Epic Match Between Pakman And Easywithaces, xQc vs. Hafu Postponed To Sunday
Saturday was a big day for Groups A and B in the PogChamps 2 tournament. In a rescheduled match, Forsen took on Cizzorz and Gripex played against CallMeCarson in group A. Meanwhile, DavidPakman took on easywithaces in the B group. The match between itshafu and xQc was postponed to Sunday at 3 p.m. Pacific Time.
Make sure to tune into Chess.com's daily coverage of the 2020 Chess.com PogChamps on Sunday, August 30 at 12:45 p.m. Pacific (21:45 p.m. Central Europe) on Chess.com/tv. The complete show archives are available on twitch.tv/chess and youtube.com/chess.
The first game of the day (actually played Friday, but broadcast Saturday) featured a tough first game. After a roughly even opening, Cizzorz dropped material with 14.d4 and ran into trouble. He hoped for a back rank tactic to save the game, but Forsen defended mate and then captured the queen to induce resignation.
Cizzorz was not happy with his play in the second game, describing it as "I feel like I’m 300 Elo. That was some of the ugliest chess I’ve ever seen." Forsen won material in the opening and then found an excellent queen trap missed even by Danny Rensch to put the game out of reach.
The win puts Forsen in the championship bracket and makes Cizzorz one of the favorites in the consolation bracket. In case you missed it, you can catch the whole thing here.
Pogchamps - Cizzorz vs Forsen - Host IM Danny Rensch https://t.co/rwLqcOjbeB
— Chess.com (@chesscom) August 29, 2020
Gripex has been leading group A so far and didn't disappoint against Carson, winning 2-0. Carson played quickly throughout the match and won a piece with a nice tactic right out of the opening in game one!
In this position Carson found ...Nxe3!, removing the defender of the c5-knight. He emerged up a piece for two pawns but immediately followed it up by dropping a rook and Gripex didn't look back. After winning game one, Gripex quickly won game two as well to finish off the match.
Here are the final standings for group A.
The higher-rated itsHafu has been working hard on her chess and will have the chance to flex her skills against xQc in a postponed match which will take place Sunday, August 30 at 3 p.m. Pacific Time to cap off an epic day of group stage matches before heading into the knockout brackets.
This match was the highest stakes battle of the day. The winner would move on to the championship bracket and the loser would be relegated to the consolation bracket.
Game one didn't disappoint as the players played a back and forth 91-move marathon! White was better most of the way, but easywithaces took advantage of his opponent's time pressure and won a rook. They reached a tricky endgame with a rook against bishop and two pawns where a draw was the fair outcome.
We just witnessed a 91 MOVE DRAW! 🤯
— Chess.com (@chesscom) August 29, 2020
What a crazy endgame between @EasyWithAces and @dpakman 👏 #Pogchamps pic.twitter.com/Bs9Z9LrjCB
Game two was also exciting. Pakman won material early but later lost his queen to a nasty pin. The players eventually reached this amazing position after White promoted a pawn.
Here's the key final moment of the game.
"I am in physical pain." - @GothamChess @EasyWithAces blunders his queen in the endgame and immediately resigns. 🤯 #Pogchamps pic.twitter.com/HpYH6JOY0a
— Chess.com (@chesscom) August 29, 2020
The victory sent davidpakman to the championship bracket and made easywithaces one of the favorites for the consolation bracket.
Make sure to tune into Chess.com's daily coverage of the 2020 Chess.com PogChamps on Sunday, August 30 at 11:45 a.m. Pacific (20:45 p.m. Central Europe) on Chess.com/tv.
Previous Coverage:
- Chess.com Announces The Next PogChamps
- The Next PogChamps: All The Information
- Win Cash Prizes With The PogChamps Fantasy Game
- 7 Reasons PogChamps 2 Could Be Even Better
- itshafu, Forsen, Gripex90 Win In Dramatic PogChamps Opener
- WagamamaTV Starts Strong, easywithaces Defeats PogChamps Veteran xQc
- ConnorEatsPants Wins, Underdog TSM_Zexrow Scores, tfbladeTrolls His Way To Victory
- Gripex90, cizzorz, David Pakman Win In Drama-Filled Day
- itshafu, WagamamaTV Take Group Leadus, HafthorJulius Moves To Group 2nd
- https://www.chess.PogChamps2: TSM_Zexrow Takes Group C Lead, dogdog 2nd
Jeremy Kane is a National Master and three-time Wisconsin state champion. He is the Director of Training Content for Chess.com. He has been teaching chess in person and online for over 15 years and has designed hundreds of lessons, available on chess.com/lessons. He is the author of Starting Out The Trompowsky on Chessable and The Next To Last Mistake, a book on defensive ideas in chess.
He is the developer of the Caro-Kane Variation of the Caro-Kann Defense.
email: [email protected]
Twitter/X: @chessmensch
