How to prepare for a chess tournament broadcast: the organiser's checklist

The organiser needs no separate arbiter's laptop, no pairing program, no electronic boards and no paid subscription. Everything works in one app on ordinary phones:

There is no limit on the number of players: the Maximum participants field can be left empty when you create the tournament, and sign-up stays open to everyone. If you want a cap, set it there, and sign-up closes by itself when the places run out.

• • Up to 100 tables in one tournament. That means up to 200 people at the boards at once, and every board with a camera can go on air.
• • Up to 20 rounds. Enough for an evening blitz or a multi-day event.
• • The broadcast page shows every game in play at once and picks the layout for the screen size: one game fills the wall, dozens of boards form a grid.
• • Several tournaments at once - possible: each has its own pairings, standings and hall screen.

Put Vibe Chess on every phone that will be a camera at a table and on the organiser's phone. The app installs from the browser, without an app store: on an iPhone through Safari - Add to Home Screen, on Android through Chrome - Install app. You sign in once - through Telegram or VK ID. After that the installed app works directly, without Telegram and without a VPN.

Nothing to buy or renew: the app and the broadcast are free. So go straight to creating the tournament: Games → Create your own game → Swiss system, round robin, team tournament or arena. The tournament can be linked to a club league right away. Enter the name, description, city, venue, date, time control, number of rounds and tables.

There is no need to load pairings from another program - the app makes them itself by the rules of the Swiss or round-robin system. Your job the day before is to check that everything is ready to start:

• ☐The list of players is complete and the names are spelt correctly.
• ☐The number of tables matches the number of boards in the hall.
• ☐If you need separate standings, the players are split into groups (children and adults, beginners and experienced).
• ☐Players without a phone are added as guests - they also get pairings and a place in the table.
• ☐On the day, attendance is marked: only those present are paired.

Checklist for the phones

• ☐The app is installed and signed in on every phone.
• ☐Phones are charged to 100%, with power banks or an extension lead at the tables.
• ☐Do Not Disturb is on, so calls and notifications do not interrupt recording.
• ☐Screen auto-lock is off or extended for the tournament.
• ☐The main camera, no zoom: if the phone switched to the telephoto lens by itself, move it a little further away.

Checklist for the stands

• ☐The clip-on holder or desk tripod is fixed firmly to the edge of the table and does not wobble.
• ☐The phone looks at the board from above or from the side so the whole board is in the frame.
• ☐The stand does not get in the way of moving pieces or pressing the clock.
• ☐The light is even, without bright glare on the board.
• ☐Record the game with camera is open on the game card - recording starts by itself when the clock starts.

Stable internet is the basis of a broadcast. Any will do: venue Wi-Fi or a good mobile network. The main thing is stability without drop-outs at every table, and if every camera uses one venue network, test it under load in advance - with several phones at once.

• ☐The app opens and works at the furthest table.
• ☐There is a backup channel: a mobile router or a hotspot from a phone on another network.
• ☐Camera phones come first: they are the ones sending moves to the broadcast.

The day before or an hour before the start, play one trial game exactly as it will be at the tournament: a phone with the clock, a phone with the camera on a stand, ordinary pieces.

• ☐The game appeared on live.playvibechess.com marked "getting ready", and moves started after the clock started.
• ☐The last move is highlighted, and the result appeared on the board after it was marked.
• ☐The screen in the hall shows the broadcast with no scrolling.

A fan zone turns a tournament into an event on the level of big championships. Fans stay until the end, and players who have finished come to watch the next boards. What it should have:

Where to put the screen, how much room it needs and how not to disturb the players - a fan zone at a chess tournament.

A commentator is the highlight of a broadcast tournament. Even a simple account of "what is happening on board one right now" keeps the hall at the screen and makes the games clear to people who rarely play themselves.

Whom to invite and what to talk about during a round - a chess tournament commentator.

For those who could not come, the broadcast opens at live.playvibechess.com- in a browser on a computer, a TV or a phone, without the app and without signing in. Publish the link on the club's social media, in the players' chat and in the parents' chat if the tournament is for children. A child plays in one city while the parents follow every move from a business trip - that is the real gift of a broadcast.

You can send viewers a guide together with the link - how to watch a chess tournament broadcast.

• • Watches the broadcast. If a board freezes - go to the table: the phone has slipped, run out of charge or lost connection.
• • Helps with the score. Players mark the result themselves; if they forget or disagree, the organiser enters the score for them.
• • Does not rush the rounds. The app pairs the next round by itself as soon as every table has finished.
• • Keeps in touch with the commentator. Points out an interesting position or who is heading for a record.

When the last round is over, the app finishes the tournament by itself and sends every player their result. The organiser keeps the final standings with tie-breaks, the results sheet as a PDF for printing and the prize-giving, a TRF export for the federation and all the recorded games - they can be stepped through and analysed by an engine.

After the tournament players can rate the organiser - good reviews help gather even more people for the next tournament. Publish photos and the results link the same evening - photos and content from the tournament.