Tournament use of Clono

Clono is approved by FIDE for use in official chess tournaments, and complies with FIDE’s rules of chess and standards for electronic score sheets. Clono electronic scoresheet simplifies notation of chess games as well as live broadcasting. This page outlines important information and guidelines for use of Clono in official tournaments (e.g FIDE-rated tournaments).


General information

Only tablets managed by the organiser should be used for Clono scoresheet.

It is not allowed to let the players bring their own tablets.


Information to the organisers

The tablets should have an administrative lock to prevent any malicious software from being installed on the tablets. In our Help center, you will find articles on how to easily lock down the tablets.

The WiFi for Clono tablets should be protected with WPA-encryption or better (not WEP).

Clono has very low power consumption, and on most tablets, it is no problem running a double round before recharging the tablets.

An administrator can easily monitor the battery status in the Admin Panel. In case of low battery, a warning will appear in the Admin Panel.

In case of a malfunction, a tablet ca be quickly replaced with a spare tablet. The replacement procedure takes approximately one minute, and the new tablet will resume to the latest game state (no need for manual recreation of the game).

When needed, it is possible to define a custom delay of the live feed in the Admin Panel. A logged in administrator can still watch the games without delay.

If the network breaks during the games, the only consequence is that the live transmission is delayed. The scoresheet used by the players will work regardless of network status.


Information to the arbiters

It is recommended to do a short intro of Clono to the players before round 1.

Additionally, a paper printout with user instructions can be put on the tables (download paper printout).

It is recommended to let players opt out and use pen and paper scoresheet if they feel uncomfortable using Clono electronic scoresheet (e.g because of age or disabilities).

In case a player wants to bring a paper copy of the game home, a standard scoresheet with the algebraic notation can be printed from clono.no.

In case of game investigation, a copy of all game states is saved on the tablet and available under the recovery menu.

If the players sign for the result in a result protocol, it is recommended to add a remark to the protocol that in case of a dispute of the signed result, the electronic game documentation prevails.


Information to the players

Before the game, Clono displays a table card with game information.

During the game, the moves are recorded using the graphical chess board. The move appears in the scoresheet table (lower left corner) in algebraic notation.

Correction of moves is done by pressing back arrow and recording the correct move.

Record the result when the game is finished by pressing the pokal button.

When the game is finished, the player should leave the tablet on the table.

The games are available for watching, download to pgn or scoresheet printout on clono.no.

If the graphical board is oriented upside down, press the flip button.

For more backlight, press the lamp button.

To record a draw offer, do a long press on the move in the scoresheet table.

To record a dash in the scoresheet table, swipe across the table (the dash will be replaced by the move notation once the move is recorded).


Other information

For tournament use of Clono, a user account on Clono Admin Panel is required. If you do not have an account, register here. Please note that the account is subject to manual approval. 

In the Admin Panel the tournament is set up with tournament details, groups, players and games. If you are using TournamentService for tournament management and pairing, the data can be imported directly to Clono. If you use other tournament management software, the tournament creation and pairing can be configured manually in Clono Admin Panel.  

The tournament is automatically given a pin code in the Admin Panel, and this pin code is used for connecting the tablets running Clono to the server. Each tablet is allocated to a fixed table or a player, and when everything is ready set up, the game details are transmitted to the tablets.  

For best user experience for the players, we recommend using the app on 10-inch tablets. The app is thoroughly tested on Lenovo Tab 10 and Tab4 10 tablets, which are in the lower price range with a price around 120 Euro. Clono Scoresheet can also be used on 7-inch tablets and is thoroughly tested on Lenovo Tab 7 with Android 7.0 and 7.1. 

Update 2022: Lenovo Tab M10 HD Plus (2nd Gen) is a new model in the lower price range. It has good battery performance with Clono, and it is tested thoroughly in many tournaments.

The app is only available for Android, not iOS (iPad) as iOS devices are much more expensive and considered less relevant for tournament use.