The Live Chess Asian League: Where Legends Are Made and Every Move Counts

Prepare yourself for one of the most prestigious chess events of the year in Asia and Oceania. The Live Chess Asian League unites some of the best chess minds from across Asia and Oceania in a battle for supremacy. It gives the emerging players from the regions the chance to shine on a larger stage. The way is clear for any person to unleash their raw talent with brilliant moves and achieve legendary status. It does not matter if you come from a city of 20 million or a village of 20 people, the Live Chess Asian League allows you an opportunity to jump to the next level. 

Mission of this League:
Our motive is simple yet profound to create a dynamic platform in the Global South of our planet for the brightest chess talents. We want to showcase the local legends. By providing this opportunity, we aim to empower players not only to elevate their personal careers but also to foster growth of chess on both international and local levels. The Live Chess Asia League is more than just a competition, it is a catalyst for the development of chess in the Global South of our planet. We believe that our generation of chess players in Asia and Oceania can capture world attention and leave a legacy to inspire new generations for the rest of the century. 

PROMO OF THE LEAGUE:

FOUNDERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF LCAL:

• @Shakhzod_Urokhov : (Founder, Organizer & Tournament director)
• NIMISH RAUT SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA @SPIRITOF_AUSTRALIA: (FOUNDER, Author of LCAL Constitution, Organizer & Tournament director)
• @Harionago : (Tournament director)
• @TheChessgrandmaster100 : (Supervision director)
• @Expecions : (Supervision director)

What makes LIVE CHESS ASIAN LEAGUE unique?
We want each nation to grow a new crop of local legends. We want a grassroots movement in each country where we find and nourish the raw chess talent. And polish them for the world stage. 

MESSAGE FROM NIMISH RAUT SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA @SPIRITOF_AUSTRALIA: (FOUNDER, Author of LCAL Constitution, Organizer & Tournament director):

It was my dream to organize such kind of league for nations across Asia and Oceania. I invited about more than 40 nations across Asia and Oceania and 23 of them agreed to participate. This league helped me make many new connections on chess.com and also develop myself. Just wanna thank @Synapsechess @Fantasto @kookaburrra @Shakhzod_Urokhov @Harionago and many other people who helped me behind the scenes to organize and set up this league. And importantly to Asian League headquarters who helped me get the list of teams representatives of many Asian nations.  Also wanna thank all the nations representatives who have agreed playing in the league. Setting up the league include stages like: 1. Creating the league club, 2. Making list of nations which lies in Asia and Oceania, 3. Finding the officials national teams on chess.com and inviting them. 4. Creating league rules, 5. Organizing multi club arenas to check the capacities and strength of the nations. 6. Creating divisions for the league. 7. Deciding format and time control for the league. 8. Creating pairings. 9. Creating spreadsheets for each league and their divisions. 10. Deciding dates for the matches. 11. Finding the person who could make trophies/medals for the winners. 12. Finding Youtube streamers to stream the league. 13. Finding commentators.

So you see that these were the work which we did to organize this league.  We started from the last week of january and finally after 3 months of hardwork the league has been established and heading to its first season. Establishing the league was not an easy job. But I am proud that we have established this league. I am 100% sure that this league will provide a platform for the chess players from local to international level across Asia and Oceania to step up at the bigger level and express their love for chess and their talent at the biggest stage. Hope we will be able to create future stars of chess from Asia and Oceania.

My best wishes to all the teams participating in the first season. It doesn't matters which nation wins, in the end the game of chess will win. 

LOGO OF LCAL:

Event Details:

Date: From 21st April 2025 to 21st September 2025 

Times: All the matches of LCAL will be scheduled to be played only on weekends. 

Location: Chess.com

LEAGUES their formats time control: 

• OPEN LEAGUE: 

1. BULLET: 2+1
2. BLITZ: 5+2
3. RAPID: 10+2

• DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE:

1. BLITZ: 5+2
2. RAPID: 10+2

• U1600 LEAGUE:

1. BLITZ: 5+2

• LIVE960 LEAGUE:

1. DIVISION 1: RAPID (10+5)
2. DIVISION 2: BLITZ (5+2)

DIVISIONS, FORMATS & START DATE: 

FORMAT OF DIVISION 1:  

1. 10 teams will compete in a round robin format. After 1 round robin top 6 teams will qualify for the playoffs and bottom 4 teams will play in relegation pool. Relegation pool will be a round robin format with one match of value 2 times the first round robin.

For playoffs top 2 teams of round robin will play in the Qualifier 1. 3rd ranked team will play against 6th ranked team in Eliminator 1. 4th ranked team will play against 5th ranked team in Eliminator 2. Winner of Eliminator 1 & 2 will play against each other in Eliminator 3. Winner of eliminator 3 will play the loser of Qualifier 1 in Qualifier 2. The loser of Qualifier 2 will be ranked 3rd and the winner will take on the winner of Qualifier 1 in the final. 

        FORMAT OF DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE:

Development league will be played between 13 teams across 2 divisions. It will be played in a single round robin format, with rules different from the normal league. The development league consists of new and small teams, who required a platform to step up in the world of chess. 

LCAL LEAGUE RULES:

Nimish Raut (Spirit of Australia) (@SPIRITOF_AUSTRALIA), authored the constitution of the Live Chess Asian League (LCAL), establishing the legal and structural framework for the league’s operations and governance. 

You can read the LCAL CONSTITUTION here .

Do you want to track the results of the LIVE CHESS ASIAN LEAGUE?

You can check the schedule, pairings & standings here . 

In case, if the spreadsheet link don't work you can check the pairings and standings in the following links: 

1.  U1600 Div 1 

2. U1600 Div 2 

3. LIVE960 Div 1

4. LIVE960 Div 2

WHERE CAN YOU WATCH LCAL MATCHES LIVE? 

Subscribe to @SPIRITOF_AUSTRALIA 's Youtube channel where you can watch LCAL S1 live on Youtube : https://youtube.com/@spiritofaustralianimishrau4608

Not all the matches will be streamed live. But most of them will be streamed based on Nimish Raut SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA (@SPIRITOF_AUSTRALIA) convenience.

PRIZES:

• OPEN LEAGUE & DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Top 3 teams from each division will get a virtual medal/trophy. Best u1000, u1600,u2000 & 2000+ players from the top 3 teams will get a virtual medal/trophy.
• LIVE 960 ( CHESS960) LEAGUE: Top 3 teams will get a virtual medal/trophy. The best u1000, u1200, u1400, u1600, 1600+ players will get a virtual medal/trophy. 
• U1600 LEAGUE: Top 3 teams alongside top 3 u1000 and 1000+ players will get a virtual medal/trophy.

Trophies and medals will be made by @Tulakero

Future Teams:

If you are an admin of an interested national team, you can now sign up in the club forum to participate in the upcoming season! SIGNUP HERE

Does your country lack a club to represent it? You can contact @SPIRITOF_AUSTRALIA to help you form a club so it can be part of upcoming seasons.