{"id":3046,"date":"2019-11-29T11:12:44","date_gmt":"2019-11-29T11:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chessentials.com\/Croatia_Bulldogs\/?page_id=3046"},"modified":"2023-01-26T11:09:07","modified_gmt":"2023-01-26T11:09:07","slug":"about-pro-chess-league","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.chessentials.com\/Croatia_Bulldogs\/about-pro-chess-league\/","title":{"rendered":"About The Pro Chess League"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The US Chess League<\/h5>\n

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In order to track the roots of the Pro Chess League, we have to go way back in 2005. Recognizing the growth of online chess and realizing the potential the creation of an online chess league might unveil, International Master Greg Shahade founded the US Chess League.<\/p>\n

In contrast to the Pro Chess League which has international character, US Chess League was restricted to US-based teams exclusively. Very soon after its foundation, San Francisco Mechanics<\/a> became the first team to join the league and others soon followed.<\/p>\n

During the subsequent decade the league would be held regularly. It was hosted by the International Chess Club, with the exception of the season 2013, where chess.com first got involved. The culmination of this period of growth happened in 2016 when even 20 teams all over the US participated.<\/p>\n

Realizing that the league might be a huge game changer, after the end of the season 2016, chess.com decided to make a decisive move that would change the nature of the league (and online chess competitions) once and for all.<\/p>\n

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US Chess League becomes Pro Chess League<\/h5>\n

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On March 29, 2019, chess.com made headlines with a huge announcement that US Chess League becomes a Pro Chess League.<\/a><\/p>\n

Apart from the new name, the character of the league also switched from national-based to international-based, as the teams all over the world were now allowed to participate.<\/p>\n

This announcement was a huge step toward the professionalization of online chess competitions. In the words of the chess.com Vice-Precident, International Master Danny Rensch:<\/p>\n

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“With this merger, Chess.com and the USCL are coming together to give birth to a league that will do more to grow the game and relations of chess players internationally, attract the highest level of chess professionals, and increase viewership, with a stronger possibility of bringing in more big sponsorship dollars to the game of chess,”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Inaugural season of the Pro Chess League 2017<\/h5>\n

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Even though the newly formed Pro Chess League was international, it still retained the regional character.<\/p>\n

According to the regulations, for every round teams would assemble four players, which would then play against four players from the opposing team. Teams were formed on the basis of the city and three out of four players had to be ‘local’ in character (meaning living\/residing in the vicinity of native city).<\/p>\n

In additional, regulations envisioned that the average rating of the team should not exceed 2500 FIDE, meaning that every team had to bring at least one “lower-rated” player which would get the opportunity to play against the pros.<\/p>\n

This combination of regional character and rating restriction proved to be a winning formula which generated a lot of interest among the players and the audience. For the first season, a groundbreaking 48 teams applied, which where then divided into 4 Divisions.<\/p>\n

Four best team out of every division proceeded into the playoffs, in which the team Saint Louis Archbishops (supported by the Saint Louis Chess Club) turned out to be most successful. After beating the Norway Gnomes (led by the world champion Magnus Carlsen) 9-7 in the final, they managed to win the inaugural Pro Chess League title.<\/p>\n

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Pro Chess League season 2018<\/h5>\n

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After the successful inaugural season, the Pro Chess League kept going strong in the 2018. The basic regulations and the format were kept more or less the same – teams were divided into four divisions from which they qualified into the playoff stage.<\/p>\n

However, from the purely organizational perspective, certain novelties were introduced:<\/p>\n