September Blitz 'n' Memes

Nine-tenths of tactics are certain, and taught in books: but the irrational tenth is like the kingfischer flashing across the pool, and that is the test of generals.

T.E. Lawrence.

Welcome, Everyone to another tactically sound edition of Blitz and Memes. I trust you all enjoyed playing "Pawn Game", feel free to head over to REDBUBBLE were you can purchase your very own Pawn Game t-shirt, in order to annoy and confound your friends and associates...

But anyways...If you're a fan of puzzles taken from amateur online blitz tournaments, then you have come to the right place, because that is what I do.

As always, the tactics have been selected from the Japan Chess Federation's monthly blitz tournament: TGIF Blitz. The tourney takes place on the 3rd Friday of every month, 21:00 JST, right here on chess.com. It consists of seven rounds of blitz, with a time control of 3+2; and is open to all JCF club members.

The memes on the other hand, were drudged from the bottomless fathoms of the interwebs...

I do have some melancholy news to share, our illustrious tournament was sullied by a neck bearded, mouth breathing, God forsaken chess cheat... more on that sad situation later.

I believe this months offerings are a little more straightforward than previous months. Good luck trying to solve all five on the first attempt.

So, without further ado, lets get to the blitz and memes...

In Grand Style

Our first tactic comes to us from the last round. Squared_Pants, playing White is able to take advantage of the unfortunate position of Black's Royal Family.

Yes, this is as easy as it looks...

Knighty, Knight

Again, Squared_Pants is at the center of our tactic, this time playing Black in the 5th round. He is able to use a number of pieces to take advantage of the king's weakened position.

White is very weak on the light squares, can you guess how to best open him up?

A Royal Hunt

In the 1st round, Familymart101, playing Black, was able to hunt down White's king.

White's king would have been better off hiding in the corner than coming to f1, how can we punish him for this impudence?

Trappy Terrain

In the 5th round, dylanthelee, playing Black, demonstrated that the best defense is a good offense.

Accurate play pressures White into making a fatal mistake.

Simple Exchanges

Our final tactic is taken from the 3rd round, Familymart101, playing White, does the simple things really well, and this leads to a gain of material.

This is a simple, yet difficult tactic, I will leave you to it. Good Luck.

As I stated early, our illustrious tournament has had an iniquitous end. A degenerate going by the handle "luminates", was found to be in violation of the fair play policy. A sad day for TGIF Blitz, but let us not dwell on it, and instead congratulate familymart101 for garnering a score of 6/7, and thus being the real champion.

And of course, congratulations to you few puzzle masters who scored a perfect 5/5 score without the use of engines.

As always, thanks for reading and feel free to share these puzzles with your friends down at the library or Pawn Shop.

Cheers, SheldonOfOsaka...

P.S. If you'd like your very own Pawn Game t-shirt or hoodie check out my shop on REDBUBBLE. Thanks!!