Registration Tiers & Section Pricing

This page is a deep dive into the Section Details step of the tournament creation wizard — the screen where you set fees and eligibility for each section. If you just want the step-by-step walkthrough of the whole wizard, start with Creating Tournaments and come back here when you need the details.

What is a registration tier?

A registration tier is a complete pricing package for one section. Each tier bundles together:

• A fee (or a date-based fee schedule).
• Optional rating limits (minimum and maximum rating).
• Optional eligibility rules — organization membership, allow unrated players, or specific chess titles.
• An optional availability window (start and end times).

A player qualifies for a tier only when they meet all of that tier’s conditions. When a player qualifies for more than one tier, ChessRoster automatically assigns the lowest-priced option — unless you turn that behavior off (see When players qualify for multiple tiers).

Single tier vs. multiple tiers

When a section has one tier, the wizard shows a streamlined inline form: fee, rating range, eligibility checkboxes, and an Advanced Options accordion.

To add more pricing options, use the Add Additional Fee Tier button. With one tier, this sits inside an “Advanced” info box; once you have two or more tiers, it becomes a prominent button and the section switches to a card-based, drag-to-reorder layout titled Registration Fee Tiers.

Setting the fee

Each tier supports two pricing modes, chosen with the Pricing Mode toggle:

A tier uses either a flat fee or a fee schedule — never both at once. Switching modes in the form clears the other value automatically.

Date-based fee schedules (price escalation)

A fee schedule raises (or lowers) the price automatically as dates pass. Each entry in the schedule has:

• A fee amount.
• An effective date — the day that fee takes effect.
• An optional label (for example, “Early Bird” or “Regular”).

The first entry is effective immediately and does not need a date. Every entry after the first requires a date, and the dates must be in chronological order. A schedule must have at least two entries — if you only want one price, use Simple Pricing instead.

Use Add Fee Change to append another period.

Rating limits

Two optional fields, Min Rating and Max Rating, restrict which players qualify for a tier by rating:

• Min only — players must be rated at least this value (for example, 1800+).
• Max only — players must be rated below this value (for example, under 1200).
• Both set — players must fall within the range (for example, 1200–1799).
• Both blank — any rating qualifies.

Max rating must be greater than min rating. Unrated players qualify only when Allow unrated players is checked (see below).

Eligibility requirements

Two checkboxes control who may register for a tier:

• Organization membership — requires an active membership with your organization. This checkbox is only available when your organization has membership plans configured. See Memberships.
• Allow unrated players — permits players without an official rating to register for this tier.

These eligibility rules combine with rating limits and title restrictions: a player must satisfy every rule on the tier to qualify.

Special Pricing: member and titled-player discounts

The Special Pricing accordion (inside each tier) configures discounts for two groups: members and titled players. Each discount can be applied as either:

• Amount off — subtract a fixed amount from the tier’s fee.
• Fixed price — set a specific price regardless of the base fee.

You must set an entry fee first; the discount fields stay disabled until a fee is configured. Each discount has its own Apply / Update and Clear buttons and shows a live preview such as “Members pay $40.00”.

Member discount

Available only when your organization has membership plans. If you have more than one membership tier, an Eligible membership tier dropdown lets you target the discount to any active member or to a specific membership tier. Use Add another membership-tier discount to clone the current tier for a different membership target.

Titled-player discount

Choose which titles qualify by toggling the title chips: GM, WGM, IM, WIM, FM, WFM, NM, CM, WCM. By default all titles are selected. You must keep at least one title selected for the discount to apply.

Worked example: member and titled pricing

Title restrictions (titled-only tiers)

Separate from the titled-player discount, the Restrict to Titled Players control (in the tier’s Advanced Options) limits who can register for the tier at all:

• Leave empty — all players can register, regardless of title.
• Select titles — only players holding at least one of the selected titles can register.

Players must have verified their title in their ChessRoster profile. Title restrictions stack with every other rule — a player must meet rating, time, membership, and title requirements together.

Common uses include invitational GM/IM-only sections and master sections restricted to NM/CM and above.

Availability windows

Each tier can open and close on its own schedule, set under Advanced Options → Registration Time Window:

• Available From — when the tier opens. If left blank, the tier opens immediately when the tournament is published.
• Available Until — when the tier closes. If left blank, the tier closes at the tournament’s registration deadline.

End time must be after start time. When you add a new tier, it automatically starts when the previous tier ended, so there is no gap.

The Advanced Options accordion also holds an optional Description (extra details shown during registration) and Exclude from public fee displays, which hides the tier from search results and public listings while still offering it during registration as “Special Pricing”.

When players qualify for multiple tiers

By default, a player who qualifies for several tiers is automatically charged the lowest applicable fee. The wizard flags overlapping rating ranges and time periods so you can see where this happens.

When an overlap is detected, an Allow players to choose their tier checkbox appears. Enable it when prizes or other benefits differ by tier and you want players to pick which tier they register under, rather than always defaulting to the cheapest.

Play-up fee

A play-up fee is a per-section surcharge for players who register below a rating threshold — typically players “playing up” into a higher section. Find it in the Play-Up Fee accordion within each section.

Toggle Charge extra fee for players below a rating threshold, then set:

• Additional Fee — the surcharge amount, added separately at checkout so players see exactly why.
• Rating Threshold — players rated below this value pay the surcharge.
• Apply this fee to unrated players — whether unrated players also pay it.

The section’s Min Rating controls who can register; the Rating Threshold controls who pays extra. Set the threshold above the section’s min rating so some rated players actually trigger it.

Worked example: play-up surcharge

For an Under-2000 section that admits players rated 1800–1999 with a surcharge:

• Set the section Min Rating to 1800.
• Set the Rating Threshold to 2000.
• Set the Additional Fee (for example, $10).

Players rated below 2000 pay an extra $10 on top of the normal section fee.

Bye request deadlines

The Bye Request Deadlines control sets when players can submit bye requests for a section. After a deadline passes, byes are at the tournament director’s discretion. There are three modes:

• No deadlines — the TD handles bye requests manually. The section notes that requests are accepted until the tournament’s withdrawal deadline (if set).
• Single deadline — one cutoff applies to all rounds.
• Multiple deadlines — each round has its own deadline, and the last deadline applies to all remaining rounds.

Use Add Deadline to add a round, and remove deadlines from the end only — gaps are not allowed. All times display in the tournament’s timezone.

Round schedule

The Round Schedule control sets optional start times for each round. Players see these times in their registration confirmation and section details. Scheduling is flexible:

• No scheduling — no round times are shown to players.
• Partial scheduling — some rounds have times; others are announced by the TD.
• Full scheduling — every round has a start time.

Each round row offers:

• A start time (in the tournament timezone).
• A Duration (min) field used in calendar exports.
• A May start early (ASAP) checkbox — the round has a scheduled time but may begin sooner if the previous round finishes early.

Add rounds with Add Round Schedule and remove them from the end only.

Team registration settings

For team-type sections with online registration enabled, a Team Registration accordion appears within the section. It is section-scoped and saves on its own with a Save team settings button, independent of the rest of the wizard. It controls:

• Enrollment style — Self-service (any player can create a team) or Captain required (a captain must create the team first).
• Payment mode — currently Each player pays for themselves. (Captain pays all and Captain choice are marked “coming soon”.)
• Open-seat join policy — Invite only, Open join (anyone with the code), or Captain decides per team.
• Solo entry mode — Disallow solo entry or Allow solo.
• Team composition rules — min/max team size, rating method (Average or Sum), and min/max team rating.
• Captain permissions — whether the captain can edit the roster and send invites, plus an optional Roster lock deadline.
• Captain price adjustment — added to the captain’s own seat fee (positive = surcharge, negative = discount).

For the complete team feature — enabling it, captain and roster management, and how players join — see Team Registration.

Troubleshooting

• Discount fields are disabled — set the tier’s entry fee first. Member and titled discounts stay locked until a fee exists.
• “Time-based pricing requires at least 2 price entries” — a fee schedule needs two or more periods; use Simple Pricing for a single fee.
• Fee-schedule dates rejected — entries must be in chronological order and fall within the tier’s availability window.
• Member discount checkbox unavailable — your organization has no membership plans yet. Configure them under Memberships.
• Play-up fee never applies — the rating threshold is at or below section eligibility; lower a tier’s min rating or raise the threshold.
• Transition times look off by hours — confirm the tournament timezone is set on the Location & Date step; all tier times are shown in that zone.

Related Topics

• Creating Tournaments — the full wizard walkthrough.
• Memberships — set up the membership plans that power member discounts.
• Discount Codes — promo codes that stack on top of tier pricing.
• Team Registration — the complete team enrollment workflow.