Bring a Friend
Every player has a personal referral link. During the private alpha it does something no other link does: it gets your friend in immediately, with no waitlist. Once they start playing, you both earn rewards.
Where your link is
From the lobby, open the Rally group and choose Referrals. Your link is at the top of the page and looks like this:
chessvs.club/register?ref=CODE
CODE is your own 8-character code. Copy the link and send it however you like: a text, a Discord message, a post. Anyone who signs up through it is counted as your referral.
Skip the line during the alpha
ChessVS is in a private, invite-only alpha. Normally a new player joins the waitlist and waits for an invite. A friend who signs up with your link does not wait:
- They are admitted right away. An invite link appears on their screen and is also sent to them by email.
- The invite is good for the standard claim window, which is 7 days right now. They use it to claim their name and start playing.
- Already on the waitlist? That works too. Someone who joined the waitlist earlier and then signs up with your link is admitted straight away.
- No link, no shortcut. Anyone who signs up without a referral link joins the waitlist as before.
Referral links are for friends, not for mass posting. Each link admits a limited number of people per week, and to share a working link you need to have played at least one real match or have had your account for a few days. If a link is at its limit, the person you invited joins the waitlist instead.
What you earn
A referral qualifies once your friend has played 3 matches against 3 different real opponents. A few things to know about that count:
- You do not count as one of their opponents.
- Very short games do not count.
- Brand-new accounts do not count as opponents either. Your friend needs to face people who have been around for a few days.
When the referral qualifies, both of you are rewarded:
| Who | Reward |
|---|---|
| You (the referrer) | 250 FOCUS |
| Your friend | 100 FOCUS plus one Common Battle Card |
Rewards are paid for up to 10 qualified referrals per season. Referrals beyond 10 still count toward your Herald standing (below), they just do not pay FOCUS that season.
FOCUS from referrals spends exactly like any other FOCUS: packs, entry fees, everything. It does not count toward your tier or rank progress, and it does not use up your daily earning cap. It is a bonus on top of what you earn by playing, never a shortcut through the ladder.
Team accounts can share their links, and their friends get in the same way, but team accounts earn no rewards.
The Herald ladder
Bring enough friends in and you become a Herald. The badge shows on your Referrals page, and you receive a matching role in the ChessVS Discord. Permanent badges do more than sit on a profile. From time to time, badge holders are rewarded with in-game cosmetics, invitations to tournaments, and Battle Card airdrops.
| Title | How to earn it |
|---|---|
| Herald | 5 qualified referrals, lifetime |
| Herald Prime | 10 qualified referrals in a single season |
| Herald Eternal | 20 qualified referrals across the two seasons of an arc (a pair of back-to-back seasons) |
The Herald ladder keeps counting past the 10-per-season reward cap, so every qualified referral moves you up, whether or not it paid out.
The Club Board
Referrals are also a club contest. From the lobby, open Rally and choose Club Board to see Bitcoinia vs Etheryst on qualified referrals:
- this season
- this arc
- all time
- and how many Heralds each club has produced
The Club Board shows club totals only. It never names an individual player.
Next step
→ Your First Season, what to expect in your first weeks