Saturday HiveChess is Back!

Greetings to all chess fans! Hivechess Season 2 just kicked off last night. It's a weekly chess Arena blitz tournament which run for over an hour. It starts at eleven pm our time and ends at midnight. The time control for this round was five minute blitz with an option to go on "berserk". Going berserk will give you half the time (two and a half minute) but will give you an extra point if you win.

I was lucky to take a spot in the top ten. It was a tough tournament specially having not practiced for a while, I was a bit rusty. On the other hand, my opponents were not on top form either. I lost games on terrible blunders but also had my share of wins with brilliant tactics. I had a losing game that I won on time and a winning game that I lost on time too. There were games that I won with mating nets. It was all fun and exciting.

My first game was against @rosmarly where I hung a piece and resigned immediately. It was a quick loss that ended in twelve moves.

I had my share of luck though. I won a game against an off form @southgamer who left his Queen en prise.

A game against @stranger27 where I won with a nice tactical king side attack.

The combination starts with Bxg6 and after fxg6 Rxh7!

After Black retakes with Rxh7 Qxg6 wins back the Rook with a winning position. Black decided to castle but this was worse.

After castles, Qxg6 and it's not easy to avoid mate.

One of the two favorite games in this tournament. @stayoutoftherz gave up a piece for a King side attack. I had to defend and not make mistakes. I won a Rook but also lost it. Eventually in time scramble and with a few pieces on the board, I found a mating net.

g5 will be met with h5 and there's no safe square for the White King.

My other favorite game was against @sam.chess. This is my first win ever against him after countless losses. He played berserk against me so I had the advantage in time. The game was a Caro Kann and the position below is familiar. I often lose here after a Knight sacrifice on f7.

This time I played Qe7 to defend the f7 and e6 squares. After exchanging the Knight on e5, the immediate threat of attack is gone. I can take advantage of my lead in time.

After a few more moves I had a comfortable position and a huge time advantage. My pieces are all active and I'm planning to double my rooks on the d file.

My opponent soon blundered and allowed me to fork his Queen and Rook.

In the end, I had a nice tactic to simplify the position. Rxf3 followed by Bxb1 keeps my material lead intact while having a two minute time advantage.

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

Link to tournament: https://lichess.org/tournament/03yc2naX

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