In last season’s Collegiate Chess League (CCL) finals, the University of Missouri (Mizzou) defeated St. Louis University (SLU) in a tight match. There were some adventures along the way, but both teams have worked their way back to the Finals, setting up a big match next week.
The Finals take place on Saturday, March 29, starting at 2:00 p.m. ET / 15:00 CET / 11:30 p.m. IST.
Collegiate Chess League Division 1 — Spring 2025 Playoff Bracket
SLU and Mizzou advance to the Finals.
SLU Escapes Against UTRGV 11-9
SLU has a perfect score this season and most commentators expected them to reach the finals without difficulty. SLU has an all-GM lineup of of GMs , , , and . UTRGV brought a strong lineup as well, with GMs , , and, as well as IM .
UTRGV got off to a good start, winning the first round by a point, thanks to a tactical win by Dudin. In the next two rounds, both teams traded blows, and they reached the final round tied at 6 points each. That round saw a massive struggle, with a shot at the Finals on the line. Kevlishvili won to give SLU a lead, but Rodrigue-Lemieux helped UTRGV strike back to force a playoff!
The 8-8 tie in regulation set up a four-game sudden-death playoff. Ohanyan won to give SLU the lead and then the critical game was a wild time scramble between Dudin and Chopra.
Mizzou advances against Lviv: 12.5 – 3.5
The University of Missouri – Columbia, didn’t have the same stress as SLU on their way to a finals rematch. Their all-GM lineup of , , , and had no trouble with their lower-rated opponents from the Lviv State University Of Physical Culture. Lviv ran their normal lineup of two GMs, and , along with the untitled players and .
Last week Goncharenko scored a key upset to help the team advance, but against four grandmasters, the untitled players from Lviv were unable to score. That put a lot of pressure on Kovalenko and Kravtsiv to play perfectly. Kovalenko responded with strong games like this attacking masterpiece against Tari.
The start of the match was Mikhail Antipov, who scored a perfect 4-0. Against Lviv’s GMs he came back from dubious positions in both games. His escape against Kravtsiv was particularly shocking. White dominated the whole game, but couldn’t find the killer blow in time pressure.
Tune back in next Saturday for the Finals!
You can check out the match between SLU and UTRGV along with a battle between Yale and Clemson here:
The live broadcast was hosted by GM and .
The Collegiate Chess League is the premier online chess competition for college students. The 2024 CCL Fall Season is a team event starting September 28 at 2 p.m. ET/20:00 CET/0:30 a.m. IST and featuring a $25,000 prize fund.
Previous coverage:
Quarterfinals:
Week 7:
Week 6:
Week 5:
Week 4:
Week 3:
Week 2:
Week 1:
