2023 US Team Chess League
Pre-first of all, my apologies for everything being delayed, from announcements to admissions! That said, first of all, welcome to everyone who has joined Team Virginia! We’re glad to have you representing our Commonwealth. This team largely exists to represent Virginia in the US Team Chess League and other team matches, but feel free to discuss anything related to chess in Virginia or chess in general!
Secondly, The de-facto start of the 2023 US Team Chess League is upon us! It truly began in July, and our first match was to be against Team Illinois, but unfortunately I was never able to get in contact with anyone over there to set up the match. As a result, we were handed a win by forfeit. A win’s a win, but it’s not particularly satisfying, is it? This second round is definitely happening, though, and our opponent is Team Indiana!
Anyone, whether you just became a member of Team Virginia or you’ve been playing for us for years, is welcome to join! There are a few conditions I want to go over, though. The first is that, like with regular chess.com etiquette, use of engines and endgame tablebases is not allowed. Opening books, however, are fine. Greater elaboration can be found here.
The second is that you are only allowed to play for one state’s team across the entire tournament. If you play in one of Team Virginia’s USTCL matches, for example, you can only play for Team Virginia is all future ones, and likewise, if you’ve played for another USTCL team, you unfortunately can’t play for us.
The last part is that you have to have played at least 5 correspondence games to be able to join. The games are a simple ordered matchup, two simultaneous (one black, one white), and 3 days per turn. In Division 3, we’re required to have at least 6 members join each match for it to start, so again, I encourage as many people to join as many matches as you like!
The match against Team Indiana starts at 10 PM on Sunday, August 14, and you can find a link to the sign up either under Daily Matches on the right side or by clicking here.
Good luck, and have fun!
