Liam Hereford received the 2025 Chess.com Atomic Chess Championship after successful each the Winners Remaining and Grand Remaining Reset. Eduardo Lorenzon misplaced to Hereford early within the Winners Semifinals however climbed by means of three matches within the Losers Bracket to have a winner-take-all rematch.
It was extremely shut as Lorenzon received the primary match of the Grand Remaining and practically got here again within the second. However Hereford, after an epic draw, received the final recreation to finish his victory lap.
Bracket
Mark your calendars: the subsequent neighborhood championship would be the 4-Participant Chess Championship on April 14-18.Â
Eight gamers certified on the day before today for the knockout section, which comes with a minimal prize of $100 and, for first place, $750. Gonzalo Rojo, FM Javier Benitez, Johan Phan, Aleksey Matvienko, Lorenzon, Enes Akin, Hereford, and NM Benjamin Krause performed in a double-elimination bracket, the place each match was best-of-four with a 3+0 time management.
Rojo completed with the perfect rating within the eight qualifiers, which attracted a whole lot of gamers. However he’d finally get knocked out within the Losers Quarterfinals by Krause.
Qualifier Outcomes
| Qualifier | Gamers | Winner | Deal with | Rating |
| 1 | 509 | Gonzalo Rojo | rojitto | 274 |
| 2 | 222 | Eduardo Lorenzon | UniversalTsunami | 238 |
| 3 | 157 | Liam Hereford | JakeStateFarm12 | 262 |
| 4 | 262 | Johan Phan | johannfan | 268 |
| 5 | 206 | Aleksey Matvienko | lesha2002 | 215 |
| 6 | 98 | Benjamin Krause | pawnosaurus | 186 |
| 7 | 127 | Enes Akin | Alwaysbullet | 182 |
| 8 | 103 | Javier Benitez | shnitez | 184 |
The foundations of Atomic Chess are fairly easy: it is like chess, however items explode. At any time when a bit is captured, an “explosion” reaching all of the squares instantly surrounding the captured piece happens. This detonation kills the entire items in its vary aside from pawns.
Completely different from common chess, the place solely the captured piece is taken off the board, in Atomic Chess, each seize is suicidal. Even the capturing piece is affected by the explosion and have to be taken off the board. Kings not solely get checkmated but additionally lose the sport in the event that they’re adjoining to an explosion.
Winners Quarterfinals: Lorenzon Begins Strongest
Lorenzon was the one participant to win with a clear 3-0 sweep within the Winners Quarterfinals, in opposition to Akin. The very first recreation showcased one of many variant’s many quirks, as you would possibly suppose that 16.Re8+?? wins within the place beneath. In truth, the king doesn’t have to maneuver. As an alternative, it’s Black who would win with 16…Nxg2, catching the white king within the explosion.
Seeing this, Lorenzon performed 16.g3! merely to stop the seize, and now Black can not keep away from the loss. He resigned, however the recreation may finish with 16…Nxf3 17.Re8+ Kc7 18.Rxc8.
Rojo, Phan, and Hereford additionally received their matches to advance.Â
Winners Semifinals: Hereford, Phan Advance
Lorenzon did not final for much longer within the Winners Bracket, although, as he misplaced his second match. Hereford beat him 3-1. (They might meet once more later.)
Within the different semifinal, Phan superior with a 3-0 sweep in opposition to Rojo. Within the following place in recreation two, 9…Na6 10.Nd6+ was a killer found assault. After 10…exd6 11.Bxa6 Black misplaced their queen.
Winners Remaining: Hereford Wins First Remaining
Hereford received the Winners Remaining with a clear 2.5-0.5 in opposition to Phan, two wins and a draw.
Recreation one was probably the most dominant, the place White confirmed how combustive an assault could be on this variant. 13.Qb3+ was the beginning of a decisive mixture, and Black would resign 4 strikes later. After 13…Be6, 14.dxe5 blew open the middle.
So we reached this place the place if Black simply sidesteps with 14…Kh8, then 15.Qg8 wins, similar to within the recreation. As an alternative, Black gave up his queen first with 14…Qd5 15.Bxc6+.Â
… and there was no stopping the explosion on g7 quickly after.
Losers Bracket: Lorenzon Climbs ViaÂ
Lorenzon climbed again by means of the Losers Bracket to have his rematch with Hereford within the Grand Remaining.Â
Within the early rounds, we had been handled to some spectacular Atomic Chess opening idea within the match between Rojo and Krause. The next clip provides only a style of how wonky and deep the openings could be.
However, finally, Lorenzon received three matches: first, 3-2 in opposition to Matvienko, then 3-1 in opposition to Krause, and eventually 3-0 in opposition to Phan.
The final recreation in opposition to Phan was good, even when a win was pointless, as he outplayed his opponent with simply six seconds left. 21.Be8 was a maneuver that received the black queen two strikes later, after 21…Qe7 22.Bxf7+ Kh8 23.Bxe6.
Grand Remaining: Rivals Reunite, Rogov Performs “Recreation Of The Match”
Lorenzon received the primary match to power a Grand Remaining Reset. Although Hereford received a really difficult first recreation, Lorenzon then received two in a row. Within the second, Lorenzon sacrificed his queen for a pawn to open the g-file.
Two strikes later, after 16…Rh6 (Rg8 is coming anyway), White received with 17.Rg8+ Kf7 Nxe6, detonating the king.
Lorenzon dropped a loss however received the final recreation to achieve the second match.
Grand Remaining Reset: Hereford 3.5-2.5 Lorenzon
Hereford received the primary two video games of the Reset and, a half-point away from clinching the match, his triumph seemed inevitable. However Lorenzon extremely received two video games on demand.
Within the second recreation he received, his speedy conversion with simply 13 seconds shocked Canty, who’s fairly a pace demon himself. Hereford would later share that he usually performs this variant with a time management of 30, so the dearth of increment helped him.
That meant that the subsequent participant to win would take the crown. Within the tense recreation that adopted, we noticed a rarity: an unimaginable draw.
Within the final recreation, which Hereford received, he alternated between pressuring alongside three totally different fronts: the a-pawn being a risk, the rook touchdown on b8, and when that was blocked, sending the rook to g1 for checkmate. After 30…Bb5 31.Kh2 Kh8 32.Rg1, Black misplaced on time.
That is it for the Atomic Chess Championship! When you already love 4 Participant Chess or wish to attempt, anyone can play in our subsequent neighborhood championship in April.
How you can overview?
The Atomic Chess Championship is a part of the 2025 Chess.com Group Championships, and the occasion was open to all members of the Chess.com Group Membership. The winners of eight qualifiers performed in a double-elimination knockout bracket to resolve the perfect atomic chess participant on Chess.com. The occasion featured a $2,500 prize fund.
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