"I love all positions. Give me a difficult positional game, I will play it.But totally won positions, I cannot stand them" - Unknown
Hello Everyone, The last Hive chess tournament was a bullet one. The time control was 2+1 and many Hive games weren't decided until the last few seconds. Chess is a game were everyone expect the stronger player to win and most times they do- but, we also see several shocking results. The question is why? The Art of swindling. I have been swindled many times and I have won so many games from swindling my opponents so I believe it is an art. In this post, I'd explain what swindling is and using Hive chess tournaments, I'd show some examples.
What is Swindling in Chess?
A swindle in chess is when a player that is losing or in a losing position tricks their opponent to making a mistake that turns the table totally. A perfect example was highlighted in one of my games. During round 5 of this season's Hivechess tournament, I lost a game to a player with a rating difference of almost 800! How? I was swindled.
Game 1: 
(1393) Vs @Samostically(2179) 1-0
In this position, Black has a overwhelming advantage because of the extra material and the opponent's king's position. With focus and normal moves, should win the game.
White on the other hand did well not to resign. When there can at least be a last attempt.
C5! In basketball, we would call this a hail Mary shot from midcourt. It's a move that asks the question. How focused are you? I answered with Rad8??
I was eager to bring my rook to the attack! Neglecting my opponent last move.
Qxf7#
Lesson to Learn: We can consider this under the category of Last minute swindling or trickery. It always important for us to focus down to the end. No game is over till it's actually is.
Another lesson to learn is never to underestimate your opponent no matter the Elo difference.
Here is the pgn.
[Event "Hivechess S20 Round 5 Arena"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/j61PXnyn"]
[Date "2025.02.28"]
[White "fiona777"]
[Black "ZGM_Samostically"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1393"]
[BlackElo "2179"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[ECO "B00"]
[Opening "Pirc Defense"]
1. e4 d6 2. Qf3?! Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Ne5 5. Qg3? Nxc4 6. dxc4 Be6? 7. Qd3 g6
8. Nc3 Bg7 9. Nd5?! O-O 10. Nf3 c6 11. Nxf6+ Bxf6 12. Ng5 Bd7 13. Qh3?? h5??
14. Qg3 e5? 15. O-O Kg7 16. f4 h4? 17. Qxh4 Rh8 18. Qg3?! exf4? 19. Rxf4?? Bxg5
20. Qc3+? Bf6 21. Qf3 Qe7 22. Qb3 Be5 23. Rf1 Bxh2+ 24. Kf2 Qf6+ 25. Ke1 Qh4+
26. Ke2 Qxe4+ 27. Be3 Bg4+?! 28. Kd2 Qxg2+ 29. Rf2 Qg3?! 30. c5? Rae8??
31. Qxf7# 1-0
Game 2: 
Vs 
Swindling can be psychological too
In this game between
But, Justfavour is higher rated and has a better h2h of 5-1. So you can understand why White next move was Rg7+ and after Kc6, white checked again on Rg6 and black kept the repetition to force a draw.
| Rg7+, Kc6 | Rg6+ |
|---|---|
 |  |
It's an interesting way to get a draw. Black tricked the opponent to a repetition and got a draw from a seemingly lost position.
Here is the pgn.
[Event "Hivechess S20 Round 5 Arena"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/mMoS0sJM"]
[Date "2025.02.28"]
[White "uniforced"]
[Black "justfavour"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1437"]
[BlackElo "1691"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[ECO "A10"]
[Opening "English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense"]
[Termination "Normal"]
1. c4 d5 2. Nc3 dxc4 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 Bb4 5. e3 Bxc3+ 6. dxc3 Nc6 7. Bd2 Rb8
8. Ne2 Qd6 9. Nd4 Nxd4 10. cxd4 Nf6 11. Bc3 b5 12. Qc2 Bb7 13. Bxb7 Rxb7
14. O-O-O Qc6 15. Bb4 Qd7 16. a4 Nd5 17. Qd2 Nxb4 18. Qxb4 c6 19. e4 Qe7
20. Qc5 Qxc5 21. dxc5 O-O 22. a5 f5 23. Rd6 fxe4 24. Rxe6 Rxf2 25. Rxc6 Re2
26. Rf1 h6 27. h4 Rg2 28. Rc8+ Kh7 29. Rff8 Rxg3 30. Rh8+ Kg6 31. Rc6+ Kh5
32. Rh7 Kxh4 33. Re6 Rc7 34. Rxe4+ Kh5 35. Re5+ Rg5 36. Rxg7 Rxe5 37. Rxc7 Re8
38. Rxa7 Rc8 39. b4 Kg4 40. Kd2 h5 41. Rb7 Rc6 42. Rxb5 h4 43. a6 Rxa6
44. Kc3 h3 45. Kxc4 h2 46. Rb6 h1=Q 47. Rxa6 Qe4+ 48. Kb5 Qb7+ 49. Ka5 Kf4
50. b5 Ke4 51. c6 Qc7+ 52. Rb6 Kd4 53. Ka6 Kc5 54. Rb7 Qe5 55. c7 Qa1#
0-1
In chess, Perpetual checks are one way to swindle an opponent and get something out a game.
Lesson Learnt: Dont resign early, keep playing and you can resort to a planned perpetual check and see if your opponent will bite.
Conclusion
Swindling is an art. It works better in fast time controls like blitz and bullet. The last Hive chess tournament featured alot of swindling. players winning or drawing lost positions either on time or a dramatic trick move. If you want to be a swindler in chess, all you need is to stay alert, and set traps. You can also practice bad positions - that way you get comfortable with them and don't panic, just then will the gods of chess find a way out for you even if it's a hail mary pass.
Hivechess is played every friday on lichess.org hosted by 
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Thanks For Reading!