Something Surprising Happened In Tonight's HiveChess Tournament - A Hivechess Story

Hi Chess lovers,

Today was the final round of the Hive chess candidates tournament organized by @stayoutoftherz. Unlike the previous seasons, This competition is different as the participants got to play each other twice.

I haven't been able to create content as I normally do, however, I'm writing tonight because something surprising happened.

Tonight my opponents were @stayoutoftherz, @realdeadleaf, @eniolw, @sawko and @vasigo.

In the reversed fixture I picked up 3 points out of 5. surprisingly, tonight I picked up 4½ (which could have been more).

Now, In Details...

Before the tournament started, I was watching the famous Deepblue vs Kasparov Match up. I was fascinated by the computer's knight sacrifice. I love making sacrifices especially against caro-khan. So I enjoyed it.

I haven't even finished the video when I realized it was time for Hive chess.

Game 1 - @Samostically Vs @stayoutoftherz

I knew he plays the Caro-Khan, so I was hoping to have that Kasparov's position.

I played 5.Ng5 instead of the regular 5.Nxf6.

I was disappointed when my opponent played 5.h6 sending me backwards.

I was hoping for that position. I didn't get it.

The game was even for a while till I somehow found a breakthrough. You can see the full game below.

[Event "Rated Blitz game"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/Q2OeGzxl"]
[Date "2022.05.13"]
[White "ZGM_Samostically"]
[Black "stayoutoftherz"]
[Result "1-0"]
[UTCDate "2022.05.13"]
[UTCTime "19:02:21"]
[WhiteElo "2171"]
[BlackElo "2042"]
[WhiteRatingDiff "+4"]
[BlackRatingDiff "-4"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[TimeControl "300+1"]
[ECO "B15"]
[Opening "Caro-Kann Defense: Main Line"]
[Termination "Normal"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Ng5 h6 6. N5f3 Bg4 7. Bc4 e6 8. h3 Bxf3 9. Nxf3 Bd6 10. O-O O-O 11. c3 Nbd7 12. Re1 Nb6 13. Bb3 c5 14. Bc2 cxd4 15. Nxd4 Bc5 16. Be3 Nc4 17. Bc1 Nb6 18. Qd3 Re8 19. Bf4 Nbd7 20. Bg3 Qb6 21. Nb3 Bf8 22. Rad1 Rad8 23. Qf3 a5 24. Rd2 a4 25. Nd4 g6 26. Bxa4 Kg7 27. Red1 Nd5 28. c4 N5f6 29. Nb5 Nc5 30. Bc7 Rxd2 31. Bxb6 Rxd1+ 32. Qxd1 Nxa4 33. Qxa4 Ne4 34. c5 f5 35. Nd6 Nxd6 36. cxd6 1-0

Game 3 - @Zgm_samostically vs @eniolw

I was white again against another player that loves the Caro-Khan defense. I wasn't sure if he would play into that position, neither was I sure if I had the mind to sacrifice against a player that i seldom win against.

But he did and I also did sacrifice. Let's take a look at the game.

[Event "Rated Blitz game"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/B1hYElcG"]
[Date "2022.05.13"]
[White "ZGM_Samostically"]
[Black "eniolw"]
[Result "1-0"]
[UTCDate "2022.05.13"]
[UTCTime "19:33:59"]
[WhiteElo "2179"]
[BlackElo "2400"]
[WhiteRatingDiff "+10"]
[BlackRatingDiff "-12"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[TimeControl "300+1"]
[ECO "B17"]
[Opening "Caro-Kann Defense: Karpov Variation, Modern Variation"]
[Termination "Normal"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Ng5 Ngf6
2. Bd3 e6
   At this point, I knew I might get something similar to Kasparov's game

1. Qe2 Bd6 8. N1f3 h6

I already assembled all I needed and was waiting for h6. When it came, I had my doubts. But oh well, what's the worse that can happen? Lose to someone i always lose to.

1. Nxe6!!!

Same Move DeepBlue computer played against Kasparov!

Now when I look at it, I see a tiny difference. I already have my Queen on e2 and black has a bishop on d6

fxe6 10. Bg6+ Ke7 11. O-O Nf8

1. Bd3

Now, I felt happy because he has a king that doesn't look safe. All I needed to do was open spaces around the king.

Kd7 13. c4 b6 14. c5 bxc5 15. dxc5 Bxc5

After this pawn sacrifice, I already saw a way to get an advantage. Ne5+ looked really good. So I prepared it.

1. Bf4 Nd5

Now 17. Ne5+ Ke8 18. Qh5+ 1-0

In Conclusion...

It feels really good to get this kind of win against a very strong player. I almost got another against @sawko, but I fumbled the game to a draw.

Tell me, what do you think? Why do people play Caro-Khan despite the many tricks for white?