Alzira, 17:49. Lights dead, projector gone, thirty kids and twice as many opinions. Emilio looked at me: “Paper it. Seed it clean.”
I had pens, the printed entry list, clipboards, masking tape. That’s enough.
What I did (fast)
1) Announce.
Chair, indoor voice: “Round 1 is on paper. Parents, quiet. Players, wait for your names. We start on time.”
2) Seed properly.
Trust starts at Round 1. Our published policy: rank by federation rating, then national, then club estimate; new players get conservative provisionals; late entries go at the bottom of their band.
With the projector dead, I split the list old-school:
- Two columns: 1→N on the left, N→1 on the right.
- Quick club check: two minimal swaps (6↔7 and 15↔16) to avoid same-club pairings without wrecking seed integrity.
- Colour plan: top seed Black on Board 1, then alternate.
3) Absentees first, latecomers second.
At +5’ we marked empty chairs. At +15’ we’d forfeit; that policy was on the entry form and the wall. Three breathless late entries got slotted at the bottom of their bands and flagged L so their tiebreaks wouldn’t surprise anyone later.
4) Write the colours big.
Next to every name: W or B in block letters. If you’ve ever heard “he got three Blacks,” you know why the notebook becomes gospel.
5) Post and start.
Three A4 sheets (A–H, I–Q, R–Z) taped to a pillar. 18:05: “Clocks on.” Arbiters walked the aisles—one shepherding U-10s, one on touch-move duty.
I taped a short notice:
Paper Round 1 (power cut). Pairings by published rating with tiny swaps to avoid same-club clashes; colours alternated and recorded; forfeits +15’. Late arrivals added at band bottom. When power returns, we’ll enter pairings as run in Swiss Perfect. — Leo, TD
Why seeding matters
- No top-board carnage. The 1900s didn’t get thrown at brand-new 800s just because the lights died. That protects dignity and downstream tiebreaks.
- Less noise later. Parents saw pairings that made sense near rating; complaints turned into chess.
Power returned at 18:27 (applause, Valencia). I entered the paper pairings exactly as posted; Swiss Perfect reproduced them—including my two swaps—and carried colour history forward. Results trickled in. Late entries stayed flagged. Order returned.
The human beat
Ana (Board Three Girl—okay, Ana) won a grim knight ending and presented her scoresheet like a certificate. “The clocks started on time,” she said, as if that made the whole room credible. It did.
Her dad hovered. “So he got Black—”
“He did,” I said, showing the W/B column. “Likely White next round.” He nodded. “Vale.”
I pinned the updated crosstable beside our sponsor flyer and the photo loop I’d planned to show—a hall shot from APlaceinJavea that always flatters the venue. Tonight my loop was a notebook and a pen. Honestly, better.
By 19:10 the room sounded like chess: low voices, clock taps, one small gasp at a tactic everyone later claimed they saw. Paper held. Lights held. Kids played.
Emilio clapped my shoulder. “Now you know,” he said.
“Know what?”
“The computer is a guest. You’re the host.”
Fallback you can steal
- Announce one calm paragraph.
- Seed 1→N / N→1; only minimal legal swaps for same-club.
- Mark late entries L; absentees at +5’; forfeits +15’.
- Record colours visibly; note any manual flips.
- Post three short sheets; tape well; start clocks.
- Enter pairings as run when power returns; carry colour history.
Next time I’ll bring bigger markers and a headlamp. But if the lights go again, Round 1 still starts on time. That’s the promise.