Missouri Settles the Score vs. Virginia, SLU Inches Ahead of Athens
Missouri and Saint Louis were the first victors of the Collegiate Chess League Spring 2025 (CCL) as the fresh season kicked off on Saturday.
The returning champion Missouri team defeated Virginia by a massive 11-point margin. Their bottom board, GM Luka Budisavljevic, scored 4/4 to outdo even fellow teammates and CCL stars, GMs Mikhail Antipov and Aryan Tari.
SLU's victory vs. Athens was much closer, finishing 8.5-7.5. GM Viktor Gazik led SLU to this neck-and-neck victory with a perfect 4-0.
The CCL continues with week two on Saturday, January 25, 2024 at 2 p.m. ET/20:00 CET/0:30 a.m. IST.
Collegiate Chess League - Week 1 Standings
- No Upset This Time: Missouri 13.5-2.5 Virginia
- SLU Prevails Despite Fire Alarm Forfeit: Athens 7.5-8.5 Saint Louis
The CCL has returned for its tenth season, featuring teams of the strongest college players worldwide duking it out for top honors.
Division I features the eight top teams by rating. All other divisions include 16 teams each, and teams will compete in a seven-week round-robin of all-play-all matches. The top-six teams will progress to the playoffs and compete for their share of the $25,000 prize fund.
No Upset This Time: Missouri 13.5-2.5 Virginia
Missouri was the vast favorite due to their victorious performance last season and their virtually all-GM line-up (Isik Can is a GM-elect, awaiting confirmation of his title).
Though Virginia had no GMs or IMs, they did manage a shocking upset vs. the same opponents in the opening week of the fall 2024 season. Could they beat the odds again?
Missouri started with a 3-1 lead, though Virginia came close to tying the score.
NM Owen McCoy achieved a shocking upset vs. Can. After defending for a long time, McCoy seized his chance to set up a mating net when his grandmaster opponent made a slip with his king.
GM Alexander Donchenko shared his insight on the reversal of fortunes:
It's very often the case: You just play patiently. Your opponent has been playing for a win for forever, and he doesn't sense the danger anymore.
Meanwhile, NM Jason Lu also had the opportunity for a critical upset. When some ambitious play by Antipov went awry, Virginia's board four was inches away from victory. Put yourself in his shoes and see if you can find how to defeat one of the MVPs of the CCL.
White to move and win.
In round two, Missouri won on every board, bringing their lead to an overwhelming 7-1, just 1.5 points away from victory. They were able to take it home in the third round.
Budisavljevic found a hidden double attack.
Meanwhile, Can prevailed in a wild skirmish vs. Lu.
Despite clinching the match in the previous round, Missouri achieved another clean sweep in the last. With creative and enterprising play with his knight pair, Tari won a chaotic duel vs. McCoy. This is our Game of the Day, with analysis by GM Rafael Leitao coming soon.
SLU Prevails Despite Fire Alarm Forfeit: Athens 7.5-8.5 Saint Louis
Saint Louis is always a force to be reckoned with as the four-time champions, fielding three grandmasters and a seasoned NM. This season, Athens has increased their number of titled players, bringing two IMs and FMs into the ring.
This match was close from start to finish. Saint Louis took the first lead, 2.5-1.5. With both kings under heavy fire, Gazik prevailed vs. FM Grigorios Drakoulakos. Yet, the Greek Fide Master had a mind-boggling chance to turn the tides.
Athens scored 3-1 to steal the lead in round two. Unfortunately for SLU, the fire alarm in GM Aryan Chopra's dorm went off, leading to a forfeit after 17 moves.
IM Ioannis Kalogeris steadily gained ground vs. NM Shelev Oberoi, racing his queenside pawns down the board to promote in the rook ending. Gazik was the sole winner for Saint Louis, surviving his opponent's counterattack by running his monarch across the board to safety.
In the third round, Saint Louis struck back, winning 2.5-1.5 to tie up the score. GM Nikolozi Kacharava snuck a one-move mate vs. FM Nikolaos Koutlas in the ending.
With the match on the line, Saint Louis inched ahead in the final round. Gazik came through for his team once again, beating Kalogeris. Kacharava won a nearly flawless game vs. Drakoulakos, creating weak points on the enemy kingside in the middlegame and picking away at them in the endgame.
Though SLU triumphed in the end, Athens showed themselves to be formidable competition, putting the four-time champions under considerable pressure throughout the match.
You can watch the Collegiate Chess League 2025 Spring 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 Alexander Donchenko and JulesGambit.
The Collegiate Chess League is the premier online chess competition for college students. The 2024 CCL Fall Season is a team event starting September 28 at 2 p.m. ET/20:00 CET/0:30 a.m. IST and featuring a $25,000 prize fund.
Previous coverage:
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
