💡 Both Swiss and Arena Tournaments are starting constantly on Chess.com, so there will always be an event to take part in!
Go to the bottom of this article for the full detailed Tournament Schedule.
How to join
Go to 'Play', and then click on the Tournaments button. Or, click here: https://www.chess.com/play/online/tournaments
This will open the pop-up tournament page, where you can browse and join the tournament of your choice.
You can use the tabs on this page to filter your tournament search:
Tab | What it Does |
| Shows you a list of ongoing and upcoming tournaments, with details like tournament type, duration, start time, and number of players. Simply click Join next to the tournament to join right away!
📝 You can only join a tournament at most one hour before the tournament starts.
Even if the tournament has already started, often you will still be able to join - though you will have a disadvantage if some games have already been played! |
| This will show you a visual representation of the ongoing and upcoming tournaments.
Click on any of the bars here to be taken to the tournament, where you can join if possible, or just watch and chat! |
| This will show only tournaments that have already started, though you will still be able to join some of them (if they are Arena tournaments, for example) |
| Choose this option to host your own tournament!
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| This will show all available seeks you can join, as well as any incoming challenges you've received and outgoing challenges you've sent. |
Current 
Schedule
Watch
Create
Seeks/Challenges
The Daily Tournaments option will take you to a separate page for Daily tournaments. Daily tournaments are done in a different format and take much longer to play out, so they are not shown on this same schedule. You can read more about Daily tournaments here.
The Tournament Directory option will open a new tab with the general Tournament page. You can also find this page by hovering on 'Play' in the left-side menu of Chess.com and then selecting 'Tournaments'
After joining
After you join or open the tournament, it will be displayed in a new tab on your Play screen, in the same way a new game or observed game is displayed:
Below the title, tournament details are displayed. In the image above, it shows that this tournament is Standard chess with 76 participants having joined so far. The tournament is scheduled to start in 37 minutes, and pairings will be determined by player ratings.
On the right side of the title, the remaining tournament time is shown (relevant for arena tournaments only). In this instance, 30 minutes remain as the arena has not yet started.
If you joined accidentally, or don't want to play anymore, simply close out the tournament tab by clicking the 'x'
This will withdraw you from the tournament.
📝 In Arena tournaments, you can leave and rejoin as often as you like. For Swiss tournaments, you will not be able to rejoin. Read more about withdrawing from tournaments here.
One minute before the tournament begins, players will receive a reminder in all chat areas and alerts, letting them know to be ready. Once the tournament begins, your game will start automatically, so make sure you're in the tournament window and ready to play!
Here is more information on the tabs shown to you after joining a tournament
Tab | What it Does |
Standings | This will show who is winning the tournament currently. In the example image above, the tournament has not started, so it shows the players by order of rating, highest to lowest. Once the tournament starts, and games are played, the players will be shown in order of their score.
The numbers to the right of the name show the wins out of the total games played. 4/4 means the player has won all four games. The second number to the right of the score is the member's tie-break score (Click here to learn more about tie-break scores.)
📝 For Swiss tournaments, standings are updated at the end of each round, not at the end of each game. Click here to read more about Swiss tournaments
The red number next to the flame icon is the player's win streak. In Arena tournaments, you get more points if you are on a win streak. The other number is the player's total score. When the time runs out, the player with the most points wins! Read more about Arena tournaments here! |
Games | This tab shows a list of all the ongoing games in the tournament. Click on a game to watch it!
Even if you aren't playing in the tournament, you can still view the Games tab and watch games. This can be a fun way to watch tournaments such as Titled Tuesday or Arena Kings and follow your favorite players. |
Chat | This is where players can chat before and after the event, it is also where the announcement of the winners will be when the tournament is over. Spectators can also chat here as the tournament is ongoing. |
Tournament Schedule
While you can see the upcoming tournaments on our tournament schedule page, you may want to plan for a tournament farther in advance. Below, you can see when each type of tournament will start, for as far ahead as you like.
The tournament schedule repeats every two hours. Some tournaments cycle through various variants or time controls throughout the day.
📝 Times are based on Pacific time (GMT -7)
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