PogChamps 3 Chess Puzzles: Day 4
The fourth day of PogChamps 3 was nothing short of amazing. The unfortunate power outage in Texas caused the much anticipated xQc-Pokimane match to be postponed, but the other two matches more than made up for it.
Watching the Rubius-Negreanu games, one thing is clear: practicing with puzzles is crucial for your chess development. If you're at their level, I advise you to specifically study some "hanging pieces" puzzles. They'll help you to develop a better board awareness—something that would've made a lot of difference in their match.
Anyway, on we go to the puzzles!
Rubius vs. Daniel Negreanu
Negreanu has moved to a perfect 4-0 record in PogChamps 3 after winning his match against Rubius. The Spanish streamer had plenty of opportunities to take hanging pieces, but unfortunately missed them. Negreanu, on the other hand, found a few nice tactics that helped him beat his opponent.
Game 1, Puzzle 1 - Negreanu to play
Game 1, Puzzle 2 - Negreanu to play
Can you find the same tactic Daniel played here?
Game 2, Puzzle 1 - Negreanu to play
Neeko vs. Benjyfishy
Benjyfishy won his match against Neeko and proved that he's not one to be trifled with. His daily coaching sessions with GM Jon Ludvig Hammer are surely helping him.
Game 1, Puzzle 1 - Benjyfishy to play
Game 1, Puzzle 2 - Benjyfishy to play
Game 2, Puzzle 1 - Benjyfishy to play
There are many ways of winning this game, but one of them is the most precise—and very instructive. In king and pawn endgames, there's this thing called the "rule of the square." Can you use it to find the move Benjy played in his game against Neeko to win the match?
If you want to know what happened during the fourth day of PogChamps 3, you can check out the report here. For more information on PogChamps, read this guide.
Also, make sure to tune into Chess.com's daily coverage of PogChamps 3 presented by GRIP6 on Chess.com/tv.
Could you find the right moves in each of these positions? How difficult was it for you to find them? Leave a comment below to let us know!
During PogChamps 3, Chess.com will match up to $100,000 in donations to the participants’ preferred non-profit organizations. Please read this article to see how PogChamps is supporting charities, and how you can help, too!
Other PogChamps 3 puzzles:
Pedro Pinhata is the Writing Lead for Chess.com. He writes articles, feature announcements, event pages, and more. He has been playing chess since 2019 and lives in Brazil.
