The Collegiate Chess League, the leading online chess competition for college students, started with two tight matches and one blowout in the top division's opening round. Texas Tech defeated three-time league champions the University of Missouri (Mizzou) 9-7. The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) began their title defense by narrowly winning a finals rematch with SRM Institute of Science and Technology, 8.5-7.5. Saint Louis University (SLU) dominated their match against The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, 15-1.

CCL Division 1 Standings

Texas Tech 9 - 7 Mizzou

Mizzou is a perennial CCL powerhouse, having made the finals five times this decade. However, Texas Tech, a team that has never advanced that far in the playoffs, showed no fear. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead and barely hung on to take the match. NM Nathaniel Moor delivered a crucial first-round point, upsetting GM Aryan Tari in that opening round.

Mizzou struck back with their own 4-0 result in round two. WIM Annmarie Muetsch scored a critical 400-point upset to defeat IM Sebastian Kostolansky. Texas Tech stabilized in rounds three and four, scoring 2.5-1.5 victories each round to clinch the match. Despite the loss in round two, Kostolansky won his three remaining games, all against GMs, to provide the decisive margin in the match.

UTD 8.5 - 7.5 SRM 

Last spring UTD won their first league championship, 9.5-6.5 against SRM. The two top teams began their fall season with a rematch, but the result stayed the same. UTD's GM Yair Parkhov and GM Koustav Chatterjee both scored 2.5/4 to secure the decisive margin. Parkhov's victory over GM Pranesh M was the latter's only blemish of the day and made the difference in the match.

SLU 15 - 1 UTRGV

While the other opening matchups went down to the wire, SLU nearly scored a perfect result. They were heavy rating favorites, with a team of four GMs against a team of lower-rated players. WIM Martyna Starosta defeated GM Harsha Bharathakoti in the second round to score for UTRGV, but it was their only point of the match.

GM Liam Putnam played his debut match for SLU, scoring a perfect 4-0. If he can keep up that form, SLU will be a strong contender to win their seventh league championship.

Check out the Texas Tech vs Mizzou broadcast, hosted by Joe Lee: