There are a lot of different chess tournaments out there. Our events are unrated, and friendly to beginners. Which just means your scores won't be submitted to the big governing bodies in chess. (USCF, FIDE) You should still try your best, and you will still run into some great players at our events.

Chess Tournaments use a format called "swiss pairings" and sometimes different sections based on age or skill.

In a swiss tournament there is never any elimination! 

In our swiss tournaments you will almost always play an opponent that has the same record as you do for the day. If you have won or lost all of your games, it is very likely your opponent has as well! The first game you play will be a random pairing. From there on your performance determines who you play. 

Sometimes players end a tournament with the same score, since we can't keep playing games all day, we have to use a tiebreaker to determine the winner. 

Tiebreakers can be tough. Spotsy chess using a system called the Buchholz system for tiebreaking. Essentially, you add all the scores of all the players you have played in the tournament together. The higher it is, the better your tiebreakers.

Because of this, you should always be rooting for your previous opponents to succeed in future rounds! The better they do, the better chance you have to win your tiebreakers. 

Spotsy chess tournaments always play enough rounds that there is a clear winner, and tiebreakers never determine the first place player.