Specialised All play All Tournaments, which can be anything up to 15 player All-play-Alls. In these you have two games with each other player, one with White and one with Black. For example, in a 4-player All-play-All you would be playing a total of 6 games.
Knockout Tournaments. In these, the winner goes through to the next round. You may be playing with either White or Black. The colour is decided either by the relative ratings of the players, or, if the Tournament Organiser has specified, the pairing, and hence playing colour, will be made at random. In the event that the game ends in a draw, the player with the Black pieces goes through.
Team Tournaments. In these you are paired with players from other teams who are on the same board number as you within that particular team league. Typically there would be eight games in total; two games each against four opponents who are in different teams.
Pyramid Tournaments. In these, you compete with other players who are on a similar Level to yourself. As you win games you move up to another level in the Pyramid. Equally, if you lose you may drop down a Level. By entering a Pyramid Tournament you are committing yourself to two games, one with White and one with Black, but these will not all be with the same player. You may, if you wish, challenge another player, but you must accept any challenge made by another player. As each game finishes the challenge process continues, as there is no finite end to the Tournament. The object of competing is to try to reach the highest possible Level, and, as such, no Norms are awarded. The Full Members Pyramid games are all rated and each game is on a 5-day limit. In the Guest Members Pyramid, games are unrated, although the 5-day limit still applies.
For full details and information on making progress to higher Levels of the Pyramid, visit the Play ... Latest Pyramid link.
Q. How can I create a Tournament?
To create a Tournament visit the Opponents ... Create New Tournaments page. There are a number of options available, and you are free to chose which of those apply to your particular intentions. You should, however, always try to enter suitable and informative text in the Tournament Nickname and Idea(s) behind the tournament boxes as these are usually the first point of contact for intending players.
Take care to select an appropriate Tournament type.
If you are creating an All-play-All Tournament be aware that, as the number of players increase, so does the related game load increase for the players. For example, in a 4 player Tournament there would be a total of 6 games for each player and in a 15 player Tournament there would be 28 games per player.
If you are creating a Knock Out Tournament you should be aware that, by default, random pairing is not enabled. If you wish to use random pairing in your Tournament ensure that you have checked the Random Pairing (if knockout) box before you press Submit .
If you wish to create a private Tournament make sure that you have clicked the appropriate checkbox, otherwise the Tournament will be open to any eligible Member who wishes to join. You may also, if you wish, invite a selected group of friends to join the Tournament, whether or not is it open to all Members.
You may configure the other options to suit your preferences, but you should take care when specifying the particular time limit that you wish to use. The full range is available for All-play-All Tournaments, but for Knock Out Tournaments there is a fixed limit of 5 days per move.
When you have carefully checked all of the entries that you have made, click the Submit button. After a short delay you will see a further page confirming that the Tournament has been successfully created.
Q. What else should consider before I create a Tournament?
As the Tournament creator you should consider the probable ability of the players.
You can set the Playing strength for the Tournament using a combination of the options available to you, depending upon your Playing strength as noted on your homepage.
Open to all - any Member may enrol, subject to the Min rating and Max rating settings.
Advanced - players classified as Advanced and who also satisfy the Min rating and Max rating settings may enrol.
Intermediate - players classified as Intermediate and who are rated below 2400 may enter.
Beginner - players classified as Beginner and who are rated below 1600 may enter.
In the latter two cases the minimum and maximum ratings are automatically set by the system and will over-ride any limits that you may choose to set independently.
In the interests of all Members, and as a safeguard against potential abuse, ChessWorld makes various checks before a Member can enrol to ensure that their recent rating history is compatible with the Tournament specification. The precise checks are confidential but, if a Member has a recent rating history significantly in excess of the Tournament specification they will be unable to enter even if their current rating is within the Tournament specification. No checks are made when the Ratings range is set at the default values of 0 - 3500.
To provide a more competitive environment you may wish to check that potential entrants have demonstrated some commitment to the site. You can do this by making the appropriate selection in the Competitor commitment category, which checks that a potential entrant has played your specified number of games of over 10 moves. Open to all sets no preconditions for games played, or, alternatively you may specify a minimum of 2 or 5 games played.
By default, it is always assumed that you wish to play in the Tournament yourself. However, if that is not your intention you should uncheck the appropriate box, which is checked by default.
If you wish to specify that your Tournament is classed as a Guest Welcoming Tournament, check the appropriate box, which is unchecked by default.
Q. I have created a Tournament and now wish to cancel it. What should I do?
If, after you have created a Tournament, you wish to cancel, or remove it, this can be achieved via My Stuff ... My Tournaments where you can identify the specific Tournament.
Click on the link Track invite progress in detail and then, on the resulting page, click on the link You can cancel this tournament if you wish.
You may cancel the Tournament at any time until all games have been allocated and play has begun. If some players have already enrolled it would be courteous to inform them of your decision! Remember, once the Tournament has started it cannot be cancelled!
Q. How can I leave a Tournament?
You can leave any Tournament that you have joined until the Tournament has actually started. Once a Tournament has started any withdrawal would affect other players and unduly distort the result.
If play has not started visit the My Stuff ... My Tournaments page and locate the particular Tournament. Click on View knockout pairings table or View tournament crosstable as appropriate and then click on the ... leave this tournament if you are currently joined link.
Q. What are Tournament Norms and when are they calculated?
Norms are prizes for achieving a high position in an All-play-All Tournament or winning a Knock Out. Norm winners get an icon, to indicate their Norms, displayed next to their name on the game page, and on their homepage. Accumulating a number of Norms will earn a title, such as 'Tournament Master'. See Q. What is a Tournament Title? below for further details.
Norm calculations are run at approximately weekly intervals so that you may have to wait several days after you have won a Tournament in order to receive your Tournament Norms and icon.
If you already have a Tournament icon for that particular type of Tournament, you will only get more Norms added, and a new Tournament title as appropriate. This will be highlighted on your homepage.
Q. How many Norms will I get if I win a Tournament?
The winner of an All-play-All Tournament is always awarded at least one Norm. However, where the Tournament has involved a large number of players the number of Norms awarded for winning, or achieving a high placing, is increased to reflect the greater number of games that have been played.
The full details can be seen on the Tournament Norm awards page. Alternatively, you can see the same page via What's going on ... Top 100 Norm Holders and then clicking on the How Norms are awarded link.
The winner of a Knock Out Tournament is awarded a single Norm in the usual way. This is considered to be fair, on the grounds that, even in the largest Knock Out Tournaments it is unlikely that winner would play more than 7 games.
Q. Can I check how I achieved my
Norms?
On the game board, simply roll the mouse over any Norm icons that appear there. Alternatively, visit your Homepage and you will see your current Norm Icon totals with the detailed information alongside. If you click on the embedded links in the information details you will be taken to a further page that will show you a detailed list of all of your separate Norm wining achievements.
Q. What is a Tournament Title?
Tournament Titles are based upon the number of Norms gained from All-Play-All, Knock Out and Team Tournaments. The various Titles range from the lowest, Tournament Winner, (TW), through a number of levels up to Senior Elite Tournament Grandmaster, (SETGM). The full range of Titles, in rising order of seniority, and the number of qualifying Norms, is shown below. The highest grades are awarded progressively after 51 or more Norms have been achieved.
When a Tournament Title is awarded, or a higher level is achieved, the details are displayed on your Home page where potential opponents may check your current status.
Q. In an All-play-All Tournament, what happens when two players finish on the same points?
In All-play-All Tournaments, when two players finish on the same points, they both receive Tournament Norms for finishing 1st= or 2nd= or the prize position at stake.
Q. How will I know when a Knock Out Tournament starts?
All Knock Out Tournaments start automatically as soon as the appropriate number of players have been enrolled. At that time each player receives an Email with details of their Opponent and the clock starts.
Tournaments created by Members, for 8 or 16 players, usually start within a few days, so that it is easy to remember your playing commitment.
However, when you enrol in a large Tournament, organised by ChessWorld, involving 32, 64 or 128 players it is important that you remain aware of your commitment to play, as the time for enrolment is often significantly extended, sometimes over several months.
ChessWorld does not Email Members advising them of the progress of the enrolment process, but if you are concerned you can always check by visiting My Stuff ... My Tournaments and selecting the relevant Tournament number.
If you choose not to accept Email notifications it is essential that you make regular checks when you login otherwise you may lose a Tournament game by default!
Q. What happens when a Knock Out Tournament game ends in a Draw?
When a Knock Out game ends in a Draw, each player gains a half point, as normal. However, the game is awarded to Black. If the game is the final round, the Tournament is awarded to Black. This is considered to be fair to all players on the widely accepted basis that the player with the Black pieces starts the game with a slight disadvantage.
Q. In a Tournament, what happens when you do not claim a win on time?
In Tournaments it is important that all games reach completion, so that the
final Tournament winner can be announced, and Tournament Norms awarded.
After (2 x the time limit of the tournament) + 1 day, (and a minimum of five
days after the player to move has returned from holiday), your game becomes at
risk from being automatically cancelled with the indicator of 'T-T', when the
weekly Tournament Norm calculations script is run. (This means there is between 5 and
12 days typically to claim a win on time against an opponent who has returned
from holiday). This does not mean that you lose rating points, but it does mean
that the opportunity to have claimed a win and gain a Tournament point has
gone.
Example: If the Tournament time limit is 10 days a move, you should try and
claim a win before 21 days
(10 x 2) + 1 = 21 days. If you do not claim a win within 21 days of your
opponents last move, the game may be marked as T-T when the next Tournament
Norm calculations are run.
Another example:, if the Tournament time limit is 5 days a move, you should
try and claim a win before 11 days.
(5 x 2) + 1 = 11 days. If you do not claim a win within 11 days of the
opponents last move, the game may be marked as T-T when the next Tournament
Norm calculations are run.
Q. Why does the My Tournaments page show old Tournaments?
The My Tournaments page maintains a record of all Tournaments that you have played in, regardless of the current status of those Tournaments. You can reduce the number of Tournaments shown by checking the
Any Tournament Status box and selecting one of the drop down menu options:
In Progress, Enrolment stage, or Completed Tournaments.
You may also select from a wide range of options provided in the Any Tournament Type box.
Q Why didn't I get an Email to advise me that a Tournament had started?
ChessWorld does not normally send automatic Emails to advise when a Tournament has actually started. We assume that Members who have enrolled in one of the many different Tournament formats that are available will check their Current Game page regularly. The notification that games are awaiting moves is always shown on that page, and you may configure that in any way that you feel is appropriate to help you keep a track of your current commitments.
In the special case of Guest Welcoming Tournaments ChessWorld does send out an advisory Email as a courtesy to new Members who may not be fully conversant with our procedures.
Q. What is a Thematic Tournament?
As the name implies this Tournament format is based upon a chosen Theme, typically one of the more interesting Openings. When you attempt to set up a Thematic Tournament you will be invited to choose the particular Theme that interests you from a list of pre-approved games in our Openings Library.
When opponents accept your invitation and start to play they will all see, as their first board, the position set up as defined in the particular Theme: any pieces that may have been 'taken' in the game prior to the position shown will not be displayed on the game page. From that point play can continue normally, although, in many cases the intention of the creator would be that play continues along the lines of the chosen Theme and then to explore interesting variations.
Pyramids
Q. How can I play a Pyramid game?
First you should decide which Pyramid you wish to join. ChessWorld provides a range of different Pyramids available to Full Members. Guest Members are restricted to the Guest Pyramid only.
To play a game on a Pyramid you must first join the Pyramid by clicking the Join the Team link.
Once you have done that you will, playing as White, then be able to challenge any available player, who will be clearly identified, on the Challenge list. As soon as you join the Pyramid, your name will appear on the Challenge list, and any other Player may challenge you to a game where you will be playing with Black.
Any challenges, once made, are not optional and the ChessWorld server sets up the relevant game(s) immediately.
Q. How can I make a Pyramid challenge?
You can make a challenge when you first join the Pyramid. After finishing a game when playing White you are free to challenge another player, provided that one is available on your Level. Any available players will be clearly shown and identified on the Challenge list.
After finishing a game when playing Black you then become available to be challenged. Once such a challenge is made the ChessWorld server accepts it and you are notified that the game has begun. You cannot reject a challenge other than by forfeiting the game and accepting any relevant penalties and probable demotion to a lower Level.
Q. How can I leave a Pyramid Tournament?
You should resign any current games and then go to the Pyramid homepage and click on the Team Homepage link. On the resulting display look for, and then click on, the link I wish to leave this team.
You will then be removed from the Pyramid.
Q. How can I check on my Pyramid games?
You can check your current status in the Pyramid(s) that you are playing in by visiting My Stuff ... My Pyramids. The display page will show all game numbers that you are playing and will also show you clearly where you may offer a further challenge.
Q. What are the Rules when playing Pyramid games?
The normal Rules of Chess apply. There are special Rules regarding promotion and demotion between Levels. These are explained in detail on any Pyramid homepage.