Team 45 45 League

Team 45 45 League provides team competition to internet chess players who like slow time controls, on the premier place to play chess on the net, the Internet Chess Club. Join the friendly but serious competition and team spirit for players of all ratings!

T86 - Playoffs begin

Round 2 of the T86 playoffs is underway. Champions 'RedDeMate B' in Arbor (U1900) and 'W's All Day' in Planetary (U1300) sections have already been determined. Round 2 features finals matches in Aquatic (U1700) and Erg (U1500) Sections. See Playoff 2 for teams and lineups.

T87 - Starting soon

Profiles to enter T87 will open on December 1. All who wish to enter that tournament must fill out an entering Profile. Team entries will begin December 8 and run for three weeks ending December 29. Play begins January 5, 2021.

T86 - Games Of The Week

Megasus continues as our GOTW guru. If only one or no nomination in a round, guru will also choose a game from all the games he looked at from all sections, titled Guru's Pick

R1 Manas v Goli W wins with the recently popular p-f4, King-side attack. Black does take advantage to establish middle position but the N taking the B actually weakened his offense and defense at the same time. Besides pushing W's R where it wanted to go, helping W to bolster the h column pressure.

R2 Guru's Pick janh v Legal A back and forth positional game that could have gone in either direction for both players several times. Even after W gains the ad in the endgame, Black's Q-ing threat makes W work hard to overcome it, and go for his own Q ,

R3 ivanson v Denis240964 Black uses aggressive Qside pressure to open up c column, but loses his way trying to take advantage of it. W is able to trade his power down evenly and then force a blunder which leaves him a piece up. Black's pawn ad can't be used positively because his last piece has to stop W's passed pawn.,

R4 Guru's Pick fireball v Grenadier The best-played game of the 4 Picks. This had many ebbs and flows that would have made it very compelling to watch live. W's middle all but disintegrates, and Black has a viable pawnchain threat in the middle . But careful play and timely pressure allows W to stare the threat down, trade out, and end up with the pawn ad at the end. W using as much time as possible also lessens the fear of Black's threat, that could have caused a blunder.

R5 room-matt v kidcobra Wide-open attacking game, would have been entertaining to watch live. W desperately tries to control Black thru pressure on each flank, and has his chances to take control. But eventually W falls prey to his middle being wide open, and is unable to stop Black's middle pawns from progressing down the board. ,

R6 WillC v Kingofknights A testament to never giving up even when the odds look long against you.
Probably the best game to watch live; W is in trouble for almost 40 moves, but the seemingly correct play sequence by Black allows W's Q penetration into Black's back rank . Black has no way to back up a piece to defend his K or get the 2nd Q that could finish off W.

What we are about

Sections for Teams of Experts, Novices, and Between!

Four to six players band together as a team, and compete in divisions of 4 – 7 teams in one of four ratings sections. One round is played per week, for six weeks, from Tuesday to the following Tuesday. Before each round, each captain decides which four players will play that week against players from the opposing team.

Paired players use a message board ("Game Forum") to discuss the day and time to play their game. The game is played with a time control of 45 minutes + 45 second increments, rated, with assigned colors. After the round, the team with the most wins (Game Points) wins the round, and earns a Match Point. After six rounds of regulation play, the team with the most Match Points in each Division advances to the playoffs (1-4 more rounds) to determine the Section champions. Division and Section champion teams each earn one-month account extensions donated by ICC. To join, follow the steps in: Quick Guide.

Play fair and Play nice!

To ensure a friendly and safe environment for members to enjoy our team competition, Team 45 45 League issues sanctions of varying severity for behavior that "disrupts the peaceful enjoyment of the league by its participants." All league games are reviewed for possible assistance. Anyone who receives a red card for suspected cheating is reported to speedtrap. League sanctions are summarized in The Docket.

Fun Stuff

Explore Here Often. Don't Miss Out!

Past League Champions Who won previous events? Check out the Archives, and download PGN's of league games dating back many tourneys.