Chess tournament guides

Plain-English guides for club organizers and tournament directors — no FIDE handbook required.

How to Run a Swiss Chess Tournament

A step-by-step walkthrough: how many rounds to use, how round 1 pairings work, avoiding rematches, byes, and crowning a champion.

Buchholz Tiebreak Explained

What Buchholz, Sonneborn-Berger, and Cumulative tiebreaks actually measure, with worked examples — and which one to pick.

Free Chess Tournament Software: What to Look For

A buyer's checklist for pairing software — offline use, formats supported, and what's actually free versus free-with-a-catch.