Newcomers Take Down 4-Time Champions, Team Spirit Carries Athens To Victory
SRM and Athens prevailed in week three of the 2024 Collegiate Chess League (CCL) Fall Season. SRM took the sole lead as the only remaining perfect score after defeating Saint Louis. The Indian team turned in a well-rounded result to edge ahead of the defending champions.
In a matchup of closely-rated European teams, Athens defeated Prague 9.5-5.5. Their board one, IM Dimitris Alexakis, led his team to victory with a 4/4 perfect score.
The CCL continues with week four on Saturday, October 19, 2024, at 2 p.m. ET/20:00 CET/0:30 a.m. IST.
Collegiate Chess League - Week 3 Standings
SRM Beats Reigning Champions: Saint Louis 7-9 SRM
The day kicked off with the two leaders dueling to reign alone atop the scoreboard. Entering the round, Saint Louis and SRM were the only teams that had scored 2-0 in the first two weeks. While SRM is a new addition to Division I, Saint Louis is one of the longtime favorites, winning the last three seasons.
These closely-matched teams began with a 2-2 split. Saint Louis's board one, GM Robby Kevlishvili, finished with a mating attack vs. IM Srihari L.
In round two, SRM took the lead. GM Dambasuren Batsuren scored a victory for Saint Louis, but IM Harikrishnan Ra and GM Pranesh M won for SRM. Harikrishnan set a clever trap for NM Shelev Oberoi.
SRM grew their lead to three points in celebration of round three. Pranesh defeated Dambasuren with brilliant play on the kingside.
In the final round, Saint Louis fought back. Kevlishvili defeated fellow board one, Pranesh, while GM Nikolozi Kacharava beat IM L R Srihari. Dambasuren, too, was pressing in the ending when misfortune struck in time trouble vs. Harikrishnan.
In an instant, this clinched the match for SRM. In addition to defeating last year's champions, they gained the sole lead of the CCL, reaching 3-0.
Athens Gains 1st Win: Athens 9.5-6.5 Prague
This matchup was a battle of the European underdogs. Athens and Prague both had challenging matches in the first two weeks. Each team was eager for their first victory of the season.
Out of the gate, Athens took a commanding lead 3.5-0.5. Alexakis built up pressure on the kingside and then invaded FM Ondrej Svanda’s position.
The teams split 2-2 in round two, meaning Athens maintained their three-point lead. IM Ioannis Kalogeris found a subtle tactic to gain material vs. Svanda.
In round three, Athens reached 7.5 points. Though the difference in scores remained the same, the Greek team was now just one point away from clinching the match. On move 11, Alexakis spotted a tactic to win material vs. FM Martin Hollan. Can you find it in the puzzle below?
Black to move.
Entering the last round, Prague could spare just a single draw, needing to score 3.5 to force overtime. Prague's hopes were dashed early in the round when Alexakis unleashed a discovered attack vs. IM Jan Vykouk in the battle of board ones.
After the match, Alexakis shared:
It’s very nice to have a team match because when you play chess, you’re very used to playing just for yourself. But when you play for a team, your win counts even more. And also, of course, you have very good team members. You know the team members well and have fun with them. The whole team spirit helps a lot. It is very nice.
When you play for a team, your win counts even more.
―Dimitris Alexakis
Next week, this week's victors, Athens and SRM will face off. Meanwhile, the underdogs, Prague and Virginia, will have their shots vs. two of the favorites, Missouri and Saint Louis.
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.
Previous reports:
Vanessa West is a National Master, a chess teacher, and a writer for Chess.com. In 2017, they won the Chess Journalist of the Year award.
You can follow them on X: Vanessa__West
