looking for utility to text out pairings

[Aris Marghetis]

Hello there, does anyone use something like this, or can you direct me?

Thanks, Aris.

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Do you mean to send out pairings to players by SMS or something?
I remember that one US tournament organizers did that. It would be necessary to look through Chess Life. As there is a search featured, maybe it would be not difficult to look for "SMS", maybe something would pop up. Then contact them.

[Ian Findlay]

CCA does this in their tournaments. They give you the option of text or email. Their pairings tend to be at last minute, so it is kind of moot.

[Aris Marghetis]

Egis & Ian, yes, like CCA. They do it via a system that includes online registration, but I only need to be able to text pairings. I want to be able to feed a SwissSys/SwissManager file to something residing on my Pairing Director's laptop, that would text everyone who had supplied their cell phone number at registration (which 99% of the players did for 2019 Kingston Easter Chess last April)

If someone could do this relatively easily, please feel free to send me a quote.

Thanks, arismarghetis at rogers dot com

[Don Parakin]

Semi-retired coder here. I've done this for non-chess apps using Twilio. It costs $0.0075 per msg sent so probably under $10 for most tournaments. Aris, I'll send you an email later.

[Aris Marghetis]

Semi-retired coder here. I've done this for non-chess apps using Twilio. It costs $0.0075 per msg sent so probably under $10 for most tournaments. Aris, I'll send you an email later.

Thank you!

[Mike McDonald]

I'm surprised no one has built a well-adopted app for this.

Something like a chess-results is ok but building an app onto pairing software that just immediately updates and allows all players to view pairings (and also fill out results via the app rather than have to write on a physical piece of paper -> and then automatically pair the next round rather than the TD having to monitor the status of multiple games in multiple rooms).

All organizers worldwide could benefit off of something like this and it would scale so much better than texting players

[Aris Marghetis]

I'm surprised no one has built a well-adopted app for this.

Something like a chess-results is ok but building an app onto pairing software that just immediately updates and allows all players to view pairings (and also fill out results via the app rather than have to write on a physical piece of paper -> and then automatically pair the next round rather than the TD having to monitor the status of multiple games in multiple rooms).

All organizers worldwide could benefit off of something like this and it would scale so much better than texting players

I hear ya, but for starters, all I need is something that texts players their board #, their colour, and their opponent. Just to save 100+ players clamouring around four sheets on the wall.

[Larry Bevand]

Hi Aris,

During the NAYCC this summer, the President from the Marshall Chess Club was attending the event with some kids.

He gave us a number of great suggestions (constructive criticism style).

I asked him that exact same question :).

He said there is a feature within SwissSys that does that!

We have not followed up on this yet...but it is on our to-do list.

Larry

[Erik Malmsten]

I hear ya, but for starters, all I need is something that texts players their board #, their colour, and their opponent. Just to save 100+ players clamouring around four sheets on the wall.

But I've been told not to bring my phone to the tournament! But note that technology can also be used to put the pairings on large computer screens around the site. .

[Aris Marghetis]

But I've been told not to bring my phone to the tournament! But note that technology can also be used to put the pairings on large computer screens around the site. .

Yes, that paradox somewhat reduces the need for this feature. For example, at Kingston, we ban all tech on the whole floor. So this idea only helps someone sitting in their room preparing before a round. They would get the text, prepare, then leave their phone (laptop, etc) in their room and come down for their game, knowing exactly where to go, vs. standing in front of walled pairing sheets.

For me this is not yet a "must have", but I feel that it's neat enough to at least consider. Thanks for the wry insight!

[Aris Marghetis]

Hi Aris,

During the NAYCC this summer, the President from the Marshall Chess Club was attending the event with some kids.

He gave us a number of great suggestions (constructive criticism style).

I asked him that exact same question :).

He said there is a feature within SwissSys that does that!

We have not followed up on this yet...but it is on our to-do list.

Larry

Hello Larry, for the life of me, I had never noticed such a feature within Swiss-Sys. If you find it first, I would love to know where (the download at the CFC website is not currently working)

[Don Parakin]

The format of pairings lists is the first you would think of. But that format makes less sense if you think about how the list is used and the problem of large crowds around it repeatedly scanning the list looking for their name. Instead of sorting the list by board number, sorting by name would make it much easier for its users. The list would be twice as long but would take maybe one tenth as long to use (so less crowding)

[Kerry Liles]

The format of pairings lists is the first you would think of. But that format makes less sense if you think about how the list is used and the problem of large crowds around it repeatedly scanning the list looking for their name. Instead of sorting the list by board number, sorting by name would make it much easier for its users. The list would be twice as long but would take maybe one tenth as long to use (so less crowding)

Excellent idea - in a very large tournament that list could be split into A-M, N-Z etc to separate the crowds too...

[Hugh Brodie]

Another suggestion...make multiple copies of the pairings and post them far apart inside/outside the tournament hall.