The Armenia Eagles shocked the Wesley So-led Saint Louis Arch Bishops, 9.5-6.5, on Sunday to capture the 2020 Professional Chess League held online.
Tied at 6-all going into the fourth and final four-game round, the Armenians showed nerves of steel in hacking out a 3.5-0.5 result en route to the victory.
Armenia’s Indian reinforcement, Parham Maghsoodloo, and Tigran Petrosian highlighted the team’s triumph by besting GM Fabiano Caruana and So.
It was the second title for the Armenia Eagles after ruling two years ago to tie the Saint Louis Arch Bishops as the most titled franchises in the fourth staging of this league.
Armenia pocketed the top purse of US$20,000, while Saint Louis earned US$10,000.
Meanwhile, So is in the running for the league Most Valuable Player after coming through with a league-best tournament performance rating of 2825 on 24.5 points out of 32 outings.
Unfortunately, So and the Arch Bishops failed to deliver when it mattered most which allowed the Eagles to steal the crown.
Petrosian, meanwhile, was the best performer in the finals as he scored 3.5 points out of the possible four including wins over So, Caruana and Leinier Dominguez-Perez.