Lichess4545 Leagues Overview

Lichess4545 leagues / Slack overview

Leagues that require registration

League	Description	Links	Slack channel(s) to join
4545 Team League Register online	The one that started it all. 45+45 team Swiss, 8-player teams, 8 rounds per season, weekly games. See the rules and player handbook for more info.	Rules	#general
LoneWolf League Register online	30+30 individual Swiss, 11 rounds, Open and U1800 sections, weekly games.	Rules	#lonewolf-general
Chess960 League Register online	20+20 Swiss, 7 rounds, weekly games.		#chess960
Series Register via Google Form	90+30 round-robin, 8-player groups w/ promotion + relegation, seasons span 10-12 weeks, roughly 1 game per week w/ scheduling flexibility.	Rules	#series-general (and ...-scheduling, ...-games)
Infinite Quest Register on Slack	Perpetually running tournament that players can join, pause or resume when they want; 1 match/week of 4 x 15+10 games + blitz tiebreaks; more info here.	Rules	#quest-tavern #quest-herald
Rapid Battle	Bracket tournament with weekly rounds of 4 10+10 games.	Rules	#rapid-battle
Offseason Quads Register via Google Form	Friendly 4545 games between 4545 seasons.	Rules	#off-season-quads
Correspondence	Perpetually running correspondence tournament. Players can join/pause/resume any time. Players receive pairings each week. Time control: 2 days per move.	Rules	#correspondence
Fantasy Register on Google Sheet	Pick your fantasy 4545 team		#fantasy
Book Club Register on Slack / via Google Sheet	Members cover a chapter of a book each week, and are paired against other members to play casual games intended to cement their grasp of the material. Currently working through Hellsten’s Mastering Endgame Strategy.	Rules	#book-club (and …-scheduling)

Leagues that don’t require registration

Name	Description	Links	Slack channels
Blitz Battle	Occasional two-hour Swiss tournaments in 3+2 blitz.		#blitz-battle
Lichess Bundesliga	Play for us in the popular blitz team arena. 1800 UTC every Thursday and Sunday. You must be a member of the Lichess4545 team on Lichess to play. Type !lichessteam in Slack to find out the password to join.		#lichess-ligas Link usually posted in #general as well
Lichess Rapid League	Similar to the Lichess Bundesliga above, but on Mondays, 1800 UTC, and in a rapid time control.		#lichess-ligas

Some Slack channels you might like

#announcements	Important league and community announcements - NB. only mods can post here, but anyone can reply to these posts in a thread.
#4545-confessions	League/chess humor and memes
#4545-improvers-club	Because we’re all adult improvers…in our dreams :)
#4545-simul	Participate in (or host) simultaneous exhibitions hosted by high-rated league members.
#4545-streaming	Channel for 4545league streamers and their viewers
#4545-watch-party	Watch (and post) intriguing games from any league
#classical-group	Friendly spontaneous classical games.
#dev-website-and-bot	Help make chesster sentient!
#elite-events	Follow and discuss top-level events, news and gossip
#failures, #accomplishments	Treat those two impostors just the same
#game-of-the-month	Vote on the best league game every month. Nominated Games Games Study
#offtopic-misc	Just chatting
#otb	For those who play over the board (OTB)

Important information

Only members of the Lichess4545 Slack workspace can play in our leagues. No exceptions.
Our Slack is invite-only. To be invited, you must first register for a season of either 4545 or LoneWolf (even if you want to play in another league). Your registration must then be approved by mods, which means you need to satisfy our eligibility requirements. If it’s approved, you’ll receive an email inviting you to join our Slack. Once you join, you need to follow a simple onboarding process. Then you can play in the leagues!
This overview isn’t exhaustive. It only lists a few Slack channels, and some of the ones here may not be active any more. Same applies to leagues.
Players need to join the Lichess4545 team on Lichess before they can play for us in Bundesliga or other Lichess tournaments. You need a password to join - find it by typing !lichessteam on Slack.

How to contact the mods

It depends on the league. To contact a 4545 or LoneWolf mod, type “@chesster summon mods” in #general (for 4545) or #lonewolf-general (for LoneWolf). For other leagues, you typically have to type “summon [league] mods” in the league’s main channel - eg for Series, “summon series mods” in #series-general. Don’t contact a mod directly about a league matter. Not only will this annoy them, but your query will be resolved much more quickly if you summon all league mods instead of directly contacting one or two.

Where can I find more info about these leagues?

Why isn’t channel X or league Y listed here?

Message MrScribbles on Slack or Lichess to get things added.

I have a great new idea for the community. What do I need to do?

That’s awesome, because new ideas are always welcome! However, before you do anything, you should summon a mod in #general and tell them about your plans. Then they can advise you on how to run things in line with our community policies, especially re: data protection (see #gdpr).

Last updated on Nov 20, 2024 by MrScribbles. Contributors: izzie26, somethingpretentious, and MrScribbles.

Change Log

Jan 7, 2025: Added #4545-simul back to the document since it’s starting up again. - MrSquiggles

Nov 20, 2024: Updated with #rapid-battle’s new format - four weekly games of 10+10. -MrScribbles

Nov 17, 2024: Re-added #rapid-battle since they are starting up again. -MrScribbles

Nov 8, 2024: Removed inactive leagues, added some active leagues. -MrScribbles