Two hours in your own office instead of a whole day at a country retreat
No coach, no venue hire, no worrying about the weather. We come to you with boards and clocks, run the evening and leave, and the team heads home at the usual time. From eight people to a hundred.
The method and running order are covered on the chess team building page. This one is about how the numbers work out in Moscow and which formats teams pick when the goal is to involve everyone rather than find the strongest player.
In Moscow the biggest cost of team building is not money but people's time and the commute. Here is an honest comparison of the usual options on the one parameter that can actually be measured.
A whole day, a coach there and back, and the weather decides half the programme
Works as long as the team is not too big, and needs a host with enough energy for the whole night
Two hours on your own turf: a meeting room or a hall, nothing to rent and nowhere to travel
We are not saying an away day is a bad format: it is about something else and solves different problems. But if the goal is to bring people together on a weeknight, then with Moscow logistics two hours on your own turf beats any trip out of town.
Half the office skips team activities because they demand being loud. At the board you do not have to be: the game itself gives you a reason to sit together and talk
No ropes, obstacle courses or sportswear. Almost any employee can take part
No conclusions about the team drawn from the games and no feedback from the host. People play, they are not being assessed
What we do not promise is measurable growth in engagement or team cohesion: there is no way to measure that after a single evening. More on the limits of the format on the general chess team building page.
A regular tournament finds the strongest player. If your goal is different - to involve the whole team, including people who last saw chess pieces at school - pick one of these.
Departments play against each other and points add up to team totals. Even a weak player still earns the team half a point for a draw
Two people share one board, take turns moving and are not allowed to confer out loud. More laughter than any quiz, and only one of the two needs to know how to play
One strong player against twenty of your people. Everyone plays at once, nobody waits for their turn, and losing does not sting
For a big event: tables stay out all evening and people drop by in between. It draws in those who would never sign up in advance
Detailed guides - a tournament between departments, a simultaneous exhibition, chess activities for corporate events, a beginners' tournament.
Tell us how many people, which part of Moscow, whether you have your own space and what matters more - involving everyone or finding a champion after all. We reply the same day with a suggested format and a price.
If what you need is a proper tournament with standings and a winner - corporate tournaments in Moscow.
A tournament is a competition: standings, places, a winner. Team building is about involvement: what matters is that everyone plays, not that someone wins. Technically it is the same boards and clocks, but the formats and the way it is run differ, so it is worth choosing deliberately.
That is exactly the main argument for this format: nothing to rent and nowhere to travel. Two hours after work in your own meeting room or canteen; we bring everything needed.
That is the usual case, and it is what pair chess and the simultaneous exhibition are for: there only one of the two, or nobody at all, needs to know how to play. A regular tournament works too - the Swiss system separates beginners from strong players from round two.
From eight to a hundred. For a large company in Moscow, the usual choice is a walk-up-and-play zone or a simul: that way far more people get to the boards in one evening than in a tournament.
Tables at two people per table and normal lighting are enough. A meeting room, the canteen, an open-plan office after six or a private room in a restaurant all work - as long as there is no loud music nearby.
No, and that is a matter of principle. We do not turn the game into a staff assessment: no conclusions about leadership or stress resilience drawn from the games. People come to play, not to sit an assessment.
Usually quickly: team building needs neither a venue nor special preparation. The exception is December, when all the dates are taken well in advance.
Yes, including New Moscow and the nearer parts of the Moscow region. For those addresses we leave with extra time, so we agree the date and start time in advance.
Every corporate format in the city - tournaments in Moscow. In December - a New Year corporate party. Welcoming new hires - welcome day. In your own office - an office tournament in Moscow.
