PRO Chess League Central Division Round of 16 Predictions

The Central Division is actually being covered right now at twitch.tv/chess, so check it out! Anyhow, here are my predictions for the ‘weakest PCL division’.

Norway Gnomes (1 seed) vs. Cannes Blitzstreams (4)

Lars Oskar Hauge and Tor Fredrik Kaasen have been over performing this season for Norway, so if they amass a decent amount of points (3.5+ out of 8), Hammer and Stuvik Holm should be able to finish it off on the top two boards. Even despite the fact that the Blitzstreams only lost 7.5-8.5 against the Gnomes, their top two boards scored 4/8 and Norway has draw odds, so they need their bottom two boards to go 4.5/8, which is extremely unlikely.

Prediction: Norway Gnomes 10.5-5.5 Cannes Blitzstreams

Baden-Baden Snowballs (2) vs. Amsterdam Mosquitoes (3)

Baden-Baden is a stacked and experienced team, so that is why I think they will eke it out against Amsterdam, a great upset pick for this match. Georg Meier will probably get about 3.5/4 on a good day and his teammates are all performing above their ratings, so Baden-Baden has a good lineup. This match will probably be the closest today and come down to the wire and Baden-Baden’s draw odds may come in handy.

Prediction: Baden-Baden Snowballs 8-8 Amsterdam Mosquitoes