An event you won't have to carry on your own shoulders
You have eight to ten occasions a year to bring people together, and half of them go the same way: a buffet, a host, party games that grown adults put up with out of politeness. A chess tournament is a format with a clear start, a finale and a winner, and all it needs from you is people, a room and a date.
We bring the boards and clocks, run the evening, handle the pairings and standings, and hand you the final results sheet and the photos. It works for anywhere from eight people to a hundred - from a meeting room to an offsite hall.
People, a room and a date. Plus the call on who's invited: one team, a department or the whole company.
Boards, clocks, scoresheets, a host, pairings, arbiting, scoring and announcing the winners.
One email to get sign-off and a list of participants. No script, no rehearsal, no host from your own staff.
You don't need a host from your own team, a script or a rehearsal. If you'd rather run it yourselves without a contractor, that works too: how to organise a tournament and the organiser's checklist were written exactly for that, and the pairing app is free.
One and the same format covers almost the entire corporate events calendar. For each occasion we have a scenario worked out - you can open it and see how it works before you even write to us.
Get this month's new starters acquainted without the "tell us about yourself" circle
Instead of a third toast, a tournament that ends with a winner rather than a buffet that drags on
Two holidays (Defender of the Fatherland Day and International Women's Day) when people usually hand out gift sets and go home. Here there's something to do together
A part of the celebration with a clear finale and a prizegiving
A format where a child sits down against an adult and it doesn't look like the grown-up is letting them win
A thinking event for the scoreboard, for those who aren't running the relay or playing volleyball
Individual and team standings at once: sales against engineering, warehouse against office
Not one evening but several rounds with overall standings - for when you need something regular rather than a one-off
A chess area between talks or an evening tournament after the programme
The simplest way in: a meeting room, two hours after work, no venue hire
A hybrid format for when some people are in the office and others join from other cities
Didn't find your occasion? Take a look at eight activity formats or tell us what the event is: we'll fit the format to the task, not the other way round.
A team or a small company. Fits in a meeting room and takes about two hours
A department or a mid-sized office. You need a room with tables; the format is the same
A big event: several zones, a dedicated host, a prizegiving on stage
Several rounds with overall standings instead of a single evening
The event ends, but you're the one who has to report on it. So the tournament leaves behind more than just impressions.
The final results sheet with places, points and tiebreaks. You can show it to management without retelling the evening in words.
Candid shots of the games and the prizegiving - material for the intranet and the company chat.
The top three and, if you like, separate awards: best newcomer, best team, game of the evening.
Players' ratings carry over between events, so the second tournament doesn't start from scratch.
What to shoot and how to use it afterwards is covered separately - photos and content from a tournament. How to read the results sheet - the tournament crosstable.
You read a dozen proposals like this in a row, so we'll say up front what ours won't include.
We don't promise higher engagement or team cohesion.That can't be measured after a single evening, and we're not going to make up numbers from other people's events.
We don't turn the tournament into a training session. No competency assessment, no conclusions about the team drawn from the games. People are playing, not being evaluated.
We don't promise everyone will come. Chess draws the people it appeals to - usually a noticeable share of the office, but not the whole office. The upside is that those who come stay to the end instead of slipping away after the second party game.
What the format actually delivers, and why it works where quizzes didn't, is covered on the corporate tournaments page and in chess team building.
Write two lines: how many people, what the occasion is, which city and roughly when. We'll reply the same day with a price and what we need from you. If the format isn't a fit, we'll tell you that too.
To see in advance what the budget is made of - what a tournament costs and the commercial proposal.
Yes, that's the usual situation. Knowing how the pieces move is enough; Swiss pairings put people of similar level together from the second round on, so lopsided games are rare. For complete beginners there's a separate warm-up before the start.
They usually become spectators and commentators, and that works: people watch their colleagues' games more eagerly than strangers'. If you like, we add a side area - puzzle solving or a simultaneous exhibition, where people can have a go without a standings table.
Usually one email to get sign-off and a list of participants. The script, host, equipment, pairings and scoring are on us; the company doesn't need a person in charge on the night or a rehearsal.
Tables and chairs at two people per table, ordinary lighting and a power socket. A meeting room, canteen, restaurant or an offsite hall will all do. No stage or sound system is required, although a microphone helps at big tournaments.
The price depends on the number of participants, the venue and the format. Drop us a message - we'll reply the same day with a price for your brief; how the budget breaks down is covered on a separate page.
We discuss that when you get in touch: write to us and we'll explain how to set everything up to fit your procurement rules.
Within reason, yes: your branding in the tournament area, your own name for the event, your own prizes and awards. The rules of play stay FIDE rules - we don't rework them for branding.
Chess is one of the few formats almost everyone can take part in: it's played sitting down with no physical exertion. What's worth planning for is covered on a separate page about accessible tournaments.
The earlier the better - especially in December and before holidays, when venues and dates get snapped up. But we can also put a tournament together quickly: write to us and we'll tell you honestly whether we can make your date.
Possibly: we're based in Moscow, and travelling to another city is decided case by case. Tell us where you are and we'll say plainly whether we can take it on.
More on the topic - an accessible tournament, a tournament for beginners, a simultaneous exhibition, questions about running tournaments.
Venues - the office, a restaurant, a hotel, a coworking space. Tied to a city - tournaments in Moscow and a New Year party in Moscow. Running it yourselves and only need a person - a host and arbiter for the tournament. Client events - a tournament for clients and partners. Tournaments between companies in the same industry - industry tournaments, with ready-made programmes for programmers, for doctors, for finance professionals, for lawyers, for engineers, for marketers and for entrepreneurs. Running a tournament on your own - a corporate tournament in the app.
Tell us the occasion and the headcount - we'll handle the rest
We reply the same day. If you'd like to try the format yourself first, come to a regular club evening - the schedule is in the app.
♟ playvibechess.com/app
