Knockout Format

  • The top 8 teams in the 6 week season will qualify to a 1-day knockout. The winner of the knockout will be the NACCL season champion.
  • It is KO bracket, but it is winner vs winner, and loser vs loser,  all final 8 teams will play 3 games  during the knockout event.
  • The knockout will be team vs team (5 boards vs 5 boards), where 1-4 boards are the main boards, 5th board is the tiebreaker and they start at the same time.
  • Teams may choose any 5 players from the first 6 weeks to represent their team in the knockout as long as they played at least 12/18 games. We will coordinate with final 8 team captains to let them submit the rosters.
  • Board order will be determined by rating. Board 1-4 have same "time controls", and it is 10 minutes with a 2-second increment (bonus) per move.
  • Board 5 is the tiebreaker. Armageddon game and the "time control" is without increment. It is 10 minutes for White, 7 minutes for Black. If it is a draw, Black's team wins the tiebreaker (if main scores are tie). Chess.com board is taking minimum at least 100 ms each move even if players do pre-move.
  • First game board one seed 1 color is coin tossed, and all other boards will follow. Second and third game will use higher seed due color.
  • Missing or forfeited players will still be paired for next games, and board order numbers are remain the same.
  • The knockout will be streamed on Chess.com’s main Twitch channel.