We'll help you organise it for free: we'll explain how to do everything and set it up
Every building has people who play chess. They just don't know about each other: they live in neighbouring entrances, say hello in the lift and go their separate ways. A tournament between neighbours is the simplest way to change that, and it needs neither a budget nor any experience of organising.
Message us - and we'll help you put together an evening like this in your building for free: we'll give you a plan, the text of an announcement for the chat, an app for the pairings and a sign-up page. All you need is neighbours, tables and two hours. Both residents and property management companies contact us - for the latter there is a separate section below.
Being neighbours is a strange thing. A person can ride the same lift for ten years with people whose names they don't know, even though they share a courtyard, a car park and the same problems with the lift. Chess breaks through this surprisingly well.
In a new building a person knows the neighbours on their landing and the concierge by sight. The other three hundred flats are strangers they ride the lift with in silence
The building chat is for the barrier, leaks and couriers. A reason to write to each other about something pleasant rarely comes up there
No host with a microphone, no stage, no games and no "now let's go round the circle and introduce ourselves". People sit down at the board, and the conversation starts on its own
A schoolchild, their father and a retired neighbour can easily end up at the same table. Few formats can manage that
It isn't a club you have to run for a year. One two-hour tournament - and the building has a dozen people who greet each other by name
If the evening goes well, the second one comes together by itself: people ask when the next one is and bring their neighbours
The type of building decides where to gather and whom to invite. Here is what it usually looks like.
A thousand flats, five blocks, everyone moved in at the same time and nobody knows anybody. This is where a tournament works best: people have long wanted to get to know each other but don't know how
There aren't many buildings, and people already say hello in the courtyard. A tournament turns a polite "hello" into a proper acquaintance
If the building has a lobby, a coworking area, a children's room or a meeting room for residents, you already have a venue and don't need to hire anything
People change often, and there is almost no community. A tournament is one of the few occasions that doesn't ask a person for long-term involvement
Neighbours have known each other for decades, but there is nothing left they do together. Chess brings back what the courtyard once had
The houses are far apart, and chance meetings never happen at all. Here a tournament is also a reason to get as far as the next street
Both residents themselves and property management companies contact us. For a property manager it is a convenient opportunity: a pleasant event for the building that needs no budget, no contractor and no lengthy approvals. The tournament is set up wherever people are comfortable anyway - at the reception and in the lobby, in the lounge area, and in summer on the benches by the entrance and in the gazebo in the courtyard.
An ordinary activity for residents means a contractor, a budget and approvals. Here no budget is needed: you already have the space, and our help is free
People mostly talk to the property management company about leaks, parking and service charges. A pleasant event changes that tone for a while - and it shows in the building chat
The reception and lobby, a lounge area, a residents' meeting room, a children's room. In summer - benches by the entrance, a gazebo or a spot in the courtyard
Chess is quiet: no music, no host with a microphone. The concierge carries on working, residents walk past and come over to watch
After the evening you have the final table, the list of participants and photos - material for a report to the owners, the developer or the building's channel
One evening easily grows into a monthly thing: the building gets its own tradition, and you get an activity you don't have to reinvent every time
A lobby, a lounge area, a children's room, a meeting room. In summer - benches and tables outside the building
The building chat, the management company's app, the noticeboard, the screen in the lift. You already have this set up, and it is the main contribution
Two people per table. Usually everything is already in the lobby or the lounge area
To greet people and show them where to sit. After that the tournament runs itself - the app works out the pairings and the table
On our side we provide everything else for free: a plan for the evening, the announcement text for your channels, an app for the pairings and the table, a sign-up page for residents and tips on the day of the tournament itself. It costs nothing to either the building or the property management company.
The only paid option is if you want our host to come with their own equipment and run the whole evening for you. That is possible in Moscow and the Moscow region, and we agree the terms separately. Everything else is free, and we won't start sending an invoice halfway through the conversation.
We are a property manager - let's discuss a tournamentWe are not selling you an event. We are a chess club that needs more people in the city to play - so we help neighbours put a tournament together just like that.
We'll tell you where to start, how many tables you need, how to work out the timing and how many rounds you'll fit in. No theory - only what you'll need on the night
We'll give you a ready-made text for the building chat and the notice by the lift - one people actually sign up to. The template is below, you can simply copy it
Pairs, the table and tie-breaks are worked out automatically. The organiser doesn't need to know the Swiss system or keep a paper record
Neighbours see the date and place and sign up in two taps, and you know in advance how many people are coming
We'll stay in touch on the day of the tournament: if something goes wrong - late arrivals, an odd number of players, a dispute at the board - we'll help straight away
We'll help you put together the final table and announce the winners in a way that is pleasant for everyone, not only first place
Fewer than eight is no longer a tournament but a get-together over a board, which is lovely too, but there is nothing to count
A lobby, a common room, a children's club, a café on the ground floor, in summer the courtyard or a gazebo. You need tables, chairs and ordinary lighting
In a building with three hundred flats, boards always turn up: just ask in the chat. Clocks are optional - without them people simply play more calmly
This is the main thing. You need a resident or someone from the property management company who will post in the chat and greet people on the evening
You choose a date and a place. Usually it is a Saturday afternoon or a weekday evening after seven. You message us - we send the plan and the announcement text
The announcement goes into the building chat and up by the lift. Sign-up opens - so you can see how many people to expect
A short reminder in the chat. At this stage another third of the participants usually sign up: people leave it to the last minute
You set out the tables, we're in touch. Registration takes a minute, and the first round starts ten minutes after everyone gathers
The final table, the winners, photos. And the main question of the evening: "so when's the next one?"
A detailed breakdown of the organisation is in the step-by-step guide and the organiser's checklist. How to bring people in - a separate page.
Copy it, change the date, place and link - and send it. The text is built so that even those who "can't play" reply to it: it is exactly their fear that the first two lines remove.
Hi neighbours! On Saturday 12 October at 15:00 in the lobby of block one we're holding a chess tournament for the residents of our building. Come along even if the last time you played was at school: your level doesn't matter, opponents are matched by strength, and nobody gets crushed. We play short games, everyone will have 5-6 opponents, and the whole tournament takes about two hours. Children are welcome too - they can come with their parents. No need to bring your own boards, everything will be there. To sign up: <a link or "reply + in this chat">. Prizes from the neighbours for the winners, and for everyone else - a nice Saturday and some new acquaintances.
A notice by the lift works as well as the chat: half the building reads exactly that. An A4 sheet, a large heading "Chess tournament for residents", the date, time, place and one line saying "your level doesn't matter".
Five to seven short games, a new opponent each time, a table at the end. The simplest and clearest option
Adults and children together, with a handicap: a child gets more time per move. It works as a family weekend event
Buildings compete against each other, and points add up to a team score. In big developments this goes down better than individual standings
Not one evening but a season: people play once a month and points build up. That is how a building gets its own tradition and its own champion
Similar formats - neighbourhood tournament, family tournament, home tournament, beginners' tournament.
So that the word "free" doesn't turn into an unpleasant surprise, here it is point by point.
Free. The plan, the announcement text, the pairing app, the event page, tips on the day of the tournament and help with the results
Usually free: the residents themselves have boards. If there are no boards at all, we'll tell you where to hire them
Up to the building. Often the neighbours chip in or the property management company helps; sometimes there are no prizes at all - people play for the fun of it
This is a separate service and only in Moscow and the Moscow region: we come with our own equipment and run the evening. It is discussed separately and it costs money - we won't pretend otherwise
Tell us in a couple of lines: what kind of building it is, roughly how many neighbours are ready to play, whether there is a shared space and which city you are in. We'll reply the same day and send you a plan for the evening and the announcement text.
Want to do it yourself? The app is free: create a tournament in Vibe Chess
The help is, yes: the plan, the announcement text, the app, the sign-up page, tips on the day of the tournament. We need this as much as you do: the more people in the city play chess face to face, the better for our club. Only one thing can be paid - if you want our host to come with equipment and run the whole evening for you; that is a Moscow thing, and we agree on it separately.
To be honest: we are a chess club and we live by people playing. Some of those who first sit down at a board in their own building's courtyard later come to our city evenings or create tournaments in the app. So helping neighbours put a tournament together is in our interest, and there is no catch.
It will, and it is the most common case. Knowing how the pieces move is enough; from the second round the pairing puts people of a similar level together, so lopsided games hardly ever happen. For those who have completely forgotten the rules, we'll give you a short cheat sheet.
Eight or more. Twelve to twenty works well: you don't need many tables, and the evening feels lively. Over forty and you need a second person to help - we'll tell you how.
There is usually an option: a café or bakery on the ground floor, a children's club, a nearby coworking space, and in summer the courtyard, a gazebo or a spot outside the building. All you need is tables, chairs and light.
If you plan to meet in a shared space in the building - yes, usually a letter or a conversation is enough. Many property managers are only too glad: an event for residents that costs them nothing. If needed, we'll help you word the letter.
Of course, and it is even simpler that way: you have both the space and a channel to the residents. It is precisely property management companies that contact us - the format suits a building day, the house-warming of a new block, the opening of a lobby or simply a regular activity for residents. The help is free: no budget and no contract with a supplier will be needed.
Most often at the reception or in the lobby: there are tables and light, and people walk past anyway. Next in popularity are the lounge area and the residents' meeting room, the children's room, and in summer the benches by the entrance, a gazebo and the courtyard.
Usually a decision by the property management company itself is enough: the event is free, nothing gets rebuilt and no shared money is spent. If you normally report back, after the evening you'll have the table, the list of participants and photos - exactly what goes into a report.
Children are half the success of these tournaments. You can play one combined tournament or run a separate children's block before the adults'. Responsibility for the child stays with the parents: we are not a children's club and don't replace supervision.
That is normal for a first time: some neighbours simply didn't see the announcement. Sometimes it is enough to move it to a weekend, put a notice up by the lift and post in the chat again three days before. The second tournament almost always gathers more people than the first.
Yes, online help works in any city - from the plan and the announcement to the app and the table. We can only come in person in Moscow and the Moscow region, and we'll say so straight away to avoid false expectations.
If the tournament is for a company rather than a building - corporate tournaments. If you are a venue on the ground floor and want evenings like this at your place - an evening at your venue. For children - children's tournament and a guide for parents. To simply play in the city - the club's chess evenings. To run a courtyard tournament or a building-against-building match on your own - neighbourhood tournament in the app.
