Estonia Horses Secure Playoffs Spot, Drawing Despondent Norway Gnomes After Last Round Comeback
The Estonia Horses secured a spot in the playoffs today after drawing GM Magnus Carlsen and the Norway Gnomes after a dramatic last round comeback. Today the fate of both teams hung in the balance. Only a match win for Norway would secure playoff qualification while Estonia had only to avoid losing. Surely Carlsen would go 4/4 and lead his team to victory? Well, 3.5/4 isn't shabby. In hindsight, Carlsen's round three draw (1...c6, 2...Na6) must be bugging him.
The match started off with a bang when Carlsen's opponent, CM Sander Kukk, cheekily played 1. b3 and Carlsen replied 1...a5!
Probably Carlsen's best game came in round two against GM Jaan Ehlvest. Taking advantage of a marauding dark-square bishop, he proved his chess understanding is both lightning fast and accurate.
The final round was a nightmare for Norway, scoring only 1.5/4. In the final moments, Norway's best chance to win the match came down to GM Nils Grandelius who missed a fairly straightforward winning combination in time pressure. In the end, a forced win downgraded to an opposite-colored-bishop draw.
As the seconds ticked down, one more game remained, and with it, Norway's last hope.
2018 PRO Chess League | Week 9 | Norway Gnomes vs Estonia Horses
| Horses | Gnomes | Magnus Carlsen | Nils Grandelius | Borki Predojevic | Elham Abdrlauf | 8 |
| Avital Boruchovsky | 1 | |||||
| Ottomar Ladva | 3 | |||||
| Jaan Ehlvest | 2 | |||||
| Sander Kukk | 2 | |||||
| 8 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 2 | 0 | ||
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