Tournaments
ChessVS has four tournament tiers, from free weekly events to the season-defining Grand Tournament.
The four tiers
Tier 1 — Blitz Arena
- Board required: No
- Entry fee: Free
- Format: Weekly rapid events
- Rewards: XP and card fragments
- For: New players and the free-play community — the perfect warm-up.
Tier 2 — Ranked League
- Board required: Yes
- Entry fee: 5–50 FOCUS (scales with your ELO bracket)
- Format: Continuous ELO ladder plus seasonal ranked matches
- Rewards: FOCUS and ELO on a win
- For: All board holders — this is the core competitive loop.
Tier 3 — Diamond League
- Board required: Yes
- Deck requirement: At least 3 cards equipped, including 1 Epic or higher
- Entry fee: 50 CVS
- Rewards: FOCUS, CVS, and a chance at an NFT drop
- Rank gate: Advanced tier or above
- For: Serious competitors with a real card collection.
Tier 4 — Grand Tournament (Championship)
- Board required: Yes
- Deck requirement: Full loadout including 2 FL3 cards and 1 Omega card
- Entry fee: 500 CVS
- Rewards: Trophy NFT, prize pool share, and a permanent title
- Rank gate: Master tier for qualifiers; Grandmaster for a direct seed
- For: The elite — one Grand Tournament per season.
ELO and matchmaking
Your ELO rating is your chess-skill score. It starts at 1,200 and adjusts after every ranked match. How much it moves depends on your rating band:
| Rating band | Movement per match |
|---|---|
| Below 1,000 | Fast — new players calibrate quickly |
| 1,000–1,399 | Moderate |
| 1,400+ | Slow and stable — high ELO is hard-earned |
ELO carries between seasons — it is one of the few things that never resets. Your rank tier badge is derived from your ELO.
Special formats
Club Wars — a cross-club team tournament, usually around the middle of each season. The winning club's board holders receive an exclusive cosmetic drop.
Sovereign Duel — an invite-only, high-stakes format for the top of the ladder. (Full details →)
Speed GM Invitational — sponsored Grandmaster players competing with full card sets, broadcast for spectators.
A note on prize pools
Each season runs a championship with a real prize pool that grows as the protocol grows. Exact figures are announced ahead of each season — check the in-app season page and the official Discord for the current numbers, since they are confirmed season by season.