is there a schedule?
Club Tournaments and Arenas
Sort:
Not quite yet as we just started and things are still being actively developed. Will post the dates and times as soon as they're confirmed!
Club Tournaments and Arenas
What are online tournaments?
Online tournaments are played entirely online and are for everyone to participate in. On chesscom, they come in 2 types: Arena and Swiss.
Arenas (most common)
An arena is a tournament with a time limit (for example: 1 hour). Players will play in the selected time format until the hour is up. Points are awarded based on wins (2), draws (1), and losses (0). At the end of the hour, players are ranked by total amount of points. Players are also rewarded for win streaks!
Arena Pairing
You'll be paired with people as close to your rating as possible while still giving you games as quickly as possible. Start your games as quick as you can to get the most wins, and most points possible!
Can I win an arena if there are higher rated players or even Titled players also playing?
Yes! As the pairing system matches you versus players with similar rating and everyone earns points in the same way. Do well versus your opponents while playing enough games and you have a good chance to win!
For our club tournaments, Titled players are not eligible to receive Diamond Memberships as they already qualify for free membership through here. The prize would then be awarded to the next non-titled player.
Read more about arenas
Swiss Tournaments
A Swiss tournament is similar to a Round-Robin tournament in that no players are eliminated. Every player will play every round, and the player with the highest number of points at the end of the tournament is the winner.
In a Swiss tournament, however, you don't necessarily play every other player. If there are a lot of players in the tournament, there may not be enough rounds for everyone to play everyone.
In the first round only, high rated players are intentionally paired with low rated players. After the first round, pairings are based on performance: those who won are matched with other winners, losers with losers. There may be some exceptions to avoid color repetition.
Cheating
Cheating on chesscom and in tournaments is strictly prohibited. Any account detected for cheating will be banned and removed from the club. Not sure what cheating is? Check out this article.
Prizes
Gifted 1 Month Diamond Membership prizes are provided by chess.com and will be gifted to accounts within a few business days. For example, if you win a prize on a Saturday, it may take until Tuesday/Wednesday for chess.com to process the prize. Chess.com's Fair Play team will ensure no cheating to obtain prizes happens. Any cheaters will be banned and removed from the club.
Please note that in some cases, fair play checks can take even longer, and prizes may be delayed until fair play checks are completed.
Questions? Feel free to ask!
This forum post will be updated in the future with more info on Daily tournaments as well as club vs club tournaments.