Questions
Asked across the board.
What people ask us at club night, answered in plain words: finding a chess club, how pairing and the rating work, and what organizers get.
On this page
On this page
What is Castle Gambit?
Castle Gambit is a web app for over-the-board chess at local clubs. It pairs players as they arrive at club night, keeps a friendly rating from the casual games you play across a real board, and gives organizers the tools to run the room: a join code and poster, a club TV, results and rosters.
It also helps you find chess clubs near you (we call them Castles) and open games, meetups and tournaments you can join (we call those gambits).
Is Castle Gambit free?
Yes, for players, and it stays that way: finding a game at club night, your rating, Castles, gambits, crowns and stamps are all free. Organizers get everything they use today for free too: the lobby, the poster, the club TV, pairing, rosters and results.
Later we’ll add paid extras for clubs that want more, like tournament tools and paid event registration. Club night itself stays free.
Is the Castle Gambit a real chess opening?
No. There’s no chess opening called the Castle Gambit, and you won’t find it in an opening book. It’s the name of this app, not a line to learn.
A gambit gives something up early to get something better. Castling tucks your king behind a wall so nothing can reach it. Walking into a club night is a bit of both: you give up an evening and find a room full of your people. That’s why we put the two words together.
How do I find a chess club near me?
Open Castles and tap Near you: Castle Gambit lists the chess clubs closest to you, with where and when they meet. Your location is used for that search and never stored. You can also search every Castle by name or town.
Found one you like? Ask to join, and the club’s organizer lets you in. Make it your home Castle and it’s the first thing you see.
How does Castle Gambit work at club night?
The organizer opens tonight’s lobby and puts up a join code, on a printed poster or the club TV. You scan it with your phone, tap Find me a game, and Castle Gambit tells you your board number, your color and who you’re playing.
After the game, you both tap the result, and you’re free to find another game. The club TV shows who’s waiting and who’s playing on which board, in type you can read from the back of the room.
Do I need to download an app or make an account?
No download: Castle Gambit runs in your phone’s browser, and you can add it to your home screen if you like. Your first game doesn’t need an account either: you play as a guest.
If you want to keep your games and your rating, save your account with a code we email you.
How does pairing work?
Castle Gambit pairs you with someone close to your level and steers you away from a rematch with the person you just played. The longer you’ve been waiting, the wider it looks, so a quiet room still finds you a game.
On round-style nights, the organizer can pair everyone at once and see every board before the round starts. Colors even out over the night: whoever has had White more often gets Black.
Is it the same as my USCF, FIDE or online rating?
No. The social rating is separate from official USCF and FIDE ratings, and from your chess.com or Lichess rating. It’s for the casual games most club players play most of the time.
If you link a chess.com or Lichess account, Castle Gambit uses your online rating as a starting point, so your first pairings aren’t a shot in the dark.
What are crowns and stamps?
Crowns are points for playing: every game that counts earns 50, a draw 100 and a win 150, once both players agree on the result (or the organizer settles it). They walk your pawn up the board, rank by rank, until it’s promoted. They’re separate from your rating: the rating says how you play, crowns say how much you play.
Stamps are for showing up: your first game, three club nights at the same Castle, club nights at three different Castles, running your first club night. Crowns and stamps can’t be bought, have no cash value, and only you can see your Club card.
Who can see my rating?
By default, only people who share a Castle with you. You can make it public or keep it to yourself in settings.
Ratings never appear in the lobby, on the club TV or on the pairing screen, so nobody sizes you up before you sit down.
Your profile page (your name, handle and home Castle) opens for anyone with its link, but search engines are asked not to list it, and the rating on it follows the same choice.
How are results recorded?
Both players tap the result on their phones: I won, Draw or I lost. When the two reports match, the game is confirmed and counts toward the rating. When they don’t, the organizer settles it. If only one of you reports, that report stands the next day.
Organizers can fix or void a result later, and every rating it touched is worked out again.
What is a gambit on Castle Gambit?
A gambit is an open offer: an open game, a meetup or a tournament, posted for anyone nearby to accept. Accepting a gambit is our way of saying RSVP. Hosts can set a limit on spots, and if a gambit is called off, everyone who said yes hears about it.
A Castle can also post members-only gambits that only its members see.
What does Castle Gambit do for chess club organizers?
Open tonight’s lobby and you get a join code, a printable QR poster and a club TV view. Your panel shows who’s here, who’s waiting and who’s playing on which board.
You can pair everyone at once, add players who don’t have a phone to your roster by name (adults, like everyone on Castle Gambit), settle disputed results, fix mistakes, and approve who joins your Castle. The lobby closes itself if you forget.
How do I start a chess club on Castle Gambit?
Sign in and tap Start a Castle. Give it a name, where it meets and when, and it gets its own page anyone can find. It takes a couple of minutes, and you can print its poster the same night.
How old do you have to be to use Castle Gambit?
18. Castle Gambit is for adults: everyone who plays, organizes or joins a Castle (a chess club) on it is 18 or over. Before your first game we ask for your birth month and year, keep only whether you’re 18 or over, and never store the date.
If you’re younger, the guides are yours: they’re free to read with no account, and cover everything from your first club night to how ratings work. Plenty of chess clubs run junior sections of their own, off the app.
Questions about any of this? Write to castlegambit.support@avevue.com. A person reads every message.
08What is the social rating?
It’s a rating built only from casual games played across a real board, at club nights, meetups and events: a social Elo. Under the hood it’s Glicko-2, a rating system that also keeps track of how sure it is about your number.
Your first five games show up as tally marks. After that you get a number, with a question mark beside it while it settles. If a result is ever corrected, every rating it touched is worked out again as if it had been right the first time.
Ratings, explained