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Koukas, Duke Top Inaugural ChessPunks Champs Qualifiers

Koukas, Duke Top Inaugural ChessPunks Champs Qualifiers

NM_Vanessa
NM NM_Vanessa
Staff
| 8 | Chess Event Coverage

Anastasios Koukas and Michael Duke emerged at the top of the 2000+ section in the qualifiers for the ChessPunks Champs 2023.

In the 1700-1999 division, EvertonEejit clinched the first qualifier with a round to spare while Tushar Anand won the second with 7.5/9. 

In the 1300-1699 section, Abhishek G. kicked off the September 16 tournament with a 7-0 winning streak while Ivan Zhuk scored the only 9-0 of the entire event on September 17. 

In the under-1300 division, Rajbir Chakraborty navigated his way to first in the largest qualifier of all. Lekan001 won the second with 8.5/9. 

The ChessPunks Champs knockout will take place on October 22 at 12 p.m. ET/18:00 CEST. 

How to watch?
You can watch the live broadcast of the ChessPunks Champs Qualifiers on RookieRedhead's Twitch channel.  Games and results can be viewed on the ChessPunks Club page.

Live broadcast of the weekend's qualifiers, hosted by ChessPunks co-founder Neal Bruce and streamer RookieRedhead. 

ChessPunks is a community of adult chess improvers. Through their X hashtags #chesspunks and #chessimprovement, ChessPunks share goals, efforts, tips, and experiences, creating an amateur-friendly space driven by a common growth mindset. Here are a few of the voices of the community:

Co-founder, Neal Bruce, who has shared his tips and learning material with fellow ChessPunks since 2018: 

The Chess Librarian, who decided to start his own chess club:

Nietzchess, an improver with a philosophical approach to the game: 

Nick Visel, who has flown far beyond his initial goal of 100 days of chess to nearly 600:

In the qualifier stage, players were split into four sections by ratings:

The top three finishers in each qualifier advance to the knockout and earn improvement tools, such as a month of coaching sessions and Chessable Pro memberships. 

2000+

Confirmed Players For Knockout: 

  • AKJett (Anastasios Koukas)
  • kaznelra (Arlen Abrashev)
  • treadstone_71 (NM Alexander Balkum)
  • Mr. Dodgy (Michael Duke)
  • chessfeels (JJ Lang)
  • wmiltti (Matt Fletcher) (invited)
  • smalltowngoose (Kamryn Hellman) (invited)
  • Say_Chess (Martin Justesen) (invited)

Qualifier 1

The first qualifier for the top section featured a couple of national masters and a WIM. Yet, non-titled players clinched the top three spots. 

Koukas from Athens won clear first, scoring an undefeated seven out of nine, including a critical win in the final round. He navigated his way through tactical mayhem in a double-edged middlegame vs. Anikait Gupta. Emerging with an extra pawn, he converted through steady progress in the ending.

Arlen Abrashev from Kazakhstan and Balkum from Spain finished in second and third, each scoring 6.5/9. 

Qualifier 2

The second qualifier had even steeper competition with one grandmaster and two international masters in the mix. Duke from Sweden was the top finisher to qualify. In round three, he fought out a level endgame vs. IM David Shahinyan for 95 moves and ultimately triumphed in the time scramble finish. 

The second player to qualify was JJ Lang, who defeated NM Evan Rosenberg in round seven. 

1700-1999

Confirmed Players For Knockout: 

  • EvertonEejit
  • CinemaHDChess
  • ChessinBlackandWhite
  • tushar20008
  • beccrajoy
  • NVisel (invited)
  • julesgambit (invited)

Qualifier 1

EvertonEejit from Ireland clinched first with a round to spare after scoring 7.5 from the initial eight games. In the penultimate round, they gained a winning position with Black by move 15 by pinpointing the weak spots around the white king and hunting down the enemy monarch all the way into the ending.

CinemaHDChess from Greece finished second with 7/9 while ChessinBlackandWhite from the U.S. was the third player to qualify, scoring 6.5/9. 

Qualifier 2

Tushar Anand was the top finisher, scoring 7.5/9. He won a miniature vs. Jan Marteen in round six by conjuring an early king attack with aggressive play in the opening.

WCM Rebecca Selkirk was the second competitor to qualify, starting the tournament on a 3-0 winning streak and finishing with 6.5/9. 

1300-1699

Confirmed Players For Knockout: 

  • Abhi_shek31 (Abhishek G.)
  • BigBabyBunny
  • Mista_Masta
  • vaneczhuk (Ivan Zhuk)
  • Captain_Teemo220
  • Rookieredhead (invited)
  • nealbruce (invited)
  • sirrookski (invited)

Qualifier 1

Abhishek from Bahrain was the top finisher to qualify. He started the tournament with a 7-0 run, including his round six victory vs. BigBabyBunny where he won the race to checkmate in a battle with the kings castled to opposite sides. 

BigBabyBunny from Canada and Mista_Masta from the Netherlands also scored 7 points, finishing as the second and third to qualify respectively. 

Qualifier 2

Zhuk from Poland scored the only 9-0 in the overall event, taking first by a full point. Zhuk’s secret weapon was his decisive endgame play paired with practical time management. In his three games versus his closest rivals—the second-, third-, and fourth-place finishers—he managed to convert equal or even worse endings into victories. 

He served the second-place finisher, Captain_Teemo220, their only loss in round four. After a series of desperado exchanges, the game remained mostly level for the first 55 moves until Zhuk penetrated with his king to win the bishop versus knight ending with few pawns left on the board.

Captain_Teemo220, a competitor from Malaysia, scored 8/9 to claim second.

0-1299

Confirmed Players For Knockout:

  • Rajbir_005 (Rajbir Chakraborty)
  • Jarvis200014 (Faisal Madi)
  • litimator (Emery Reusch)
  • Lekan001
  • Aorrtaa
  • DarksqrdKnight
  • 3mpir3_t3tra (invited)
  • chessvondoom (invited)

Qualifier 1

Rajbir Chakraborty from India finished first by winning his last four games to score 7.5/9. In his last-round victory vs. Emery Reusch, Chakraborty persistently ran his two central passed pawns down the board to win material. 

Faisal Madi from Kuwait also scored 7.5/9, finishing second by tiebreaks, while Emery Reusch from the U.S. was the third to qualify.

Qualifier 2

Lekan001 from Nigeria scored the second-highest result of the overall event with 8.5/9. The only player who scored a draw from them was second-place finisher Aorrtaa from Australia. The two top competitors played all the way to king versus king. 

Lekan001 set a crafty trap in the round-six encounter vs. riBasiliskkk from India.

Aorrtaa scored 7.5 while DarksqrdKnight claimed the third qualification spot, scoring 6.5. 

The confirmed coaches are:

The ChessPunks Champs is a knockout tournament for the ChessPunks community of adult improvers. The event's qualifiers occurred on September 16-17 at 12 p.m. ET/18:00 CEST, while the main event happens on October 22 at 1 p.m. ET/19:00 CEST. The 32 qualifying players will receive a year of Chessable PRO and Chess.com diamond memberships and compete for additional opportunities to grow their chess knowledge.

NM_Vanessa
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

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