End-of-Year Improvers Marathon: Register By November 6
Note (Nov. 3 at 9:00 am Pacific Time): After receiving some amazing feedback from you all, I’ve made a few adjustments to the original announcement. These updates are reflected below, so please read carefully, even if you’ve skimmed it before. Thanks! Judit
Update: 11/7 -- PLEASE CHECK YOUR ENTRY
List of registered players
Any problems or updates needed? Email to judit.sztaray@chess.com.
Please, no DMs! Thank you!!
Dear Improvers,
After a full year of learning, training, and participating in our Improvers Challenge, it's time to put all that progress into practice! Join us for the Improvers Club End-of-Year Marathon Tournament, a relaxed but competitive online event celebrating how far you've come.
This is a unique, multi-week event in which players are manually paired by an arbiter (yours truly!). Pairings will be posted each week, and players coordinate a time to complete their game within the next six days. We repeat this for five weeks and celebrate together at the end!
Format
- Five rounds, one game per week.
- Time control: 60+10
- UPDATED Pairings posted: Every Sunday, no later than 9:00 p.m. PT / midnight ET / 6:00 (+1) CET / 10:30 a.m. (+1) IST.
- Players must contact their opponent by that Monday evening before the end of the day to agree on a playing time. If a player is unable to get in touch with their opponent, we will make every effort to pair them with another player that same week. Players who fail to respond will be removed from the tournament immediately.
- UPDATED: Games must be completed by the following Sunday 12:00 p.m. PT / 3:00 p.m. ET / 21:00 CET / 1:30 a.m. (+1) IST.
- Sections: U1200, 1200–1999, and 2000+
- UPDATED/NEW: Pairings will restrict players from vastly different time zones.
Event Dates -- UPDATED
- Registration period: Oct 31 - Nov 6
- Round 1: Nov 10 - 16
- Round 2: Nov 17 - 23
- Round 3: Nov 24 - 30
- Round 4: Dec 1 - Dec 7
- Round 5: Dec 8 - 14
- Award Ceremony: Monday, Dec 15, at 11:30 a.m. ET / 17:30 CET / 10 p.m. IST -- Fun Online Live Party!
Prizes
- Diamond memberships to the top three in each section:
- 1st place: three-month diamond membership
- 2nd place: two-month diamond membership
- 3rd place: one-month diamond membership
- One class price in each section: one-month diamond membership
- Best U2200 in the 2000+ section
- Best U1600 in the 1200–1999 section
- Best U1000 in the U1200 section
This is your chance to apply everything you've learned over the year in longer, more thoughtful games and test your understanding, focus, and endurance.
Let's celebrate the year of improvement together, one carefully considered move at a time!
Sign up and join the finale of our 2025 Improvers journey!
