Protaganist Vanquishes Villain In Tournament Arc
Eight of the world's most popular anitubers (anime youtubers) took their drama off the page and screen and to the chessboard in the first-ever Tournament Arc. The event was won by Gigguk.
Tournament Arc delivered in every way possible—with spectacular highlights, ridiculous comedy, unexpected upsets, and dramatic heroics. The final matches on Sunday, August 9th, saw incredible tension and off the board drama as the presumptive favorite, CDawgVA, faced the up-and-coming Gigguk in a match that featured an abrupt and completely unexpected finish.
- Semifinals: An Inevitable Confrontation?
- Quarterfinals: The Tension Builds
- Finals: Protagonist vs Villain
Semifinals: An Inevitable Confrontation?
The quarterfinals saw four clear challengers to the throne emerge as Gigguk, TheAnimeMan, Rustage, and CDawgVA all scored 2-0 victories against their opponents Mother's Basement, Revel House, Sydsnap, and Super Eyepatch, respectively.
Despite the convincing scores, these victories were not at all easy though as some spectacular mishaps were the order of the day. The Tournament Arc participants were students after all, not yet senpais and senseis, and anything could happen.
Gigguk was a player who entered Tournament Arc with relatively unknown chess skills, but his style soon became apparent: methodical, precise, and controlling chess seasoned with some of the best trash-talking in chess or anime.
CDawgVA showed no restraint in his first match, devouring any pieces that Super Eyepatch placed in his path: a Katamari of the chessboard.
Quarterfinals: The Tension Builds
In one half of the bracket, Gigguk battled TheAnimeMan, eventually winning 2-0 and securing his spot in the final.
In the other half of the bracket, CDawgVA, the ringleader of this event, battled Rustage, one of his most promising challengers. Rustage demonstrated proficient highlighting and planning skills before he slipped with a spectacular Botez Gambit, one of the errors that ultimately cost him the match.
Finals: Protagonist vs Villain
The consolation match between TheAnimeMan and Rustage was one of the most fierce contests in the tournament. Especially the first game featured incredible drama as TheAnimeMan won Rustage's queen, but Rustage had huge material compensation and pressure on the long diagonal. He was likely winning on the board, but the psychological impact of the loss of his queen posed significant problems, and the game ultimately got out of hand.
In the second game, almost the reverse situation happened. Rustage lost two pieces early on, but then he found an impressive sequence of forks to win this game and tie the match.
Everything came down to one final blitz tiebreak game between these two balanced opponents. In blitz, TheAnimeMan proved to be the swifter and surer opponent, quickly consuming multiple pieces that Rustage placed en price in the quick time control.
Everything now came down to the final game between CDawgVA and Gigguk. CDawgVA had been talking s*** on Twitter all day but not in the way you might think:
Nearly 2 hours until the tournament and I'm currently still on the toilet, my ass needs a break please. Why does sickness have to be so unforgiving. 😭😭
— Connor (@CDawgVA) August 7, 2020
Despite playing the Bowel Gambit, CDawgVA came as prepared as possible to the match, sporting one of his trademark JoJo suits.
Did I spend $1000 on JoJo suits. Yes. Yes I did. 😩👌 pic.twitter.com/yvs90V75o4
— Connor (@CDawgVA) February 29, 2020
Despite playing plenty of casual games with CDawgVA, Gigguk had never beaten him. The odds seemed stacked against him in the final, but early in the first game, it became clear that CDawgVA had cracks in his armor. Cracks that eventually lost him the game as he repeatedly played too quickly and too confidently, sometimes getting caught monologuing when he should have been closely monitoring his opponent's threats.
In a must-win situation in game two, CDawgVA started excellently, trapping and winning Gigguk's rook on b2, but then he gave back a rook later when he missed Gigguk's clever intermediate check on g2. The tension only escalated from there as Gigguk began to press a promising attack, but CDawgVA stayed well ahead on the clock, leading with more than five minutes to under one minute.
Just as the drama was at its absolute peak, with CDawgVA leading heavily on the clock AND possessing winning chances on the board, the game reached a spectacular and unexpected conclusion.
🤯 It's all over! It's all over! 🤯
— Chess.com (@chesscom) August 10, 2020
♘ Draw by repetition which means @GiggukAZ has defeated @CDawgVA and is your TOURNAMENT ARC CHAMPION! 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/v1BRmeKnT6
Thus, all was revealed. Gigguk had been the protagonist all along, and CDawgVA the villain had fallen!
I was the protagonist all along.
— Gigguk (@GiggukAZ) August 10, 2020
The Villain had to fall. pic.twitter.com/aLRsyJZ7hA
— Connor (@CDawgVA) August 10, 2020
Did you miss the action live? Watch the complete broadcast archives are available at twitch.tv/chess and youtube.com/chess!
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I'm the VP of Chess and Community for Chess.com. I earned the National Master title in 2012, and in 2014, I returned to my home state of South Carolina to start Strategery: Chess and Games. In late 2014, I began working for Chess.com and haven't looked back since.
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