Every spring and fall, top collegiate chess players from around the world compete in the Collegiate Chess League (CCL). Just like in academia, the Summer season is more relaxed. Instead of a full season of team matches, schools played in three competitions throughout the summer: a bullet championship, a team chess tournament, and a weekly blitz arena.
Bullet Championship
The summer bullet championship featured a 60-minute qualifier, followed by an eight-player double-elimination knockout tournament. NM Asish Panda, representing Arizona State University, comfortably took the title, defeating Thomas Lane in the finals of the Winner’s Bracket and again in the Grand Final. Panda was too fast and tactically tricky. Even when he sometimes found himself in tough positions, he usually escaped with careful defense in games like this:
Team Chess Battle Championship
Team chess is a bit like the more well-known variant, hand and brain. Two players get to consult on their moves, with the lower-rated team member having the final say over the moves. The team from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NM Noah Thomforde-Toates and NM Naveen Prabhu, won by defeating Wilfrid University, KPR Institute of Engineering and Technology, and Virginia Tech, each time by a 1.5-0.5 margin. UNC played very accurately with White in the finals and then drew with Black to clinch the title.
Blitz Arenas
The summer season also had five weekly blitz arenas. Each competition featured 90 minutes of games with a 5+2 time control. The top four players each week combined their scores to support their school’s team. At the end of the season, the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg took first place with a combined 268 total points. The other schools to score more than 200 points were Northern Illinois University with 245 points, Lander College for Men, Touro University with 225 points, and Syracuse University with 216 points. Each of the top 10 clubs earned 10 Chess.com Diamond memberships for their members.
Up Next
The Fall season of the CCL begins next month. Will SLU defend its title? Will Mizzou get revenge for the spring finals? Will one of our summer season winners make some noise? You can follow along on the College Chess Discord.
Do you have any predictions for the fall season? Let us know in the comments.
