Chess960 Tournament Recap

I wouldn't believe if anyone told me that I would start getting accustomed to playing chess960. The randomness of Chess960 is the main reason why many of us tend to fidget over it.

I was reading Hive account@samostically post on how Magnus Carlsen had won the Freestyle Chess Tournament seven(7) time. He is so good at chess that even without following the norm of a playbook or memorized opening, he still dominates the board.

His winnings in Chess960 games is a proof that Carlson knows his shit, he truly understands the 64 squares of the chess board more than anyone. You should read it too, I enjoyed it: Magnus Carlsen clutch another Title.

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A few hours ago we played a Chess960 tournament hosted by Hive account@sammy00 and it was a blast. I narrowly found my way inside the leadboard, it was a pretty tough round, everyone is getting better so the tournaments are getting harder 😭.

Leaderboard

• 🥇 tortyllan– 35 points
• 🥈 SouthGamer- 29 points
• 🥉 FCastro17– 28 points

📊

Here is how the Final leaderboard looked:

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Games Analysis

♜ Justola vs Guisep73

This was my first win of the tournament. Honestly, at first I wasn't sure what I was doing. I only wanted to just develop my pieces so I don't restrict the movement of my other pieces. Then it all started making sense. Move 15 was a decent move Black made which made White give up his Rook to save his queen. White was short of a piece already and it gave Black the upperhand to be on the offensive, hence winning this round.

[Event "Chess960 Tournament"]
[Site "Chess960 Hivechess Tournament Arena"]
[Date "2024.01.01"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Justola"]
[Black "Guisep73"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez"]
[Variant "Chess960"]
[TimeControl "10+5"]
[Termination "Normal"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[UTCDate "2024.01.01"]
[UTCTime "14:30:00"]

Nc3 e6 2. b3 Nc6 3. Bb2 a6 4. e4 f6 5. g4 Nd6 6. f3 b6 7. O-O-O Nb4 8. a3 Nc6 9. f4 b5 10. a4 h5 11. axb5 Nxb5 12. Nxb5 axb5 13. Nd3 hxg4 14. Rxg4 f5 15. exf5 Ne5 16. Qg1 Nxg4 17. Qxg4 exf5 18. Qxf5 g6 19. Qg5 Qxh2 20. Ne5 Bh6 21. Qe7 Bc6 22. Nxc6 dxc6 23. Qe6+ Kb7 24. Bd3 Rbe8 25. Qg4 Qxf4 26. Qg2 Re6 27. Bxb5 Rge8 28. Bc4 Re1 29. Bc3 Rxd1+ 30. Kxd1 Qe4 31. Qxe4 Rxe4 32. d3 Rf4 33. Ke2 Rh4 34. Bf7 Rh2+ 35. Kf3 g5 36. Kg3 Re2 37. Be4 Kb6 38. Bg6 Bg7 39. Bxg7 Rxg7 40. Be4 Kb6 41. Kg4 Kb5 42. c4+ Kb4 43. Bxc6 Kxb3 44. c5 Kb4 45. d4 Kc4 46. d5 Kxc5 47. Kf5 g4 48. Kf4 g3 0-1

  

♜ Stayoutoftherz vs Migmag

Towards the end of the tournament, stayoutoftherz was on fire and earned 4 points in the last two games which game him a boost in the leaderboard. Black played a sneaky move at move 22 where his bishop was sacrificed to capture Whites queen. Black got the advantage and began to kick off Whites other pieces. White resigned and Black won this round.

[Event "Chess960 Tournament"]
[Site "Chess960 Hivechess Tournament Arena"]
[Date "2024.01.01"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Stayoutoftherz"]
[Black "Migmag"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez"]
[Variant "Chess960"]
[TimeControl "10+5"]
[Termination "Normal"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[UTCDate "2024.01.01"]
[UTCTime "15:00:00"]

h4 e5 2. g3 f6 3. Bh3 Nb6 4. Bh2 Bd6 5. Nb3 Qe7 6. Nd3 g6 7. e3 f5 8. Qe2 e4 9. Nf4 Bc4 10. d3 exd3 11. cxd3 Bxb3 12. axb3 Nf6 13. O-O O-O 14. Bg2 c6 15. d4 Ng4 16. h5 Kg7 17. hxg6 hxg6 18. Bh3 Nxh2 19. Kxh2 Rh8 20. Kg2 Rh6 21. Rh1 Rbh8 22. g4 Bxf4 23. exf4 Qxe2 24. gxf5 Qe4+ 25. f3 Qe2+ 26. Kg3 Rxh3+ 27. Rxh3 Rxh3+ 28. Kxh3 Qxf3+ 29. Kh2 Qxf4+ 30. Kh1 Qe4+ 31. Kh2 Qxb1 0-1