Top 5 Blitz and Memes of 2023
Mittens the Chess Bot will make you quit chess -
attributed to one of the many victims of Mittens.
Hello, my fellow tactic lovers, and welcome to the year-end edition of Blitz and Memes. 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 have been doing for the past two years.
We have reached that special portion of the calendar, when we take the time to look back at the past year, and reflect upon our achievements, foibles, brilliancies and blunders. All of it done with the hope that this coming year will be different...Even though it probably won't be...O_o...
Well, my Dear Reader, I have assembled the top 5 Blitz and Memes tactics of 2023. The puzzles were selected based on considerations, such as difficulty, aesthetic beauty, and sheer audacity, but at the end of the day these are simply the tactics I liked the best.
They are of course taken 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, and 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 those that generated the most comments or just make me chuckle, even after all these months.
Good luck trying to solve all 5 puzzles on the first attempt. Read the bold descriptions if you need a hint.
So, without further ado, lets get the Top 5 Blitz and Memes of 2023.
#5 The Shortest Distance Between
Our 5th place finisher was played back in September by the self-proclaimed King of Nagoya chess, Out_of_the_Zoo.
Never mind the knight trapped on a8, the key is to open the center of the board and allow your rooks and knight to put pressure on the d6 square.
#4 Razor's Edge
Fourth place goes to NM PoppingCheckmates, who blew through February like a typhoon, contributed 3 tactics out of 5, won the tournament with a perfect score...and was never seen or heard from again.
Start things off with a forcing move, then after taking free material, remember to use your knight to threaten the White queen.
#3 Bot Level Attacking
Third place goes to drsljones, who just so happens to be last years winner. In August he uncorked bot level precision in this attack...but managed to lose the actual game...O_o...
You need to find a way to exploit the position of the Black queen and king on the a1-h8 diagonal.
#2 Frontal Assault
The first runner-up place goes to our resident IM rnanjo, it wouldn't really be Blitz and Memes without him. The International Master has gifted us with a lot of great tactics but in November he played a combination which was almost to difficult to post.
After the initial attack and checks, you'll need to bring your bishop to f4 in order to threaten mate.
#1 Everything and the Kitchen Sink
And so we come to the first place finisher. I know men who would give their firstborn to play a tactic like this in a real game. Well, in June of this year Yuutin did just that, he unleashed a tactic that looks like it was taken straight out of a chess puzzle book.
Throw everything into the attack...I mean everything.
And that was it, that was the Top 5 Blitz and Memes of 2023. Congrats to all the contributors, especially Yuutin with that unbelievable tactic...and certainly more importantly Congratulations to you who were able to solve all 5 tactics on the first attempt, you are not unlike a Colossus among giants.
As always, thanks for reading, and feel free to share these puzzles with your friends down at the Library or Bar.
Cheers, SheldonOfOsaka.
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