English Chess Forum

I don't suppose anybody uses these any more, but I have a (maybe) 10 cm thick bunch of them. Either they go in the recycling or if someone wants them, PM me. They're free unless you live somewhere where the shipping costs are astronomical...

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 04, 2025 9:35 am

I don't suppose anybody uses these any more

Some organisers use a program to calculate the pairings, but then pairing cards and a pairing board to display them. It avoids relying on a printer or monitor. If names on the pairing cards are written with a wide tip pen, they can be visible from some distance. Old habits die hard, so they probably put opponents, floats and cumulative scores on the cards as well.

We use them for internal club events (I have PMed Kevin offering to take some/ them all).

I use them and pairing boards for my school chess clubs.

Usually sourced ethically from Tim Onions.

Mike got in first - they're in a box and ready for me to go to the Post Office!

I still use pairings cards for the Cowley Blitz tournaments. The pairings are done by hand, partly because there are a lot of entries on the day, and I'd struggle to enter everyone into a computer pairings program, but more importantly pairing cards can be displayed on a large pairings board on which all the players can quickly find their table and opponent for the next round. In larger tournaments you are likely to have big screens which work as well as or better than pairings boards. The other advantage of pairings cards is that they do away with the need for results slips - the players just tell me the result of their games and I enter this directly onto their pairings cards.

If anyone uses pairing cards regularly, they can use the Richmond Juniors design, and get a printer to print them on A6. 220gsm or heavier card works well.


If you find them useful, do please let us know.

Please do feel free to change the branding to suit your own purposes.

You can treat this as Richmond Junior Chess Club's public domain contribution to the chess community.

We also have designs for branded A5 scoresheets, A5 continuation scoresheets, A5 double-sided score-sheets, A6 results slips and other chess stationery, as well as experience of the best options for printing, if anyone would like to get in touch. A circular email to local printers will get prices liable to beat any retailer's.

Kevin Thurlow wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 04, 2025 11:25 am

Mike got in first - they're in a box and ready for me to go to the Post Office!

Kevin's use of pairing cards in the wild! (HCA Congress). Although we have now moved to using a printer and QR codes (but I like the old school method and I sill have these and the pairing boards stored)