Eugene Bot’s Weakness: Odd Openings and Why They Work
I crushed Eugene Bot by finding Chess.com’s hidden easter egg.
Chess.com recently announced their new “Back to School” bots for August 2024 with an exciting new challenge in Eugene, the school janitor who is rated 3075.
During State of Chess 2024, CCO Danny Rensch hinted at a way to beat him…
“If you play the right series of moves you can break Eugene and he will then play like a 200 bot […] There's also 50% off codes on Diamond Memberships hidden throughout the site that are related to the bot”
You can break Eugene and he will play like a 200
I was curious and hooked. What did he mean by “right series of moves”? Engaging with Eugene in a classic Ruy Lopez or a sharp Sicilian seemed like a good way to ask for the janitor’s mop beating on my way to a loss. But maybe a different approach would work? Read through to the end where I give away the secret to beating Eugene with a surprising opening.
Why Openings Work
Opening preparation has been the weapon of choice for players in the modern chess era to get the edge on their opponents. Being led through a dark unexplored forest while having to continuously find the best moves to survive is a nightmare for even grandmasters.
GM Magnus Carlsen had this nightmare come true for him as he suffered a swift defeat to GM Richard Rapport in the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Chess Championships 2024. Rapport came prepared with a rare Caro-Kann Defense, leaving Magnus to face an onslaught of attacking pieces pointed at his uncastled king. The defeat also birthed an all-time chess meme picture...
Finding best replies to odd or dubious moves also takes time off the clock. GM Hikaru Nakamura famously explained that everything is playable with proper preparation and went on to demonstrate that at the 2024 FIDE Candidates Tournament, where he shocked GM Praggnanandhaa on move 3 with the reply c5!?
TEN MINUTES is how long it took Prag to find his reply which ultimately led to rushed moves later as he got too low on time and a Hikaru win.
Odd openings are generally classified as subpar versus an engine as the smallest inaccuracies can be exploited with perfect play. Human chess is different. Giving up material for piece activity or forcing your opponent to spend time and think with a curveball move are both viable strategies when playing someone who will feel the pressure of your attack and the stress of their own clock ticking down.
Here is an “odd opening” I recently discovered for you to try out in your games at the beginner-intermediate level (I’ve seen it work even in 2300 rated blitz games).
Italian: Traxler, Bishop Sacrifice Line
The Italian and attempts at a Fried Liver Attack by white are extremely common at the beginner-intermediate level. Black can go into a Traxler and if white plays the very natural-looking Nc3 on move 7, black has an astounding Bxf2+ sacrifice leaving white’s king extremely uncomfortable.
Each reply is marked as a top move according to the engine which evaluates the final position as equal but for humans, black’s side looks easier to play. The pressure is on white to keep their king from getting checkmated!
Eugene's Only Weakness
Now onto the secret “odd opening” to defeat Eugene Bot. There is a 50% off Chess.com membership code hidden along with this and athough it is limited to the first 100 uses, I’ll send the link to anyone who shows me a win against Eugene playing this opening. Simply message me with a link to the game!
I created a Word Search game with chess-themed words. Words can go in any direction and share letters as well as cross over each other. After finding each word, copy the unused letters starting in the top left corner into the blanks to reveal the Eugene-crushing opening.
If you want to print this word search in black and white, visit here.
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