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Club Setup

Club setup prepares a ChessMint workspace for real use. A good setup gives administrators the right defaults, gives operators the right access, and makes tournaments easier to run later.

1. Confirm the Club Workspace

Start by checking the basic workspace identity:

  • Club name.
  • Subdomain or domain used to access the club.
  • Public contact email.
  • Public club information shown to members or visitors.
  • Club logo, used on public tournament pages, share cards, and printed scorecards and tablecards.
  • Default language, region, currency, or time zone if these settings are available for the workspace.

Use clear, stable names. They appear in public pages, exports, player communication, and tournament material.

2. Invite Operators

Invite the people who help run the club before importing a large amount of data.

Common roles:

Role Typical responsibility
Admin Full club setup, members, permissions, tournaments, and settings.
Arbiter Tournament setup, pairings, results, rounds, and standings.
Treasurer Payment overview, payment recording, and fee follow-up.
Player Personal profile, own games, registrations, and published information.

Give people the smallest role that lets them do their work. This keeps accidental changes less likely.

For tournament work, role assignment has two layers:

  • The person needs the right club role, such as admin or arbiter.
  • An arbiter should also be assigned to the tournaments they are expected to run.

For payment work, use admin or treasurer access. Arbiters can operate tournament flow, but payment visibility and payment follow-up belong to admins and treasurers.

3. Create the Current Season

A season represents a club year or membership period. Create the current season before adding memberships or fee tracking.

The season creation wizard offers two modes:

  • Blank season — start from scratch with no members. Fill in name, dates, and fee.

  • Copy from existing season — roll over members from a previous season. Choose a source season and a renewal mode:

    Renewal mode How it works
    Opt-out (automatic) Members are enrolled immediately with status active. They receive an email with a link to cancel if they wish.
    Opt-in (confirmation required) Members receive status invited. They get an email with two buttons — to confirm or to cancel their membership for the new season. Only confirmed members become active.

Recommended fields:

  • Season name, for example 2026-2027.
  • Start date and end date.
  • Membership fee and currency (copied from the source season when duplicating).
  • Description or notes if needed.

If your club has historical data, start with the current active season first. Older seasons can be added later if needed.

4. Add Members

Members are person records used across the club. They may later appear as tournament participants, event registrants, arbiters, treasurers, or administrators.

For each member, capture the data your club actually uses:

  • First name and last name.
  • Email address.
  • FIDE ID or national federation ID.
  • Rating information.
  • Club status.
  • Access status.
  • Optional profile photo or notes if your club process needs them.

Avoid creating duplicate people. If a player already exists, update the existing record instead of creating a second profile.

5. Configure Federation and Rating Defaults

Before the first tournament, check the settings that affect player data and exports:

  • Federation list or default federation.
  • Rating source and rating type.
  • FIDE-related identifiers.
  • Common tournament time controls.
  • Default tiebreak preferences if your club uses a standard setup.

This step prevents repeated corrections when creating tournaments.

6. Set Up Payments

If the club tracks membership fees or event fees in ChessMint, define the payment workflow early.

Decide:

  • Which fees are tracked.
  • Who records payments.
  • Whether payments are linked to memberships, tournaments, or both.
  • How cash, transfer, or other manual payment notes should be written.

Keep payment notes consistent. They are most useful when treasurers can understand them later without asking the person who recorded them.

7. Upload Key Club Documents

Upload important club documents such as regulations, bylaws, or training materials to the Document Library. This makes them available to authorized club members from the start.

8. Create a Test Tournament or Event

Before the first live event, create a small draft tournament and walk through the flow:

  1. Add basic tournament information.
  2. Add one section.
  3. Add a few test participants.
  4. Configure the format and time control.
  5. Review the draft structure and participant list.
  6. Publish and start the test tournament when it is ready for pairing.
  7. Generate a round.
  8. Enter sample results.
  9. Review standings and public sharing.

Delete or archive the test tournament when you no longer need it.

9. Review Public Sharing

Before publishing tournament information outside the club workspace, review what players and visitors will be able to see.

Check:

  • The tournament title, dates, venue, and description.
  • The sections that should appear on the public calendar.
  • Whether public signup is enabled only for the intended sections.
  • Whether registration fees and payment expectations are clear.
  • Whether pairings, rounds, and standings are ready to be shown.

Share public links only after this review. Public pages are useful for players and visitors, but they should reflect the official tournament record.

Setup Quality Checklist

  • Club identity is correct.
  • Operators have the right roles.
  • Current season exists.
  • Member records are clean enough for real use.
  • Federation and rating defaults are configured.
  • Payment responsibilities are clear.
  • A draft tournament has been tested before live use.
  • Key club documents have been uploaded to the document library.
  • Public sharing and signup settings have been checked before external links are sent.