The featured match in the third week of the Collegiate Chess League (CCL) saw IM Roman Pyrih escape from two lost positions to score a perfect 4-0 and lead his Texas Tech University (TTU) chess team to their first victory of the season. It was a tough match for the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), who returned to earth after their upset victory over Saint Louis University (SLU) in week two.
The CCL continues with week four on Saturday, October 18, at 11 a.m. ET/17:00 CEST/8:30 p.m. IST.
Standings After Week 3
TTU 10.5-5.5 UTRGV
TTU had a difficult start to the CCL Fall Season, beginning with matches against last year’s finalists, SLU and Mizzou. Joining Pyrih, were two IMs Sebastian Kostolansky and Bogdan Bilovil, along with NM Nathaniel Philip Moor. UTRGV’s team featured GM Gleb Dudin, IM Ekin Ozenir, WGM Maria Malicka, and WFM Maryna Starosta.
In the first round TTU took a one-point lead, 2.5-1.5, but that margin would have favored the other team had Malicka been able to convert her dominant position to victory.
That narrow escape for Pyrih was nothing compared to the swindle he managed in the second round.
That turnaround again provided the margin that TTU needed, as they expanded their lead to 5.5-2.5 at the halfway point. Most of UTRGV’s points throughout the match came from Dudin, who won his first two games and ended the day on 3/4. His only blemish came against Pyrih in round three. Unlike his first two games, Pyrih was never in trouble this time and scored a crushing victory.
That game helped bring TTU to a 7.5-4.5 lead, only a point away from overall match victory. There was no shocking turnaround in the final round, as TTU took care of business, easily surpassing the needed 8.5 points and reaching all the way to 10.5/16 for the match. Behind Pyrih’s 4/4, Kostolansky had a solid 3/4, Moore added 2/4 and Bilovil contributed 1.5/4.
Click here to watch the UTT and UTRGV match. You can watch the Division Two match between SLU B and UC Berkley and the Division Eight match between Georgia Tech B and the University of Houston below.
The live broadcast was hosted by Joe Lee.
The Collegiate Chess League is the premier online chess competition for college students.
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