The Armenia Eagles upset heavily-favored powerhouse St. Louis Archbishops, 9½-6½, in the finals to win the 2020 PRO Chess League Online hosted by the chess.com server.
The Eagles, led by GMs Parham Maghsoodloo, Haik Martirosyan and Tigran L. Petrosian, clobbered the Archbishops bannered by GMs Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Leinier Dominguez Perez, who lost to mostly erratic play in time trouble.
The victory was worth US$20,000 to the Eagles while the Archbishops settled for the runner-up purse of $10,000. The China Pandas, another powerhouse team, came in third place after beating the Canada Chess Brahs. The three-division, 24-team, four-board competition has a time format of 10 minutes plus two seconds increment per move.
Here are the crucial games in the St. Louis-Armenia finals:
Petrosian, TL (2601)-Dominguez Perez, L (2758) [A08]
chess.com (4.2) 2020
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 e6 4.0-0 Nf6 5.d3 Be7 6.Nbd2 Nc6 7.e4 0-0 8.Re1 Qc7 9.e5 Nd7 10.Qe2 b5 11.Nf1 Bb7 12.h4 Rfc8 13.Bg5 Bxg5 14.hxg5 Nd4 15.Nxd4 cxd4 16.Rac1 Qa5 17.a3 Rc7 18.Nd2 Rac8 19.Nb3 Qb6 20.Qd2 Nb8 21.f4 Nc6 22.f5 a5 23.fxe6 fxe6 24.Bh3 Re8 25.Qe2 Rf7 26.Rf1 Rxf1+ 27.Rxf1 Qc7 28.Qf2 Bc8 29.Nxd4 Nxd4 30.Qxd4 Qxc2 31.Qa7 Rf8 32.Qe7 Rxf1+ 33.Bxf1 g6 34.Qd8+ Kg7 35.Qxa5 Qc5+ 36.Kh2 Bd7 37.Qd8 Qc6 38.Qe7+ Kg8 39.d4 Be8 40.Qc5 Qd7 41.Bh3 Bf7 42.Qc1 Kg7 43.Qf4 Qc6 44.Qd2 Kg8 45.Bf1 Be8 46.Qc3 Qd7 47.Bh3 Bf7 48.Kg2 Qd8 49.Qc1 Kg7 50.Bg4 Qb6 51.Qd2 Qc7 52.b3 Qa7 53.Qf4 Qb6 54.a4 bxa4 55.bxa4 Qa6 56.a5 Kg8 57.Qf6 Qd3 58.Qd8+ Kg7 59.Qf6+ Kg8 60.Qf2 Qa3 61.Qd2 Kg7 62.Be2 Be8 63.a6 Bf7 64.Qf4 Qa2 65.Kf2 Kg8 66.Qf6 Qa4 67.Qd8+ Kg7 68.Qb6 Qc2 69.a7 Qf5+ 70.Ke1 1-0
Caruana, F (2842)-Petrosian, TL (2601) [B12]
chess.com (4.1) 2020
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h5 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 e6 7.Bg5 Qb6 8.Nd2 Qa6 9.c4 Bb4 10.b3 Ne7 11.Ngf3 Nf5 12.0-0 Nd7 13.a3 Bxd2 14.Bxd2 c5 15.Rac1 0-0 16.dxc5 Nxc5 17.Qb1 Rfd8 18.Bg5 Rd7 19.b4 Ne4 20.cxd5 Nxg5 21.hxg5 Rxd5 22.g6 fxg6 23.Rc7 Rad8 24.Rfc1 Qe2 25.Rc8 h4 26.Qb3 Rxc8 27.Rxc8+ Kh7 28.Rc1 Kh6 29.Re1 Qd3 30.Qb2 Qc4 31.Qb1 g5 32.Re4 Qd3 33.Qxd3 Rxd3 34.a4 Kh5 35.Kf1 g4 36.Nh2 g3 37.Nf3 Ra3 38.Rc4 Ra1+ 39.Ne1 g5 40.Rc8 Ra2 41.Rh8+ Kg6 42.Nd3 Rd2 0-1
Maghsoodloo, P (2676)-Dominguez Perez, L (2758) [C80]
chess.com (4.2) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 d4 11.Bxe6 Nxe6 12.cxd4 Ncxd4 13.a4 Bb4 14.Ne4 Qd5 15.Nxd4 Nxd4 16.Nc3 Qc4 17.axb5 Bxc3 18.bxc3 Ne2+ 19.Kh1 Nxc3 20.Qe1 Nxb5 21.f4 0-0 22.f5 Nd4 23.Bb2 Rab8 24.Bxd4 Qxd4 25.f6 Rfe8 26.Qg3 g6 27.Qg5 Qc5 28.Rac1 Qb4 29.Rxc7 Re6 30.Re7 Qc4 31.Rg1 Kh8 32.Qh6 1-0
Caruana, F (2842)-Maghsoodloo, P (2676) [C92]
chess.com (4.1) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Re8 10.d4 Bb7 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.Bc2 h6 13.d5 Nb8 14.b3 c6 15.c4 Nbd7 16.Nf1 a5 17.Be3 Qb8 18.Rb1 Rc8 19.Ng3 cxd5 20.cxd5 Ba6 21.b4 axb4 22.Rxb4 Rc4 23.a3 Rxb4 24.axb4 Nb6 25.Bd3 Nc4 26.Qe2 g6 27.Ra1 Nd7 28.Nf1 Ndb6 29.N3d2 Nxe3 30.Nxe3 Na4 31.Nb3 Qb6 32.Rc1 Rc8 33.Rc2 h5 34.Na5 Bh6 35.Nc6 Kg7 36.Nf1 Rf8 37.h4 Ra8 38.g3 Rc8 39.Kg2 Rc7 40.Nh2 Rc8 41.Nf3 f6 42.Nh2 Kh7 43.Nf3 Rc7 44.Nd2 Rc8 45.Nb1 Rc7 46.Na3 Rb7 47.Na5 Rc7 48.Rxc7+ Qxc7 49.Nxb5 Qb6 50.Na3 Bxd3 51.Qxd3 Qxb4 52.Nc6 Qe1 53.Nc2 Qc1 54.N6b4 Nc5 55.Qe2 Bd2 56.Qf3 Kg7 57.Qe2 Bxb4 58.Nxb4 Qb1 59.Qb5 Qxe4+ 60.Kh2 Qf5 61.Kg2 g5 62.hxg5 fxg5 63.Qb8 Ne4 64.Nd3 g4 65.Qb5 Nd2 66.Kg1 h4 67.gxh4 g3 68.Qa6 Qh3 69.Qa7+ Kf6 70.fxg3 Qf1+ 0-1
Dominguez Perez, L (2758)-Martirosyan, HM (2617) [C67]
chess.com (4.2) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Rd1+ Ke8 10.Nc3 Be7 11.g4 Nh4 12.Nxh4 Bxh4 13.Kg2 Be7 14.h3 h5 15.f3 Be6 16.Be3 b6 17.Ne2 hxg4 18.hxg4 Rd8 19.Nd4 Bd7 20.Rh1 Rg8 21.Rad1 c5 22.Nf5 f6 23.Nxe7 Kxe7 24.exf6+ Kxf6 25.Rh5 Rde8 26.Rxd7 Rxe3 27.Rf5+ Ke6 28.Rxc7 Re2+ 29.Kg3 Rxc2 30.Rxa7 Rxb2 31.a4 g6 32.Rg5 Kf6 33.Rd5 Ke6 34.Rad7 g5 35.R7d6+ Ke7 36.Rd7+ Ke6 37.R7d6+ Ke7 38.Rh6 Rb3 39.a5 bxa5 40.Rxc5 Rf8 41.Rxg5 Rfxf3+ 42.Kg2 Rfc3 43.Re5+ Kf7 44.Re2 a4 45.Ra6 a3 46.Kf2 Rh3 47.Kg2 Rbg3+ 48.Kf2 Rc3 49.Kg2 Rhg3+ 50.Kh2 Rxg4 51.Rf2+ Ke7 52.Re2+ Kd7 53.Rf2 Ke7 54.Re2+ Kd7 55.Rf2 Rb4 56.Rg2 Kc7 57.Rh6 Rb2 58.Rhg6 Rxg2+ 59.Kxg2 Kb7 60.Kf2 a2 61.Rg1 Kb6 62.Ke2 Kb5 63.Kd2 Kb4 64.Ra1 Rh3 65.Kc2 Rh2+ 66.Kd3 Kb3 67.Rg1 Kb2 68.Rg8 a1Q 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qa3!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…exd6, Rxd6+ 2.Qxd6#; 1…e6 2.Sf7#; 1…e5 2.Se6#; 1…Ba5 2.Qxa5#./PN
