Table of Contents
Croatia Bulldogs – Shangai Tigers
After scoring a remarkable victory against team Blitz in the week 3 of the Pro Chess League, Croatia Bulldogs were just one match victory away from reaching the playoff stage. Alas, on that path, we had to surmount a very difficult obstacle – the mighty Chinese team Shangai Tigers, led by the female World Chess Champion Ju Wenjun and former prodigy and top grandmaster Wei Yi.
The teams gathered on the International Women’s Day – 8th of March – to battle it out and determine who will proceed to the playoff stage.
Full match report follows.
Team Lineups
Unfortunately for us Bulldogs, we had to enter this match with a somewhat weakened lineup. Due to the fact both of our female players – Polina Shuvalova and Eline Roebers – were unable to participate, we were forced to introduce a last minute substitute for the female board in the form of Irene Sukandar – who graciously decided to step in in the very last minute and try to help the team!
This meant that our maximum allowed rating cap was reduced from 2550 to 2525. Therefore, the decision was made to play without our highest rated player Deac Bogdan-Daniel and to go with the two 2600+ players in the form of Mustafa Yilmaz and Vasif Durarbayli, as well as the league debitant, GM Ante Šarić. Thus the final lineup with the average rating of 2522 was:
On the other hand, the Shangai Tigers also decided to go with a somewhat curious lineup without some of the notable strong grandmasters such as Ni Hua or Zhang Zhong, but a lineup featuring the female World Chess Champion, Wei Yi and two young and arguably underrated players, as follows:
Even though the opponent’s rating was nominally lower than ours (2511), before the match they could have been probably considered as favourites, due to the fact that Ju Wenjun’s adjusted rating was more significantly reduced than Irene Sukandar’s – as well as to the fact that their young boards 3 and 4 could have been considered somewhat underrated.
However, Croatia Bulldogs were certainly not going to go under without a fight. Let’s take a look at the highlights of the action that unfolded on 8th of March!
Round by round coverage follows.
Round 1
Lou – Yilmaz
Even though Tigers could have been considered as a slight favourites, it didn’t look like that at all in the very first round of the match, as Bulldogs achieved one of the most remarkable round results in the entire season by achieveing an astounding result of 3.5 points!
First of all, Mustafa Yilmaz managed to score the first point for the Bulldogs by convincingly outplaying their board 4 with the Black pieces from a seemingly level position:
Šarić – Ju
Then, on the third board, GM Ante Šarić scored a fantastic positional victory in his debut in the league against the Women World’s Champion:
Xu – Durarbayli
While Šarić and Yilmaz were winning their games, Vasif Durarbayli made a very solid draw on board 2, despite having severe internet issues throughout this encounter:
Sukandar – Wei
Finally, the game on board 4 definitely tipped the scales in our favour, as it featured one of the biggest upsets in the entire Pro Chess League history. Another debutant in the league, IM Irene Sukandar, managed to swindle her way out of a very difficult position against the Chinese superstar Wei Yi and to score a remarkable upset victory:
IM @irene_sukandar fights back from a worse position and ultimately WINS vs. the Shanghai Tigers board one! 🤯#ProChess pic.twitter.com/rBrCkBNFD0
— ProChessLeague (@ProChessLeague) March 8, 2023
Therefore, round 1 ended up in an overwhelming +3 lead for the Bulldogs (3.5-0.5). And even though we were all aware that the match is far from over, it was hard not to get optimistic at this point and start thinking about an overall match victory.
Round 2
Yilmaz – Xu
Alas, our lead and optimism didn’t last for too long, as already in round 2 the Chinese team came back into the match and even took the lead by accomplishing a remarkable comeback sweep with the remarkable 4-0 score. It all started when Mustafa Yilmaz threw away a massive advantage in severe time trouble in his game against their board 3 Xu Yi:
“This man is the luckiest man alive!” (🎙️ @gmcanty)#ProChess pic.twitter.com/xcJlOK7HqD
— ProChessLeague (@ProChessLeague) March 8, 2023
Durarbayli – Lou
On board 2, something apparently went wrong with Vasif Durarbayli’s opening preparation as he ended up in a position with a clear piece down very early and never came close to coming back in the game:
Wei – Šarić
After his dramatic loss in round 1, Wei Yi showed his class by continuing to play on a very high level, as if nothing happened. After obtaining a very stable advantage in the opening, he continued squeezing Ante Šarić until the latter blundered, allowing a very nice tactical combination, winning the game and clinching another important point for the Tigers:
Ju – Sukandar
Finally, on board 4, Irene Sukandar handled Ju Wenjun’s Catalan very well and probably equalized at some point. Alas, the game kept going and Ju continued to have a nagging pressure, until Irene blundered a knight in a very difficult position:
Thus, after 2 rounds, the situation has changed by 180 degrees, as Bulldogs were the ones who found themselves trailing by one point, with the match score standing at 4.5-3.5.
Round 3
Wei – Durarbayli
Unfortunately for us, in round 3 Wei Yi continued scoring points for the Chinese team. In his game against Durarbayli, the Chinese super-GM opted for the Ruy Lopez, squeezed the opponent on the last three ranks and then simply won a pawn, retaining his positional pluses and providing his opponent zero chances for counterplay:
Ju – Yilmaz
On the other hand, Mustafa Yilmaz managed to recover from his terrible loss in the previous round and score a very important victory against Ju Wenjun, keeping our hopes alive:
Šarić – Lou
Unfortunately, we were not as fortunate on boards 3 and 4. GM Ante Šarić played a wonderful game against Lou Yiping and came very score to scoring a full point, but the Chinese IM managed to escape by the skin of his teeth and save a very important half-a-point for the Tigers:
Sukandar – Xu
On the other hand, board 4 saw another game go in the favour of Tigers as Irene Sukandar made a very unfortunate blunder of the full knight in a somewhat inferior and unpleasant position:
Therefore, after the third round, the Tigers have increased their lead to two points (7-5) and found themselves in a very comfortable and commanding position before the final round.
Round 4
Yilmaz – Wei
Alas, in round 4, the Tigers clinched the job without any problems. In the clash of boards 1, Wei Yi scored yet another victory by executing a perfect attack on Yilmaz’s king in a queenless middlegame:
GM Wei Yi! 💪 #ProChess pic.twitter.com/sOqvcBGgLc
— ProChessLeague (@ProChessLeague) March 8, 2023
Lou – Sukandar
Just as the game between Yilmaz and Wei Yi was finishing, the game of boards 4 between Yiping Liu and Irene Sukandar reached a position that was clearly better, virtually winning for the Chinese IM. Realizing that the team only needs half-a-point to clinch the match, he offered a draw which was duly accepted and the outcome of the match was basically decided:
Durarbayli – Ju
Alas, it turned out that Lou’s “precautionary” measure was not at all necessary, as in the clash of boards 2, Vasif Durarbayli suffered the third loss of the day at the hands of the Women’s World Champion:
Xu – Šarić
Last but not least, the crazy game between Xu and Šarić on board 3 also ended in a draw:
Thus, with the very convincing final score of 10-6, the Tigers achieved a remarkable comeback and reached a fully deserved place in the playoffs. As for the Bulldogs, we will have one more chance to do the same in week 5, where we will face another team with the 2-2 score – so stay tuned!
Lichess Study With All The Games:
Liches Study With Highlights:
My Video Recap with Highlights
Coming Soon