《Deadlock》Solomon 参考 20+ 真实国际象棋对局，含 Double Bongcloud

Solomon has finally won the vote, crossing the worlds of chess and Deadlock. In his animations, Solomon sets up his board as a reference to one of 25 real chess games, which range from iconic matches to joke setups like the double Bongcloud. Here’s each one of them.

Deadlock’s City Never Sleeps update included a massive overhaul of the map and six new heroes, which become available after voting cycles. Solomon was released as the third of six, following the Rat King and Baba.

Every game Solomon references

Solomon’s real chess references

First off, Solomon’s gun is named the Alekhine’s Gun. This is a chess formation where you place two rooks and the queen on the same file, applying concentrated pressure on the enemy. It is named after former world chess champion Alexander Alekhine.

His gun, which appears in-game as his board, accurately represents how much ammo he has. Without any magazine-altering items, he starts off with eight bullets, meaning eight pieces on the board.

As he buys more items, he can gain more bullets in his magazine. The board will then change – at 32 bullets he will arrange it in a Double Bongcloud.

With the item Active Reload, his reload animation can get cut in half and he won’t have time to arrange the pieces to its position. In this case, he will instead reset the board.

For the rest of the arrangements, find all of his board states below and see how many you can get right!

Here’s all 25 possible permutations of Solomon’s board (not counting the full reset). (Image credit: Deadlock News/X)

It seems like when it is a winning board, it’s always a white win. This is the side of the board that faces Solomon, implying that he always wins.

32. Hikaru v Nakamura (2021) – Double Bongcloud

The Double Bongcloud is a joke opening which involved both players moving their king forward on their second turn. This takes away the ability to castle.

31. Scholar’s Mate

The Scholar’s Mate is a popular four-move checkmate. Solomon’s board has white performing the Scholar’s Mate on black.

30. Zapata vs Anand (1988)

This game was notable since Anand, then rated 2555, lost to Alonso, rated just under 2480. More notably, Anand resigned after six moves. Solomon’s board reflects the final state of this match.

29. Legal Trap / Legal Mate

An opening trap involving a queen sacrifice which leads to a checkmate.

28. Christiansen vs Karpov (1993)

Karpov resigned on move 12 following Christiansen’s punish on an earlier blunder. This match is an iconic upset for Christiansen, who was rated 100 elo lower than Karpov at the time.

27. Morphy vs Schulten (1857)

Morphy maneuvered his knight, forking Schulten’s queen and rook. This prompted Schulten to concede at just 11 turns.

26. Tal vs Tringov (1964)

At game 6 the Amsterdam Interzonal in 1964, Mikhail Tal relentlessly attacked Georgi Tringov’s king, forcing the latter into conceding.

25. Botvinnik vs Spielmann (1935)

Spielmann resigned after 12 moves after his queen was trapped. Solomon’s board reflects the final board state, where Spielmann’s queen can still be seen trapped in a2.

24. Fischer vs Benko (1963)

This game is iconic after Fischer’s stunning rook sacrifice which threatened a mate. Benko was prompted to resign shortly after.

23. The Immortal Game (Anderssen v Kieseritzky, 1851)

The Immortal Game is one of the most famous chess games in history. The casual match between the two players was dubbed the “Immortal” game thanks to its timeless beauty.

The Immortal Game frequently appears in chess analyses and literature to teach themes of gameplay. In Deadlock, Solomon’s board reflects the final board state.

22. Botvinnik vs Keres (1948)

Solomon’s board state at 22 ammo references the final board state of Botvinnik v Keres in the FIDE World Championship Tournament in 1948.

This match became well-known for Botvinnik’s pawn play which forced Keres into awkward positions, and eventually, to resignation. It also sparked a political controversy, including allegations that Keres was forced by the Soviet government to throw the game.

21. Korchnoi v Karpov (1974)

The board that Solomon references is Game 21 of the Candidate’s Final between Viktor Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov.

This game took 19 moves, where Karpov resigned after Korchnoi crushed his Queen’s Indian after a sacrificial attack. Karpov, however, still won the match narrowly with a score of 2½ to 11½ (+3, -2, =19), making him the de-facto World Champion / Challenger, following the previous champion’s refusal to defend his title.

20. Opera Game (Morphy vs. Duke Karl / Count Isouard)

Paul Morphy returns for his second reference in Deadlock, this time for 20 ammo. The reference is the incredibly well-known Opera Game, held in high regard as one of the best chess games ever for Morphy’s demonstration of aggressive chess.

The game was against Duke Karl II of Brunswick and the French aristocrat Count Isouard de Vauvenargues, where the nobles jointly played, consulting each other for moves as black.

Again, Solomon’s board reflects the moment that Morphy delivered the checkmating blow to the nobles.

19. Tal vs Smyslov (1959)

This match in the 1959 Candidates’ tournament marked the rise of Tal as a challenger to Botvinnik. More importantly, it’s considered as one of the greatest chess games ever played thanks to an unusual but intuitive sacrifice from Tal.

The end of the 26-turn match has Tal mating Smyslov, shown on Solomon’s board.

18. Irina Krush vs Alice Lee (2025)

One of the more recent games in this list, the first round of the 2025 US Women’s Championship had Irina Krush face rising star Alice Lee.

With the strong opening match in the tournament, Krush would go on to secure a 3rd-place finish, while Lee finished in 4th-5th place.

17. Carlsen vs Anand (2014)

This was game 6 of the 2014 World Chess Championship. Both players notably made a blunder by move 26 – Carlsen misplayed and Anand failed to capitalize. Carlsen eventually recovered for a win by move 38, reflected in Solomon’s board.

Amazing double blunder in #CarlsenAnand today. Blunders are not that unusual in world championship matches, but returning the favor is!
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) November 15, 2014

Carlsen would eventually win the Championship, ending at 6.5:4.5.

16. Emory Tate’s Immortal Game (Tate vs. Yudasin, 1997)

Tate’s high risk play became his “Immortal Game,” his masterpiece, as it allowed him to upset Leonid Yudasin in the U.S. Masters in 1997. This game became one of his career achievements and often appears in chess literature.

Solomon’s board reflects the moment that Yudasin conceded. At this board state, Tate (as white) is one move away from checkmating Yudasin with Qg7.

15. Anand vs Topalov (2010)

This particular board is game 4 of the 2010 World Championship match. It is notable for Anand’s 10. Na3!, which won the “Yearbook Novelty Award of 2010.”

14. Deep Blue vs Kasparov (1996)

In 1996, the computer program Deep Blue became the first of its kind to defeat a world champion. While Kasparov won the match, Deep Blue opened it with a win – the only one it would find in that set.

Kasparov was forced to resign after 37 moves, the moment frozen in time on Solomon’s board when he has 14 ammo.

13. Polgar vs Kasparov (2002)

This was a historic win for Judit Polgar as this was the moment where the strongest female player in history defeated the world’s top-ranked champion. This match happened as part of the Russia vs The Rest of the World team match.

It was so notable that it was included in a Netflix documentary, Queen of Chess, which only made it more significant. Now, the moment of Kasparov’s loss is also immortalized on Solomon’s board.

12. Ashley vs Polgar (1992)

At 12 ammo, Solomon recreates the final board state of game 3 of Maurice Ashley vs Sofia Polgar during an exhibition match in 1992. Polgar resigned this game, and the whole match ended in a draw.

11. Kasparov’s Immortal (Kasparov vs Topalov, 1999)

Another immortal game and another Kasparov reference. Chess.com has this game listed as the greatest chess game of all time, acclaimed for Kasparov’s relentless king hunt and sacrificial checkmating ideas.

10. GothamChess vs Martínez Duany (2024)

Chess content creator and International Master Levy “Rozman” GothamChess” defeated Lelys Stanley Martínez Duany at the Madrid Chess Festival 2024

I won my 5th game in Madrid.

My opponent was Grandmaster Lelys Martinez Duany from Cuba.

It was a tense game. I was lost at one point but clutched it out in the endgame.

4/5 points. 1st place. I need 6.5/9 for a norm.
— GothamChess (@GothamChess) June 12, 2024

At 50 turns, GothamChess found the checkmate against his opponent. He would go on to finish second in the tournament.

9. Nakamura vs van Wely (2010)

This match happened at the Corus Chess Tournament in 2010, where Nakamura performed a sharp Sicilian Defense and punished van Wely at multiple stages, forcing him to concede.

8. Waitzkin vs Ashley (1999)

This is a game where Joshua Waitzkin, with only two pawns and a bishop, forced Maurice Ashley to concede. This is the board state you’ll see most often on Solomon, considering he starts off at 8 ammo with no items.

Solomon is now playable in Deadlock, but the game remains invite-only.