Voice Experts CDawgVA And Frank Go To Finals; Wirtual Wins Plane Ticket, QTCinderella Wins Uber Ride

The wait is finally over—we finally know the pairings of the live in-person Finals of PogChamps 5.

QTCinderella and Wirtual are the Consolation Bracket finalists, having defeated Daily Dose of Internet and Squeex. In the Championship Bracket, voice actor CDawgVA will compete against the very vocal Franks-is-heres as they won their matches against I did a thing and xQc. 

PogChamps 5 continues with the live Finals in Los Angeles, California, on Friday, August 18, starting at 4 p.m. ET/22:00 CEST.

• Daily Dose of Internet 0-2 QTCinderella
• Squeex 0-2 Wirtual
• I did a thing 0-2 CDawgVA
• Franks-is-heres 2-0 xQc

Daily Dose of Internet 0-2 QTCinderella

There was no doubt that QTCinderella was taking her match against Daily Dose of Internet seriously. For one thing, she showered. She also carried out her skin care regimen, which gave her an unfair advantage over her opponent. 

The results were quick to show. In their first game, QT found all the tactical shots she needed to win material, including Daily Dose's queen. With no queen and no hope, Daily Dose resigned. 

But the second game was not as clean as QT was. Seriously. Let's just say that if this game was a kid, not even its parents would think it was cute. 

QT went for her trusted Stonewall, which Daily Dose mirrored. After some mistakes, QT was down a lot of material but found a game-saving brilliancy that started with a knight sacrifice. But just like the disappointing later seasons of countless Netflix shows, she did not follow up correctly, giving up her piece for nothing. 

A few moves later, QT missed a mate in two. Inexplicably, she then found a couple of incredible tactics to get a material advantage, only to blunder her queen—which Daily Dose refused to take. 

Eventually, QT entered a winning endgame but gave Daily Dose another chance to win after she hung mate. In time trouble, Daily Dose missed it, and this time QT did not hesitate, winning the second game and moving on to the Consolation Bracket's final.

Staring at the ugly truth of Game Review, QT was flabbergasted:

With this victory, QT was the first player to guarantee her spot in the live in-person finals in L.A. As a resident of the city, QT will win an unforgettable Uber ride to the Finals location. 

Squeex 0-2 Wirtual

No stranger to great electronic music, Wirtual was California dreaming as he beat Squeex twice to guarantee his free ticket to L.A. 

Wirtual's superior understanding of the game was clear from the start. He was finding the right positional ideas and spotting the tactics to get into a dominant position.

It didn't take long for Wirtual to clean up the board and checkmate his opponent. And then do pull-ups for only Lord knows what reason. 

But that incredible display of the might of the human body was not enough to intimidate Squeex:

In fact, Squeex was so confident that he got into a winning position in game two, all while delivering top-notch trash-talk. 

But it was at this point that fans were reminded that this is PogChamps. In an endgame with an extra rook, Squeex went for a series of meaningless checks. With Squeex's help, Wirtual created two very advanced connected passed pawns, winning one of the rooks and producing a new queen. A few moves later, Wirtual was in the final.

Perhaps because of his love for Trackmania, Wirtual was very excited to win a flight to L.A., a city with some of the worst traffic in the world. Whatever it is, Wirtual is flying to the United States to face QTCinderella in the Consolation Bracket Final. 

I did a thing 0-2 CDawgVA

In a match straight from the future, the two friends from the Eastern Hemisphere had to start their Wednesday early to fight for a spot in the Finals. Connor (CDawgVA) eventually defeated Alex (I did a thing) and is now doomed to take a very long flight to the United States. 

Fans watching had a queasy feeling as the first game between Connor and Alex grew eerily similar to the famous xQc-Cr1tikal encounter. But sometimes history does not repeat itself, Connor saw the threat and stopped it—to everyone's disappointment.

A high-quality game was unfolding until inspiration struck (the wrong kind), fueling a wave of terrible moves that gave the eval bar a seizure.

As Alex declared that he is not fond of endgames (using harsher words, of course), it was like he could already see where the game was going. Panicking in a worse position, Alex blundered his last piece and opened the path to Connor's first win. CDawg showed class and composure as he delivered checkmate.

The second game wasn't as balanced. Alex did not take the loss well and atypically blundered multiple pieces. But there was still excitement to be had. A passionate Connor had the chance to play everyone's favorite move—and make no mistake, the man did not let us down. 

"The best part was, I would've done it if it f***** me over, but it actually helped me, so I was ecstatic," CDawg shared about his en-passant experience. It's no wonder CDawg made it to the Finals. 

The best part was, I would've done it if it f***** me over, but it actually helped me, so I was ecstatic.
— CDawgVA, about his en-passant capture.

Franks-is-heres 2-0 xQc

It was unclear if xQc would make it to his match against Franks-is-heres. After going missing for almost the entire day, xQc finally gave signs that he was alive and willing to play his match... while on a plane.

HI @chesscom IM READY FOR MY MATCHES. pic.twitter.com/cntaNzz2oR

— xQc (@xQc) August 8, 2023

Frank quickly blundered a piece in their first game, and it looked like xQc would cruise to victory. But Frank was still able to develop counterplay and win material back. xQc panicked and got caught in a mating net from which he couldn't escape, eventually landing in a world of hurt when Frank delivered the final blow.

More grounded after his first loss, xQc opened the second game incredibly well and won material again. However, Frank once more created complications to minimize xQc's material advantage.

xQc then found himself in a difficult position. He had to win, but his clock was ticking down, and dangerous forks lurked everywhere. And if you've ever tried to use Wi-Fi on a plane, you could imagine where this was going.

Losing ~20s per move cuz of airplane Wi-Fi 😕 pic.twitter.com/lKiX4VImGd

— xQc (@xQc) August 9, 2023

It's not enough for air companies to make us wait around for hours, cram us into tiny spaces, and feed us sad and soggy meals— they also have to ruin our PogChamps matches. xQc flagged, seeing his dreams of being the next PogChampion crash and burn.

"I'm very excited. I'm gonna go to the finals and I'm gonna take my revenge on CDawg," Frank said about his upcoming match for the title of PogChampion.

xQc, who could not make it to the interview, sent Chess.com's team a recorded message, reproduced below:

Brackets

All Games: Day 10

PogChamps 5 is Chess.com's most popular chess event for creators. Featuring 16 players and a $100,000 prize fund, the event started on July 26, 2023, and ends on August 18, 2023, with live in-person finals happening in Los Angeles. Creators are divided into groups of four and play a single round-robin before moving on to either a Championship or Consolation bracket.

Previous coverage:

• Bracket Stage Day 9: Certified Juicer Moment Takes xQc Closer To Finals, CDawgVA To Face I Did A Thing
• Bracket Stage Day 8: Franks-Is-Heres Knocks Out Ghastly, Rise of Squeex and Daily Dose
• Group Stage Day 7: xQc Beats Tyler1 Before Loudest Post-Match Interview In PogChamps History
• Group Stage Day 6: QTCinderella Breaks Records, xQc Makes No Mistakes
• Group Stage Day 5: A Brilliancy Blunder, A Wine-Infused Shut Out, And Heaps Of Hanging Pieces
• Group Stage Day 4: Better Than ‘Hikiru,’ Tyler1 Wins Alongside Squeex, Sapnap, Jarvis
• Group Stage Day 3: Best Game Ever Or Worst Game Ever?: Papaplatte, Sapnap, Franks-is-heres Victorious
• Group Stage Day 2: Plot Twists, Tiebreaks, And Cartwheels: CDawgVA And Ghastly Prevail
• Group Stage Day 1: Stalemate, Blunders, And Dance Moves: Welcome To PogChamps 5
• PogChamps 5: All The Information
• PogChamps 5 Is Ready For Liftoff! Chess.com’s Spectacular Battle Of The Creators Is Back
• PogChamps 5 Lineup Revealed Feat. xQc, Tyler1, QTCinderella And More, Action Starts July 26