My Honest Opinion on Lichess Game of the Month: June '25

I’ve often felt that the “Best Game of the Month” on Lichess — while polished — tends to lean a little sterile. Too perfect. Too clean. But June’s pick? This one felt more alive.
No need for 2700s or prep novelties here. This was a battle between two 2000-rated players, and it had everything: tension, oversight, instinct, collapse, and finally the hunt.
Let’s go.

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The First Moves: Both Players Armed, Nobody Bleeding

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. c3 Nf6 5. e5 Nd5 6. cxd4 d6

Already we’re out of opening theory comfort. The c3–e5 push is a bit uncommon — White’s not hiding their intentions: space, pressure, aggression. A few moves later, both sides castle, trade off some central pieces, and prepare for the middlegame.
White stacks their rooks. Black calmly develops. At a glance, it’s a “normal” classical game between two thoughtful opponents.
Then... a hinge.

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Move 18 – The Moment That Split the Game in Two
18...Rfd8??

It's not just a blunder, I believe it's a betrayal of intuition.
The position is roughly balanced. White has a slightly awkward pawn structure; Black’s minor pieces are reasonably placed. One good, careful move (like 18...g6) would have closed the door on White’s ideas. It shuts down the Bxh7+ sacrifice, locks the light-squared bishop out of the kingside, and starts tilting the board in Black’s favor as after all they've got a pretty active bishop on b7 eyeing white's kingside. Suddenly, White would have to abandon dreams of going for a kingside glory and start defending c3 and d4: something they weren’t really prepared to do, at least psychologically.
Because make no mistake: White was playing for attack the whole game. And changing gears from full-on-fledged tactical battle to dull positional defense is not easy. Especially in classical, where your thinking gets “primed” in one direction. If you know what I mean.
But Black didn’t play g6. They played Rfd8. A neutral-looking move, which, in hindsight, was the opening of the gates.

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Enter: The Hunt

19. Bxh7+! Kxh7 20. Qh3+ Kg8 21. Rh5

The black king, once regal and composed, was reduced to a frantic creature darting through the undergrowth — pursued by a pack that smelled blood and knew no mercy.
White didn’t hesitate. They didn’t ask for permission. They attacked.
And that’s what makes this game special. Not the elegance of a novelty, but the rawness of instinct. White recognized that the window had opened — and leapt through it with every piece.
This wasn’t calculation. This was scent. Vibe. Feeling.

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Black Cracks Under the Heat
21...Kf8??

It’s hard to describe this move without invoking panic. The kind of panic where your pieces don’t obey anymore. The king walks forward, each step more exposed than the last. Black was reluctant to play f5 instead as this could give white opportunities on the e-file after grabbing the e6-pawn, but wrongly though.
White responds with clean energy:

22. Rxe6 fxe6 23. Qxe6 g6 24. Qf6+ Ke8

Still no escape.
Then comes 25. Qxg6+?? — a brief lapse from White, technically speaking — but even here, it’s more like the predator toying with its prey when it knows the prey isn't going away anytime soon, or at least that's the impression I'm getting. The final killer blow is delayed, not denied.
Black follows up with 25...Kd7?? and from that point, it’s just a slow, winding end for the poor king.

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Finale: A King’s Last Walk
26. Qf5+ Kc6
27. Qb5+ Kd6
28. Rh6+ Ke7
29. Qg5+ Kd7
30. Qg4+ Ke8
31. Qg8+ Ke7
32. Qg7+ Ke8
33. Rh8#

Mate.
And with it we get a lesson. Not just in tactics. But in tension. In feeling. In how one inattentive moment, one tiny choice: playing the “healthy” Rfd8 instead of the cold-hearted g6 can change a position from stable to borderline fatal.

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Why This Game Deserved It
This wasn’t the cleanest game of the month. But it was the most honest.
Two 2000-rated players. One plays solidly for 18 moves, misses one critical decision, and gets hunted. The other? Sees the right moment, commits to his strategy, and doesn’t look back.
And that, in my book, is far superior to perfection.