Downloading Registrations
Before you can pair your tournament in SwissSys, you need to get your registered players out of ChessRoster. The export produces a SwissSys-compatible file (.sjson) that you open directly in SwissSys to start pairing.
Prerequisites
- You must be logged in as a tournament director or organizer admin.
- The export only includes players with a Completed registration status. Pending payments, incomplete registrations, and withdrawn players are excluded automatically.
How to Export
Open the tournament page
Navigate to your tournament on chessroster.com and open its detail page.
Open the overflow menu in the admin bar
A subtle admin bar with a primary-color left border appears at the top of the page for users with director access. Click the three-dot icon (⋮) on the right side of the bar.
On mobile, tap Admin Actions to open the action drawer, then select Export to SwissSys.
Select “Export to SwissSys”
Choose Export to SwissSys from the menu. A dialog opens with an Export Format dropdown (currently SwissSys 11 SJSON is the only option).
Click Export
Click Export. Your browser downloads a .sjson file named after your tournament.
Open in SwissSys
In SwissSys, use File → Open and select the downloaded .sjson file. Your tournament sections and players load automatically.
What the Export Contains
The file includes one record per registered player, organized by section. Fields included depend on what data was collected at registration:
| Field | Source |
|---|---|
| Player name | Registration form (formatted for SwissSys) |
| Rating / Pairing number | Registration rating, sorted by rating descending |
| Primary federation ID | USCF ID (USCF events), CFC ID (CFC-only events), or FIDE ID |
| Secondary federation ID | FIDE ID (if available alongside primary) |
| Membership expiration | USCF or CFC expiration date |
| Chess title | GM, WGM, IM, WIM, FM, WFM, CM, NM (if on record) |
| Sex / Gender | From USCF or CFC player data |
| State / Province | From USCF or CFC player data |
| From registration | |
| Phone | From registration |
| Team | From team assignment or custom registration question |
| Club, City, Zip, Age | From custom registration questions (if configured) |
| Reserved byes | Half-point and zero-point bye requests |
| Section assignment | Matches the section selected at registration |
Only players with a Completed registration status who have not withdrawn are included. Players who started but did not finish registration, who have pending payments, or who have withdrawn are excluded automatically.
After Importing
Once you have opened the file in SwissSys, you can begin pairing as normal. After each round, upload your report back to ChessRoster so players can see live results and standings.
- To publish pairings during the event, see Managing Pairings.
- To publish the final report after the event, see Uploading Tournament Reports.
Troubleshooting
The Export to SwissSys option is not visible.
You need tournament director or organizer admin access. The admin bar only appears for users with edit permission. Contact your organizer admin to confirm your role.
A player I expected is missing from the file.
The export only includes players with completed registrations. Open the tournament management page and check the Registrations tab to confirm their status. Pending payments or incomplete forms will exclude a player.
SwissSys does not recognize the file.
Ensure you are using SwissSys version 11.74 or later. Older versions do not support the .sjson format.
Related Topics
- Managing Pairings — Publish pairings each round and notify players
- Live Results — Show standings on a live display during the event
- Uploading Tournament Reports — Publish the final SwissSys report after the event
- Managing Participants — Edit or withdraw players before exporting