from the Help pages:
What are arena tournaments?
Arena Tournaments are fast paced, action filled events where you try to earn as many points as you can in a certain amount of time. There are no rounds in an Arena Tournament. Players are paired nonstop after their games until the timer runs out.
How do I join an Arena Tournament?
You can find the list of upcoming and ongoing tournaments by clicking the Tournaments button on your Play screen:
You can also see a few upcoming tournaments from your own Tournaments page, which you can go to by hovering over 'Play' in the left menu, and clicking 'Tournaments' See the schedule for all the various Arena tournaments, and more info about how to find and join tournaments here!
So, now you know how to join an arena tournament, but how does it all work?
How do pairings work?
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!
How do points work?
You earn points by winning! A win is worth 2 points, a draw is worth 1 point, and a loss is worth 0.
What are win streaks?
If you win multiple games in a row, the value of each successive win increases! For your 2nd win in a row, you'll receive 3 points. For your 3rd win in a row and every consecutive win thereafter, you'll receive 4 points. It's good to go on a hot streak!
How are winners determined?
The Arena winners are determined by who has the most points when time runs out! The amount of time an Arena lasts depends on the time setting of the games.
If there is a tie, then the victory will go to the player with the longest streak. If it is still a tie, then it the winner will be the one with the most wins. If that is still a tie, then the player with the fewest losses will win.
If the information in this article is out of date or incorrect, or if you have questions about it, please let us know!
Been playing chess for a while now, all of which have been online. decided to try my first tournament, which was not a pleasant experience. I clicked on the tournaments and saw a few rapid arenas, and other than just clicking play now had no idea what an arena would be like. When you click on the tournaments, there is no rules or stipulation line out for you to know how its played, there is no link to the any articles about how it differs from regular games it just shows how long until it starts, and who is play and that is it.
I clicked on tournaments saw a rapid arena with ~70-80ish people sign up and thought to myself I don't see anywhere it lists the rules, so i figured maybe it just paired you off and was some type of elimination thing I didn't really know what to expect. but I was like surely things wouldn't much different that playing a game of chess and if i made it out of the first round i would be happy.
then comes the problems because if i click on an arena and am looking at all the people signed up and time to start there should be a clear and obvious place to look and see "arena rules" in a hyperlink somewhere easy to find for someone doing it for the first time. because as a lot of you know it doesn't seem to be as simple as playing chess and winning. I mean it is but there is more to it isn't there?
its about winning as many games as you can as fast as you can. If I would have known this I just wouldn't have played to begin with. Nothing wrong with this game mode just not my style. I would just like somewhere easy that I could find the rules so I could have known that ahead of time.
I did however have a problem with my time options and the ability to resign. I couldn't play my game cause although I have 10 minutes of time there was some red text saying I would auto resign if i didn't make a move in 20 seconds so really the game is like 20 seconds per move. I am also complete and utter garbage at chess rated somewhere between 750-800 and the entire point of this tournament if you are really trying to win it is playing tricky openings and sharp lines to maybe throw your opponent off and get a quick win. So when my opponent makes a weird move (at least weird to me) can I think about my response for 30-45 seconds a minute if I have to? I mean Its my 10 minute timer. You give me 10 minutes to make every single move I can make and if it hits 0 i just loose and I can't bank time or run on +X seconds. if someone is worried about someone holding a game hostage that is loosing. I would just advise them to not play 10 minute rapid games and instead play some 3 minute bullet games. and i am sure chess.com can weed those guys out of tourny's pretty easily.
lastly. I should be able to resign before move 10. play a guy that is better than you that takes you down a sharp line opening where you can only have 20 seconds to think about a move they end up forking your king and queen let me resign. I don't see why i can't just loose with dignity and say you know what "your just better" Like its bad enough he took my queen took my queen in 5 moves without trying, I am not so interested what he does with her off the board for the next 5 moves. Some people might be into that but please spare me some dignity on that regard also.