Saint Louis University Records 15-1 Win Over Prague; Webster Rules In Overtime

The Saint Louis and Webster University teams ascended to the top of the 2024 Collegiate Chess League (CCL) leaderboard after winning their second-week matchups in contrasting styles. SLU relished a landslide 15-1 victory over the Prague University of Economics and Business (PUEB) in which three players, GMs Nikolas Theodorou, Benjamin Bok, and Dambasuren Batsuren all scored 4/4.

Webster, who is considered one of the favorites to finish first this season, required overtime to knock over the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and won 10.5-9.5, courtesy of a 4.5/5 performance from GM Yasser Quesada Perez.

The CCL will take a one-week break next week before continuing on Saturday, February 10, 2024 at 2 p.m. ET/20:00 CET/0:30 a.m. IST.

Collegiate Chess League - Week 2 Standings

• Record-Breaking Riot: SLU 15-1 PUEB
• Close Calls: Webster 10.5-9.5 UTRGV

Record-Breaking Riot: SLU 15-1 PUEB

SLU picked up right where they left off in week one with another commanding match win, this time serving up a near-perfect performance against their European opponents, PUEB. Commentator WFM Anna Cramling suggested after the 15-1 drubbing that SLU might be on track to defend their 2023 crown, labeling them as "future winners".

Boasting a team of four GMs, the biggest surprise in the first round was not the 3.5-0.5 scoreline, but the Herculean effort by PUEB's FM Marek Karas to hold GM Robby Kevlishvili to a draw while under serious time pressure.

Mutual middlegame magic by Kevlishvili and his second-round opponent FM Petr Hollan led to the only other blip on SLU's scorecard as they virtually wrapped up the match after two rounds.

For SLU's top two players, Theodorou and Bok, the match almost seemed like a competition between the two to see who could rack up the most brilliant moves. Selecting a pièce de résistance among the best moves was a difficult task and so, we would love to hear which move you enjoyed the most out of the following two...

While SLU's greatest challenges are in front of them, namely the famous Webster chess team and UTRGV, they have truly announced their title defense in style. Cramling further highlighted this, stating: "The whole team just looks so organized, so coordinated and so strong, every single one of them."

Close Call: Webster 10.5-9.5 UTRGV

The second match of the day panned out completely differently from the first, coming right down to the wire. Featuring GMs Aram Hakobyan, Harsha Bharathakoti, Perez, and IM Anna Sargsyan, Webster's team is one of the strongest on paper however next to UTRGV's two GM and two IM lineup, overtime being required to produce a winner was not surprising.

A 2-2 draw in round one kicked off the match, with Perez and GM Viktor Gazik leading the way with smooth wins for their respective teams. Gazik, who had a rough start to the season, looked right at home on the black side of an Alekhine's Defense: Exchange Variation and outplayed Webster's board four.

2-2 was the score once again in the second round and this time four decisive results occurred. The key game for UTRGV was on board one, where IM Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux upset Hakobyan in a wild Caro-Kann Defense.

As the rounds flew by, the players became more desperate to fight for wins and the chess, in turn, took an unusual turn. Perez benefitted the most from the unorthodox positions that arose and even managed to defeat Gazik after placing his king on d7 in the opening.

Anna: "What is this king doing on d7? That is the question of the year!"#CCL pic.twitter.com/2AGR5T6JJD

— CollegiateChessLeague (@CollegiateChess) January 27, 2024

Webster and UTRGV fought tooth and nail in rounds three and four but both wound up on 8-8 at the end of the regulation rounds. With Perez firing on all cylinders for Webster and Rodrigue-Lemieux keeping pace, the match eventually came down to the showdown between Gazik and Hakobyan on board one.

While Gazik was able to build an early advantage with White in the Scotch Game: Schmidt Variation, Hakobyan muddied the waters and eventually came out on top. Our Game of the Day, analyzed by GM Dejan Bojkov, is below.

After two weeks of play, only three teams remain unbeaten; SLU, Webster, and the University of Missouri. With a $25,000 prize fund bragging rights on the line, expect to see some of the highest quality college chess played over the next few months.

The Collegiate Chess League is the premier online chess competition for college students. The 2024 CCL Spring Season is a team event starting January 20 at 2 p.m. ET/20:00 CET/0:30 a.m. IST and featuring a $25,000 prize fund.

Previous reports:

• Webster Scores Debut Victory vs. Athens As 2024 Collegiate Chess League Begins
• Registrations Open For The Collegiate Chess League Spring 2024 Season