The Pro Chess League is a world-class rapid competition for the best Grandmasters in the world.It also is the number one global online chess league. The League started in 2017 and has quickly become one of the most popular chess events on the web.
Pro Chess League 2023 features 16 teams from the strongest chess cities and countries in the world competing for a $150,000 prize fund.
The tournament begins February 14 with a qualifier on February 1-2, and the Main Event on February 14. Each team will field a roster of six to ten players, including at least one woman and the average rating is capped at 2550. Each week teams select four players from their roster to compete in matches. The players are paired up and play all-play-all rapid games.
The first five weeks are Swiss and the team with 3 wins advances directly to the Top 8, while the team with 3 losses is eliminated. Each member of the team plays a 10+2 rapid chess match against each member of the opposing team. In case of a tie, the players play another round under faster time control.
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Pro Chess League 2023
This year’s league features some of the best players in the world, including Magnus Carlsen and some rising stars.
There are also some big name teams this year like the Gotham Knights with GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Liem Quang Le, as well as the Saint Louis Arch Bishops with Fabiano Caruana and Leinier Dominguez.
Other exciting squads include the Shanghai Tigers, featuring women’s world champion GM Ju Wenjun and super GM Wei Yi. There are also teams with stacked lineups, like the Saint Louis Arch Bishops and the Indian Yogis. Another team to watch is the Charlotte Cobras. Their stacked lineup includes commentary maestro Daniel Naroditsky as well as eight-time U.S. women’s champion Irina Krush.
Teams and Players
| Berlin Bears | GM Anton Korobov GM Rasmus Svane GM Dmitrij Kollars GM Niclas Huschenbeth GM Arik Braun GM Frederik Svane WGM Josefine Heinemann WGM Sarah Papp | Indian Yogis | GM Vidit Gujrathi GM Praggnanandhaa R GM Nihal Sarin GM Raunak Sadhwani GM Chithambaram VR Aravindh GM Abdulla Gadimbayli IM Aronyak Ghosh IM Elisabeth Paehtz WGM Vaishali R IM Pranesh M |
| Blitz | GM Alexander Grischuk GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave GM Etienne Bacrot GM Matthieu Cornette GM Maxime Lagarde FM Mahel Boyer IM Deimante Daulyte-Cornette | Gotham Knights | GM Hikaru Nakamura GM Quang Liem Le GM Vladimir Fedoseev IM Mykola Bortnyk IM Andy Woodward IM Nataliya Buksa IM Nurgyul Salimova |
| Brazil Capybaras | GM Vladislav Artemiev GM Sandro Mareco GM Luis Paulo Supi GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara GM Alexandr Fier GM Krikor Mekhitarian WGM Irina Bulmaga FM Julia Alboredo | Levitov Chess Wizards | GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov GM Daniil Dubov GM Alexey Sarana GM Rauf Mamedov GM David Paravyan GM Aleksandr Shimanov GM Denis Lazavik GM Alexandra Kosteniuk GM Valentina Gunina |
| California Unicorns | GM Gukesh D GM Sam Shankland GM Ray Robson GM Illya Nyzhnyk GM Dariusz Swiercz GM Georg Meier GM Christopher Yoo GM Andrew Hong WGM Sabina-Francesca Foisor | Spanish Maniac Shrimps | GM Jaime Santos Latasa GM Alan Pichot GM Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli GM Miguel Santos Ruiz GM Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez GM Jose Fernando Cuenca Jimenez GM Lance Henderson de La Fuente IM Karina Ambartsumova IM Sabrina Vega Gutierrez |
| Charlotte Cobras | GM Grigoriy Oparin GM Awonder Liang GM Daniel Naroditsky GM Brandon Jacobson GM Elshan Moradiabadi GM Irina Krush IM Nazi Paikidze FM Gabriela Antova | Shanghai Tigers | GM Yi Wei GM Ni Hua GM Zhang Zhong GM Wenjun Ju GM Yi Xu IM Yiping Lou Renjie Huang WGM Shiqun Ni Mao Yingzhou |
| Canada Chessbrahs | GM Magnus Carlsen GM Anish Giri GM Jorden van Foreest GM Ivan Saric GM Aryan Tari GM Eric Hansen GM Razvan Preotu IM Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux WGM Jennifer Yu WGM Maili-Jade Ouellet | Saint Louis Archbishops | GM Fabiano Caruana GM Leinier Dominguez Perez GM Jeffery Xiong GM Benjamin Bok GM Nikolas Theodorou GM Varuzhan Akobian WGM Rochelle Wu WIM Alice Lee NM Julian Proleiko WFM Sophie Morris-Suzuki |
| Croatia Bulldogs | GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac GM Leon Livaic GM Sasa Martinovic GM Ante Saric IM Bardiya Daneshvar IM Polina Shuvalova IM Eline Roebers | Team MGD1 | GM Arjun Erigaisi GM Narayanan S L GM Adhiban B GM Diptayan Ghosh GM Harika Dronavalli GM Mitrabha Guha WFM Savitha Shri B |
| Garden State Passers | GM Samuel Sevian GM Gadir Guseinov GM Aleksandr Lenderman GM Abhimanyu Mishra GM Bela Khotenashvili IM Carissa Yip WIM Meruert Kamalidenova FM James Canty | Norway Gnome | GM A R Saleh Salem GM David Howell GM Gawain Jones GM Pranav V IM Elham Abdrlauf GM Sankalp Gupta GM Nino Batsiashvili WGM Laura Unuk |
Canada Chessbrahs
Chess has become a popular part of the internet, thanks to streamers and personalities picking up the game. That’s especially true for the Chessbrahs, a channel that has built a huge following on Twitch.
They’re a Canadian team led by Grandmaster Eric Hansen. They’ve been streaming chess for six years and have reached 20,000 subscribers on Twitch, which is the highest number in any category on that platform.
Gotham Knights
Pro Chess League 2023 features a number of teams containing some of the world’s top players. This year’s Gotham Knights are led by GM Hikaru Nakamura and feature two super-GMs in Liem Quang Le and Vladimir Fedoseev. They also have rising star IM Nurgyul Salimova as their second-highest rated player.
In addition to the main plot, Gotham Knights has an extensive backstory that tells the origin of the Court of Owls. The game’s developers designed this story to give the Court more depth and context, allowing WB Games Montreal to show how a group of villains has a deep connection to Gotham City.
Indian Yogis
This year there will be two Indian teams striving to lead the way alone. The Yogis have displayed a list of young prodigies that would be the envy of any other country. These include Nihal Sarin, Praggnanandhaa and GMf Vaishali, who will be supervised by GM Vidit Gujrathi.
Team MGD1
India’s other team, MGD1, also has a very competitive squad. They have the highest ranked U20 player in India, Arjun Erigaisi, and the highest ranked player in the PCL, GM Harika Dronavalli.
Croatia Bulldogs
Unavailable Youtube star Agadmator (Antonio Radic) will take on the role of Bulldogs captain. He can count on GMs Bogdan-Daniel Deac and Leon Livaic and IM Polina Shuvalova to fly the flag.Despite their lack of name recognition, the Bulldogs are one of the teams to watch out for in the 2023 season. They are stacked with some of the world’s best players, and are expected to compete for the title of champion.
Saint Louis Archbishops
The tournament’s three-time champions will be led, as always, by American champion Fabiano Caruana, supported by GMs Lenier Dominguez and Geoffrey Bear. General Manager Rochelle Wu and IMF Alice Lee will play in the fourth set.
Levitov Chess Wizards
Thanks to their two female grandmasters Alexandra Kosteniuk and Valentina Gunina, the Wizards only have the best Elo average. Top GMs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Daniil Dubov will be the leaders of this incredibly homogeneous team of grandmasters only on the first board.