Minh To Prevails In Duck Chess Championship

NM NM_Vanessa

Updated: Sep 20, 2024, 5:28 PM | 16 | Chess Event Coverage

IM Nhat Minh To won every match in the Chess.com Duck Chess Championship 2024, defeating IM Eric Rosen in the Grand Final to clinch the title.

After losing to the eventual winner in the Semifinals, Rosen fought his way through the Losers Bracket to resurge and ultimately finish as the runner-up. The third-place finisher, Vahan Nalbandyan, went 6-0 in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals until falling to Minh To in overtime in the Winners Final.

Championship Bracket

Minh To played under the username of DragonB70; Nalbandyan is Cha-ChaRealSmooth.

For an introduction to the unique joys of Duck Chess, see the previous article about the qualifiers. Here are a couple more distinct features of this entertaining variant:

Triple checks are possible.

Because a player moves both a piece and the duck in one turn, it is possible to unleash a triple check on the enemy king. See this rare delight in action in the video clip about Minh To's Grand Final victory.

A king and duck can hunt down a lone king.

In the Quarterfinals, Rosen played 88.Ka6!, duck-b8! when the black king is trapped with no choice but to walk into danger and be captured.

Let's take a look at each stage of the Duck Chess Championship knockout.

Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Winners Final: Minh To 3-2 Nalbandyan
Losers Final: Rosen 3-0 Nalbandyan
Grand Final: Minh To 3-0 Rosen

Quarterfinals

Rosen, one of the streamers who increased the popularity of Duck Chess, faced CM Evgeni Miller, a variant aficionado in his own right who became the first-ever four-player chess world champion in 2019. Rosen won the match 3-0, kicking off their clash with a sizzling attack.

In the position below, Rosen played 45…Ne5!, duck-g4!; Black hopes to play 46…Ng4+ next. By placing the duck on g4 himself, Rosen makes sure that the duck will not be placed on that square with his opponent’s move.

46.Qc2, duck-a2. The white queen takes aim at the f5-pawn with its eyes on the black king.

46...Neg4+, duck-h1. Rosen blocks the white king's only escape while checking the trapped king with his second knight ready to tag in.

47.hxg4, duck-a2. Capturing the knight is the only way out of check.

47...Nxg4+, duck-h3. The second knight replaces the first while the duck blocks off another escape.

White resigned because checkmate is coming. If 48.Kh1, duck-f3, can you find the finish in the puzzle below?

Black to move.

Scroll down for the answer.

Solution:

48...Nxf2+, duck-h2. Smothered checkmate is a favored pattern in Duck Chess.

Semifinals

Next, the two IMs, Minh To and Rosen, faced off. In their chaotic first game, Minh To prevailed in the duel of simultaneous king hunts.

Minh To ultimately won the match 3-1 when Rosen blundered at the end of their 141-move last game.

Meanwhile, Nalbandyan went on a 3-0 winning streak to defeat Edward Khachatryan, the Duck Chess blitz number-one. In their third game, Nalbandyan combined promotion threats with potent traps against the enemy king.

In the diagram below, White played 33.d7, duck-d8 to advance his passed pawn while blocking the c8=-rook from moving to d8.

33...Rd7, duck-f6. Black moves his rook to safety while trying to move out some of White's attackers.

34.Bh6!, duck-g7!. Nalbandyan sets up a discovered attack on the opposing king that Black has to open up on himself―anywhere he chooses to move the duck leaves his own king without cover from check.

Winners Final: Minh To 3-2 Nalbandyan

Minh To took the lead vs. Nalbandyan with brilliant attacking play in game three. In the position below, White wants to move the duck and threaten checkmate on g7. But how can he prevent Black from blocking the seventh rank again with the duck on his turn?

White to move.

Solution:

43.Qg1!, duck-e1!. White sets up a pin on the duck to the black king, leaving Black with an unfortunate choice.

43...Qd2, duck-e3. Black decides to save his queen. How can White finish the game? Be careful. Black still has one trap left in his pocket.

44.Rxg7+!!, duck-h8!. It's important for White to take on g7 with the rook because it's guarded from two directions: by the queen on g1 and the a7-rook. Black cannot save their king.

If White had played 44.Qxg7+, duck-h8, he would've been in for an unfortunate surprise.

Black could respond with 44...Kxg7, duck-e7, when it's the black king that gets the last laugh as it snatches the enemy queen while the duck blocks off the helpless rooks.

Nalbandyan evened the score in the next game, but Minh To prevailed in the wild time scramble of their tiebreak game by snatching the enemy queen.

Minh To was the last player standing in the Winners Bracket. Who would rise out of the Losers Bracket to face him in the Grand Final?

Losers Final: Rosen 3-0 Nalbandyan

Rosen fought his way back into the tournament by winning all of his matches in the Losers Bracket. In the Losers Final, he juggled attacking the enemy king while ducking off Nalbandyan's checks.

Grand Final: Minh To 3-0 Rosen

Minh To started the Grand Final with a bang, playing a tactic possible only in Duck Chess—a triple check.

Minh To won two more to clinch the championship with a 3-0 score. The Hungarian IM is known for excelling at several variants, including his recent second-place finish in the Spell Chess Championship. In his interview, he shared how he gained his expertise:

When I learn a new variant, what I usually do is check the top ones’ games. Then I just learn their strategy, and I try to find improvement over their games.

I just learn their strategy, and I try to find improvement over their games.

―Nhat Minh To

How to watch? You can watch the broadcast on the Chess.com Community Twitch and YouTube. Results and info can be found on our dedicated events page. The live broadcast was hosted by FM James Canty III and AnittaDrink.

The Chess.com Duck Chess Championship is the fifth event of the Chess.com Community Championships series, and anyone could battle for a piece of the $2,000 prize fund. The tournament was decided with an eight-player double-elimination bracket. Each competitor qualified via one of eight, 75-minute arenas with a 3+2 time control.

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NM Vanessa West

Vanessa West is a National Master, a chess teacher, and a writer for Chess.com. In 2017, they won the Chess Journalist of the Year award.

You can follow them on X: Vanessa__West