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Welcome to the 2023-2024 season of the USTCL! In Division 2 this year, we welcome three teams from Division 1 - Michigan, South Carolina and North Carolina, and two teams from Division 3 - Indiana and Maryland. Below are the full rules, but you can always find them here, along with team membership and filtering guidelines: https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/us-team-chess-league-rules-regulations. The primary change is that we are being stricter on challenges; please read through Rule 12a carefully so that you are aware of the requirements. When in doubt, send and accept challenges without delay, and make sure you have a backup admin in place in the event that you are unable to complete the challenge. Rules and Regulations Length of Season: 1 year Format: 9-round Round-robin Match Settings: When setting up matches, please use the following parameters Match Name: USTCL 2024 R#: Team A vs Team B (replace # with the number of the round) Game Type: Standard Chess Days per Move: 3 days Description (not required): The following text may be optionally used: Opening databases without engine evaluation and opening books are permitted in Daily Chess, but the use of engines and tablebases is never permitted. See here for the applicable rules: https://support.chess.com/article/648-what-do-i-need-to-know-about-fair-play-on-chess-com. If you are not clear about the rules - ask. Rating Range: Open Minimum Games: 10 Players per Club: 9 players minimum, no maximum Concurrent Games per Player: 2 Start Date: 14th of the month (see match dates below) Start Time: 7 PM PT (10 PM ET) Auto-Start: No Rated: Yes League Standings: Standings will be posted periodically in each thread. Only matches that have been clinched will be shown as a result in the standings. Prizes: Trophies for places 1 thru 3. Trophies will be awarded by January 1st of the following year. Player Eligibility: A player can only play for one team in this league throughout a season regardless of division. Once they play for a team, they must stay with that team throughout the season. USTCL admins will post notifications of multi-team players in the division thread a few days before the match is due to start. Promotion/Relegation: The top two teams on June 30th will be promoted to Division 1, and the bottom two teams will be relegated to Division 3. Unfinished Matches: If a match result has not been determined by the season end date, but it is necessary that the match conclude in order to determine the divisional composition for the following season, then the remaining incomplete games within that match will be decided using chess.com's analysis tool. If a player is leading by a score of 2.0 or more, they will be determined to have won that game. If the difference is less than 2.0, the game will be determined to be a draw. Tiebreakers: The first tiebreaker will be head-to-head results. The second tiebreaker will be the differential between match points won and lost across the entire season. Uncompleted games will not be scored for the purposes of the second tiebreaker. Removal of Players: Team admins may remove players from their roster who exceed a timeout ratio of 15%, or are ineligible due to rule 6. Removed players must be published in the team match thread prior to the start of the match. Example: Player A was removed in accordance with timeout rule: Timeout ratio 55%. Teams may not remove players from their roster or discourage players from joining a match to obtain a more favorable matchup. Score Adjustments: Match scores will be finalized after taking into consideration the account closures of members due to cheating or abuse, and also after applying penalties for multi-team players (see rule 6). This will occur prior to announcing the final standings. Forfeits: There are two types of forfeits that may be awarded. Challenge Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to no acceptance of a challenge, please post a note to the league forum thread that a challenge has been issued, and include a link to the active challenge. Challenges expire around 7-8 days after being issued. If a challenge expires, it shall be the responsibility of the team who did not accept the original challenge to send a new challenge, or a forfeit win will be awarded to the issuer of the original challenge. If match registration has not started at least 72 hours before the scheduled start time, a forfeit win will be awarded to the challenging team.If no note has been posted, the result will be a double forfeit, and will count as a 0-0. Minimum Board Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to lack of boards, teams must have clear evidence that a team did not meet the minimum boards at the match's intended start time. If a match has started late, the team claiming a forfeit must have visual evidence (e.g. a screenshot) that shows that they met the minimum on time. Past matches do not count as visual evidence for this purpose. If no such evidence is available, the must must be played as a normal match. Teams are encouraged to make sure Auto-Start is set to No when setting up challenges to make adjudicating these forfeits easier. Communications: Team admins should not communicate directly with non-admin members of the opposing team. Please work directly with the opposing team admins and/or USTCL admins through private messages to avoid public conflict and confusion. Please see Team Admin best practices for additional details. Match Dates for the 2024 Season Round # Challenge By Match Start / Lock By: 1 7/4 7/14 2 8/4 8/14 3 9/4 9/14 4 10/4 10/14 5 11/4 11/14 6 12/4 12/14 7 1/4 1/14 8 2/4 2/14 9 3/4 3/14 League Table / Schedule: Division 2 Pos. Team Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 1 Alabama 0/0 MD NC MN SC CO IN MI NM OR 1 Colorado 0/0 NM MN SC IN AL MI OR MD NC 1 Indiana 0/0 MI MD OR CO NC AL NM SC MN 1 Maryland 0/0 AL IN NC OR NM SC MN CO MI 1 Michigan 0/0 IN SC NM NC MN CO AL OR MD 1 Minnesota 0/0 SC CO AL NM MI OR MD NC IN 1 New Mexico 0/0 CO OR MI MN MD NC IN AL SC 1 North Carolina 0/0 OR AL MD MI IN NM SC MN CO 1 Oregon 0/0 NC NM IN MD SC MN CO MI AL 1 South Carolina 0/0 MN MI CO AL OR MD NC IN NM

Welcome to the 2023-2024 season of the USTCL! In Division 3 this year, we welcome Alberta and Ohio from Division 2, and Wyoming and Wisconsin from Division 4. Below are the full rules, but you can always find them here, along with team membership and filtering guidelines: https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/us-team-chess-league-rules-regulations. The primary change is that we are being stricter on challenges; please read through Rule 12a carefully so that you are aware of the requirements. When in doubt, send and accept challenges without delay, and make sure you have a backup admin in place in the event that you are unable to complete the challenge. Rules and Regulations Length of Season: 1 year Format: 9-round Round-robin Match Settings: When setting up matches, please use the following parameters Match Name: USTCL 2024 R#: Team A vs Team B (replace # with the number of the round) Game Type: Standard Chess Days per Move: 3 days Description (not required): The following text may be optionally used:Opening databases without engine evaluation and opening books are permitted in Daily Chess, but the use of engines and tablebases is never permitted. See here for the applicable rules: https://support.chess.com/article/648-what-do-i-need-to-know-about-fair-play-on-chess-com. If you are not clear about the rules - ask. Rating Range: Open Minimum Games: 5 Players per Club: 6 players minimum, no maximum Concurrent Games per Player: 2 Start Date: 14th of the month (see match dates below) Start Time: 7 PM PT (10 PM ET) Auto-Start: No Rated: Yes League Standings: Standings will be posted periodically in each thread. Only matches that have been clinched will be shown as a result in the standings. Prizes: Trophies for places 1 thru 3. Trophies will be awarded by January 1st of the following year. Player Eligibility: A player can only play for one team in this league throughout a season regardless of division. Once they play for a team, they must stay with that team throughout the season. USTCL admins will post notifications of multi-team players in the division thread a few days before the match is due to start. Promotion/Relegation: The top two teams on June 30th will be promoted to Division 2, and the bottom two teams will be relegated to Division 4. Unfinished Matches: If a match result has not been determined by the season end date, but it is necessary that the match conclude in order to determine the divisional composition for the following season, then the remaining incomplete games within that match will be decided using chess.com's analysis tool. If a player is leading by a score of 2.0 or more, they will be determined to have won that game. If the difference is less than 2.0, the game will be determined to be a draw. Tiebreakers: The first tiebreaker will be head-to-head results. The second tiebreaker will be the differential between match points won and lost across the entire season. Uncompleted games will not be scored for the purposes of the second tiebreaker. Removal of Players: Team admins may remove players from their roster who exceed a timeout ratio of 15%, or are ineligible due to rule 6. Removed players must be published in the team match thread prior to the start of the match. Example: Player A was removed in accordance with timeout rule: Timeout ratio 55%. Teams may not remove players from their roster or discourage players from joining a match to obtain a more favorable matchup. Score Adjustments: Match scores will be finalized after taking into consideration the account closures of members due to cheating or abuse, and also after applying penalties for multi-team players (see rule 6). This will occur prior to announcing the final standings. Forfeits: There are two types of forfeits that may be awarded. Challenge Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to no acceptance of a challenge, please post a note to the league forum thread that a challenge has been issued, and include a link to the active challenge. Challenges expire around 7-8 days after being issued. If a challenge expires, it shall be the responsibility of the team who did not accept the original challenge to send a new challenge, or a forfeit win will be awarded to the issuer of the original challenge. If match registration has not started at least 72 hours before the scheduled start time, a forfeit win will be awarded to the challenging team.If no note has been posted, the result will be a double forfeit, and will count as a 0-0. Minimum Board Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to lack of boards, teams must have clear evidence that a team did not meet the minimum boards at the match's intended start time. If a match has started late, the team claiming a forfeit must have visual evidence (e.g. a screenshot) that shows that they met the minimum on time. Past matches do not count as visual evidence for this purpose. If no such evidence is available, the must must be played as a normal match. Teams are encouraged to make sure Auto-Start is set to No when setting up challenges to make adjudicating these forfeits easier. Communications: Team admins should not communicate directly with non-admin members of the opposing team. Please work directly with the opposing team admins and/or USTCL admins through private messages to avoid public conflict and confusion. Please see Team Admin best practices for additional details. Match Dates for the 2024 Season Round # Challenge By Match Start / Lock By: 1 7/4 7/14 2 8/4 8/14 3 9/4 9/14 4 10/4 10/14 5 11/4 11/14 6 12/4 12/14 7 1/4 1/14 8 2/4 2/14 9 3/4 3/14 League Table / Schedule: Division 3 Pos. Team Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 1 Alberta 0/0 UT WI OH ME GA MO PR VA WY 1 Georgia 0/0 ME UT VA MO AB PR WY OH WI 1 Maine 0/0 GA PR UT AB WY OH WI MO VA 1 Missouri 0/0 WY OH PR GA WI AB VA ME UT 1 Ohio 0/0 WI MO AB WY VA ME UT GA PR 1 Puerto Rico 0/0 VA ME MO WI UT GA AB WY OH 1 Utah 0/0 AB GA ME VA PR WY OH WI MO 1 Virginia 0/0 PR WY GA UT OH WI MO AB ME 1 Wisconsin 0/0 OH AB WY PR MO VA ME UT GA 1 Wyoming 0/0 MO VA WI OH ME UT GA PR AB

Welcome to the 2023-2024 season of the USTCL! In Division 4 this year, we welcome Tennessee from Division 3, and Louisiana and North Dakota, who join the league this season. Below are the full rules, but you can always find them here, along with team membership and filtering guidelines: https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/us-team-chess-league-rules-regulations. The primary change is that we are being stricter on challenges; please read through Rule 12a carefully so that you are aware of the requirements. When in doubt, send and accept challenges without delay, and make sure you have a backup admin in place in the event that you are unable to complete the challenge. Rules and Regulations Length of Season: 1 year Format: 9-round Round-robin Match Settings: When setting up matches, please use the following parameters Match Name: USTCL 2024 R#: Team A vs Team B (replace A and B by the team names and replace # with the number of the round) Game Type: Standard Chess Days per Move: 3 days Description (not required): The following text may be optionally used:Opening databases without engine evaluation and opening books are permitted in Daily Chess, but the use of engines and tablebases is never permitted. See here for the applicable rules: https://support.chess.com/article/648-what-do-i-need-to-know-about-fair-play-on-chess-com. If you are not clear about the rules - ask. Rating Range: Open Minimum Games: 5 Players per Club: 3 players minimum, no maximum Concurrent Games per Player: 2 Start Date: 14th of the month (see match dates below) Start Time: 7 PM PT (10 PM ET) Auto-Start: No Rated: Yes League Standings: Standings will be posted periodically in each thread. Only matches that have been clinched will be shown as a result in the standings. Prizes: Trophies for places 1 thru 3. Trophies will be awarded by January 1st of the following year. Player Eligibility: A player can only play for one team in this league throughout a season regardless of division. Once they play for a team, they must stay with that team throughout the season. USTCL admins will post notifications of multi-team players in the division thread a few days before the match is due to start. Promotion/Relegation: The top two teams on June 30th will be promoted to Division 3. Unfinished Matches: If a match result has not been determined by the season end date, but it is necessary that the match conclude in order to determine the divisional composition for the following season, then the remaining incomplete games within that match will be decided using chess.com's analysis tool. If a player is leading by a score of 2.0 or more, they will be determined to have won that game. If the difference is less than 2.0, the game will be determined to be a draw. Tiebreakers: The first tiebreaker will be head-to-head results. The second tiebreaker will be the differential between match points won and lost across the entire season. Uncompleted games will not be scored for the purposes of the second tiebreaker. Removal of Players: Team admins may remove players from their roster who exceed a timeout ratio of 15%, or are ineligible due to rule 6. Removed players must be published in the team match thread prior to the start of the match. Example: Player A was removed in accordance with timeout rule: Timeout ratio 55%. Teams may not remove players from their roster or discourage players from joining a match to obtain a more favorable matchup. Score Adjustments: Match scores will be finalized after taking into consideration the account closures of members due to cheating or abuse, and also after applying penalties for multi-team players (see rule 6). This will occur prior to announcing the final standings. Forfeits: There are two types of forfeits that may be awarded. Challenge Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to no acceptance of a challenge, please post a note to the league forum thread that a challenge has been issued, and include a link to the active challenge. Challenges expire around 7-8 days after being issued. If a challenge expires, it shall be the responsibility of the team who did not accept the original challenge to send a new challenge, or a forfeit win will be awarded to the issuer of the original challenge. If match registration has not started at least 72 hours before the scheduled start time, a forfeit win will be awarded to the challenging team.If no note has been posted, the result will be a double forfeit, and will count as a 0-0. Minimum Board Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to lack of boards, teams must have clear evidence that a team did not meet the minimum boards at the match's intended start time. If a match has started late, the team claiming a forfeit must have visual evidence (e.g. a screenshot) that shows that they met the minimum on time. Past matches do not count as visual evidence for this purpose. If no such evidence is available, the must must be played as a normal match. Teams are encouraged to make sure Auto-Start is set to No when setting up challenges to make adjudicating these forfeits easier. Communications: Team admins should not communicate directly with non-admin members of the opposing team. Please work directly with the opposing team admins and/or USTCL admins through private messages to avoid public conflict and confusion. Please see Team Admin best practices for additional details. Match Dates for the 2024 Season Round # Challenge By Match Start / Lock By: 1 7/4 7/14 2 8/4 8/14 3 9/4 9/14 4 10/4 10/14 5 11/4 11/14 6 12/4 12/14 7 1/4 1/14 8 2/4 2/14 9 3/4 3/14 League Table / Schedule: Division 4 Updated: 4/19/2024 Pos. Team Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 1 South Dakota 7.5/9 KY ID LA TN ND BYE MS WV MA 2 Louisiana 6/7 ND KY SD ID BYE MS WV MA TN 3 Idaho 5.5/7 WV SD MS LA KY MA ND TN BYE 4 Tennessee 5.5/8 BYE ND KY SD MS WV MA ID LA 5 North Dakota 4/6 LA TN MA WV SD KY ID BYE MS 6 Mississippi 4/8 MA WV ID BYE TN LA SD KY ND 7 West Virginia 3/8 ID MS BYE ND MA TN LA SD KY 8 Kentucky 2/8 SD LA TN MA ID ND BYE MS WV 9 Massachusetts 1.5/8 MS BYE ND KY WV ID TN LA SD

Welcome to the 2023-2024 season of the USTCL! In Division 1 this year, we welcome three teams from Division 2 - Arizona, California and Hawaii. Below are the full rules, but you can always find them here, along with team membership and filtering guidelines: https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/us-team-chess-league-rules-regulations. The primary change is that we are being stricter on challenges; please read through Rule 12a carefully so that you are aware of the requirements. When in doubt, send and accept challenges without delay, and make sure you have a backup admin in place in the event that you are unable to complete the challenge. Rules and Regulations Length of Season: 1 year Format: 9-round Round-robin Match Settings: When setting up matches, please use the following parameters Match Name: USTCL 2024 R#: Team A vs Team B (replace # with the number of the round) Game Type: Standard Chess Days per Move: 3 days Description (not required): The following text may be optionally used:Opening databases without engine evaluation and opening books are permitted in Daily Chess, but the use of engines and tablebases is never permitted. See here for the applicable rules: https://support.chess.com/article/648-what-do-i-need-to-know-about-fair-play-on-chess-com. If you are not clear about the rules - ask. Rating Range: Open Minimum Games: 10 Players per Club: 12 players minimum, no maximum Concurrent Games per Player: 2 Start Date: 14th of the month (see match dates below) Start Time: 7 PM PT (10 PM ET) Auto-Start: No Rated: Yes League Standings: Standings will be posted periodically in each thread. Only matches that have been clinched will be shown as a result in the standings. Prizes: Trophies for places 1 thru 3. Trophies will be awarded by January 1st of the following year. Player Eligibility: A player can only play for one team in this league throughout a season regardless of division. Once they play for a team, they must stay with that team throughout the season. USTCL admins will post notifications of multi-team players in the division thread a few days before the match is due to start. Relegation: The bottom two teams on June 30th will be relegated to Division 2. Unfinished Matches: If a match result has not been determined by the season end date, but it is necessary that the match conclude in order to determine the divisional composition for the following season, then the remaining incomplete games within that match will be decided using chess.com's analysis tool. If a player is leading by a score of 2.0 or more, they will be determined to have won that game. If the difference is less than 2.0, the game will be determined to be a draw. Tiebreakers: The first tiebreaker will be head-to-head results. The second tiebreaker will be the differential between match points won and lost across the entire season. Uncompleted games will not be scored for the purposes of the second tiebreaker. Removal of Players: Team admins may remove players from their roster who exceed a timeout ratio of 15%, or are ineligible due to rule 6. Removed players must be published in the team match thread prior to the start of the match. Example: Player A was removed in accordance with timeout rule: Timeout ratio 55%. Teams may not remove players from their roster or discourage players from joining a match to obtain a more favorable matchup. Score Adjustments: Match scores will be finalized after taking into consideration the account closures of members due to cheating or abuse, and also after applying penalties for multi-team players (see rule 6). This will occur prior to announcing the final standings. Forfeits: There are two types of forfeits that may be awarded. Challenge Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to no acceptance of a challenge, please post a note to the league forum thread that a challenge has been issued, and include a link to the active challenge. Challenges expire around 7-8 days after being issued. If a challenge expires, it shall be the responsibility of the team who did not accept the original challenge to send a new challenge, or a forfeit win will be awarded to the issuer of the original challenge. If match registration has not started at least 72 hours before the scheduled start time, a forfeit win will be awarded to the challenging team.If no note has been posted, the result will be a double forfeit, and will count as a 0-0. Minimum Board Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to lack of boards, teams must have clear evidence that a team did not meet the minimum boards at the match's intended start time. If a match has started late, the team claiming a forfeit must have visual evidence (e.g. a screenshot) that shows that they met the minimum on time. Past matches do not count as visual evidence for this purpose. If no such evidence is available, the must must be played as a normal match. Teams are encouraged to make sure Auto-Start is set to No when setting up challenges to make adjudicating these forfeits easier. Communications: Team admins should not communicate directly with non-admin members of the opposing team. Please work directly with the opposing team admins and/or USTCL admins through private messages to avoid public conflict and confusion. Please see Team Admin best practices for additional details. Match Dates for the 2024 Season Round # Challenge By Match Start / Lock By: 1 7/4 7/14 2 8/4 8/14 3 9/4 9/14 4 10/4 10/14 5 11/4 11/14 6 12/4 12/14 7 1/4 1/14 8 2/4 2/14 9 3/4 3/14 League Table / Schedule: Division 1 Updated: 4/19/2024 Pos. Team Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 1 Arizona 7/8 NY PA WA HI ON NJ IA CA NH 2 Iowa 7/9 HI NH PA NY CA ON AZ WA NJ 3 Hawaii 5/7 IA ON CA AZ NJ WA NY NH PA 4 New Jersey 4/7 ON CA NY NH HI AZ WA PA IA 4 New York 4/7 AZ WA NJ IA PA NH HI ON CA 4 Washington 4/7 CA NY AZ PA NH HI NJ IA ON 7 Ontario 3/7 NJ HI NH CA AZ IA PA NY WA 8 Pennsylvania 2/6 NH AZ IA WA NY CA ON NJ HI 9 California 1/7 WA NJ HI ON IA PA NH AZ NY 10 New Hampshire 0/9 PA IA ON NJ WA NY CA HI AZ

The 2019-20 season marked the 10th year for the league, so I wanted to put together a forum dedicated to compiling the league's history. Here is a Google Sheet showing each team's overall placement within the league for each season. Each division is color-coded with a different color. Below are links to each season's trophies and final standings: 2011 Standings Semifinals Finals 2012 Division 1 Division 2 (Standings) 2013 Division 1 (Standings) Division 2 (Standings) Division 3 (Standings) Division 4 (Standings) 2014 All Divisions (D1 Standings) (D2 Standings) (D3 Standings) 2015 All Divisions (D1 Standings) (D2 Standings) (D3 Standings) 2016 All Divisions (D1 Standings) (D2 Standings) (D3 Standings) 2017 Division 1 Division 2 Division 3 2018 Division 1 Division 2 Division 3 2019 Division 1 Division 2 Division 3 2020 Division 1 Division 2 Division 3 2021 Division 1 Division 2 Division 3 2022 Division 1 Division 2 Division 3 2023 Division 1 Division 2 Division 3 Division 4 If you have a correction, please comment below and I can edit this post. Thanks to all team admins that have made this league possible over the years!

1. What is the purpose of the US Chess league group? First, this group does not play any matches or tournaments. The US Chess League group administers the intrastate competition on chess.com between the US States. Just like the NBA, the NHL, or the MLB, we also have Canadian teams in attendance. The league is set up in three divisions of varying number of participants depending on strength and size of the groups. Unlike the professional leagues, there is a promotion and relegation system in play just like in European sports leagues. For the 2023-24 season, detailed info about rules, pairings, and standings can be found here: Division 1 Division 2 Division 3 Division 4 A team of admins (https://www.chess.com/club/us-chess-league-admins) works behind the scenes and communicates to the admins of the various teams through this group here. Of course, any interested member can also follow the announcements here for both personal interest and also to help communicate with his/her own team. 2. How do I join the league and play matches? Members should join a state team participating in one of the USTCL divisions: go to the state team where you live or or have the closest relationship to and join it. See the list of active state teams below. Then you can play in the matches of this division for your state. For example, if you hail from Minnesota, go to Minnesota in the table below, and apply to join. The administrators for your state team will organize the matches monthly during the USTCL season. 3, What if my state does not have a team? Unfortunately, not every state has an active team. This applies to states as big as Texas or Florida. So the suggestion would be to try to revive those groups or if the current leadership of the dormant teams is unwilling to found a new group and get going. If you need help in reviving a state team, feel free to contact me. It would not be the first time that we resuscitate a patients. In all fairness though, not every patient made it back to life. 4. When/Where are the matches? The current season, 2023/2024, started in July 2023. The next season will start July 2024. The current and past matches in the season are shown in the division forum threads posted above. Hopefully, this gives an idea what this group is about. Fire away with your questions. Here is the list of teams in the 2023/24 season: Division 1 Division 2 Division 3 Division 4 Arizona Colorado Ohio Mississippi New Jersey Oregon Wyoming Louisiana Iowa South Carolina Maine South Dakota Pennsylvania Maryland Georgia Tennessee Washington Alabama Utah Idaho Hawaii Michigan Alberta North Dakota California Minnesota Wisconsin Massachusetts New York New Mexico Virginia West Virginia Ontario North Carolina Missouri Kentucky New Hampshire Indiana Puerto Rico If you don't see your state on the above lists, they may still have a team that's not currently part of the league. See the list of active state clubs below. If you'd like your state to join the league, join your state club and let the admins know you're interested! Arkansas Alaska Connecticut Delaware Florida Kansas Illinois Montana Nebraska Nevada Oklahoma Rhode Island Texas Vermont Washington D.C.

As promised, here are some tips for admins to keep things running smoothly with their teams. This is not an exhaustive list, and please to provide your own tips in the comments. Make sure you are following your division's forum thread! The current year's divisions are pinned at the top of the forums: https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/us-team-chess-league. To "Follow" a thread, check the box at the bottom of the text box: Be familiar with the league rules and regulations: https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/us-team-chess-league-rules-regulations. If you are unclear about a rule, ask a league admin. If you suspect a team is in violation of a rule, do not accuse them publicly. Message a league administrator with your suspicion and any evidence you have to support it. Where possible, avoid messaging other teams' players who are not administrators; if you have a concern about a specific member, communicate that to a league administrator. If a league administrator asks you about potential rules violations, please answer any questions to the best of your ability. Being questioned does not automatically mean your team will be penalized. We try our best in all cases to issue the least severe punishment we can while still maintaining the integrity of the league, but we can only do so if teams cooperate with us. If you have any suggestions for improvements to the league, the Notes are a fine way to brainstorm with other admins. You can also start a new forum thread if you wish.

Updated as of 6/30/2023: Rules and Regulations Length of Season: 1 year Format: Round-robin. Number of rounds per division (see your division-specific forum thread) Match Settings: When setting up matches, please use the following parameters Match Name: USTCL 20XX R#: Team A vs Team B (replace XX with the season year, and replace # with the number of the round) Game Type: Standard Chess Days per Move: 3 days Description (not required): The following text may be optionally used:Opening databases without engine evaluation and opening books are permitted in Daily Chess, but the use of engines and tablebases is never permitted. See here for the applicable rules: https://support.chess.com/article/648-what-do-i-need-to-know-about-fair-play-on-chess-com. If you are not clear about the rules - ask. Rating Range: Open Minimum Games: Varies per division - D1: 10, D2: 10, D3: 5, D4: 5 Players per Club: Minimum varies per division - D1: 12, D2: 9, D3: 6, D4: 3 Concurrent Games per Player: 2 Start Date: 14th of the month Start Time: 7 PM PT (10 PM ET) Auto-Start: No Rated: Yes League Standings: Standings will be posted periodically in each thread. Only matches that have been clinched will be shown as a result in the standings. Prizes: Trophies for places 1 thru 3. Trophies will be awarded by January 1st of the following year. Player Eligibility: A player can only play for one team in this league throughout a season regardless of division. Once they play for a team, they must stay with that team throughout the season. USTCL admins will post notifications of multi-team players in the division thread a few days before the match is due to start. Promotion/Relegation: The top two teams in each division (except Division 1) on June 30th will be promoted to the next higher division. The bottom two teams in each division (except Division 4) will be relegated to the next lower division. Unfinished Matches: If a match result has not been determined by the season end date, but it is necessary that the match conclude in order to determine the divisional composition for the following season, then the remaining incomplete games within that match will be decided using chess.com's analysis tool. If a player is leading by a score of 2.0 or more, they will be determined to have won that game. If the difference is less than 2.0, the game will be determined to be a draw. Tiebreakers: The first tiebreaker will be head-to-head results. The second tiebreaker will be the differential between match points won and lost across the entire season. Uncompleted games will not be scored for the purposes of the second tiebreaker. Removal of Players: Team admins may remove players from their roster who exceed a timeout ratio of 15%, or are ineligible due to rule 6. Removed players must be published in the team match thread prior to the start of the match. Example: Player A was removed in accordance with timeout rule: Timeout ratio 55%. Teams may not remove players from their roster or discourage players from joining a match to obtain a more favorable matchup. Score Adjustments: Match scores will be finalized after taking into consideration the account closures of members due to cheating or abuse, and also after applying penalties for multi-team players (see rule 6). This will occur prior to announcing the final standings. Forfeits: There are two types of forfeits that may be awarded. Challenge Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to no acceptance of a challenge, please post a note to the league forum thread that a challenge has been issued, and include a link to the active challenge. Challenges expire around 7-8 days after being issued. If a challenge expires, it shall be the responsibility of the team who did not accept the original challenge to send a new challenge, or a forfeit win will be awarded to the issuer of the original challenge. If match registration has not started at least 72 hours before the scheduled start time, a forfeit win will be awarded to the challenging team.If no note has been posted, the result will be a double forfeit, and will count as a 0-0. Minimum Board Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to lack of boards, teams must have clear evidence that a team did not meet the minimum boards at the match's intended start time. If a match has started late, the team claiming a forfeit must have visual evidence (e.g. a screenshot) that shows that they met the minimum on time. Past matches do not count as visual evidence for this purpose. If no such evidence is available, the must must be played as a normal match. Teams are encouraged to make sure Auto-Start is set to No when setting up challenges to make adjudicating these forfeits easier. Communications: Team admins should not communicate directly with non-admin members of the opposing team. Please work directly with the opposing team admins and/or USTCL admins through private messages to avoid public conflict and confusion. Please see Team Admin best practices for additional details. Team Filtering Guidelines Per the spirit of the US Team Chess League (USTCL), teams are encouraged to seek out new members and strengthen their teams. In order to ensure teams are accepting players in a fair manner, the following guidelines must be followed: Do not remove players from matches, EXCEPT: Players with timeout of 15% or higher (removal allowed) multiplayers (removal requested) Accept all players into your group who have a reasonable connection to your state or province. Players may only be denied in the following cases: new players who have been on chess.com for less than 3 months (denial allowed, not required) abusive players (denial recommended) players who have no connection to your state or province, or are already members of another state or province's club Do not remove players from your group, EXCEPT: abusive players multiplayers inactive players (more than 1 year) closed accounts Do not deny players access to your group because of: rating timeouts (dealt with by allowing removal from matches) suspected cheating (recommended to report to chess.com) number of games completed (dealt with by match minimum)

With all the 2022-23 season matches now in progress, this is a good time to get a head start on offseason friendly matches. Mini-League Rules and Regulations Match Settings: When setting up matches, please use the following parameters: Match Name: Make sure that both team names and U1400/U1600 are included. Other than that, I won't be super strict about match names. Game Type: Standard Chess Days per Move: 3 days Rating Range: Max: 1400/1600, Min: None Minimum Games: 0 Players per Club: No minimum, but please try to recruit players to your matches! At least 10 boards per match would be ideal. Concurrent Games per Player: 2 Start Date: A suggested schedule is provided below, but if teams agree to start their match on a different date, they shall have the flexibility to do so. Start Time: 7 PM PT (10 PM ET) Auto-Start: No Rated: Yes League Standings: Standings will be posted periodically in this thread. Only matches that have been clinched will be shown as a result in the standings. Prizes: Trophies for 1st place in both mini-leagues. Trophies will be awarded by July 1st, 2024, but may be awarded sooner if all matches complete. Player Eligibility: A player should only play for one team in the mini-leagues throughout a season regardless of division. We won't be checking these with the same rigor as the main league matches, but please try to avoid multi-team violations where possible. Tiebreakers: The first tiebreaker will be head-to-head results. The second tiebreaker will be the differential between match points won and lost across the entire season. Uncompleted games will not be scored for the purposes of the second tiebreaker. Removal of Players: Team admins may remove players from their roster who exceed a timeout ratio of 15%, or are ineligible due to rule 6. Removed players must be published in the team match thread prior to the start of the match. Example: Player A was removed in accordance with timeout rule: Timeout ratio 55%. Teams may not remove players from their roster or discourage players from joining a match to obtain a more favorable matchup. Score Adjustments: Match scores will be finalized after taking into consideration the account closures of members due to cheating or abuse. This will occur prior to announcing the final standings. Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to no acceptance of a challenge, please post a note to this forum that a challenge has been issued, and include a link to the active challenge. If a challenge is not accepted by June 15th, 2023, a forfeit win will be awarded to the challenging team. If no note has been posted, the result will be a double forfeit, and will count as a 0-0. U1400 Pairings Pos. Team Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 1 Arizona 0/0 PA LA HI OR CA 2 California 0/0 OR PA LA HI AZ 3 Hawaii 0/0 LA OR AZ CA PA 4 Louisiana 0/0 HI AZ CA PA OR 5 Oregon 0/0 CA HI PA AZ LA 6 Pennsylvania 0/0 AZ CA OR LA HI U1600 Pairings Pos. Team Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 1 Alabama 0/0 IN SD MN BYE WY 2 Indiana 0/0 AZ BYE WY MN SD 3 Minnesota 0/0 SD WY AL IN BYE 4 South Dakota 0/0 MN AL BYE WY IN 5 Wyoming 0/0 BYE MN IN SD AL Suggested Schedule Teams may either elect to follow this schedule, or if teams agree, they can schedule their matches earlier or later than this schedule indicates. All matches should be underway by June 15th, 2023. Round # Challenge By Match Start / Lock By: 1 4/5 4/15 2 4/20 4/30 3 5/5 5/15 4 5/20 5/30 5 6/5 6/15 Thanks everyone for participating in the first attempt at offseason leagues! Please let me know if you encounter any issues... we'll be flexible as we try to work through any snags together.

Welcome to the 2022-2023 season of USTCL! For Division 2, we welcome Hawaii and Arizona from Division 3, and New Mexico and Colorado from Division 1. Below are the full rules, but you can always find them here, along with team membership and filtering guidelines https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/us-team-chess-league-rules-regulations Here are the major changes from previous years: The Minimum number of players has increased from 6 to 9 for Division 2. Multi-team players will be enforced or penalties will be applied - see rules 6 and 11. The threshold for removing players from matches has been reduced from 25% to 15%. As with last season, the top 2 teams will be promoted to Division 1, and the bottom 2 teams will be relegated to Division 3, at the end of June 2023. US Team Chess League Season 2023 Division 2 Spirit: The US Team Chess League (USTCL) is an interstate competition between teams representing the USA states and territories and Canadian provinces Team Eligibility: USTCL accepts teams representing US states or territories, or Canadian provinces, that do not overlap geographically with those states already represented in the league. Teams are expected to limit their membership to those with a past or present association with the state/territory. Eligibility Disputes: In case of disputes or questions, contact the admin of your opposing team first, then the League admins prior to commenting publicly. Rules and Regulations Length of Season: 1 year, July 4th, 2022 to June 30th, 2023 Format: 9-Rd Round Robin. Match Settings: When setting up matches, please use the following parameters Match Name: USTCL 2023 R#: Team A vs Team B (replace # with the number of the round) Game Type: Standard Chess Days per Move: 3 days Description (not required): The following text may be optionally used:Opening databases without engine evaluation and opening books are permitted in Daily Chess, but the use of engines and tablebases is never permitted. See here for the applicable rules: https://support.chess.com/article/648-what-do-i-need-to-know-about-fair-play-on-chess-com. If you are not clear about the rules - ask. Rating Range: Open Minimum Games: 5 Players per Club: 9 players minimum, no maximum Concurrent Games per Player: 2 Start Date: 14th of the month (see match schedule below) Start Time: 7 PM PT (10 PM ET) Auto-Start: No Rated: Yes League Standings: Standings will be posted periodically in this thread. Only matches that have been clinched will be shown as a result in the standings. Prizes: Trophies for places 1 thru 3. Trophies will be awarded by January 1st, 2024. Player Eligibility: A player can only play for one team in this league throughout a season regardless of division. Once they play for a team, they must stay with that team throughout the season. Promotion/Relegation: The 1st and 2nd place teams will be promoted to Division 1. The 9th and 10th place teams will be relegated to Division 3. Unfinished Matches: If a match result has not been determined by the season end date, but it is necessary that the match conclude in order to determine the divisional composition for the following season, then the remaining incomplete games within that match will be decided using chess.com's analysis tool. If a player is leading by a score of 2.0 or more, they will be determined to have won that game. If the difference is less than 2.0, the game will be determined to be a draw. Tiebreakers: The first tiebreaker will be head-to-head results. The second tiebreaker will be the differential between match points won and lost across the entire season. Uncompleted games will not be scored for the purposes of the second tiebreaker. Removal of Players: Team admins may remove players from their roster who exceed a timeout ratio of 15%, or are ineligible due to rule 6. Removed players must be published in the team match thread prior to the start of the match. Example: Player A was removed in accordance with timeout rule: Timeout ratio 55%. Teams may not remove players from their roster or discourage players from joining a match to obtain a more favorable matchup. Score Adjustments: Match scores will be finalized after taking into consideration the account closures of members due to cheating or abuse, and also after applying penalties for multi-team players (see rule 6). This will occur prior to announcing the final standings. Forfeits: There are two types of forfeits that may be awarded. Challenge Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to no acceptance of a challenge, please post a note to this forum that a challenge has been issued, and include a link to the active challenge. If a match's registration has not started at least 24 hours before the scheduled start time, a forfeit win will be awarded to the challenging team. If no note has been posted, the result will be a double forfeit, and will count as a 0-0. Minimum Board Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to lack of boards, teams must have clear evidence that a team did not meet the minimum boards at the match's intended start time. If a match has started late, the team claiming a forfeit must have visual evidence (e.g. a screenshot) that shows that they met the minimum on time. Past matches do not count as visual evidence for this purpose. If no such evidence is available, the must must be played as a normal match. Teams are encouraged to make sure Auto-Start is set to No when setting up challenges to make adjudicating these forfeits easier. Match Dates for the 2023 Season Round # Challenge By Match Start / Lock By: 1 7/4 7/14 2 8/4 8/14 3 9/4 9/14 4 10/4 10/14 5 11/4 11/14 6 12/4 12/14 7 1/4 1/14 8 2/4 2/14 9 3/4 3/14 League Table / Schedule: Division 2 Updated: 12/04/22 Pos. Team Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 1 Alabama 0/0 MN OH CO AZ AB CA HI NM OR 1 Alberta 0/0 AZ MN NM CA AL HI OR CO OH 1 Arizona 0/0 AB HI MN AL OR CO OH CA NM 1 California 0/0 OR CO HI AB OH AL NM AZ MN 1 Colorado 0/0 OH CA AL OR NM AZ MN AB HI 1 Hawaii 0/0 NM AZ CA OH MN AB AL OR CO 1 Minnesota 0/0 AL AB AZ NM HI OR CO OH CA 1 New Mexico 0/0 HI OR AB MN CO OH CA AL AZ 1 Ohio 0/0 CO AL OR HI CA NM AZ MN AB 1 Oregon 0/0 CA NM OH CO AZ MN AB HI AL

Many of you will notice the appearance and user interface for working with clubs here on chess.com has changed recently. Some things may be a little harder to find until we all get used to the new design. In general, you will see all kinds of events including Daily Team Matches, Vote Chess and Live Matches are grouped together under 'Events'. Fortunately the user interface for issuing and accepting challenges has not changed significantly, but there are a few more steps now. Step 1. Identify the club to challenge This has not changed, the simplest mechanism is to check the first post in your forum thread. Division 1 - Division 2 - Division 3 - Division 4 For example, assume I'm in 2024 Division 4 and admin of Massachusetts, then I go here and scroll down to the fixtures table https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/2024-division-4-rules-schedule-and-pairings?page=1 In this case we're at Round 3, so Mass are due to play ND - North Dakota Step 2. Find the home page of the club to challenge The state names in these tables are all links. So you just click on the name of the club. I recommend opening this in a new browser tab. In this case, North Dakota, and it would take you to a page that now looks a little different with the new design: https://www.chess.com/club/team-north-dakota Step 3. Issue the correct type of Challenge The big button labelled 'Challenge' is the one to click, but now this pops up a dialog box with a drop-down menu with different challenge types. DO NOT immediately click on the green 'Challenge' box as this would issue a Vote Chess challenge. We play Daily Matches here in the USTCL, so that is the type of challenge that should be issued. Select Daily Match from the drop-down. Now the dialog should look like this. Now click the green 'Challenge' button. Step 4: Fill the Challenge Details Here is why it is useful to have multiple tabs open in your browser. You can check the details of the challenge requirement from the USTCL forum as you fill in the details in the other tab. At first you will see another window popup that may look something like the below. The first club listed is one of the clubs you are admin for - you may need to change this to your own state club. I'm showing Team Oregon here as an example, because that's one that shows up for me. Fill in the details from the USTCL thread, including the entire match name (this is no longer partly pre-filled as I write this post). So it would look something like this when filled. ** IMPORTANT ** This is just an example, some of the values will be different for you as they vary by division! ... **NOTE** Players per club should be set according to your division: D1: 12, D2: 9, D3: 6, D4: 3 Note the 'Minimum Games' field is a drop down, but it includes both '5' and '10' which are the two values used in USTCL, depending on your division - D1: 10, D2: 10, D3: 5, D4: 5 ALSO note that 'Auto-Start' is now set on by default. Generally this should not affect our matches as we don't have a maximum number of players, but I recommend switching Auto-Start to OFF to reduce the chance of matches starting early. Step 5. Issue the Challenge When you have confirmed all the settings, click the green Create button This will take you to another page where you can confirm most of the parameters of the challenge.

Welcome to the 2022-2023 season of USTCL. And welcome to Division 1 to two teams promoted from Division 2: New York and Ontario. Below are the full rules, but you can always find them here, along with team membership and filtering guidelines https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/us-team-chess-league-rules-regulations I'll also highlight the major changes from previous years: The Minimum number of players has increased from 10 to 12 for Division 1. Multi-team players will be enforced or penalties will be applied - see rules 6 and 11. The threshold for removing players from matches has been reduced from 25% to 15%. As with last season, the bottom 2 teams will be relegated at the end of June 2023. The pairings will follow in the next post US Team Chess League Season 2023 Division 1 Spirit: The US Team Chess League (USTCL) is an interstate competition between teams representing the USA states and territories and Canadian provinces Team Eligibility: USTCL accepts teams representing US states or territories, or Canadian provinces, that do not overlap geographically with those states already represented in the league. Teams are expected to limit their membership to those with a past or present association with the state/territory. Eligibility Disputes: In case of disputes or questions, contact the admin of your opposing team first, then the League admins prior to commenting publicly. Rules and Regulations Length of Season: 1 year, July 4th, 2022 to June 30th, 2023 Format: 9-Rd Round Robin. Match Settings: When setting up matches, please use the following parameters Match Name: USTCL 2023 R#: Team A vs Team B (replace # with the number of the round) Game Type: Standard Chess Days per Move: 3 days Description (not required): The following text may be optionally used:Opening databases without engine evaluation and opening books are permitted in Daily Chess, but the use of engines and tablebases is never permitted. See here for the applicable rules: https://support.chess.com/article/648-what-do-i-need-to-know-about-fair-play-on-chess-com. If you are not clear about the rules - ask. Rating Range: Open Minimum Games: 5 Players per Club: 12 players minimum, no maximum Concurrent Games per Player: 2 Start Date: 14th of the month (see match schedule below) Start Time: 7 PM PT (10 PM ET) Auto-Start: No Rated: Yes League Standings: Standings will be posted periodically in this thread. Only matches that have been clinched will be shown as a result in the standings. Prizes: Trophies for places 1 thru 3. Trophies will be awarded by January 1st, 2024. Player Eligibility: A player can only play for one team in this league throughout a season regardless of division. Once they play for a team, they must stay with that team throughout the season. Relegation: The 9th and 10th place teams will be relegated to Division 2. Unfinished Matches: If a match result has not been determined by the season end date, but it is necessary that the match conclude in order to determine the divisional composition for the following season, then the remaining incomplete games within that match will be decided using chess.com's analysis tool. If a player is leading by a score of 2.0 or more, they will be determined to have won that game. If the difference is less than 2.0, the game will be determined to be a draw. Tiebreakers: The first tiebreaker will be head-to-head results. The second tiebreaker will be the differential between match points won and lost across the entire season. Uncompleted games will not be scored for the purposes of the second tiebreaker. Removal of Players: Team admins may remove players from their roster who exceed a timeout ratio of 15%, or are ineligible due to rule 6. Removed players must be published in the team match thread prior to the start of the match. Example: Player A was removed in accordance with timeout rule: Timeout ratio 55%. Teams may not remove players from their roster or discourage players from joining a match to obtain a more favorable matchup. Score Adjustments: Match scores will be finalized after taking into consideration the account closures of members due to cheating or abuse, and also after applying penalties for multi-team players (see rule 6). This will occur prior to announcing the final standings. Forfeits: There are two types of forfeits that may be awarded. Challenge Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to no acceptance of a challenge, please post a note to this forum that a challenge has been issued, and include a link to the active challenge. If a match's registration has not started at least 24 hours before the scheduled start time, a forfeit win will be awarded to the challenging team. If no note has been posted, the result will be a double forfeit, and will count as a 0-0. Minimum Board Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to lack of boards, teams must have clear evidence that a team did not meet the minimum boards at the match's intended start time. If a match has started late, the team claiming a forfeit must have visual evidence (e.g. a screenshot) that shows that they met the minimum on time. Past matches do not count as visual evidence for this purpose. If no such evidence is available, the must must be played as a normal match. Teams are encouraged to make sure Auto-Start is set to No when setting up challenges to make adjudicating these forfeits easier. Match Dates for the 2023 Season Round # Challenge By Match Start / Lock By: 1 7/4 7/14 2 8/4 8/14 3 9/4 9/14 4 10/4 10/14 5 11/4 11/14 6 12/4 12/14 7 1/4 1/14 8 2/4 2/14 9 3/4 3/14

Welcome to the 2022-2023 season of USTCL! After last year's mega-division of 14 teams, we are back down to a standard 10 teams in Division 3, welcoming Indiana and Tennessee from Division 2 as well. Below are the full rules, but you can always find them here, along with team membership and filtering guidelines https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/us-team-chess-league-rules-regulations Here are the major changes from previous years: The Minimum number of players has increased from 3 to 6 for Division 3. Multi-team players will be enforced or penalties will be applied - see rules 6 and 11. The threshold for removing players from matches has been reduced from 25% to 15%. This season, the top 2 teams will be promoted to Division 2, and the bottom 2 teams will be relegated to Division 4, at the end of June 2023. US Team Chess League Season 2023 Division 3 Spirit: The US Team Chess League (USTCL) is an interstate competition between teams representing the USA states and territories and Canadian provinces Team Eligibility: USTCL accepts teams representing US states or territories, or Canadian provinces, that do not overlap geographically with those states already represented in the league. Teams are expected to limit their membership to those with a past or present association with the state/territory. Eligibility Disputes: In case of disputes or questions, contact the admin of your opposing team first, then the League admins prior to commenting publicly. Rules and Regulations Length of Season: 1 year, July 4th, 2022 to June 30th, 2023 Format: 9-Rd Round Robin. Match Settings: When setting up matches, please use the following parameters Match Name: USTCL 2023 R#: Team A vs Team B (replace # with the number of the round) Game Type: Standard Chess Days per Move: 3 days Description (not required): The following text may be optionally used:Opening databases without engine evaluation and opening books are permitted in Daily Chess, but the use of engines and tablebases is never permitted. See here for the applicable rules: https://support.chess.com/article/648-what-do-i-need-to-know-about-fair-play-on-chess-com. If you are not clear about the rules - ask. Rating Range: Open Minimum Games: 5 Players per Club: 6 players minimum, no maximum Concurrent Games per Player: 2 Start Date: 14th of the month (see match schedule below) Start Time: 7 PM PT (10 PM ET) Auto-Start: No Rated: Yes League Standings: Standings will be posted periodically in this thread. Only matches that have been clinched will be shown as a result in the standings. Prizes: Trophies for places 1 thru 3. Trophies will be awarded by January 1st, 2024. Player Eligibility: A player can only play for one team in this league throughout a season regardless of division. Once they play for a team, they must stay with that team throughout the season. Promotion/Relegation: The 1st and 2nd place teams will be promoted to Division 2. The 9th and 10th place teams will be relegated to Division 4. Unfinished Matches: If a match result has not been determined by the season end date, but it is necessary that the match conclude in order to determine the divisional composition for the following season, then the remaining incomplete games within that match will be decided using chess.com's analysis tool. If a player is leading by a score of 2.0 or more, they will be determined to have won that game. If the difference is less than 2.0, the game will be determined to be a draw. Tiebreakers: The first tiebreaker will be head-to-head results. The second tiebreaker will be the differential between match points won and lost across the entire season. Uncompleted games will not be scored for the purposes of the second tiebreaker. Removal of Players: Team admins may remove players from their roster who exceed a timeout ratio of 15%, or are ineligible due to rule 6. Removed players must be published in the team match thread prior to the start of the match. Example: Player A was removed in accordance with timeout rule: Timeout ratio 55%. Teams may not remove players from their roster or discourage players from joining a match to obtain a more favorable matchup. Score Adjustments: Match scores will be finalized after taking into consideration the account closures of members due to cheating or abuse, and also after applying penalties for multi-team players (see rule 6). This will occur prior to announcing the final standings. Forfeits: There are two types of forfeits that may be awarded. Challenge Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to no acceptance of a challenge, please post a note to this forum that a challenge has been issued, and include a link to the active challenge. If a match's registration has not started at least 24 hours before the scheduled start time, a forfeit win will be awarded to the challenging team. If no note has been posted, the result will be a double forfeit, and will count as a 0-0. Minimum Board Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to lack of boards, teams must have clear evidence that a team did not meet the minimum boards at the match's intended start time. If a match has started late, the team claiming a forfeit must have visual evidence (e.g. a screenshot) that shows that they met the minimum on time. Past matches do not count as visual evidence for this purpose. If no such evidence is available, the must must be played as a normal match. Teams are encouraged to make sure Auto-Start is set to No when setting up challenges to make adjudicating these forfeits easier. Match Dates for the 2023 Season Round # Challenge By Match Start / Lock By: 1 7/4 7/14 2 8/4 8/14 3 9/4 9/14 4 10/4 10/14 5 11/4 11/14 6 12/4 12/14 7 1/4 1/14 8 2/4 2/14 9 3/4 3/14

Welcome to the 2022-2023 season of USTCL, and welcome to the return of Division 4! This season, we welcome four returning teams from Division 3, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Kentucky, and Mississippi, as well as four new teams to the league, Idaho, Massachusetts, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Below are the full rules, but you can always find them here, along with team membership and filtering guidelines https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/us-team-chess-league-rules-regulations Here are the major changes from previous years: Multi-team players will be enforced or penalties will be applied - see rules 6 and 11. The threshold for removing players from matches has been reduced from 25% to 15%. This season, the top 2 teams will be promoted to Division 3 at the end of June 2023. US Team Chess League Season 2023 Division 4 Spirit: The US Team Chess League (USTCL) is an interstate competition between teams representing the USA states and territories and Canadian provinces Team Eligibility: USTCL accepts teams representing US states or territories, or Canadian provinces, that do not overlap geographically with those states already represented in the league. Teams are expected to limit their membership to those with a past or present association with the state/territory. Eligibility Disputes: In case of disputes or questions, contact the admin of your opposing team first, then the League admins prior to commenting publicly. Rules and Regulations Length of Season: 1 year, July 4th, 2022 to June 30th, 2023 Format: 7-Rd Round Robin. Match Settings: When setting up matches, please use the following parameters Match Name: USTCL 2023 R#: Team A vs Team B (replace # with the number of the round) Game Type: Standard Chess Days per Move: 3 days Description (not required): The following text may be optionally used:Opening databases without engine evaluation and opening books are permitted in Daily Chess, but the use of engines and tablebases is never permitted. See here for the applicable rules: https://support.chess.com/article/648-what-do-i-need-to-know-about-fair-play-on-chess-com. If you are not clear about the rules - ask. Rating Range: Open Minimum Games: 5 Players per Club: 3 players minimum, no maximum Concurrent Games per Player: 2 Start Date: 14th of the month (see match schedule below) Start Time: 7 PM PT (10 PM ET) Auto-Start: No Rated: Yes League Standings: Standings will be posted periodically in this thread. Only matches that have been clinched will be shown as a result in the standings. Prizes: Trophies for places 1 thru 3. Trophies will be awarded by January 1st, 2024. Player Eligibility: A player can only play for one team in this league throughout a season regardless of division. Once they play for a team, they must stay with that team throughout the season. Promotion/Relegation: The 1st and 2nd place teams will be promoted to Division 3. Unfinished Matches: If a match result has not been determined by the season end date, but it is necessary that the match conclude in order to determine the divisional composition for the following season, then the remaining incomplete games within that match will be decided using chess.com's analysis tool. If a player is leading by a score of 2.0 or more, they will be determined to have won that game. If the difference is less than 2.0, the game will be determined to be a draw. Tiebreakers: The first tiebreaker will be head-to-head results. The second tiebreaker will be the differential between match points won and lost across the entire season. Uncompleted games will not be scored for the purposes of the second tiebreaker. Removal of Players: Team admins may remove players from their roster who exceed a timeout ratio of 15%, or are ineligible due to rule 6. Removed players must be published in the team match thread prior to the start of the match. Example: Player A was removed in accordance with timeout rule: Timeout ratio 55%. Teams may not remove players from their roster or discourage players from joining a match to obtain a more favorable matchup. Score Adjustments: Match scores will be finalized after taking into consideration the account closures of members due to cheating or abuse, and also after applying penalties for multi-team players (see rule 6). This will occur prior to announcing the final standings. Forfeits: There are two types of forfeits that may be awarded. Challenge Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to no acceptance of a challenge, please post a note to this forum that a challenge has been issued, and include a link to the active challenge. If a match's registration has not started at least 24 hours before the scheduled start time, a forfeit win will be awarded to the challenging team. If no note has been posted, the result will be a double forfeit, and will count as a 0-0. Minimum Board Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to lack of boards, teams must have clear evidence that a team did not meet the minimum boards at the match's intended start time. If a match has started late, the team claiming a forfeit must have visual evidence (e.g. a screenshot) that shows that they met the minimum on time. Past matches do not count as visual evidence for this purpose. If no such evidence is available, the must must be played as a normal match. Teams are encouraged to make sure Auto-Start is set to No when setting up challenges to make adjudicating these forfeits easier. Match Dates for the 2023 Season Round # Challenge By Match Start / Lock By: 1 7/4 7/14 2 8/4 8/14 3 9/4 9/14 4 10/4 10/14 5 11/4 11/14 6 1/4 1/14 7 2/4 2/14

Hello folks, below are our proposed rules for the upcoming 2024 season, which will start next month. I've gone back through the notes and discussions and reviewed the questions (and drama) that occurred during the year. The result is a few small changes. In general we want to provide flexibility in timing, and want to be able to keep the competition fun and relatively relaxed. Please comment below any concerns or questions. I have highlighted the formatting/informational and substantial changes: Rules and Regulations Length of Season: 1 year Format: Round-robin. Number of rounds varies per division (see your division-specific forum thread) Match Settings: When setting up matches, please use the following parameters Match Name: USTCL 20XX R#: Team A vs Team B (replace XX with the season year, and replace # with the number of the round) Game Type: Standard Chess Days per Move: 3 days Description (not required): The following text may be optionally used:Opening databases without engine evaluation and opening books are permitted in Daily Chess, but the use of engines and tablebases is never permitted. See here for the applicable rules: https://support.chess.com/article/648-what-do-i-need-to-know-about-fair-play-on-chess-com. If you are not clear about the rules - ask. Rating Range: Open Minimum Games: Varies per division - D1: 10, D2: 10, D3: 5, D4: 5 Players per Club: Varies per division - D1: 12, D2: 9, D3: 6, D4: 3 Concurrent Games per Player: 2 Start Date: 14th of the month Start Time: 7 PM PT (10 PM ET) Auto-Start: No Rated: Yes League Standings: Standings will be posted periodically in each thread. Only matches that have been clinched will be shown as a result in the standings. Prizes: Trophies for places 1 thru 3. Trophies will be awarded by January 1st of the following year. Player Eligibility: A player can only play for one team in this league throughout a season regardless of division. Once they play for a team, they must stay with that team throughout the season. USTCL admins will post notifications of multi-team players in the division thread a few days before the match is due to start. Promotion/Relegation: The top two teams in each division (except Division 1) on June 30th will be promoted to the next higher division. The bottom two teams in each division (except Division 4) will be relegated to the next lower division. Unfinished Matches: If a match result has not been determined by the season end date, but it is necessary that the match conclude in order to determine the divisional composition for the following season, then the remaining incomplete games within that match will be decided using chess.com's analysis tool. If a player is leading by a score of 2.0 or more, they will be determined to have won that game. If the difference is less than 2.0, the game will be determined to be a draw. Tiebreakers: The first tiebreaker will be head-to-head results. The second tiebreaker will be the differential between match points won and lost across the entire season. Uncompleted games will not be scored for the purposes of the second tiebreaker. Removal of Players: Team admins may remove players from their roster who exceed a timeout ratio of 15%, or are ineligible due to rule 6. Removed players must be published in the team match thread prior to the start of the match. Example: Player A was removed in accordance with timeout rule: Timeout ratio 55%. Teams may not remove players from their roster or discourage players from joining a match to obtain a more favorable matchup. Score Adjustments: Match scores will be finalized after taking into consideration the account closures of members due to cheating or abuse, and also after applying penalties for multi-team players (see rule 6). This will occur prior to announcing the final standings. Forfeits: There are two types of forfeits that may be awarded. Challenge Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to no acceptance of a challenge, please post a note to the league forum thread that a challenge has been issued, and include a link to the active challenge. Challenges expire around 7-8 days after being issued. If a challenge expires, it shall be the responsibility of the team who did not accept the original challenge to send a new challenge, or a forfeit win will be awarded to the issuer of the original challenge. If match registration has not started at least 72 hours before the scheduled start time, a forfeit win will be awarded to the challenging team.If no note has been posted, the result will be a double forfeit, and will count as a 0-0. Minimum Board Forfeits: In order to claim a forfeit win due to lack of boards, teams must have clear evidence that a team did not meet the minimum boards at the match's intended start time. If a match has started late, the team claiming a forfeit must have visual evidence (e.g. a screenshot) that shows that they met the minimum on time. Past matches do not count as visual evidence for this purpose. If no such evidence is available, the must must be played as a normal match. Teams are encouraged to make sure Auto-Start is set to No when setting up challenges to make adjudicating these forfeits easier. Communications Team admins should not communicate directly with non-admin members of the opposing team. Please work directly with the opposing team admins and/or USTCL admins through private messages to avoid public conflict and confusion. Please see Team Admin best practices Team Filtering Guidelines Per the spirit of the US Team Chess League (USTCL), teams are encouraged to seek out new members and strengthen their teams. In order to ensure teams are accepting players in a fair manner, the following guidelines must be followed: Do not remove players from matches, EXCEPT: Players with timeout of 15% or higher (removal allowed) multiplayers (removal requested) Accept all players into your group who have a reasonable connection to your state or province. Players may only be denied in the following cases: new players who have been on chess.com for less than 3 months (denial allowed, not required) abusive players (denial recommended) players who have no connection to your state or province, or are already members of another state or province's club Do not remove players from your group, EXCEPT: abusive players multiplayers inactive players (more than 1 year) closed accounts Do not deny players access to your group because of: rating timeouts (dealt with by allowing removal from matches) suspected cheating (recommended to report to chess.com) number of games completed (dealt with by match minimum)

I was looking at the rules, and a team can get penalized for a player found to be cheating by chess.com. a team should have an option to remove suspect players inbetween seasons, instead of having to let them play and be penalized later.

I wonder if it would be more exciting if each team, first had a state name, then a team name. For example, The New York Knights.

Periodically, somebody applies to many state clubs. This can cause problems if they then join matches for more than one of those clubs, and so be in violation of the multiplayer rule #6. If they are joining multiple state clubs, it's also hard to see how they have a direct connection with each of those states. So I thought I'd list those players here, and the clubs in which they are currently a member. If you're an admin for one of those clubs, you can consider if the player is appropriately a member of your club per the Team Filtering Guidelines underneath the league rules here https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/us-team-chess-league-rules-regulations

This is a forum to discuss a potential Trans-Atlantic Tournament that would see North American teams play against European teams.

This forum is meant for a civilized discussion regarding the change in teams representing Hawaii in the USTCL.