Arena Kings Finals Takes Center Stage This Friday

You can watch all the top players from Arena Kings Season 3 battle it to see who will be crowned champion, today, April 12 at 12 p.m. PDT on www.Twitch.tv/Chess and www.Chess.com/TV. 

Chess.com and Twitch will partner once more for season three of the new Arena Kings chess tournament series starting on Monday, Jan. 14.

To accommodate the schedules of players in the PRO Chess League, we've gone back to two events per week. Monday and Friday will now be the regular Arena Kings days. A more detailed schedule is available below. Note that there are some minor changes to accommodate the PRO Chess League. 

Each event this season will feature a larger prize fund. Season two awarded $21,600 for three events per week ($7,200 per event), and it's now $18,900 for two events per week ($9,000 per event). This season will also see the debut of Arena Kings Knockouts (previously Royal Arena Kings), with the expected participation of some of the world's best chess players. 

The tournament series will allow both super-grandmasters and casual players to earn cash prizes and grand-prix style leaderboard points to play their way into the season's big event, the Streamers Championship finals, alone worth more than $3,000 in prizes.

See the full schedule below.

All Chess.com members are eligible to join the Arena Kings Streamers Championship season by playing an Arena Kings tournament on the Chess.com live server and streaming their games to Twitch.tv.

All players must stream their games to earn cash prizes and Arena Kings Streamers Championship leaderboard points. 

You can find quick links to important event information below:

• Streaming and Identification Requirements
• Format
• Cash Prizes
• Points Awarded
• Full Schedule
• Results and Standings

The two weekly Arena Kings and Royal Arena Kings events will form a four-month streaming circuit, concluding with the Streamers Championship, giving chess fans a distinct arena-streaming season to follow and enjoy. 

After the next Streamers Champion is crowned, season four will begin later this year. 

Players must earn their way to the new Streamers Championship qualifier by accumulating at least 125 leaderboard points, earned in the Arena Kings and Arena Kings Knockout events for placing and streaming. As in season two. if a player plays and streams enough events, he or she will earn the required leaderboard points to play in the qualifier regardless of over-the-board results. 

For tips on how to stream your games and the best ways to get more viewers, see these three articles:

• How To Become A Streamer On Chess.com
• How To Become a Chess.com and Twitch Partnered Streamer
• 10 Tips To Stream Your Chess Games

Arena Kings Streamers Championship Details

Streaming and Identification Requirements:

• All players must stream their games to any earn cash prizes or leaderboard points. 
• Per our standard identification rules for all cash-prize events, we require all finalists in Arena Kings Knockout or the Streamers Championship events to identify themselves.
• Real names must be listed on your Chess.com profiles, and streamers must appear on camera during their streams or provide verbal commentary of the games in progress to earn cash prizes during Arena Kings Knockout and Streamers Championship events.
• Anonymous players cannot earn prizes in Arena Kings Knockout and Streamers Championship events.

Format:

Arena Kings

• Mondays at 5 p.m. Pacific and Fridays at 12 p.m. Pacific 
• 3/0 time control
• Two-hour arena tournament
• Live broadcast on Twitch.tv/chess

Arena Kings Knockouts

• Two weeks per season: Feb. 18 and 22 and April 1 and 5. 
• 3/0 time control
• Two-hour arena tournament followed by a 1.5-hour, eight-player knockout bracket
• Live broadcast on Twitch.tv/chess

Streamers Championship Qualifier:

• Once per Arena Kings season (every four months)
• 125 leaderboard points needed to qualify (see chart below)
• 3-hour, 3/0 blitz arena
• The top 9 finishers qualify for the Streamers Championship Final
• The #1 seed on the leaderboard after the April 5 event automatically qualifies to the Final
• Live broadcast on Twitch.tv/chess

 Streamers Championship Final:

• Once per Arena Kings season (every four months)
• One-day event
• 10-player round-robin championship
• Each finalist plays every other finalist in a two game mini-match
• Top 4 players after the Round Robin continue to a knockout round
  • If two players are tied after the Round Robin, the heads up record will be used as a tie-break
  • If the heads up record is also tied, the players play 1\1 sudden death games
• All knockout matches are 4 games (2 with each color) 
• A third place match will take place before the Finals that will determine the overall winner.
• If any knockout match is tied, the players play 1\1 sudden death games
• Live broadcast on Twitch.tv/chess

Cash Prizes:

All players must stream their games to earn cash prizes and leaderboard points. All finalists in Royal Arena Kings or the Streamers Championship events must identify themselves to win prizes. See further requirements above.

Leaderboard Points: 125 required to make Streamers Championship qualifier tournament

Full Schedule: Click the image for a larger version. 

N.B. The MARCH 15 arena will start at 1pm PST rather than 12pm.