PRO Chess League Final Four Predictions

At 1 PM EST today, the four best teams in the PRO Chess League (one from each division) will face down in the live finals in San Fransisco. This article will show my predictions of this esports style tournament.

Chengdu Pandas (Pacific) vs. Baden-Baden Snowballs (Central)

Chengdu, the second place finisher last season, is the favorite in this much, but the question is by how much. It may come down to how well Zhao Jun, their Board 3, does. Zhao has been performing well but a distant 0.5/4 against Minnesota in the previous match almost cost Chengdu the win. With such high stakes, Zhao will have to do much better than that if Chengdu is expected to advance to the finals tomorrow. Baden-Baden will be relying on their Board 4 Inna Agrest to pull all the stops as her Board 4 counterpart on the Chengdu team, Zhang Di, has been over performing and drawing/beating grandmasters all season. Agrest is the manager of the team, so she will have a lot on her hands.

Prediction: Chengdu Pandas 9-7 Baden-Baden Snowballs

Armenia Eagles (Eastern) vs. St. Louis Arch Bishops (Atlantic)

Armenia came back with a team even stronger than the one that won last season (if that is even possible). One big reason for that Shant Sargysan, one of the season MVPs, doing very well for Armenia on Board 3. St. Louis is facing an upward battle, which is unusual for the former champions, as Wesley So was unable to make the event. Board 4 will be crucial for St. Louis as Julian Proleiko makes his season debut. Rated only about 2200, Proleiko will be a big underdog in all four games. However, he is 2500 chess.com blitz and a strong speed chess player according to team manager Mike Kummer. The match will likely come down to the wire, but I think Armenia will come through once again.

Prediction: Armenia Eagles 8.5-7.5 St. Louis Arch Bishops