chess.com Thematic Tournament

Hi guys. Just a couple of questions I have about the chess.com Thematic Tournament (in general).

Firstly, I see that chess.com has an English Opening tournament coming up soon. When is the next Thematic Tournament (as in the one after that), and when will it start? Also, how long do these Thematic tournaments last (estimate)?

I believe I need 5 online games to participate in one. Do they have to be rated.

Thanks in advance. :)

Chess.com organises 3 different types of "Official Online Tournaments". Thematic, Quick Knockouts and Normal. They're exchanging consequtively, one per month. So, English start in August and the next Thematic Tourney should be in 3 months, so in November.

Looking at your rating, you go into the 1200-1399 section. I think these tournament are the longest. Probably it takes around half a year for the first round and then slightly less for next rounds. If you're gonna finish first, then I'll take a year and a half for tournament to finish. 

Yes, you need 5 rated online (correspondence) chess games to participate.

Wow, I never knew chess.com runs 3 different types of tournaments. "Quick Knockout" would probably be best for me, since 6 months seems to be a long time.

I also probably won't hit 5 online games by August, so I should go for that anyway.

Thanks for the answer. :)

Just be aware your avg time per move should be less than 3h/move, otherwise you cannot join. Also, "just 24h/move" games instead of "3 days/move". If you like it, then surely join it. :)

Wow, that's fast. Even though I'm currently under 2 hrs/move, those are pretty quick (but it's worth a try).