ChessWorld - Tournament FAQs

ChessWorld promotes various types of Tournaments:

Specialised All play All Tournaments: Up to 15-player All-play-Alls. Each player plays two games (White and Black) with every other player. For example, in a 4-player event, you would be playing 6 games.

Knockout Tournaments: The winner goes through to the next round. Colour is decided either by relative ratings or randomly (as set by the Tournament Organiser). If the game ends in a draw, the player with the Black pieces progresses.

Team Tournaments: You are paired with players from other teams who share the same board number as you. Typically 8 games—2 against each of 4 opponents from different teams.

Simul Tournaments: One player (the Host) plays a single game against each of several Challengers. For full details, see the dedicated Simuls section below.

Pyramid Tournaments: You play others on a similar Level. Win to move up; lose to move down. You play two games per level (one as White, one as Black), but not necessarily against the same player. You must accept incoming challenges, and the process continues indefinitely—there’s no final round. The goal is to reach the highest Level. Full Members’ Pyramid games are rated with a 5-day limit; Guest Pyramid games are unrated but have the same 5-day limit.

For more information, visit the Play ... Latest Pyramid link.

To create a Tournament, visit the Join Games ... Create New Tournament page. (For guidance on Simul Tournaments, please refer to the dedicated Simul section below.)

You can choose from various options and should provide meaningful text for the Tournament Nickname and Idea(s) behind the tournament—these help attract players.

Be mindful of tournament type selection. For example, in All-play-All, the number of games increases rapidly with the number of players (e.g., 6 games per player in a 4-player tournament, 28 games each in a 15-player tournament).

For Knockout Tournaments, random pairing is not enabled by default. If you want random pairing, ensure you check the Random Pairing (if knockout) box before clicking  Submit .

To create a private tournament, tick the appropriate checkbox. Otherwise, any eligible member may join. You can also invite specific friends whether or not the tournament is public.

Other settings can be adjusted to your preferences, but be careful with the time limit: All-play-All supports full time options, but Knockout tournaments are fixed at 5 days per move.

Once you’ve reviewed everything, click  Submit . A confirmation page will appear shortly.

As the Tournament creator, you should consider the probable ability of the players.

You can set the playing strength using these options (depending on your own rating):

• Open to all – any Member may enrol, subject to Min rating and Max rating.
• Advanced – only Advanced players meeting the rating settings may enrol.
• Intermediate – for Intermediate players rated below 2400.
• Beginner – for Beginner players rated below 1600.

For Intermediate and Beginner groups, the system automatically sets min/max ratings and overrides your manual settings.

Note: To prevent abuse, ChessWorld checks recent rating history against the tournament specification. A player may be blocked from entering even if their current rating is in range. No checks are made if the range is set to 0–3500.

You may require entrants to have played a certain number of games (e.g., 2 or 5 games of 10+ moves), or choose “Open to all” to skip this.

By default, you’re enrolled in your own tournament. Uncheck the box if you don’t wish to play.

To make the tournament a Guest Welcoming Tournament, check the appropriate box (unchecked by default).

All-play-All Tournaments

Players	Gameload
3	4
4	6
5	8
6	10
7	12
8	14
9	16
10	18
11	20
12	22
13	24
14	26
15	28

     Before enrolling in larger All-play-All tournaments, consider your potential game load.
     These games are in addition to any games you're already playing!

KO Tournaments

Players	Rounds
8	3
16	4
32	5
64	6
128	7

     One game per round. The total number you play depends on your progress.
     Tournaments for 32, 64, and 128 players can only be created by Admin.

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!

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.

Sometimes a Tournament may take an extended period of time to complete the enrolment process, or, exceptionally, there may have been problems completing the pairing in a Knock Out Tournament.

ChessWorld reserves the right to arbitrarily close such Tournaments without notice.

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 normally invoked at 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 your expected Norm has not been awarded after two weeks or more, please contact the HelpDesk with the relevant details.

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.

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 Community ... Top 100 Norm Reports or Community ... Top 100 Norm Titles 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 the winner would play more than 7 games.

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 winning achievements.

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.


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.

To check the current 'Top 100' players in any of the categories visit the Community ... Top 100 Norm Titles page.

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.

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!

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.

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 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 1: 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 Opponent's last move, the game may be marked as T-T when the next Tournament Norm calculations are run.

Example 2: 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 your Opponent's last move, the game may be marked as T-T when the next Tournament Norm calculations are run.

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, Completed Tournaments or Knockouts still playing in.

You may select any one of those options as your display default for future logins by checking the Keep tournament status preference for future logins: box.

You may also select from a wide range of options provided in the Any Tournament Type box.

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.

Many of our Tournaments are either Class Tournaments or Member-created Tournaments where there is a pre-defined rating range specified.

When you attempt to join one of these Tournaments, we review your playing history, normally up to a maximum of 175 games. The dates when the games were completed are irrelevant.

If your rating during that period has been more than a permitted amount above the range specified for the Tournament, you will not be able to enter.

Typically, we allow players to join if their rating during the period under review has not exceeded a preset number of points above the limit set for the Tournament. This value varies according to the specified maximum and may change over time.

There are no restrictions on entry to Open Tournaments.

You can also create and play in your own Tournament with a limited rating range if you wish.

As the name implies, this Tournament format is based upon a chosen Theme, typically one of the more interesting Openings. When you 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 the position set up as defined in the 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 continues normally, although many creators intend that players explore lines within the chosen Theme.

This Tournament format is open to players of all abilities; there are no limits on maximum or minimum ratings. Players with lower ratings should expect challenging and hard-fought games against higher-rated opponents.

These formats impose limits on both the upper and lower ratings at the time of enrolment to ensure more evenly matched games than in Open Tournaments. The rating restrictions are applied at the time of enrolment.

Strength Tournaments:
    Beginner – up to 1600
    Intermediate – up to 2400

Class Tournaments:
    Class A – less than 1400
    Class B – 1400 to 1879
    Class C – 1880 to 2199
    Class D – 2200 and above

Ratings may fluctuate due to normal play. For example, if a tournament has a limit of 1600–1800, it's acceptable if a player’s rating increases to 1900 or drops to 1500 after enrolment—they remain eligible to play.

Admins and approved Members can create All-play-All or Knock Out Tournaments with specific criteria that automatically repeat once filled. This eliminates the need to manually recreate tournaments each time.

Once full, a new Tournament with the same settings is created automatically. Players may join as many as they wish, subject to the criteria. Auto-enrolment is not possible; Members manage their own game loads.

ChessWorld does not, and cannot, impose games on any Member.

Please refer to Q. What does Tournament Performance Rating, TPR, mean? which appears in the Ratings FAQ's.

A ChessWorld Simul allows Members to Host a Tournament for a number of players, Challengers, at the same time, similar to a real-life demonstration Simul. The Host can add a fixed number of games to their game-load while the Challenger only adds a single game. This differs from a conventional Tournament where each player plays each other with both White and Black. In a Simul, the Host plays with the color of their choice, and Challengers cannot choose their color.

In a ChessWorld Simul, the Host is the Member who creates the Simul – essentially the 'Simul creator'. The Challenger is any participant who joins and plays a single game against the Host. The naming is for convenience and mirrors real-life roles in a Simul.

Guest Members cannot create ChessWorld Simuls.

Visit Join Games ... Create New Simul and fill in the required details. Choose a Simul Name and Simul Objectives carefully — these are the first things Challengers see. Long names may be truncated. If no name is entered, it defaults to “[username]’s Simul”.

Choose the Number of Games to add to your game-load. Since Simuls run continuously, this is fixed. You can choose your preferred color (White, Black, or Mixed), and set a Time Limit (default: 5 days per move). Choose whether games are Rated or Unrated, and optionally restrict by Opponent Rating Range.

Simuls are open to all Members by default. You may restrict to Friends only or by Country (e.g. Same Country as you). Note: A flag on a Homepage does not prove citizenship or residence.

You can allow or disallow Guest Members from joining. To restrict to Full Members, check the appropriate box.

Simuls stay open as long as the Host allows. New Challengers can join when boards become available. Hosts can stop new entries temporarily using the Prevent Enrollments button, which toggles to Allow Enrollments. If you want the Simul to end naturally, leave it in the STOPPED state.

Please refer to Q. What does Tournament Performance Rating, TPR, mean? which appears in the Ratings FAQ's.

A ChessWorld Simul allows Members to Host a Tournament for a number of players, Challengers, at the same time, in a similar manner to a real-life demonstration Simul.

The advantage to the Host is that they can add a fixed number of games to their game-load whilst, for the Challenger, they only add a single game to their game load.

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It is convenient to think of the players in a ChessWorld Simul as being either the Host or the Challenger.

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Guest Members cannot create ChessWorld Simuls.

Creating a Simul is just as easy as creating a normal tournament. Visit Join Games ... Create New Simul and complete the appropriate details.

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Visit Join Games ... Join New Simuls and select from one of the Simuls currently displayed.

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As a Challenger you can end your game at any time by pressing the Resign button.

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This feature is restricted to your Reciprocated Friends, as shown on the My Stuff ... My Friends page.

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Hosts will see the 'clock' icon against any game that has exceeded the time limit. Clicking on this will initiate the Claim Win sequence unless the Challenger is on holiday.

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All rated games can affect your rating. For Hosts, pie-charts show statistics for individual Simuls.

Yes. ChessWorld Simuls are like any other rated game. Results can impact your rating, with safeguards for very large rating gaps.

No. In a Simul the Challenger plays only a single game and, as such, would not be eligible.

Hosts can measure their success by checking the pie-chart, based upon the results of all games exceeding 10 half-moves in length, which appears at the top of every Simul homepage. After completing a number of games you may feel that a useful measure of success, in that Simul, is when your wins exceed 50% of the games played.

To provide you with an accurate means to measure your success, or otherwise, in each of your Simuls we only record the result of games in which more than ten half-moves have been made. The only exception is when a shorter game is concluded by checkmate.

Any games that are allowed to time-out, when they are awarded T-T status, are effectively abandoned and no result is recorded.

These criteria are commonly used across ChessWorld. Be aware that, in the case of such short games, there is no effect on player Ratings.

On every Simul homepage the pie-chart gives a general, graphical indication of your overall performance. In the case of Rated Simuls the Detailed Breakdown by Opponents link provides a detailed breakdown of Simul performance.

In the case of Unrated Simuls, this link provides a list of all completed games.

You can check if a player has Hosted any Simuls by visiting their Homepage and opening the  Events  tab.

If the player has hosted any previous Simuls you will see a link, such as This player created x Simuls. If you click on this link you will see a page where all Simuls Hosted by that player appear at the top of the list. You can check the current status and view the criteria for each Simul.

If you wish to examine the games in a particular Simul more closely simply click on the Simul Name.

Yes. You may create as many concurrent Simuls as you wish and you may choose different criteria for each Simul that you create; always make sure that you provide clear objectives for each Simul.

Be aware that your Simul performance, as measured by the pie-chart that appears on every Simul homepage, is based upon each individual Simul that you create; results from several Simuls cannot be combined.

Yes. In common with other ChessWorld features we allow former Full Members to continue with their present gameload, but our normal Guest Member restrictions apply. The change of Membership status means that some site features become unavailable.

In the case of a ChessWorld Simul, you remain free to continue Hosting any existing games. However, the Simul will no longer be visible to other Members, apart from those who are currently participating. In effect this means that the Simul is closed until such time as you renew your Membership subscription. Once your renewal is confirmed your Simul will become visible once again, unless you have chosen to use the   Prevent Enrollments   option.

Exactly in the same manner as when you are playing conventional ChessWorld games. If, when you are on holiday, the time limit is exceeded, the 'clock' icon will automatically appear against the boards on the Simul homepage but, as in all ChessWorld games, the Claim Win process is disabled until the holiday period has expired.

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One or two Simul icons may appear, with any other ChessWorld icons, next to the player name on the play page and indicate that the player is either currently Hosting an active Simul or has done so in the past.

The red icon indicates that the player is currently Hosting one or more active Simuls which are open to new players, subject to boards being available and any qualifying criteria specified by the Host.

The purple icon indicates that the player has Hosted one or more Simuls in the past. However, at the present time they have applied the  Prevent Enrollments  button to all Simuls that they have created so that no further enrollments can be accepted.

When viewing any board where a player is displaying a Simul icon, the act of rolling the mouse over the icon will display an informative note.

ChessWorld provides a range of different Pyramids available to Full Members. Guest Members are restricted to the Guest Pyramid only.

You can find a list of Pyramids which you are eligible to join by visiting Join Games ... Join New Pyramids or My Stuff ... My Pyramids.

To play a game on a Pyramid you must first join the Pyramid by clicking the Join 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, must be accepted!

Game(s) are set up immediately and the ChessWorld clock starts.

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.

With one exception, there are no rating restrictions on players in any Pyramid.

However, in the interests of fair play and balanced opposition we do prevent any players who have attained a ChessWorld rating of 2500, or above, from making further challenges within their current Pyramid.

When this happens the player is removed from the Pyramid and automatically entered in the Champions League Pyramid where they will have the opportunity to challenge players with a rating of 2500+.

In the event that a player falls below the level of 2500 they may choose to leave the Champions League Pyramid and re-enter one of the existing Pyramids. However, whenever ratings change as a result of normal play the same exclusion process will be invoked.

Unless there is no alternative, to protect the integrity of the Pyramid you should complete 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.

If you do not wish to complete your current games you should resign them as a courtesy to your Opponent, rather than simply allowing them to time out.

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.

The normal Rules of Chess apply.

There are special Rules regarding promotion and demotion between Levels; these are explained in detail on every Pyramid homepage.