Hivechess Season 1 Round 19 Report - 7th Place!

Greetings to all chess fans and the Midnight Letters community! I played in the 19th round of the Hivechess Season 1 last night. The Hivechess tournament is a weekly chess Arena blitz tournament which ran for over an hour. It starts at eleven pm our time and ends at midnight. The time control for this round was four minute blitz with an option to go on "berserk". Going berserk will give you half the time (two minutes) but will give you an extra point if you win.

I placed 7th in this tournament. I played great in some games but were terrible in others. I even lost by a mate in one 😀. I solve a lot of puzzles but when it comes to real games, I still miss some. The games were fun, even if I lost a lot. It's the reason I keep playing even if the hour is late.

In my first game against @stayoutoftherz, I had the advantage and enough time to play Rd1, Rd2 to defend the f2 square.

I was too eager to exchange queens and moved Qe5?? Black to move and mate in 1.

In my next game against second placer @samostically, I had a position I encountered a million times but I forgot the proper reply and walked to a brilliant sacrifice.

Moves like Qc7 or Nd5 will keep the position even but instead I moved Bd6. White to move and win.

Losing two puzzle like positions was discouraging but it was not all bad. I had my share of wins too. In time scramble, I found a mate in one in this position.

I had a losing game that I won on time in a mad scramble.

My best win in the tournament was against a 2200+ rated player. He played berserk against me and I generally played solidly. I slipped up in the middle but he didn't see my mistake. Soon I had a good position and he blundered with f5. After that, Qxg4 was winning.

Thanks to @sam.chess @samostically for hosting and congratulations to the winners!

Link to tournament: https://lichess.org/tournament/AbosDoR9

Playing chess is great for the mind but let's not forget about physical activities. I recently committed to exercise and to keep me motivated, I joined actifit.io

https://actifit.io/signup?referrer=chessguy-actifit