The Chess Thread - TOURNAMENT STARTS APRIL 14TH

[Tomous]

CHESS TOURNAMENT

Okay, if everyone is happy, I suggest we start Wednesday 14th with the following fixtures:

Wednesday 14th to Thursday 15th
Tomous (TomChess1912) v Pancake (Jonty-Bonty)
Blue Eyes (Jimby2) v Cuttooth (quilatoo)
Cora (username pending) v Dowbocop (Dowbocop)
Super Dragon 64 (Super_Dragon_64 v Curls - (huw22081)



Friday 16th to Saturday 17th
Pancake (Jonty-Bonty) v Blue Eyes (Jimby2)
Cuttooth (quilatoo) v Cora (username pending)
Dowbocop (Dowbocop) v Super Dragon 64 (Super_Dragon_64)
Curls - (huw22081) v Hypes - (Hypes1)


As we have an odd number of participants, each round of fixtures will have one person sitting out.

I will do a proper fixture list for the full course soon but I wanted to get setup for the first rounds.

Rules
> Everyone plays their opponent twice within the 2 day period, alternating black and white.

> 1 point for a win, 1/2 point for a draw

> Use the daily timer format, but both players need to use best efforts to ensure both games are completed. Hopefully this won't be an issue.

> All games on Chess.com app for convenience-I suggest everyone adds their opponent as a friend.

> Submit scores in the thread and I will post the updated league table after each round of fixtures

> As a note as it can sometimes catch people out, if the same board position is reached 3 times (and those 3 times can be at any point in the game), a stalemate is forced. And it is not bad sportsmanship to force a draw if you can because you are in a losing position!

[That's not a growth]

A mate got me into it a few weeks ago, and I've enjoyed getting to grips with the basics but I'm still quite crap - and I've not done anything in a week now so should do some lessons / puzzles today to get back into it.

Chess.com is pretty great, but the more I learn the more I second guess myself. I hate being aware how gooseberry fool I am - I'm great at noticing mistakes just after I've made a move.

[Cuttooth]

Like quite a few people The Queen’s Gambit got me back into chess for the first time in twenty years. I’m on chess.com as quilatoo, mainly playing daily games and tournaments rather than rapid (or anything faster than that even).

I find being able to play through the analysis and book openings of a daily game is the best way to learn.

[Curls]

I play regularly. I play speed chess on the app.

Normally 1 min bullet , 3 min rapid games.

I also play Daily chess and lose to anyone who has the patience to out-think me. Hence me playing bullet. I'm huww2208 on chess.com if ya wanna add me.

[Tafdolphin]

I play correspondence chess with a friend every day.

I am very bad.

[Trelliz]

[Dowbocop]

I'd love to be good at chess but I'm awful. I played a bit of Kilobyte's Gambit a few weeks ago and I just get routinely skulled by a strawberry floating wristwatch-worth of code. I think I'm holding my own and then a bishop will just sweep the length of the board and wreck me!

https://vole.wtf/kilobytes-gambit/

[Tomous]

I'd love to be good at chess but I'm awful. I played a bit of Kilobyte's Gambit a few weeks ago and I just get routinely skulled by a strawberry floating wristwatch-worth of code. I think I'm holding my own and then a bishop will just sweep the length of the board and wreck me!

https://vole.wtf/kilobytes-gambit/

Beat it first time.

Grandmaster confirmed

[Tomous]

Also, I made at least one mistake because I misidentifidd the piece

[Rocsteady]

I used to be a chess champion when I was younger.

Got back into it a couple of years ago as I was dating some hot yoga instructor who wanted to play but tbh it depresses me a little now - I've forgotten it all so I'm pretty terrible, which is a massive comedown from my youth!

[Vermilion]

So you all like a bit of chess eh.

I haven't played a game in ages, was generally a bit average at it, but i'm always up for having a go.

[Tomous]

I used to be a chess champion when I was younger.

Got back into it a couple of years ago as I was dating some hot yoga instructor who wanted to play but tbh it depresses me a little now - I've forgotten it all so I'm pretty terrible, which is a massive comedown from my youth!

As in she was hot or as in she instructed hot yoga?

[Tomous]

Shall we give a tournament a go? Using chess.com app. Wouldn't be hard to organise and we can do the daily game so people have time for moves.

[Rocsteady]

I used to be a chess champion when I was younger.

Got back into it a couple of years ago as I was dating some hot yoga instructor who wanted to play but tbh it depresses me a little now - I've forgotten it all so I'm pretty terrible, which is a massive comedown from my youth!

As in she was hot or as in she instructed hot yoga?

The former, although it was 40C in Belgrade at the time so technically the latter too.

[Curls]

Shall we give a tournament a go? Using chess.com app. Wouldn't be hard to organise and we can do the daily game so people have time for moves.

Oh im in.

[Ironhide]

I'd love to be good at chess but I'm awful. I played a bit of Kilobyte's Gambit a few weeks ago and I just get routinely skulled by a strawberry floating wristwatch-worth of code. I think I'm holding my own and then a bishop will just sweep the length of the board and wreck me!

https://vole.wtf/kilobytes-gambit/

Got myself into check within the first five or six moves.

I'm terrible at chess though.

[Pancake]

Chess is brilliant, I even enjoy watching it these days. The Magnus Carlson World Tour has been aw some. I've also got back into playing it over the past year, used to be pretty good when I was young (school champion, though that wasn't saying much).

These days I am not bad at daily (1780 rating) but worse at blitz (about 1300), I can't think fast enough. I'd love to get better but I've hit a wall which I can't get past without investing a lot more time into proper studying, and I don't really have that time. I have very little opening knowledge and I'm very slow at end games, what gets me through is just playing fairly principled chess (opening diagonals for bishops, keeping knights aimed at the centre, rooks on open files, etc.). I think my natural instincts for the positional side are pretty good.

My favourite chess streamer is probably Eric Rosen but I also enjoy the Banter Blitz videos by Chess24 (all on YT), the ones with Magnus Carlson have all been great.

I would probably join a tournament if we had one.

[Tomous]

I like Eric Rosen a lot. I find his streams very calming

[Blue Eyes]

It's all about GothamChess on YouTube and twitch. Brilliant instructor and very funny too. I'd like to give a tournament a go if enough people are up for it. I'm not very good though.

[Tomous]

TOURNAMENT SIGN UPS
Tomous