8² Chess & Social Club Christmas Tournament!

Join us as we see the year out with our biggest 8² event yet. We’re hosting our first tournament to mark the end of 2025 with DJs, drinks, chats and, of course, chess.

Expect music, puzzling games, relaxed conversation and the usual 8² chaos where chess is just the excuse to get together and connect. The real focus is the people: meeting new faces, mixing circles and ending the year with a room full of energy. But it doesn't hurt that there are prizes 😉.

Prizes

Everyone attending will have a chance to take home a piece of the club.
Prizes for the Qualifiers
Prizes for the Top 2 competitors

🏆 Grand Prize: £100 bar tab at Pink Moon

Tournament Rules

Stage 1: Open Play

Sign-up from 18:00
Stage 1 runs 18:30–21:00

You’ll sign up and be placed on the tournament grid.

Choose your bracket:

• Beginner: ~600 and below

• Intermediate: 600–1200

• Advanced: 1200+

Handicaps:

• If you’re playing someone in the same bracket, the game starts normally.

• If you’re playing someone one bracket away, the higher-rated player must remove their f pawn, and the lower-rated player chooses their starting colour.

• If you’re playing someone two brackets away, the higher-rated player removes a rook and their f pawn, and the lower-rated player chooses their starting colour.

Play as many games as possible.
Draws do not count.
Report each result to the scorekeeper — every win counts towards qualifying for Stage 2.

Break

21:00–21:30

Grab a drink, breathe, reset.

Stage 2: The Knockout

21:30–22:30

The top 8 highest-scoring players from Stage 1 will enter a 10-minute Rapid, single-elimination bracket (the classic tournament tree).

Quarter-finals → Semi-finals → Finals.

We have capacity for 50 players so there will be 50 tickets 🎫, but you are more than welcome to come along for the vibe!