Arena Kings Season 8: All The Information

The Arena Kings Season 8 started on September 22 at 10 a.m. PT/19:00 CEST and happens every Wednesday until December 15. In this event, streamers battle in a series of 3|0 blitz arenas to take the Arena King crown and a share of the more than $40,000 prize fund.

Just like in the previous season, the top 16 players from each Arena tournament advance to a knockout stage starting five minutes after the arena with additional prizes. There will also be dedicated Chess960 arenas during specific weeks of this season.

The event is open for all Chess.com members to participate, with Twitch affiliates or partners who stream their participation being eligible to win prizes.

• Broadcast
• Format
• Prizes
• Schedule
• Streaming and Identification Requirements
• Arena Kings Championship Qualifiers
• Results
• How To Participate

Broadcast

All Arena Kings season 8 are broadcast live with expert commentary on Chess.com/TV. You can also watch the broadcast either on our official Twitch and YouTube channels or on our Chess.com Events Twitch channel.

Format

Below you can see the format for every event of this season of Arena Kings.

Arenas

• Games in the arenas will use the 3|0 time control
• Arenas will last for two hours
• Live broadcast on Twitch.tv/Chess or Twitch.tv/ChesscomEvents
• Top 16 players move on to a knockout event

Knockout Events

• Top 16 streamers of each arena move on to the knockout event
• Knockout consists of best-of-three matches in the 3|0 time control
• 1|1 bullet games will break ties if necessary, with colors alternating from the previous game
• Live broadcast on Twitch.tv/chess or Twitch.tv/ChesscomEvents
• Players participating in the knockout stage will broadcast their participation

Arena Kings Championship

• Streamers who accumulate at least 100 arena points throughout the season will be able to play in the Arena Kings Championship (read about the point system below)
• The Arena Kings Championship will last two hours and games will use the 3|0 time control
• The top eight streamers from the Arena Kings Championship qualify for the Championship Final, a knockout event
• 1|1 bullet games will break ties if necessary, with colors alternating from the previous game
• Live broadcast on Twitch.tv/chess or Twitch.tv/ChesscomEvents
• Players participating in the Arena Kings Championship will broadcast their participation

Championship Final

• The top eight players from the Arena Kings Championship will move on to the Championship Final, a knockout event
• The Championship Final consists of best-of-five matches, with games using the 3|0 time control
• 1|1 bullet games will break ties if necessary, with colors alternating from the previous game
• Live broadcast on Twitch.tv/chess or Twitch.tv/ChesscomEvents
• Players participating in the Championship Final will broadcast their participation

Prizes

Arena Kings Season 8 has aprize fund of more than $40,000, detailed below:

Weekly Arena Prize Fund: $2,500

• 1st: $500
• 2nd: $350
• 3rd-4th: $225
• 5th-8th: $100
• 9th-16th: $50
• U1400, U1800, and U2200: $100
• Streamer prize: $100

Championship Arena Prize Fund: $10,000

• 1st: $4,000
• 2nd: $2,000
• 3rd-4th: $1,000
• 5th-8th: $500
• U1400, U1800, and U2200: $250

If a player is eligible for more than one prize in a given week (e.g. 10th place and U1800), they will get both prizes. If a player advances to the semifinal stage of the knockout event or beyond only the higher prize will be awarded. In that case, the under-prize will be reassigned to the next eligible participant.

Schedule

• Regular arenas: Wednesdays at 10 a.m. PT/19:00 CEST, September 22-December 8, 2021
• Chess960 arenas: Wednesdays at 10 a.m. PT/19:00 CEST, October 20 and November 17
• Knockout events: begin five minutes after each arena ends
• Arena Kings Championship: Wednesday at 10 a.m. PT/19:00 CEST, December 15, 2021

Streaming and Identification Requirements

All Chess.com members can participate in Arena Kings Season 8. However, participants must stream their participation and meet all the requirements below to be eligible for prizes:

All Streamers

• The player must stream their games with boards and camera visible on stream, and their video and audio must be clear
• Verbal commentary and/or chat engagement are also required. We are specifically discouraging players from streaming simply to be eligible for prizes while not providing any streaming "value"
• Anonymous players cannot earn prizes. All accounts must be labeled with the player's real name
• All players must play using accounts that properly reflect their playing strength as measured by rating. Players using "streaming" accounts that are under-rated will not be eligible for any prizes
• "Streaming" accounts must be approved by staff. Note that multi-accounting is against our terms of service so if an account is not approved by our staff, this can constitute grounds for us to close the account and void any results or prizes earned
• The player must stream at least 100 minutes of the event
• Players who make it to the knockout stage must set up a second field of vision camera on stream

Twitch Streamers

• Streamer must be at least a Twitch Affiliate to be eligible for prizes
• Players must be easily identifiable on Twitch by listing their streams in the "Chess" category
• All streams must have "!arenakings" in the stream title
• The streamer must save their VODs for a minimum of 14 days so staff can review them after the arena
• The streamer must connect their Twitch account to Chess.com

YouTube Streamers

• Streamers must have at least 100 subscribers on YouTube.
• Streamers must email Chess.com (titled@chess.com), with their YouTube channel URL each week before the start of the arena
  • Players emailing after the 15-minute mark of the arena will not be eligible for prizes or points
• All streams must have "Arena Kings" in the stream title.
• All streamers must save their VODs for a minimum of 14 days so staff can review them after the arena.
  

By participating in Arena Kings, streamers agree that Chess.com can use the content for mashup/highlights (will always reference original channel and source) and also gives permission for the Chess.com commentary broadcast to show live look-ins of the player's stream during the event.

Arena Kings Championship Qualifiers

The Arena Kings Championship qualifiers work on a point-based system. Streamers collect points during the entire season leading up to the Championship Final. Players need to accumulate at least 100 points throughout the season to qualify for the Arena Kings Championship. The list below details how to earn points:

• 1st: 100 points
• 2nd: 85
• 3rd: 75
• 4th: 75
• 5th: 50
• 6th: 50
• 7th: 50
• 8th: 50
• 9-16th: 25
• Streaming: 10
• Win any Under prize: 15

Results

We will publish the results of the Arena Kings Season 8 here.

How To Participate

To play in the event you should follow the steps below:

1. Go to our Play page
2. Click the "Tournaments" button in the sidebar
3. Find the Arena Kings event you want to join and click on it
4. Click the "Join" button. Notice that you'll only be able to join the event at least one hour before it starts.