When do new rounds start in daily tournaments?

According to chess.com help, "the next round of a tournament will start once all the current round's games have been finished". However, this seems inaccurate. I'm playing a tournament in which round 2 has already started even though there is a game in round 1 that hasn't finished. That game is inconsequential: both players are already eliminated regardless of the result. I like that approach, there's no point in delaying the beginning of the next round if all the ongoing games in the current round are inconsequential. But that's not what the rules say. So what are the actual rules?

Yes, I have seen the system work this way.
For example, even though it is clear who advances, if they can reach each other thanks to one of the remaining games, the advancement of the round is delayed until- (even though that does not change who qualifies).
I think the rule could be: "Until each of the qualifying positions is defined", not said, but the one that applies.

That makes sense. I am also participating in another tournament that hasn't advanced to the next round yet, but the only games remaining in the current round are between players who are already qualified. The result of those games will only determine who takes the first position of the group.

So you think that the rule is that tournaments advance to the next round once the qualifying positions are determined. Have you seen a tournament advance to the next round when one of the qualified players still has games ongoing? For example, let's say there's just one game remaining in the current round between a player who has already secured the first position of the group and a player who has already secured the second position. Does the tournament advance to the next round before that game finishes?

You guys can join my club named FANATIC ..here we play tournament

I have two examples of this that have happened to me, which comply with the "Until all qualifying positions are defined."
I'm not sure what type of game you're referring to in the example above. If one between two players who advance to the next round, or between one who advances and another who is eliminated. But I show both cases.

1. Eliminated vs qualified
Although this tournament has not yet advanced to the next round, the players who would technically advance are already shaded. https://www.chess.com/tournament/sdcvbnhmsadf/pairings

Everyone practically does not move from their position and these games do not prevent other groups from advancing to the next round once they have been decided.

2. Qualified vs qualified

This tournament has been over for a while, but I choose it because it is much more difficult to find current cases.

That would be what was at the time the remaining game (me with black pieces), and according to how the table looked all positions were assured.

Then once I finished my game against the third place where I secured the pass the next round continued.
Some round 4 games ended and later that game of mine with black pieces ends.

https://www.chess.com/tournament/fighters-2/games

(Ignore the dates a little, I am not agile in correspondence)

Thank you for your detailed answer.

Your second example is just what I was thinking about: the only remaining game is between a player who has already qualified in first position (Makaki) and a player who has already qualified in second position (you). That's crazy, by the way. You were playing the third and the fourth rounds of the same tournament at the same time!

Your first case is also interesting, and I hadn't thought about that: what happens when the only remaining game is between a player who has already qualified and secured his qualifying position and a player who has already been eliminated? I guess it must be the same as in your second example: probably the tournament advances to the next round even before that game is finished. But the example you have chosen doesn't illustrate that. In that tournament there are many games in the current round that haven't finished yet, and several of those games are going to determine who qualifies for the next round, so that case is not so clear.

I just found an exception to this rule in this tournament:

Three players qualify for the next round in each group. There are two games still ongoing. The first one is between players who are already eliminated. The second one (the one in the picture) is between a player who has already secured first place and a player who is already eliminated. Even if Caadmck wins the game, he loses against Mickappo because of the tie break. Similarly, even if Novolex loses, he still gets the first place of the group because of the tie break. Which means that all the qualifying positions are defined. However, the tournament hasn't advanced to the next round yet.

This might be a bug related to the other game, though. In that game White's timer has been frozen at one minute for quite a while (at least half an hour), and there's no indication that he's on vacation. That must be a bug, and maybe the bug in that game is what is preventing this tournament from advancing to the next round.

Hi again, (i had somewhat forgotten about this topic). But in this case i think chess.com ignore tiebreaks and consider full points, i'm not sure why but i think i've seen a couple of situations like this before, so they refuse to recognize the winner until the game is over and all the calculations are aplied, even if it was obvious from the beginning that they were insufficient.

I don't think I have an exact case of this to show at the moment, but I'll check.

But this case is the one that intrigues me at the moment.

It's a group where only one player advances, as indicated below; there's no one who can catch the leader. And under the criteria of "All round advancement positions are defined, ignoring tiebreakers," Sahlapalat should undoubtedly be shaded.

And even this recently finished game, marked in red, had no implications; the contest for the group ended with my tie in December, where Sahlapalat reached 6.5, an insurmountable score for me and Polroscan.

So what happened here?, a bug?

My theory is... the other unfinished group.

In this round there is another club with relevant unfinished games on who's advance.

The're so many games unfinished in my group, that doesn't claim a winner until the other group gets their winner. Or maybe, 4 games left by one player implies that if he doesn't have a shot in the next round, if the tournament ends soon, he could have a better position in the finals standings, and the rewarding tournament points in this.

I remember one time it happened to me, get less tournament points due unfinished games at the time it ended, i could have a third place medal, but instead a 4th place. idk if this is some kind of preventative measure.

hi

I asked ChatGPT about this, and it looks like the only conclusion we can reach is this: the actual rules are different from the stated rules, and there's no way of knowing what the actual rules are. For unknown reasons, chess.com is deliberately ambiguous and confusing about this. Personally, I'm fed up with it. I'm slowly leaving chess.com behind and moving to another platform in which I don't have to deal with this kind of unfriendly behaviour. I'm planning to finish the games in my ongoing tournaments and not return to chess.com after that.

I am currently participating in two tournaments: Fast Tournament 350 (started November 19, 2025) Summer Trophy (started August 20, 2025) In both tournaments, there is only one game remaining for the current round to finish and for the next round to begin. In both instances, one of the players involved is "dpcf". This player is clearly in a winning position; however, for several dozen moves now, they have made no effort to actually finish the game. Instead, they appear to be intentionally stalling to keep the games going indefinitely, which is preventing the entire tournament from progressing. Does Chess.com have any policies or measures to intervene in such cases of unsportsmanlike behavior?

I'm in the same situation. This player (dpcf) is playing the two remaining games of the round. He's at 110 moves in one and 98 in the other, and he doesn't seem interested in finishing them. I've been waiting for weeks for him to decide to finish. And in another tournament, there are three games left to complete the round, and all three are this same player's. Clearly, he's not interested in finishing them. I don't see this situation addressed in the "fair play" rules.

Hey