Dream Canceled as Passers Fall 6-10 to Team MGD1

After an impressive victory we found ourselves at an equally impressive defeat to the formidable Team MGD1. With GM Khotenashveli and GM Sevian both away at hotels for the EWCC and American Cup respectively we were cutting it close on getting our lineup finalized. At one point it looked like GM Sevian wasn’t available yet then he pulled through. Unfortunately being away from the comfort of his home left him having to overcome so tough challenges.

We were excited to introduce WIM Meruert Kamalidenova which was the last team member that hasn’t had a debut!

Round 1

This set the tone for the day and it created too big of a hole to climb back out of. Losing 0.5-3.5 was the opposite of our desired start as GM Lenderman was the only player to get a result against GM Abhiban. GM Sevian’s game looked like a misstep in prep against GM Dronavalli who never let off the gas while GM Bortnyk found himself in a worse bishop & rook vs knight & rook endgame against GM Ghosh who showed great technique in closing that game out. Lastly, WIM Kamalidenova found herself in a great position against GM Erigasi yet couldn’t find a way to punish his play before dropping a piece.

At 0.5-3.5 we had a huge task in front of us.

Round 2

After the disappointment in Round 1 we made some headway taking the second round 2.5-1.5 with big wins from GM Sevian and GM Bortnyk over GM Ghosh and GM Dronavalli respectively. GM Lenderman lost to GM Erigasi in another worse bishop vs knight endgame, this time with queens instead of rooks. While WIM Kamalidenova saw blunders abound in the opening before leading to a calm draw with GM Adhiban.

This did give us a life line as we were now at 3.0-5.0.

Round 3

The comeback was halted as we lost 1.5-2.5 via GM Sevian and WIM Kamalidenova being bested by GM Adhiban and GM Ghosh. GM Bortnyk was resourceful being able to get a draw from GM Erigasi while GM Lenderman got the lone win against GM Dronavalli.

This put us down to 4.5-7.5 needing a monstrous last round.

Round 4

Needing to go big with a 3.5-0.5 just to tie it or 4.0-0.0 would win it outright it was not looking good for us. Unfortunately the games quickly didn’t look like there were heading the direction we needed and it ended up being another 1.5-2.5 against us. GM Sevian did have a convincing win against GM Erigasi while GM Bortnyk was the only other result with a draw against GM Adhiban. GM Lenderman and WIM Kamalidenova found themselves in losses to Team MGD1’s stacked boards 3 & 4 via GM Ghosh & GM Dronavalli ending our playoff dreams.

That was that, another 1.5-2.5 round putting the final tally at 6-10 for Team MGD1. Good luck to them in the playoffs along with the other team to give us a 6-10, Levitov Chess Wizards. We’ll be back next season as well as working on stuff in the off season!

Aftermath

It just wasn’t our day and Team MGD1 came to play. That means we didn’t make the playoffs in our inaugural season yet we were really proud with how everybody played and pleased to get to show a lot of new faces to the chess world. Come next season we plan on keeping as much of the same roster as we can as long as the schedules and ratings work out. In the mean time we’re exploring avenues to bring OTB e

After an impressive victory we found ourselves at an equally impressive defeat to the formidable Team MGD1. With GM Khotenashveli and GM Sevian both away at hotels for the EWCC and American Cup respectively we were cutting it close on getting our lineup finalized. At one point it looked like GM Sevian wasn’t available yet then he pulled through. Unfortunately being away from the comfort of his home left him having to overcome so tough challenges.

We were excited to introduce WIM Meruert Kamalidenova which was the last team member that hasn’t had a debut!

Round 1

This set the tone for the day and it created too big of a hole to climb back out of. Losing 0.5-3.5 was the opposite of our desired start as GM Lenderman was the only player to get a result against GM Abhiban. GM Sevian’s game looked like a misstep in prep against GM Dronavalli who never let off the gas while GM Bortnyk found himself in a worse bishop & rook vs knight & rook endgame against GM Ghosh who showed great technique in closing that game out. Lastly, WIM Kamalidenova found herself in a great position against GM Erigasi yet couldn’t find a way to punish his play before dropping a piece.

At 0.5-3.5 we had a huge task in front of us.

Round 2

After the disappointment in Round 1 we made some headway taking the second round 2.5-1.5 with big wins from GM Sevian and GM Bortnyk over GM Ghosh and GM Dronavalli respectively. GM Lenderman lost to GM Erigasi in another worse bishop vs knight endgame, this time with queens instead of rooks. While WIM Kamalidenova saw blunders abound in the opening before leading to a calm draw with GM Adhiban.

This did give us a life line as we were now at 3.0-5.0.

Round 3

The comeback was halted as we lost 1.5-2.5 via GM Sevian and WIM Kamalidenova being bested by GM Adhiban and GM Ghosh. GM Bortnyk was resourceful being able to get a draw from GM Erigasi while GM Lenderman got the lone win against GM Dronavalli.

This put us down to 4.5-7.5 needing a monstrous last round.

Round 4

Needing to go big with a 3.5-0.5 just to tie it or 4.0-0.0 would win it outright it was not looking good for us. Unfortunately the games quickly didn’t look like there were heading the direction we needed and it ended up being another 1.5-2.5 against us. GM Sevian did have a convincing win against GM Erigasi while GM Bortnyk was the only other result with a draw against GM Adhiban. GM Lenderman and WIM Kamalidenova found themselves in losses to Team MGD1’s stacked boards 3 & 4 via GM Ghosh & GM Dronavalli ending our playoff dreams.

That was that, another 1.5-2.5 round putting the final tally at 6-10 for Team MGD1. Good luck to them in the playoffs along with the other team to give us a 6-10, Levitov Chess Wizards. We’ll be back next season as well as working on stuff in the off season!

Aftermath

It just wasn’t our day and Team MGD1 came to play. That means we didn’t make the playoffs in our inaugural season yet we were really proud with how everybody played and pleased to get to show a lot of new faces to the chess world. Come next season we plan on keeping as much of the same roster as we can as long as the schedules and ratings work out. In the mean time we’re exploring avenues to bring OTB events to the local NJ scene and think of chess content to create for Twitch, YouTube, and other social media platforms. So stay tuned and hear the latest from us over at Twitter via @PassersGG!

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