Week 7 of the Pro Chess League pitted the Carolina Cobras against the New York Knights in the final match of the PCL regular season. Sporting a respectable 2-4 record going into the match, the Cobras had no playoff spot to play for, but hoped to finish the year on a high note. With a team composed only of local players, most matches have posed a substantial challenge from a rating standpoint, and this past week was no exception. New York's lineup featured three GMs and one FM, opponents with an average FIDE rating of over 2450. As we have in every match this season, the Cobras countered with a lineup filled with local Masters, in this case Robin Cunningham, Peter Giannatos, Steve Wang and me.
The match proved to be extremely intense, as the Cobras pulled off one upset after another to keep pace with New York. After each of the first three rounds, the overall score remained tied at 2-2, 4-4, and 6-6. Ultimately, the Knights' strength and experience prevailed in round four, as they wound up winning the match by a score of 9-7. Still, it was a strong way to end the year, with many of the games really standing out.
FM Robin Cunningham, in his third match of the season for the Cobras, scored 1/4. Ironically, his two draws came as black, including one against New York's top board GM Oliver Barbosa. In an extremely wild game, Robin accepted several dangerous sacrifices as Barbosa built a menacing attack. Perfect defense may have led to a winning position for black, but Robin, under extreme pressure in a last round rapid game, was successful in holding white to a perpetual.
The Cobras were excited to welcome recently-promoted FM Peter Giannatos back to the lineup! Peter earned his FM title last weekend at the Southwest Class, as his FIDE rating soared over the 2300 mark. His results this week did not quite match that outstanding performance, but he still notched a key win over GM Oliver Barbosa en route to a 1/4 score. Peter did not play the opening especially well, but more than made up for it by building a classic pawn storm in an opposite-sides-castling Caro-Kann.
NM Steve Wang had by far his best week of the season, scoring 2.5/4 in a fantastic performance. Steve scored 1.5/3 against the GMs, and won a nice game below against FM Ivan Biag. As he usually does, Steve built a huge time advantage in the game, and took advantage of his opponent's time pressure mistakes to bring home the full point in an unclear position.
Like Steve, I also had my best week of the PCL season against New York. I scored 2.5/4, which included my first (and second!) ever win against a Grandmaster. GM Oliver Barbosa clearly was not having his best night, but the following game will always be quite memorable for me. I outplayed my opponent in a sharp middle-game exchange, and emerged into a tricky but winning endgame. After a few nervous adventures, I solidified my advantage to bring home the full point.
I've really enjoyed writing these blog posts throughout the PCL season, and I hope you have enjoyed following the Cobras this year! It should definitely be interesting to watch the playoffs as an observer now that our team is finished playing.
-LM Aaron Balleisen
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