PRO Chess League Quarterfinals: China, Saint Louis Advance To Finals
The China Pandas and Saint Louis Arch Bishops have advanced to the PRO Chess League Finals in Norway at ChessParty2020.
The Live PRO Chess League Finals will be held in Oslo, Norway from May 22-24 at the Oslofjord Convention Center in Sandefjord. The Pandas and the Arch Bishops are the first two teams to secure their slots in this event.
China Pandas Defeat Germany Bears 9.5-6.5
GM Yu Yangyi scored 3.5/4 to help the Pandas defeat the Bears. He won his first three games, including a nice victory over Germany's top board, GM Anton Korobov, which decided the match with a round to spare. During the Yangyi-Korobov game, commentator GM Robert Hess displayed a beautiful queen sacrifice mate that could occur if Korobov erred. While Hess was explaining the mate, it miraculously happened on the board!
Commentators Curse? @GM_Hess notices a tricky mate and Korobov falls right into it. #prochess pic.twitter.com/M7rGSDet0R
— PROChessLeague (@PROChessLeague) March 9, 2020
World number-three GM Ding Liren started with 2.5/3 before losing to Korobov in the final round (after the match was decided). Ding played his games in Russia, where he is preparing for the Candidates tournament that begins next week.
Despite this loss to the extremely tough Pandas, Germany has had a great season. They are the reigning 2020 PRO Chess League Central Division champions and will seek to avenge this loss next season.
Saint Louis Arch Bishops Handle The India Yogis 9.5-6.5
World number-seven GM Wesley So scored 3/4 in the Arch Bishops' victory over the India Yogis while world number-two GM Fabiano Caruana and GM Lenier Dominguez Perez finished on 2.5/4. In the second round of the match with Saint Louis leading 4-3, Dominguez had a pleasant (although objectively equal) endgame against GM S.L. Narayanan–and then this happened:
The commentary team is shocked as Lenier Dominguez loses on time against @GMNarayananSL #prochess
— PROChessLeague (@PROChessLeague) March 10, 2020
Match tied 4-4 going into Round 3 pic.twitter.com/4tCxMRrSKp
At the halfway point, the match was level at 4-4, but in round three, Dominguez recovered by defeating India's top board and the world's number-ten, GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, (as well as GM Pentala Harikrishna in the final round). So had an almost puzzle rush victory in round three after 32...Kh6??
The Arch Bishops finished the final two rounds with a 5.5-1.5 score to finish off the Yogis. It was GM Jefferey Xiong who put the final nail in the coffin by defeating GM S.L. Narayanan in the last round.
The Pandas and the Arch Bishops will face off in the Semifinals in Norway at ChessParty 2020. For more on ChessParty 2020, check out the promotional video below and click here to buy tickets now:
Meanwhile, the league has communicated its apologies on an error made last week in the match between the Russia Wizards and Chicago Wind:
An apology to the @RussiaWizards and the fans from the PRO Chess League administration: pic.twitter.com/dNnlxAB7uA
— PROChessLeague (@PROChessLeague) March 11, 2020
