At this point, I feel like I should turn these weekly chess episodes into a series.
I cannot stop reflecting on the parallels between the game of chess and life.
Perhaps call the series - Chess & Life ?!
Feels like a solid idea.
Anyway, I'm glad to be back writing again after an exciting week of hustle and bustle, as well as an interesting Swiss format Hive Chess - more on that later.
Chess offers more than just strategic moves on a checkered board. It's a reflection of life itself, teaching us valuable lessons in consistency and resilience.
Photo by tommao wang on Unsplash
Consistency!
I know, it probably sounds kinda cliche at this point. But I cannot get enough of talking about it as it keeps proving itself over and over again to be a major ingredient for success.
This was the core lesson I had for one of my chess students this week.
Stay consistent!
If you wish to see results, then show up every day, it's literally that simple.
Well, it perhaps isn't that easy as if it were, everyone would find it easy to stay consistent. That being said, anyone, regardless of where you are in life can become consistent.
Mostly, it comes down to one question:
How bad do you want it?
Damn badly? Then show up every day!
In the midst of our busy lives, it's easy to get caught up in the pursuit of immediate results. However, the game of chess reminds us that true mastery comes from consistent effort and dedication. Just as each move on the board requires careful consideration, every step we take in life shapes our journey toward success.
Consistent preparation lays the foundation for success.
In Chess, in life, preparation is key.
Consistent preparation is the master key!
Well, that will be all for today's rant, let's analyze some games from Hive Chess.
Hive Chess
This week, after the 6th round of the Hive My performance in the tournament remained consistent with a 4th place finish, same as last week.
The format this time was different though, it was a Swiss tournament. Meaning a fixed number of rounds where the winners of the previous round play winners and losers play losers.
Finishing 1st place was eniolw, a strong warrior, definitely one of the best players in Hive chess. so our first game for today will be featuring him.
Game 1
eniolw (2354) vs Jonbellionfan (2109), full game here
Queens Indian defence was the choice for black. Not as solid and reputable as the Nimzo-Indian defence but it is still a great option against 1.d4.
Black played 5... d5 and 6... c5, fighting for equality and the initiative by challenging white's center as early as possible. This led to the position opening up and some tactical play.
The game continued
7.cxd5 Nxd5 8. Bb5+ Nc6 9. Ne5 Rc8 10. Qa4 Nxc3 and after 11. bxc3 black needed to go a6, but played 11... Qc7
12. Qxa7! The knight is pinned and if Ra8 white has Bxc6+! and the game will be completely lost for Black.
Black played 12. ...Bd6, white continued with Bxc6 and a couple of trades happened on c6 and c5 . when the coast was clear though, white emerged a pawn up.
However, it wasn't over yet. There were still rooks on the board and being a pawn up in most rook endgames is not sufficient enough for a win.
The bishops were exchanged and Black did well to keep his rooks active and control the only open file. Black's drawing chances increased significantly in the next few moves after seizing control of the 2nd rank while still having control over the open file. This pushed white to a passive position, having one of his rooks pinned to f1. White was up a pawn but with no way to make progress.
White practically has nothing and after a couple of shuffling moves this position arrived:
d5?! In desperation, white tries to advance his pawn. exd5, exd5, and Rxd5, black wins back his pawn and the position is completely even.
Shockingly, white played e5. still an even position, but now white has something to play for with the past pawn at the middle of the board
The decisive mistake however came when black allowed white access to the open c-file.
White infiltrated black's position with Rc6-f6 ...
By move 46 the position had gone from being equal to being completely lost for black
Game 2
tortyllan (2025) vs stayoutoftherz (2080), full game here
@stayoutoftherz had a good tournament, finishing 3rd place and losing only to the tournament Victor. Here is one of his more exciting games.
The result was peaceful but what happened over the board was far from it.
The game starts out with a Caro Kann. Not a surprise as Caro Kann is one of Black's most solid responses against 1.e4
Nge7? The first mistake of the game. The computers preferred Nh6, preventing g4 pawn push. One line goes 9...Nh6 10.a3 a5 11.h3 Nf5 12.g4 Nh4 13.Be3 h5 14.Nd2 hxg4 15.hxg4 f5 16.Nf3
Ne7 wasn't a decisive mistake, however, as black would go on to equalize and even gain some advantage later in the game.
Black has created a solid formation around his king with no clear way for white to break through. The white King on the other hand feels a lot less safe as white has overextended the king-side pawns.
Black's plan here is simple after 16. .. Rfc8 - infiltrate through the queenside.
After a couple of moves, black gained control of the open c-file.Then white made a blunder!
23. Rd2?? but black followed up with a blunder of his own with Rc1+??, not punishing white.
28... Rxf3! was the winning move as after Qxf3, Rook on d2 will fall to Qxd2.
After a few moves, however, white blundered again and this time got punished.
27.exf7?? after 27...Kxf7 28. Ne5+?! Kg7 29. Rc2 Rxc2 30. Qxc2 Qxg5+ 31. Kh1 Black was up 2 pawns, and white's King was weak and exposed. The engine evaluation of the position was a 5.2 advantage for black.
The game went to an endgame, Queens were exchanged off the board and both players were left with just a minor piece and pawns. The clock was dwindling down rapidly at this point and this led to so many inaccuracies from both sides. Then the mistake that took away all of black's advantage came on move 48. Bd6??
Can you spot the sequence of moves that draw this for white?
Let me know in the comments below.
Click here to check out the whole tournament and here for the official Hive Chess Post
I am @samostically,I love to talk and write about chess because i benefited alot from playing chess. I love to review books and movies too!.I believe life is all about staying happy and maintaining peace.
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Hey bro where have you been? I have been trying to contact you but no replies...