Getting Started
This guide is for the first club administrator who receives access to ChessMint.
Before You Begin
Make sure you have:
- A ChessMint account for your club.
- Your club name and public contact details.
- The email addresses of people who need admin, arbiter, or treasurer access.
- Basic season information, such as the season name, start date, and end date.
- Any federation defaults your club uses, such as FIDE IDs, national IDs, rating systems, or standard time controls.
First Login
When the club workspace is created, the first administrator receives access by email. Depending on how the workspace was created, the email either contains an invitation flow or a password reset link.
After login, confirm that you are in the correct club workspace before adding members or changing settings. A club workspace is isolated from other clubs, so members, tournaments, payments, and settings belong to the selected club.
First Setup Checklist
- Review the club profile and contact details.
- Invite the people who help operate the club.
- Create the current season.
- Add or import the first members.
- Configure federation and rating defaults.
- Create a test tournament or event.
- Review public sharing settings before publishing anything externally.
Decide Who Does What
Before importing a large member list or publishing a tournament, decide who will operate each part of the workspace.
| Responsibility | Usually handled by |
|---|---|
| Club profile, settings, member records, seasons, and role assignment. | Admin |
| Tournament setup, participants, seeding, rounds, pairings, results, and standings. | Admin or assigned arbiter |
| Membership fees, tournament fees, payment records, and payment reports. | Admin or treasurer |
| Own profile, personal registrations, invitations, games, pairings, and standings. | Player |
This decision keeps the first setup predictable. For example, an arbiter who only helps with one tournament should be assigned to that tournament, while a treasurer should get payment access without needing full tournament control.
Main Areas
| Area | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Dashboard | Quick overview of current club activity. |
| Members | Person records, member profiles, FIDE IDs, ratings, and access status. |
| Seasons | Club years, membership periods, and season-based registrations. |
| Tournaments | Tournament setup, sections, stages, pairings, rounds, standings, and public pages. |
| Events | Non-tournament club activities with registration, attendance tracking, and payment management. See Events. |
| Documents | Club document library for regulations, training materials, and shared files. See Documents. |
| Gallery | Photo collections for club events, tournaments, and activities. See Gallery. |
| Links | Shared web links for the club, with public or private visibility. See Links. |
| Payments | Manual payment tracking and payment history. |
| Settings | Club configuration, federation defaults, permissions, and operational settings. |
Recommended First Path
Start small: add a few members, create the current season, and create one draft tournament. This lets you confirm roles, member records, and tournament settings before using ChessMint for a live event.
Once the draft looks correct, publish only the information that should be visible to players or the public.
Before Going Live
Use the draft tournament as a rehearsal for the real workflow:
- Check that the correct admins and arbiters can open the tournament.
- Confirm sections, stages, time controls, scoring, fees, and registration settings.
- Add a few test participants and verify the participant list.
- Generate a round only after the tournament is ready to start.
- Review public sharing, calendar visibility, and public signup settings before sending links.
- Remove test data or archive the test tournament once the workflow is understood.