What is the Live Chess World League (LCWL)?The Live Chess World League (LCWL) is the chess.com's premier live chess competition between national teams. What is the format of the LCWL? The LCWL hosts tournaments of many different formats, including the main seasons (which combine blitz, bullet, and rapid play), the Chess960 Cup, and the U1600 Tournament. As each new tournament starts, we will announce the format via News post.  What division are we in? We are in Division 3 West. The other teams in our division are Canada, Chile, England, Italy, Nigeria, Peru, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Where can I find the LCWL standings? 2025 LCWL: https://minily.org/lcwl-25s2-div3w-checo  How will I be notified about matches? Match times will be announced in the Club Announcements and the Notes. For additional notifications, you can subscribe to the Team USA Live Google Calendar or join the Team USA Discord. If you have any questions about the Live Chess World League, ask below!
In general, Team USA Live has a more relaxed Notes policy than Team USA. However, this does not mean that idle chitchat, such as "Hi!", or off-topic conversation will be permitted. Rather, this simply means that on-topic conversation directly relevant to Team USA Live will be allowed. The purpose of the Notes is to discuss chess and matters related to the group. It also serves as a venue for the admins to relay information to the members of the group. Team USA Live is a group that plays chess. As such, it is not dedicated to politics, sports (other than chess), or religion. Neither is it a social media website. Notes should be friendly/helpful/informative. The notes section for Team USA is a dedicated place to discuss ideas, share experiences, and ask questions that relate to chess and the way Team USA Live operates in the leagues it participates in. Finally, if you find the notifications generated by frequent conversation in the Notes in this club to be excessively distracting, feel free to turn off Notes notifications for this club. We do ask, however, that you leave your News post notifications on, as match dates/times and important announcements are always pushed out through News posts.
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Dare-Dare Jun 9, 2019
What openings should I learn for white and black? What YT vids are good for learning? What chess.com features are good?  Is LiChess a better platform for free learning? Is Chessable any good?
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WisdomPrevails Oct 4, 2025
Hi everyone! I am new to the club and look forward to playing for the team. My name is Peter, and I am from Massachusetts. I'm a huge chess fan. I recently joined Magnetus Chess to help making the first self-adjusting chess sets in the world. Please visit our website at www.magnetuschess.com to have a look at the one-of-a-kind sets. We make these self-adjusting chess sets by placing strong magnets in the pieces and in the center of each square. I believe self-adjusting chess sets will be widely adopted by chess players and blitz tournament organizers. These sets make it much more comfortable for the players to play and analyze chess and also much more enjoyable for the viewers to follow blitz games. As you can see in the bullet game video below, the players can play very fast and still have all the pieces centered on the squares throughout the entire game, and none of the pieces fell. If you are interested in purchasing one set, I am offering a 25% discount to members of this club with the coupon "TEAMUSA25" I would love to hear your opinion!
This is the place to talk, just follow chess.com rules I know there is a Discord, but many don't have it
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ReScorpio May 31, 2020
I don't wanna spam the notes so let's discuss it here
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neatgreatfire May 19, 2020
Unfortunately we lost today against Team Czech Republic, we probably need more players in the 2000-2400 rating range to compete and also help the lower boards. we lost 15-95 https://www.chess.com/club/matches/live/team-usa-live/10985 I was board #1 and while I was the underdog againt IM MartinCerveny rated 2536 in Blitz versus 2403 on my side, I tried to step up to the occasion. First the key moments, then the games with annotations Here I am white in Game1. Can you spot the move I played. white to play - solution is my 29th move in the full game given below. And here is the full game 1-0 for White as I converted the position in the diagram above. and then the second game where I was Black there were 2 key moments White to play : I just captured a pawn on a3 giving check. Do you with White move forward to g4, or backward to f2 ? and now the second critical position 2 moves later, Black to play Now can you guess the best move for Black ? _____________________________________ Hint : would you play ..Rg6 or ..Rb3 in the diagram above, and why ? Solution given in the entire game annotated below (40th move White and 41th move Black). the end result was a draw so I ended up scoring 1.5 versus 0.5 which is probably my best match result and probably the highest rated win. Full game 2 here
The match Canada won was 24 boards and Canada's bottom board was around 1100. Please play if you can against Canada in the Semi-Final.
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2Grizzly May 7, 2020
Good day Team USA, As some of us knows already we lost a tough match last night against Team Philippines. Blitz 82 - 34 and Rapid 56.5 - 25.5. Now let's keep our chins up we still have a chance to get something out of this playoffs. Maybe not promotion because that's most likely going to either Philippines or Bosnia and Herzegovina. PREMIUM REWARDS That's right we have a big chance to win some rewards for our top performers in our team if we stay in the top 3. Now for that to happen we need to win our 2 games vs the Czech Republic. And also a miracle one against Bosnia and Herzegovina. We need to secure two wins against The Czech republic we did it before and I believe in our team we can do it again. Also if we have more than 50 player participants against Bosnia and Herzegovina then we absolutely have a shot to stay in top 3. First-round vs: Bosnia and Herzegovina Blitz - 42 - 46 L Rapid - 20 - 36 L The Czech Republic Blitz - 42.5 - 31.5 W Rapid - 28.5 - 27.5 W Let's get these premium prizes - Invite your friends and acquaintances.
What is the Pan American Live Chess League (LCPAL)? The Pan American Live Chess League (LCPAL), officially sponsored by Chess.com, is the continent's premier live chess competition, featuring 8 tournaments in 2020. The LCPAL has prizes that have been generously provided by Chess.com: the first place team in many of the above tournaments wins 5 Diamond memberships, the second place team in each tournament wins 5 Platinum memberships, and the third place team in each tournament wins 5 Gold memberships! These prizes are then distributed to the five team members with the most participation and highest performance over the course of those tournaments. What is the format of the LCPAL? The eight tournaments of the 2020 LCPAL are the Blitz Cup, Bullet Cup, Confederations Cup, Super Cup, Super Cup B, Rapid Cup, +1800 Tournament, and U1600 Tournament. The LCPAL Blitz Cup (5|2), generally considered the LCPAL's main event, is played with a 15-round single round robin regular season, with 6 teams qualifying for the playoffs, and the top 2 teams receiving first round playoff byes. It will take place from January 13th to April 5th, and after a short break, conclude from June 29th to August 9th. The LCPAL Bullet Cup (2|1) is played with an 8-round swiss regular season, with 6 teams qualifying for the playoffs, and the top 2 teams receiving first round playoff byes. The 2020 LCPAL Bullet Cup will take place from April 13th to June 21st. The LCPAL Confederations Cup (5|2) is played with a 7-round single round robin regular season, with 4 teams qualifying for the playoffs in each of the North America and South America "federations". The 2020 LCPAL Confederations Cup will take place from August 17th to October 11th, and we will, naturally, play in the North American federation. The LCPAL Super Cup (5|2) and Super Cup B (5|2) are 2-round knockout competitions between the top teams in each of the North American and South America "federations". The 2020 LCPAL Super Cup and Super Cup B will take place from October 19th to October 25th. The LCPAL Rapid Cup (15|2), +1800 Tournament (5|2), and U1600 Tournament (5|2) are played with 6-round swiss regular seasons, with 6 teams qualifying for the playoffs, and the top 2 teams receiving first round playoff byes. All of these tournaments will take place from November 2nd to December 27th. Where can the LCPAL standings be found? The LCPAL standings of all competitions can be found here: https://livechessleagues.com/ U1600 Tournament standings: https://livechessleagues.com/s3-u1600/ Where can the LCPAL pairings be found? Blitz Cup: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15mJNFqNei1sz2ETneB5Xm_NHVirQ1gDf/view U1600 Tournament: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aGtodzc5OJnR6cPkZt_SlCkjCinDoRTn/view The league gives us a one-week window to play each round within, but matches are normally scheduled for weekend evenings, with a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday night match every so often. If you have any questions about the LCPAL, please ask below, and I will answer them and/or add them to the list of FAQs above.
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Dare-Dare Apr 20, 2020
PLEASE SAVE THE DATE Sat. 25 Next week Our first Playoff match in world league. Please don’t miss it at 10pm ET. We really need to have a big turnout to have a chance to defeat them. Last time we were outmatched badly especially in the lower boards. So come help us and get a win.
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hfontanez Apr 18, 2020
Good day Team! Those who haven’t joined our Discord chat room yet here’s the link. https://discord.gg/WzFanZ Simply make an account and join our discussions there. In there it’s unlimited chat without overwhelming our notes on our page. See you all there!
lets start with the win in game 2 , LWCL USA-Philippines Blitz 5'+2"" late match. with full annotations. Highest rated opponent (2516) I faced in the league so far. 1-1 was the result, I'll post the other game next.
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thechesscorner64 Mar 31, 2020
Here are both of my matches from our match last night. I knew it would be tough seeing as how I was out-rated by over 400 points, but would love your thoughts on the matches. GAME 1 GAME 2Still reviewing
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adamaguilera77 Mar 29, 2020
What is the Live Chess World League (LCWL)? The Live Chess World League (LCWL), officially sponsored by Chess.com, is the world's premier live chess competition, with 3 tournaments in 2020. Since Team USA Live finished 4th in Division 2 of the LCWL last season, we will again be playing in Division 2 this season. The LCWL has prizes that have been generously provided by Chess.com: each of the top three teams in Division 2 receives 5 Platinum memberships, with those teams' longest membership prizes set at 12 months, 6 months, and 3 months, respectively. These prizes are then distributed to the five team members with the most participation and highest performance over the course of those tournaments. What is the format of the LCWL? The three tournaments of the 2020 LCWL are the LCWL Season 5, 960 Rapid Cup, and the LCWL Season 6. In each of the LCWL Season 5 and LCWL Season 6, eight teams play a 7-round single round robin regular season. Then, the top four and bottom four teams play a 3-round single round robin, battling for division victory and promotion or to fend off relegation. In the 2nd round robin, results from the 1st round robin are carried over, and matches count for double the points. Each round, teams play a Blitz (5|2) match, immediately followed by a Rapid (10|2) match. Season 5 will take place from January 27th to May 24th, and Season 6 will take place from August 24th to December 20th. The LCWL Chess960 Rapid Cup (10|2) is played with a 3-round single round robin regular season, followed by semifinals and finals. The 2020 LCWL Chess960 Rapid Cup will take place from June 8th to August 9th. We will likely choose to skip this event, since it runs concurrently with the LCPAL Blitz Cup playoffs, and because it does not award any membership prizes. Where can the LCWL standings be found? https://tinyurl.com/lcwl-s5-div2 Where can the LCWL schedule be found? https://tinyurl.com/lcwl-s5-div2 The league gives us a one-week window to play each round within, but matches are normally scheduled for weekend mornings or evenings. The reason we may have to play weekend morning matches is that in the LCWL, we play teams in completely different time zones, such as Iran, Czech Republic, or Romania. If you have any questions about the LCWL, please ask below, and I will answer them and/or add them to the list of FAQs above.
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NubbyCheeseking Mar 28, 2020
[Event "Live Chess"][Site "Chess.com"][Date "2020.02.29"][Round "?"][White "thechesscorner64"][Black "Sokkia"][Result "1-0"][ECO "C77"][WhiteElo "2332"][BlackElo "2282"][TimeControl "300+2"][EndTime "12:29:08 PST"][Termination "thechesscorner64 won on time"] 1. e4 {[%clk 0:05:01.9]} 1... e5 {[%clk 0:05:00.9]} 2. Nf3 {[%clk 0:05:01.7]}2... Nc6 {[%clk 0:05:02]} 3. Bb5 {[%clk 0:05:02.1]} 3... a6 {[%clk 0:05:02.8]}4. Ba4 {[%clk 0:05:03.1]} 4... Nf6 {[%clk 0:05:03.2]} 5. d3 {[%clk 0:05:04]}5... b5 {[%clk 0:05:00.9]} 6. Bb3 {[%clk 0:05:03.7]} 6... Bc5 {[%clk 0:05:02.8]}7. a4 {[%clk 0:05:03.6]} 7... Rb8 {[%clk 0:05:02.6]} 8. axb5 {[%clk 0:05:03.1]}8... axb5 {[%clk 0:05:03.3]} 9. O-O {[%clk 0:05:04.8]} 9... d6 {[%clk0:05:04.3]} 10. Bg5 {[%clk 0:04:43.4]} 10... h6 {[%clk 0:05:02]} 11. Bh4 {[%clk0:04:44.1]} 11... Bg4 {[%clk 0:04:49.8]} 12. c3 {[%clk 0:04:43.4]} 12... O-O{[%clk 0:04:40.5]} 13. h3 {[%clk 0:04:43.8]} 13... Be6 {[%clk 0:04:24.7]} 14.Nbd2 {[%clk 0:04:42.3]} 14... Bb6 {[%clk 0:04:16.9]} 15. Bxe6 {[%clk 0:04:40.1]}15... fxe6 {[%clk 0:04:17.4]} 16. Qb3 {[%clk 0:04:35.2]} 16... Qe8 {[%clk0:04:16.2]} 17. Bg3 {[%clk 0:04:23.2]} 17... Nh5 {[%clk 0:04:12.4]} 18. Bh2{[%clk 0:04:24]} 18... Kh8 {[%clk 0:04:11.3]} 19. Rfe1 {[%clk 0:04:14.2]} 19...Nf4 {[%clk 0:04:04.8]} 20. Bxf4 {[%clk 0:04:14.3]} 20... Rxf4 {[%clk 0:04:04.8]}21. Nf1 {[%clk 0:04:12.7]} 21... Qg6 {[%clk 0:03:54.8]} 22. N1h2 {[%clk0:03:51.9]} 22... Rbf8 {[%clk 0:03:39.7]} 23. Kf1 {[%clk 0:03:51.1]} 23... Ne7{[%clk 0:02:53.6]} 24. Qxb5 {[%clk 0:03:46.8]} 24... Qf7 {[%clk 0:02:35.4]} 25.Qd7 {[%clk 0:03:36]} 25... h5 {[%clk 0:02:26.9]} 26. d4 {[%clk 0:03:13.7]} 26...Qf6 {[%clk 0:02:04.5]} 27. d5 {[%clk 0:02:29.6]} 27... exd5 {[%clk 0:02:00.1]}28. exd5 {[%clk 0:02:30.8]} 28... Nxd5 {[%clk 0:01:54.4]} 29. Qc6 {[%clk0:02:22.9]} 29... Ne7 {[%clk 0:01:53.9]} 30. Qb7 {[%clk 0:02:23.6]} 30... g5{[%clk 0:01:52.2]} 31. Ra8 {[%clk 0:02:23.6]} 31... Rxa8 {[%clk 0:01:47.3]} 32.Qxa8+ {[%clk 0:02:23.9]} 32... Kg7 {[%clk 0:01:48.4]} 33. g3 {[%clk 0:01:55.9]}33... Rc4 {[%clk 0:01:32.9]} 34. Qa2 {[%clk 0:01:40.3]} 34... Rc5 {[%clk0:01:24.8]} 35. Kg2 {[%clk 0:01:36.6]} 35... Ng6 {[%clk 0:01:10.1]} 36. c4{[%clk 0:01:20.6]} 36... Ra5 {[%clk 0:01:00.3]} 37. Qb1 {[%clk 0:01:18.2]} 37...Ra8 {[%clk 0:00:49.6]} 38. b4 {[%clk 0:01:16.8]} 38... Rf8 {[%clk 0:00:48.1]}39. Qe4 {[%clk 0:01:10.4]} 39... Kh6 {[%clk 0:00:38.7]} 40. Re2 {[%clk0:01:10.9]} 40... Qf5 {[%clk 0:00:33.7]} 41. Qxf5 {[%clk 0:00:45.8]} 41... Rxf5{[%clk 0:00:35.6]} 42. h4 {[%clk 0:00:47.1]} 42... g4 {[%clk 0:00:36.7]} 43. Ng5{[%clk 0:00:46.9]} 43... Nf8 {[%clk 0:00:34]} 44. Nf1 {[%clk 0:00:44.8]} 44...Kg6 {[%clk 0:00:34.5]} 45. Ne3 {[%clk 0:00:44.6]} 45... Bxe3 {[%clk 0:00:33]}46. Rxe3 {[%clk 0:00:45.4]} 46... Kf6 {[%clk 0:00:33.5]} 47. c5 {[%clk0:00:44.5]} 47... Ne6 {[%clk 0:00:33.8]} 48. cxd6 {[%clk 0:00:43.3]} 48... cxd6{[%clk 0:00:35.7]} 49. Ne4+ {[%clk 0:00:16.6]} 49... Ke7 {[%clk 0:00:35.3]} 50.Nc3 {[%clk 0:00:18.1]} 50... Nd4 {[%clk 0:00:32]} 51. Nd5+ {[%clk 0:00:19.3]}51... Kd7 {[%clk 0:00:24.9]} 52. Ra3 {[%clk 0:00:13.2]} 52... Ke6 {[%clk0:00:18.2]} 53. Ne3 {[%clk 0:00:11.2]} 53... Rf8 {[%clk 0:00:17.2]} 54. Ra7{[%clk 0:00:12]} 54... Rc8 {[%clk 0:00:17.4]} 55. Rh7 {[%clk 0:00:12.3]} 55...Rc1 {[%clk 0:00:14.9]} 56. Rh6+ {[%clk 0:00:10.5]} 56... Kd7 {[%clk 0:00:15.2]}57. Rxh5 {[%clk 0:00:11.1]} 57... Nf3 {[%clk 0:00:15.9]} 58. Rh7+ {[%clk0:00:11.6]} 58... Kc6 {[%clk 0:00:16.1]} 59. Nxg4 {[%clk 0:00:12.8]} 59... Ne1+{[%clk 0:00:15.3]} 60. Kh3 {[%clk 0:00:12.2]} 60... Rc2 {[%clk 0:00:14.4]} 61.Rh8 {[%clk 0:00:10.6]} 61... d5 {[%clk 0:00:14.7]} 62. Nxe5+ {[%clk 0:00:08]}62... Kd6 {[%clk 0:00:14.5]} 63. Ng4 {[%clk 0:00:08.4]} 63... Nd3 {[%clk0:00:11.4]} 64. b5 {[%clk 0:00:08.2]} 64... Rb2 {[%clk 0:00:11.2]} 65. b6 {[%clk0:00:06.7]} 65... Kc5 {[%clk 0:00:11]} 66. Rc8+ {[%clk 0:00:05.5]} 66... Kd4{[%clk 0:00:11.6]} 67. f4 {[%clk 0:00:03.8]} 67... Rxb6 {[%clk 0:00:05.5]} 68.h5 {[%clk 0:00:02.9]} 68... Rb3 {[%clk 0:00:04.6]} 69. Kh4 {[%clk 0:00:04.4]}69... Rb1 {[%clk 0:00:04.3]} 70. Kg5 {[%clk 0:00:05.4]} 70... Rh1 {[%clk0:00:04.8]} 71. h6 {[%clk 0:00:06.5]} 71... Ne1 {[%clk 0:00:03.9]} 72. Kg6{[%clk 0:00:05.1]} 72... Nf3 {[%clk 0:00:05.8]} 73. Nf6 {[%clk 0:00:05.5]} 73...Kd3 {[%clk 0:00:07.5]} 74. h7 {[%clk 0:00:06.9]} 74... d4 {[%clk 0:00:08.4]} 75.Nh5 {[%clk 0:00:08]} 75... Kd2 {[%clk 0:00:06.3]} 76. h8=Q {[%clk 0:00:08.8]}1-0
Avatar of SmyslovFan
SmyslovFan Mar 3, 2020