PRO Chess League Takes Off Wednesday

It's finally here.

More than 400 players (100+ grandmasters), chess fans all over the world, and the whole team at Chess.com are very excited that the inaugural season of the PRO Chess League will launch this Wednesday. 

The PRO Chess League pits cities and regions around the globe against one another in fast-paced online play.

With 48 teams from five continents and top players such as World Champion Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Hikaru Nakamura and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, the PRO Chess League promises to be a spectacular and revolutionary event.

World #1 and #2 Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana are among the grandmasters who have signed up for the PRO Chess League.

The format of the league, which is an international successor to the U.S. Chess League, is four-vs-four team matches. Each player on a team plays each player on the other team, so a top GM will not only be playing other top GMs, but also lower-rated players. In chess, we call this the Scheveningen system, which is nearly 100 years old, but this is truly a modern event.

The time control is rapid time: 15 minutes for the game, plus two seconds increment per move. 

The 48 teams hail from five continents, broken down as follows: 20 teams from the United States, 16 European teams, four Indian teams, three African teams, two Canadian teams, two South American teams and two Asian teams.

Here's an overview with all teams and their individual members.

Miami Champions (Atlantic Division)

The Miami Champions should be considered one of the favorites, don't you think? (A quick stat: At least seven of their players have won their country's national championship!)

PRO Chess League Format

The teams are grouped into four divisions based on geography and time-zone convenience.

Here's a page with the four divisions and their teams.

The first matches will be played this Wednesday, January 11. Most competitions are on Wednesdays (league night) with a few inter-league matches happening on Saturdays.

This regular season runs for seven weeks. Times are U.S. Pacific Time (GMT-8):

Central Division

	Code	City	Name	WK 1 1/11	WK 2 1/18	WK 3 1/25	WK 4 2/1	WK 5 2/11	WK 6 2/15
	BEL	Belgrade	Sparrows	ODI 8:30a	BUD 8:40a	JOH 8:40a	MUM 8:00a	POR 11:25a	LJU 8:45a
	BUD	Budapest	Gambit	MUM 8:20a	BEL 8:40a	STO 8:45a	LONL 11:30a	SJ 11:00a	SHY 8:10a
	DEH	Delhi	Dynamite	LJU 8:10a	MUM 7:30a	AMA 7:30a	SHY 7:30a	NY 7:10a	STO 8:30a
	GOR	Gorky	Stormbringers	JOH 8:35a	SHY 7:40a	RIG 8:30a	STO 8:45a	PHI 7:30a	ODI 8:00a
	JOH	Johannesburg	Koeksisters	GOR 8:35a	STO 8:45a	BEL 8:40a	LJU 8:40a	SF 11:20a	AMA 8:20a
	LJU	Ljubljana	Direwolves	DEH 8:10a	RIG 8:45a	ODI 8:00a	JOH 8:40a	WEB 11:05a	BEL 8:45a
	MUM	Mumbai	Movers	BUD 8:20a	DEH 7:30a	SHY 7:35a	BEL 8:00a	MCL 7:05a	RIG 8:25a
	ODI	Odisha	Express	BEL 8:30a	AMA 7:35a	LJU 8:00a	AMS 8:10a	MIN 7:15a	GOR 8:00a
	RIG	Riga	Magicians	STO 8:45a	LJU 8:45a	GOR 8:30a	AMA 7:45a	DAL 7:50a	MUM 8:25a
	SHY	Shymkent	Nomads	AMA 8:00a	GOR 7:40a	MUM 7:35a	DEH 7:30a	PAT 7:00a	BUD 8:10a
	NOR	Norway	Gnomes	RIG 8:45a	JOH 8:45a	BUD 8:45a	GOR 8:45a	MON 7:40a	DEH 8:30a
	AMA	Amaravati	Yodhas	SHY 8:00a	ODI 7:35a	DEH 7:30a	RIGA 7:45a	CAR 7:20a	JOH 8:20a

The schedule for one of the four divisions. Here's the playing schedule for all teams.

Half of the teams qualify for the playoffs, which are single-elimination contests until we reach the championship weekend on March 25-26, and will include the final four teams.

Following the regulations, all 48 teams that have entered this first season each week have to put up a four-player team with an average rating under 2500 FIDE, with at least three of their four team members based locally.

A fourth team member could be from anywhere in the world. 

Prize

There is a total prize fund of U.S. $50,000.

$30,000 will be dedicated to the final ($20,000 for the winner, $10,000 for the runner-up). Third and fourth places will also receive prize money and $10,000 will be dedicated to weekly cash prizes, including:

• Best game
• Best use of blog
• Best team promotion (via social media)
• and more!

Commentary

Obviously all games will be played on the Chess.com live chess server, but you'll also be able to follow the competition every Wednesday all day with commentary on Chess.com/TV.

Every Wednesday, January-March, we will have games running from around 8 a.m. Pacific all the way until the evening.

Commentators include GM Simon Williams, IM Anna Rudolf, GM Max Dlugy, IM Lawrence Trent, GM Irina Krush, GM Alex Yermolinsky, IM David Pruess, GM Jesse Kraai, GM Dejan Bojkov and WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni.

This all-star commentary team is ready for the PRO Chess League.

The official hashtag for the PRO Chess League is #prochess, so make sure to use that when joining the conversation!

Round one pairings, Wednesday, January 11

Links

• Overview page with all teams and team members
• The four divisions and their teams
• Playing schedule for all teams
• Standings page

The fundamental goal of the PRO Chess League is promoting the growth and togetherness of the of local community chess clubs. 

By now you probably don't need more reasons to watch, but if you do, IM Greg Shahade, one of the main organizers of the league, has got 10 for you!