Lichess Game of the Month February 2026 - Contest

Share your best Lichess game from February 2026 (only from February 2026, only standard games, no variant games, and only one game per player — additional games will be ignored!) until March 12th in a comment to this post! The winner will be announced here in this forum thread on March 24th, followed by a Lichess blog post with commentary on the game. Good luck!

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Be7 8. Qf3 Qc7 9. O-O-O Nbd7 10. g4 b5 11. Bxf6 Nxf6 12. g5 Nd7 13. f5 Bxg5+ 14. Kb1 Ne5 15. Qh5 Bf6 16. fxe6 g6 17. Nd5 Qd8 18. exf7+ Kxf7 19. Qe2 Bg4 20. Nc6 Bxe2 21. Nxd8+ Raxd8 22. Bxe2 Kg7 23. Nf4 Rhe8 24. Rhg1 Nc4 25. Bxc4 bxc4 26. Rdf1 Bd4 27. Rg4 Rb8 28. b3 Re5 29. Rd1 Bc5 30. Rd5 Kf6 31. Rxe5 Kxe5 32. Ne2 Ba3 33. Ng3 Rf8 34. Rg5+ Kd4 35. Rd5+ Ke3 36. Rd1 Rf2 37. bxc4 Bc5 38. Kb2 a5 39. h3 Kf4 40. Rd3 Be3 41. e5 dxe5

This Game Is Against ''vedappu''

i won this game even when i was a piece down

[Event "rated blitz game"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/0CxXFvsA"]
[Date "2026.02.06"]
[Round "-"]
[White "theAyrat"]
[Black "Growing_Pain"]
[Result "0-1"]
[GameId "0CxXFvsA"]
[UTCDate "2026.02.06"]
[UTCTime "17:59:48"]
[WhiteElo "2054"]
[BlackElo "2027"]
[WhiteRatingDiff "-6"]
[BlackRatingDiff "+6"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[TimeControl "180+0"]
[ECO "C20"]
[Opening "English Opening: The Whale"]
[Termination "Normal"]
[Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. e4 e5 2. c4?! { (0.22 -0.34) Inaccuracy. Nf3 was best. } { C20 English Opening: The Whale } (2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Nxe5) 2... Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. d3 c6 5. Be2 d5 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. Qa4+ Nc6 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. Bd2 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Bd6 11. Nf3 O-O 12. O-O Bd7 13. Qb3 Kh8?! { (-0.71 -0.08) Inaccuracy. Qc7 was best. } (13... Qc7) 14. h3 f5 15. Qxb7 Rb8 16. Qa6 e4 17. Nd4? { (-0.11 -1.41) Mistake. dxe4 was best. } (17. dxe4 fxe4) 17... Nxd4?! { (-1.41 -0.78) Inaccuracy. Rb6 was best. } (17... Rb6) 18. cxd4 Rb2?? { (-1.04 1.40) Blunder. Bb5 was best. } (18... Bb5 19. Qxa7) 19. Ba5?? { (1.40 -3.46) Blunder. Qxd6 was best. } (19. Qxd6 Rxd2 20. Rfe1 Rc2 21. d5 h6 22. Bd1 Rb2 23. Bb3 a5 24. Rad1 a4) 19... Qe7 20. Rfe1? { (-2.93 -5.10) Mistake. dxe4 was best. } (20. dxe4 fxe4) 20... f4? { (-5.10 -2.59) Mistake. Bb5 was best. } (20... Bb5 21. Qxb5 Rxb5 22. dxe4 Rxa5 23. e5 Bb4 24. Rec1 Rd5 25. Rab1 g6 26. Bf3) 21. dxe4 f3 22. Bxf3?! { (-2.14 -3.28) Inaccuracy. e5 was best. } (22. e5 Ba3 23. Bd8 Rxd8 24. Bxf3 Bc8 25. Qa4 Rd2 26. d5 Bc5 27. Kh1 Rxf2) 22... Bxh3?? { (-3.28 1.95) Blunder. Bb5 was best. } (22... Bb5 23. Bd8 Qxd8 24. Qb7 Qh4 25. e5 Qxf2+ 26. Kh1 Bd3 27. Qxb2 Qxb2 28. exd6) 23. e5?? { (1.95 -4.99) Blunder. Re2 was best. } (23. Re2 Bc8 24. Qd3 Rxe2 25. Qxe2 Qh4 26. g3 Qf6 27. Kg2 Qxd4 28. Rd1 Qe5) 23... Rxf3 24. exd6 Rfxf2 25. Rxe7?? { (-5.26 Mate in 4) Checkmate is now unavoidable. Qc6 was best. } (25. Qc6 Rxg2+ 26. Qxg2 Rxg2+ 27. Kh1 Qf8 28. d7 Bxd7 29. Kxg2 Bc6+ 30. d5 Bxd5+) 25... Rxg2+ 26. Kf1 Rh2+ 27. Kg1 Rbg2+ 28. Kf1 Rh1# { Black wins by checkmate. } 0-1