For organizers ·
Practice a tournament with pretend players
Run a whole knockout or Swiss from the TD console on your own, before your first real one. The players are pretend, nothing counts, and it's gone in a day.
Tonight’s code
Join code: R K 4 7 Q X12 here · 5 boards in play
The short version
- A knockout of 8, or a Swiss of 8 over 3 rounds, at your club's own clock
- Eight pretend players, from Pretend Petrov to Pretend Hippo
- Fill in results for me, or all but one so you enter that one yourself
- A pretend player can call the TD, so you can practise walking over
- Never rated, never on your club's page, nobody emailed, tonight's room untouched
- End practice whenever you like; it deletes itself after 24 hours anyway
The first time you run a tournament shouldn’t be the first time you press Start. So now there’s a rehearsal: Practice with pretend players, on your club’s Tournaments page and under New tournament.
The real console, pretend people
Pick a knockout of eight or a three-round Swiss and you land in the same TD console you’ll use on the night: Start, publish, Result on each board, forfeits, moving a game to another board, the wall chart and the standings. The only differences are a big Practice label across the top, and eight players with names like Pretend Sicilian and Pretend Stonewall, who are very patient and never dispute anything.
Faster than a real evening
Fill in results for me finishes every board in a tap, with results a club would believe. Fill in all but one leaves a board for you to enter by hand, the way you will when someone brings you a scoresheet. And Raise a hand has a pretend player call the TD, so you can practise On my way and Done.
Nothing counts
A practice is never rated, never on your club’s page, schedule or feed, emails nobody, and never touches tonight’s room, so you can practise in the middle of a club night. When you’re done, End practice deletes it; if you forget, it deletes itself after 24 hours. Owners, organizers and club-wide TDs can start one. The knockout guide walks through every button for the real thing.