@eniolw is now the sole leader after 16 rounds played in the Hivechess Candidates Tournament!

Hi chessfans,

yesterday rounds 13 to 16 of the HCT were played, and again all game were played on schedule!

Results

Round 13
Hive account@eniolw	1:0	Hive account@sawko
Hive account@samostically	1:0	Hive account@vasigo
Hive account@b0s	0:1	Hive account@pereu4ivatel
Hive account@deadleaf	1:0	Hive account@anomadsoul
Hive account@vjap55	1:0	Hive account@falcout
Hive account@stayoutoftherz	1:0	Hive account@rodrook
Round 14
Hive account@vasigo	0:1	Hive account@sawko
Hive account@b0s	0:1	Hive account@jaki01
Hive account@anomadsoul	0:1	Hive account@samostically
Hive account@falcout	0:1	Hive account@pereu4ivatel
Hive account@rodrook	1:0	Hive account@deadleaf
Hive account@stayoutoftherz	0:1	Hive account@vjap55
Round 15
Hive account@eniolw	1:0	Hive account@vasigo
Hive account@sawko	1:0	Hive account@anomadsoul
Hive account@jaki01	1:0	Hive account@falcout
Hive account@samostically	1:0	Hive account@rodrook
Hive account@pereu4ivatel	1:0	Hive account@stayoutoftherz
Hive account@deadleaf	0:1	Hive account@vjap55
Round 16
Hive account@b0s	0:1	Hive account@eniolw
Hive account@anomadsoul	1:0	Hive account@vasigo
Hive account@rodrook	0:1	Hive account@sawko
Hive account@stayoutoftherz	1:0	Hive account@jaki01
Hive account@vjap55	½:½	Hive account@samostically
Hive account@deadleaf	1:0	Hive account@pereu4ivatel

In round 13 already a key game happened: the clash between the two co-leaders Hive account@eniolw and Hive account@sawko whereby Hive account@eniolw could win in a really wild game full of tactics! Please check it out for yourself!
In round 14 Hive account@rodrook could surprisingly beat Hive account@deadleaf who with Black had blundered Qf7 (probably in an attempt to take twice on g6 and eliminate the annoying knight).
But Hive account@rodrook cold-blooded punished that move by just mating his opponent.

White to mate in latest 3:

https://lichess.org/ztfE6k2R#72

And in round 16 there was also a pretty crazy game between Hive account@vjap55 (white) and Hive account@samostically.
White came out great after the opening and was completely winning, but after many wild tactics there was this situation where 2 pieces of white were hanging. Can you find a way to defend both?

White to move and keep his advantage.

https://lichess.org/a9fz83vN#66

In the game (in time scramble) Hive account@vjap55 had tried Re1+ Kf7 (otherwise Bf6x with attack on h8) but then continued with Bf6x and after Rd3x+ Ke4 lost his advantage due to the sneaky Re8+

The game ultimately ended piecefully.

Other than that mostly the favorites could take home their full points, with one exception. I was able to beat Hive account@jako01 with the white pieces which saved my day, after having lost the return matches against Hive account@vjap55 and Hive account@pereu4ivatel.

The cross-table:

Standings

After 16 rounds still Hive account@eniolw and Hive account@sawko share the same number of points but Hive account@eniolw had played one round less and - after his 100% score today - is therefore leading with 13 points out of 14. Closely behind is Hive account@sawko with 13 points out of 15, followed by Hive account@vjap55 with 12/15 as 3^rd and Hive account@samostically with 11,5/15 as 4^th.
I would say all 4 have still chances for the title but Hive account@eniolw is clearly on fire at the moment and for sure hard to overcome.

The remaining two tournament days will be the crucial ones, with 5 rounds to be played out per day. Don´t miss them!

See you next Friday - and as always keep practicing!