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The 2018 PRO Chess League Season was the second season of the PRO Chess League. It began on January 17 and ended on April 8 with the Armenia Eagles defeating the Chengdu Pandas to claim their first title. This season introduced new qualifications to join the league and an all-star game.
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:
24 teams invited
6 teams per Qualifier Tournament
2 teams per fan vote
Qualification tournament
The qualification tournament took place on November 3 with two qualifiers. The event format was a 13 round individual swiss (time control 3+2), with a team's score decided by summing the scores of their four team members. The top three teams from each qualifier automatically qualified, and the fourth to sixth placed teams were placed into a fan vote to decide the final qualifier.
First Qualifier (top 6)
Pos
Team
1
Armenia Eagles
2
Estonia Horses
3
Mumbai Movers
4
Oslo Trolls
5
Apeldoorn Apes
6
Rehovot Masters
Second Qualifier (top 6)
Pos
Team
1
Chengdu Pandas
2
Seattle Sluggers
3
Australia Kangaroos
4
New York Knights
5
Minnesota Blizzard
6
San Francisco Mechanics
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. The standings were decided on game points, with the top 6 teams being awarded a match win and teams finishing 7th-10th being awarded a match draw. In addition, the winning team was awarded a $500 bonus.
2/24 Early Super Saturday
Div
Team
Points
Result
1
A
St. Louis Arch Bishops
24
Win
2
P
Chengdu Pandas
23
Win
3
A
Montclair Sopranos
21.5
Win
4
A
Pittsburgh Pawngrabbers
19.5
Win
5
P
Dallas Destiny
18.5
Win
6
P
Seattle Sluggers
18
Win
7
A
Buenos Aires Krakens
17
Draw
8
E
Armenia Eagles
16
Draw
9
E
Delhi Dynamite
16
Draw
10
C
Ljubljana Turtles
14
Draw
11
C
Reykjavik Puffins
13.5
Loss
12
P
Rio Grande Ospreys
13.5
Loss
13
E
Volga Stormbringers
13
Loss
14
C
Cannes Blockbusters
12.5
Loss
15
E
Mumbai Movers
11
Loss
16
C
Marseille Migraines
5
Loss
2/24 Late Super Saturday
Div
Team
Points
Result
1
E
Norway Gnomes
21.5
Win
2
P
San Jose Hackers
20.5
Win
3
P
San Diego Surfers
19.5
Win
4
A
Webster Windmills
19.5
Win
5
P
Australia Kangaroos
19
Win
6
E
Estonia Horses
17.5
Win
7
A
Minnesota Blizzard
17.5
Draw
8
A
Miami Champions
17
Draw
9
A
Montreal Chessbrahs
16
Draw
10
E
Riga Magicians
15
Draw
11
C
Amsterdam Mosquitoes
14
Loss
12
C
London Towers
13
Loss
13
E
Oslo Trolls
13
Loss
14
C
London Lions
12
Loss
15
C
Stockholm Snowballs
11.5
Loss
16
P
Las Vegas Desert Rats
9
Loss
2/4 Super Sunday
Div
Team
Points
Result
1
E
Armenia Eagles
22
Win
2
E
Volga Stormbringers
21.5
Win
3
C
Ljubljana Turtles
21
Win
4
C
Marseille Migraines
18.5
Win
5
C
Stockholm Snowballs
17.5
Win
6
E
Mumbai Movers
17.5
Win
7
E
Norway Gnomes
17
Draw
8
E
Riga Magicians
16.5
Draw
9
E
Delhi Dynamite
16
Draw
10
C
London Lions
15
Draw
11
C
Amsterdam Mosquitoes
15
Loss
12
C
Reykjavik Puffins
14.5
Loss
13
E
Oslo Trolls
13.5
Loss
14
C
London Towers
12.5
Loss
15
C
Cannes Blockbusters
9
Loss
16
E
Estonia Horses
8.5
Loss
2/3 Super Saturday
Div
Team
Points
Result
1
P
San Jose Hackers
21.5
Win
2
P
Chengdu Pandas
20
Win
3
P
Australia Kangaroos
19.5
Win
4
A
Webster Windmills
19
Win
5
A
Montreal Chessbrahs
18
Win
6
P
Dallas Destiny
18
Win
7
P
Rio Grande Ospreys
17.5
Draw
8
P
San Diego Surfers
16.5
Draw
9
A
Pittsburgh Pawngrabbers
16
Draw
10
A
Saint Louis Arch Bishops
15.5
Draw
11
P
Seattle Sluggers
15
Loss
12
A
Minnesota Blizzard
14.5
Loss
13
A
Montclair Sopranos
13.5
Loss
14
A
Miami Champions
11
Loss
15
P
Las Vegas Desert Rats
11
Loss
16
A
Buenos Aires Krakens
9.5
Loss
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.
Eastern Division
Teams
Wins
Loss
Game Points
1
Armenia Eagles
6.5
2.5
98
2
Delhi Dynamite
5.5
3.5
95
3
Mumbai Movers
5.5
3.5
85
4
Estonia Horses
5
4
88
5
Norway Gnomes
4
5
92
6
Volga Stormbringers
4
5
88
7
Riga Magicians
3.5
5.5
81
8
Oslo Trolls
2
7
75.5
Central Division
Teams
Wins
Loss
Game Points
1
Stockholm Snowballs
6.5
2.5
90.5
2
Marseille Migraines
6.5
2.5
87
3
Cannes Blockbusters
5
4
78.5
4
Ljubljana Turtles
4.5
4.5
89.5
5
Amsterdam Mosquitoes
3
6
90
6
London Lions
4
6
79.5
7
Reykjavik Puffins
2.5
6.5
78.5
8
London Towers
1
8
71.5
Atlantic Division
Teams
Wins
Loss
Game Points
1
Webster Windmills
7.5
1.5
99.5
2
Pittsburgh Pawngrabbers
7
2
98
3
St. Louis Arch Bishops
5.5
3.5
101
4
Minnesota Blizzard
5.5
3.5
92
5
Montclair Sopranos
4
5
85.5
6
Miami Champions
3
6
83
7
Montreal ChessBrahs
2.5
6.5
83
8
Buenos Aires Krakens
2
7
73.5
Pacific Division
Teams
Wins
Loss
Game Points
1
San Diego Surfers
7.5
1.5
99
2
Chengdu Pandas
6.5
2.5
104
3
Dallas Destiny
6.5
2.5
100
4
Australia Kangaroos
5
4
94.5
5
San Jose Hackers
4.5
4.5
97.5
6
Seattle Sluggers
4.5
4.5
86
7
Rio Grande Ospreys
3.5
5.5
84.5
8
Las Vegas Desert Rats
1
8
60.5
Playoffs
After the regular season, the top four teams from each division qualified 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.
Armenia Eagles
Estonia Horses
Mumbai Movers
St. Louis Arch Bishops
Chengdu Pandas
Australia Kangaroos
Ljubljana Turtles
Stockholm Snowballs
Marseille Migraines
