Xiong and Liang scored 265 points to win first place in the second qualifier. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Xiong, Liang Win 50 Consecutive Games In Bughouse Championship Qualifier

FM JackRodgers

Updated: Aug 20, 2024, 5:45 PM | 6 | Chess Event Coverage

The Community Championship Series returned on Monday with the 2024 Chess.com Bughouse Championship and two teams: GM Lars Oskar Hauge and NM Isaac Chiu along with GMs Jeffery Xiong and Awonder Liang, rose above 400 participating teams to book their spot in the $7,500 Final which will take place on Friday.

Find a partner and play against the world's best bughouse players in qualifier three, which will take place on Tuesday, August 20, at 1.30 pm ET / 19:30 CEST / 11.00 pm IST followed by the fourth qualifier at 7.30 pm ET/ 1:30 CEST (August 21) / 5.00 am IST (August 21).

Qualifier 1 - Standings

Rank	Fed	Title	Username	Name	Rating	Score

1		NM	nochewycandy	Isaac Chiu	2627	311
1		GM	larso	Lars Oskar Hauge	2583	311
2			pknm	Patrik Nystrom	2279	195
2		FM	MidnightFox	Linus Olsson	2503	195
3			Horkko		2400	190
3		FM	Crazy_Eight	Roee Aroesti	2390	190
4		GM	nihalsarin	Nihal Sarin	2427	151
4		GM	GHANDEEVAM2003	Arjun Erigaisi	2576	151
5			yjim20		1922	123
5			avghmmk		2091	123
6		FM	UNSTOPPABLE_LEGEND	Ritvik Krishnan	2103	118
6		FM	Silent-Killer100	Jaiveer Mahendru	2019	118
7		IM	DragonB70	Nhat Minh To	2112	111
7		WIM	meotintin	Thanh Thuy Tien Nguyen	1762	111
8		IM	Zurability	Zurab Javakhadze	1965	110
8		NM	nelsi	Nelson , Lopez	1763	110

Qualifier 2 - Standings

Rank	Fed	Title	Username	Name	Rating	Score

1		GM	rednova1729	Awonder Liang	2824	265
1		GM	jefferyx	Jeffery Xiong	2593	265
2		GM	gena217	Guillermo Vazquez	2600	208
2			helmsknight		2415	208
3			Horkko		2412	206
3		FM	Crazy_Eight	Roee Aroesti	2402	206
4		FM	chickencrossroad	Daniel Yeager	2520	201
4		FM	GulamaliRises	Kazim Gulamali	2628	201
5		NM	ybothg	Tobias Rizzo	2244	152
5			SoccerBoy6		2268	152
6			ChikaKyo	Chika Kyoko	1982	133
6			hatsubuu		1811	133
7		FM	Emeraldddd	Eilia Zomorrodian	2174	130
7		WFM	ploddingpawn	Cindy Qiao	2093	130
8			LiL_Chessnut		2312	124
8		FM	TrahtarBelarus	Artiom Stribuk	1890	92

Format

Bughouse chess, also known as Siamese chess, swap chess, or exchange chess is one of the most popular chess variants and one of the only versions of chess where you can play with a partner!

This variant is played on two side-by-side boards and when pieces are captured on one board, your partner can use their turn to "drop" the captured piece onto their board to help set up or stop checkmates. Once one player is checkmated or their time expires the game ends. In bughouse many of the games end quickly and teamwork is paramount to success.

Four players, two teams, two boards. This is Bughouse chess.

The 2024 Bughouse Championship is open to the entire Chess.com community and if you manage to win one of the eight qualifiers, you will earn the right to play in a 16-player double-elimination bracket on Friday where the winners will be crowned the champions and win $2,000.

Qualifier 1 - Hauge-Chiu Win By 116 Point Margin
Qualifier 2 - Xiong-Liang Outrun Bughouse Streamers

Qualifier 1 - Hauge-Chiu Win By 116 Point Margin

Contratulations to our first Bughouse Championship finalists! 🔥💪

Registrations are open for the second qualifier arena - starting in 45 min
✨💚 pic.twitter.com/W07f7EZQkl
— Chess.com Community (@GreenPawns) August 19, 2024

535 players showed up to contest the first qualifier and among them were several celebrity teams, including Indian superstars GM Arjun Erigaisi and Nihal Sarin, as well as team Chessbrah, featuring GMs Eric Hansen and Aman Hambleton.

The world number-four made a surprise appearance in the Bughouse Championship qualifiers. Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.

Esteemed Hungarian chess coach GM Gyula Pap also played in the first qualifier alongside streamer Angelika Valkova and the defending variant champion GM Luca Moroni Jr. played, albeit with an 800-rated player.

Moroni still scored a respectable 70 points. Image: gm_moro/Twitch.

Though several of the GMs' teams were able to secure top-10 finishes, bughouse specialists dominated the podium. The highest-scoring team was Hauge-Chiu and they scored 80/82 to post a 311 score, more than double Arjun and Nihal's.

It's not often Arjun is checkmated, much less in the middle of the board like he was against Chiu.

One of the best games played by the winning team was against the Chessbrahs and in this game they showed their knowledge of classic bughouse strategy: White plays aggressively while Black builds a fortress around their king and trades pieces.

A blog by Sorsi Spring from 2017 also demonstrates the differing piece values in bughouse relative to standard chess and makes a point to highlight that "quantity beats quality."

Super GM-bughouse? Here, GMs Wesley So and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa take on GMs Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Andrey Esipenko as GM Levon Aronian watches on. Photo: Lennart Ootes.

In the position below, Hauge (playing White against Hambleton) was happy to give up his bishop on g5 to loosen the squares around Black's king while Chiu built a box of pawns around his king against Hansen (right).

Hauge's last move was a pawn drop on h6, leaving his bishop en prise.

Several moves later we saw the result of Hauge and Chiu's strategy: Hambleton's king ended up exposed. Meanwhile. Chiu's king was still tucked away in the corner.

The Chessbrahs showed plenty of resilience to hold on and counterattack, but the final position left them with no chance of survival.

Having two queens on on board always spells trouble in Bughouse.

What stood out about Hauge and Chiu's performance though was their defensive efforts... to lose only two games in two hours bodes well for the pair heading into the knockout. Their tactical prowess mixed with their understanding of the intricacies of Bughouse chess form a potent cocktail that spells success.

Qualifier 2 - Xiong-Liang Outrun Bughouse Streamers

In the qualifiers speed and communication are the foremost qualities of a finals-aspiring team and two partnerships stood out from the pack in qualifier two. GM Guillermo Vasquez and "Helmsknight" were the best team in the first half of the event and the players managed to score 208 points while streaming on Twitch.

We already have a team on the lead! Check out Helmsknight on twitch, they’re streaming the tourney and destroying opponents with their teammates GM Guillermo Vazquez! pic.twitter.com/QrJTGkgTHe
— Chess.com Community (@GreenPawns) August 19, 2024

Extraordinarily, all but one of their games in the first hour finished in 30 moves or less and they even managed to score a nine-move win against GM Denis Lazavik and FM Artiom Stribuk after "Helmsknight" sacrificed a bishop on f2 and began hunting down Lazavik's king.

3...Bxf2+! is a great way to revoke White's castling rights and launch an attack.

Six moves later "Helmsknight" received a pawn from Vasquez and dropped it on g4, delivering checkmated in the process.

Checkmate on the board after 9...@g4++.

Despite their enterprising start Vasquez and "Helmsknight" were soon overtaken by former U.S. junior champions Xiong and Liang, who surged to score 70/74 in the two-hour arena. In their matches against each other, Vasquez-Helmsknight did get the better of Xiong-Liang on all three occasions; however, the American pair were simply quicker when it came to knocking over other opponents.

Xiong-Liang’s games typically lasted 10-15 moves.

Check out the spectacular finish by Xiong that didn't require any pieces to be dropped.

Xiong found 12…Qf1+!! Which forces 13.Rxf1 followed by 13…Ng2++.

With six qualifiers left there are plenty of chances for bughouse enthusiasts to book their spot in the finals. Tune in on Tuesday at 1.30 pm ET to play!

The 2024 Chess.com Bughouse Championship is the latest event in the Chess.com Community Championship series and anyone can battle for a piece of this month's increased $7,500 prize fund. The tournament will be decided with an eight-team double-elimination bracket. Each team must qualify via one of eight, two-hour arenas with a 3+0 time control.

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