Hello everyone,
The 5th round of the Friday Hivechess Tournament took place on the 24th of October 2025, and this time it was a Swiss tournament format. What this means is the tournament pairing is the same kind of format used in a standard chess tournament where every player of the tournament gets paired at the same time and no game can start until all other games have been completed. The only difference is that this one is played online. Truthfully, I look forward to a day when we will host a Hivechess tournament in a physical location.
My performance in this round was spectacular as I only lost a game to @maestroask, and I drew a painful winning game against @justfavour, all because I wanted to play a couple of moves just to gain time since the time control was 3+1, unknown to me, it became a perpetual draw.
Let's look at some exciting games I played in the tournament.
justfavour vs ZGM_Samostically
This is the game where the draw was a mistake because I wanted to gain some momentum while playing, but I did not know the position had repeated itself. The game was a Scandinavian Defense: Mieses-Kotroc Variation, where I came out with an attacking mentality to grab the point. No matter the tournament format used, it still boils down to who grabs the most points, wins the event. Hence why I was out for the win with my attacks.
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. a3 Nc6
It was only a matter of a few moves in the opening, and up next we traded off queens. I did not mind this because I knew I was ahead in development since white lost a tempo when he went for a3.
6. Nxe5
By move 23. Re3, pieces have been traded off, leaving us with a two-rook and pawns endgame. Making it a precision game.
The blunder from white came in on move 49 with Ke2, leaving me with an entrance into his pawn structure on the kingside of the board.
Sadly, I missed the win when I responded with Rc1. I should have exchanged the rook, then played h5. This way my king will have the entrance square, f5. Then, only in a matter of time, white will enter a zugzwang.
The repetition of the move Rc2 is what led to the draw, and it was quite painful. Nonetheless, it was not all bad in the end since I came in at 2nd place, and the only person I lost to was the one who finished 1st.
Here is the game link
Game Link
And here is the PGN game
[Event "Hivechess S21 Round 5"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/xQnuNo8R"]
[Date "2025.10.24"]
[White "justfavour"]
[Black "ZGM_Samostically"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "1840"]
[BlackElo "2169"]
[WhiteRatingDiff "+5"]
[BlackRatingDiff "-5"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[TimeControl "180+1"]
[ECO "B01"]
[Opening "Scandinavian Defense: Mieses-Kotroc Variation"]
[Termination "Normal"]
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. a3 Nc6 4. Nc3 Qe5+ 5. Qe2 Nf6 6. Qxe5 Nxe5
7. d3 e6 8. Bg5 Ned7 9. Bxf6 Nxf6 10. h3 a6 11. Nf3 Bd6 12. g3 O-O
13. Bg2 Re8 14. O-O c6 15. Rfe1 Rb8 16. Ne4 Nxe4 17. Rxe4 b6 18. Ree1
h6 19. Rab1 c5 20. Ne5 Bxe5 21. Rxe5 Bb7 22. Bxb7 Rxb7 23. Re3 Rc7
24. Rbe1 Rec8 25. R1e2 b5 26. Re4 c4 27. d4 a5 28. c3 Rb8 29. Kg2 b4
30. axb4 axb4 31. Rc2 b3 32. Rd2 Ra8 33. Ree2 Ra1 34. d5 exd5
35. Rxd5 Rc1 36. Rdd2 g6 37. f3 Kg7 38. Kf2 Ra7 39. Re4 Rc2
40. Ree2 Rxd2 41. Rxd2 Ra1 42. Ke3 Rh1 43. h4 Rg1 44. Kf2 Rc1
45. Ke2 Kf6 46. f4 Kf5 47. Kf3 Rc2 48. g4+ Ke6 49. Ke2 Rc1
50. Kf3 Rh1 51. Kg3 Rc1 52. Kf2 Rc2 53. Ke2 Rc1 54. Rd4 Rc2+
55. Rd2 1/2-1/2
Dakods-16 vs ZGM_Samostically
This is another game in the tournament I won with the black pieces. It was a product of a man of fire. I did not waste or give up anything to chance at all, and this game proves that.
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. a3 Nc6 4. Nc3 Qe5+ 5. Qe2 Nf6 6. Qxe5 Nxe5
The opening for this game is the Zukertort Opening: Other variations. The opening focuses development of the queen's side, making it something from the family of d4. I made it interesting when I diverted the game to the kingside when I went with the break through the e4 pawn.
13. Rg8
The game got interesting when I began my attack on the kingside after playing Rg8. Letting white capture the g7 pawn was part of the plan to enable Rg8 the opening the g8 file to my rook. Also notice my knight is in the range of the pawn on h3, but it is not a pressing problem because of the attack I am planning.
Things took a turn in the position when white traded off pieces on the board, but I will leave this position with a task for you to find out the winning move that made me a piece up at this point. Can you find it??
Here is the game link:
Game Link
And here is the PGN game:
[Event "Hivechess S21 Round 5"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/oX3y98un"]
[Date "2025.10.24"]
[White "Dakods-16"]
[Black "ZGM_Samostically"]
[Result "0-1"]
[GameId "oX3y98un"]
[UTCDate "2025.10.24"]
[UTCTime "19:30:41"]
[WhiteElo "2270"]
[BlackElo "2164"]
[WhiteRatingDiff "-7"]
[BlackRatingDiff "+8"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[TimeControl "180+1"]
[ECO "A06"]
[Opening "Zukertort Opening"]
[Termination "Normal"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 Nc6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nbd2 e6 5. Bd3 Bd6 6. a3 Qe7 7. b3 e5 8. dxe5 Nxe5 9. Bb2 Nxd3+ 10. cxd3 c6 11. O-O h5 12. h3 Ng4 13. Bxg7 Rg8 14. Bd4 Nh6 15. Kh1 Nf5 16. e4 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Qg5 18. Rg1 Qf4 19. N2f3 Bg4 20. e5 Bxe5 21. Re1 f6 22. Qd2 Qxd2 23. Nxd2 O-O-O 24. N2f3 Bxf3 25. Nxf3 Bxa1 26. Rxa1 Rge8 27. Rc1 Re2 28. Kg1 Rb2 29. Rc3 Re8 30. Nd4 Re1+ 31. Kh2 Rxf2 32. Kg3 Ra2 33. b4 Re3+ 34. Kf4 Re8 35. g4 h4 36. Nb5 Rf2# 0-1
I am @samostically, a chess player and writer. I love to share the experience I have gained from different battles over the 64 squares and the knowledgeable insights from books I have read. But most importantly, I am a Midnight Owl and I founded the community Midnight Letters.
♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♟♟
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STOPCongrats on second place
Your form is very good in Friday tournament lately - Too bad you missed games on Sunday
Is it bishop takes knight on f3 move to go?
Thank you. Arsenal played on Sunday, was a bit off chess that day. Should play the next one.
No, that loses my queen for free. Remember my dark bishop is pinned to my king. That means I can’t capture back.
Arsenal won so thats good.
Did not see the pin. Easy blunder for me
Okay it will surprise you to know Bxf3 which loses the queen to Qxf4 isn’t a blunder as the position becomes equal after Bxg2+, Kh2 and then Be4!
After these moves and force captures, the game is equal and a draw.
Chess can be very crazy!😝
Yep there was something in that corner XD