Chess.com general forum, especially in sections dedicated to club promotion or tournaments. I still haven't done it 😆
- Build Collaborations:
Partner with other clubs to organize joint events and cross invitations.
Collaboration brings a positive exchange atmosphere, visibility, and new members.
- Join Public Tournaments:
Maintaining a regular presence in public tournaments helps your club appear in the general feed, increasing exposure and attracting new players.
- Create a “Signature Event”:
Design a recurring, recognizable event that becomes your club’s hallmark.
Here are some ideas I came up with for my club:
The Knights of Happiness Daily Chess Championship
Monthly Rapid Arena
The Blitz Attack
Theme Opening Arena
The Holy Grail of Chess Puzzles
The Knights' Scholarium (study resources library)
- Engage Members:
First of all, welcome every new member with a personalized message — short, friendly, and genuine (never a cold copy-paste).
Keep the community active with light, periodic engagement.
From time to time, offer small, low-pressure ways for members to take part — a light poll, a simple challenge, a quick question of the week. Nothing demanding or competitive: just little sparks that keep the conversation alive and help people feel connected at their own pace.
Participation should always be optional and joyful. Think of these micro-activities as gentle invitations, not obligations. When members see that the club stays lively without pushing anyone, they naturally feel more at home and more willing to contribute.
- Communicate Effectively:Keep announcements clear, brief, and not too frequent (1–3 per week is enough).
Maintain a positive, consistent tone.
Tag and highlight active members — an internal “Hall of Fame” can be a great motivator!
How to Avoid the “Premature Death” of a Club
Keep a Steady Rhythm -> Consistency beats intensity. One recurring event every week is better than ten events in a month followed by silence.
Build a Team -> The founder doesn’t have to do everything. Appoint admins with clear roles such as:
event management
forum moderation
welcoming new members
A motivated admin team keeps the club alive and dynamic.
Refresh Regularly -> every 2–3 months, try to introduce something new:
a mini championship,
a match against another club,
or a new event format.
Fresh ideas keep members engaged and excited to stay.
Avoid Silence
A club that stops communicating is a dead club. Even when no events are planned, post at least one discussion or idea per week to keep the conversation alive.
Track Real Activity
What counts is active participation, not raw numbers. Better to have 50 engaged members than 500 inactive ones.
What NOT to Do as an Admin:
- Being too strict or banning members without reason → people leave.
- Being too lenient → chaos and poor quality.
- Creating too many rules → discourages participation.
Golden rule: Be firm but kind. 3–4 clear, friendly rules are enough.
- Spamming announcements (e.g., 10 notifications in 3 days) → members mute or leave.
- Failing to lead by example → an inactive admin kills the community.
- Showing favoritism or diving into divisive topics (politics, religion, etc.) — unless that’s the club’s explicit theme.
Clubs That Thrive Have:
- A clear, recognizable identity,
- A predictable rhythm of events,
- Partnerships with other clubs,
- Recognition and appreciation for members
The secret is simple, but often overlooked:
Build a community, not just a list of games.
People stay for relationships, not for Tournament #274 identical to all the others.
Epilogue & Personal Wish
My hope is that this post encourages more people to explore the world of clubs on Chess.com, not only as places to play, but as spaces to share passion, friendships, and growth. It is my personal wish to see more clubs become vibrant, supportive communities where every member feels seen, valued, and inspired to improve — not just as chess players, but as people.
As a fellow club founder, I hope that my club, Knights of Happiness, can become the arena for friends from BCs and TBA v2.0 who wish to join for chessboard challenges — since we’ve already been engaging in friendly matches (while also supporting each other) for quite some time in creating exciting blogs!
Warm regards,
See you soon
DocSimooo
Endnotes
Below are some quick clarifications on moderation and terminology used throughout the post — for those who want a little more technical detail.
1. Silence = temporarily mutes a member, meaning they cannot post in the club for a certain period.
Effects:
The member remains in the club but cannot post in Notes, Forum, or Announcements (depending on settings). They can still read and participate in events, tournaments, and matches.
When to use:
Heated discussions or flame wars;
Borderline behavior;
When a “cooling-off” period is needed without expelling anyone.
It’s a temporary and non-drastic measure, useful for calming things down.
2. Kick out = removes a member from the club, but they can rejoin in the future.
Effects:
The member is “expelled” but not banned.
They can request to join again or be reinvited.
When to use:
Member has been inactive for a long time and the club wants to “clean up” the list;
Member caused issues but deserves a second chance.
3. Ban = permanently excludes a member from the club and prevents them from rejoining (unless later unblocked). They cannot participate in club chats, forums, events, or tournaments. It’s the most severe measure.
When to use:
Serious or toxic behavior;
Repeated rule violations;
Persistent spam or trolling.
4. Feed = public board associated with a tournament, visible to registered players and spectators.
It’s similar to a forum thread attached to the event, where players can comment, congratulate winners, or discuss games.
