Now things are settling, so it’s time to explain how this all works. We had to make a few adjustments due to the happy fact that way more clubs joined than we expected. So, the plan to use manual pairings with help from Chess.com simply was not possible since there are over 400 players playing in each round!
A few changes
So, we opted to use the “Club Match System” that chess.com has. This system means that things are a lot simpler for everybody, both the staff running the tournament and the Captains and the players. The downside to this is that Chess.com rapid rating is used to determine the board numbers, as it is not possible to do that manually.
This means that in the first round, or the first two, high rated players might be on lower boards than expected. This issue will resolve itself quickly, as players with starter ratings gain ratings very fast. So, everything should be getting normal after the first two rounds. The first two rounds will be strong clubs meeting weaker clubs, so this will not be an issue.
If you have key players, that you want to be on the higher boards, you can ask them to play a couple of rapid games before the match starts, that will also help a lot in normalizing the ratings.
Changes in the schedule
Considering the number of teams that registered, we had to make minor changes in the schedule. Round 3 and round 5 now start at 16:00. This is simply because we need more time between rounds to grab all the results, make the pairings and make the matches.
All time are CET.
- Round 1 – Thursday, April 9that 13:00
- Round 2 – Friday, April 10that 13:00
- Round 3 – Friday, April 10that 16:00
- Round 4 – Saturday, April 11th13:00
- Round 5 – Saturday, April 11that 16:00
- Round 6 – Sunday, April 12that 13:00
- Round 7 – Monday, April 13that 13:00
How to join the tournaments?
The Club Match System is very simple. All you have to do is ask your players to show up to
https://www.chess.com/live 30 minutes before the round starts (or a time of your choosing) and press the “Tournaments” tab in the upper right corner and open the match and press join. There will also be a direct link to the match that players can use. This is also good for those who want to watch the matches, as they also can use the links. They wont be able to join, so don’t worry about sharing the link, only those who are registered in your club can join.
What not to do?
Don’t show up late! The matches are set to go on a specific time (the time the round starts) and the system does not wait. It might be a good idea to have a 7th player on hand, who can jump in if someone is not there shortly before the match starts.
Don’t use an App! The phone apps don’t work very well in team matches. Use a computer. If you have an ipad or similar, use the browser to play, not the app!
No need for lineups before rounds!
All of this means that there is no need to announce the lineups before the rounds. You simply show up with the team you want to play in that round.
Have fun and happy Easter!
We hope you all enjoy playing in this fun event and remember this is an unofficial tournament, made to make people happy and give them something to do. We will do our best to make this run as smoothly as possible and We hope you forgive us if there are some technical issues.
If there are any questions at all, don’t hesitate to ask! (in the Captains Club).
Enjoy, Happy Easter and Gens Una Sumus
