What Would a Fun Chess Tournament Look Like?

When I complained last week about the grueling nature of many chess tournaments, one reader asked, “Okay smart guy, how would you run a tournament then?”

Alright, that’s not exactly how he put it, but that was the basic idea. And it’s a fair question. So this week I’ll share some guidelines and a sample schedule of what a fun chess tournament should look like.

Schedule and Time Control

1. Nothing slower than the FIDE standard of 90+30 (90 minutes with a 30 seconds added per move). Whereas many players and organizers see this as a standard you can adjust up or down from, I see it as a maximum that should be reserved for the most prestigious and serious events. With this time control, a single game can last four hours, which is already pushing the upper limits of what’s reasonable. Additionally, the time control should match the vibe of the event, so if you’re going for “casual” the time control should not signal “insanely slow and grueling”.
2. No more than two classical games per day. As with the time control above, I see this as an absolute upper limit, not as a middle ground to adjust from. In Europe they think it’s crazy that we have two classical games per day in the US, but in fact, many tournaments here even try to squeeze in three classical games in a single day. I will usually only play in a tournament like this if I can request a bye in advance for the third round.
3. Rounds should start no earlier than 10am, and end no later than 7pm. This ensures reasonable time for sleep, breakfast, and dinner.

Playing Conditions

1. Boards provided. This is a small thing the Charlotte Chess Center does that makes a big difference. If you’re travelling by air, it makes things much easier if you don’t have to pack a chessboard. If you buy in bulk, you can get tournament chess sets for not much more than $10 per set, and the same sets can be reused for multiple tournaments, so this is something organizers can do cheaply and easily to set their tournaments apart.
2. Water and coffee provided. If a game is going to last multiple hours, water is essential, and many players will want coffee as well.
3. Clean bathrooms. I wish this went without saying, but here we are.

Sample Tournament

Here’s an example of a schedule for a (fictional) tournament. This tournament would be held over a three-day weekend and have a time control of 60+10. The rounds start at the same time every day, and there’s an (optional) event each evening.

Saturday
10am - Round 1
2pm - Round 2
7pm - Master lecture

Sunday
10am - Round 3
2pm - Round 4
7pm - Blitz tournament

Monday
10am - Round 5
2pm - Round 6
7pm - End of tournament party

Some might say, “There’s a lot of time at this tournament where you’re not playing chess.”

Yes, that’s the point! This leaves time to eat, relax, talk to friends, etc. Nonetheless, this doesn’t make it any less of a chess competition. It just shifts the emphasis away from pure survival towards playing your best chess.

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