Fan-Driven PRO Chess League Summer Series Coming In June

Beginning this June, the chess action will be heating up in the PRO Chess League Summer Series.

Fans of 16 PCL teams will join forces with some of the world's top chess professionals as they represent their teams in a series of live club matches to determine the champions of the Summer Series.

The series begins Saturday, June 1 and continues each Saturday through August 17. Times are to be determined; check back here for more information. 

The Summer Series will be broadcast live on www.Twitch.tv/chess.

With Live Club Matches, Knockout Battles, and the Summer Series Championship, each of the 16 invited teams will compete for its share of a $25,000 prize fund.

Invited Teams

The 16 teams have been selected for the inaugural PRO Chess League Summer Series. Fans can play for more than one team throughout the duration of the Summer Series, as long as they are a member of that team's fan club. 

You can join the fan clubs for any of the teams listed below for the opportunity to participate in this exciting summer event:

Group A:

• Chengdu Pandas
• San Diego Surfers
• Saint Louis Arch Bishops
• San Francisco Mechanics

Group B:

• Baden-Baden Snowballs
• Barcelona Raptors
• Pittsburgh Pawngrabbers
• Reykjavik Puffins

Group C:

• Armenia Eagles
• Mumbai Movers
• Moscow Wizards
• Sao Paulo Capybaras

Group D:

• Cannes Blitzstreams
• Minnesota Blizzard
• Montreal Chessbrahs
• Norway Gnomes

Live Club Matches

Each of the 16 teams will participate in its group's Live Club Match tournament. With four teams from each group competing in the PRO Chess League Summer Series, each team will face its group rivals over three weeks to qualify for the Summer Series Championships.

Unlike the PRO Chess League regular season, Live Club Matches will be used to determine the winner of each contest. As both teams send one rostered player to compete, they will be counting on fans to back them up. Players and fans will each play two 10|2 games against similarly rated opponents from the opposing team to score points.

Teams will receive three points for winning the Live Club Match, and zero for losing. Draw odds are awarded to the team that gained more Chess.com Fan Club members over the past week.

Want to play for your favorite PRO Chess League Teams? Make sure to join their Official Fan Clubs!

Knockout Battles 

Each week, the four participating PRO Chess League players will compete in a knockout bracket to earn more points towards Summer Series Championship qualification.

Once the players are paired, each semifinal will consist of one 15|2 games, where the team with most new Fan Club Members that week gets White. Should the game end in a draw, a 1|1 tiebreak game is played with reverse colors.

Teams will win three points for winning the knockout, two points for second place, one point for a third-place finish, and zero points for finishing fourth.

Summer Series Championship

Upon conclusion of the group phase, the top two teams from each group will automatically qualify to the 2019 PRO Chess League Summer Series Championships.

The third-place finishing teams from each group will be put up for a fan vote on Twitter, from which the top two placing teams will secure the ninth and tenth seeds into the Summer Series Championships.

Teams will field their line-ups in the traditional all-play-all format. The last team standing will be crowned 2019 PRO Chess League Summer Series champions.

Prizes

The PRO Chess League Summer Series offers $25,000 in prizes for season-long team, individual, and fan prizes.

• Live Club Matches: $16,600 total, $4150 for each of the four divisions
  • 1st Place: $1,500
  • 2nd Place: $1,200
  • 3rd Place: $850
  • 4th Place: $600
• Knockout Battles: $2,400 total, $200 for each of the 12 weeks throughout the season
  
  • 1st Place: $100
  • 2nd Place: $60
  • 3rd Place: $40
• Summer Series Championships: $5,000 total
  • 1st Place: $2,000
  • 2nd Place: $1,000
  • Semifinalists: $500
  • Quarterfinalists: $250
• Best Fans: $1,000 total: $250 for each of the four divisions

Each division's top fan will be awarded a Best Fan Prize. Qualifications for this prize include active tournament participation, Chess.com blogs about games (non-English blogs are accepted), tweets about the PCL Summer Series, and no Fair Play violations.

Schedule

• Group A: June 1, June 8, June 15
• Group B: June 22, June 29, July 6
• Group C: July 13, July 20, July 27
• Group D: August 3, August 10, August 17
• Championship: T.B.D.
• All times T.B.D.

Contact: