Enroll

If you have no or only few games left to play, you may want to enroll in (another) tournament.

Login to your player homepage. Near the bottom of the page is a link Participate in a tournament; click on it.

Select type and league. On the following page decide if you want to play a league tournament (this is the normal case) or a thematic tournament (members only). Then decide if you want to play computer-assisted (if you have a chess program) in the Advanced Chess League (ACL) or without such help in the Human Chess League (HCL). Then click on the corresponding link.

Select a tournament. Now you see the open tournaments that correspond to your own playing class. Some of these tournaments may be empty and some of them may have players that are already playing. But you can enroll in any of the offered tournaments.

Enroll automatically. If the last two steps are too complicated, you can use the button Enroll automatically. The PlayChess system will then automatically select a 5-player tournament suitable for you.

Tournament types. The available tournament types are explained in some detail in the tournament rules. Please read these rules - before you enroll in any tournament. Enrollments cannot be taken back. You are expected to play all the games of your tournament to a regular end.

What tournament size?

That depends on your personal preferences.

You should select a tournament that has the number of games you feel comfortable with. Remember: A nine player tournament with 2 days per move requires you to make 4 moves every day (8 games divided by two days) on the average! And an average game might last several weeks. So you must be determined to keep this pace for quite a long time!

Another consideration is the "risc" of promotion and demotion. If you play a small tournament (5 players, 4 games), you have a high chance of winning this tournament and being promoted to a higher class (just 4 "easy" wins). On the flip side, your chances of being demoted are equally high. Remember, all top scoring players are promoted and all least scoring players are demoted.

Sounds complicated?

Let me give you a simple advice: Newcomers should start with a 5 player turtle tournament.

Should I play fast or slow tournaments?

You should select the tournament that suites your available time.

Slow tournaments (turtle) require that you make a move every two days in the mean, while fast tournaments (rabbit) require you to make a move every day. And Greyhound tournaments even require you to make several moves per day.

Turtle tournaments are recommended for new players. They give you enough time to get accustomed to PlayChess. You can easily accumulate some time that allows for some holidays.

Rabbit and Greyhound tournaments are recommended for very engaged players that login to PlayChess more than once a day.

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