CCL Fall 2021: All The Information

The Collegiate Chess League's third season is set to begin on September 18, 2021, and runs until the finals on November 21.

The first two seasons saw schools from all over the US join and compete, and now we are going global! With 160 teams registered from all across the world, there will be 10 divisions competing for a prize fund of $25,000!

This fall season is poised to be the largest yet. With so many teams playing concurrently, it will be impossible for an official broadcast to cover all the matches. Although an official broadcast will be provided for key matchups, teams are encouraged to stream their own matches. All college chess streamers are invited to join Chess.com's Streamer Program. This is one of many benefits Chess.com is providing to players competing this season. 

Below you can find all the information you need to know regarding our third season:

• Broadcast/Streaming
• Format
• Prizes
• Schedule
• Divisions/Groups
• How To Participate

Broadcast/Streaming

Matches will be broadcast live at twitch.tv/collegiatechessleague with commentary done by the league's commissioner, Joe Lee, with additional guests throughout the season. Players are also encouraged to stream their own matches and are invited to join Chess.com's streamer program. Be sure to include that you are a CCL player when you apply. Benefits include:

• Networking with other streamers in the program
• Referral affiliate link
• Additional exposure and revenue for your chess club
• Additional prizes will also be awarded to college clubs that stream their matches

Format

Regular Season

• The regular season starts on September 18 and ends on November 6 with matches played every Saturday except for a bye week on September 25
• Teams consist of four players ranging from the strongest on board one to the weakest on board four
• Teams are listed by average rating and split into divisions of 16
• Each division is split into two groups of eight based on the school's location: west coast and central time zone schools are in Group A, while east coast, European, and Indian schools are in Group B
• Each group plays in a round-robin tournament over the course of eight weeks
• Matches are played with a 5|2 time control in an all-play-all format for a total of 16 games

Playoffs

• Playoffs start November 13 with a wildcard match followed by quarterfinals on November 14
• Based on regular season standings, the top two teams from each group automatically qualify for the quarterfinals
• The bottom two teams from each group are eliminated
• Teams placed 3rd-6th in Group A will play in the wildcard match against teams placed 3rd-6th in Group B
• Winning teams from the wildcard match move on to the quarterfinals
• Semifinals and finals are played the next weekend concluding the season on November 21
• Live broadcasts on Twitch.tv/chess or twitch.tv/collegiatechessleague

Weekly Arenas

• The League will host a weekly Sunday arena at 10 a.m. Pacific
• Anyone can join and play from CCL's club page
• Additional prizes will be given out to players competing in these arenas throughout the season

Prizes

The fall 2021 season will have $25,000 in prize funds! Prizes will be given to the clubs based on their playoff standings. 

Division 1

• 1st: $5,000
• 2nd: $2,500
• 3rd: $1,500
• 4th: $1,000

Division 2

• 1st: $2,500
• 2nd: $1,250
• 3rd: $750
• 4th: $500

Division 3

• 1st: $1,500
• 2nd: $750
• 3rd: $500
• 4th: $250

Division 4

• 1st: $1,000
• 2nd: $500
• 3rd: $300
• 4th: $200

Division 5

• 1st: $750
• 2nd: $500
• 3rd: $250

Division 6

• 1st: $500
• 2nd: $300
• 3rd: $200

Division 7

• 1st: $300
• 2nd: $200

Division 8

• 1st: $300

Division 9

• 1st: $200

Additional Prizes:

• $500 to the club that generates the most referral accounts
• $500 to the club with the most viewed twitch clip or youtube video made during the season
• $500 to the club with the player that accumulates the most points out of all the weekly arenas combined throughout the regular season

Schedule

• Full season's pairings can be found here
• Match times are Saturdays at 10 a.m. Pacific for Group A and 10 a.m. Eastern for Group B
• Regular season starts September 18 and ends November 6
• September 25 is a BYE week
• Playoffs start with wildcard weekend on November 13
• Quarterfinals are on Sunday, November 14
• Semifinals are on Saturday, November 20 with the finals on Sunday, November 21

Divisions/Groups

D1 Group A

• UC Berkeley A
• Mizzou
• UChicago A
• Washington University in St. Louis A
• UT Austin A
• Georgia Tech A
• Rutgers A

D1 Group B

• Princeton
• Harvard A
• Yale A
• MIT A
• University of Michigan A
• University of Warsaw
• Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
• The Bucharest University of Economic Studies

D2 Group A

• UC San Diego A
• UCLA A
• UC Berkeley B
• UC Davis
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign A
• Northwestern A
• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee A
• Rice University A

D2 Group B

• Cornell A
• Purdue A
• Temple A
• Carnegie Mellon University A
• Duke A
• Northeastern A
• University of Toronto A
• University of Benin

D3 Group A

• UChicago B
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign B
• Washington University in St. Louis B
• University of Washington A
• Arizona State University A
• UC Santa Barbara A
• Caltech A
• Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico A

D3 Group B

• Cornell B
• Yale B
• Harvard B
• Purdue B
• University of Florida A
• The State University of New York at Stony Brook
• Ivan Bobersky Lviv State University of Physical Culture A
• CentraleSupélec-Université Paris-Sacaly

D4 Group A

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign C
• University of Illinois at Chicago A
• University of Southern California A
• UC Berkeley C
• UCLA B
• Cal Poly Pomona A
• UT Austin B
• University of Nevada Las Vegas A

D4 Group B

• MIT B
• University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• University of Michigan B
• New Jersey Institute of Technology
• Queens College
• Oberlin College
• Duke B
• Wake Forest University

D5 Group A

• Purdue C
• LSU A
• UC Berkeley D
• Cal Poly SLO
• UTRGV A
• Rice University B
• UT Austin C

D5 Group B

• Yale C
• Duke C
• University of Florida B
• Drexel A
• University of Toronto B
• University of Maryland Baltimore County
• Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology
• Université de Franche-Comté Sciences et Techniques

D6 Group A

• University of Southern California B
• Santa Clara University
• UC San Diego B
• UCLA C
• UC Riverside
• Western Washington University
• University of Illinois at Chicago B
• Northwestern B

D6 Group B

• Purdue D
• Rutgers B
• Duke D
• MIT C
• Georgia Institute of Technology B
• Carnegie Mellon University B
• University of Konstanz
• PDPM Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing, Jabalpur

D7 Group A

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign D
• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee B
• Baylor University
• University of Southern California C
• UC Santa Barbara B
• University of Denver
• University of Washington
• University of Nevada Las Vegas B

D7 Group B

• Florida State University
• University of Alberta
• Carnegie Mellon University C
• College of William and Mary
• Purdue E
• Cornell C
• Northeastern B
• Northern Illinois University

D8 Group A

• University of Illinois at Chicago C
• UChicago C
• Washington University in St. Louis C
• University of Southern California D
• UCLA D
• Caltech B
• Cal Poly Pomona B
• University of Washington C

D8 Group B

• Temple B
• Sacred Heart University
• Drexel B
• Northeastern C
• University of Mississippi
• Georgia Tech C
• University of Florida C
• University of Cape Coast

D9 Group A

• Miracosta College
• UC Berkeley E
• UC San Diego C
• University of Washington D
• Arizona State University B
• Rice University C
• Texas Tech University
• LSU B

D9 Group B

• University of Florida D
• Duke E
• Georgia State University
• University of Michigan C
• SRM Institute of Science and Technology
• Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Centenary College
• Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology
• Vellore Institute of Technology Chennai

D10 Group A

• UT Austin D
• UTRGV B
• University of Southern California E
• UC Berkeley F
• UCLA E
• University of Nevada Las Vegas C
• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee C
• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee D

D10 Group B

• Cornell D
• Carnegie Mellon University D
• Rutgers C
• Howard University
• Temple C
• University of Akron
• Wake Forest University B
• Northeastern D

How To Participate

Registration for teams is currently closed for our fall season, but players can join existing teams if their rating does not significantly increase that team's average rating. Interested players need to fill out our registration form. Before you join a team, please talk to your team's captain or send the league's commissioner, Joe Lee, an email at ccl@chess.com. If you don't have a team already registered, be sure to join us in our next season in the spring of 2022. You're also more than welcome to play in our weekly arenas by joining our club. In the meantime, be sure to join our community over on discord!

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