Sport | Chess |
---|---|
Founded | 2005 |
Ceased | 2016 |
Replaced by | Professional Online Rapid Chess League |
President | Greg Shahade |
No. of teams | 20 |
Country | United States |
Last champion(s) | Manhattan Applesauce(1 title) |
Most titles | Dallas Destiny New York Knights (2 titles) |
Official website | http://uschessleague.com/ |
The United States Chess League (USCL) was the only nationwide chess league in the United States for eleven years. In 2016 the League announced it would be opened to cities from around the world, moved to the website chess.com, and renamed the Professional Rapid Online Chess League.[1]
At its peak, the USCL comprised twenty teams, whose members included some of the highest-rated chess players in the United States.[2] Participants in the last season included Wesley So, Alexander Onischuk, Alex Lenderman, Anton Kovalyov, Varuzhan Akobian, Daniel Naroditsky, Julio Becerra, Joel Benjamin, and many other grandmasters. The League was founded in 2005 by International Master Greg Shahade.[3] In later seasons the league was run by Arun Sharma, who was the Vice President of the USCL.