Log in »  
Sign up »

CHESS LEAGUE

League Divisions:
42 players
2310 – 2671		33 players
2169 – 2605		21 players
2001 – 2300
31 players
1911 – 2233		27 players
1865 – 2478		38 players
1742 – 2182
28 players
1750 – 2146		46 players
1679 – 2299		55 players
1609 – 2078
58 players
1600 – 1930		57 players
1540 – 2106		59 players
1266 – 1842
55 players
1486 – 1765		55 players
1400 – 1695		59 players
1274 – 1695
55 players
1200 – 1612		54 players
1206 – 1502		61 players
718 – 1473

CHESS LEAGUE RULES

Chess League rules:
  1. Chess League is a form of competition where all players are divided into 18 Divisions.
  2. The goal of the Chess League is to reach the highest Division (A1). Players are promoted to the next higher Division if they do well in their current Division (i.e. win more games than lose), and are relegated to the next lower Division if they do poorly (i.e. lose more games than win).
  3. Players can challenge any other player in the same Division to a League match consisting of two chess games (one playing as white and one as black) with the time control set to 3 days per move, by clicking the "play" link located next to the opponent's username. League challenges cannot be declined and League games cannot be cancelled.
  4. Players can limit the max number of simultaneous League games they are playing (but no less than 6 games). If the number of active League games exceeds the player's limit, they cannot be challenged to a new League match (temporarily), however they can still initiate a new League challenge. Players with a vacation flag set for the their account cannot be challenged to a new League match (temporarily).
  5. The League score is calculated for each player as following: +1 point for each win in a League game, 0 points for a draw, and -1 point for each lost game. All League games affect player's chess rating as well, just like any other rated chess game.
  6. If the opponents are in different Divisions by the time the game is finished, the points are calculated as following:
    DifferenceWinLoss
    winner 1-2 divisions higher+0.5-0.5
    winner 1-2 divisions lower+2-2
    winner 3+ divisions higher00
    winner 3+ divisions lower+5-5
    If a League game ends in a draw, the player from the lower division will be awarded +0.5 points and -0.5 points will be given to the player from the higher division. If a player is no longer in the Chess League by the time the game ends, they are considered to be in the same division from which they retired.
  7. All players with 10 points or more will get promoted to the next higher division and players with -10 points or less will get relegated to the next lower division. If a division has more than 30 players remaining after the aforementioned promotions and relegations, the top 5 players with a score of +1 and above will also get promoted and the bottom 5 players with a score of -1 and below will be relegated. In case a division has more than 60 players remaining, the top/bottom 10 players will be promoted/relegated. Only players with 3 or more games completed in the current League division will be promoted/relegated.
  8. All promotions and relegations are performed once a week — on Sunday morning GameKnot local time (PST).
  9. If two or more players have an equal League scores, the player who has been playing in the current division the longest will get promoted/relegated before the others.
  10. When joining the Chess League for the first time, players are assigned to the following divisions based on their rating: below 1000 to E2, 1000-1199 to E1, 1200-1399 to D3, 1400-1599 to D2, 1600-1799 to D1, 1800-1999 to C3, 2000-2199 to C2, 2200+ to C1.
  11. If a player retires from the Chess League, they can re-join the same division later on if they had a positive/zero League score, or one division below if they had a negative score. If a player still has League games in progress after they retire from the Chess League, their league score will continue to be affected by the remaining games. Player's League score is reset to zero when they re-join the League.
  12. Players are automatically removed from the Chess League if they time out in 3 games in the current division (to avoid further losses since league challenges cannot be declined).
  13. Only players with the overall time-out percentage under 20% can join the Chess League.
  14. Only premium membership subscribers can participate in the Chess League.
Help? • Report a Problem • Site map • Rules and Policies
© 2000-2026 GameKnot online chess. All rights reserved.