Congratulations, you have crossed the threshold: you know the rules, you have played your games, and now your first tournament is calling. The good news is that the game itself does not change, a pawn still moves forward and mate is still mate. What changes is the frame. In come the clock, the scoresheet and a few rules of conduct you skip at home but which carry full weight at a tournament. This page walks you through all of it, calmly and in order, so that you can sit down for round one without nerves.
One rule above all others: if you do not know something or are unsure, ask the arbiter before you move, not after. That is exactly what arbiters are there for.
The chess clock and time controls
At home you can play for as long as you like, but at a tournament every game has a chess clock: a double timer where each player has their own time. The rule is simple: you make your move and then press your button with the same hand, which starts your opponent's clock and stops your own. Never hover one hand over the clock while moving a piece with the other.
If your time runs out, your flag falls and as a rule you have lost. (The only exception: if at that moment your opponent does not have enough material to mate you at all, the game is a draw rather than a win for them.)
The time control divides chess into families:
- Classical: long, serious chess, an hour or more per player.
- Rapid: usually around 10 to 25 minutes per player.
- Blitz: 3 to 5 minutes per player, fast and merciless.
- Bullet: a minute or less, pure reflex.
An increment is often added, for example "+30 seconds per move": every time you move, your clock is topped up a little. That stops you losing a winning position simply because you have no time left to move your hand. A tip for a first tournament: enter a longer time control if you can. There is time to think, and that is half the pleasure.
Touch-move and "j'adoube"
At home we usually skip this rule, but at a tournament it is sacred, and it causes more arguments at the board than anything else. So adopt it from day one.
- If you touch one of your own pieces, you must move it, provided it has any legal move. So: think first, touch second. Do not pick up a piece "to see how it looks over there".
- If you touch one of your opponent's pieces, you must capture it, provided the capture is legal.
- The move is complete when you release the piece. While you are still holding it you may put it somewhere else, but the moment you let go, it stays there.
- Everything is done with one hand (both the move and the clock).
And what if a piece is standing crookedly, half across two squares, and you only want to adjust it? For that there is a magic word: "j'adoube" (French for "I adjust"). You say it out loud before you touch the piece, and then you may adjust it freely with no obligation to move it. Here people simply say "I adjust". The key point: say it before touching, never after, and only while it is your move.
A small trick for castling: pick up the king first, then the rook. If you touch the rook first, the arbiter may read it as a rook move, and you lose the right to castle.
Recording the game: notation and the scoresheet
In a classical tournament game you are required to keep a scoresheet: to write down, legibly and in your own hand, both your own and your opponent's moves, move by move. This is not bureaucracy; the scoresheet is evidence if a dispute arises (for instance over a draw claim), and it is your personal record to analyse later. That is why algebraic notation is a skill every competitor has to have.
The board is a coordinate system:
- The files (vertical) carry the letters a-h, from left to right from White's corner.
- The ranks (horizontal) carry the numbers 1-8, starting from White's side.
- So every square has a unique name: e4, d5, g7 and so on.
Pieces are written with their first letter (in English): K king, Q queen, R rook, B bishop, N knight. The pawn has no letter, only the destination square is written. (In Serbian literature the letters differ: K, D, T, L, S for king, queen, rook, bishop, knight, and some books use piece symbols instead. The principle is the same.)
A move is read like this: the piece letter plus the square it goes to. e4 (a pawn to e4), Nf3 (a knight to f3), Bd3 (a bishop to d3). The symbols you will see all the time:
- x: a capture (Bxf7; for a pawn you write the file it comes from: exd5).
- +: check. #: checkmate.
- 0-0: short castling, 0-0-0: long castling.
- =Q: promotion (e8=Q).
- ! a good move, ? a weak move (these are comments, not part of the move).
A game is written in pairs, one White move and one Black move: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6... When you drop below five minutes in time trouble (and there is no increment of at least 30 seconds per move), the rules temporarily release you from the duty to record until the end of that time control; you reconstruct the score afterwards with the arbiter's help. At the end of the game both players sign both scoresheets.
How to claim a draw
A draw can be offered or claimed by rule. This is where most mistakes happen, not in judging the position but in the procedure.
- Offering a draw. The correct order is: make your move, then offer the draw, then press the clock. The offer stands until your opponent accepts it (by word or a handshake) or declines it (by word, or simply by making their move). Once made, an offer cannot be withdrawn, and it should not be repeated over and over, which disturbs your opponent.
- Threefold repetition and the 50-move rule (50 moves without a single capture and without a single pawn move) give you the right to claim a draw. But that is a claim, not an automatic draw.
- How to claim: if you are relying on a move you intend to play, write it on your scoresheet but do NOT play it on the board, stop the clock and call the arbiter. If the position has already occurred (your opponent created it with their move), simply stop the clock and call the arbiter.
- Careful: a claim is at the same time a draw offer, and you are bound to the announced move. If the claim is incorrect, the arbiter as a rule adds two minutes to your opponent, and you must play exactly that announced move. So check twice before claiming.
Phones and electronics
This rule is deliberately strict, because it protects the fairness of the game. At most tournaments: a phone that rings means losing the game, and under the strictest application you lose merely for having a switched-on phone in the playing hall. The practical and safe approach: before the round switch your phone off (not just to silent) and put it away in your bag. The same goes for headphones, smartwatches and anything that receives a signal. If you really must have such a device with you, ask the arbiter beforehand and accept their conditions.
Arriving on time
The organiser announces a default time, how late you may be at the board before you lose without playing a move. At stronger tournaments zero tolerance applies: you must be at the board at the moment the arbiter announces the start of the round, and being even one minute late means a loss. Do not gamble: arrive early, find your board, settle down and wait for the start.
Good manners at the board
Chess is a fight, but a gentlemanly one. A good tone is as much a part of the game as the rules:
- Shake hands before and after the game. This is not a formality, it is respect for your opponent, whatever the result.
- Silence and calm. Do not comment on the game while it is going on, do not sigh loudly, do not tap the pieces or your fingers, do not disturb your opponent while they are thinking. Unlike at home, in tournament chess you do not say "check" out loud; your opponent is expected to see it.
- Resigning is honourable. When the position is hopelessly lost, it is polite to resign (with a handshake or by laying the king down) rather than dragging things out to the bitter end. But no pressure: as a beginner, feel free to play on while you are learning, nobody will hold it against you.
- Do not gloat and do not fume. Take a win calmly and a loss even more calmly. Every game you lose teaches you more than ten you win.
- "Good game" at the end, two words that are always welcome.
What to expect at your first tournament
So that nothing takes you by surprise, here is what a typical open looks like:
- Entry and entry fee. You register in advance (often through the chess-results site or directly with the organiser) and pay the entry fee. Bring an ID, and your FIDE or national ID number if you have one.
- Swiss system. Most opens are played as a "Swiss": you do not play everyone, but each round you are paired with a player on a similar score. Nobody is eliminated, and you play all the rounds the tournament has.
- Pairings and boards. Before each round a pairing list with board numbers goes up. Find your name, sit down at your board and check your colour (White or Black).
- The result. When the game is over, both players sign the scoresheets and the result is reported to the arbiter or written on the list.
- Final standings. The final order goes by points. On equal points, tie-break criteria (Buchholz and similar) separate you; you do not need to worry about those, the software calculates them.
You do not have to know any of this by heart, the arbiter and more experienced players will gladly help. Come along, play, and you will find the atmosphere more relaxed than it seems.
And that is all. Now you know not only how the game is played, but how it is played at a tournament. A first tournament always brings a little stage fright; it brought it to all of us. But the moment the first move is made, all that is left is the reason you came, chess. See you in the hall.