Dear chess fans,
yesterday the penultimate round of S12 was played, a 7+1 arena with 22 players.
Our season leader @sawko scored yet another victory, his fourth in S12 and second in a row. And what a victory it was - 10 points lead to the runner-up, @vjap55! Third and fourth were the usual suspects for top ranks, @eniolw and @franu (Tz995). Congratulations to All!
In this game from myself (White) against @stranger27 Black wanted to get rid of the annoying Knight with f6??. This further weakens the already loose king and allows the immediate strike with Nxg6.
Such weakening pawn moves are NEVER to be recommended, because sacrifices on g6 are very thematic in such positions!
https://lichess.org/tnXC6xrC/white#42
Here (in a game from @sawko (Black) against @giacomone (KingJames4)) it is less obvious how to proceed for Black, but the semi open g-file looks very scary:
https://lichess.org/cPlT7joS/black#33
The energetic Rxg2! is the way to go and @sawko found it. The rook can´t be taken due to Nh4+ plus Nf3x and a hopeless position, but after Kf1 (the best move according to Stockfish) Rdg8 and a strong attack followed leading to decisive material win and checkmate a few moves later.
This position is from a game between @vjap55 (White) against @rosmarly. Why was the last move from Black, Rc8, a bad decision?
https://lichess.org/QmSee7Uo/black#42
Anyway, White didn´t see this opportunity and even lost the game later.
Blunder of the day:
In this marathon game from myself with Black against @eniolw I managed to create a kind of fortress, defending everything and controlling the 2 passers from White. But in this position I went nuts and played Ne6?? what blundered the Queen.
https://lichess.org/lIpP8PF6/black#115
Which move would have instead led to a quick draw?
Link to the tournament: https://lichess.org/tournament/fsWm7WxC
Season 12: 03 Jun to 05 Aug 2022 / Standings before the final round:
| Rank | Hive name | Lichess name | Rating | Rounds played | Points | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | @sawko | CM sawkito | 2337 | 9 | 213 | 2284,6 |
| 2 | @eniolw | eniolw | 2363 | 8 | 188 | 2336 |
| 3 | @franu | Tz995 | 2195 | 9 | 172 | 2160,9 |
| 4 | @rosmarly | rosmarly | 2040 | 8 | 152 | 2033,3 |
| 5 | @stayoutoftherz | stayoutoftherz | 2031 | 9 | 149 | 2034,1 |
| 6(+2) | @vjap55 | vjap55 | 2197 | 8 | 146 | 2122,4 |
| 7(-1) | @jaki01 | jaki01 | 2307 | 6 | 130 | 2200,6 |
| 8(-1) | @pamboy27 | pamboy27 | 2065 | 7 | 129 | 2115,8 |
| 9 | @pereu4ivatel | pereu4uwatch | 2065 | 9 | 124 | 2017,1 |
| 10 | @samostically | ZGM_Samostically | 2144 | 6 | 100 | 2076,6 |
| 11(+4) | @petreius | petreius | 1975 | 6 | 85 | 1891,2 |
| 12(-1) | @stranger27 | stranger27 | 1756 | 9 | 83 | 1775,3 |
| 13(-1) | @lighteye | lighteye | 1730 | 9 | 80 | 1740,6 |
| 14(-1) | @rodrook | rodrook | 1359 | 9 | 79 | 1636,3 |
| 15(-1) | @fcastro177 | FCastro17 | 2125 | 4 | 72 | 2135,3 |
| 16(+1) | @emic | emichessmaster | 2065 | 4 | 65 | 1938,3 |
| 17(-1) | @deadleaf | realdeadleaf | 2141 | 4 | 62 | 1983,3 |
| 18 | @maciejficek | XM9000 | 1518 | 8 | 51 | 1598,6 |
| 19 | @b0s | Da_k1ng | 1492 | 7 | 50 | 1607,8 |
| 20(+1) | @falcout | falcout | 1531 | 5 | 37 | 1590,6 |
| 21(+1) | @fiona777 | fiona777 | 1475 | 8 | 37 | 1527,1 |
| 22(+1) | @vasigo | vasigo | 1284 | 9 | 34 | 1408,9 |
| 23(+1) | @giacomone | KingJames4 | 1589 | 4 | 30 | 1571,3 |
| 24(+1) | @mypathtofire | mypathtofire | 1409 | 5 | 17 | 1450,8 |
All players with less than 4 participations so far have no chances anymore to make it into the final ranking (50% rule) and thus are not shown.
The rules you can look up in the S12 announcement post.
No changes in the top ranks. Due to their good results @vjap55 and @petreius could jump a little upward in the ranking. Before the final round it seems too obvious who will be the champion.
See you all next week for the final S12 showdown! To all the players with 4 participations: Please note that having played at 5 tournaments is required to get the lavish prices! So don´t miss out!
