The Chess.com Players League has been wildly popular, leading to a 20% increase in games played in December 2021 alone. Leagues have also given the Chess.com community another way to track progress in its favorite game. With Leagues came an opportunity for players to win cash prizes in our $50,000 contest that we announced simultaneously with the feature. It is now time for us to announce the big winners! 

Congratulations to @MITerryble for winning the first division of the Champion League, and with it the $10,000 prize. For finishing second in the first Champion League, @Kacparov won $7,500, and @Bengal_tiger07 earned $5,000 for third place. All top three finishers compiled more than 20,000 trophies in a single week to earn their prizes—truly impressive numbers! 

Joining @MITerryble in the brand new Legend League are the winners of the second and third Champion Leagues: @Twitch_iGeorge_TV and @goltsevdmitry2000, who each took home a $1,000 prize as well.

In total, nearly 150 individual prizes are being awarded. It takes time to assure that everyone played fair, but all the winners will be contacted by email in the next 7-10 days to claim their prizes.

Even with the cash contest over, there’s still every reason to play Leagues, of course. You don’t want to be defined just by your rating, do you?

Are you enjoying your climb through the ranks in Chess.com Leagues? What is the highest trophy count you have earned in a week so far? Let us know in the comments below!