The University of Chicago (UChicago) booked their first win of the season over the University of Virginia (UVA) by a margin of 11-5, with GM Praveen Balakrishnan’s 4/4 and GM Awonder Liang’s 3/4 all but securing the match for their team.

Week four of the CCL will begin on October 14 at 2:00 p.m. ET / 20:00 CEST / 11.30 p.m. IST.

With the CCL fall season now well and truly underway, fans are able to get a clearer picture as to which teams will be likely to progress to the six-team playoffs commencing in November. UTD and Saint Louis University have both started perfectly while Mizzou has scored two wins and one narrow loss. For the remaining teams, every 5+2 game will make a difference in separating them from the pack.

Mizzou 7 – 9 UTD

Mizzou has been an indomitable force in the CCL’s fall season thus far but faced its first significant speed bump in UTD on Saturday. With both teams boasting lineups including three GMs and an IM, the match looked even on paper. Given Mizzou board one GM Mikhail Antipov’s performances in recent weeks, it was likely that UTD would need several of their players to step up.

As expected, the teams were neck and neck in the early stages of the match and the points were split 2-2 in round one after four decisive games. Pressured by low time, IM Andrei Macovei missed a golden opportunity to make it 3-1 for UTD against GM Luka Budisavljevic, who scrupulously converted when Macovei slipped.

Round two produced three more decisive games and the first draw of the match, allowing UTD to post a one-point advantage at the halfway mark. The board ones for both teams, Goustav and Antipov, were able to live up to their seeding and score crucial wins for their teams. 

The key game of the round though was GM Rahul Srivatshav’s victory over GM Raja Harshit, where the UTD board four venomously struck with black in the aptly named Sicilian Defense: Four Knights, Cobra Variation.

With the match still in the balance, the pre-season title hopefuls Mizzou looked to equalize the scores but instead slumped to a 3-1 loss in round three. Antipov, Harshit, and IM Josiah Stearman fell while Budisavljevic chalked up the sole victory for his team.

Surging to his third straight victory, Koustav played imaginatively on the white side of the Nimzo-Indian Defense and confirmed victory over a struggling Harshit in 27 moves. Though the game was short and void of any singular flashes of brilliance, it showcased how to punish small errors made by even the strongest players. Our Game of the Day has been analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao. 

Form-wise, UTD’s dominant performance implied that they would procure the single point required to win the match in round four however things almost went awry early as Antipov and and Harshit confirmed wins for Mizzou on the top boards. Antipov-Koustav was a tense battle and the final position, which resulted in Koustav’s only loss, showed the Indian GM with two queens but unable to stop checkmate!

UTD’s depth eventually got them over the line though as Srivatshav and GM Ivan Shitco were able to win and draw respectively, confirming a 9-7 scoreline between the two season frontrunners.

UChicago 11 – 5 UVA

Tough pairings in weeks one and two for UChicago and UVA (both teams lost to Mizzou) left them outside of the top six going into their week three match. On paper, UChicago was the heavy favorite thanks to their two GMs, Awonder Liang, and Balakrishnan, while UVA’s best chance lay in-depth alongside their not-so-secret weapon, the underrated FM Jason Morefield on board one.

UChicago fulfilled their favorite status in round one with a 3-1 victory, with wins for Liang, Balakrishnan, and ominously, Kole Moses over UVA’s board one Morefield. Liang managed to steal the show despite the upset as he played 1…Na6, known as the Lemming Defense, before wasting three further tempi moving his knight backward and forwards.

Commentator Joe Lee would later state: “I think Awonder (Liang) woke up and chose violence today.”

“After four moves I have no weaknesses in my position…” 🧠

Awonder Liang explains his 1…Na6 2…Nb8 3…Na6 4…Nb8 opening! #CCL pic.twitter.com/bcnTchJPbd

— CollegiateChessLeague (@CollegiateChess) October 7, 2023

Round two was the most equal matchup of the day and each result fell the way of the rating favorite. Balakrishnan, who was the only player to secure a perfect score in week three, produced a brilliant final move against UVA’s Jason Briegel that was reminiscent of the famous “Gold Coins Game”, albeit, not quite as spectacular.

Balakrishnan showed intent to maintain perfection when he chose to play the Modern Defense in round three, goading Morefield into castling queenside and letting tactics decide the game.

Meanwhile on board one, Liang played the rarely seen Australian Defense and then decided to waste a few more tempi at the start of his game against NM Owen McCoy. The American prodigy only managed a draw in his game but a 2.5-1.5 team score left UChicago a win away from a match victory.

A grandmaster-level opening! https://t.co/GxVOnJ5gkC #CCL pic.twitter.com/XDbfk67BAR

— CollegiateChessLeague (@CollegiateChess) October 7, 2023

UChicago did not hold back in the final round of the day, adding 3.5-0.5 to take the match with a convincing 11-5 scoreline. Morefield was the only member from UVA that was able to hold a draw and impressively, that was against Liang.

For UChicago, the match win was a much-needed bounce back after a tough start while for UVA, the 0-2 start leaves them with a lot of work to do in order to qualify for the playoffs later in the year.

All Games | Week Three

The CCL is the premier online chess competition for college students. The CCL Fall Season is a team event that started on September 23 and features a $25,000 prize fund.

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