A broader look at which HR tasks chess covers - chess team building.
Welcome day is packed, and a full tournament won't fit into it. A shortened format works: four rounds of blitz, with no standings and no prizegiving.
| Minute | What happens |
|---|---|
| 0 | The rules in five minutes - for those who haven't played |
| 5 | Round 1: new starters play the "old hands", pairs set by hand |
| 14 | Round 2: the system makes the pairs |
| 23 | Round 3 |
| 32 | Round 4, then free play for anyone who wants it |
The key detail is the first round. Its pairs are set by hand: each new starter sits opposite someone from the team they are joining. After that the system does the work, and it no longer looks staged. How the pairing works - running a chess tournament.
We don't announce places.Welcome day doesn't need a winner: the goal is not to find the strongest player but to mix people up. A standings table rather gets in the way here - the new starter is nervous enough already. A script for explaining the rules - how to explain the rules to a beginner.
The format works from eight participants. With fewer, pairs start repeating as early as the third round, and the point of mixing is lost.
| Participants | Rounds | Who the new starter gets to know |
|---|---|---|
| 8-12 | 4 | four colleagues |
| 12-20 | 4-5 | four or five |
| 20+ | 5 | five, but the room is noisier |
If there are only two or three new starters, you don't need a separate event: it is easier to bring them to the company's regular tournament, if there is one. That is the main argument for a regular format - there is somewhere to bring a new starter in any month, not only on welcome day.
Distributed teams often hold welcome day on a video call, and most activities fall apart there. Chess is one of the few things that moves online without losing anything: a game looks the same in a room and on a screen.
The mechanics are the same: the system makes the pairs, people play in the browser, and the call stays open - that is where the conversation everything was set up for happens. The mixed option, with part of the team in the office and part at home, is covered separately - hybrid chess tournament.
It runs in the Vibe Chess app: the pairing and the standings are worked out automatically, and all the organiser has to do is announce the start. What it looks like - a tournament in the app.
For a one-off event it is easier to hire the equipment - chess sets for a tournament. If nobody in the company plays at all, it is worth combining welcome day with a masterclass.
Because it doesn't demand publicity from a person on the day they are least ready for it. At the board you don't have to say anything about yourself out loud, yet the conversation starts anyway - the two of you have something to do together. On top of that, pairs change by themselves: over four rounds a new starter talks to four colleagues.
Forty minutes: five to explain the rules and four rounds of blitz. It is a shortened format made specifically for a packed welcome day schedule - with no standings and no prizegiving.
Eight or more. With fewer, pairs start repeating as early as the third round, and the point of mixing is lost. If there are two or three new starters, you don't need a separate event - it is easier to bring them to the company's regular tournament.
Yes, and that is the main setting of the format: first-round pairs are set by hand, and each new starter sits opposite someone from their own team. After that the system makes the pairs itself, and it no longer looks staged.
Not on welcome day. The goal is not to find the strongest player but to mix people up, and a standings table rather gets in the way here: the new starter is nervous enough already. Save the prizegiving for ordinary tournaments.
The format moves online without losing anything: a game looks the same in a room and on a screen. The system makes the pairs, people play in the browser, and the call stays open - that is where the conversation happens. The mixed option, with part of the team in the office and part at home, works too.
No arbiter skills required. The app takes over the part that usually stops people from running tournaments at all: who plays whom in each round and who finishes first.
The bot is constantly improved based on real tournaments. If you need a feature that isn't there yet, message the developers right inside the bot with the /support command. Many features appeared exactly because organizers asked for them, and useful ideas get added quickly.
Related - chess team building, masterclass, office tournament, hybrid tournament.
At the board since childhood: hazy about his rating, precise about every rook he has blundered. Counts an evening as a good one if the opponent stayed to talk afterwards instead of rushing off to check with an engine. Message →
