A tournament is created in a six-step chat with /create_tournament: name, venue, date and time, time control, number of rounds, player limit. Then you run it with commands: /open_registration and /close_registration for the field, /start_tournament to start, /next_round between rounds, /finish_tournament at the end. A half-finished tournament is saved as a draft. Full breakdown in the organizer guide.
The bot's core is the Swiss pairing engine. It never repeats opponents, alternates colors, and on an odd count gives one player a BYE (a bye with a point), avoiding giving it to the same person twice while others remain. All of this - the main headache of running a tournament by hand - happens automatically in seconds. How many rounds to set is in the how many rounds in the Swiss article.
After a round starts, the bot sends each player their opponent and table number - /my_pairing shows the pairing anytime. Players report results with buttons (win, loss, draw, no-show). If only one reports, the other gets a confirmation request; on silence the bot accepts it; on a mismatch the dispute goes to the organizer with manual-result buttons.
The table (/standings) with points and Buchholz is recomputed after every round. A player sees their place in real time.
Two practical pluses. First, guest mode: the organizer adds a participant without Telegram by name, they play like everyone else, and the organizer enters their results - see guest without Telegram. Second, a chess clock with a move counter, also available as a free chess clock on a phone with Fischer increment and a move counter.
The bot's interface is translated into 11 languages: Russian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Turkish, Indonesian, Hindi and Persian. Each participant sees the bot in their own language, chosen in the profile.
Thanks to that, a tournament can run not only in Russia but in mixed international groups and other countries: players from different countries use the bot each in their own language while the organizer runs a common tournament.
Honestly about the limits, to set expectations. The bot works by the Swiss system - there is no separate round-robin mode (for small groups that's no problem, see 8-player tournament). It does not compute an official national or FIDE rating - that requires a licensed arbiter and a federation entry. The entry fee in settings is informational: the bot does not process payments. And, crucially, the bot is constantly improved based on real tournaments - see the chess bot that's improved for you.
The bot is free. The entry-fee field in tournament settings is informational for players: the bot doesn't process payments; the organizer collects money (for a prize, say) however they like.
The Swiss system: everyone plays the same number of rounds, nobody is eliminated after a loss, pairings are by score, and ties are broken by the Buchholz coefficient. There is no separate round-robin mode.
No. Those who want to sign up and report results themselves; the organizer adds the rest as guests by name. One smartphone with the bot - the organizer's - is enough.
From a small group to a mass tournament. The round count grows slowly: 16 people - 5 rounds, 32 - 6, a hundred - 8-9. The pairing stays correct at any size.
No. An official national or FIDE rating requires a licensed arbiter and a federation entry submitted in advance. The bot is for amateur and internal tournaments.
The interface is translated into 11 languages: Russian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Turkish, Indonesian, Hindi and Persian. Each participant picks their language in the profile, so a tournament can run in mixed international groups and other countries.
Open @vibechessbot in Telegram, set your city and create a test tournament with /create_tournament. It's best to learn on a small group of 6-8 - the whole mechanism becomes clear in under an hour.
There are no club or arbiter roles in the app: the create button is available to everyone. You can announce a tournament today and run it this weekend.
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.
Where to start - organizer guide. How the bot evolves - the chess bot improved for you. The big FAQ - tournament FAQ. General prep - how to organize a 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 →
