Felix ‘xQc’ Lengyel was one of the big streamers to enter the Twitch PogChamps Chess tournament, but his run was cut short after a disastrous opening that led to a lightning-fast checkmate and made commentators speechless.
Chess, one of the oldest board games in the world, has become increasingly popular on Twitch lately. Popular personalities like xQc have been playing it on stream, and Grandmaster Hikaru ‘GMhikaru’ Nakamura has even seen success with his informative streams from players trying to learn the game.
During the opening rounds of the $50,000 PogChamps Twitch Chess tournament, xQc put his skills to the test against Charlie White (AKA penguinz0, moistcr1tikal) and the results left Hikaru dumbfounded.
xQc began with a “Scotch Opening” which gives White control of the center of the board early, but it can also backfire and allow Black to counter very easily, which is just what moistcr1tikal did.
“No please don’t, it’s too soon Hikaru, we didn’t eve reach a climax,” WFM Alexandra Botez lamented, while Hikaru just watched speechless as Cr1tikal finished off Felix. “You know when I said it would be fun to see a checkmate in four earlier? I was joking, it wasn’t real.”
Cr1tical explained how he was ready for xQc’s Scotch open based on advice, and with xQc’s blunder of moving his Knight from d4 to c6, thereby leaving the diagonal route to the White King wide open for the Black Bishop.
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“xQc will likely go with a Scotch open, and he did, so I had to counterplay,” Charlie explained. “And he immediately blundered. Well, that’s gotta be a world record.”
“Ok, I’m done, really dude?” xQc said after the stunning defeat. Hopefully, Felix doesn’t give up on chess entirely though, as he is entertaining to watch, even with the blunders.
Timestamp at 7:38 for mobile viewers.
If you’re still looking to satisfy your Chess cravings on Twitch, you’re in luck, because the PogChamps tournament runs through Sunday, June 14.
Even though xQc isn’t in the running anymore, maybe you’ll still be able to pick up on some strategies as you watch to help you avoid a similar fate.