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The common season of the 2023 Collegiate Chess League (CCL) fall season has come to a detailed and the College of Texas Dallas sits atop the desk after their 14-2 drubbing of Columbia College (CU) on Saturday. Three of their gamers—GMs David Brodsky, Ivan Schitco, and Rahul Srivatshav—managed to attain 4/4.
Saint Louis College (SLU), who had an opportunity to complete first, slumped to a 12.5-3.5 loss in opposition to The College of Missouri (Mizzou), whose GMs Grigoriy Oparin, Mikhail Antipov, and Luka Budisavljevic ensured that sufficient sport factors had been scored to leapfrog their same-state rivals.
As we head into the CCL Playoffs, you may also predict the winners in SIG’s Predictions Problem right here. The Playoffs start on November 11 at 2:00 p.m. ET / 19:00 CET / 11.30 p.m. IST.
CU 2-14 UT Dallas
The match between CU and UT Dallas actually appeared to be a David and Goliath conflict on paper. And with a single titled participant, FM Aristo Liu, in comparison with UT Dallas’ three GMs and one IM, CU required a miracle to maintain their season alive.
Spherical one was the worst attainable begin for the underdogs as UT Dallas hammered dwelling a 4-0 scoreline, with crucial win coming in Srivatshav-Liu. The gamers discovered themselves in a wild middlegame arising from the Indian Sport: East Indian, Przepiorka Variation, and Srivatshav merely maneuvered his items higher than his opponent.
Whereas a 3-1 scoreline within the second spherical successfully confirmed their seventh-placed end within the season, Liu might take solace within the attacking masterclass he produced in opposition to IM Andrei Macovei.
For UT Dallas, their efficiency exterior of this sport would have been flawless if not for a disastrous oversight by Macovei who blundered checkmate in a single in opposition to CU’s board 4 Aiyu Kamate in a very successful place.
Luckily, Macovei’s workforce rallied round him and notched yet one more 3-1 rating, this time surpassing the required 8.5 rating to win the match. Heralding to the remainder of the competitors, Schitco unleashed a string of sacrifices in opposition to Liu in spherical three.
Battered and bruised however combating all the way in which to the tip, CU, whose probabilities of qualifying for the playoffs had been lengthy gone, bowed out of the competitors with their hardest outcome but.
A puzzle-worthy tactic in Srivatshav-Kamate was the ultimate contact in what can solely be described as a complete efficiency by the UT Dallas squad.
Mizzou 12.5-3.5 SLU
The native derby between the second and third-placed SLU and Mizzou was anticipated to be a blockbuster spectacle. Nevertheless, void of one among their chief level scorers Bok (who as an alternative opted to commentate the day’s play for Chess.com), SLU suffered their heaviest defeat of the season.
From the get-go, Mizzou stamped their authority on the match, skipping out to a 3-1 lead as Oparin and Budisavljevic toppled WIM Sila Caglar and GM Robby Kevlishvili in a similar way, each successful a pawn and liquidating into easy endings.
A 2.5-1.5 rating within the second spherical pushed Mizzou to inside putting vary of an vital match victory although it was SLU’s GM Nikolas Theodorou who stole the present with a superb knight sacrifice that flipped his sport on its head.
As commentators Lee and Bok alluded to earlier than the match, blowout spherical scores had been to not be anticipated on this explicit matchup so it was surprising for all watching when Mizzou claimed the third spherical 3.5-0.5 and received the match with a spherical to spare.
Even the indomitable Theodorou was dispatched on this spherical by Antipov.
Extremely, this was Theodorou’s first lack of your entire season!
Regardless of reaching a 9-3 scoreline after three rounds, Mizzou didn’t take the pedal off the gasoline and left SLU rueing the choice to relaxation their board two. In what would’ve been the board Bok performed on within the closing spherical, Antipov as an alternative took on Kevlishvili’s Sicilian Protection.
His win, which included a chunk sacrifice for 2 pawns, was our Sport of the Day and has been analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao.
As per the match guidelines, the highest six groups will progress to the playoffs and play in a single-elimination bracket. Courtesy of ending first and second, UT Dallas and Mizzou will relaxation within the first spherical and take part for the semifinals.
Video games from the CCL might be discovered right here.
The 2023 SIG x Collegiate Chess League Predictions Problem is Right here!
Because the proud sponsor of the 2023 Collegiate Chess League, SIG has teamed up with Chess.com for the CCL Bracket Predictions Problem. The bracket prediction winner in every of the 23 divisions will obtain a prize valued at $100 USD or better courtesy of SIG!*
To enter, be sure you drop your predictions earlier than the playoff begin. Predictions will probably be locked at 11 a.m. Pacific / 2 p.m. Japanese on November 11, 2023, so don’t miss out!
Will SLU defend their title within the Premier division, or will darkish horses UTD win their first title? It is your flip to get entangled and present help to your favourite groups. Completely happy looking!
How To Take part
Click on the bracket hyperlinks above to go to the 2023 CCL prediction brackets. Make your predictions for every bracket in every of the 23 divisions to your greatest likelihood to win one among SIG’s prizes. Please do not forget to incorporate your e-mail in your entry in order that we are able to make sure you obtain your prize!
Winners will probably be notified by e-mail on the e-mail handle offered inside roughly 5 working days after the tip of the 2023 Collegiate Chess League.**
*One winner per bracket. No buy is critical to take part or win. Prizes can’t be transferred or redeemed for money.
**The award of the prize could also be topic to geographic limitations.
The CCL is the world’s premier on-line chess competitors for school college students and this season, it’s a workforce occasion that encompasses a $25,000 prize fund because of match sponsor SIG. With 5+2 video games making up the majority of the season, count on to see loads of pleasure on the board.
Earlier experiences:
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