Game of Death - The 2025 Daily Chess Champs
Be like water... - Bruce Lee
Welcome everybody, to a perilous game...The Game of Death.
The rules of the game are quite simple, not unlike Bruce Lee's unfinished classic of the same name, Game of Death centers around the protagonist (that's you), entering a 5-story Pagoda. On each floor of the pagoda, you face an opponent (tactic), of increasing difficulty...
Margin for error...you guessed it, DEATH...
There are no second chances in this game, each puzzle must be solved correctly on the first attempt, in order to advance to the next floor, so take your time, because not everything is as it may first appear.
The tactics...I mean opponents are taken from my round 1 games in this year's Daily Chess Championship. An ongoing tournament which started on January 1st and included well over 24,000 participants.
Remember things will start off easy, but your opponents will get tougher and tougher, until you're faced with a giant.
So, without further ado, let's get to the Game of Death.
One-inch Punch
On the first floor you are met by a sparsely furnished room, unpainted concrete walls make a dismal appearance and in the center of the room stands your first opponent. He is a boxer, diced to the socks and muscled like a Greek god, he looks formidable indeed, but looks can be deceiving...
Black's heavy pieces look threatening, but perhaps the one-inch punch can end this bout in one shot.
Mr. Petrov
On the second floor you encounter a tidy indoor garden, and a familiar face - Mr. Petrov. The hardcore Bruce Lee fans among you will remember Bruce's penultimate opponent from his hit movie Fists of Fury. Well, it would appear that Mr. Petrov of Russia is back again for another battle...but if we know his "book moves" perhaps beating him will be a simple matter of remembering his weaknesses.
The Petrov can be a dangerous opening when played correctly...luckily for us Black has not done so...can you spot the weakness that leads to winning a piece?
Spoiled Shaolin
On the 3rd floor you enter an opulent room inhabited by a warrior monk, but this is not one of the famed Shaolin Monks, instead you are up against a pampered playboy, who is bedecked with gold chains and rich robes. Within a few moments the fight is almost over...the only problem is you are spoiled for choice...
The position is completely winning, but can you do so in the most accurate manner? With best play this is a mate in 7.
Shinobi
On the fourth floor you are met by an ominous sight, a room decored in the Japanese fashion, fronted by a small balcony, showcasing the surrounding foliage and in the center of the room a shadow. One of the famed Shinobi or Ninja, a group of warriors known for their unparalleled ability to infiltrate and ambush. The trick will be to use his own tactics against him, you must counterattack without warning.
Black's last attack has left him open to a devastating counter.
Mantis
You have arrived on the fifth and final floor...and I know what most of you are thinking: it's been pretty easy so far, that is about to change.
Your final opponent is Mantis, a seven-foot-tall expert practitioner of Jeet Kune Do, who also happens to be a hall of fame basketball player...
It is never easy taken on a fighter with a reach advantage, you'll need to channel Bruce Lee's famous words...
“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.
Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
―
Mate in 7, good luck.
And that was it, that was the Game of Death.
Congratulations to those of you who defeated all 5 opponents on the first attempt, truly amazing work, Bruce Lee would be proud. Unfortunately, not unlike the ambiguous ending of the film our mission is not at an end...another pagoda beckons. Round 2 of the 2025 daily chess champs is only a few short weeks ahead and the competition will be a lot more formidable. In any case, I hope you will join me for the journey.
As always thanks for reading, and feel free to share these tactics with your friends down at the library or pagoda.
Cheers, SheldonOfOsaka.
P.S.
I have a bunch of chess merchandise available at my online shop, if that is of interest to you invite the "Click Button to a game of chess, but when he arrives pull out checker pieces.
