Snowballs rain over the Puffins...

In the 2nd Round of the PRO Chess League we were paired against our dear neighbors, the Reykjavik Puffins. They prepared a very strong and even line-up against us with GM Johann Hjartarson leading the team, the IM-brothers Thorfinnsson holding the middle fort and then IM Einer Hjalti Jensson and FM Ingvar Johannesson splitting bord 4 evenly between each other. The Snowballs gave last week’s roster (GMs Georg Meier, Evgenij Agrest, Erik Blomqvist and WIM Inna Agrest) another try.

Several of the Snowballs really do enjoy coming to Reykjavik, but after this match it is unclear if they get invited again…  After last week’s painful loss to the Mosquitos, our main goal this week was to score more points and as you can see below, that goal we achieved.

The key round for this match was definitely round 1, since it clearly set the tone for us and the whole match.

Round 2 brought some complications along, but Georg & Erik did a good job scoring and helping us tie the match.

Round 3 was very shaky, even though Georg scored a very convincing win against Bragi Thorfinnsson, but the game Evgenij Agrest – Einar Hjalti Jensson could have taken a different turn.

When it didn’t, the Puffins counted a lot on Bragi, both in terms of position and time. However, the draw button came in handy, especially considering the time-trouble… If only it were that easy and convenient to claim a draw in classical chess. That click helped us take home the match, a nice touch!

In round 4 we needed ½ a point to secure a draw and a full point to win this match. Erik delivered a silk-smooth victory against Bragi Thorfinnsson to seal the deal.

In their report (https://www.chess.com/news/view/puffins-succumb-to-snowballs-avalanche-round-2-report-7825), Bjorn claims that he didn’t play enough Agrests… Well, we could of course serve him some more of that kind . However, Georg claims that he didn’t play enough Thorfinnssons, so we might as well call it a day

Next week the Stockholm Snowballs are up against the London Lions. It’s gonna be a fun and exciting match. Make sure to watch it at 7:40 GMT!