Professional Rapid Online Chess League
The Professional Rapid Online Chess League (PRO Chess League and abbreviated PCL) is an online rapid chess league operated by chess.com. It was preceded by the United States Chess League, which announced in 2016 that it would be renamed, reformatted, and opened to cities from around the world, and moved to the website chess.com. In its inaugural season, the PCL comprised 48 teams, whose members included some of the highest-rated chess players in the world, including the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen, and other elite players including Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Hikaru Nakamura, and Wesley  So plus over 100 other grandmasters. The 48 teams represent cities in five continents. For more information on the rules, see the following link 2017: Inaugural season. The first season started on January 11, 2017 and ended March 26, 2017. 48 teams participated, twelve of which had previously participated in the USCL. After the end of the first season, the St. Louis Arch Bishops defeated the Norway Gnomes, thus securing their first title. The PCL has a total prize fund of $50,000 compared to a prize fund of $10,000 in the USCL. Playoffs. After the end of the  regular season, the top six teams from each division qualify for the playoffs with each team being seeded 1-6 based on regular season wins. Semifinals and championship. During the semifinal round, regardless of the participating teams, the winner of the Eastern Division will play the winner of the Central Division, and the winner of the Atlantic Division will play the winner of the Pacific Division. 2018. The 2018 season began on January 17 and ended on April 8 with the Armenia Eagles defeating the Chengdu Pandas to claim their first title. Qualification. In order to combat the large league , Shahade decided to cut the league from 48 teams to 32 teams as he believed the inaugural season was "a bit too large and chaotic".In order to determine which teams would return, he used the following: Qualification tournament. The qualification tournament took place on November 3 with two qualifiers. The event format was stated on the PRO Chess League website. Super Saturday and Super Sunday. For 2018, the PCL introduced a new match format which allowed teams to play outside of their division. In these matches, each team played one single four-game match against eight other teams on  Saturday, and another eight on Sunday. Once every team had played sixteen other teams, the total match points were added up. The following prizes were given: Standings. The top four teams from each division qualify for the playoffs while the two worst teams are relegated from the league and will have to partake in the qualifiers in order to rejoin the league. Playoffs. After the regular season, the top four teams from each division qualify for the playoffs with the teams being seeded 1-4 in their division. In addition, the teams that won their division were invited to play  the final two round in San Francisco at the Folsom Street Foundry. Awards. All-star game. The 2018 all-star game will be scheduled on September 8 with stage 1 and on September 9 for stage 2. The following event format will be used. 2019. The 2019 season started on November 9 with the Qualification Tournament in order to decide the expansion teams and will end on May 5. Qualification tournament. The qualification tournament took place on November 3 with two qualifiers. The event format was stated on the PRO Chess League website. Critic response. Supporters say the league's  worldwide distribution, the prize money, and the participation of many of the world's top-rated players may create a new level of competition and awareness for the game. It is anticipated that the new formats are leading to a "rise in popularity of online and rapid chess". In addition, the PCL has the potential to dramatically change chess culture and could lead to corporate sponsorships. This change from an "individual and slow game," to a relatively quick and team format, has made the offering more viewer friendly. In a 2017 article, Greg Shahade made a similar statement to what  Eric Rosen mentioned. Shahade talked about the league featuring worldwide team competition, using the scheveningen system which gives lower rated players the chance to pull upset each week, and having the chance to "revolutionize chess". In an article written by ESPN, Viswanathan Anand spoke about how convenient it was to play online compared to playing over-the-board.