How I (Almost) Won the January Classical Shield Arena

Winning a Shield Arena was a dream I had. Winning such tournament would take endurance for hours. I had no chance in Bullet or Blitz Shields, because I was too slow for such time controls.

I began to play many classical games, and then a month back, I competed in the Weekly Classical Arena: Weekly Classical Arena #Z4j1uxnp • lichess.org

I gained many rating points and became first with +17=3-1.

I began to think I could win the Classical Shield Arena!

The Friday came and I geared up. Since the tournament was a ridiculous 10 hours, I was going to play about 7 hours. I wanted to get an early lead, be able to eat lunch in peace come back to win some more games hopefully and then maybe leave the tournament 1 hour before it ends. That was not going to happen.

Classical Shield Arena: Classical Shield Arena #XUGgfV5B • lichess.org

I started strong with 3 quick wins, but disaster struck on game 4. Playing a strong, but a little bit lower rated 1860, I spoiled an easily winning position and blundered my queen.

ChessDetective314 vs cothraige: Scandinavian Defense: Main Line • lichess.org

In a critical moment, I played too fast and blundered. Things were looking grim as I had half the points as the leader, I had to focus up. There were still more than 8 hours left in the tournament though.

I proceeded to go on a 11 win game streak immediately putting me into the lead. My streak was ended with a draw against a strong 2100. After winning 1 more game, I drew a 2250 and then after winning another game I drew against a 2320. Here, I took a 1 hour lunch break and was astonished when I dropped to 3rd despite holding a big lead before.

After winning another 3 games, I drew one more against a 2200. I won another 6 games including a nice game against a FM.

ChessDetective314 vs FM TitledMoneyGrabber: Sicilian Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation, Advance Variation • lichess.org

My streak was abruptly ended by someone who joined the tournament late but had gone up in the rankings quickly. He was Kung_Fu_Panda3!

With a mouseslip, I blundered my queen and he won the game. He was still 10 points behind me, but he was closing in quickly. After that, I drew again against a 2230. With just 2 hours left, I needed to hold on to my lead. I won 4 games in a row but then I lost a very crucial game to a 2000 due to a hallucination. After playing for hours, my brain got very tired.

ChessDetective314 vs woll: Scandinavian Defense: Main Line • lichess.org

With this loss, Kung_Fu_Panda3 over took me and was now in the lead! I won a fast game and with a hour left, Kung_Fu_Panda3 had a 2 point lead over me.

Suddenly, I got paired with him. As he immediately cut his time in half with a berserk, I realized I didn't need to berserk to win. If I won this game and got 2 points, I would have a higher tiebreak than him and win the tournament. I began to think for a long time, knowing I needed a win. With just 10 minutes on the match clock, I forced him to resign.

Kung_Fu_Panda3 vs ChessDetective314: Queen's Gambit Declined: Charousek Variation • lichess.org

With a win in hand and 10 minutes left, I thought there was no way anyone could win.
I was wrong. In third place, there was Tempest_Dragon, who had mounted up a 5 game streak to come back. The current standings were at.

1. Me(133)
2. Kung Fu Panda(133)
3. Tempest Dragon(130)

With Tempest_Dragon on a game, I realized if he won this game, he would have 135 points overtaking me! Kung_Fu_Panda3 and I both got into a game. After 10 moves, I offered my opponent a draw. I had 135 points now and Tempest Dragon couldn't catch up. With 2 minutes left, there was no way I could get caught. Right?

I tried to get into another game to offer a draw and get an extra point just to cement my lead, but the tournament pairings were closed 2 minutes before the tournament ended. I tuned in to Kung_Fu_Panda3's games and saw a very even position. His opponent had 8 minutes left and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, his opponent made 2 straight blunders in row and now, Kung_Fu_Panda3 had a winning attack. With mate in 2 on the board, I begged that his opponent would think for a minute now. With 30 seconds left, his opponent resigned, giving him the 3 points to overtake me and get 136 points!!!

GambitGuru69 vs Kung_Fu_Panda3: Scandinavian Defense: Modern Variation • lichess.org

As the clock struck 0, Kung_Fu_Panda3 became the new shield owner, and I was left with nothing. I began to think of how I could have won this. If I offered a draw faster in my last game, I could have gotten to a new game and be able to get an extra point needed to win. Since I had a higher tiebreak, even an extra point would have given me the win.

However, I think Kung_Fu_Panda3 did incredible and made a clutch win at the last minute.

Hopefully I will win a shield in the near future.

Thank you for reading my blog.