ULTIMATE SENSEI SEASON 2 (1400-1600) : ANNOUNCEMENT & PREVIEW

Get hyped, Season 2 of ULTIMATE SENSEI premieres this Saturday, November 20, at 12:45 PM PST!!

Ultimate Sensei is the ultimate reality-tv-style test of the effectiveness of a coach, as four invited coaches will have 9 weeks to train two similarly-rated students leading up to a final tournament. You can follow along from the moment the coaches draft their students, through every private lesson streamed online and every intermediate competition, to see which coach's methods are the best, and which students learn the fastest.

Missed the pawn-pumping action of Season 1? You can watch the entire thing here!

COACHES - SEASON 2

IM Andras Toth (twitch.tv/chesscoachandras)

IM Kostya Kavutskiy (twitch.tv/chessdojolive)

WGM Alexandra Obolentseva (twitch.tv/slowdumbb)

IM Mat Kolosowski (twitch.tv/mat_kolosowski)

STUDENTS - SEASON 2 (1400-1600)

This season there will be 12 invited students vying for 8 spots in the show. These students have OTB ratings in the 1400-1600 range OR have been judged to be in this range based on their online play. They will be competing in a rapid tournament before being drafted by the coaches.

Invited students:

Simon McNamara (chess.com/member/simonmtl)
Chessnumbers (twitter.com/chessnumbers)
akaBlueJae (twitch.tv/aka_bluejae)
Lularobs (twitch.tv/lularobs)
Velcrodot (twitch.tv/velcrodot)
Drittman13 (chess.com/member/drittman13)
Seth_Lichtenstein (chess.com/member/seth_lichtenstein)
Falk312 (chess.com/member/falk312)
Nordovic (twitch.tv/nordovic)
Chris Greidanus (chess.com/member/cgreidanus2)
Morphyfan (chess.com/member/nargaef)
GustavoL (chess.com/member/gustavolucca)

PRIZE FUND

A total of $4600, thanks to the sponsorship of Chess.com, ChessDojo, and our viewers! The prizes are divided as follows:

Each of three intermediate competitions: 1st - $300, 2nd - $200, 3rd - $100

Finale: Top Team - $1000, 2nd Place Team - $800, 3rd Place Team - $600, 4th Place Team - $400

SCHEDULE/FORMAT

November 20 - Draft Tournament. The coaches watch carefully as the 12 students compete through 4 rounds of 15+5 rapid chess, then draft their students immediately after.

December 4 - Tactics Challenge. Students compete in solving tactics. The winner of this competition gains an advantage in the Endgame Challenge, and a minimum 3rd seed in the Championship Tournament.

December 18 - Endgame Challenge. Students compete in a test of endgame skills. The winner gains an advantage in the Blitz Tournament, and a minimum 2nd seed in the Championship Tournament.

January 8 - Blitz-Off. A round robin (all-play-all) 3+2 blitz tournament determines the 1st-8th seedings in the Championship Tournament.

January 22-23 - Championship Tournament. Players will compete in 15+5 rapid knockout matches over the course of 2 grueling days. Combining student placings (1st = 8 points, 2nd = 7 points, etc.) will determine the winning team.

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WATCH

All competitions will be aired on twitch.tv/chessdojolive.

Mat's lessons can be viewed at twitch.tv/mat_kolosowski

Andras's lessons can be viewed at twitch.tv/chesscoachandras

Alexandra's lessons can be viewed at twitch.tv/slowdumbb

Kostya's lessons can be viewed at twitch.tv/chessdojolive

IM David Pruess of ChessDojo will serve as Season 2 Commissioner and Host.

Excited for the premier of Season 2? Make sure to tune in LIVE to twitch.tv/chessdojolive starting Saturday, November 20, at 12:45 PST!