The PRO Chess League: Exciting and Instructive Chess---Every Week

One of the obstacles of being a chess spectator is the relative infrequency of high-level tournaments with in-depth coverage and commentary to watch: We’re usually lucky to have one a month. Enter the PRO Chess League. Now, every week, we have riveting match-ups, including many of the top 10 players in the world, accompanied by excellent commentary duos, such as GMs Irina Krush and Maxim Dlugy. And, while I’m a fan of classical time controls for producing the highest level chess games (minus Magnus Carlsen’s disheartening quick draw in round 12 of the World Championship), I have to admit watching rapid games can be more entertaining (“Did Carlsen just blunder his queen?!”) as well as lot easier on a busy schedule.

[pgn][Event "PRO Chess League Week 6"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Gupta, Abhijeet"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "7k/1p2p1bp/2p1n3/2Pp3P/1P1P2N1/q1NQPr2/3B4/1R4K1 w - - 0 40"]
[PlyCount "2"]{Rapid chess shows us that super-GMs are in fact human. In this winning
position, Carlsen played} 40. Kg2 $4 {which blunders his queen to} Nf4+ $1 {However, his
grandmaster opponent missed it and played 40...Ng5. Carlsen went on to win
anyway.} *[/pgn]

From a player’s perspective, it’s even more exciting: The “All-Play-All” match format means local aspiring players often get a chance to play against one of the many top-notch GMs competing in the league, including Carlsen, Wesley So, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura, and Maxime Lagrave-Vachier…just to name a few. The league connects players from all over the world. Dream of competing with some of the top players in Budapest or Delhi? No longer is a transcontinental flight necessary. In addition, the league offers aspiring, non-GM players who’ve always dreamed of competing professionally a chance to start. While eliminating the usual expenses associated with open tournaments in the U.S. (entry fees, hotel nights, and transportation costs), the league offers prizes for great performances, not just for the top teams and players, but for many kinds of achievements each week, such as:

• Best Game of the Week
• Best Move / Brilliancy Prize
• Best Match Recap Blog
• Best Live Show
• Best Social Media and Fan Engaging Team

With the regular season ending next week, let’s take a look at:

Which teams are leading going into the final match?

First up, the very “crowded-at-the-top” Pacific Division.

Pacific Division

The key match was the San Diego Surfers, who entered Week 6 as the only 5-0 team in the league, against the St. Louis Archbishops, led by World #2 Wesley So. The entire match was incredibly hard-fought, and the team entered the last round tied at 6 points each. Then, So defeated the Surfer’s top board, Alexey Dreev, and the Archbishop’s board four, Nicholas Rosenthal pulled out a critical upset victory over Stevan Djordjevic. This left the Surfers in a must-win match situation with two games still going: Ben Finegold vs. Michael Brown and Melikset Khachiyan vs. Varuzhan Akobian. Although Brown and Khachiyan were the underdogs in their games, they came very close to tying the match. During Finegold vs. Brown, Commentator Alex Yermolinsky predicted that the game would end in a repetition draw soon. Yet, as both players’ clocks fell under 30 seconds, Brown managed to win a pawn and keep fighting for the win.

[pgn][Event "PRO Chess League Week 6"]
[Site "?"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Finegold, Ben"]
[Black "Brown, Michael"]
[Result "*"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/6p1/3b1kBp/r6P/1p3p2/1R3K2/5PP1/8 w - - 0 55"]
[PlyCount "1"]{In the time scramble, with just seconds left for each player, GM Finegold
blundered with} 55. Be8 $4 {How did Brown win on the spot?} *[/pgn]

Black to move.

Show Solution However, Akobian managed to hold a two pawn down endgame against Khachiyan, and this half point handed the Surfers their first loss in the league---leading to a 5-way tie for 1st with 5-1 match points.

Pacific Division Standings

Atlantic Division

This week, the highest scoring team entering the round, the Philadelphia Inventors, faced the Bueno Aires Krakens. Despite starting the round with the highest average team rating possible, 2499.75, the Inventors lost the match, relinquishing their division lead. This allowed the Krakens and the Montreal ChessBrahs to leapfrog into the lead with one week to go.

Atlantic Division Standings

Eastern Division

Carlsen's team, the Norway Gnomes, entered the round in a must-win situation (if they want a chance to qualify for the playoffs) against the leading team, Delhi Dynamite. Carlsen managed to gain 3.5 points, and his team won a close match 8.5-7.5. Despite losing, Delhi Dynamite is still in the division lead by a half point.

Eastern Division Standings

Central Division

Four teams are tied for 1st, including Maxime Vachier-Lagrave's team, the Marseille Migraines. Although MVL sat out this week, his team defeated the Stockholm Snowballs, who were leading the division entering the match. One of the most amusing games of the week was GM Yannick Gozzoli's victory where his king wildly fleed across the board, eventually assisting in checkmate.

[pgn][Event "PRO Chess League Week 6"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Yannick Gozzoli"]
[Black "George Meier"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D30"]
[WhiteElo "2579"]
[BlackElo "2654"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "6k1/q4pp1/4p2p/3bP2P/1B2p1P1/8/P1Q1PP1K/8 b - - 0 35"]
[PlyCount "44"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]35... Qxf2+ 36. Kh3 Qf1+ 37. Kg3 Qg1+ 38. Kh3 Qh1+ 39. Kg3 e3 40. Kf4 Qg2 41.
Qc8+ Kh7 42. Qc2+ g6 43. hxg6+ Kg7 44. Kxe3 Qg3+ 45. Kd4 Qxg4+ 46. e4 Kxg6 47.
Be7 h5 48. Kc5 Bxe4 49. Qf2 Bf5 50. Qh4 Qg1+ 51. Kd6 Qb6+ 52. Kd7 Qb7+ 53. Ke8
Qc6+ 54. Kf8 Qc8+ 55. Bd8 Bc2 56. Qg5+ Kh7 57. Qg7# 1-0[/pgn]

Central Division Standings

  For more information, visit:

• Weekly Updated Standings
• Teams
• 2017 Season Schedule
• The PRO Chess League Twitter
• Chess.com's Week 6 Report