The new top 10 best games in the series list

"And we're back! Time to finally delve into the long-awaited top 10 best games in the whole series!" Kisha declared.

This took a lot longer to compile, but it's done. So let's get into it starting with...

Number 10: Game log #64: Happy Halloween.

I love the Halloween gambit, so naturally a game featuring it was going to make the list. Best of all, the game was played against chess.com's 2900-rated level 24 engine bot, in assisted mode of course, so beating it in under 30 moves with the gambit was really satisfying. Narratively, having Iori, who is one of my favorite characters, play the gambit also helped make it memorable.

Number 9: Game log #84: Killer king swap.

This game had it all. A Bongcloud, king and queen swap, and a checkmate delivered by the king. Iori also captured all of Pewler's pieces and mated him on the 69th move. The only thing keeping it from number 1 is that I did have a bit of trouble getting the king mate on the 69th move. I initially tried to modify the original game I played, but ended up having to just replay the bot and then modify the final moves in order to pull off the king mate on the 69th move. It took a while, but it was worth it.

"This one took a pretty big drop compared to the first list. Reasons?"

Just simply that in the grand scheme of things, I've come to like some other games better and that there were some really good games that came after it.

Number 8: Game log #109: The Baron Buster gambit.

If I had done the original list after Season 5, this one would have probably been in the top 3. It was an amazing finale between Okisato and Red Reaper, featuring an entirely new opening at the time.

"What do you mean 'at the time'? It ain't in any ECO codes yet."

"But the opening has been used again in the series, and hopefully it along with all the other new openings created in this series will officially be added to the ECO books someday.

Number 7: Game log #32: A meadow of chess and a little night music.

I'll be honest, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik is why this game made the list. This game is unique in the fact that it's themed around the music rather than the moves. This game is also one of the ones I had the most fun writing, so naturally it makes the list.

Number 6: Game log #310: Out of the dunes.

Perhaps one of the biggest games of the season story-wise, I actually dreaded writing this one for the longest time, even having to go back and redo the game itself. But once I finally settled on a theme for the match, it became a hit. It's only shortcoming is that I rush through things at the beginning, though to be fair, the game is 74 moves long.

Number 5: Game log #1: An underground chess match.

And speaking of important story-wise, here's very first game of the series and easily one of the most memorable. Inspired by a game played between Gunnar Gundersen and A H Faul, this game featured a rare en passant checkmate. While it is only the 1st game, it is a memorable one and serves as the hook for the series. Even though many flashier games have come into play since then, it's still good enough to get it the number 5 spot on this list.

Number 4: Game log #173: Crimes against the queen.

And here we have perfection. This game was pure peak. What made it even more spectacular is that the game was played against a 2600-level bot from Chess.com.

"It was 2600?"

Yes, that made the victory all the more spectacular, and that's just for the game itself. Jadwiga getting humbled to the point where she develops trauma from having the opening played against her made this the most savory kind of icing, and worthy of being my favorite game of Season 7. Overall though, there's still some games I hold a bit more dear to my heart than this one.

Number 3: Game log #20: Desperado.

If you read my commentaries, you'll know that the game featured in Chapter 137 was the game originally used in Chapter 35. However, I decided to rewrite the game and as a result, I got not just a season finale worthy game, but also one of my favorite games in the series. It features a Hammerschlag and best of all, the en passant signifies that mate is inevitable. I feel the game would be higher if the opponent was someone more hatable than Gyro, but nonetheless, it's still good enough to be number 3 on the list.

Number 2: Game log #55: Madman's Důras gambit.

As stated in my commentary for Chapter 95, this game is what ultimately inspired me to make more games with crazy openings and gambits. Due to how much it influenced the series it was always going to earn a spot on this list. And since I also loved the game, it gets the number 2 spot.

Number 1: Game log #53: King David's Bongcloud.

A predictable result. When I first played the bot for this game, I got the best game I could've hoped for. I feel the dialogue between the characters is what really made this game so memorable, but the game itself was really good too. Not to mention, the en passant signifying the inevitable mate was the icing on the cake. What better game to be at number 1 than this one.

"And that's that. Still hard to believe some of these old games hold up, but it's your list. Now, we doing characters or are you gonna bounce?"

Just have to wait and see.

"Well hopefully we jump into characters, but if not, we at least got the games. That's the most important thing. Anyway, see you tomorrow for whatever Mario decides to do here."