Chess-Publisher
User Manual

Chess-Publisher is designed as a single tournament workspace. The active tournament is shared across the application tabs, so changing the tournament in one section changes the active event everywhere.

Main application areas

• Tournament Setup
• Lists & Players
• Pairings
• DGT Boards
• Standings
• Other / Export
• Tournament Schedule
• Chess-Results

Windows installer

1. Download the latest Windows installer from the official site.
2. Run the downloaded .exe and complete the installation.
3. Start Chess-Publisher from the installed shortcut.
4. At first launch, create a new tournament or open an existing tournament.

Portable package

1. Download the latest Portable ZIP.
2. Extract the complete ZIP to a normal writable folder.
3. Run the Chess-Publisher application from the extracted folder.

Title bar

The title bar shows the current application version, save state, the Autosave switch and a manual Save button. If Autosave is disabled, unsaved changes remain pending until you save them.

Files menu

Use Files for New Tournament, Open Tournament, Recent Tournaments, tournament/player imports, TRF Starting List export, Save, Save As and Close Tournament.

Pairings menu

The Pairings menu provides quick access to Generate Next Pairing, Manual Pairing Mode, Pairing Standings, player status for the next round, imports, print/export actions and round reset tools.

Create a tournament

1. Choose Files → New Tournament or press Ctrl+N.
2. Enter a tournament name. Use a normal Windows-compatible folder name.
3. Complete the required event fields in Tournament General Information.
4. Confirm format, time control, pairing system, number of rounds and rating type before pairing.

Important fields

Player import

The unified Players Import action accepts several organizer formats, including Chess-Results XLSX, registration CSV, Swiss-Manager XML, TRF16/TRF26/TRF(x), TUNx and BAK.

FIDE rating databases

• Download and update FIDE Databases retrieves and prepares the local player databases.
• Update Registered Players matches registered players by FIDE ID and lets you choose which FIDE fields to update.
• Manual Rating Lists can load Standard, Rapid and Blitz text lists individually.
• Use Rating controls the default rating source used when adding or updating players.

Manual entry and editing

Players can be entered manually with name, rating, title, federation, FIDE ID, birth information and gender. Select a player in the Starting Rank List and use Edit Selected to modify the record.

Starting Rank List

The Starting Rank List holds the pairing number / TPN order used by the tournament. The View sort selector changes only the on-screen display order; it does not rewrite pairing numbers or history.

Before generating the next round

1. Open Player Status for Next Round.
2. Confirm who is Active and apply any required exclusion or BYE status.
3. Use Fixed Board only when board placement must change. Fixed Board changes board order, never opponents.
4. Review the next-round counters and confirm the intended player state.

Generate a Swiss pairing

Press Generate Pairings, use Pairings → Generate Next Pairing, or press F9. Gacrux 1.9.57 remains the pairing generator. Previous results, scores, colours, opponents and byes are supplied automatically from tournament history.

The optional independent Dutch checker can be prepared once while internet access is available. If a concrete independent checker discrepancy is detected, the generated round is rejected rather than silently accepted.

Enter results

Select a board and use the result desk or keyboard. Normal game results and administrative outcomes are stored with the current round.

Manual Pairing Mode

Manual Pairing unlocks board/player controls for exceptional corrections. Use it deliberately and leave manual mode after the correction is complete.

Importing pairings or results

Import Results supports TRF26/TRF(x), Swiss-Manager Results.XML and Chess-Results XLSX in the pairing workflow.

The Standings tab shows completed rounds, declared rounds, the active tie-break priority, player/game statistics and the current or final ranking.

Exports

• Telegram final standings
• TXT Print
• PDF export
• FIDE Rating TRF16
• FIDE Rating TRF26

Independent tie-break validation

The optional Gacrux/FIDE Tie-Break Checker 1.9.57 is separate from the pairing generator. It validates completed-round rankings and does not generate or alter pairings or results.

Special prizes

Select age, rating and female categories, choose the number of places per category, then generate the special-prize rankings. Age categories are calculated using the tournament year and are designed not to overlap.

The upper section contains registration, technical meeting, opening, closing and award times. The Round / Event Schedule table contains individual dated events and round start times.

1. Enter the main event times.
2. Use Generate Rounds to create round rows, or Add Row for a custom program item.
3. Review every date and time before publication.
4. Use TXT, PDF or Telegram output as required.

First publish

1. Verify the tournament setup, player list and round schedule.
2. Open the Chess-Results tab and review the summary.
3. Press Publish Tournament.
4. Follow validation, TNR assignment and upload progress in Live Publish Log.

On the first successful publish, one Chess-Results TNR is assigned automatically and saved with the active tournament. Future publishes update the same TNR.

Useful actions

• Open Tournament opens the public page.
• Open Admin opens the administrative page.
• Upload Section opens the Chess-Results upload section.
• Calendar Link opens the calendar-link page for the assigned TNR.

Pin Board / Remarks

Enable Show on Chess-Results and enter the exact message you want displayed above the tournament lists. The visible text limit is 599 characters.

1. Connect the DGT hardware and enter the expected number of boards if useful.
2. Press Connect / Detect to query Windows devices and DGT hardware.
3. Use Start Board Mapping when physical boards must be assigned to tournament Board 1, 2, 3…
4. During mapping, place the white king on e4 on each physical board in sequence.
5. Use Verify All Boards and the inspector to review position/orientation information.

The DGT bridge is optional. A missing serial device must not prevent normal Chess-Publisher startup or the ordinary pairing workflow.

Telegram Publishing

Publish General information, Players, Pairings, Program, Regulations and Final Standings to the configured Telegram channel.

TXT and PDF

Generate organizer-friendly TXT prints and PDF/print designs for General information, Starting List, Tournament Schedule and Regulations.

Swiss-Manager interoperability

Export TRF Starting List transfers the current Starting Rank / TPN player list before Round 1. It intentionally does not export tournament dates/setup, pairings or results.

System Log

The System Log provides diagnostic information that can be useful when reporting a reproducible problem.

Autosave and manual Save

Autosave is enabled by default. The title bar shows whether the current state is saved. When Autosave is Off, use Save or Ctrl+S to commit changes to the tournament file.

Per-tournament storage

Tournaments are stored under the Windows Documents known folder in the application's dedicated tournament-storage area. Each tournament has its own folder and supporting subfolders.

Automatic TRF backup

After rounds exist, the normal save path also maintains cumulative TRF backup data in the tournament's TRF_Backup folder. This is independent of the manual Complete Backup export.

Complete Backup / Restore Backup

Open Other / Export → Backup / Restore to export a complete JSON backup or restore one previously created by Chess-Publisher.

1. Open the correct tournament and confirm the title bar shows a saved state.
2. Review Tournament Setup: dates, rounds, time control, pairing system and rating type.
3. Update/verify players, attendance and the Starting Rank List.
4. Complete Tournament Schedule before publishing round times.
5. Confirm Player Status for Next Round, including exclusions and BYEs.
6. Generate the pairing, review the round and any checker status.
7. Publish pairings through the required channels and Chess-Results when appropriate.
8. Enter results and verify that no required result is missing.
9. Review standings and tie-breaks before generating the next round.
10. Save and back up before any exceptional manual correction.

When reporting a bug

Record the exact Chess-Publisher version, tournament format, round number, steps to reproduce, the visible status/error message and the relevant System Log excerpt. Avoid sending unrelated screenshots as evidence of a different issue.

When requesting technical support, include the Chess-Publisher version, tournament format, round number, exact steps to reproduce the issue and the relevant status or error message.

To make a voluntary contribution to the open-source project, see the Support Chess-Publisher page.