A strict grid, a beautiful solution and an outcome nobody argues about on taste
Architecture practices, design studios, product teams, graphics and interiors. An evening where nobody will judge your work with the words “I just don't like it”.
There are two ways in. Come on your own to a regular club evening, where games are already under way. Or book your own tournament - a private one: for your studio, at a festival or exhibition, for a design school, or as a match against another practice.
If your work is closer to calculation and production than to how things look, you're probably after chess for engineers.
No open tournament yet · private ones on request
We haven't scheduled a general tournament for architects and designers with open sign-up yet, and we won't invent a date: the schedule lives in the app, and when one is announced it will show up there. But we can put together a private tournament for your studio or festival at any time- there's no need to wait for the general calendar. And if you just want to play, the club already runs regular chess evenings in Moscow.
A designer's work consists almost entirely of defending a decision: it gets discussed, revised and judged on taste. Chess works differently, and that is the whole point of the evening.
No "can you make it look more modern", no sign-off from three people with three opinions. A move either works or it doesn't, and you find out right away.
Chess has brilliancy prizes - awarded not to the tournament winner but for the most beautiful game. A rare case where the striking solution and the right one are the same thing.
Eight by eight, six kinds of piece, a symmetrical start. The constraint couldn't be stricter, yet there are more possibilities inside it than anyone could ever work through.
The beauty part isn't a figure of speech: there's a whole genre where beauty is the criterion - chess composition, problems and studies. What we won't promise is that chess will train your eye or help with composition: there's nothing to back that up.
Architecture practices · project architects · urban planners · conservation architects
Interior design · industrial design · furniture · lighting
Graphic designers · art directors · illustrators · type designers
Product designers · UX and UI · motion · 3D
Nobody asks for a portfolio at the door. At the board, taste and a trained eye won't help you anyway.
Three kinds of people end up side by side on the evening: those who play every day, those who last played back at art school, and those who open a chess app over lunch. All three leave happy, and here's why.
Pairings follow the Swiss system: after the first round you're matched with people of your own level and play only them from then on. Beginners don't get crushed, and strong players don't get bored.
The only requirement is knowing how the pieces move. If you're rusty: how the pieces move, the rules of chess, tactics for beginners.
Pick your city, see what's on and sign up in two taps. No forms, no rating required.
On your own or with the whole studio. We bring the boards and clocks; you don't need to know anyone.
A few blitz games under the Swiss system. The app picks your opponent by strength, not alphabetically.
Points and tiebreaks are calculated automatically and the results are visible straight away. Nothing to debate: the numbers are in.
Pairings, matchups and standings are handled by the Vibe Chess app, using the bbpPairings engine under FIDE rules. How the system works - the Swiss system.
Nobody will ask for "a few more options". The decision is made, and the next move is your opponent's.
Wooden pieces, a mechanical clock, a paper scoresheet. After a day in the model, you feel the difference physically.
No subjective verdicts, no "the client didn't love it". At the end of the evening there's one set of standings, the same for everyone.
An architect, a product designer and a type designer at the same table - usually that only happens at a festival.
A reason to pull the practice away from a deadline that doesn't feel like compulsory team building.
First place and a club rating that carries over between evenings.
No need to wait for the general calendar. We put together a private tournament for a specific practice, school or festival venue: we arrive with boards and clocks, run the evening, and handle the pairings and standings. You provide the people, the room and the date.
A private evening for a practice or design department: the project team, the studio or everyone at once. Anywhere from eight people to a hundred.
Your team against a team from another studio, or against a contractor. The score is the sum of the games on every board.
A chess area at a design festival, architecture awards or an exhibition. People drop by and play between talks.
A tournament for a course, a school or a professional community: a ready-made evening programme you don't have to host yourselves.
We reply the same day and tell you what we need from you and what it costs for your headcount.
A format of its own: two teams sit down facing each other. Two studios, a practice against a contractor, or design against development - a match with a team score and a winner.
We balance the line-ups by strength so the match isn't a whitewash by move three. Within one company, “design vs development” goes down especially well: the argument is an old one, and at last there'll be a score.
We can also help find the other team - just tell us you're up for it.
Set up a match between studiosA tournament as part of a company event - corporate tournaments. Tournaments between companies in the same industry - industry tournaments. The same format for other professions - engineers, programmers, doctors, dentists, finance professionals, economists, data analysts, lawyers, entrepreneurs, academics and teachers, marketers.
Yes, and most people are in the same boat. All you need is to know how the pieces move. The Swiss system pairs you with players of your own level from the second round on, so lopsided games are rare.
No. No rating, no title, no tournament experience needed. You get an internal club rating automatically after your first game.
Possibly, but the neighbouring page is a closer fit: it's about calculation, production and approvals. This one is about work that gets judged on taste. The evenings themselves are shared, so you can come to any of them.
Yes, that's how most people come. Over the evening you'll play several people and chat with them along the way.
Yes. The team plays within the general tournament, and the results can be tallied separately. If you'd like a private evening just for your people, that's a different format: drop us a message.
Usually two to two and a half hours of play. A blitz game takes about ten minutes, and there are five to seven rounds.
Yes, it's a long-standing tradition: tournaments single out the most beautiful game with a separate prize, and its author may not win the event itself. There's even a whole genre where beauty is the main criterion - chess composition, problems and studies.
Yes, it's one of the most common requests. You need a corner with a few tables; the rest is on us: boards, clocks, a host and the scoring. The format works both as a drop-in "walk up and play" and as a full evening tournament.
No date has been set yet. The schedule lives in the app: open it, pick a city and you'll see the club's upcoming evenings, and when an industry tournament is announced it will appear there too. You can come to a regular evening right now.
Nothing. We bring the boards, clocks and scoresheets. The app for pairings and standings is free, and you don't have to install it in advance.
An evening where you don't have to defend your decisions
There's no date for a general tournament for architects and designers yet, and we're not making one up. Open the app: that's where upcoming evenings are listed, and where an industry tournament will appear too. A private one for your studio we can organise any time.
♟ playvibechess.com/app
