In week 2 of the North American Corporate Chess League’s sixth season, Google overtook the sole lead with 16 points out of 16. Google is a familiar face to long-time NACCL fans and players, as they are the only repeat champions, having won Season 2, Season 3, and Season 5.
“Checking in” for a week means that you be paired for 2 rapid games played at a time control of 15 minutes + 5 second increment. Players skipping rounds will receive up half point “byes” for games they miss throughout the season.
What sets the NACCL apart from other leagues is that all players must work for their company, so there are no professional chess players. However, the competition is always quite strong, with many titled players (Grandmasters, International Masters, FIDE Masters, and National Masters) at the top of the list.
Individual Standings
In the individual standings, 12 players from 9 companies move to a perfect 4-0 start, including IM Michael Bodek of Lyft and FM Ethan Li (SIG). In addition to players from Lyft, SIG, Google, Deloitte, and the Prometheus Group, Sam Kater (Jump Trading), Brian McCabe (Hewlett Packard Enterprise), Sutter Hill (Milliman), and Seth Wacks (Sullivan & Cromwell) are also perfect through week 2.
With 3.5 points and tied for 13th place are FM Andrey Krasnov (Jump Trading), NM Andrew Lu (DRW Holdings), and Ozan Adiguzel (Zelus Analytics). With accelerated pairings still in effect, lots of movement is expected in future weeks.
Team Standings
After four rounds, only Google remains at a perfect team score of 16 points. The top 4 players per company form the team score, and their squad of Lambert Liu (rated 2021), Michael Quist (1673), Harshil Patel (1435), and Joseph Arasin (1323)started off with perfect 4-0 scores.
Tied for second place is the season 4 NACCL Champions, Deloitte, with 13 points. Eddie Szmigielski (1371) tops the Deloitte squad with a perfect 4 points, while several players with 3 points are right behind him. Also tied for second place with 13 points are newcomers in the Prometheus Group, with Haston Guess (952) as their headliner with 4 points.
In a tie for 4th-6th place are DRW Holdings, Susquehanna International Group (inaugural champions), and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, each with 12.5 points. Full team standings can be found here.
Kyron’s Corner
IM Kyron Griffith (Lyft) annotates 4 games each week of the NACCL. See those games with his comments below:
If you feel as though you played an interesting game. Please feel free to send Kyron a link to the game via lichess. His account is @kyrongriffith
Peter’s Puzzlers
FM Peter Giannatos provides puzzles from games played in the NACCL. These are great tactical warmups and you never know when your game will appear here!
If you had an interesting tactic in your game. Please feel free to send Peter a link to the game via lichess. His account is @Giannatos
Commentary and Lectures
NACCL Director FM Peter Giannatos had the call on week 2 commentary, which can be replayed here.
Each Monday is our weekly improvement seminar with GM Daniel Naroditsky which is free for all NACCL participants and is well-received by players of all levels.
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