Collegiate Chess League Spring 2022: All The Information

The Collegiate Chess League's fourth season is set to begin on February 12, 2022, and runs until the finals on May 21.

Last season was our largest ever with over 1,000 players representing 160 teams from 80 schools from around the world. This season we surpassed over 1,200 players representing over 220 teams from over 100 schools. With no entry fee and yet another $25,000 in prizes up for grabs this season, it's no surprise more schools want to compete in the League. 

With numerous teams playing each week, our official broadcast will mainly be provided for the key matchups in the top divisions. Teams are strongly encouraged to make an official Twitch account to stream their own matches. Many clubs have already started to do this even since before last season. A good example would be the UCLA Chess Club Twitch channel. We also encourage the players themselves to stream their matches if they already have a personal account. Chess.com is again inviting all college chess streamers to join their Streamer Program. 

Below you can find all the information you need to know regarding our fourth season:

• Broadcast/Streaming
• Format
• Prizes
• Schedule
• Divisions/Groups
• How To Participate

Broadcast/Streaming

Matches will be broadcast live at Twitch.tv/CollegiateChessLeague with commentary done by the League's Commissioner, Joe Lee, with additional guests throughout the season. Players and their clubs are strongly encouraged to stream their own matches and are invited to join Chess.com's streamer program. Be sure to include that you are from the CCL when you apply. Benefits include:

• Networking with other streamers in the program
• Referral affiliate link
• Additional exposure and revenue for your chess club
• Additional prizes will also be awarded to college clubs that stream their matches

Format

Regular Season

• The regular season starts on February 12 and ends on April 9 with matches played every Saturday except for the BYE weeks on March 12 and April 2
• Teams consist of four players, with the strongest player on board one and the weakest on board four
• Teams are listed by average rating and split into divisions of 16
• Each division is split into two groups of eight based primarily on the school's location: western schools are in Group A, while schools on the East coast and most international schools are in Group B
• Each group plays in a round-robin tournament over the course of nine weeks
• Teams are able to reschedule their matches so long as they conclude before the end of the season
• Matches are played with a 5+2 time control in an all-play-all format for a total of 16 games

Playoffs

• Based on regular-season standings, the top two teams from each group automatically qualify for the quarterfinals
• The bottom two teams from each group are eliminated
• Teams placed 3rd-6th in Group A will play in the wildcard match against teams placed 3rd-6th in Group B
• Playoffs start April 23 with the wildcard match
• Winning teams from the wildcard match move on to the quarterfinals on April 30
• May 7 is a BYE week between the quarterfinals and semifinals
• Semifinals are played on May 14
• Finals and third place matches are played the next weekend concluding the season on May 21

Weekly Arenas

• The League will host a weekly Sunday arena at 10 a.m. Pacific
• This is a multi-club arena; the top four scorers from each club will count towards the club's score
• Everyone is welcome to join, including alumni, faculty, staff, or even fans from each school's club page
• You can find a list of the participating schools' club pages here
• If your college has a club but is not on our list you can request to join by contacting us at [email protected]
• If you are not part of a college chess club or your school does not have a club page, anyone can still join and play from CCL's club page
• Each week, the top five placing clubs that are in the CCL will be awarded a Chess.com membership

Corporate vs Collegiate Rivalry Weekend

• The Corporate Esports Association is once again organizing the Corporate vs Collegiate Rivalry event
• Corporate players will play against collegiate players during the BYE week of May 12
• Players will have the opportunity to meet their opponents in a call to promote networking
• Further details to be announced later this season

Prizes

Same as last season, the spring 2022 season will have a $25,000 prize fund! Prizes will be given to the clubs based on their playoff standings. 

Division 1

• 1st: $5,000
• 2nd: $2,000
• 3rd: $1,000
• 4th: $750

Division 2

• 1st: $2,500
• 2nd: $1,000
• 3rd: $500
• 4th: $300

Division 3

• 1st: $1,500
• 2nd: $750
• 3rd: $500
• 4th: $300

Division 4

• 1st: $1,000
• 2nd: $500
• 3rd: $300
• 4th: $200

Division 5

• 1st: $750
• 2nd: $500
• 3rd: $250
• 4th $100

Division 6

• 1st: $500
• 2nd: $300
• 3rd: $200
• 4th: 4 one year Diamond memberships

Division 7

• 1st: $400
• 2nd: $200
• 3rd: $100
• 4th: 4 one year Diamond memberships

Division 8

• 1st: $300
• 2nd: $200
• 3rd: $100
• 4th: 4 one year Diamond memberships

Division 9

• 1st: $250
• 2nd: $150
• 3rd: $100
• 4th: 4 one year Diamond memberships

Division 10

• 1st: $200
• 2nd: $150
• 3rd: 4 one year Diamond memberships
• 4th: 4 six month Diamond memberships

Division 11

• 1st: $200
• 2nd: $100
• 3rd: 4 one year Diamond memberships
• 4th: 4 six month Diamond memberships

Division 12

• 1st: $150
• 2nd: $100
• 3rd: 4 one year Diamond memberships
• 4th: 4 six month Diamond memberships

Division 13

• 1st: $100
• 2nd: 4 one year Diamond memberships
• 3rd: 4 six month Diamond memberships
• 4th: 4 three month Diamond memberships

Division 14

• 1st: 4 one year Diamond memberships
• 2nd: 4 six month Diamond memberships
• 3rd: 4 three month Diamond memberships
• 4th: 4 one month Diamond memberships

Additional Prizes:

• $500 to the club with the most hours streamed on their twitch channel
• $500 to the club with the most-viewed Twitch clip or YouTube video made during the season
• $500 to the club with the most first-place finishes out of all the weekly arenas throughout the regular season

Schedule

• Matches occur on Saturdays at 10 a.m. PST/19:00 CET for Group A and 7 a.m. PST/16:00 CET for Group B
• The regular season starts February 12 and ends April 9
• March 12 and April 2 are BYE weeks during the regular season
• Regular season matches can be rescheduled by team captains
• The full season's pairings are linked here
• April 16 is a BYE week between the regular season and playoffs
• Playoffs start with wildcard weekend on April 23
• Quarterfinals are on April 30 with a BYE week on May 7
• Semifinals are on May 14
• Finals and third-place matches are on May 21

Divisions/Groups

D1 Group A

• University of Texas Rio Grande Valley A
• University of Chicago A
• University of California Berkeley A
• University of Texas Austin A
• University of California San Diego A
• Northwestern University A
• University of California Los Angeles A
• Princeton

D1 Group B

• University of Missouri Columbia A
• Bucharest University of Economic Studies
• Yale University A
• Saint Louis University
• University of Michigan
• University of Waterloo A
• Georgia Institute of Technology A
• University of Virginia A

D2 Group A

• University of California Berkeley B
• University of Chicago B
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign A
• Arizona State University A
• Washington University in St. Louis A
• Rice University A
• University of California Santa Barbara A
• Cornell University

D2 Group B

• Harvard
• CentraleSupélec-Université Paris-Saclay
• Temple University A
• Duke University A
• State University of New York at Stony Brook A
• Ivan Bobersky Lviv State University of Physical Culture A
• University of Benin A
• University of Florida A

D3 Group A

• Duke University B
• Washington University in St. Louis B
• College of William and Mary
• University of Chicago C
• Purdue University A
• University of Texas Rio Grande Valley B
• University of Southern California A
• University of California Berkeley C

D3 Group B

• Northeastern A
• National University of Singapore
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology A
• Indian Institute of Technology BHU A
• University of Waterloo B
• University of Massachusetts Amherst
• Boston University A
• Yale University B

D4 Group A

• University of California Los Angeles B
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign B
• Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán
• University of California Berkeley D
• University of Wisconsin Madison A
• Purdue University B
• University of Houston A
• The Ohio State University

D4 Group B

• Université de Franche-Comté
• University of Benin B
• Tomsk Polytechnik University
• University of Toronto
• Wake Forest University A
• University of Nigeria Nsukka
• Georgia Institute of Technology B
• Duke University C

D5 Group A

• University of Arizona A
• University of Illinois at Chicago A
• Rice University B
• University of California San Diego B
• Baylor University A
• Indiana University Bloomington A
• University of Texas Austin B
• George Mason University A

D5 Group B

• Asia Pacific University
• Yale University C
• Rochester Institute of Technology
• University of Virginia B
• Drexel University A
• Carnegie Mellon University
• Wilfrid Laurier University A
• International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad A

D6 Group A

• University of Nevada Las Vegas A
• University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
• University of Southern California B
• Northwestern University B
• University of Oklahoma
• Northern Illinois University A
• Sacred Heart University
• Temple University B

D6 Group B

• University of Bath
• University of the Witwatersrand
• American University of Armenia
• Ivan Bobersky Lviv State University of Physical Culture B
• University at Buffalo
• University of Waterloo C
• University of Ottawa A
• Yale University D

D7 Group A

• University of California Riverside A
• Santa Clara University
• Universidad del Valle de Guatemala
• University of California San Diego C
• University of California Los Angeles C
• California Polytechnic San Luis Obispo
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign C
• University of California Santa Barbara B

D7 Group B

• Union University
• King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals
• University of Florida B
• New Jersey Institute of Technology
• Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Centenary College A
• Pandit Dwarka Prasad Mishra Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing, Jabalpur A
• Indian Institute of Technology BHU B
• Boston University B

D8 Group A

• University of Texas Rio Grande Valley C
• Purdue University C
• California Institute of Technology
• California State University Northridge
• University of Illinois at Chicago B
• California Polytechnic Pomona A
• University of Kentucky A
• University of California Berkeley E

D8 Group B

• Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology
• International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad B
• University of Maryland Baltimore County
• University of Virginia C
• University of Manchester
• State University of New York at Stony Brook B
• Northeastern University B
• Florida State University A

D9 Group A

• University of Chicago D
• Oregon State University
• University of California San Diego D
• University of Nevada Las Vegas B
• University of California Berkeley F
• Washington University in St. Louis C
• Miracosta College
• Northern Illinois University B

D9 Group B

• Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology
• Drexel University B
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology B
• Duke University D
• Singapore University of Technology and Design
• Temple University C
• University of Pittsburgh
• Marquette University

D10 Group A

• University of Texas Rio Grande Valley D
• University of California Santa Cruz A
• University of California San Diego E
• Indiana University Bloomington B
• University of California Santa Barbara C
• Arizona State University B
• Rice University C
• University of Arizona B

D10 Group B

• Duke University E
• University of Mississippi
• International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad C
• Wilfrid Laurier University B
• James Madison University
• Wake Forest University B
• University of Florida C
• George Mason University B

D11 Group A

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign D
• University of California Los Angeles D
• University of Missouri Columbia B
• University of Wisconsin Madison B
• University of Houston B
• Baylor University B
• University of Denver
• University of Southern California C

D11 Group B

• Georgia Institute of Technology C
• Penn State University
• University of Akron
• Queen Mary University of London
• State University of New York at Stony Brook C
• National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine
• Louisiana State University
• Boston University C

D12 Group A

• University of California Merced
• California Polytechnic Pomona B
• Texas Tech University
• University of Illinois at Chicago C
• University of Texas at Austin C
• University of California Santa Barbara D
• University of California Berkeley G
• Ohio University

D12 Group B

• Northeastern University C
• University of Waterloo D
• George Mason University C
• University of Ottawa B
• Wilfrid Laurier University C
• Howard University
• Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Centenary College B
• Indian Institute of Technology BHU C

D13 Group A

• Portland State University
• University of California Los Angeles E
• University of California Santa Cruz B
• University of Houston C
• University of Alaska Fairbanks
• Baylor University C
• Northern Illinois University C
• University of California San Diego F

D13 Group B

• University of Kentucky B
• Boston University D
• University of Florida D
• Pandit Dwarka Prasad Mishra Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing, Jabalpur B
• Singapore Institute of Technology A
• Florida State University B
• Duke University F
• University of Waterloo E

D14 Group A

• University of Nevada Las Vegas C
• Baylor University D
• University of California Los Angeles F
• The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley E
• University of California Riverside B
• Colburn Conservatory of Music
• University of Houston D
• University of California Los Angeles G

D14 Group B

• Wake Forest University C
• Drexel University C
• Northeastern University D
• George Mason University D
• Ivan Bobersky Lviv State University of Physical Culture C
• Boston University E
• Singapore Institute of Technology B

How To Participate

Registration for teams is currently closed for our spring season, but players can join existing teams if their rating does not significantly increase that team's average rating. Players joining teams as substitutes mid-season can fill out our registration form. This will be closed after round five. Before you join a team, please talk to your team's captain. If you don't have a team already registered, be sure to join us in our next season in the fall of 2022. You're also more than welcome to play in our weekly arenas by joining our club or by adding your college's club. You can email the league's commissioner Joe Lee at [email protected] with any further questions. In the meantime, be sure to join our community over on discord!

Socials:
Twitch
Discord
Twitter
Instagram
Facebook
Club page

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