Announcing The 1st Indian Chess.com League (ICL)
Chess.com India is launching the first Indian Chess.com League (ICL) which will be held from 15th May to 17th May, 2020. The league is envisioned to popularize the league culture in India.
The tournament’s main vision is to bring out the best players of our country to play against each other in a team format.
Date & Time:
15th, 16th & 17th May, 2020. [ Games start at 5 pm on 15th and 16th and at 4pm on 17th May.]
Schedule:
10th May, 2020 at 5 pm IST
Drawing of lots and pairings (Zoom call)
15th May, 2020 at 4:45 pm
Inauguration
15th May, 2020
Rounds 1-5.
Round 1 starts at 5 pm. Each subsequent round starts in 30 minutes.
5pm | 5:30 pm | 6 pm | 6:30 pm | 7 pm.
16th May, 2020
Rounds 6-9
Round 6 starts at 5 pm. Each subsequent round starts in 30 minutes.
5pm | 5:30 pm | 6 pm | 6:30 pm |
Followed by Tiebreaks, if necessary.
17th May, 2020.
Super Final - 4 PM
The superfinal is an elimination match in which Board 5 from one team plays Board 5 from the opposing team. The loser of that game is replaced by Board 4 of their team. This continues until one team eliminates the other team's first board. Both players are eliminated on a draw, with the only exception that if the match between both team's first board is drawn, they continue to play another game with the colors reversed. If the games are still tied after two games, then they proceed to a best of 3 puzzle battle**
** In the rare case that the Puzzle Rush Battle scores between the two finalists are also equal, the team who nominates a lower rated player to the Puzzle Rush Battle will win.
17th May, 2020
Closing Ceremony after the end of the final game.
Live Coverage:
The tournament will be covered LIVE by master commentators and will be shown live on chess.com/tv, Twitch & YouTube
Organizing Committee:
GM Priyadharshan Kannappan (League Commissioner)
IM Rakesh Kulkarni (Chief Executive Officer)
FM Niranjan Navalgund (Chief Communications Officer)
RULES & Regulations
A) Rosters
- Each team is composed of five players.
- The average of the team must be 2400 or above. (According to the FIDE Standard rating list as on 1st May, 2020)
- There must be one U-16 player and one female player in every team. (The under 16 and female player can be the same) A player who has not turned 17 or celebrated his / her 17th birthday.
- All players must play all the rounds. No reserves*
*A team may be allowed a substitution only in an emergency situation and if approved by the organizing committee.
- All teams must have a team captain. (Teams are allowed to have a non-playing captain)
- All emails & correspondence will be done with the 10 respective team captains via email and a Whatsapp group.
- All teams must be submitted to the organizers by 6th May, 2020.
- All teams are required to pay an entry fee of Rs.2000 per team.
- Top 10 teams submitting their list with all the rules stated above will be considered final.
- Teams can have any unique name that they wish (Subject to approval by the tournament committee)
The team compositions for every team will be announced on 7th May, 2020.
B) Match Format
- The teams will use the same fixed board order as submitted.
- A match win gives a team 1 point in the standings.
- A drawn match gives each team 0.5 points in the standings.
- Every game point is counted as part of the first tiebreak.
- The time control is 10 minutes + 2 seconds increment per move.
C) Prize Fund
The total guaranteed prize fund is Rs.40,000.
This is the minimum guarantee. Prizes will be added with more sponsorships.
Champions : Rs. 25,000
Runner’s up: Rs. 10,000
MVP of the event: Rs 5,000
*MVP = Most Valuable Player.
This prize will be given to the player with the highest performance rating (After the League section. Final’s games will not be counted)
If two or more players have the same points, the player with the better performance rating will win the prize.
D) Registration
The interested team captains are requested to fill the form: 
Interested players looking for a team can fill the Free Agent form:
In case of queries, you can reach out to us at: chesscomindialeague@gmail.com
Currently work as a community manager for Chess.com India.
I have a GM norm and an IM norm. Became a FIDE Trainer recently. Coached two Indian Teams for the Olympiad for PWD. Apart from playing and teaching chess, I dabble in writing and reading. Can speak in English, Kannada, Hindi, Tamil and Marathi. I recently wrote a short story titled 'Over a Cup of Chai' that's available on amazon. My last novel 'The Lively Library & An Unlikely Romance' is a story of a library where books come to life at night.
My username was Geborgenheit previously.
Geborgenheit is a german word which is hard to explain. It can only be experienced; It could also be inner peace of your soul. Google says 'security' but it is more than that!
I do stream sometimes!