Faultless Theodorou Cements Top Spot For SLU, UTRGV Conquers Yale

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) and Saint Louis University (SLU) convincingly won their matchups against Yale University and The University of Chicago (UChicago), respectively, in the fourth week of the SIG-sponsored 2023 Collegiate Chess League (CCL) fall season on Saturday.

A perfect performance by SLU's GM Nikolas Theodorou and a 3.5/4 score for GM Dambasuren Batsuren brought 50 game points for the season for SLU and added to a 10-6 victory over the GM Awonder Liang-led Chicago team.

UTRGV's IM Ekin Ozenir was also faultless, and his run included wins against Yale's boards one and two, GM Nico Checa and NM Linden Lee. His team was able to defeat Yale by a 12-4 deficit.

The round-robin stage of the CCL will continue on October 21 at 2:00 p.m. ET / 20:00 CEST / 11.30 p.m. IST.

• UTRGV 12 - 4 Yale
• UChicago 6 - 10 SLU 

Following Saturday's proceedings, all teams have completed either three or four round-robin matches. Therefore, it's starting to become clear which teams are well-positioned to finish in the top six and progress through to the playoffs.

Sitting atop the leaderboard with four match wins apiece are SLU and The University of Texas Dallas, who have all but secured their playoff spots, while UTRGV and The University of Missouri's 2/3 match wins mean that they'll likely also make the cut. For Yale, who slumped to their third loss in four matches, it will be a sprint to the finish against Columbia University and The University of Virginia to avoid elimination.

UTRGV 12 - 4 Yale 

UTRGV is undoubtedly the most well-rounded team on paper in the top division, and consistent performances across all four boards against Yale left their struggling opponents with little chance to work their way into the match.

Against four IMs and a team average blitz rating of 2720, Yale's board one, Checa, needed to post a dominant score if his team was to have a chance of winning the match, though the opposite occurred.

In the ultimate showing of UTRGV's depth, their board four, IM Tianqi Wang, was able to knock over Checa with the white pieces in round one and push them out to a 3-1 lead. Turkiye's Ozenir also dispatched Yale's board two Lee in ominous signs for the Connecticut-based team.

Round two was another landslide victory in favor of UTRGV, and Lee was the only player able to score a point for his team. While IMs Juraj Druska and Jakub Fus were able to dispatch their untitled opponents, it was Ozenir who once again came through for his team and served Checa his second loss.

Having opened up a 6-2 margin after two rounds, UTRGV looked to be running away with the match, and despite Yale's best effort coming in round three, a 1.5-2.5 defeat gave UTRGV the 8.5 points required to take the match.

Although the final round was a dead rubber, UTRGV drove home their superiority with a 3.5-0.5 score. Druska dealt Checa a final blow, and the 21-year-old GM joined his boards three and four on scores of 0.5/4. Lee's 2.5/4 proved to be a beacon of hope for Yale's season after a disappointing match.

UChicago 6 - 10 SLU

SLU has gone from strength to strength so far in the group stage, and the "stacked" team of GMs was still able to fashion a 10-6 win over UChicago without one of their top players, GM Robby Kevlishvili, who was busy playing none other than GM Hikaru Nakamura at the 2023 Qatar Masters.

The first two rounds were smooth sailing for SLU and thanks to two 3-1 scores, they bounced out to a 6-2 lead. Board three Batsuren was the hero for his team in the early stages as he managed to overcome GM Praveen Balakrishnan and Liang in consecutive games.

The game against Balakrishnan saw the Mongolian GM clutch up in an endgame where the evaluation teetered between winning and equal, and the result set the tone for the rest of the match. This game is a fitting pick for our Game of the Day, which has been annotated by GM Dejan Bojkov, and will be added shortly.

Rattled by his round-two loss, Liang rose like a phoenix from the ashes and won his third-round game against GM Benjamin Bok by playing his most orthodox opening yet, the Reti Opening: Dutch Variation (with the black pieces). Liang carved a path to an imbalanced endgame where his knight and rook were able to outmaneuver White's rook and bishop.

FM Kapil Chandran was also feeling inspired and scored a second win for UChicago, but Balakrishnan and Kole Moses couldn't defeat their GM opponents, and the points were split 2-2.

On the cusp of victory, SLU sought to play solidly in order to pick up the half-point required to get to 8.5. On board one, Theodorou demonstrated that he had been keeping an eye on Liang's opening shenanigans in previous weeks and copied the prodigy's aimless knight bouncing. Unable to take a draw without conceding team defeat, Liang played on but eventually lost after a 52-move struggle.

A 2-2 victory sealed the match for SLU who moved to 10-6 and tightened their grip at the top of the leaderboard. In the postmatch interview, Theodorou was reminded that the three opponents awaiting SLU were the second-, third-, and fourth-placed teams (UT Dallas, UTRGV, and Mizzou), to which he claimed that SLU are the "favorites" and that other teams would "need to step it up" if they are to contest the leaders.

Next week the showdown between UTRGV and SLU will go a long way in deciding which team finishes first in the group stage, However, arguably more interesting will be observing which teams can get themselves out of the bottom two as desperation kicks in.

All Games | Week Four

The CCL is the premier online chess competition for college students. The CCL Fall Season is a team event that started on September 23 and features a $25,000 prize fund.

Previous reports:

• UTD Defeats Mizzou In Top-Of-Table Clash, Liang Thrills For UChicago
• Antipov Perfect In Mizzou's Dominant Victory Over UChicago
• Bok, Oparin Star As 2023 Collegiate Chess League Launches
• Major Boost For Collegiate Chess League As SIG Signs For New Season
• Register For The Collegiate Chess League Fall 2023 Season