Dear chess fans,
yesterday the quarterfinals of S14 were played. All 4 matches could be played as scheduled (with some minor delay in some cases) - thanks for being on time! These were the results:
No surprises, at the end the better rated players could succeed.
But it was much more close than it looks like!
In this position in the last game between 
Hive account@stranger27 (white) and 
Hive account@emic White was in a completely winning position! What is the easiest way to convert here (solution below the picture)?
White to win
https://lichess.org/0eTIqs1H#102
Exactly, White should just have sacrificed his rook with Rxc7 and the h-pawn will give the white king enough time to collect the black pawns and queen his b-pawn. Instead White, with a few seconds on his clock, lost his nerves and played Kb4??. After the knightfork Na6+ he lost his rook, the game and the match.
Also in game 2 in the match 
Hive account@lighteye against myself Hive account@lighteye was in a winning position. And 
Hive account@rosmarly, in her match against 
Hive account@fcastro177, was after 3 games leading 2:1!
Congratulations to the winners!
So the semifinals next week will look like this:
Simultanously round 7 was played, as a 3+3 arena tournament with 13 registered players.
Hive account@samostically was the by far highest rated player in the field, so it was easy for him to win with quite a lead, in front of 
Hive account@nikoszzz as second and 
Hive account@sammy00 as third, ex aequo in points (for both it was the best result of all time!).
Congratulations!
Result table:
Link to the tournament: https://lichess.org/tournament/7Pulr3mN
Season 14: 02 Dec to 27 Jan 2023 / Ranking after 7 rounds:
| Rank | Hive name | Lichess name | Rating | Rounds played | Points | Performance |
|---|
| | | | | | |
| ? |  Hive account@maestroask | Odnoobraz_bcm | 2606 |
| ? |  Hive account@stayoutoftherz | stayoutoftherz | 2028 |
| ? | Hive account@emic | emichessmaster | 2161 |
| ? | Hive account@fcastro177 | FCastro17 | 2117 |
| 5 | Hive account@rosmarly | rosmarly | 2048 |
| 6 |  Hive account@lucianosky | Pavarotty | 2323 |
| 7 | Hive account@lighteye | lighteye | 1717 |
| 8 | Hive account@stranger27 | stranger27 | 1610 |
|
|
| 9 |  Hive account@vjap55 | vjap55 | 2110 | 3 | 59 | 2109,7 |
| 10(+2) |  Hive account@rodrook | rodrook | 1438 | 7 | 58 | 1570,1 |
| 11(-1) |  Hive account@wildthougts | Wildthougts | 2215 | 3 | 56 | 2131,7 |
| 12(-1) |  Hive account@sawko | CM sawkito | 2353 | 3 | 55 | 2259,3 |
| 13 |  Hive account@agreste | agreste | 1727 | 5 | 52 | 1755,6 |
| 14(+1) |  Hive account@b0s | Da_k1ng | 1564 | 5 | 48 | 1766 |
| 15(-1) |  Hive account@maciejficek | XM9000 | 1452 | 7 | 47 | 1544,7 |
| 16(+3) |  Hive account@fiona777 | fiona777 | 1449 | 7 | 44 | 1520,1 |
| 17 |  Hive account@schamangerbert | HerbyW | 1768 | 5 | 43 | 1737,6 |
| 18(-2) |  Hive account@eniolw | eniolw | 2383 | 2 | 40 | 2273,5 |
| 19(-1) |  Hive account@tin.aung.soe | TinAungSoe | 1244 | 7 | 36 | 1458 |
| 20(+3) | Hive account@samostically | ZGM_Samostically | 2131 | 2 | 34 | 1929 |
| 21(+3) | Hive account@nikoszzz | nikoszzz | 1951 | 3 | 33 | 1903,3 |
| 22 | Hive account@sammy00 | migmag | 1503 | 5 | 33 | 1553,8 |
| 23(-3) |  Hive account@kreur | Kreur | 2136 | 2 | 32 | 2154 |
| 24(-3) |  Hive account@kintokris | jonbellionfan | 1913 | 2 | 30 | 1783 |
| 25(+2) |  Hive account@vasigo | vasigo | 1187 | 7 | 20 | 1225,7 |
| 26(-1) |  Hive account@iammanythings | iammanythings | 2120 | 1 | 19 | 1983 |
| 27(-1) |  Hive account@anomadsoul | anomadsoul | 1471 | 2 | 18 | 1719 |
| 28 |  Hive account@pravesh0 | pravesh007 | 1714 | 2 | 15 | 1702,5 |
| 29 |  Hive account@sanjamkapoors | SanjamKapoors | 1448 | 2 | 15 | 1615,5 |
| 30 |  Hive account@mypathtofire | mypathtofire | 1243 | 6 | 13 | 1329,7 |
| 31 |  Hive account@salomijale | unknownhumnabeing | 1500 | 2 | 11 | 1336,5 |
| 32(new) |  Hive account@kaungsett8388 | kaungsett8388 | 1179 | 1 | 6 | 1563 |
Due to the absence of some stronger players, Hive account@rodrook could sneak to the 9th position, only 2 points are missing to reach the top rank. Will Hive account@vjap55 and Hive account@sawko leave that place - and a seat in the S15´s quarterfinals - for him? Just two rounds to go!
The rules you can look up in the S14 announcement post.
See you all next week for the 8th round and the semifinals!
