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PRO Chess League Arena Royale: All The Information

PRO Chess League Arena Royale: All The Information

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Pro Chess League: Arena Royale is a tournament featuring teams from the PRO Chess League competing for a $100,000 prize fund. The Arena Royale will run from September 16 through September 24 as a prelude to the return of the PRO Chess League in 2022.


Broadcast

You can watch the event with live expert commentary on Chess.com/TV or on our Twitch and YouTube channels.

Schedule

Date Round Start End
9/16 Group A 10 a.m. PT 2 p.m. PT
9/17 Group B 10 a.m. PT 2 p.m. PT
9/19 Group C 10 a.m. PT 2 p.m. PT
9/20 Group D 10 a.m. PT 2 p.m. PT
9/21 Quarterfinals 12 p.m. PT 5 p.m. PT
9/23 Semifinals 9:30 a.m. PT 2:30 p.m. PT
9/24 Finals 9:30 a.m. PT 2:30 p.m. PT

Format

Group Stage

  • Each PCL team chooses nine players and is assigned to a group that is comprised of four total teams;
  • That group competes in an arena with a 3+0 time control that lasts for two hours. The top six scores from each team count towards the team point total.
  • The highest-scoring team advances directly to the quarterfinals while the lowest-scoring team is eliminated from the event;
    • If there is a tie after the arena stage, each team's seventh scoring player is taken into account, and whoever's team score is higher advances. 
  • The 2nd and 3rd place teams advance to a knockout ladder match, which will be four-on-four at a 3+2 time control, contested by four players of each team's choice;
    • The first team to eliminate the other team's four players, by beating them or drawing them, wins and advances to the quarterfinals;
    • In the event of a drawn game, both players from both teams are eliminated. The only exception is when both teams have one player remaining.
    • If there is just one player remaining from each team, they continue playing until someone wins. After two drawn games, the time control is reduced to 1+1.

Knockout Stage

Quarterfinals

  • Each team chooses six players to compete in this stage. Five of them must have played in the Group Stage, however one player can be new to the competition. 
  • The round begins with one 2-hour arena;
    • The three highest-scoring teams qualify for the semifinals;
    • The three lowest-scoring teams are eliminated from the tournament;
    • Any ties are broken in favor of the team that has the highest-scoring individual player.
  • At the end of the arena, the two remaining teams will compete in a knockout ladder match for the final Semifinal spot.
    • The format for the knockout ladder match is the same as the group stage.
    • The first team to eliminate the other team’s four players wins and advances to the semifinals;

Semifinals & Finals

  • Each team chooses four players and each player plays each member of the other team once;
  • The semifinals and finals are played in a Scheveningen format with a 10+2 time control.
  • The team with the most points wins the match;
  • A third place (consolation) match between the semifinals losers will define the third-place winner;
  • Standard scoring for the match is:
    • 1 point for a win;
    • 0.5 points for a draw;
    • 0 points for a loss;
  • Ties will be broken by a knockout ladder under the same rules as from the group stage.

Prizes

The prize fund is over $100,000, as described below:

Team Prizes (Playoffs)

  • 1st: $20,000
  • 2nd: $15,000
  • 3rd: $10,000
  • 4th: $5,000
  • 5th: $3,000
  • 6th: $2,000
  • 7th: $1,500
  • 8th: $1,000

Group Stage Team Prize (Per Round)

  • 1st: $2,000
  • 2nd: $1,500
  • 3rd: $1,250
  • 4th: $1,000

Most Points By Single Player (in First Round Arena)

  • 1st: $1,000
  • 2nd: $750
  • 3rd: $500
  • 4th: $400
  • 5th: $300
  • 6th: $200
  • 7th:  $150
  • 8th: $125
  • 9th-10th: $100

Most Points By Single Player in Quarterfinal Arena: 

  • 1st: $1000
  • 2nd: $700
  • 3rd: $500
  • 4th: $350
  • 5th: $200
  • 6th: $150
  • 7th: $100

Additional Prizes

  • Best team stream: $1,000
  • Best player stream: $1,000

Teams & Players


Below you can see a list of all the players who signed up to play in the event as of September 15. Rosters are subject to change.

Team Title Player Username Sept FIDE Rtg
Argentina Krakens GM Federico Perez Ponsa Genghis_K 2554
Argentina Krakens GM Carlos Andres Obregon GMCarlosAObregon 2525
Argentina Krakens IM Mario Nicolas Villanueva MNVillanueva 2468
Argentina Krakens IM Tomas Valentin Sosa sosat98 2565
Argentina Krakens GM Leonardo Tristan Rodalquilar 2535
Argentina Krakens IM Kevin Paveto pavet 2447
Argentina Krakens GM Diego Flores messiboca 2599
Argentina Krakens IM Pablo Acosta AcostaPablo 2465
Argentina Krakens GM Leandro Sergio Krysa Olksuna 2523
Brazil Capybaras GM Krikor Sevag Mekhitarian GMKrikor 2560
Brazil Capybaras IM Diego Di Berardino Berardino 2471
Brazil Capybaras GM Yago Santiago kira170 2478
Brazil Capybaras IM Roberto Molina RobertoJBM 2434
Brazil Capybaras GM Alexandr Fier A-Fier 2564
Brazil Capybaras GM Felipe El Debs elefante33 2554
Brazil Capybaras IM Renato Quintiliano quintilianor 2469
Brazil Capybaras GM Rafael Leitao gmrafaelleitao 2592
Brazil Capybaras GM Andre Diamant Zugazuando 2542
California Unicorns GM Steven Zierk Zkid 2488
California Unicorns GM Zviad Izoria Izoria123 2602
California Unicorns IM Tuan Minh Le wonderfultime 2514
California Unicorns GM Georg Meier GeorgMeier 2628
California Unicorns GM Daniel Naroditsky DanielNaroditsky 2623
California Unicorns IM Josiah Stearman josiwales 2418
Canada Chessbrahs GM Anish Giri AnishGiri 2777
Canada Chessbrahs GM Jorden Van Foreest joppie2 2691
Canada Chessbrahs GM Robin Van Kampen Kempsy 2658
Canada Chessbrahs GM Eric Hansen erichansen 2606
Canada Chessbrahs FM Anthony Atanasov aa175 2245
Canada Chessbrahs V Pranav vi_pranav 2489
Canada Chessbrahs Eric Kurtz ekurtz 2080
Chicago Wind GM Ray Robson spicycaterpillar 2673
Chicago Wind GM Aleksandr Shimanov ShimanovAlex 2581
Chicago Wind GM Illia Nyzhnyk Nyzhnyk_Illia 2676
Chicago Wind GM Vasif Durarbayli durarbayli 2632
Chicago Wind GM Andrew Tang penguingm1 2512
Chicago Wind IM Eric Rosen IMRosen 2356
Chicago Wind GM Bruzon Batista, Lazaro Gmlazarobruzon 2645
Chicago Wind GM Benjamin Gledura Promen1999 2628
China Panda GM Zhao Jun chessfatbear 2625
China Panda GM Xiangyu,Xu xxysoul6 2576
China Panda GM Jinshi,Bai Kaka666 2600
China Panda GM Yi,Wei LOVEVAE 2725
China Panda WGM Xiao Yiyi shae11 2315
China Panda Zhang Di zzdxer 2108
China Panda Jiang Qinyu WDCC 2270
China Panda GM Li Di Joshuachick 2576
China Panda IM Chu WeiChao Chuson 2421
France GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave LyonBeast 2763
France GM Maxime Lagarde Rikikits 2625
France GM Sebastien Maze Mazetovic 2553
France IM Mahel Boyer Kingofthenil 2398
France FM Papadiamandis Elliot Papa12341234 2404
France GM Romain Edouard Mugzyyy 2594
France GM Marc Andria Maurizzi Marcan2b 2488
France GM Robert Hess gmhess 2591
France FM Marco Materia scarabee43 2303
German Bears GM Arik Braun baby_legs 2609
German Bears GM Marco Baldauf regular_legs 2511
German Bears GM Jacek Tomczak som2310 2589
German Bears GM Dmitrij Kollars gm_dmitrij 2621
German Bears FM Frederik Svane frederiksvane 2470
German Bears GM Rasmus Svane rasmussvane 2623
German Bears GM Michael Bezold FeuerwehrmannSam 2483
German Bears GM Luis Engel hoffentlichreichts 2564
German Bears IM Maximilian Berchtenbreiter gmjimknopf 2507
India Yogis GM Puranik Abhimanyu abhidabhi 2568
India Yogis GM Karthikeyan Murali youngKID 2624
India Yogis GM Diptayan Ghosh Wizard456 2541
India Yogis GM Raunak Sadhwani Raunaksadhwani2005 2603
India Yogis GM Praggnanandhaa R rpragchess 2617
India Yogis IM Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh nubair1198 2438
India Yogis GM Nihal Sarin nihalsarin 2652
India Yogis GM Visakh N R nrvisakh 2510
India Yogis GM Aravindh Chithambaram Vaathi_Coming 2611
Netherlands Mosquitoes GM Loek van Wely KingLoek 2614
Netherlands Mosquitoes GM David Klein david_klein 2495
Netherlands Mosquitoes IM Miguoel Admiraal justmig 2475
Netherlands Mosquitoes GM Wouter Spoelman Mr_Dynamic 2562
Netherlands Mosquitoes IM Christov Kleijn Christov91 2452
Netherlands Mosquitoes Eline Roebers gshwbedhkhd 2297
Netherlands Mosquitoes GM Max Warmerdam xamax2000 2562
Netherlands Mosquitoes IM Nico Zwirs DeGrootteZ 2442
Netherlands Mosquitoes FM Onno Elgersma onnoelgersma 2310
Norway Gnomes GM Jon Ludvig Hammer gmjlh 2608
Norway Gnomes IM Tor Fredrik Kaasen hulkmania8949 2406
Norway Gnomes IM Lars Oskar Hauge larso 2482
Norway Gnomes IM Kristian Stuvik Holm INbetweenMOVE 2473
Norway Gnomes GM Arjun Erigaisi ghandeevam2003 2597
Norway Gnomes IM Sankalp Gupta Sankalp_Gupta2003 2433
Norway Gnomes GM Simen Agdestein grukjr 2552
Norway Gnomes FM Elham Abdrlauf Twitch_elhamblitz05 2361
Norway Gnomes IM Johannes Haug johannesh 2480
NY Marshalls GM Aleksandr Lenderman AlexanderL 2607
NY Marshalls GM Djurabek Khamrakulov Khamrakulov_Djurabek 2514
NY Marshalls GM Nikola Nestorovik Storne89 2479
NY Marshalls GM Sergei Azarov Sergeiaza 2603
NY Marshalls GM Brandon Jacobson BrandonJacobson 2492
NY Marshalls GM David Berczes Coach_Davido 2452
Poland Hussars GM Bartosz Socko BartoszSocko 2617
Poland Hussars GM Wojciech Moranda gmmoranda 2622
Poland Hussars GM Kamil Dragun Drags95 2555
Poland Hussars GM Maciej Klekowski Maciek_92 2510
Poland Hussars IM Szymon Gumularz SGChess01 2534
Poland Hussars IM Pawel Teclaf yarebore2003 2543
Poland Hussars IM Kacper Drozdowski Kacparov 2448
Poland Hussars IM Lukasz Licznerski Liczner 2387
Poland Hussars FM Michal Bartel Poland Hussars 2181
Poland Hussars GM Zbigniew Pakleza Byniolus 2501
Poland Hussars GM Mateusz Bartel Matibar 2611
Russian Wizards GM Vladimir Fedoseev bigfish1995 2708
Russian Wizards GM Alexey Sarana mishanick 2635
Russian Wizards GM Maxim Matlakov BillieKimbah 2683
Russian Wizards GM Evgeny Tomashevsky evgenyt 2708
Russian Wizards GM Maksim Chigaev fandorine 2639
Russian Wizards GM Kirill Alekseenko bilodeaua 2693
Russian Wizards GM Mikhail Demidov kuli4ik 2551
Russian Wizards GM Boris Savchenko tigra 2535
Russian Wizards GM Andrey Esipenko andreikka 2720
Saint Louis Arch Bishops GM Wesley So GMWSO 2778
Saint Louis Arch Bishops GM Fabiano Caruana FabianoCarauana 2800
Saint Louis Arch Bishops GM Leinier Dominguez Perez Sebastian 2760
Saint Louis Arch Bishops GM Jeffery Xiong jefferyx 2700
Saint Louis Arch Bishops GM Hans Moke Niemann HansonTwitch 2609
Saint Louis Arch Bishops GM Benjamin Bok GMBenjaminBok 2619
Saint Louis Arch Bishops IM Nikolas Theodorou NikoTheodorou 2569
Saint Louis Arch Bishops GM Var Akobian GMAkobianSTL 2611
Saint Louis Arch Bishops GM Cemil Can Ali Marandi Last7Samurai 2530
Saint Louis Arch Bishops GM Alejandro Ramirez LittlePeasant 2562
Sweden Wasabis GM Dr. Basem Amin Dr-Bassem 2704
Sweden Wasabis GM Ferdinand Hellers GMHellers 2592
Sweden Wasabis GM Nikita Meshkovs 1stSecond 2550
Sweden Wasabis GM Emanuel Berg Arvika 2532
Sweden Wasabis GM Grigor Grigorov GrigorGrigorov 2509
Sweden Wasabis IM Carlos Suarez Garcia donotreadit 2449
Sweden Wasabis WGM Laura Rogule vwnv7 2286
Sweden Wasabis FM Teodor Moreau HellborgFM 2329
Sweden Wasabis GM Nils Grandelius Grandelicious 2666

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