Arena tournaments at chessmail
An arena is a live tournament that runs for a fixed period, for example 30 minutes. While the arena is running, chessmail pairs you with new opponents again and again, automatically. You do not sign up for each game yourself. Instead you play one game after another and collect points along the way. Whoever has the most points at the end wins.
Arenas are played in the live chess area. They work especially well for blitz games, where many short games happen in a short time.
Joining
You find a running or upcoming arena on the arena page in live chess. Use the Join button to take part. You can join at any time, even while the arena is already running. Your score then starts at zero and you are added to the next pairing right away.
Important: stay on the arena page after joining. Pairing happens automatically, and only players who are present on the page get matched with an opponent. If you leave the page you no longer receive new games, but your score is kept.
Rated arenas are open to new members only after they have completed 3 live chess games.
How pairing works
As soon as two suitable players are free, their game starts immediately. chessmail prefers to pair players with a similar score, so the leaders tend to meet each other more often as the arena goes on. Playing the same opponent twice in a row is avoided where possible.
So that nobody has to wait long for an opponent, our chess computer Elmer plays in every arena from the start. He steps in whenever a player would otherwise be left over. Real opponents always come first, so Elmer is the first to sit out. Games against Elmer count for your arena score, but not for your rating.
Colors are assigned so that white and black even out for you over the course of the arena.
Points and streaks
The scoring is simple:
- Win: 2 points
- Draw: 1 point
- Loss: 0 points
If you reach two wins in a row you go on fire and are shown with a flame icon. While you are on fire your points count double, so a win is worth 4 points and a draw 2 points. The streak lasts until you fail to win a game. A loss ends the streak and scores nothing, a draw also ends it but is still counted double.
This makes it worthwhile to play for the win and to keep a streak alive.
One note against very short agreed draws: a draw in a game with fewer than 20 half-moves scores no points. Wins always count, however, even when they come quickly.
Pausing and rejoining
You can leave an arena at any time with Pause, for example to take a break. Your score and all your previous games are kept. You then receive no new pairings.
With Join you rejoin at any time and keep collecting points. This way you decide for yourself how many games you want to play in an arena.
So that nobody picks their opponents by pausing cleverly, there is a small delay on re-entry: whoever rejoins after a pause is paired again only after 30 seconds. The same applies to players who are free but have been away from the arena page for more than 15 seconds, for example after their own game ended or after leaving the page. If you return within 15 seconds, you are paired again right away. New participants are paired without delay, as is everybody at the start of the arena.
Standings and winner
During the arena, a continuously updated table shows the participants sorted by points. There you see your place, your points, and who is currently on fire.
When time is up and the running games have finished, the arena is closed. The final ranking is based on the total score. Whoever has the most points is the winner of the arena.