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Croatia Bulldogs – Berlin Bears
After a tight and tough loss at the hands of the California Unicorns, in the second match of the season Croatia Bulldogs were paired against German-based team Berlin Bears, who lost their first match, as well, to the mighty Gotham Knights.
With potentially only two weeks remaining, both teams were very much hoping to bounce back with a victory and improve their chances of staying in the league for a bit longer and eventually making it all the way to the playoff. A very tense and interesting match followed which ultimately did end favourably for the Croatia Bulldogs!
Full report and highlights follow!
Team Lineups
After signing the Turkish nr.1 player GM Mustafa Yilmaz and including it in our lineup for the season, we increased our rating average compared to the previous week and came very close to the rating cap barrier of 2550 with an average team rating of 2543:
In return, our opponents decided to include a somewhat lower-rated lineup without their highest-rated player Anton Korobov, with an average rating of 2515:
Due to the fact that the opponent’s team average rating was somewhat lower than ours AND due to the fact that their lineup featured only two players with significant experience with online chess, I was quite optimistic about our chances before the match started, although it should go without saying that ratings and things “on paper” mean very little once it comes down to actual moves on the board.
Let’s review the action that unfolded on February 24th by checking some of the key moments/games from every round on a round-by-round basis.
Round 1
Josefine Heinemann – Deac Bogdan-Daniel
As usual, the action in the match started with the clashes of boards 1 and 4. Just like in the previous week, Deac Bogdan-Daniel faced the opponent’s board 4 with the Black pieces and employed a somewhat rare and outlandish opening – this time the Scandinavian. However, despite having a clearly worse position at some point, Deac managed to claw his way back to the game, take over the initiative, and then breakthrough with the help of a very nice exchange sacrifice:
Michael Bezold – Mustafa Yilmaz
On board 2, the new member and the debutant for the Croatia Bulldogs, Turkish nr.1 Mustafa Yilmaz immediately showed his worth by absolutely crushing the experienced board 3, GM Michael Bezold, with the Black pieces in just 25 moves:
Bardiya Danesvhar – Dmitrij Kollars
On board 3, the reigning Iranian champion Bardiya Daneshvar continued his very good form from the previous match by being on the better side of a very solid draw with their board 2, a young GM Dmitrij Kollars which was labeled by Levy Rozman and Hikaru Nakamura as arguably the strongest players on the Berlin Bears team (at least in this online rapid format):
Eline Roebers – Matthias Bluebaum
Finally, on board 4, Eline Roebers faced the reigning European Champion and a strong grandmaster Matthias Bluebaum. Even though she played the opening very well and obtained a very healthy and stable position, her opponent demonstrated his class by gradually outplaying her, thus scoring the only win of the round for the Bears:
Alas, despite this loss, the round could have definitely been regarded as a success for the Bulldogs, as we took a one-point lead with 2.5-1.5.
Round 2
Deac Bogdan-Daniel – Michael Bezold
Even though round 1 ended up with our success, a 1-point lead so early in the match can hardly be called decisive. However, in round 2 the Croatia Bulldogs really started running away with the match. On board 1, Deac had the White pieces against their board 3 Michael Bezold. The King’s Indian worked perfectly for the experienced opponent, but Deac demonstrated one characteristic trait of these 2700+ players – extreme resilience, even in bad positions. After a nice tactical trick (b4 and c5), he managed to take over and end the game with a very nice and picturesque checkmate:
Mustafa Yilmaz – Josefine Heinemann
On board 2, Mustafa Yilmaz continued playing in a very convincing manner, by scoring an extremely one-sided and simple-looking victory against WGM Josefine Heinemann:
Bardiya Daneshvar – Matthias Bluebaum
While the results on the first two boards could have been considered as “expected”, board 3 featured a major upset that definitely tipped the scales in our favour. After beating the Unicorn’s board 1 Ray Robson in the previous week, Bardiya Daneshvar continued demonstrating superb class by also dispatching the Bears board 1 and the reigning European Champion Matthias Bluebaum in a complicated struggle:
Dmitrij Kollars – Eline Roebers
The Bears managed to avoid a total collapse in round 2 due to Dmitrij Kollars, who scored a very nice win after Eline Roebers’ risky opening choice went somewhat wrong:
However, despite this victory against our board 4, the Bears found themselves trailing by 3 points (5.5-2.5) and at this point their situation seemed quite desperate, although the match was not yet completely over.
Round 3
Deac Bogdan-Daniel – Dmitrij Kollars
To an extent, round 3 was by far the most shocking in the entire match. Shortly after the round started I was invited to the official chess com broadcast of the event and at that exact moment, it seemed we are winning on all 4 boards and that the match will finish already after 3 rounds.
Alas, it was not to be. First – on board 1, Deac Bogdan-Daniel let Dmitrij Kollars escape a totally lost position, salvaging an important half-a-point:
Mustafa Yilmaz – Matthias Bluebaum
The turn of events on the second board was even more shocking. After obtaining a very one-sided position out of the opening, Mustafa Yilmaz continued his excellent play from the previous two rounds and managed to a piece. However, Bluebaum refused to go away and continued posing little problems. His resistance was rewarded when Mustafa made a big blunder under severe time pressure:
Bardiya Daneshvar – Josefine Heinemann
To his credit, Bardiya Daneshvar continued displaying impressive performance and easily beat the opponent’s board 4 with the help of a very nice and elegant tactical combination:
Michael Bezold – Eline Roebers
Equally shocking as Yilmaz-Bluebaum was the game between Eline Roebers and Michael Bezold. Eline played a fantastic game and obtained a totally dominating and won position. However, at a critical moment, under severe time pressure, she failed to follow up her (correct) exchange sacrifice with the best continuation, which allowed the opponent to exchange queens, and then lost control over the position:
Thus, instead of winning two games on boards 2 and 4 and essentially clinching the match, we did end up losing the round 2.5-1.5, which reduced the overall match score to “just” a two-point deficit for the Bears (7-5) and the final round had to be played to determine the final winner.
Round 4
Dmitrij Kollars – Mustafa Yilmaz
Even though we entered the round with a two-point margin and as big favourites, the final round turned out to be very nerve-wracking and tense (especially from the spectator’s viewpoint). Dmitrij Kollars managed to demonstrate his class and overcome the shaken Mustafa Yilmaz with the help of some very aggressive and tricky opening preparation:
Eline Roebers – Josefine Heinemann
Around the same time, in the clash of boards 4, Josefine Heinemann managed to obtain a winning position in a sharp Sicilian after Eline blundered and allowed her to open up the f-file with the decisive effect:
Bardiya Daneshvar – Michael Bezold
With these two wins, the Bears got the legitimate chance to achieve a comeback of miraculous proportions. However, just as the other two games were finishing, it was becoming more and more clear that there would be no comeback at all, as Bardiya continued his tremendous performance by obtaining a winning position against the opponent’s Dzindzi Indian and then converting the rook endgame in a very nice and precise fashion:
Matthias Bluebaum – Deac Bogdan-Daniel
Similarly, in the clash of boards 1, Deac managed to show his class by obtaining a better position with a monster knight on d3, which prompted his opponent to go for a desperate exchange sacrifice, for which he never got sufficient compensation:
Therefore, with the final result of 9-7, we managed to score the first victory of the season and ensure the prolongation of our journey in the Pro Chess League at least until week 4. Berlin Bears now face a tense match for elimination in their week 3 match of the season – and I sincerely wish them a lot of good luck and all the best in that critical encounter.
As for us, we will continue our journey and struggle for a place in the playoff stage against the mighty team Blitz led by Alexandar Grischuk and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the upcoming week.