Offline Chess Ladder for Schools

EDIT (October 2026): Version 2.8 now replaces the original download. New in this version:

• Inactivity slide. Players who stop turning up slowly drift down the ladder, so the top spots stay fresh. You choose how many weeks’ grace they get, or switch it off.
• Restore from spreadsheet. Copy your ladder out of Excel, paste it in, preview it, then restore it, including wins, losses and draws.
• Smarter first-time setup. The setup screen accepts either a simple class list or a full ladder pasted from Excel.
• New Year reset. One protected button clears the ladder ready for a new academic year, while keeping your admin password.
• Cleaner printing. The restore preview no longer appears on the wall-display printout.
• User Guide. Completely re-written 40 page manual

Already own an earlier version? Just download this one. Use Export in your old copy and Import in the new one to carry your ladder across.

A complete browser-based Chess Ladder system for schools, with easy match entry, a printable ladder display, spreadsheet import and teacher-password protected admin.

No accounts, no databases, no subscriptions.

This Chess Ladder has been designed specifically for school Chess Clubs and enrichment sessions. It runs entirely from a single HTML file, so there is no installation, no internet connection needed, and no student data ever leaves the school computer.

Ideal for:

• Lunchtime Chess Clubs
• House competitions
• Enrichment programmes
• Inter-form tournaments
• Library or Games Room activities

Features

• Smart ladder movement rules: beat a player above you and take their place
• One-click match recording
• Auto-complete player selection
• Daily game limit protection (one match per player per day)
• Optional challenge limit (only challenge players up to 3 places above)
• Optional inactivity slide with an adjustable grace period
• Undo the last result
• Win, loss and draw statistics, win percentage and last result for every player
• Gold, silver and bronze highlighting for the top three
• Teacher-password protected admin controls
• Add and remove players, or set them inactive and bring them back later
• Bulk import for initial setup, from a class list or a ladder pasted from Excel
• Restore a ladder from a spreadsheet, with a preview before anything changes
• Export and import backups
• Clean printable wall-display format
• One-click New Year reset
• Fully offline and GDPR-friendly

The ladder updates instantly after every game, giving students immediate feedback and strong motivation to climb the rankings.

Because everything is stored locally in the browser, there are:

• no subscriptions,
• no logins,
• no cloud accounts,
• and no safeguarding concerns around online student data.

The system has been tested in a real school Chess Club environment over several months.

At only £1, this is a simple, low-cost way to add structure, competition and excitement to a school chess programme.