The following types of ChGK tournaments are known:

In-person tournaments. All teams play in the same room the questions are read out by the same referee. (Examples are the ChGK Worlds as well as various city championships)

Synchronous tournaments. The same questions are played simultaneously (with an allowable spread of 3-4 days) at different sites with different hosts. A tournament is said to be strictly synchronous when the host's voice is broadcast in real time over the Internet, or the allowable delay in starting the game does not exceed 10 minutes. (Examples are the Provinces' Cup and the International League) Local representatives who contact the organizers of synchronous tournaments are referred to as emissaries. They receive the questions, and send reports to the organizers about protests from the players, as well as the results. All the details of the synchronous tournament are described in detail in its rules, which must be strictly observed by the local representatives of the organizers.

Asynchronous tournaments. The same questions are played over a well-defined long period of time at different sites. (For example, January 1, 2023 midnight Moscow time through March 31, 2023 midnight Moscow time)

Telephone or online tournament. Using various means of communication, questions are asked of participating teams located in different places, and their answers are also received that way. (Example is the Internet Grand Prix). This way of playing is contrary to the Code of Sports ChGK because of the inability to control the number of players in active gameplay.

At the championships and festivals (i.e., multi-event tournaments), players take part not only in competitive ChGK, but also in other competitive intellectual games:

- Individual Own Game (Jeopardy!)

- Team Own Game in four-player format (Erudite Quartet) or five-player format (Hamsa)

- Brain ring

- Krylatka (a team game in poetry)

- Multi-game or intellectual all-around