Official Guide · Windows
Manage a complete tournament with ChessPairings Desktop
From preparing the FIDE database to generating pairings, entering results and producing final reports. The client also works without an Internet connection and stores tournaments on your computer.
Dashboard and local work
At the start you will find recent tournaments and their progress. Double-click a tournament to open it, or select it and press Open tournament. The right button shows available quick actions.
Create and configure a tournament
Select New tournament. The path is divided into five steps and the tournament is created only on the last page.
- Information: name, location, Swiss or Round Robin system, variant and number of rounds.
- Time: Standard, Rapid or Blitz, base minutes and increment.
- Dates: start, end and calendar.
- Tiebreaks: main presets or Gacrux criteria in the order established by the regulation.
- Options: referee, rating floor, initial color, late entries and notes.
FIDE archive and participants
Before the tournament, update the archive with Download and update, or use Upload ZIP with players_list_xml.zip.
Search for last name, first name or FIDE ID, choose the correct person from the results and add them.
For players without FIDE ID, enter your details, federation and rating directly in the tournament.
Paste a list of FIDE IDs, one per line, to quickly add many subscribers.
Select one or more players and schedule BYE, half point, zero points or withdrawal per round.
Double-click a participant to edit their local copy, category, prize group, club and fixed board. The original FIDE database is never changed.
Generate rounds
Open Pairings. When all results for the current round are complete you can:
- press Generate round to use bbpPairings;
- choose Manual round to compose every board;
- check the checklist with colors, BYEs, floats and previous opponents;
- correct the boards or cancel the last round before continuing.
Enter and check the results
Each row has a menu for 1-0, draw, 0-1, forfeit and other supported outcomes. You can also use the keys configured in the settings and quickly move between the boards.
- Activate Only to be completed to show only games without a result.
- Limit the range of boards in larger events.
- USA Clear round results only when you need to re-enter the entire round.
Standings, starting list and crosstable
Gacrux recalculates the standings using the configured tiebreaks. The starting list shows numbers, ratings and data sources; the crosstable reconstructs results and opponents round by round.
Define and award prizes
In the section Press Create overall, category or group prizes. Set the place, description, amount and whether the same player may receive multiple prizes. The preview uses the current standings and flags prizes that cannot be awarded.
Print and export
The reports section produces local files for:
- participant list and starting list;
- round pairings and missing results;
- standings, crosstable and player cards;
- TRF, FIDE summary, CSV and standalone HTML page.
Connect to ChessPairings.org
Syncing is optional. Press Connect and sync: the browser asks to confirm the device code via password or OTP email. The password is not stored in the client.
- Local changes are sent automatically.
- Online changes are checked periodically.
- Before replacing local data, a backup is created.
- If both copies change, choose which one to keep in the conflicts section.
TRF analysis, cloning and backup
It opens a read-only file, shows players, rounds, results and anomalies and allows you to clone it as a new local tournament.
Create full copies, open your backups folder, restore a snapshot, and export diagnostics.
Evolving guidance
This page follows the development of the Windows client. The screenshots were captured from version 0.36.0.