Arena Kings Returns With Season 5 Presented By Twitch

Chess.com and Twitch will partner once again for season five of the new Arena Kings chess tournament series starting on Monday, September 16.

As in season four, Monday and Friday will remain the regular Arena Kings days. A more detailed schedule is available below. As in Season four, select weeks will be designated Fischer Fridays where Fischer Random (Chess960) will be played in honor of the Fischer Random Chess World Championship this fall.

The prize fund for season five will remain at $18,900, with a similar breakdown of prizes as season three. Of course, we are continuing with two Arena Kings Knockouts weeks (October 21 and 25, and December 2 and 6), 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 five presented by Twitch 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 six will begin next year, after the next PRO Chess League season concludes (likely in April or May 2020).

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 all previous seasons, 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 articles:

• How To Become A Streamer On Chess.com
• 10 Tips To Stream Your Chess Games

Arena Kings Streamers Championship presented by Twitch details:

Streaming and Identification Requirements:

• All players must stream their games with boards visible on stream 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 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.
• All streams must be easily identifiable on Twitch by listing your streams in the game "chess."

Format:

Arena Kings Season 5 presented by Twitch:

• Mondays at 5 p.m. Pacific and Fridays at 12 p.m. Pacific. Note some minor modifications on the schedule below.
• 3/0 time control
• Two-hour arena tournament
• Live broadcast on Twitch.tv/chess

Arena Kings Knockouts

• Two weeks per season: October 21 and 25 and December 2 and 6
• 3/0 time control of classical chess
• 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)
• Three-hour, 3/0 blitz arena
• The top nine finishers qualify for the Streamers Championship final
• The top seed on the leaderboard after the December 6 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 tiebreak
  • If the heads up record is also tied, the players play 1/1 sudden-death games
• All knockout matches are four games (two 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. Click the image for a larger version.

Leaderboard Points: 125 required to make Streamers Championship qualifier tournament

Full Schedule: Click the image for a larger version.