Anichess has opened early access for Season 9: The Circuit, with the season proper and playoff qualifying set to begin on July 13. The spell-based chess game is moving to a daily event schedule with two short tournament windows each day. The season uses Stages for daily rewards and playoff qualifying, Sanctums for spell-focused practice, and Special Events with their own rules. Winners are decided on daily leaderboards, confirmed after fair-play review, and paid through weekly reward distributions.
What Changed
- Season 9 adds the Circuit format, with two-hour events that each have their own leaderboard and payout.
- Stages now drive daily rewards and playoff qualifying, while Sanctums focus on spell experimentation and Special Events use one-off rules.
- Gambit Stages use random spells and paid match pots, while free Standard days run at 5+3 with three chosen spells.
- Confirmed winners are announced in the Anichess Discord after fair-play review, with alternative accounts and fair-play violators removed before rewards go out.
- Streak flames behind player portraits are planned to grow at 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20 wins.
Dates and Rollout
- Two event windows run each day: 21:00 to 23:00 HKT / 13:00 to 15:00 UTC / 09:00 to 11:00 ET, and 09:00 to 11:00 HKT / 01:00 to 03:00 UTC / 21:00 to 23:00 ET.
- Early access runs Thursday 9 to Sunday 12 July.
- The season proper starts Monday 13 July, when Monday-to-Saturday Stages begin counting toward playoff qualification. Sunday’s Spell Sanctum and the early-access events do not count, while Special Events follow their own qualifying rules.
- Standings lock when each event window closes, then confirmed rewards from the week’s events land in one weekly distribution.
Numbers and Rules
- A win scores 3 points, a draw scores 1, and a loss scores 0.
- The top five on each event leaderboard split the pool at 35%, 25%, 18%, 12% and 10%.
- Only a player’s best event result each day counts for Stage rewards and playoff qualifying, while match pots won along the way still belong to the match winner.
- Gambit buy-ins are 100 $CHECK per match on Tuesday and Thursday, and 50 $CHECK on Saturday, with the match winner taking the pot. Buy-ins include a 15% platform fee.
- Tuesday and Thursday Stages carry 4,000 $CHECK pools, with 1,400 $CHECK for first place.
- Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday events are free to enter, four days every week, with each paying top-five finishers from a 300 $CHECK pool.
- Early access lists a Thursday 9 free event with a 300 $CHECK pool, a Friday 10 Gambit event at 100 $CHECK per match with a 4,000 $CHECK pool, a Saturday 11 Gambit event at 50 $CHECK per match with a 2,000 $CHECK pool, and a Sunday 12 free event with a 300 $CHECK pool.
- Playoff qualification details are due during the season, and the playoff is played with cameras on.
Source: Official Anichess announcement
