'Oh Yes My Queen' Sweep 'Check De India' 2-0, Progress To Final Vs. 'Ratata Spanish Squad'

Contrary to IM Levy Rozman's prediction the day before, IM Eric Rosen and WGM Nemo Zhou (Oh Yes My Queen) swept IM Sagar Shah and IM Tania Sachdev (Check De India) 2-0 in the 2024 Team Chess Battle 2 Semifinals. Game one was the critical stage of the match, where they won with the black pieces, and Check De India didn't manage to crack the Four Knights Scotch with the black pieces in the second game.

The Final, Oh Yes My Queen against Ratata Spanish Squad (GM Pepe Cuenca and IM David Martinez) will be on Friday, October 18, starting at 3:00 p.m. ET / 21:00 CEST / 0:30 IST (on October 19). 

Team Chess Battle 2 Bracket

Oh Yes My Queen 2-0 Check De India

As Sagar explained, it's impossible to trash-talk a team that has Rosen on it ("He's the sweetest guy out there," said Sagar). He also added,  "I have been beaten by both Eric and Nemo before. By Eric in a match, by Nemo over the board, so I am banking on Tania to provide me with the support!" Tania chimed in, "Sagar, come on, we need a bit more trash talk from you right now!"

The previous day, Rozman predicted that Check De India would win this match 2-0. Rosen, having a chance to set the record straight, said that he typed the "lol emoji" into chat at the time and the team had no further reactions. He did add that he just hoped the fire alarm wouldn't go off again, even if it signified that they were "cooking" their opponents.

Eric Rosen explains why his fire alarm went off: "It was because we cooked our last opponent so hard."#TeamChess pic.twitter.com/IXpigOvwgz

— chess24 (@chess24com) October 17, 2024

The match really came down to game one as Check De India didn't get any chances in the second. It was a convincing victory for Oh Yes My Queen the day before their final encounter.

Just as they did in game two of the previous day, Check De India ambitiously castled queenside with the white pieces in a Queen's Gambit Declined—even if it wasn't the same variation. In a sharp, opposite-sides castling middlegame, it was Nemo who found two key moves: 18.Rad8! (something White missed) and 20.b6?, a move that objectively is a mistake but elicited a blunder from their opponents on the next move.

Rosen had already seen the potential tactic in advance, and 20...Rd2?? allowed the killer 21...Nxf4! causing the white position to collapse.

Check De India now needed to win on demand with the black pieces. Tania said they didn't have much choice in the matter: "For us, it's just one result that matters now, right? So we have to try and take as many chances as we get." As for Oh Yes My Queen, Rosen shared that their game plan wouldn't change: just play good chess moves. 

The opening, the Four Knights Scotch, didn't give Black much hope to play for an advantage. Playing the Scotch was Rosen's idea, concocted the knight before, and indeed Tania revealed that when her team played 1.e4 e5 they expected a Spanish Game instead. Tania concluded that the real mistakes were in game one, not two: "If you ask what went wrong, I think it was more in game one than in game two because it's already very difficult to play for a win with Black in this line."

If you ask what went wrong, I think it was more in game one than in game two because it's already very difficult to play for a win with Black in this line.

—Tania Sachdev

Oh Yes My Queen agreed with this assessment, and it was only White who could win after the opening. After entering a notoriously dry opening line, Black attempted to deviate with 11...d4?, but this move only gave White a free hand on the kingside. Even if there were more direct ways to win, Oh Yes My Queen never lost the advantage from there:

Circling back to address Rozman's prediction, anticipating a 2-0 sweep but in the opposite direction, Rosen said: "Sometimes Levy isn't always right... He's a friend of mine and I respect his ability to try and predict, and sometimes people get it wrong."

Sometimes Levy isn't always right.

—Eric Rosen

It's the end of the road for Check De India, who split a $1,250 prize, but the players stood up for each other even to the final minutes. Sagar thanked Tania for being on his team, "I want to end this with a big thank you for Tania because if it were not for her I would have never played this... thank you, Tania, for choosing me as a teammate and I had a lot of fun," and Tania responded similarly:

I don't think I would have done this with anyone but Sagar and I'm really glad that we had fun playing. We don't play online so much, so this was an amazing experience and today clearly Nemo and Eric were the better team and we wish them the best for the Finals.

There's just one match left and that's the Final with Ratata Spanish Squad. Nemo admitted that Rosen's done most of the preparation for their team, and he said he's watched all of his opponents' matches. The challenge with this one is that the opponents commentate in Spanish, a language he doesn't speak, but he'll have to come prepared anyway. 

You can share your opinions in the comments below. Who will be the better team on Friday? Oh Yes My Queen or the Ratata Spanish Squad?

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:

• 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