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By Matt Barrett
On Saturday morning, Washington University and Lindenwood University met to play the first-ever collegiate chess match held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. This was a historic match on several accounts as it was the first collegiate contest of its kind in Saint Louis, and it marked the first-ever team match for LU chess. This friendly match pitted the 10 best players on each team, ranked in rating order on 10 boards, against each other for one game. Colors alternated on each board, so Wash U got white on the odd boards and LU white on the even boards. On paper, the team ratings were very similar, with LU better in the top five, but Wash U much higher in the bottom half.
Although they are best known for their academics, Wash U is also a very strong chess school. Sometimes referred to as the Harvard of the midwest, Wash U competes annually at the Pan-Am Collegiate Championship. Since both schools have their sights set on a strong performance in that end-of-year tournament, this match provided excellent practice and offered a measuring stick for future competitions.
Wash U scored first when Willy Kane defeated Josh Cardenas to put the Bears up 1-0.
Not long after, NM Nolan Hendrickson struck back vs Lucas McCain to tie it at 1-1. In chess, it is often a player's familiarity with a position or type of position that allows him to play concisely and accurately at the board. Hendrickson explained after his game that he had done a lot of home preparation along the same lines as his actual game, and that he simply had to find the general ideas and play the associated moves to take the full point. LU took a brief lead 2-1 when Alex Richter emerged ahead in the endgame of a back-and-forth affair with Aldrich at board five. The next two results went in favor of Wash U, when WIM Carla Heredia Serrano was upset at board three by native Saint Louisan and CCSCSL veteran Nick Karlow, and LU's Micah Losee also lost on board seven to Wash U's Jesse Jones.
The tension was thick for Lindenwood who was trailing 3-2 with things looking unclear on several boards. This was a critical time for the team to get a favorable result. They got exactly that from the team's hottest performer, top-rated IM Priyadharshan Kannappan at board one. Kannappan was facing SM Mark Heimann, a very strong player from Wash U, and in a relatively equal and quiet-looking position, Kannappan was clever enough to out-maneuver Heimann and win a difficult endgame. This moment was clearly the final tipping point in the match. Shortly thereafter, George Krasnopolskiy put the finishing touches on a stunning upset at board 10 where his opponent Jason Zhang had out-rated him by 400 points! IM Levan Bregadze took a draw with NM Victor Feldberg at board two and LU held a slight lead at 4.5-3.5. Zach Stuart was debating taking a draw, but had to wait until Justin Grimes finished off an upset of his own at board eight to be sure. When Grimes' opponent resigned, LU had clinched the match and Stuart happily took the draw. Final score: Lindenwood: 6, Washington U: 4.
This was a solid first step for LU's collegiate league aspirations. Both teams are looking to accomplish great things in the chess world this year! Next up for Lindenwood is a team tournament on October 6, before a mid-October tilt with Yale University. Wash U is also prepping for the Pan-Ams, and its students will keep training by attending the bigger tournaments in the Saint Louis area advance of that December date.
