A chess festival: building a programme of several events

A minimal festival is two events of different formats across a weekend. A full one runs four to six. The standard set:

• The main tournament - a rapid of seven to nine rounds, the core of the programme.
• A blitz event - in the evening, short and watchable.
• A junior tournament - as a separate stream, usually in the morning: how to build one.
• A simultaneous exhibition - the main spectacle: how to organize it.
• A beginners' event - separate, with a gentle format.
• A lecture or game analysis - from an invited guest.
• Non-chess formats - draughts, go, puzzle solving for the people accompanying players.

The assembly principle: somebody who comes for one day should be able to take part in at least two events, and their companions should have something to do.

The governing rule: events for the same audience must not overlap. The junior tournament and the main one can run in parallel - different people. The blitz and the main event cannot.

How to work out the length of each - the schedule.

A festival cannot be run alone - that is the main difference from a single tournament. The minimum team:

• A director. Responsible for the programme, the partners and the decisions.
• A chief arbiter. Responsible for every event, the pairings and the disputes - arbiting.
• An arbiter per parallel event. One person cannot run two tournaments at once.
• A registration desk. Staffed all day.
• A host. Announcements, opening, prize-givings.
• A photographer. Otherwise nothing survives the festival but a table - photography.

For a festival of 100 players that is five to seven people. Volunteers can be recruited from the club membership - there are usually takers - volunteers and the team.

The main cost lines:

• venue hire, or zero where a partner provides it;
• equipment, hired or bought;
• the prize fund - the main variable;
• fees for the exhibitor and invited guests;
• printing: posters, table numbers, certificates, a banner;
• water and coffee for the players and the team.

Sources: entry fees, sponsors, civic or federation support, a partnership with the venue. On the fund itself - prize funds and sponsors; on the budget - what a tournament costs.

The requirements are higher than for an ordinary event: you need several zones working at once.

• The main hall - for the principal tournament, at 2 m² per player.
• A second hall or area - for the junior and parallel events.
• A registration area - separate, with room for a queue.
• A rest area - for finished players and for companions.
• A prize area - with a background for photographs.

Suitable options: a sports centre, a community hall, a university, a large library, a hotel conference suite. The requirements - choosing a room.

• Tie it to a date. «The first weekend of October» is remembered; a floating date is not.
• Give it a name. A festival with a name outlives «the tournament of such-and-such year».
• Keep the history. Past tables, a list of champions, a photo archive - that is what turns an event into a tradition.
• Collect contacts. This year's players are next year's core audience.
• Announce the date immediately. Name the next one at the closing.

Running several tournaments is easiest in the app: each event of the festival is created separately, players sign themselves up and the history stays in the archive - so there is something to show by next year.