Today: PRO Chess League Final

The 2020 PRO Chess League will be decided today in the final between the Saint Louis Arch Bishops and the Armenia Eagles. The teams will be fighting for a $20,000 first prize.

See also:

• Saint Louis Arch Bishops, Armenia Eagles In PRO Chess League Final
• China Pandas Clinch 3rd Place In PRO Chess League

Preview of the finals weekend

The PRO Chess League finals are the culmination of the fourth season that began on January 6, 2020, followed by the playoffs held in March. The final four teams will each bring top grandmasters to fight for a $40,000 total prize fund, with $20,000 going to the winning team.

The action will start on Friday, September 25, at 7:45 a.m. Pacific time / 16:45 Central Europe with the match between the Saint Louis Arch Bishops and the China Pandas. Next will be the Canada Chessbrahs against the Armenia Eagles at 10:30 a.m. Pacific time / 19:30 Central Europe.

See our report: Saint Louis Arch Bishops, Armenia Eagles In PRO Chess League Final

The two losing teams will then face each other on Saturday, Sept. 26, for their fight for third place.

See our report: China Pandas Clinch 3rd Place In PRO Chess League

The big final is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 27. at 10:00 a.m. Pacific / 19:00 CEST.

This final weekend of the PRO Chess League will see some of the very best grandmasters in the world as well as young, upcoming stars with amazing online skills. Two-time winner Saint Louis Arch Bishops is the slight favorite, although their opponent in the first round, the China Pandas, are the only team with a rapid player rated over 2800.

Lineups PRO Chess League Finals

#	Logo	Fed	Saint Louis Arch Bishops	Rapid Elo	Pts	Games	Perf
1			Fabiano Caruana	2773	19	28	2768
2			Leinier Dominguez	2786	20	32	2713
3			Wesley So	2741	24	32	2825
4			Jeffery Xiong	2730	7	12	2658
#	Logo	Fed	China Pandas	Rapid Elo	Pts	Games	Perf
1			Ding Liren	2826	6	8	2733
2			Yu Yangyi	2738	8	12	2747
3			Wei Yi	2752	24.5	36	2769
4			Li Chao	2645	11	19	2671
#	Logo	Fed	Armenia Eagles	Rapid Elo	Pts	Games	Perf
1			Parham Maghsoodloo	2532	7	12	2687
2			Haik Martirosyan	2278	17	24	2766
3			Tigran Petrosian	2637	7.5	16	2618
4			Raunak Sadhwani	2454	5.5	8	2798
#	Logo	Fed	Canada Chessbrahs	Rapid Elo	Pts	Games	Perf
1			Alexander Grischuk	2784	26	36	2772
2			Anish Giri	2731	9	12	2841
3			Ivan Saric	2650	10	23	2583
4			Aryan Tari	2519	7.5	8	2848

Here are links to preview articles that focus on each of the four teams:

• Road To The PCL Finals: Saint Louis Arch Bishops‎
• Road To The PCL Finals: China Pandas
• Road To The PCL Finals: Armenia Eagles
• Road To The PCL Finals: Canada Chessbrahs

♜ The @PROChessLeague Finals start tomorrow on https://t.co/kaTA3dnByP! ♜

♔ @FabianoCaruana, @anishgiri, and so many other players and games you do not want to miss! ♔ pic.twitter.com/fHuxblnYEG

— Chess.com (@chesscom) September 24, 2020

Like in the regular season, the time control for all games will be 10 minutes plus a two-second increment. Every player on a team will play every player on the other team for a total of 16 games.

In case of a tie, board four from one team plays board four from the opposing team, and the loser of that game is replaced by board three of their team. This continues until one team eliminates the other team's first board.