2018 PRO Chess League season

The 2018 PRO Chess League Season was the second season of the PRO Chess League. It began on January 17 and ended on April 8 with the Armenia Eagles defeating the Chengdu Pandas to claim their first title.[1] This season introduced new qualifications to join the league and an all-star game.

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:[2][3][4]

  • 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 a 13 round individual swiss (time control 3+2), with a team's score decided by summing the scores of their four team members. The top three teams from each qualifier automatically qualified, and the fourth to sixth placed teams were placed into a fan vote to decide the final qualifier.[5]

First Qualifier (top 6)
Pos Team
1
 Armenia Armenia Eagles
2
 Estonia Estonia Horses
3
 India Mumbai Movers
4
 Norway Oslo Trolls
5
 Netherlands Apeldoorn Apes
6
 Israel Rehovot Masters
Second Qualifier (top 6)
Pos Team
1
 China Chengdu Pandas
2
 United States Seattle Sluggers
3
 Australia Australia Kangaroos
4
 United States New York Knights
5
 United States Minnesota Blizzard
6
 United States San Francisco Mechanics

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. The standings were decided on game points, with the top 6 teams being awarded a match win and teams finishing 7th-10th being awarded a match draw. In addition, the winning team was awarded a $500 bonus.[6][7]

2/24 Early Super Saturday
Div Team Points Result
1 A United States St. Louis Arch Bishops 24 Win
2 P China Chengdu Pandas 23 Win
3 A United States Montclair Sopranos 21.5 Win
4 A United States Pittsburgh Pawngrabbers 19.5 Win
5 P United States Dallas Destiny 18.5 Win
6 P United States Seattle Sluggers 18 Win
7 A Argentina Buenos Aires Krakens 17 Draw
8 E Armenia Armenia Eagles 16 Draw
9 E India Delhi Dynamite 16 Draw
10 C Slovenia Ljubljana Turtles 14 Draw
11 C Iceland Reykjavik Puffins 13.5 Loss
12 P United States Rio Grande Ospreys 13.5 Loss
13 E Russia Volga Stormbringers 13 Loss
14 C France Cannes Blockbusters 12.5 Loss
15 E India Mumbai Movers 11 Loss
16 C France Marseille Migraines 5 Loss
2/24 Late Super Saturday
Div Team Points Result
1 E Norway Norway Gnomes 21.5 Win
2 P United States San Jose Hackers 20.5 Win
3 P United States San Diego Surfers 19.5 Win
4 A United States Webster Windmills 19.5 Win
5 P Australia Australia Kangaroos 19 Win
6 E Estonia Estonia Horses 17.5 Win
7 A United States Minnesota Blizzard 17.5 Draw
8 A United States Miami Champions 17 Draw
9 A Canada Montreal Chessbrahs 16 Draw
10 E Latvia Riga Magicians 15 Draw
11 C Netherlands Amsterdam Mosquitoes 14 Loss
12 C England London Towers 13 Loss
13 E Norway Oslo Trolls 13 Loss
14 C England London Lions 12 Loss
15 C Sweden Stockholm Snowballs 11.5 Loss
16 P United States Las Vegas Desert Rats 9 Loss
2/4 Super Sunday
Div Team Points Result
1 E Armenia Armenia Eagles 22 Win
2 E Russia Volga Stormbringers 21.5 Win
3 C Slovenia Ljubljana Turtles 21 Win
4 C France Marseille Migraines 18.5 Win
5 C Sweden Stockholm Snowballs 17.5 Win
6 E India Mumbai Movers 17.5 Win
7 E Norway Norway Gnomes 17 Draw
8 E Latvia Riga Magicians 16.5 Draw
9 E India Delhi Dynamite 16 Draw
10 C England London Lions 15 Draw
11 C Netherlands Amsterdam Mosquitoes 15 Loss
12 C Iceland Reykjavik Puffins 14.5 Loss
13 E Norway Oslo Trolls 13.5 Loss
14 C England London Towers 12.5 Loss
15 C France Cannes Blockbusters 9 Loss
16 E Estonia Estonia Horses 8.5 Loss
2/3 Super Saturday
Div Team Points Result
1 P United States San Jose Hackers 21.5 Win
2 P China Chengdu Pandas 20 Win
3 P Australia Australia Kangaroos 19.5 Win
4 A United States Webster Windmills 19 Win
5 A Canada Montreal Chessbrahs 18 Win
6 P United States Dallas Destiny 18 Win
7 P United States Rio Grande Ospreys 17.5 Draw
8 P United States San Diego Surfers 16.5 Draw
9 A United States Pittsburgh Pawngrabbers 16 Draw
10 A United States Saint Louis Arch Bishops 15.5 Draw
11 P United States Seattle Sluggers 15 Loss
12 A United States Minnesota Blizzard 14.5 Loss
13 A United States Montclair Sopranos 13.5 Loss
14 A United States Miami Champions 11 Loss
15 P United States Las Vegas Desert Rats 11 Loss
16 A Argentina Buenos Aires Krakens 9.5 Loss

Standings

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.[8]

Eastern Division
Teams Wins Loss Game Points
1
Armenia Armenia Eagles
 6.5 2.5 98
2
India Delhi Dynamite
 5.5 3.5 95
3
India Mumbai Movers
 5.5 3.5 85
4
Estonia Estonia Horses
 5 4 88
5
Norway Norway Gnomes
 4 5 92
6
Russia Volga Stormbringers
 4 5 88
7
Latvia Riga Magicians
 3.5 5.5 81
8
Norway Oslo Trolls
 2 7 75.5
Central Division
Teams Wins Loss Game Points
1
Sweden Stockholm Snowballs
 6.5 2.5 90.5
2
France Marseille Migraines
 6.5 2.5 87
3
France Cannes Blockbusters
 5 4 78.5
4
Slovenia Ljubljana Turtles
 4.5 4.5 89.5
5
Netherlands Amsterdam Mosquitoes
 3 6 90
6
England London Lions
 4 6 79.5
7
Iceland Reykjavik Puffins
 2.5 6.5 78.5
8
England London Towers
 1 8 71.5
Atlantic Division
Teams Wins Loss Game Points
1
United States Webster Windmills
 7.5 1.5 99.5
2
United States Pittsburgh Pawngrabbers
 7 2 98
3
United States St. Louis Arch Bishops
 5.5 3.5 101
4
United States Minnesota Blizzard
 5.5 3.5 92
5
United States Montclair Sopranos
 4 5 85.5
6
United States Miami Champions
 3 6 83
7
Canada Montreal ChessBrahs
 2.5 6.5 83
8
Argentina Buenos Aires Krakens
 2 7 73.5
Pacific Division
Teams Wins Loss Game Points
1
United States San Diego Surfers
 7.5 1.5 99
2
China Chengdu Pandas
 6.5 2.5 104
3
United States Dallas Destiny
 6.5 2.5 100
4
Australia Australia Kangaroos
 5 4 94.5
5
United States San Jose Hackers
 4.5 4.5 97.5
6
United States Seattle Sluggers
 4.5 4.5 86
7
United States Rio Grande Ospreys
 3.5 5.5 84.5
8
United States Las Vegas Desert Rats
 1 8 60.5

Playoffs

After the regular season, the top four teams from each division qualified 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.[9][10]

Division Semifinals
March 13 		Division Championship
March 21 		Semifinals
April 7
San Francisco 		PCL Championship
April 8
San Francisco
            
E1 Armenia Armenia Eagles 10.5
E4 Estonia Estonia Horses 5.5
E1 Armenia Armenia Eagles 8*
Eastern
E3 India Mumbai Movers 8
E2 India Delhi Dynamite 7.5
E3 India Mumbai Movers 8.5
E1 Armenia Armenia Eagles 8.5
A3 United States St. Louis Arch Bishops 7.5
A1 United States Webster Windmills 7.5
A4 United States Minnesota Blizzard 8.5
A4 United States Minnesota Blizzard 6
Atlantic
A3 United States St. Louis Arch Bishops 10
A2 United States Pittsburgh Pawngrabbers 6
A3 United States St. Louis Arch Bishops 10
E1 Armenia Armenia Eagles 12***
P2 China Chengdu Pandas 11
P1 United States San Diego Surfers 5.5
P4 Australia Australia Kangaroos 10.5
P4 Australia Australia Kangaroos 7
Pacific
P2 China Chengdu Pandas 9
P2 China Chengdu Pandas 8*
P3 United States Dallas Destiny 8
P2 China Chengdu Pandas 9.5
C4 Slovenia Ljubljana Turtles 6.5
C1 Sweden Stockholm Snowballs 7.5 Third place match
C4 Slovenia Ljubljana Turtles 8.5
C4 Slovenia Ljubljana Turtles 9.5 A3 United States St. Louis Arch Bishops 9.5
Central
C2 France Marseille Migraines 6.5 C4 Slovenia Ljubljana Turtles 6.5
C2 France Marseille Migraines 9
C3 France Cannes Blockbusters 7
  • *Advanced due to higher seed
  • ***Triple overtime victory

Awards

All Stars
Division Player Team
Eastern
 Norway Magnus Carlsen Norway Norway Gnomes
Armenia Hrant Melkumyan Armenia Armenia Eagles
Armenia Zaven Andriasyan Armenia Armenia Eagles
India Viswanathan Anand India Mumbai Movers
Central
 France Maxime Vachier-Lagrave France Marseille Migraines
Germany Georg Meier Sweden Stockholm Snowballs
Slovenia Luka Lenic Slovenia Ljubljana Turtles
England Gawain Jones England London Towers
Atlantic
 United States Fabiano Caruana United States St. Louis Arch Bishops
Russia Aleksandr Shimanov United States Webster Windmills
United States Awonder Liang United States Pittsburgh Pawngrabbers
United States Andrew Tang United States Minnesota Blizzard
Pacific
 United States Hikaru Nakamura United States Seattle Slggers
China Yu Yangyi China Chengdu Pandas
Russia Alexey Dreev United States San Diego Surfers
Australia Anton Smirnov Australia Australia Kangaroos
Individual Performances
Award Player Team
MVP 1st place, gold medalist(s) United States Fabiano Caruana United States St. Louis Arch Bishops
MVP 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Norway Magnus Carlsen Norway Norway Gnomes
MVP 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) United States Hikaru Nakamura United States Seattle Sluggers
Best Female China Ju Wenjun China Chengdu Pandas
U2600 Armenia Zaven Andriasyan Armenia Armenia Eagles
U2500 United States Andrew Tang United States Minnesota Blizzard
U2400 England Brandon Clarke Australia Australia Kangaroos
U2300 Armenia Artak Manukyan Armenia Armenia Eagles
U2200 Estonia Sander Kukk Estonia Estonia Horses

[11]

All-Star Game

The 2018 All-Star Game was on September 8 with stage 1 and on September 9 for stage 2. The following event format was used.[12]

  • Stage 1: Round-robin tournament where every player plays one game against everyone else from other three teams, total of 12 games (Time control = 3|1)
  • Stage 2: Knockout round. Seeding determined by total number of points in stage 1 (Time control = 3|0)
First roundSecond roundFinal
1Pacific Division4
2Atlantic Division42Atlantic Division3
3Central Division24Eastern Division2
4Eastern Division4

References

  1. ↑ (MikeKlein), Mike Klein. "Armenia Eagles Win PRO Chess League In Triple Overtime". Chess.com. Retrieved 2018-06-22.
  2. ↑ "PRO League Qualifier: 40 Teams Vie for 8 Spots".
  3. ↑ "PRO League Qualifiers Set for Oct. 28".
  4. ↑ "PRO Chess League Announces Returning Teams, New Qualifiers".
  5. ↑ "Qualifier Rules".
  6. ↑ (PROChessLeague), PRO Chess League. "Carlsen, 5 Of World's Top 10 To Play In PRO Chess Super Weekend". Chess.com. Retrieved 2018-07-20.
  7. ↑ "Caruana Perfect, Carlsen Nearly So in Record-Smashing PRO Super Saturday".
  8. ↑ "Rules". PRO CHESS LEAGUE. Retrieved 2018-06-22.
  9. ↑ (News), Chess.com Webmaster. "PRO Chess League Finals Set For San Francisco". Chess.com. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  10. ↑ (News), Chess com Webmaster. "PRO Chess League Finals FAQ". Chess.com. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  11. ↑ "PRO Chess League All Stars, MVPS Announced".
  12. ↑ "The PRO Chess League All Stars Face off".
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