_{Image designed by @schamangerbert}

Thursday, 27th of June 2025, was yet another Liga battle, but this time it was not a good performance for the Blockchain Chess Team. The stakes were high, and the games were more challenging than the previous round, with a total of 192 chess players present, split amongst 10 chess teams.

We came in at 8th place with a total of 162 points out of 10 chess teams, hence leading to our relegation in the next round. In this round, one of our past MVPs, @poseout87, could not join early on in the game due to network issues, but he was still able to bring in some points for the team towards the end of the tournament.

In this round, @fcastro177 was our MVP, bringing in 23 points. I tried to support our MVP with 20 points, and so did the remaining team members. A huge thank you to all who played at least one game or more; your points were beneficial to the team.

Our Top 8 players

@fcastro177 - 23 points
@samostically - 20 points
@keylix - 20 points
@tangibleay - 19 points
@poseout87 - 18 points
@madchess64 - 15 points
@stayoutoftherz - 12 points

Let's check out a few exciting games from the event, played by the blockchain chess team. We will start with an interesting game from our MVP, FCastro17, and how he took down a Woman's Fide Master (WFM) in the tournament.

FCastro17 vs WFM Idrisova_Roza

Wow!

A rook for a knight sac on move 16. This can only mean one thing, and that is WAR. White has every intention of going for a kingside attack with their remaining pieces. Probably bringing in the queen, knight, dark-squared bishop, and possibly the other white rook on a1. Let's see how the game plays out.

Just as I predicted. A kingside storm and now white has brought in their knight and bishop into key squares that pose a threat to the black side. All that is left is the white queen, and this will soon be game over for black.

As I said, once the white queen comes into play, it is game over for black. Here is the thing about sacs like the one white did on move 16, when it happens, your primary focus should be on your king and nothing else. Try to bring more pieces to its defence and look for fast ways to start exchanging pieces. It will help neutralize white's attack.

You can use the game link to view the game.

Game Link
Also, here is the Game's PGN:

[Event "Lichess Liga 3C Team Battle"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/IRmlVQEd"]
[Date "2025.06.26"]
[White "FCastro17"]
[Black "Idrisova_Roza"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2106"]
[BlackElo "2153"]
[WhiteRatingDiff "+7"]
[BlackRatingDiff "-7"]
[BlackTitle "WFM"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[ECO "D15"]
[Opening "Slav Defense: Chebanenko Variation"]
[Termination "Normal"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 a6 5. g3 Bf5 6. Bg2 e6 7. O-O Bd6?! 
8. Ne5?! Nbd7 9. Nxd7 Qxd7 10. f3 Bg6 11. e4 dxe4 12. fxe4 e5 
13. c5? Bc7?? 14. d5 cxd5 15. exd5 O-O?! 16. Rxf6 gxf6 
17. d6 Bd8 18. Bh6 Re8 19. Nd5 Qb5?! 20. b4 Rc8?! 
21. Rc1?! Rb8 22. h4?! Bf5 23. Qf3 Be6?? 24. Nxf6+ Bxf6?? 
25. Qxf6 1-0

ZGM_Samostically vs lazermuti

A wrong check is all it took. Chess is so interesting because of how tricky it can get. Sometimes, the obvious move isn't a good move to play. In this position, Black went for Rf8+, putting the black king in danger. At first glance, it looks logical, but on second thought, it is not a good move.

This is because after the white king moves to e2 away from the check. Black now has a couple of problems to solve. First off, the black pawn on g7 and to make it worse, moving the g7 pawn away, drops the bishop on a7. That is another problem. Also, the logical defensive move, Rg8, defending the g7, is not so great as well as white can move their rook to a7, threatening a skewer next.

After Ra7, I know what is left is to wrap up the game, as I was down on time because I had berserked my opponent, so I could get more points for my team when I win. Although a couple of poor moves came in from my end due to time pressure, I was still able to bring in the win from an extra-two-pawn endgame with only 2 seconds of my time. All thanks to the power of premove.

You can use the game link to view the game.

Game Link
Also, here is the Game's PGN:

[Event "Lichess Liga 3C Team Battle"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/kCvCQ58E"]
[Date "2025.06.26"]
[White "ZGM_Samostically"]
[Black "lazermuti"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2141"]
[BlackElo "1845"]
[WhiteRatingDiff "+1"]
[BlackRatingDiff "-1"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[ECO "C40"]
[Opening "Elephant Gambit"]
[Termination "Normal"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nxe5 Bd6 4. d4 dxe4 5. Bc4 Bxe5 6. dxe5 Qxd1+ 7. Kxd1 Bg4+ 
8. Be2 Bf5 9. Nc3 Nc6 10. Bf4 O-O-O+ 11. Ke1 Nge7 12. h3 Ng6 13. Bg3 Ngxe5 
14. Bb5 f6 15. Ke2 Nd4+ 16. Kf1 Nxc2 17. Rc1 Nd4 18. Be2 a6 19. Bxe5 fxe5 
20. g4 Bg6 21. h4 h6 22. h5 Bh7 23. Kg2 b5 24. Rhe1 Ne6 25. a4 Nf4+ 26. Kf1 
Nxe2 27. Rxe2 Rd4 28. axb5 axb5 29. Nxb5 Rd7 30. Rec2 e3 31. Rxc7+ Rxc7 
32. Rxc7+ Kd8 33. fxe3 Rf8+ 34. Ke2 Rg8 35. Ra7 Be4 36. Nd6 Bd5 37. b4 e4 
38. b5 Rf8 39. Rxg7 Rf3 40. Nf7+ Bxf7 41. b6 Kc8 42. Rh7 Rf6 43. Kd2 Kb7 
44. Kc3 Kxb6 45. Kd4 Re6 46. Rxf7 Kc6 47. Rg7 Kd6 48. Rg6 Ke7 49. Rxe6+ 
Kxe6 50. Kxe4 Kf6 51. Kf4 Ke6 52. e4 Kf6 53. e5+ Ke6 54. Ke4 Ke7 55. Kf5 
Kf7 56. e6+ Ke7 57. Kg6 Kxe6 58. Kxh6 Kf7 59. Kh7 Kf6 60. g5+ Kf7 61. h6 
Kf8 62. g6 Ke7 63. Kg8 Kf6 64. g7 Kg6 65. h7 Kg5 66. h8=Q Kg4 67. Kf8 
Kg5 68. g8=Q+ Kf4 69. Qhg7 Ke4 70. Q8f7 Kd3 71. Qgf6 Kd2 72. Q6e7 Kc2 
73. Qfe8 Kd2 74. Q7d7+ Kc3 75. Qec8+ Kb3 76. Qdb7+ Ka2 77. Qca8# 
1-0

Also

Keep an eye out for @sam.chess as I will be starting a HiveChess tournament for chess players in the coming month of July.

That is a wrap on this edition of the Liga team battle. See you in the next round. For more details see https://peakd.com/hive-157286/@stayoutoftherz/lichess-liga-team-battle-we-almost-made-it-next-round-this-sunday