Valve’s game Deadlock added a new hero named Solomon in early October. This character always holds a chessboard in his hands and uses pieces from it as ammunition.

Solomon rearranges specific chess positions with every reload. The position depends on the player’s maximum ammo count. A total of 25 positions are available, from 8 to 32 ammo. All positions are taken from real chess games.

Added positions include ‘Kasparov’s Immortal Game’ against Veselin Topalov in 1999, and Deep Blue’s first victory over Garry in 1996. The player can encounter the classic Scholar’s Mate at 31 ammo. The Double Bongcloud played by Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura in 2021 was added in the position with the maximum number of pieces.

Full list of positions by number of pieces:

  • 8: Maurice Ashley vs. Josh Waitzkin (1999)
  • 9: Nakamura vs. Van Wely (2010)
  • 10: GothamChess vs. Martinez Duany (2024)
  • 11: Kasparov vs. Topalov (1999), ‘Kasparov’s Immortal Game’
  • 12: Ashley vs. Sofia Polgar (1992)
  • 13: Judit Polgar’s victory over Kasparov (2002)
  • 14: Deep Blue’s first win against Kasparov in a Classical game (1996)
  • 15: White mates in 6 moves
  • 16: Emory Tate vs. Yudasin (1997), ‘Tate’s Immortal Game’
  • 17: Carlsen vs. Anand (2014), Game 6 of the World Chess Championship
  • 18: Irina Krush vs. Alice Lee (2025)
  • 19: Tal vs. Smyslov (1959)
  • 20: Morphy’s ‘Opera Game’ (1858)
  • 21: Korchnoi vs. Karpov (1974), Game 21 of the Candidates Final
  • 22: Botvinnik vs. Keres (1948)
  • 23: Anderssen vs. Kieseritzky (1851), ‘The Immortal Game’
  • 24: Fischer vs. Benko (1963)
  • 25: Botvinnik vs. Spielmann (1935), win in 12 moves
  • 26: Tal vs. Tringov (1964)
  • 27: Morphy vs. Schulten (1857)
  • 28: Christiansen vs. Karpov (1993), Karpov loses in 12 moves
  • 29: Legal’s Mate, Queen sacrifice trap
  • 30: Zapata vs. Anand (1988), Vishy loses in 6 moves
  • 31: Scholar’s Mate, Checkmate in 4 moves
  • 32: Double Bongcloud played by Carlsen and Nakamura (2021)

Deadlock is an upcoming competitive multiplayer third-person shooter and MOBA. The game is developed by Valve, known for titles such as Half-Life, Dota 2, Counter-Strike, and others. Deadlock is in early development and is available to play by personal invitation from other players.

Credit: Valve