1) Starting Matches

The player who has white will initiate the challenge in lichess. Check the pairings to see who your opponent is and what their lichess id is. In lichess, search for your opponent as shown below.

2) Initiating the Challenge

When you have found your opponent via the search or web link, click on the id to go to the player's account. Select the cross-swords icon to initiate the challenge.

After clicking the cross-swords icon, a pop-up will appear, as shown below. Set the game parameters as follows.

Select the Standard Variant

Select the time control Real Time

Set the rate of play as 45 minutes with 15 second increments

Set the type of game as Rated

When you are ready to start the game, click the white king. This means you will play as white.

As black, on your home page, you will see the challenge arrive as shown. Hover over the cross-swords to see the challenge details.

Check that the game is set to Rated rather than Casual. If it is set to casual, then reject the challenge and send a message to your opponent explaining why you declined the challenge and ask that they re-issue a challenge. A game set as casual, turns off lichess's anti-cheating software.

After the match, be sure to send the game, in pgn format, to Kevin Staveley

If the challenge is correct, click on the green tick to accept the challenge. The game board should then come into view.

Incorrect Challenge - set as Casual

To send a message, open your opponent's profile and click the message icon as shown below.

After sending the message, the recipient will see a notification that a message is waiting, as shown below. Click on this icon to open the message.

How to send the game score