Undefeated Ratata Spanish Squad Win Team Chess Battle 2

GM Pepe Cuenca and IM David Martinez, also known as the Ratata Spanish Squad, defeated IM Eric Rosen and WGM Nemo Zhou (Oh Yes My Queen) 1.5-0.5 in the 2024 Team Chess Battle 2 Final. They earn $3,500 and bragging rights, while the runner-up team splits $2,500. 

The rook endgame in game one was the turning point of the match. After winning what started as an equal endgame there, the Spanish commentators fended off a dangerous-looking attack in the second game and secured the title.

Team Chess Battle 2 Bracket

Ratata Spanish Squad 1.5-0.5 Oh Yes My Queen

The formidable team Oh Yes My Queen had won every game, without a single draw, on its way to reaching the Final. The Spanish Squad may have let a single draw slip in the Semifinals, but they also hadn't lost a single game in their previous two matches.

The teams were cordial and there was essentially no trash-talking. Instead, they talked about how well they worked together and hoped that their team synergy would bring home the title. Cuenca explained his dynamic with Martinez, saying that the latter spotted decisive tactical blows: "I try to play the positional moves and he tries to finish the job."

I try to play the positional moves and he tries to finish the job.

—Pepe Cuenca

Nemo, on the other hand, explained that her team has been preparing quite seriously for these matches—and playing training games. "We've been doing a decent amount of training outside of these matches," she said, listing formidable sparring partners such as GMs Gata Kamsky and GM Illya Nyzhnyk. Rosen explained his partner's strength: "Nemo is really good at finding these super-aggressive, intuitive, like tactical moves and that's, I think, one of my weak spots."

Nemo is really good at finding these super-aggressive, intuitive, like tactical moves and that's, I think, one of my weak spots.

—Eric Rosen

After winning the rook endgame in game one, the Spanish Squad drew by threefold repetition instead of winning with an extra piece. It could very well have been 2-0 if they wanted it, but a draw was enough.

Martinez explained afterward that the first game ended up being, for his team, the most important one in the entire event. Because they won it, they could secure the match with just a draw in the second game.

It was a sharp Queen's Gambit Declined Ragozin Variation where Black (Oh Yes My Queen) expanded on the kingside with ...h6 and ...g5 to take space, at the risk of their own king safety. In an exception to the rule, it was White with the uncastled king who was better than the side that did castle.

Oh Yes My Queen ultimately fought their way back into the game, and they reached an equal rook endgame after Nemo found the nice 24...Bxd3 25.Rxd3 Nf5. Cuenca said his team would have been satisfied with a draw: "I think it was even risky for us, that rook endgame, we basically couldn't move anything," but after 46.Red6, "suddenly we saw this idea with e5 and the king is cut on the g-file so probably it's already tricky for them... It looks, at least in practice, very difficult for Black." 

Although the computer still finds a draw for Black, Ratata Spanish Squad thought they were better during the game, and they managed to prove it. Few players are as expressive as Cuenca, and in the clip below, his infectious excitement is as loud as a storm. You can watch the critical moment from their perspective:

You can click through the full game below at your own pace. We begin at the critical moment of 47.e5!?, where Black could still have saved the game with a perpetual check.

Team Oh Yes My Queen was in a must-win situation in the next game. Rosen was optimistic since his team managed to create a dynamic game: "Given the fact that this game was an interesting fight, hopefully we can have another interesting fight and create some winning chances." Echoing GM Magnus Carlsen's famous quote of "Too weak, too slow," he concluded that "Better and faster sounds like a good strategy."

Better and faster sounds like a good strategy.

—Eric Rosen

Just like in the previous match, the side that needed to win incorrectly predicted the opening. Rosen said that he didn't check 1.e4 e5 and, instead, only prepared for the Sicilian Defense. We got an Italian Game instead.

Martinez praised his partner's judgment in the middlegame, realizing that White's kingside attack after 13.Nf5 Nxf5 was only illusory: "Really, Pepe understood well the position. The pawn on f5 is not so dangerous because the knight is very far from the kingside. and then I think really now our position is good after taking on f5."

Instead of 13.Nf5, IM Kassa Korley pointed out on the broadcast that 13.Bxe6 was much better for White and, in fact, it was their only objective chance in the game. 

Nemo explained that White's attack never quite panned out: "We had so many things to defend while we were trying to attack." Ratata Spanish Squad found a nice combination to end the game, temporarily sacrificing the queen only to have her reborn:

This concludes the second edition of Team Chess Battle! 

Leave a comment below: which was your favorite match and why?

Team Chess Battle is an event where two-player teams can freely communicate while facing other teams in a series of rapid chess games. Eight teams of two players each compete in a single-elimination bracket. Matches consist of two games (the Final is a four-game match) with a 15+10 time control. The event goes from October 7 to October 18 and features a $10,000 prize fund.

Previous coverage:

• Semifinals: 'Oh Yes My Queen' Sweep 'Check De India' 2-0, Progress To Final Vs. 'Ratata Spanish Squad'
• Quarterfinals: 'Check De India' Win Armageddon Vs. 'Team Swole,' Will Face 'Oh Yes My Queen' In Semis
• Semifinals: Ratata Spanish Squad Eliminate Cramlings, Advance To Final
• Quarterfinals: Ratata Spanish Squad Outclass ChessDojo, Progress To Semifinal Match Vs. Cramlings
• Quarterfinals: Team 'Oh Yes My Queen' Wins With Queen Trap Vs. 'Dandinavian,' Advance To Semifinals
• Quarterfinals: Mother-Daughter Duo Overcome Team ChessKid, Advance To Semifinals
• Team Chess Battle Is Back With Levy Rozman, Anna Cramling, James Canty, And Other Celebrities