How can I create a Live (Blitz, Bullet, Rapid) Tournament?
Check out this support video, or read on below!
The first step to create a Live tournament is to be the owner or admin of a club! Live tournaments are always created through a club. If you need a club, you can see how to create your own club here, or how to join a club here. Once you are a club owner, admin, or coordinator, you can create your own Live tournaments in your club!
There are two ways to get to the tournament creation menu. First, hover over 'Play' in the left menu, then click 'Play.' From the new game menu, click on 'Tournaments' on the bottom:
If you are at least coordinator level in a club, you will then see the option to start a Club Event:
Alternatively, you can also go to the home page of your club, and click New Live Tournament from the Manage Club menu on the right side:
Both options will take you to create a new Live tournament for your club.
Next, you must choose Swiss or Arena tournament.
A Swiss tournament goes for a set number of rounds, and in a Swiss tournament (unlike Round Robin, which Daily tournaments use) no players are eliminated. Every player will play every round, and the player with the highest number of points at the end of the tournament is the winner.
An Arena tournament is not based on rounds but instead has a time limit, and the player with the most points when the time is up wins. The options are very similar between these two choices:
After choosing the tournament type, pick a name for your tournament, and pick which club the tournament is for. This dropdown will contain all the clubs you are able to create tournaments for.
Next, choose the game type. You can choose between Standard, 960, 3 check, King of the Hill, or Crazyhouse. These options are the same for Arena tournaments.
The time control can be any of the standard time controls, or a custom choice.
Choose a start date and start time. The start time will be based on your own time zone.
Also please note that regardless of when you set the tournament start date, members will not be able to join until 1 hour before the tournament starts.
The Rating, Rounds and Players options only appear if you are creating a Swiss tournament. Here you can determine the rating range of players who can join, the number of rounds in the tournament, and how many players can join.
Important note about Rounds: A certain number of players are required for the tournament to go the number of rounds chosen. The number of players needed to have a 5 round tournament, for example, is the number of rounds times 2, or 10 players (for 6 rounds it is 12 players, for 7 rounds 14 players, and so on). If you choose 5 rounds, but only 9 players show up, for example, the tournament will end at 4 rounds. Players who leave early can also cause the tournament to end early. If you have 10 players then someone leaves in round four, dropping the number to 9, the tournament will end early. So the number of rounds you choose when you create the tournament is really the maximum number of rounds you want to be possible. If 20 players show up, for example, instead continuing on, the tournament would end at 5 rounds because you chose 5 rounds.
If you are creating an Arena tournament, instead you will see the Duration option:
This will determine how long the Arena lasts.
The final option, available in both Arena and Swiss tournaments is the Minimum Games option
This will allow you to limit the tournament to members who have played a certain amount of games.
Once all the options are filled out, click Create and your tournament is ready for members of your club to join!
NOTE: an Arena tournament needs at least 5 participants to start! If less than 5 members have joined when it is time for the Arena tournament to start, the tournament will be canceled.
If the information in this article is out of date, incorrect, or unclear, or if you have questions about it, please let us know!