Today at Street Chess I tried 2 new technical tools to support tournament coverage and broadcasting*
Inspired by IA Helen Milligan, who uses both these products, I used Clono to broadcast a game a round, and VegaResults to publish the tournament results. NB Both of these have been around for a while (* and I had already tested Clono previously), but I decided now was the time to use both of them as part of my tournament infrastructure.
Clono is an electronic scoresheet app that runs on Android tablets. Players enter their own moves on the tablet (after they have been played), and these are uploaded to the Clono server. They can then be broadcast via the tournament link, to be observed in real time. For today's event I used a single tablet (Samsung A7 lite), which I paid $197 for. Overall it was a success, in part because this was my second attempt. To speed up the process I did not use real players names (as I would have to add a new player or players each round), but simply used White and Black. There is a bit of an overhead setting up the event on the Server (you have to enter tournament details, and then create a tournament section, even if it is a single section event). Then for each round you need to create a game (White v Black on Board 1 was always the game), and then update the active round for each section (so the tablet knows a new game is starting). Fortunately I was able to do this quickly, and did get 7 games recorded. For 3 games the moves were recorded by one of the players, but for the rest either I or a helper entered the moves while watching. NB To avoid helping the player, the software will accept illegal moves, although it is a simple task to correct them. The other important thing to note is that you do need an internet connection, both for the tablet, and for the PC managing the tournament. If you are interested, the full set of games is at https://clono.no/live/tournament/?t_id=515
Vegaresults was also something I had tried a long time back, but had then forgotten about until recently. In fact my memory was so hazy, I completely blanked on how to use it, resulting in some 'Please Help' emails to the software's author. Fortunately he pointed me in the right direction, and I was up and running. To utilise the service, firstly create an account of the Vega Results server. Then in Vega click on the Vega Result Online tab at the bottom of the Player Archive screen to log in (using your email and password.). The (and this is the part I forgot!), right click in the bottom window to bring up the management menu. If you choose 'Event Manager' you can then add new events (trap for young players, you need to have a pdf of the event details to upload before it becomes visible). The most important step (after the event creation) is to link your online event to the event you have open in Vega, so that you can then upload tournament results and pairings (in much the same way as Swiss Manager links to chess-results.com). Again I used this for today's Street Chess event, and you see the results at https://www.vegaresult.com/vega/index.php?id=2084 NB If you aren't requiring payment for your events (or have people pay on the day), you can even set it up to accept registrations before the event.
