Missouri Unleashes 'Star Recruit' Tari In Win Over Athens
The University of Missouri delivered a 14-2 drubbing to Athens in the second week of the 2024 Collegiate Chess League (CCL) Fall Season and debuted the competition's new strongest player, GM Aryan Tari. Scores of 4/4 for GMs Mikhail Antipov and Luka Budisavljevic helped Missouri wash away the pain of their week-one loss to Virginia, and they are back to looking like premier favorites.
In the second match of the day, the giant-killing Virginian team was unable to repeat their week-one heroics and was beaten 12-4 by a stacked Yale outfit. GM Nicholas Checa took advantage of the 300-point rating gap between him and Virginia's board one and scored 4/4.
The CCL continues with week three on Saturday, October 12, 2024, at 2 p.m. ET/20:00 CET/0:30 a.m. IST.
Collegiate Chess League Playoffs - Week 2 Standings
- Missouri Unleashes Tari: Athens 2-14 Missouri
- Giant Killers Brought Back To Earth: Yale 12-4 Virginia
Missouri Unleashes Tari: Athens 2-14 Missouri
Missouri took no chances on Saturday and played a strong lineup against an Athens team that took six points from Saint Louis in week one.
Led by Antipov and Tari, Missouri bounced out to a 4-0 lead, and board four IM Isik Can's game was the only one that seemed to be in doubt. Not wanting to be left behind by his teammates, Can reversed an 800-centipawn deficit to keep a clean sheet for his team.
In the second round, Athen's board two FM Vasilios Kasioumis made it 3-1 by defeating Can but with Missouri surging to a 7-1 score, his efforts were in vain. Needing a miracle in the third, IM Dimitris Alexakis gave Athens hope when he toppled Tari.
Missouri then proved why their lineup is the most dangerous in the competition and with their "star recruit" on the ropes, Antipov, Budisavljevic, and Can all pulled through and pushed Missouri out to a decisive 10-2 lead.
Antipov's game against Kasioumis is particularly instructive. GM Dejan Bojkov has analyzed the clash that is worthy of being our Game of the Day.
Though the final round was a dead rubber, Missouri continued tightening the screws and confirmed a 14-2 match score... but not before Athens' Alexakis suffered a heartbreaking blunder in a winning position against Antipov.
Giant Killers Brought Back To Earth: Yale 12-4 Virginia
Riding the momentum from their win over Missouri, Virginia hoped to solidify their spot at the top of the table but were faced with the difficult task of taking down Yale who has GMs Checa and Arthur Guo on their roster.
In terms of their giant-killing reputation, much of Virginia's success over the last seasons has depended upon the stellar performances of their board one, FM Jason Morefield. On Saturday, he once again punched above his weight, scoring 3/4.
Unfortunately for Morefield and Virginia, three of Yale's players—Checa, Guo, and IM Maximillian Lu—equaled or bettered Morefield's score, all but flattening Virginia's chances of taking the match. In the fourth round, Checa became the first player to defeat Morefield this season.
Maximillian Lu also stood out as a player with opportunistic qualities. Playing Black against Jason Lu's Nimzowitsch-Larsen Opening, Yale's board three busted out 1...a5!? and built a decisive advantage by move 15.
Heading into the fourth round, Yale led Virginia 8-4. With just half a point needed to seal the tie, the players were able to cast aside any nerves and play some of their best chess. In the end, Yale won all four games and brought their opponents back to reality.
Next week will see two of the competition heavyweights in Missouri and Yale face off while Virginia will play the role of underdog against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
You can watch the 2024 Collegiate Chess League presented by Susquehanna on Chess.com/TV. You can also enjoy the show on our Twitch channel and catch all our live broadcasts on YouTube.com/ChesscomLive. Games from the event can be viewed on our events page.
The live broadcast was hosted by GM Benjamin Bok and Jules Gambit.
The Collegiate Chess League is the premier online chess competition for college students. The 2024 CCL Fall Season is a team event that started September 28 at 2 p.m. ET/20:00 CET/0:30 a.m. IST and features a $25,000 prize fund.
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