September's Blitz 'n' Memes: Masters' Edition

Welcome, Everybody to a special Master's edition of Blitz 'n' Memes...

For the first time in the storied history of Blitz 'n' Memes this month's tactics have not be drawn from the TGIF Blitz tournament. On Friday September 19th through Tuesday September 24th, the Japan Chess Federation hosted the Japan Open 2025 in Tokyo. The tourney was broken into two sections the challengers' section and masters' section. 

The masters' section included: 4 Candidate Masters, 6 FIDE Masters, 5 International Masters and 4 Grand Masters, making it the most high-level tournament in the history of Japanese chess. I am not one to let such an auspicious occasion go undocumented. 

Hence, this month's edition of Blitz 'n' Memes is made up of 5 tactics taken from the Masters' section of the Japan Open 2025. All 5 tactics involve Masters, all 5 tactics include brilliant moves.

Without any doubt this is the most difficult Blitz 'n' Memes EVER. You'll need more than luck to get all 5 tactics correct on the first attempt.

So without further ado, let's get to the Blitz 'n' Memes.

Harry the h-pawn Goes on the Attack

Our first tactic comes way of round 4, FM Sehyun Kwon of South Korea playing Black, unleashed no fewer the four brilliant moves in this incredible king-side attack. 

Hint: This tactic is so subtle that even the engine has trouble deciding on the strongest moves, so I will be quite liberal with my instructions. Use Harry the h-pawn to open the king-side, then activate the heavy pieces by maneuvering them to the open files before delivery the final attack with the knight. 

Highway to Heaven

In the 7th round, FM Shou Otsuka of Japan, playing White, found a path to victory. 

I have heard it said that the purpose of all maneuvering is to bring the heavy pieces to the 7th and 8th rank, the old adage proves true again. 

An Infiltrating Monarch

In the 9th round, GM Paul Velten of France, playing Black, was able to infiltrate White's position to devastating effect. 

Black has a number of ways to win, the question is which is the most direct and unstoppable?

The Things I do for Equality

In this 5th round showdown, GM Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia, playing White, goes all-in to maintain equality. 

Sometimes you have to play brilliantly just to maintain equality, spoiler alert, this is one of those time. 

Right on Target

Our final tactic is taken from the 8th round, a clash of the titans match-up, IM Thanh Tu Tran of Japan playing White, takes on perennial TGIF Blitz champion IM Ryosuke Nanjo. IM Tu sets up a elegant yet ferocious attack.

To my mind, this is the most aesthetically pleasing tactic of the tournament. Good Luck. 

And that was it, that was September Blitz 'n' Memes: Masters' Edition. 

Congratulations to IM Arif Abdul Hafiz of Indonesia for winning the Japan Open 2025 with a 7.5/9 score.

And of course special congrats to anyone who completed all 5 tactics with a perfect score, you are truly a GM of online puzzles. 

As always thanks for reading and feel free to share these tactics with your friends down at the Library or chess club. 

Cheers, SheldonOfOsaka.

BTW...

Today is the first day of the rest of our lives with my new shop on ETSY. JocularTeesCo will be selling chess and nonchess related t-shirts.

Here is a small preview. 

More to come in the near future.