After years of different life-changing decisions, some good and others bad, one thing that has stayed constant is my love for playing chess. So I thought, why not blog about that experience? Finally, I'm back to blogging on Hive about Chess and Movie reviews.

The second round of the 20th HiveChess Tournament came with a double edition, one blitz, and the other was Chess960. Although I finished 2nd in both tournaments due to some outstanding plays from @maestroask. Oh boy, I was whipped silly beyond my expectations and I suspect this user will be a threat to my intention of winning the tournament in general.

Let's look at my games,

Game 1 - @masterswatch vs @kintokris (Jonbellionfan)

Things started well with some simple London System and a pressing middle game against my mildly placed pieces. Frankly, my opponent had a better position but things took a turn for my betterment when they dropped a piece, not just any piece, their queen. Well, who am I not to pick up a pretty-looking lady dressed in royalty? After the loss of the queen, it became obvious how the game was going to end.

Game 2 - @kintokris vs @olujay

When you are on the offensive with the white pieces in a berserk position, always trust that an aggressive London system can be your go-to weapon. So I pumped on my opponent's kingside with all I had and a tiny bit of hope for blunders to grab the win and move up the standings. As I hoped, it came to pass, with my opponent dropping an exchange after exchanging bishops on the b5 square. Then a poorly defended king led to a checkmate on h8.

Game 3 - @dhilan04(tortyllan) vs @kintokris

This game is a vital lesson in learning that is not over until it is over even when you are an exchange up as your opponent can become more tricky in the art of making a pawn move to take you unaware that your rook is in danger. Oh my, too bad for me who fell for that by not seeing such a threat. In light of that, it was a game of fair halves, one half where I played well and spotted a tactical edge and the second half where my opponent grabbed the win.

Game 4 - @kintokris vs @lucianosky

How do you go from a rook up to losing the game? Ask me one more time and I promise you I still do not have the answer to the question. The game of chess is frustrating in the sense that it doesn't care about the values of your pieces especially when your kingside is a mess or a ticking time bomb about to explode at a given time. Yeah, now I remember, we are both berserkers with limited time. Thumbs up to @lucianosky for honoring the berserker's code.

You beserk back when berserked upon

In the nutshell, take this advice, keep fighting even when you are down an exchange especially in a bullet game.

Game 5 - @olujay vs @kintokris

Nah, this game doesn't need too much to be said, I won against Olujay with the black pieces this time around by checkmating his king in the backward of its home.

Game 6 - @kintokris vs @maestroask

The game of the day where I was schooled like a newly admitted boy at the chess academy. It felt like all I thought I knew about chess was wiped down the drain when I was playing this game. I have to give it to my opponent when I say without hesitation, this individual has some skill and now I have made it my Hive mission to win the next game. Watch your back @maestroask, for I am coming faster than you can see the threat.

Game 7 - @kintokris vs @konquest

After a whooping loss, I had to unleash my vengeance on the next person. All my gut said to me at that point was:

Let them feel your wrath.

And I am sure it was felt. Wrapped the game up in the middlegame after some powerful pins with the bishop pair. Terror in the opponent's camp was all I had in my playbook and the game was decided in less than 30 moves.

Game 8 - @dhilan04 vs @kintokris

I asked for revenge and I got it. This time what better way to carry out this vengeful desire than with an arsenal of black powder and bullets? I began this anger-filled game after suffering a painful loss from the user in the past with black pieces. But this time it was different, played the Scandinavian with a twist which can be dicey when both knights are still active on the board. After a long pressing attack on the opponent's kingside, I finally found a winning knight fork that decided the game. And my revenge was successfully carried out.

Game 9 - @kintokris vs @justfavour

There's not much here, just a simple win to maintain my position on the standing. At this point, my fate of finishing 2nd had been sealed and my archenemy was gaining more points than I could count.

Game 10 - @kintokris vs @bos

Another win for the standing with 1. d4
But the smothered mate at the end was quite nice to play out. It has been a while I did that in a chess game playing online.

Game 11 - @kintokris vs @franu

Don't forget this, time is also a factor when playing. Like Susan Polgar said

Your time management skill has something to say about the kind of chess player you are or can be.

So I played okay but nothing spectacular and waited for my opponent to blunder due to time pressure rather they flagged, even better. Another win for the 2nd spot.

Game 12 - @rosmarly vs @kintokris

Incredible defense from @rosmarly in withstanding my attacks against her king or maybe I didn't get to see the final blow. Then the Nxe5 was when I knew she was going for the win and I should forget about the possibility of a draw.

Well, that is it for the blitz section held on the first day.
While the next day was chess960 but I do not have much to write about that as I finished 2nd for the 2nd time. Like that wasn't enough, I was wiped more than twice by my archenemy. oh my, it was an event to remember but not to write about.

Nah. Just joking. you can check the games out using the tournament link below:

https://lichess.org/tournament/OBmRV9Qg

Hivechess is hosted by a chess enthusiast known as @stayoutoftherz
To participate in the next round:

Rules

• All players are welcome, also newbies, you just need a free Lichess-account and join our team in Lichess here (password is "Hive")!
• Every Friday is one round.
• Time mode is varying (5+0, 3+2, 2+1,...), sometimes Swiss, sometimes maybe Chess960 (Fischer Random).
• The winner of each round gets the number of points equaling the number of players in that round, the second ranked one point less and so forth until the one on the bottom of the table who gets one point (i.e. the Lighteye-scoring). In order to be counted, at least 3 games must have been played.
• In case two players have the same number of points, the one who played less rounds is first. If that is equal too, then the average tournament performance decides.
• PAYOUT: The tournament points of the 12 rounds are summed up. 60% of all Hivechess-related post rewards go to the prize pool (PP). Each of the 3 rating-tiered tournament winners will get "x" Hive (at least 50), the runner-up "y" and the third "z" Hive (depending on the no. of players in each group). The rest of the PP is divided among all other players according to the number of tournament points achieved (50%) and the number of rounds played (50%). In order to qualify for a prize you have to participate in at least six of the 12 rounds!
• If I don´t know your Hive username, you won´t be considered for prizes, so please let me know your Hive name in the comments!
  Link to the Post

See you all next time.