Competition rules

CPL official games are rated Standard chess on Lichess at 45+15. Every Division has 16 structural seats and every season has 12 official competition weeks. An active seat has one official game in each week.

CPL weeks run from Monday 00:00 UTC to the next Monday 00:00 UTC. Your chosen timezone controls local display and availability entry, but not the authoritative deadline.

Each Division is divided into four groups of four. You play every group opponent twice, once with each colour, for six Opening games and a 3 White / 3 Black balance.

Groups are balanced from frozen Season Ratings: players are ranked by their current authoritative Lichess Classical rating when the groups are created, split into four strength pots, and distributed by the published deterministic draw. Rating is used only to balance the groups. It does not award Points, decide Classification order, break later sporting ties, or determine movement. The Season Rating and group remain fixed for that season.

All four Opening group winners form one Classification group, all second-place players another, then all thirds and all fourths. Each Classification group plays another double round robin over six weeks.

Points accumulate across all resolved, non-void official fixtures in both stages. Opening Place locks after Week 6 and supplies an Opening Bonus: 25.5 for 1st, 17 for 2nd, 8.5 for 3rd, and 0 for 4th. League Points = Points + Opening Bonus. Classification ranks players within the placement band earned during Opening.

GP means resolved, non-void official fixtures. When primary scores are equal, fewer GP ranks first, followed by direct Mini-table results, Played Wins, Sonneborn-Berger, Koya, Previous-season Merit, and persisted Lot. Classification uses its stage-specific played tiebreak statistics. Administrative wins count for Points and GP but not as Played Wins.

Final Classification places determine normal promotion, retention, and relegation between active Divisions and connected Leagues. Apex D1 has no higher destination; its winner is CPL Champion. Live zones are provisional until the season and movement records are finalized.

Players arrange each official start through CPL. Initial availability uses up to two batches of four proposed starts per player. Each batch spans at least two UTC calendar days, proposals by the same player remain at least four real hours apart across their history, and a new batch starts at least four hours after submission. The first valid proposal is due before Friday 00:00 UTC; no new normal batch can be created at or after Saturday 20:00 UTC.

Both players fulfilling their obligations but finding no agreement resolves 0-0 without fault. One-sided failure gives the compliant player an administrative 1-0 and the noncompliant player a fault. If both fail, the result is 0-0 with a fault to each.

Once scheduled, that start remains authoritative unless both players agree to another valid start before T-60 of the current appointment. An ordinary reschedule request may be declined or ignored without fault, and an unsuccessful request does not cancel the existing start.

Ready opens at T-10 and closes at T+10. The first Ready records attendance; when the second player becomes Ready, CPL launches the fixed-colour official Lichess game. One Ready player and one absent player produces an administrative 1-0 and a fault to the absent player. Neither player becoming Ready produces 0-0 with a fault to both. Two consecutive official no-show faults remove a permanent-seat holder.

When a seat becomes vacant, current unstarted obligations resolve as vacancyUnfilled administrative wins for occupied opponents until replacement. A replacement receives the seat's Team, frozen Season Rating, Classification path, colour obligations, and future fixtures only. Replacement matching targets the vacant seat's frozen Season Rating, then uses waiting seniority and persisted Lot under the existing invitation process.

A confirmed non-player CPL or Lichess failure is handled separately from ordinary scheduling and attendance. Players who fulfilled their obligations are not automatically faulted. CPL may open one bounded technical recovery using normal proposal mechanics; if no valid recovery remains, the fixture becomes a non-played technical draw.

CPL has 16 permanent Global Clubs. Each fields one Team in every active League, with one representative from each active Division. Official results contribute Team Points to the Team represented in that game. Opening Bonus and League Points do not enter Team scoring.

Ordinary admission uses continuous waiting seniority. Temporary ineligibility preserves a legitimate waiting spell but prevents selection. In-season replacement compares current candidate rating with the vacant seat's frozen Season Rating; rating does not move anyone ahead in ordinary waiting admission.

Eligible waiting players may play one CPL Friendly per canonical CPL week, including preseason. Friendlies are casual (unrated) Standard 45+15 games. They are voluntary and have no effect on individual standings, Team Points, movement, discipline, eligibility, or waiting seniority.

Official games are played on Lichess and remain subject to Lichess rules and fair-play enforcement. CPL does not operate a separate anti-cheat engine. Authoritative CPL records and published season notices govern operational dates and decisions. Material player-rule changes receive a new document version and renewed consent.