Lichess4545 GOTM – September '26: A Knight to Remember on Board 2!
Two experienced Board 2 veterans, a memorable opening-round encounter, and a moment that caught the attention of GM Daniel King! Our September Game of the Month takes us to the opening round of Lichess4545's milestone 50th season.
Welcome to our monthly 4545 GOTM blog post!
September marked the beginning of Season 50, a milestone for the Lichess4545 Team League! With 54 teams competing and hundreds of players returning for another season of classical chess, there was plenty of excitement surrounding the opening round. Our latest community-selected Game of the Month gives us the opportunity to recognize two familiar members of the league who helped make that opening weekend memorable.
Game Review
This month's featured game comes from Round 1 of Season 50, where @Feet_Barbie, representing What a team! And we managed to avoid Prosti, faced @LloydRet of Lang and Lloyd R0Bbed Sed in the windy Canadian Alps with a fork. The two met on Board 2, with Feet_Barbie playing White and LloydRet handling the Black pieces. Both players brought considerable Team League experience to the matchup, although their paths through the league have been somewhat different.
Feet_Barbie has been a regular presence in Team League since Season 36, accumulating more than 100 games and establishing themselves as a familiar competitor on Board 2. Among their accomplishments is a Season 39 Team League championship with Senior dogs that can't get onto the couch (or sofa if you're British) anymore due to their bad knees. Feet_Barbie contributed an impressive 6 points from 8 games during that championship season, achieving a performance rating of 2284. Their involvement in the Lichess4545 community extends beyond Team League, with appearances in LoneWolf, Chess960, and even the Blindfold League. That variety of experience, along with their continued participation in Team League, has made Feet_Barbie a familiar name across several of our community's competitions.
LloydRet, meanwhile, has been a consistent Team League competitor since Season 44, establishing a strong record on Board 2 across seven consecutive seasons. Their league debut came as a member of Ctrl + Alt + Defeat, which finished second in Season 44. LloydRet played an important role in that successful campaign, scoring 5½ points from 8 games with a performance rating of 2216. Since then, LloydRet has continued to compete regularly, representing a different team in each subsequent season while consistently facing strong opposition on Board 2. Entering Season 50 with nearly 50 Team League appearances, LloydRet brought plenty of experience to this opening-round encounter.
The two players were closely matched in rating, with Feet_Barbie entering at 2123 and LloydRet at 2065, a difference of just 58 points. With both competitors bringing years of Team League experience to the board, their Round 1 meeting offered an intriguing matchup to begin the new season. Adding to the occasion, the game was played during our special Round 1 commentary broadcast featuring GM Daniel King alongside @jg777. With numerous games underway simultaneously, Daniel had plenty of interesting positions to explore, but this particular encounter produced one of the broadcast's most memorable reactions! We've included a short clip of that moment below, although we'll leave the details of what happened on the board for you to discover in the annotated study.
One of the things we enjoy most about Game of the Month is the opportunity to highlight the players behind the games and celebrate the community that brings us together. We're delighted to feature Feet_Barbie and LloydRet this September, and we invite you to explore their encounter through the annotated study below to discover what made this game worthy of recognition!
A special thank-you also goes to @guitarspider for taking the time to annotate this month's featured game! Our volunteer annotators help make Game of the Month an opportunity not just to celebrate memorable games, but also to learn from them. We appreciate their time, expertise, and contributions to our chess community.
A Memorable Moment with GM Daniel King
Watch Daniel King's reaction during our Round 1 commentary broadcast!