Collegiate Chess League 2024 Summer Season (2024)

The Collegiate Chess League is excited to announce our third annual summer season, proudly presented by Susquehanna, one of the world’s leading quantitative trading firms.

The 2024 summer season will bring back both the bullet and Bughouse college championships and add a new team chess battle tournament. These championship matches will last four weeks, starting with the bullet championship qualifiers on July 13 and ending with the finals on July 14. Bughouse will start the following week on July 20 and end with the finals on July 28. The first-ever college team chess battle championship will start on August 3 and end the following day on August 4.

In addition to these three championships, the CCL is also hosting weekly prize arenas every Thursday at 8 a.m. PT / 11 a.m. ET and 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET. Matches will be streamed live on our Twitch and YouTube channels.

Colleges from all around the world are invited to compete for prizes each week, and the top 10 schools participating in the College Ambassador Program will receive diamond memberships.

Last summer season was the CCL's second ever bullet and Bughouse championships, and we're excited to be adding team chess battle for the first time. We aim to make these championships a tradition every off-season and grow the college chess community even when school is not in session. These extra time controls and variants complement the CCL's regular season which consists of a 5+2 blitz time control.

Registration for the 2024-2025 season will open in August, and more details on the upcoming season will be announced in our partnership with NACE, the largest collegiate esports league in North America.

• Format
• Schedule
• Prizes
• Registration

Format

Bullet Championship

• Qualifiers
  • Players will play in a 60-minute 1+0 score-based arena tournament.
  • The result standings from this tournament will be used to determine the divisions, with eight players in each division.
• Playoffs
  • Each division of eight players will be put into a double-elimination bracket.
  • A match between two players is a best-of-15 in the 1+0 time control, with the first to score 8 points winning.
  • If both players tie at 7.5 points, the next player to win a game wins the match.
  • If the Grand Final match needs a reset, it'll be a best-of-seven game match.

Bughouse Championship

• Qualifiers
  • All bughouse games are 3+0.
  • There will be four arena qualifier tournaments, one hour in length each.
  • The top four teams from each arena will qualify for the playoffs.
  • Once a team qualifies, they cannot play in any further qualifier arenas.
• Playoffs
  • A single elimination bracket of the 16 qualifying teams will determine the champion.
  • The team's standings from their qualifier will determine their seeding in the bracket.
    • The four qualifier winners will each be a number-one seed, and so on.
  • A match between two teams is a best of 10 games; the first to 5.5 points wins.
  • If both teams tie at 5 points, the next team to win a game wins the match.

Team Chess Battle Championship

• Playoffs
  • Teams consist of two players each from the same school.
  • Teams are split into divisions of eight teams, each based on average rapid rating.
    • Players must have played at least 25 rated rapid games at the time of registration.
  • Each division competes in a single-elimination bracket.
  • Quarterfinals and semifinals matches are two games with a 10+2 time control.
    • Tiebreak is 3+2 time control, and if still tied, teams will play 1+2 until one team wins.
  • Final match is two games with a 10+10 time control.
    • Tiebreak is 5+2 time control, and if still tied, teams will play 3+2 until one team wins.
  • Higher seeded team starts with White.
  • Players in a team can communicate during the game, with the lower-rated player controlling the pieces.

Schedule

• Bullet Championship
  • Registration:Closes July 12 at 10 p.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET
  • Qualifier: July 13 at 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET
  • Playoffs: July 14 at 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET
• Bughouse Championship
  • Registration:Closes July 19 at 10 p.m. PT / 1 a.m. ET (+1)
  • Qualifier 1: July 20 at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET
  • Qualifier 2: July 20 at 1 p.m. PT / 4 p.m. ET
  • Qualifier 3: July 21 at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET
  • Qualifier 4: July 21 at 1 p.m. PT / 4 p.m. ET
  • Playoffs Round 1: July 27 at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET
  • Playoffs Round 2: July 27 at 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET
  • Playoffs Round 3: July 28 at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET
  • Playoffs Round 4: July 28 at 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET
• Team Chess Battle Championship
  • Registration: Closes August 1 at 10 p.m. PT / 1 a.m. ET (+1)
  • Quarterfinals and Semifinals: August 3 at 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET
  • Finals: August 4 at 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET
• Prize Arenas
  
  • Thursdays at 8 a.m. PT and 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET

Prizes

Chess.com will give out premium memberships for the bullet, Bughouse, and team battle playoffs. Additionally, our partners at Susquehanna will provide JBL Clip speaker prizes for the champions of each event. College chess clubs participating in the College Ambassador Program are also eligible to receive extra memberships just for qualifying.

Registration

Registration for each event is now open, and you can fill them out below.

For the Bughouse registration form, make sure you register with a partner who will also need to fill out the form.

For the team chess battle registration form, make sure you register with a partner who will also need to fill out the form.

You can find a full list of details, prizes, and rules for the 2024 summer season here.

Be sure to join our bullet and Bughouse club pages once you register, and join our discord server to keep up to date on all our announcements. For any questions regarding the CCL or College Ambassador Program please reach out to League's Commissioner Joe Lee at ccl@chess.com or on discord at joebruin96.

Susquehanna’s recruiting season is around the corner! Get a head start by dropping your resume HERE for upcoming internship opportunities.

Susquehanna is a global quantitative trading firm founded by a group of friends who share a passion for game theory and probabilistic thinking. This approach is integral to our culture, where you will find relentless problem solvers within each of our core disciplines: Trading, Technology, and Quantitative Research. From offices around the world, our employees collaborate to make optimal decisions and are driven by the desire to achieve winning results together. Learn how you can use gaming skills in your career at sig.com/chess.

Related:

• Chess.com College Ambassador Program
• CCL Spring 2024 Season Recap
• CCL Club Page
• CCL Discord