What's Next: PRO Chess League Summer Series Division D

This is the first article in my next installation on upcoming chess events. Here is part 1 of a preview (along with some predictions ) of chess in August and September 2019, which will focus on the PRO Chess League Summer Series Division D.

PRO Chess League Summer Series Division D: August 3, 10, and 17

Division D of the PRO Chess League Summer Series promises to be very competitive as Cannes, Minnesota, Montreal, and Norway join the fray. Out of the 8 streamers that Chess.com interviewed on the Summer Series, 6 picked Norway, Montreal, and Minnesota to advance to the playoffs. 5 out of 8 had Norway winning the division. Norway has the second largest fan club of any team in the league, behind Sao Paulo. They also have two 2600+ GMs likely to play for them: Jon Ludvig Hammer and Aryan Tari.

Montreal is also a big favorite to reach the playoffs, and possibly even to win as Wouter Bik and proud brah Aman Hambleton had the Red Bulls in first place. The Chessbrahs have the 3rd largest fan group on Chess.com and 5 (!!) 2600+ grandmasters, including Chessbrah leader Eric Hansen.

Minnesota is going to have to fight for it in such a tough division as they have no 2600+ players. However, they have such a dedicated fan club, getting third place will probably be enough to reach the playoffs. Minnesota has at least won the prize of most independent streamers on one team, having GMs Fidel Corrales and Andrew Tang and IMs Renato Terry Lujan and John Bartholomew.

Cannes is certainly the underdog as only 1 out of the 8 streamers had them making the playoffs. Since they have the smallest fan club, they will need a strong performance in the knockout battles. Only one of their players would likely be able to deliver on that: Jan Krzysztof Duda. The 2700+ Polish speed chess phenom will be looking to make his mark on the summer league.

Here are the aforementioned streamer picks to advance:

GoldDustTori: Norway, Minnesota, Montreal

Helmsknight: Norway, Montreal, Minnesota

James Canty III: Montreal, Minnesota, Norway

Bikfoot: Montreal, Norway, Minnesota

David Pruess: Norway, Montreal, Minnesota

Daniel Rensch: Norway, Minnesota, Montreal

Ayelen Martinez: Norway, Montreal

Aman Hambleton: Montreal, Norway, Cannes

And here are the live club match pairings:

Montreal vs. Cannes

I think that Montreal's commanding lead in fans will win them this match by a decent amount. Unfortunately for Cannes, I don't think they're within the range of a potential upset. Team manager Kevin Bordi will need to have a big gain in fans going into the match to have a chance.

Projected Score: Montreal 25-15 Cannes

Minnesota vs. Norway

This match, however, is different in that Minnesota has good upset chances. They have a dedicated base and comparable matches like St. Louis vs. Chengdu and Sao Paulo vs. Moscow saw the underdog winning. Expect high turnout for this match.

Projected Score: Minnesota 60-25 Norway

Norway vs. Montreal

This is the big match of the division, as both teams have 700+ fans, so a record turnout is likely. After climbing the first hurdle, I expect Montreal to eke out this match as well as in every division so far, the 2nd seed beat the top seed in their live club match.

Projected Score: Montreal 70-50 Norway

Cannes vs. Minnesota

This match is very important for both teams to keep their hopes alive of making the playoffs. After Minnesota's win against Norway, expect them to win here as well.

Projected Score: Minnesota 21-13 Cannes

Norway vs. Cannes

I think this will be the bounce-back match that Norway needed, giving Cannes their third straight live club match loss.

Projected Score: Norway 30-20 Cannes

Montreal vs. Minnesota

This match should be fun as both teams on 2/2 in live club matches face off. There aren't really any comparable matches, so this one is hard to predict. I'm going to go with Montreal by a small margin, since they have had such a supportive fan group over the past few seasons.

Projected Score: Montreal 35-33 Minnesota

And here are the projected standings, also taking the knockout battles into consideration: