The Professional Rapid Online Chess League (PRO Chess League and abbreviated PCL) is an online rapid chess league operated by chess.com. It was preceded by the United States Chess League, which announced in 2016 that it would be renamed, reformatted, and opened to cities from around the world, and moved to the website chess.com.[1][2]
In its inaugural season, the PCL comprised 48 teams, whose members included some of the highest-rated chess players in the world, including the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen, and other elite players including Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Hikaru Nakamura, and Wesley So plus over 100 other grandmasters.[3] The 48 teams represent cities in five continents.[3][4]
For each match, teams may have at least one free agent in the lineup
The average rating of the four players in each match must be under 2500
Each match uses a scheveningen system with the first team to reach 8.5 points or higher winning. Time control is 15 minutes plus a 2 second increment per move.
For more information on the rules, see the following link
2017: Inaugural season[]
The first season started on January 11, 2017 and ended March 26, 2017.[5][6] 48 teams participated, twelve of which had previously participated in the USCL. After the end of the first season, the St. Louis Arch Bishops defeated the Norway Gnomes, thus securing their first title.[7] The PCL has a total prize fund of $50,000 compared to a prize fund of $10,000 in the USCL.[8]
After the end of the regular season, the top six teams from each division qualify for the playoffs with each team being seeded 1-6 based on regular season wins.
Eastern division[]
Division Quarterfinals
Division Semifinals
Division Championship
1
Delhi Dynamite
6.5
4
Norway Gnomes
9
4
Norway Gnomes
9.5
5
Mumbai Movers
7
4
Norway Gnomes
9.5
3
Gorky Stormbringers
6.5
2
Budapest Gambit
6.5
3
Gorky Stormbringers
8
3
Gorky Stormbringers
9.5
6
Riga Magicians
8
Central division[]
Division Quarterfinals
Division Semifinals
Division Championship
1
Marseille Migraines
10.5
4
Cannes Blockbusters
7
5
London Lions
5.5
5
London Lions
9
1
Marseille Migraines
6.5
2
Stockholm Snowballs
9.5
2
Stockholm Snowballs
8.5
3
Amsterdam Mosquitoes
7.5
6
London Towers
7.5
6
London Towers
8.5
Atlantic division[]
Division Quarterfinals
Division Semifinals
Division Championship
1
Montreal Chessbrahs
9
4
Montclair Sopranos
9
4
Montclair Sopranos
7
5
Philadelphia Inventors
7
1
Montreal Chessbrahs
10
2
Buenos Aires Krakens
6
2
Buenos Aires Krakens
10
3
Toronto Dragons
7.5
6
Miami Champions
6
6
Miami Champions
8.5
Pacific division[]
Division Quarterfinals
Division Semifinals
Division Championship
1
St. Louis Arch Bishops
8.5
4
San Diego Surfers
9.5
4
San Diego Surfers
7.5
5
Rio Grande Ospreys
6.5
1
St. Louis Arch Bishops
8
2
Webster Windmills
8
2
Webster Windmills
9.5
3
Dallas Destiny
7.5
6
San Jose Hackers
6.5
6
San Jose Hackers
8.5
Semifinals and championship[]
During the semifinal round, regardless of the participating teams, the winner of the Eastern Division will play the winner of the Central Division, and the winner of the Atlantic Division will play the winner of the Pacific Division.
Semifinals
PCL Championship
E4
Norway Gnomes
10
C2
Stockholm Snowballs
6
E4
Norway Gnomes
7
P1
St. Louis Arch Bishops
9
A1
Montreal Chessbrahs
8 (8, 1)
P1
St. Louis Arch Bishops
8 (8, 3)
Awards[]
MVPs
Player
Team
Wesley So
St. Louis Arch Bishops
Magnus Carlsen
Norway Gnomes
Georg Meier
Stockholm Snowballs
Invitational Performances
Award
Player
Team
Best Female
Deimante Daulyte
Cannes Blockbusters
U2600
Yannick Gozzoli
Marseille Migraines
U2500
Nikolay Noritsyn
Toronto Dragons
U2400
Nico Zwirs
Apeldoorn Apes
U2300
Richard Francisco
Atlanta Kings
U2200
Nicholas Rosenthal
St. Louis Arch Bishops
2018[]
The 2018 season began on January 17 and ended on April 8 with the Armenia Eagles defeating the Chengdu Pandas to claim their first title.[10]
Qualification[]
In order to combat the large league, Shahade decided to cut the league from 48 teams to 32 teams as he believed the inaugural season was "a bit too large and chaotic".In order to determine which teams would return, he used the following:[11][12][13]
24 teams invited
6 teams per Qualifier Tournament
2 teams per fan vote
Qualification tournament[]
The qualification tournament took place on November 3 with two qualifiers. The event format was stated on the PRO Chess League website.[14]
13 round individual Swiss using time format of 3|2
Scores determined by adding sum of scores from all four team members
Top 2 teams from each qualifying tournament automatically qualify for PCL
First Qualifier
Team
1
Moscow Wizards
2
Tbilisi Gentlemen
3
Moscow Phoenix
4
Berlin Bears
5
Bergamo Gladiators
6
Kazan Archers
7
Riga Magicians*
8
Kharkiv Lawyers
Second Qualifier
Team
1
San Francisco Mechanics
2
Montreal Chessbrahs
3
New York Marshalls
4
Barcelona Raptors
5
Atlanta Kings
6
Chicago Coyotes
7
London Towers*
8
Paris Musketeers
*Won fan vote to qualify for Stage 2
Super Saturday and Super Sunday[]
For 2018, the PCL introduced a new match format which allowed teams to play outside of their division. In these matches, each team played one single four-game match against eight other teams on Saturday, and another eight on Sunday. Once every team had played sixteen other teams, the total match points were added up. The following prizes were given:[15][16]
The top four teams from each division qualify for the playoffs while the two worst teams are relegated from the league and will have to partake in the qualifiers in order to rejoin the league.[18]
Eastern Division
Teams
Wins
Loss
Game Points
1
Armenia Eagles
6.5
2.5
98
2
Delhi Dynamite
5.5
3.5
95
3
Mumbai Movers
5.5
3.5
85
4
Estonia Horses
5
4
88
5
Norway Gnomes
4
5
92
6
Volga Stormbringers
4
5
88
7
Riga Magicians
3.5
5.5
81
8
Oslo Trolls
2
7
75.5
Central Division
Teams
Wins
Loss
Game Points
1
Stockholm Snowballs
6.5
2.5
90.5
2
Marseille Migraines
6.5
2.5
87
3
Cannes Blockbusters
5
4
78.5
4
Ljubljana Turtles
4.5
4.5
89.5
5
Amsterdam Mosquitoes
3
6
90
6
London Lions
4
6
79.5
7
Reykjavik Puffins
2.5
6.5
78.5
8
London Towers
1
8
71.5
Atlantic Division
Teams
Wins
Loss
Game Points
1
Webster Windmills
7.5
1.5
99.5
2
Pittsburgh Pawngrabbers
7
2
98
3
St. Louis Arch Bishops
5.5
3.5
101
4
Minnesota Blizzard
5.5
3.5
92
5
Montclair Sopranos
4
5
85.5
6
Miami Champions
3
6
83
7
Montreal ChessBrahs
2.5
6.5
83
8
Buenos Aires Krakens
2
7
73.5
Pacific Division
Teams
Wins
Loss
Game Points
1
San Diego Surfers
7.5
1.5
99
2
Chengdu Pandas
6.5
2.5
104
3
Dallas Destiny
6.5
2.5
100
4
Australia Kangaroos
5
4
94.5
5
San Jose Hackers
4.5
4.5
97.5
6
Seattle Sluggers
4.5
4.5
86
7
Rio Grande Ospreys
3.5
5.5
84.5
8
Las Vegas Desert Rats
1
8
60.5
Playoffs[]
After the regular season, the top four teams from each division qualify for the playoffs with the teams being seeded 1-4 in their division. In addition, the teams that won their division were invited to play the final two round in San Francisco at the Folsom Street Foundry.[19][20]
Supporters say the league's worldwide distribution, the prize money, and the participation of many of the world's top-rated players may create a new level of competition and awareness for the game. It is anticipated that the new formats are leading to a "rise in popularity of online and rapid chess". In addition, the PCL has the potential to dramatically change chess culture and could lead to corporate sponsorships. This change from an "individual and slow game," to a relatively quick and team format, has made the offering more viewer friendly.[4]
In a 2017 article, Greg Shahade made a similar statement to what Eric Rosen mentioned. Shahade talked about the league featuring worldwide team competition, using the scheveningen system which gives lower rated players the chance to pull upset each week, and having the chance to "revolutionize chess".[25][26]
In an article written by ESPN, Viswanathan Anand spoke about how convenient it was to play online compared to playing over-the-board.[27]
Here you don't get together with the team the previous night to discuss strategy, so it's far more improvised. In all leagues you play one game a day. Here you play four, so you're very alive to the evolving score.
^Doggers, Peter (August 25, 2016). "U.S. Chess League Becomes PRO Chess League". United States Chess Federation. Retrieved February 12, 2017. The Professional Rapid Online (PRO) Chess League is the combined vision of what the USCL and Chess.com see as the future of high-stakes, top-level, entertaining chess. Unlike its predecessor, the USCL, the PRO Chess League will have faster time controls, provide more flexibility in forming and managing teams, and allow for "free agent" acquisitions from all over the world. The fundamental goal will remain promoting the growth and togetherness of the... local community chess clubs.
^"Pro Chess League". QuantumGambitz. January 2, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
^ abRosen, Eric (January 19, 2017). "PRO Chess League: Bringing Chess into Mainstream Sports Culture". KWMUNational Public Radio. Retrieved February 12, 2017. While it’s hard to say whether chess will ever become as popular as major sports, I wouldn’t be surprised if the PRO Chess league creates a popularity surge in chess in the years to come.
- Atlantic 
- Pacific
- Eastern 
- Central
St. Louis Arch Bishops (1)
Armenia Eagles (1)
