We are proud to announce the third season of the Collegiate Chess League (CCL) run in partnership with Chess.com and the Corporate Esports Association (CEA). Since the League’s creation in 2019, the chess world has seen incredible increases in players, viewership, and sponsorship, and the CCL is no exception. After 90 teams participated in our last season, we are excited for the upcoming season given the new partnerships.

Registration for the fall season can be found here:

https://cea.gg/collections/fall-2021-collegiate/products/collegiate-chess

The fall season begins on September 18, with registration closing in one week on Wednesday, September 15. For the first time in its history, the CCL will have a prize fund, and an impressive one at that: $25,000 will be given to winning teams of the league with finals being played on November 21! We expect this to be the league’s most competitive season so far with over 50 schools from all over the world already registered.

Broadcasting of this season is also expanding, and we expect this to be the most viewed season thus far as matches will be streamed live on Chess.com/tv. Competing colleges as well as students are invited to join the Chess.com streamer program (click here) by registering their Twitch accounts with Chess.com to join an amazing team of content creators.  

The season three finals featured Mizzou triumphing in an exciting match vs. Berkeley.

The League’s commissioner and Co-Founder, Joe Lee, had this to say about the CCL’s big season ahead and the increased investment from Chess.com: “Ever since I started the league with Chess.com back in 2019, we always hoped it would scale to become what it is now: A huge opportunity for college chess and college chess players! When I was a student, we did not have many competitive events to look forward to, and the tournaments were often quite expensive for a ‘student’s budget’. The CCL’s extremely low barrier to entry along with its online format make it possible for anyone to compete. I’m so excited that the League is getting the exposure and attention it deserves.”

Chess.com’s CCO Daniel Rensch has been working with Joe and the league’s organizing partner, CEA (Corporate Esports Association), to finalize a partnership that will bring all parties interested in helping college students play chess together. CEA is also supporting CCL players by providing opportunties to grow toward their ultimate professional goals by taking part in special “CEA vs CCL” networking events, available only to students competing in the College Chess League.

A huge opportunity for college chess and college chess players. — Joe Lee, CCL Commissioner

“The CEA is thrilled to use our connections across corporate America to connect the leaders of today with the leaders of tomorrow”, said Corporate Esports Associate CEO and Founder, Brad Tenenholtz. “The CCL is a blueprint for how gaming can help kickstart early careers.”

and the deadline is September 15. For more details on the league, please visit our website at collegiatechessleague.com. For any questions, please email Joe Lee directly at ccl@chess.com.

The league is also proud to be partnered with the Twitch Student Program, US Chess Federation, and the Washington Chess Federation.