Choosing a room for a chess tournament and sizing it

The working figure is about 2 m² per playerin the playing area. That is practice rather than a standard: at that density players do not catch each other's elbows and you can walk between the rows.

It can be tighter - bars run events at 1.2 to 1.5 m² per person - but then the tables touch and you reach the far boards sideways. For a junior event allow more, not less: children move about and go to watch other games.

• Width per board - 70 to 80 cm minimum. Less and the neighbours collide, and there is nowhere to put the clock.
• Table depth - from 70 cm, so the board fits between the players with room for their hands.
• Long tables beat scattered small ones. A 180 cm table takes two boards, a 240 cm table three.
• Chairs - one per player plus 20% for spectators and finished players. Bar stools do not work: an hour on one is punishing.
• A table for the organizer - for the laptop, the paperwork and the prizes. Not optional: working off your knees does not scale.

How many boards you need - boards for a tournament.

Light. The main problem with bars and restaurants: atmospheric gloom is right for dinner and wrong for chess. Test it simply - sit at a table at the time of day the event will run and try to tell the black pieces from the white and read the clock. If you are squinting, you need more light. It also has to be even: pools of light and shadows from fittings create unequal conditions at different tables.

Noise. Live music and a tournament are incompatible. Agree in advance that the background volume comes down during rounds. The separate risk is the room next door - a function on the other side of the wall can end your evening.

Temperature and air. In a stuffy room everybody plays badly by round four. With no ventilation, plan breaks to air the room - it visibly affects the quality of the games towards the end.

• Sockets - for the organizer's laptop and the screen. If players use phones as clocks, a couple of extension leads and chargers earn their place.
• A screen or projector - for the standings and the next round's pairings. Not essential, but it noticeably reduces the number of «who am I playing» questions.
• Internet - needed if the standings are kept online. Basement bars often have no signal: check in advance and plan an offline fallback if not.
• A printer nearby - in case you need more protocols or table numbers.

On connectivity: in the Vibe Chess app the tournament page is cached, so a brief drop does not stop people seeing their pairing. Entering results does need a connection though - worth remembering before you book a basement.

• Registration. A table by the entrance, not in the playing area, or the queue disturbs the people already seated.
• Somewhere for coats. In winter, jackets over chair backs eat half the walkway.
• Space for finished players. Games end at different times and those players need somewhere to go, or they start analysing in the middle of the hall.
• A place for accompanying adults. At junior events parents should not be in the playing area - but you cannot put them out on the street either.
• Coffee. Even a flask and some cups change the feel of the interval.

The good news: a chess tournament is a welcome guest in a lot of places, because it brings a calm, spending audience at an off-peak time.

• Bars and cafés - often free, for the sake of a weeknight's takings: tournaments in a bar.
• Your own office or a coworking space - a meeting room or the open floor after six: coworking spaces.
• Libraries and community centres - usually free, especially for junior and community projects: tournaments at a library.
• Schools and universities - the hall or the dining room: tournaments at school.
• Hired event spaces - by the hour, and normally equipped already.
• A park in warm weather - romantic and free, but at the mercy of wind and weather: outdoor events.

What to offer the venue in return: guaranteed guests on a quiet evening, photographs and mentions in the announcements, and regularity. That interests a venue more than a one-off hire fee.

• Does the required number of tables fit, with walkways
• Is there enough light at the time of day the event runs
• Can the music be turned down, and what happens next door
• How many sockets, and where
• Is there room for registration by the entrance
• Where do coats go
• Does a phone signal work inside
• How long before the start will they let you in to set up
• Who is responsible for the venue on the day, and how do you reach them

The last point matters more than it looks: a duty manager who «knows nothing about a tournament» is the classic cause of a delayed start. Full preparation - the organizer's checklist.