" Chess is Life "

By 👇🏼

Olamide

Haha, I say that quote often because Chess seems to only game I play to relieve stress

[ IMAGE IS MINE ]

Intro: It was an Enjoyable Ride

Five months ago (July 5th 2025) @samostically brought more chess to the blockhain. ♟️

We already had the Friday tournament by @stayoutoftherz and the Chess960 on Sundays by @sammy00 but more chess wouldn't hurt right?, LOL.

It was an enjoyable 5 months of chess. We've played 22 rounds of the Saturday Hivechess Arena so far and this was the final round of Season 1 for the year.

Thank you @samostically for bringing we chess lovers together with the Saturday Hivechess Arena and thank you everyone for always showing up each round. I learnt a lot playing with you all.

At the end of today's tournament, I was able to amass a total of 18 points and I secured 9th place out of 23 players

As always, I'm proud of myself 🦚

Here's how the final leaderboard looked:

1. 🥇 Odnoobraz_bcm– 45 points

2. 🥈 Tangible_ay- 39 points

3. 🥉 Jaki01– 38 points

📊

As usual, let's highlight some of the games that are quite interesting and we could learn from 👇🏼

Today's Game Highlights and Analysis

JUST_OLA VS Lighteye

My first win was against Lighteye.

You could almost say I was Lucky that my opponent ran out of time else it would have been bloody. White opened with the Queen's pawn game and began to develop his pieces.

I Thought caught White off-guard here: I took the knight at b6 but he surprised me with the move bishop to a4 and then captured my Rook.

We continued dabbling round the board and my opponent would have won because he had the upper hand after capturing my rook at d8 but ended up losing because he ran out of time and I won the round.

Game Link: https://lichess.org/BSLEieMK/black

This is the PGN file of the game:

[Event "Saturday HiveChess S1R22 Arena"] [Site "https://lichess.org/BSLEieMK"] [Date "2025.11.29"] [White "lighteye"] [Black "Just_ola"] [Result "0-1"] [GameId "BSLEieMK"] [UTCDate "2025.11.29"] [UTCTime "15:00:13"] [WhiteElo "1669"] [BlackElo "1790"] [WhiteRatingDiff "-4"] [BlackRatingDiff "+5"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "300+0"] [ECO "D06"] [Opening "Queen's Gambit Declined: Marshall Defense"] [Termination "Time forfeit"] [Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. d4 { [%eval 0.17] [%clk 0:05:00] } 1... d5 { [%eval 0.18] [%clk 0:05:00] } 2. c4 { [%eval 0.18] [%clk 0:04:59] } 2... Nf6 { [%eval 0.52] [%clk 0:04:59] } { D06 Queen's Gambit Declined: Marshall Defense } 3. Nc3 { [%eval 0.07] [%clk 0:04:58] } 3... dxc4 { [%eval 0.17] [%clk 0:04:59] } 4. e3 { [%eval 0.08] [%clk 0:04:54] } 4... Bd7 { [%eval 0.6] [%clk 0:04:58] } 5. Bxc4 { [%eval 0.69] [%clk 0:04:52] } 5... e6 { [%eval 0.45] [%clk 0:04:57] } 6. Nf3 { [%eval 0.64] [%clk 0:04:48] } 6... Nc6 { [%eval 0.94] [%clk 0:04:52] } 7. O-O { [%eval 0.63] [%clk 0:04:44] } 7... Bb4 { [%eval 0.95] [%clk 0:04:49] } 8. a3 { [%eval 0.98] [%clk 0:04:40] } 8... Bxc3 { [%eval 1.49] [%clk 0:04:48] } 9. bxc3 { [%eval 1.39] [%clk 0:04:40] } 9... Na5 { [%eval 1.57] [%clk 0:04:47] } 10. Bd3 { [%eval 1.62] [%clk 0:04:37] } 10... O-O { [%eval 2.08] [%clk 0:04:35] } 11. c4?! { (2.08 → 1.20) Inaccuracy. e4 was best. } { [%eval 1.2] [%clk 0:04:26] } (11. e4 h6 12. e5 Nd5 13. Bb1 f6 14. exf6 Nxf6 15. a4 c5 16. Ne5 Nc6) 11... b6?! { (1.20 → 2.04) Inaccuracy. Bc6 was best. } { [%eval 2.04] [%clk 0:04:29] } (11... Bc6) 12. Bd2 { [%eval 2.05] [%clk 0:04:19] } 12... Nb7 { [%eval 2.28] [%clk 0:04:28] } 13. Bb4? { (2.28 → 0.83) Mistake. e4 was best. } { [%eval 0.83] [%clk 0:04:01] } (13. e4 e5 14. Nxe5 Ba4 15. Qb1 Qxd4 16. Nf3 Qd8 17. e5 Nc5 18. Bf5 Nfd7) 13... Re8?! { (0.83 → 1.49) Inaccuracy. c5 was best. } { [%eval 1.49] [%clk 0:04:26] } (13... c5 14. Bc3) 14. Ne5 { [%eval 1.55] [%clk 0:03:58] } 14... Bc8?! { (1.55 → 2.78) Inaccuracy. c5 was best. } { [%eval 2.78] [%clk 0:04:24] } (14... c5 15. Qf3 Rb8 16. g4 cxb4 17. axb4 Re7 18. Rxa7 Nd6 19. c5 bxc5 20. bxc5) 15. Nc6 { [%eval 2.84] [%clk 0:03:21] } 15... Qd7 { [%eval 2.82] [%clk 0:04:20] } 16. Bc2?? { (2.82 → -2.83) Blunder. Ne5 was best. } { [%eval -2.83] [%clk 0:03:05] } (16. Ne5 Qd8 17. Nc6 Qd7 18. Qf3 a5 19. Ne5 Qd8 20. Bc3 Qd6 21. e4 Nd8) 16... Qxc6 { [%eval -2.87] [%clk 0:04:16] } 17. Ba4 { [%eval -2.62] [%clk 0:03:00] } 17... Qe4 { [%eval -2.92] [%clk 0:04:01] } 18. Bxe8 { [%eval -2.83] [%clk 0:02:52] } 18... Nxe8 { [%eval -2.79] [%clk 0:04:01] } 19. Qa4 { [%eval -2.72] [%clk 0:02:37] } 19... Nf6 { [%eval -2.99] [%clk 0:03:42] } 20. Rad1 { [%eval -3.16] [%clk 0:02:28] } 20... Bd7 { [%eval -2.92] [%clk 0:03:38] } 21. Qa6?! { (-2.92 → -4.23) Inaccuracy. Qb3 was best. } { [%eval -4.23] [%clk 0:02:16] } (21. Qb3 Qc6 22. f3 Qa4 23. Qd3 Rc8 24. e4 c5 25. dxc5 Nxc5 26. Qd6 Nb7) 21... Nd6 { [%eval -3.5] [%clk 0:03:19] } 22. c5? { (-3.50 → -6.23) Mistake. Rfe1 was best. } { [%eval -6.23] [%clk 0:01:59] } (22. Rfe1 Qb7 23. Qxb7 Nxb7 24. Rb1 Rc8 25. e4 c5 26. dxc5 Nxc5 27. e5 Ne8) 22... Bc8?? { (-6.23 → -2.69) Blunder. Bb5 was best. } { [%eval -2.69] [%clk 0:03:15] } (22... Bb5 23. Qxb5 Nxb5 24. a4 Nd5 25. axb5 Nxb4 26. Ra1 h5 27. Ra4 Nd5 28. Rfa1) 23. Qe2 { [%eval -2.76] [%clk 0:01:45] } 23... Nf5 { [%eval -2.79] [%clk 0:03:04] } 24. cxb6?! { (-2.79 → -4.10) Inaccuracy. Rfe1 was best. } { [%eval -4.1] [%clk 0:01:36] } (24. Rfe1 a5 25. Bc3 Nd5 26. Bb2 Bb7 27. Qd3 Qxd3 28. Rxd3 Nh4 29. f3 b5) 24... axb6?! { (-4.10 → -3.00) Inaccuracy. Bb7 was best. } { [%eval -3.0] [%clk 0:03:04] } (24... Bb7 25. f3 Qxe3+ 26. Qxe3 Nxe3 27. bxc7 Nxd1 28. Rxd1 Rc8 29. Rc1 Nd5 30. Bd6) 25. Qf3? { (-3.00 → -5.01) Mistake. Rfe1 was best. } { [%eval -5.01] [%clk 0:01:05] } (25. Rfe1 Ba6 26. Qb2 Qc6 27. f3 Nd6 28. e4 Nc4 29. Qc2 h6 30. a4 Qd7) 25... Qxf3 { [%eval -4.89] [%clk 0:03:00] } 26. gxf3 { [%eval -4.9] [%clk 0:01:05] } 26... Ba6 { [%eval -5.04] [%clk 0:02:55] } 27. Rfe1 { [%eval -5.14] [%clk 0:01:02] } 27... Bb7?! { (-5.14 → -3.78) Inaccuracy. Nh4 was best. } { [%eval -3.78] [%clk 0:02:52] } (27... Nh4 28. Rc1 h5 29. Rxc7 Nxf3+ 30. Kg2 Nxe1+ 31. Bxe1 Nd5 32. Rd7 Bb5 33. Rd6) 28. e4 { [%eval -3.75] [%clk 0:00:59] } 28... Nh4 { [%eval -3.57] [%clk 0:02:51] } 29. Re3 { [%eval -3.62] [%clk 0:00:56] } 29... Nd7 { [%eval -2.88] [%clk 0:02:40] } 30. h3 { [%eval -3.21] [%clk 0:00:49] } 30... c5? { (-3.21 → -1.35) Mistake. f5 was best. } { [%eval -1.35] [%clk 0:02:34] } (30... f5 31. Rc3 c6 32. Be7 Ng6 33. Bd6 Nf6 34. Rb1 b5 35. Be5 Kf7 36. Bxf6) 31. Be1?? { (-1.35 → -4.83) Blunder. dxc5 was best. } { [%eval -4.83] [%clk 0:00:32] } (31. dxc5 Nxc5 32. Rc1 h6 33. Bxc5 bxc5 34. Rxc5 Rd8 35. Rc7 Ba6 36. f4 Ng6) 31... c4?! { (-4.83 → -3.70) Inaccuracy. cxd4 was best. } { [%eval -3.7] [%clk 0:02:29] } (31... cxd4 32. Rxd4 Ne5 33. Rd1 Nexf3+ 34. Kh1 h5 35. Bb4 f5 36. exf5 Nxf5 37. Rc3) 32. Kh2 { [%eval -3.96] [%clk 0:00:28] } 32... b5 { [%eval -3.99] [%clk 0:02:26] } 33. Kg3 { [%eval -4.52] [%clk 0:00:26] } 33... Ng6 { [%eval -3.77] [%clk 0:02:24] } 34. h4 { [%eval -4.54] [%clk 0:00:24] } 34... h5?! { (-4.54 → -2.97) Inaccuracy. f5 was best. } { [%eval -2.97] [%clk 0:02:23] } (34... f5 35. Re2 Nf6 36. d5 f4+ 37. Kg2 Nxh4+ 38. Kf1 exd5 39. Bc3 Kf7 40. Bxf6) 35. Bb4?! { (-2.97 → -4.33) Inaccuracy. Rb1 was best. } { [%eval -4.33] [%clk 0:00:21] } (35. Rb1 f5 36. exf5 exf5 37. f4 Ba6 38. a4 Nf6 39. axb5 Bb7 40. Rb4 Nd5) 35... Nb6? { (-4.33 → -2.66) Mistake. f5 was best. } { [%eval -2.66] [%clk 0:02:20] } (35... f5 36. Kh3 Nf6 37. Rg1 Kh7 38. Rg5 fxe4 39. Kg3 Bd5 40. fxe4 Nxe4+ 41. Rxe4) 36. f4 { [%eval -2.48] [%clk 0:00:17] } 36... Na4 { [%eval -2.63] [%clk 0:02:18] } 37. f5 { [%eval -2.13] [%clk 0:00:14] } 37... exf5 { [%eval -2.72] [%clk 0:02:10] } 38. exf5 { [%eval -2.46] [%clk 0:00:14] } 38... Nf8 { [%eval -2.03] [%clk 0:02:06] } 39. Re7?! { (-2.03 → -3.17) Inaccuracy. d5 was best. } { [%eval -3.17] [%clk 0:00:12] } (39. d5 Nb6 40. Re7 Nfd7 41. f3 c3 42. Bxc3 Rxa3 43. Bb4 Ra8 44. Kf2 Ra4) 39... Bd5 { [%eval -2.6] [%clk 0:01:58] } 40. Rde1 { [%eval -2.38] [%clk 0:00:09] } 40... Nb2?? { (-2.38 → -0.57) Blunder. c3 was best. } { [%eval -0.57] [%clk 0:01:52] } (40... c3 41. Re8 c2 42. Rxa8 Bxa8 43. Kf4 Nb6 44. Ke3 Nfd7 45. Kd2 Nf6 46. Be7) 41. Re8 { [%eval -0.74] [%clk 0:00:08] } 41... Rxe8?? { (-0.74 → 4.53) Blunder. Nd3 was best. } { [%eval 4.53] [%clk 0:01:49] } (41... Nd3) 42. Rxe8 { [%eval 4.19] [%clk 0:00:08] } 42... Nd3 { [%eval 4.64] [%clk 0:01:43] } 43. Bxf8 { [%eval 4.21] [%clk 0:00:04] } 43... Kh7 { [%eval 4.05] [%clk 0:01:40] } 44. Bd6? { (4.05 → 2.34) Mistake. Bb4 was best. } { [%eval 2.34] [%clk 0:00:00] } (44. Bb4 Bc6 45. Rc8 Be4 46. Bd2 Bxf5 47. Rb8 g5 48. Rxb5 gxh4+ 49. Kxh4 Kg6) 44... g6?! { (2.34 → 3.74) Inaccuracy. c3 was best. } { [%eval 3.74] [%clk 0:01:32] } { Black wins on time. } (44... c3 45. Rc8 Bc4 46. a4 c2 47. Ba3 c1=R 48. Bxc1 Nxc1 49. a5 Ne2+ 50. Kh2) 0-1

JUST_OLA VS FCASTRO

This game was quite interesting for me.

White beserked and played the Queen's pawn Game.

White laid a trap for me that almost made me lose. He was running out of time so he played a cunning move that would have made me lose if I fell for it. White played Rook to a1 and hoped on mating me by moving to a8 but I saw through it and blocked it. I didn't do it the right way but at least I escaped a checkmate and eventually won.

Game Link: https://lichess.org/zp6afkI9/black

This is the PGN file:

[Event "Saturday HiveChess S1R22 Arena"] [Site "https://lichess.org/zp6afkI9"] [Date "2025.11.29"] [White "FCastro17"] [Black "Just_ola"] [Result "0-1"] [GameId "zp6afkI9"] [UTCDate "2025.11.29"] [UTCTime "15:47:06"] [WhiteElo "2053"] [BlackElo "1795"] [WhiteRatingDiff "-10"] [BlackRatingDiff "+10"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "300+0"] [ECO "D06"] [Opening "Queen's Gambit Declined: Marshall Defense"] [Termination "Time forfeit"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. e4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nf3 a6 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. O-O Nb6 9. Be3 Bb4 10. a3 Bxc3 11. bxc3 Bd7 12. Rc1 Ba4 13. Qe2 Nfd7 14. e5 Bc6 15. Ng5 Qe7 16. c4 Qxa3 17. Qh5 O-O-O 18. Rfd1 Rdf8 19. Qh3 g6 20. f4 h6 21. Ne4 Qe7 22. Qf3 f5 23. exf6 Nxf6 24. d5 exd5 25. cxd5 Bxd5 26. Bxb6 c6 27. Qe2 Re8 28. Re1 Nxe4 29. Bxa6 Qd7 30. Bd3 Nc3 31. Ra1 Nxe2+ 32. Rxe2 Qc7 33. Bxc7 Kxc7 34. Rxe8 Rxe8 35. Bxg6 Rg8 36. f5 Rg7 37. g4 Bf3 38. h4 Bxg4 39. h5 Bf3 40. Kf2 Bd5 41. Re1 Kb6 42. f6 Rc7 43. Re7 c5 0-1

Thank you all for the games, it was really fun I won't lie. And thank you @samostically for hosting this tournament.

Saturday HiveChess S1R22 Arena ♟️