CSRA Scholastic Chess League

In the summer of 2024, coaches from four area high schools gathered at Augusta Preparatory Day School to embark on the creation of a competitive chess league between their school's best chess players. Each school committed to putting together a 6 man team of players each week for 12 weeks (6 weeks in the Fall and 6 weeks in the Spring).  This competitive league gave rise to what is now the CSRA Scholastic Chess League.

Details for how a match is conducted

Each week, each school shares its 6 player roster (ordered from strongest to weakest) with the opposing coach.  Players face off against the corresponding player from the other team, playing the same opponent twice, once with the White pieces and once with the Black pieces. A total of 12 game points are available each match. The team with the highest score after all 12 games are played earns 1 match point for their team towards the league standings. 

The time control for all games is G/25 d/5. (Each player gets 25 minutes for the entire game and there is a 5 second delay each move before the clock starts running.)

In the event of a tie, the same format (6v6 play the same opponent twice, once with each color) will be repeated but with a time control of G/5 d/2. (Each player gets 5 minutes for the entire game and there is a 2 second delay each move before the clock starts running.) These games will not count towards total game points earned during the match nor games won with the Black pieces.

If the match is still tied, the top board will play an Armageddon Game with the home team player getting the choice between playing the White pieces with 5 minutes on his/her clock but must win, or playing the Black pieces with 4 minutes on his/her clock but with a draw counting as a win. This game will not count towards total game points earned during the match nor games won with the Black pieces.

Details for the League

Each team plays every other school 4 times: once home and once away in the Fall and once home and once away again in the Spring. The team with the most match points after 12 weeks wins the regular season and earns the #1 seed for the playoffs.

Join the League!

CSRA schools interested in joining the league need to be able to meet the following requirements. 

1) Be able to field a team of six chess players from their school each week.

2) Have a coach affiliated with the school (teacher or administrator) responsible for their players and able to accompany their team to matches each week.

3) Be able to host home matches at their school. (Host school is responsible for providing a quiet space for playing the games and providing equipment like tables, boards, sets, and clocks.)

All the coaches in the League meet twice a year (once during the summer prior to the start of the coming year's matches, and once in December at the half-way point.)

For more information email Mr. William Bowman at william.bowman@augustaprep.org

CSRA stands for Central Savannah River Area and includes the following counties in Georgia and South Carolina.

Georgia: Richmond, Columbia, Burke, McDuffie, Washington, Jefferson, Wilkes, Jenkins, Hancock, Lincoln, Warren, Glascock, and Taliaferro counties.

South Carolina: Aiken, Edgefield, Barnwell, Saluda, Bamberg, McCormick, and Allendale counties.

Where are we going?

We would like to grow to include multiple high school teams (Varsity and JV) and Middle School teams. We would love for the League to include every high school in the CSRA.

What are we playing for?

You could say we are playing for love of the sport. You could say we value the intellectual benefit that comes from playing. You could say we are just having fun. But we all know we are playing for PRIDE!!! ... And this trophy.

Special thanks to Mr. Tim Shafer for donating the trophy. Plate done by B&S Engraving.

Support Chess in the CSRA

We would like to thank the Columbia County Chess Club for featuring our League on their website and for promoting chess across the CSRA. 

If you would like to support us, please email william.bowman@augustaprep.org.