Hi chessfans,
yesterday rounds 17 to 21 (of 26) of the HCT were played, and unfortunately @deadleaf and @anomadsoul were completely absent, so all their games were forfeited. Let´s go straight into the results:
Results
| Round 17 | ||
|---|---|---|
| White | Black | |
| @eniolw | 1:0* | @anomadsoul |
| @b0s | 1:0 | @falcout |
| @vasigo | 0:1 | @rodrook |
| @sawko | ½:½ | @vjap55 |
| @jaki01 | 1:0* | @deadleaf |
| @samostically | 1:0 | @pereu4ivatel |
| Round 18 | ||
| @falcout | 0:1 | @eniolw |
| @rodrook | 1:0* | @anomadsoul |
| @stayoutoftherz | 1:0 | @b0s |
| @vjap55 | 1:0 | @vasigo |
| @pereu4ivatel | 0:1 | @sawko |
| @samostically | ½:½ | @jaki01 |
| Round 19 | ||
| @eniolw | 1:0 | @rodrook |
| @falcout | 0:1 | @stayoutoftherz |
| @anomadsoul | 0*:1 | @vjap55 |
| @b0s | 1:0* | @deadleaf |
| @vasigo | 0:1 | @pereu4ivatel |
| @sawko | 0:1 | @jaki01 |
| Round 20 | ||
| @stayoutoftherz | ½:½ | @eniolw |
| @vjap55 | 1:0 | @rodrook |
| @deadleaf | 0*:1 | @falcout |
| @pereu4ivatel | 1:0* | @anomadsoul |
| @samostically | 1:0 | @b0s |
| @jaki01 | 1:0 | @vasigo |
| Round 21 | ||
| @eniolw | 0:1 | @vjap55 |
| @stayoutoftherz | 1:0* | @deadleaf |
| @rodrook | 0:1 | @pereu4ivatel |
| @falcout | 0:1 | @samostically |
| @anomadsoul | 0*:1 | @jaki01 |
| @b0s | 0:1 | @sawko |
*indicates a missed game
Player of the day was definitely @vjap55 who scored 4,5 out of 5 despite having tough opponents. He defeated @eniolw again and drew against @sawko! Well done!
In this interesting game of @vjap55 (with Black) against @eniolw, the last move of White (Qh6+) was in fact a mistake and White is surprisingly completely lost already. So much to "a check is always good"! White can´t avoid Ke8-d7 and being pushed back by Rh8. The black Knight aims for f4 - a deadly threat, in combo with the Bishop on d4 and the Rook on the h-file. The white Queen has no fields anymore without losing material.
Check out the game here: https://lichess.org/gje4N7pB/black#57
Other rather surprising results included my draw against @eniolw. After having lost a quality I (with White) somehow was able to survive this position, there is no direct way to win here for Black:
https://lichess.org/FrwTZrrL/white#97
After a lot of maneuvering and managing to activate his king (I failed to prevent this) @eniolw finally found a way to give back the quality at the right moment (at a cost of thinking time), but in this position in time scramble he didn´t find the correct way to continue, but took my pawn with Rc3x? (with Kc3x?? he would have lost immediately due to Rc1+), after which I with Ra4 could eliminate his last pawn on the Queenside and rescue the draw.
Black to move an win:
https://lichess.org/FrwTZrrL/white#131
The cross-table:
Standings
After 21 rounds @eniolw is still leading with 16,5/19 points, but @vjap55 is now second with 16,5/20. He overtook @sawko who is now 3rd with 15,5 out of 19.
All three have still chances to win the tournament, whereby @eniolw could end up maximally with 21,5 points - more than the others, but he has to face the more difficult pairings. Probably it will come down to the result of the return match between @eniolw and @sawko.
Never has a Hivechess (Friday) season been that close like this one. Will we see a new champion?
Ranking before the final day:
Stay tuned for the final showdown next Friday!
