bELO
The bar's chess set has been sitting there for years.
Put your phone down and sit down to play.
Real players. Real board. Real rivalry — for glory and season prizes.
The bar's chess set has been sitting there for years.
Put your phone down and sit down to play.
Real players. Real board. Real rivalry — for glory and season prizes.
Off the devices, into the game. A real match, on a real board, sitting across from someone in person.
bELO maps the chess boards: bars, parks, clubs, offices. So you always know where to go in your neighbourhood — without having to search.
One face-to-face game is worth a hundred online. You look each other in the eye, shake hands, and the rivalry is real. And the pleasure of winning — or losing — is too.
"The waiter knocked over the table"
Start again. It's also a good time to order something.
"A child stole my rook from the board"
Find someone who for the next match will let you play with an extra rook. Consider the handicap as moral compensation. If the board is a public set, go get the piece back.
"I'd had too much to drink while playing"
In the event of a voluntary declaration: 3 matches forfeited. Honesty is admirable. Sobriety is better.
There's been a chess board in that bar for years. Sometimes it's on the counter, sometimes on a shelf at the back — not displayed, not advertised, just there. You never asked whose it was, or whether anyone actually played on it. And even if you had asked, you wouldn't have known who to play with. bELO exists for exactly this: for the chess board nobody asks about, and for the game that never happened because you didn't know who to look for.
No algorithms, no matchmaking, no online games against strangers on the other side of the world. Just two people sitting across a chess board, face to face. bELO puts that thing back at the centre — the physical game, eye to eye, piece moved by hand — and adds the one thing that was missing: a real score, one that keeps count over time and tells you exactly where you stand.
When you're online on bELO you can see who else is there, and where they are. You might discover that the guy you've been chatting to at the bar for two years has been playing chess since he was twelve. Or that the pub on the corner has a game every Tuesday evening. Or that there are three players on your street you've never met — and who are just waiting for someone to knock.
Chess players don't recognise each other in the street. They don't wear badges. They don't make announcements. Yet they're everywhere — at the bar, in the office, in the park — and often they don't even know about each other. bELO exists to make them find each other, sit down, and play.
The bar downstairs
There's been a chess board on the counter for years. Nobody knows whose it is. Someone plays on Wednesday evenings.
The office
The quiet colleague on the third floor. Been playing since he was ten and never told anyone.
The park
In summer, the table by the fountain. There's always someone. Sometimes they're strong. Sometimes not. Always worth sitting down.
The train
Long journey, pocket chess set. The person opposite is watching you. You both know how this ends.
Thursday pizza night
Waiting for the rest of the group to arrive. Ten minutes, a quick game. The result counts all the same.
The neighbourhood club
The one you've never walked into. Inside there are people who've been playing for thirty years, waiting for someone new.
There's no chat. No private messages. No need to arrange anything in advance. The bELO map shows in real time who's around, where they are, and what they're waiting for. Three actions. Then you meet.
At a bar, in the park, somewhere with a chess board? Mark yourself on the map and let others know you're waiting for a challenger. Anyone nearby can see you — and knows exactly where to find you. No explanation needed, no contact to look up.
See someone on the map waiting somewhere? Tap "I'm on my way". They get a notification: someone is coming to play. You don't need to write anything or explain anything. You'll be there soon.
See a player online? Send them a challenge directly in the app. They accept, and the match is officially open — ready to be played and recorded. The rest happens in person.
bELO isn't for tournament players. It's for everyone else — people who have a chess board, some free time, and nobody to play with. Like these.
You're in Florence for three days. The chess clubs are closed in August. You open bELO and check the map: a bar marked with a chess board 8 minutes away, and a player waiting for challengers. No need to ask anyone anything.
Free evening in a city you don't know. Not in the mood for Netflix. You open the map: there's a player with ELO 1380 600 metres away who's been there an hour. You tap "I'm on my way". Twenty minutes later you're playing.
New neighbourhood, you don't know anyone. But the map shows a player at the bar on the corner, three minutes on foot. You don't have to introduce yourself. You don't have to explain anything. You have a chess board as an excuse.
You brought the chess set. Your family won't play. You're at the beach, the lake, the mountains — doesn't matter. The map tells you if there's anyone nearby. Often there is.
You beat them every time. It's not fun anymore. The map shows a player with ELO 1500 a kilometre away. You don't know them. In an hour you will.
Nothing special about the evening. No plan. But you feel like playing. You open bELO: three active players in the city, one 400 metres away. Maybe tonight you go out.
Not every bar puts the chess board on the counter. Some keep it in a drawer, some on a back shelf. bELO maps it anyway — so you know it's there and can ask for it.
You know that place has chess. You even have the board. But you don't know anyone to sit down with. bELO tells you who's active nearby — and lets you be found by anyone looking for the same thing.
Every match leaves a trace. Over time you can really tell whether you're improving, and who you tend to do well against.
The dashboard shows who's online and where they are. A beer, a game, a new person. It's happened more times than you'd think.
When you're online you can indicate where you are — a bar, a park, a Maps link. Others can see it and know where to find you. A chess board becomes a meeting point.
The pub on the corner. The community club you've never walked into. The colleague at the next desk. bELO makes visible a network of players that already exists — you just didn't know where to look.
Every match recorded is one more player on the map. The more people use bELO, the easier it is to find someone nearby willing to sit down and play.
Not Magnus Carlsen's. Yours — with the people you know, in the places you frequent. And your place in that list.
The ELO system balances expectations: beating a much stronger opponent is worth far more than beating someone 200 points below you. The K-factor determines how quickly the score varies — higher at the start, when you're still finding your level.
| Matches played | K-factor | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 0 – 29 | K = 32 | Score calibrates quickly — bigger swings up and down |
| 30 – 99 | K = 24 | Moderate variation, you're finding your real level |
| 100+ or ELO ≥ 2400 | K = 16 | Stable score, changes only with significant results |
Every now and then the admin opens a season: a period with a start and end date, during which all matches count for the season leaderboard as well. It's when the rivalry gets serious — and real.
The top three players at the end of the season win a prize. Not virtual points, not digital badges. A real prize, decided by the admin together with the community — a round of drinks, a reserved spot for the evening, an improvised trophy, or whatever you choose. What matters is that it makes you want to earn it over the board, in person, face to face. For glory. And for the prize.
A season can last weeks or months. The admin decides based on the local community.
The top three players by ELO at the close of the season receive a prize set by the admin.
The season ranking is the global ELO — there's no separate score. Every match counts.
At the end of a season the admin can normalise scores: the highest and lowest are brought to new reference values, and everyone else is interpolated in between. Nobody starts from zero, but the gap narrows.
Ten points. No more, no less. Print it, frame it, hang it above the bar's chess board.
Real chess. Legal moves, alternating turns, king in check declared or not — FIDE standard rules apply. If you don't know them, learn. If you do, respect them.
With a clock or without, blitz or unlimited, classical position or Chess960: there are no time or format constraints. The only requirement is that you play chess — white and black, standard board, standard pieces, standard moves. The rest is between you.
Offering a draw is a formal act. If your opponent accepts, the game is a draw. No going back. No "I was joking".
If you intentionally touch your own piece, you must move it. If you intentionally touch an opponent's piece, you must capture it if you can. Rule applies even after the third gin and tonic.
Stockfish stays home. If you want to check your phone between moves that's your business — but not to ask the machine what to play. You play, with what you have in your head right now.
Spectators can laugh, comment, take sides. It's a bar, not a tournament hall. The only thing forbidden is suggesting a move. Everything else — including shouting — is part of the atmosphere.
Nobody is responsible for your board position, your coordination, or your strategic decisions after the fourth pint. The result stands.
When the match ends, both players record the result on bELO. If the results match, the ELO updates. If not, a dispute is opened.
The match ends when it ends. No going back to discuss previous moves, variations you could have played, what would have happened if. It's over. Win the next one.
The ranking is real, the competition is serious, but you're still at the bar. Shake hands, order another round and, if you want, start again.
Both players must submit the result. If they agree, everything is automatic.
If results don't match, an admin steps in. No endless arguments.
Maximum 10 matches between the same two players in 30 days.
Optional: free text or Google Maps link. Useful for the history.
bELO works perfectly well even if rankings mean nothing to you. You can use it just to show where you are and see who else is around with a chess board.
No recorded matches, no ELO, no leaderboard. Just: "I'm at the Caffè del Borgo with a chess board, anyone want to play?"
And if you get into it and want to start keeping score, the feature's right there — just use it. But it's not mandatory. The only thing that matters is finding someone to sit down with.
One thing to be clear about
bELO connects players through the platform: it shows who's online, where they are, and lets you arrange a game. What happens in person — the meeting, the match, any interaction — is the sole responsibility of the participants.
bELO does not verify user identities, is not present at meetings, and cannot be held responsible for what happens outside the platform. As with any meeting arranged online: use common sense, choose public places, and bring only your chess board.
⚠️ For minors, the presence of a parent or legal guardian is strongly recommended — and in many contexts required. This applies to any meeting arranged through the platform: matches, informal tournaments, chess tutoring sessions, or any other situation involving a third-party adult. Parents and guardians are responsible for supervising the minors in their care. bELO encourages all users to behave responsibly, respectfully, and in accordance with standards of good conduct.
And next to that chess board there's someone waiting to find an opponent.
Sign up, set your location, and discover who's there.
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