IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship Moves To Quarterfinals

With three more winners on Friday and Saturday, the IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship‎ moves to the next stage: the quarterfinals. IMs Teddy Coleman, Lawrence Trent, and Carissa Yip defeated IMs Danny Rensch, Kostya Kavutskiy, and Dean Ippolito, respectively.

Trent-Kavutskiy: 15.5-6.5 

This match, played on Friday, had a remarkable start. Trent won the five-minute portion 5-3, but that solid lead was achieved only after winning five in a row and losing the next three!

It was a great though not a full comeback by Kavutskiy. He might have finished better if he hadn't lost game 12, in the three-minute portion—or at least not in the way he lost it. Trent blundered a full piece in the opening but ended up winning anyway.

"That one really hurt. It was like a gift, I should win the game, but then Lawrence made it very tricky and kept the game going long enough, and I guess I just made a bunch of mistakes in a row," said Kavutskiy.

Trent:
 "Once I won that one I started to get a bit of confidence back. It was very tough, and Kostya showed fantastic resilience. Being 5-0, he could have easily just collapsed then and there."

Trent won the three-minute 6-1 and went into the bullet 11-4 up. Except for one draw, White won all bullet games. Trent scored 4.5-2.5 there.

"I guess I could have prepared more, and played more, and done more tactics," said Kavutskiy, who won $44.32 on score percentage. Trent won $150 outright and $105.68 based on win percentage, so $255.68 in total.

He said he considers his next opponent, IM John Bartholomew, the favorite—not just for their match, but to win the whole event.

All games of the match

Coleman-Rensch: 15-13

In what was a much closer affair, Chess.com's regular commentator Rensch narrowly lost to Coleman. After 24 games, and well into the bullet segment, everything was still equal. Coleman won two in a row there, Rensch won one back but then, with the match clock reaching the time limit, he failed to level the score.

"I honestly kind of blacked out for a little bit, and then my old self came back, and I started blundering," said Rensch. "Teddy was awesome in the blitz, definitely the better player. Frankly, I think he deserved to win the match."

"I very nearly had a heart attack at the end there. It was a great match," said Coleman, who won the match but also the prize for the blunder of the match:

Coleman won $150 outright and $80.36 based on win percentage, so $230.36 in total. Rensch won $69.64 on percentage.

The next opponent for Coleman is Levy Rozman, who knocked out Tania Sachdev. 

All games of the match

Yip-Ippolito: 13.5-8.5 

Yip, the youngest American woman in history to qualify for the title of International Master, is the second female player to reach the quarterfinals, along with IM Alina Kashlinskaya.

16-year-old Yip was both better and faster than Ipollito, despite playing on a touch screen. Somehow, as she explained after the match, a mouse is not really her thing.

"I think I'm a little bit too slow. I got lucky in some of the games early on. When it got faster, my form was getting worse, and Carissa's form was getting better," said Ippolito.

When he heard about his opponent playing without a mouse, he said: "That's something that you didn't have to tell me!"

Here's arguably Yip's most convincing win in the match. She surely knows how to deal with this 9...h5 move, the latest trend that has given the 4...Nf6 Caro-Kann some new popularity.

Afterward, Yip shared how she dealt with a few setbacks in the match: "There was this one really bad game where I basically just hung my queen. I had to take 30 seconds to pull myself together. I was all like, namaste, you know what I'm saying. Gotta be calm."

She won $150 outright and $92.05 based on win percentage, so $242.05 in total. Ippolito won $57.95 on percentage.

The next opponent for Yip is IM Greg Shahade, who eliminated IM Anna Zatonskih.  

All games of the match

The inaugural IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship exclusively features international masters in an effort to bring entertainment to the Chess.com audience. All matches are broadcast live with commentary and occasional roasting from GMs Vidit Gujrathi, Robert Hess and Daniel Naroditsky on Chess.com/TV and Twitch.tv/Chess. 

Matches feature 75 minutes of 5+1 blitz, 45 minutes of 3+1 blitz, and 25 minutes of 1+1 bullet chess. The total prize fund is $6,000.

Related posts:

• IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship info article‎
• Rosen, Shahade Reach IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship Quarterfinals
• Kashlinskaya Beats Sielecki In Thrilling IM Not A GM Match
• Bartholomew, Rozman Reach IM Not A GM Speed Chess Championship Quarterfinals