Cities Squared

Auditions are in progress for the upcoming 1st “机器人谷杯” (“Robot Valley Cup”) China City Chess League to be held online and offline from October 16, 2020 to January 2021. 14 seeded teams and over 50 audition teams, covering cities above the prefecture level and featuring the best of Chinese chess, will compete through five tiers of qualifiers, preliminaries, semifinals, repêchage matches and finals. Qualifiers, preliminaries and semifinals will be held online at 智赛网 (zhisai.net), while repêchage matches and finals will take place offline. Each team consists of four mixed players, with a minimum quota of one female and one junior. Teams may have up to four reserves. Time control is 20 minutes plus 10 seconds per move for online matches and 30 minutes plus 15 seconds per move for offline matches. Four-time Women’s World Chess Champion and Rhodes Scholar 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) (pictured below while attending the launching ceremony at Tuspark International Convention Centre last September 28) will defend the colours of the 济南银丰 (Jǐnán Yínfēng) team. Photos: read01.com.