Croatia Bulldogs – Saint Louis Arch Bishops
After losing a tense match against Shangai Tigers in week 4 of the Pro Chess League and missing the first opportunity to qualify for the playoffs, Croatia Bulldogs would get one more (and final) chance to do so in week 5 of the Pro Chess League. Alas, the task would not be any easier than the last week, since in this must-win situation, we faced the three-time champions of the entire league, the mighty Saint Louis Archbishops, spearheaded by one of the best chess players in the world – GM Fabiano Caruana.
This do-or-die situation for both teams resulted in one of the tensest, most nerve-wracking, and most dramatic matches I have ever witnessed in the Pro Chess League.
The full match report follows.
Team Lineups
In this crucial match, Croatia Bulldogs decided to send the same lineup that brought us the sweet and dramatic victory against team Blitz, as follows:
On the other hand, our opponents decided to do the same and send the very same lineup that brought them victory in their week 4 match:
The team ratings were very much equal (2581 vs 2567 in Bulldogs favour unadjusted, or 2545 vs 2550 in our opponent’s favour adjusted), in my head the Bishops could have been considered as a slight pre-match favourites. Not only because they were led by Fabiano Caruana, but also because GMs Bok and Theorodou are very experienced online players and “blitz specialists”. Last but not least, FM Alice Lee has been playing tremendously the entire season and I was secretly afraid of how she might impact the match – and rightfully so (although I am getting ahead of myself).
On the other hand, our match vs team Blitz demonstrated we don’t necessarily have to fear the very best players in the world and throughout the entire season our team was very much competitive in every single match. Thus, a close and tense match with a lot of twists and turns, ups and downs could have been expected – although what happened on that fateful Thursday afternoon exceeded even the wildest expectations.
A round-by-round report follows.
Round 1
Shuvalova – Caruana
As customary for the Pro Chess League – in the first round of the match, we saw the clashes of the respective team’s boards 1 and 4. For Saint Louis, this matchup went “as expected” since their board 1 Fabiano Caruana managed to score a convincing victory against our board 4 Polina Shuvalova with the help of some nice tactics:
Lee – Bogdan-Daniel
On the other hand, the clash between our board 1 Deac Bogdan-Daniel and our opponent’s board 4 FM Alice Lee didn’t quite go as we wanted. Before the match, I was a little bit afraid of the capabilities of the young 13-year-old talent as she has been enjoying quite a good season so far:
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Even though Deac managed to outplay his opponent and obtain a clearly won position at some point, at some point he misplayed it and lost most of his advantage:
Even though he was quite okay after that, in the resulting time trouble his opponent managed to pose concrete problems and score a remarkable upset victory:
Theodorou – Inđić
The clash between Theodorou and Inđić was another game that announced that Croatia Bulldogs will not be favored by Caissa on that fatal Thursday. Inđić nicely outplayed the opponent with the Black pieces, but lacked nerves/precision in the tricky technical endgame, allowing Theodorou to save an important crucial half-a-point:
Bardiya – Bok
Last but not least, Bardiya Daneshvar’s first-round game against Benjamin Bok was very customary for the Iranian’s star first-round games this season – solid opening with White, some small pull in the middlegame, good defence by the opponent, and a fair draw. Although the resulting pawn endgame was anything but “routine”:
Thus, after the first round, we already found ourselves trailing by two points (3-1). The match initiative was definitely in our opponents’ hands, although the match was far from over – as the subsequent rounds would demonstrate.
Round 2
Caruana – Daneshvar
In round 2, Fabiano Caruana continued on his warpath by scoring a nice victory with the White pieces over Bardiya Daneshvar. Even though his opening left something to be desired, he nevertheless managed to outplayed the Iranian in the complex middlegame and score another point for the Saint Louis Arch Bishops:
Deac – Theodorou
On the other hand, Deac Bogdan-Daniel managed to recover from his first-round shock against FM Alice Lee by scoring an important victory against Saint Louis’ board 3 Nikolas Theodorou. Even though he was winning almost directly out of the opening, the game became very complicated at some point, until the Greek GM made the final blunder:
Inđić – Lee
Alice Lee’s game against Deac Bogdan-Daniel was surely one of the biggest upsets in the entire Pro Chess League. But in the second round she was to face another very strong grandmaster. Surely, she couldn’t be expected to pull yet another miracle?
Well, even thought she did not win the game – she did come incredibly close. After a complicated opening battle, she stood somewhat better, but Inđić gradually outplayed here. However, at the crucial moment, he made several mistakes and allowed Lee to obtain a clearly won technical position:
By some miracle, Alice didn’t manage to convert to a full-point.
But starting with 1.5/2 against the opponent’s boards 1 and 2 was huge for Saint Louis and definitely one of the key contributors to their overall match victory.
Bok – Shuvalova
Last, but not least, the game between Benjamin Bok and Polina Shuvalova was also quite crazy. Bok decided to go for a very creative idea against Polina’s Semi-Tarrasch, with some attacking prospects on the kingside. However, Polina defended well and put a big question mark on Bok’s play. Alas, at some decisive moments, she hesitated to take the offered material and decided to be more solid, which was sufficient for equality – but not for more:
Thus, after round 2, Saint Louis managed to preserve their 2 point-lead (5-3) and retain the commanding position in the match.
Round 3
Lee – Daneshvar
Despite Saint Louis’ huge lead, we weren’t yet ready to go away and round 3 saw a huge battle that almost resulted in a sensational comeback. First, Bardiya Daneshvar finally put an end to Alice Lee’s good run by scoring a very convincing victory with the Black pieces:
Theodorou – Shuvalova
While Bardiya was winning his game, it appeared that Polina Shuvalova would do the same, as she obtained a completely won position against Nikolas Theodorou’s Catalan. However, in time trouble, she failed to find the best way to continue, allowed the opponent some counterplay and then settled for a draw with seconds on a clock in a position where she is still pretty much winning:
Inđić – Caruana
Even more misfortune awaited us in the game between Inđić and Caruana. The Serbian nr. 1 played a fantastic game and completely outplayed the former World Chess Championship Challenger. However, the win was never easy and at the crucial moment, he went for a hasty queen maneuver:
Even though the resulting position was still equal, Inđić ended up losing the plot and the game. This game was one of the pivotal games of the entire match – had Inđić won this game, we would have entered the last round with an equal score. Alas, Caissa decreed otherwise.
Deac – Bok
To be fair, we did have some luck in this round, since Deac Bogdan-Daniel managed to beat Benjamin Bok while the latter overlooked a simple tactic in time trouble in a drawn position (which he defended extremely well up to that point):
Alas, due to the unfortunate ending of the Inđić game, Saint Louis Arch Bishops retained their 2-point lead going into the final round – and the outcome of the match was seemingly decided.
Round 4
Bok – Inđić
Alas, very early in round 4 it became clear that there will be no comeback, as Inđić – probably tilted from the previous games of the day – run intro trouble very early in the opening and never really got into the game:
Caruana – Deac
In the clash of boards 1, Fabiano Caruana managed to complete the perfect score (4/4) with the help of a nice positional exchange sacrifice:
Daneshvar – Theodorou
The situation could have been even worse for the Bulldogs as Bardiya Daneshvar was also losing at some point in his game against Nikolas Theodorou, but by some miracle he managed to establish a fortress and save the game:
Shuvalova – Lee
Last but not least – Polina Shuvalova managed to score a consolation point against Alice Lee, but it was too late to change the outcome of the match:
Thus, Saint Louis Arch Bishops ended up winning the match with 9-7 and qualifying for the playoffs, while simultaneously ending up our season. It is hard to shake the underlying feeling that we ran out of luck in this match and that the final result doesn’t necessarily reflect the events that happened on the board. But then again – which chess event does?
In the end, the result is the only thing that matters and Saint Louis Arch Bishops were more successful this time. I wish them all the luck in the playoffs! As for us, we are going to a deserved break and will be looking forward to returning even stronger the very next season. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate my players and thank them for a very professional and good performance in the season. I would also like to thank chess.com for organizing this event and to their staff for ensuring that everything was running smoothly and like a clockwork.
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