Pogchamps 4 Playoffs Day 3: Fundy, Crokeyz Play For Championship; MrBeast Distracts His Way Into Consolation Final
The final day of PogChamps 4 quarterfinals presented by Coinbase excited the audience and the spectators on Saturday, as the pairs were decided for Sunday's main events.
Rubius earned the win 1.5-0.5 against JakenbakeLIVE and goes on to the consolation championship against MrBeast, who defeated Tectone with the help of a massive donation and secret tips from Ludwig. Crokeyz took the win against boxbox in an exciting tiebreak blitz match and will go on to face Fundy, who took down 5uppp 2-0 despite very dangerous play from the Among Us streamer.
- Rubius Shakes Up Jake
- Crokeyz Outfoxes Boxbox In Tiebreaker
- MrBeast Distracts Tectone With Massive Donation
- Fundy Takes Down 5uppp
Rubius Shakes Up Jake
The number-one Spanish streamer took the win 1.5-0.5 in a tense match against JakenbakeLIVE.
Rubius opened game one with Ruy Lopez, and both players had solid positions out of the opening. The tension broke when Rubius attacked with a baby fork, but while it looked like a good move, it actually worked in Jake's favor and allowed him to expose Rubius' king.
It looked like Rubius was on the ropes, but then in a flurry of blunders under time pressure, the pieces flew off the board. He managed to flex his material advantage, promote his final pawn, and get a new queen. But in a frustrating final to the game, Rubius was not familiar with how to checkmate with a queen and king, and Jake got the draw by repetition.
In game two, Jake miscalculated an exchange and lost a piece early. He then continued with an aggressive attack on Rubius' f7-square. But the attack fell apart, and Rubius was able to maintain a strong advantage deep into the game.
With less than a minute on both players' clocks and the tension high because both commentators were muted, Rubius kept his focus and got the back-rank checkmate with a pawn promotion and only seconds remaining. Let's go!
Rubius will move on to play for the Grip6 belt in the consolation championship!
Crokeyz Outfoxes Boxbox In Tiebreaker
Crokeyz fought hard for the win against tournament favorite boxbox, earning the W in the blitz tiebreaker.
In game one, Crokeyz shocked the commentators by switching from his usual Catalan Opening, and it served him well, giving him an advantage in development and the bishop pair in the midgame.
Crokeyz kept up the pressure, but boxbox defended well. In a critical moment, Corkeyz missed a pawn push, and his position fell apart.
When the players got low on time, boxbox was able to keep his focus and find good tactics under pressure.
In the end, boxbox kept the material advantage, and Crokeyz resigned when the pawn promotion was inevitable.
In the next game, the players battled for space with their pawns and got to a complex closed position. Crokeyz slowly gained the advantage until boxbox felt his only opportunity was to trade his queen for two rooks.
But Crokeyz still had the advantage with both a passed pawn and an attack on boxbox's king. Unable to defend both, boxbox got caught in a corner and was checkmated, bringing the match to a tiebreaker.
It was a speedy scramble for the advantage. Crokeyz, keeping the edge until the end, managed to trade away the queens while he had a passed pawn. Boxbox could not prevent him from promoting and tried his best to trick Crokeyz into a stalemate. However, Crokeyz saw through the play and got the checkmate.
Crokeyz moves on to the championship final tomorrow.
MrBeast Distracts Tectone With Massive Donation
The king of YouTube moved one step closer to a chess throne with two wins against Tectone, one which he threw real money toward.
In game one, MrBeast was befuddled by the Tommy Pickles maneuver, but quickly found the advantage and pushed forward with his queen and bishop that set up a deadly combo that Tectone was too busy trash-talking to see. Checkmate for MrBeast!
In game two, MrBeast tried a new strategy: donating $1,000 to Tectone's Twitch in order to distract him from the game.
But the plan backfired when MrBeast spent more time making sure Tectone didn't think he had to throw the game. Then MrBeast encountered his own distractions when a wild Ludwig appeared.
Ludwig's presence possibly caused Beast to miss a mate in one. But he kept playing safely and traded away all of Tectone's pieces until he had complete control, using his advantage to toy with Tectone as punishment for all the trash talk. MrBeast promoted every extra pawn to a queen before finally making checkmate with a promotion.
Mr Beast will get to try out his new distraction tactics against Rubius in the consolation final.
Fundy Takes Down 5uppp
Fundy fought his way to the final with a 2-0 victory against 5uppp.
In the first game, Fundy broke a cardinal rule and moved the f-pawn, drastically weakening his position. 5uppp pressed the advantage and seemed to have a winning position until he lost his focus and blundered his queen.
Fundy seized the moment and brought the game to a successful end with checkmate.
In game two, 5uppp played the Pirc Defense and managed to execute a baby fork, earning himself a good position. He held the advantage late into the game and even had a back-rank threat against Fundy but couldn't find the move order. Grandma Botez may have been the signal of doom for 5uppp because soon after her appearance, his position fell apart and Fundy was able to clinch the win.
Fundy will face Crokeyz in the championship final on Sunday.
All Games Consolation Bracket Day 3
All Games Championship Bracket Day 3
You can see all the updated results at pogchampschess.com.
The two remaining PogChamps 4 matches happen tomorrow, Sunday, September 12. Stay tuned!
PogChamps 4 started on August 29 and will end on September 12. You can read more information about the event here. Make sure to tune into the action on Chess.com/tv or Twitch, or on our Events platform!
PogChamps 4 is presented by Coinbase. Whether you’re looking to make your first crypto purchase or you’re an experienced trader, Coinbase has you covered. Earn crypto by learning about crypto with Coinbase Earn, power up your trading with Coinbase's advanced features, get exclusive rewards when you spend with Coinbase Card, and much more. Learn more at Coinbase.com/Chess.
Previous PogChamps 4 coverage:
- PogChamps 4: All The Information
- PogChamps 4 Day 1: Harry Mack Raps Chess Game Analysis
- PogChamps 4 Day 2: Nervous Ludwig Turns MrBeast Into Cat Maid
- PogChamps 4 Day 3: Group D Impresses
- PogChamps 4 Day 4: Tectone, JustaMinx Turn Tables; Boxbox Triumphs Tactically
- PogChamps 4 Day 5: Four Matches, Four Sweeps
- PogChamps 4 Day 6: All Wins for 5uppp, QT, Fundy
- PogChamps 4 Day 7: MrBeast Is Endgame Genius
- PogChamps 4 Day 8: Parties, Mouse Slips, Botez Gambits, Endgame Precision
- PogChamps 4 Playoffs Day 1: Fundy Advances To Championship Semifinals After Tough Match
- PogChamps 4 Playoffs Day 2: Boxbox In Semifinals After Ludwig's Mogul Premoves
