PRO Chess League Playoff Preview
Previewing the Second Round of the PRO Chess League Playoffs
By: James Ravenscroft
And then there were 8! After an exciting first round of the playoffs, we are down to just eight teams (2 in each conference) vying for a spot in the semis. As the season grows closer to its end, tension grows and each team needs to play better and better chess to advance. This week, I’ll break down each matchup in depth and predict which four teams will be moving on to San Francisco.
Saint Louis Arch Bishops vs. Webster Windmills: With a narrow escape of the Sopranos last week, Saint Louis has to be nervous going into its matchup with Webster. On the other hand, Webster has been playing some of its best chess as of late. Will the hot Windmills be able to take down the Goliath of the league?
Source: PRO Chess League Twitter
How Saint Louis wins: the formula has been the same for the Bishops all year. Score 6 points between Caruana and So and hope that Josh Bloomer and their third board can score a combined 2.5. Against Robson and Durarbayli, 3 points apiece will be hard to do for Caruana and So, but I think they’ll come prepared. Even if they don’t score 6, they can still win if their third board (who I assume will be Nikolas Theodorou) can put up 2 points. With how Theodorou has played this year, that is definitely not out of the question.
Source: PRO Chess League Twitter
How Webster wins: It starts with great preparation for Caruana and So. If they can limit them to 5 or even 5.5, that might be enough to win. Then they need to completely shut down Josh Bloomer. They should really try to keep him to 0 or 0.5 because that puts all of the pressure on the Arch Bishops’ third board to score well. If they can shut down Bloomer and keep Caruana and So to a max of 5.5, they should be able to win.
My prediction: For Webster, the plan is pretty easy on paper. But in reality, Caruana and So are still 2 of the best in the world, so they will probably dominate and win the day for the Arch Bishops, even if Josh Bloomer doesn’t score well. The Windmills simply don’t have the firepower to compete with the top boards of Saint Louis
Score: Saint Louis: 9, Webster: 7
Minnesota Blizzard vs. Chengdu Pandas: Both the Blizzard and the Pandas took care of their opponent last week, so you can expect an intense thriller from start to finish from two of the best teams in the league! This is a tale of two completely different teams as Minnesota is extremely deep and almost always rosters players between 2450 and 2550 on all four boards, while Chengdu usually has a couple of top GMs and a couple of lower rated players in their lineup.
Source: PRO Chess League Twitter
How Minnesota wins: The best way for the Blizzard to win is to beat up on the lower rated plays that Chengdu puts on boars three and four while keeping the top two for Chengdu from dominating the field. If Chengdu decides to do what they did last week and put three top players with one sub-2000 player, then things get a little tricky. The Blizzard would be at a rating deficit for 3 of the four matchups each, meaning that they would have to find a way to draw or beat Chengdu’s top boards. In that case, they would need to shut out Zhang Di and score 4.5 against the other three players.
Source: PRO Chess League Twitter
How Chendu wins: While we don’t yet know the lineup for Chengdu, it makes sense to put 3 2600 players on the top boards and Zhang Di on Board 4. If they do that, then all they need to do is have their top two boards score 3 out of 4 and have their third board score 2.5 out of 4. Essentially, they would prepare for the match expecting Zhang Di to not score, and if he does, then that’s a plus for Chengdu.
My prediction: I have been high on the Pandas all year due to their surplus of top-tier talent, and once again I’m going to roll with them. I simply think that even though Minnesota is pretty deep, they don’t have any 2600 rated players, so I think they’re to struggle to stop the top boards of Chengdu from dominating.
Score: Chengdu: 9, Minnesota: 7
Norway Gnomes vs. Baden-Baden Snowballs: The two top teams in the central clash for a spot in the final 4, and this should be exciting. These teams are made up very similarly, and I think that regardless of who wins, this will be extremely close.
Source: PRO Chess League Twitter
How Norway wins: I anticipate the Snowballs to go with Alekseenko/Donchenko, Meier, Kollars, and Agrest/Klek, which means that Norway should focus on winning on boards 3 and 4. Kollars has been great all year, with a 31.5 out of 49 score this year, and so limiting him to 1.5 points should be the goal. If they can do that and limit the Snowballs board 4 to the one point, then Norway should be able to press its slight advantage on the top two boards with Hammer and Tari.
Source: PRO Chess League Twitter
How Baden-Baden wins: The best thing that the Snowballs can do is to make sure that Meier has a big day. To me, he is the X-factor in this game. I expect that the top two boards for both teams will score around 5 points, so it will come down to the play of Meier to lead Baden-Baden to Victory. If he has a good day and the rest of the team does their part, then the Snowballs will win. It’s as simple as that.
My prediction: This one is going to be very close. These two teams are so evenly matched that I’m having a tough time deciding who will win. I’ve decided that the two teams will be so equally matched that they will find themselves equal by the end of the day, meaning that Norway advances.
Score: Norway: 8, Baden-Baden: 8 (Norway advances because they are the higher seed)
Tbilisi Gentlemen vs. Armenia Eagles: This is the rematch we’ve all been waiting for! After an even draw between these two teams back in week 8, we get to see them duel once again, but this time with a spot in the final 4 on the line. Get your popcorn ready because these two teams have the most points of any teams in the PRO Chess League.
Source: PRO Chess League Twitter
How Tbilisi wins: Nika Volkov has been terrific all year. If he can continue his great play then I really like Tbilisi’s chances. This team consistently puts up good scores from all four boards, a big reason why they are the top scoring team in the league, and if they do that again this week, then there is no stopping them. But Armenia has a good deal of great players, so Tbilisi will have a hard time doing what they’ve been doing all year.
Source: PRO Chess League Twitter
How Armenia wins: Shant Sargsyan has been incredible for the Eagles this season, and if they want to win, he is going to have to be incredible once again. The Eagles also have to make sure that Nika Volkov scores at most one point because he has been terrific all year. The other key for Armenia is keeping Giga Quparadze under 2 points because he has been scoring over 2 points in almost all of their matches.
My prediction: This game is going to come down to the wire. We are seeing a great battle between two teams that are successful because their lower boards are playing like top GMs and in the end, we will see the Gentlemen advance in a very exciting game.
Score: Tbilisi: 8.5, Armenia: 7.5
Do you agree with our predictions? Let us know what you think in the comments below or tweet at us (@pghpawngrabbers)!
