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A top-of-the-table clash between Saint Louis University (SLU) and The University of Texas Dallas (UT Dallas) saw SLU steal the match and ascend to first place in the 2023 Collegiate Chess League (CCL) on Saturday.
Powered by SIG, the matchup provided plenty of excitement, and in triple overtime, it was GM Benjamin Bok who was the hero for SLU, as he held Moldova’s GM Ivan Schitco to a draw and clinched match victory.
The University of Missouri (Mizzou) also re-affirmed their top-four position with a dominant 11-5 win over The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) team, who lost their top spot on the leaderboard with one round left to play. GMs Grigoriy Oparin and Mikhail Antipov, as well as IM Josiah Stearman, all managed to score 3/4, making it impossible for UTRGV to win the match.
Week six of the CCL will continue on November 4 at 2:00 p.m. ET / 19:00 CET / 11.30 p.m. IST.
UTRGV 5 – 11 Mizzou
Heading into Saturday’s matchup, UTRGV’s team led the tally in terms of game points scored across the competition (60) but were expected to be slowed by a stacked Mizzou team, comprised of three GMs and the hefty-rated IM Stearman.
Round one was a tight tussle and Mizzou managed to establish a 2.5-1.5 lead thanks to wins from Oparin and GM Luka Budisavljevic. UTRGV’s board one, GM Viktor Gazik, showed plenty of grit to pick up a win over Stearman, while IM Juraj Druska drew with Antipov.
Continuing his fine form, Gazik executed a scintillating attack against Budisavljevic in the second round. Though it was the sole win for his team, the brilliancy-riddled miniature was our deserving Game of the Day and has been analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao.
With the scoreline starting to look like a blowout in favor of Mizzou, UTRGV opted to play aggressively in the third round. However, a strong performance from Mizzou’s Stearman on board four quashed any realistic chance of a comeback.
Playing with the black pieces, Stearman took control of the center early in the Sicilian Defense: Four Knights Variation and completely overwhelmed Druska.
As his game drew to a close, Antipov was in the process of beating Gazik, while Oparin flagged IM Gleb Dudin in an equal endgame, thereby pushing Mizzou to a decisive total of 8.5 points. Round four may have been a dead rubber in terms of the match, but both teams fought tooth-and-nail until the end.
Gazik once again proved to be UTRGV’s most valuable player as he scored a win over Oparin from the white side of a closed Sicilian Defense. A further testament to the Slovakian GM, this was only Oparin’s second loss after 12 games this season.
Wins for Budisavljevic and Stearman and a draw between Antipov and Dudin left six points between the teams. For Mizzou, the additional match points may well be relevant in terms of their seeding ahead of the playoffs after six rounds. Currently, they sit in fourth position.
UT Dallas 12.5 – 14.5 SLU
The second matchup of the day panned out to be the most exciting of the CCL so far, with both teams duking it out over seven rounds to finally determine a winner. Prior to their clash with SLU, UT Dallas was unbeaten, and looking at their team lineup, it is easy to see why.
Despite having four GMs on their roster, including the likes of Schitco and GM David Brodsky, SLU is another team that is able to field four GMs, with their most prominent players being GM Nikolas Theodorou and Bok. In round six though, SLU’s lineup took a big hit as Theodorou was unavailable due to his participation in the 2023 FIDE Grand Swiss.
The match kicked off with a 2-2 draw, living up to the expectation that it would be a close match. However, in round two, it completely opened up when SLU won by a margin of 3.5-0.5! UT Dallas’ GMs fell one-by-one after each blundered away equal positions, with Bok being the first to strike against GM Rahul Srivatshav, in the following fashion.
WIM Sila Caglar, who was swapped in for Theodorou, held her own on board one against Brodsky as well, ensuring that SLU didn’t concede a game in the second round.
Another 2-2 draw in round three left the scores at 7.5-4.5 in favor of SLU and, just when it appeared that the famous chess university would storm home to a convincing victory, UT Dallas switched on. Like a phoenix from the ashes, the Texan team bounced out to a 3-0 lead in round four, with Schitco, Srivatshav, and GM Balaji Daggupati all managing to knock over their opponents like bowling pins.
On board three, Brodsky was also in the driver’s seat against SLU’s GM Robby Kevlishvili, and with one eye on the other games, the 21-year-old would have known that a win would secure victory for his team. Battling against the clock and a desperate Kevlishvili, winning looked like a surety for Brodsky… although another twist in the tale was still to come.
On move 60, Brodsky played the erroneous 60.Ka3?? and blundered into a threefold repetition! In disbelief, Kevlishvili found the combination immediately and sent the match into overtime.
A round of 3+2 games, then 1+2, could not split the teams, and it wasn’t until the scores were locked at 12-12 that SLU had a breakthrough. Wins for SLU’s Kevlishvili and GM Dambasuren Batsuren canceled out Daggupati’s win over Caglar, meaning that a draw on board one between Bok and Schitco would confirm a match win for SLU.
Bok opted to play the English Opening in an attempt to be solid but like in most bullet chess games, things got out of hand once the player’s clocks dipped below the 30-second mark. Having lost a piece in the middlegame, Bok put all his eggs in one basket and focused his efforts on his passed e-pawn.
In the heat of the moment, Schitco played 31…Be6??, allowing Bok to riposte with 32.Qd6! and win his piece back. Once in an opposite-colored bishop endgame, the SLU board one cruised to a draw and settled the final match score of 14.5-12.5.
The final week of the CCL’s round-robin stage will take place next Saturday and all eight teams will be playing for a spot in the top six. Make sure you tune in from 2:00 p.m. ET to support your favorite college team!
Games from the CCL can be found here.
The CCL is the world’s premier online chess competition for college students and this season, it is a team event that features a $25,000 prize fund thanks to tournament sponsor SIG. With 5+2 games making up the bulk of the season, expect to see plenty of excitement on the board.
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