Atlas Chess Tournament '21 (Final Scores)

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

It's that time of year again! The rules (which will be posted below) are the same and there are no restrictions on who can sign up. However, it is on a first-come-first-serve basis as it was last year, and in order to structure the bracket so that people aren't stuck waiting for other challengers (this was a problem last year), I am reducing the number of eligible players to 16, with the remote possibility of that number being raised to 32, depending on the level of interest between here and AAD.

I will also, out of fairness to the participants, not be a contestant myself in this or future tournaments. (However, I will never turn down a challenge provided that there is a three-day time limit for each term, so you can still do so on my account.)

You are also encouraged to join the official club.

The rules are as follows:

1. You must register with a chess.com account and post your username publicly. (if you played in last year's tournament, this isn't necessary as I most likely already have yours in last year's thread)
2. All challenges must allow exactly 3 days between turns.
3. At the end of a game, one of the players must report the result. The bracket will be updated accordingly.
4. Wins are one point and draws count a half point to the total tournament score. No rematch is needed in the event of a draw.
5. Regardless of your opponent, please put all personal and political grievances aside. Above all else, be a good sport.

Matches will be randomly assigned.

Signups
1. AGA
2. YPestis25
3. NewYorkExpress
4. HockeyDude
5. minionofmidas
6. muon2
7. Ishan
8. bore
9. Old School Republican
10. Mimoha
11. TimTurner
12. diptheriadan
13. Abdullah
14. Ebowed
15. OBD
16. morgieb
17. oakvale
18. Scott
19. patzer
20. NOVA Green

Past Tournaments
2020 - Winner: General MacArthur

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

lfromnj
X

I would like to reserve a spot.

Okay, I'll just need your chess.com accounts.

Spots are filling up fast. After we get 16, I'll allow a temporary grace period to see if we can double the number of players between both sites, but I'd be mighty shocked to find 32 willing players.

I did consider minionofmidas' idea for a Swiss tournament, but that would involve more commitment and turns would have to be 24 hours. Sadly, given that people bow out of these things all the time (and the fact that school is starting), I don't think it would be appropriate for Atlas at this time. Next year I'll probably plan this around spring or early summer.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

I'll defend my title but only if it's real time.  I don't want to do correspondence again.

If you want to do it like the real chess world championship, you could also make the winner of this tournament the "challenger", and we could do a best-of-12 blitz match for the title.  That would be more fun IMO.

What muon said, plus we need correspondence in order to accommodate for people's schedules. Real-time matches will just increase the risk of people backing out or missing their turn, thus ending the game.

I found minionofmidas' argument for a Swiss tournament compelling, because that way better players play against each other and less skilled players play against each other. But the same problem exists, especially if people change their mind and don't want to play multiple games with such short time windows.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

I'm going to need some time to ponder this one and if I opt for a non-single-elimination game, then I'll probably need muon's help administering it or at least setting it up. I only went with single-elimination because I'm more familiar with it and it's easy for me to manage. I also want a tournament that's fair to all players regardless of skill level, and real-time games would simply create a disadvantage for the less experienced players. And as I've already mentioned, people are going back to school, so in order for it to be fair, we need to allow reasonable time windows to accommodate people's busy schedules.

EDIT: I'm also totally open to a setup where MacArthur gets to defend his title, and we just keep going from there. Provided that everyone has a reasonable chance at winning, and the games are easy to keep track of, I'm not automatically opposed to any of these ideas.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Are Banned posters allowed?

mvd10 is the account name

Given what mvd10 was banned for, sorry but no.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Muon and I are privately discussing how to best administer different tournaments, so I'll update you guys when we have something in place.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Okay, so the decision has been made: this will now be a Swiss tournament, which can support anywhere from 16-32 players. We can even have an odd number of players, and the person with the lowest score gets the boot after the first round. Otherwise, one loss does not automatically mean you're out. Low-skill players will get to compete against other low-skill players, and the same is the case with more experienced ones. There will be five rounds.

Because I've never been in or done anything involving a Swiss tournament, Muon is going to help me administer it.

So, I will accept the most recent applications and allow some more time for other people. We have 16 confirmed players now, but we can allow as much as double that amount.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Another cool thing is that this format even allows late entries, although you would be starting at a lower score and greater disadvantage.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Leaving registrations open for another day or two. With oakvale in, we currently have an odd number of participants and so one person will be eliminated after round one.

FYI: Next year's tournament will likely be on lichess.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Posting with muon's permission; initially when he explained this to me, I did not understand what a "bye" is.

Reading your post it sounds like you are planning to eliminate the odd player. In a Swiss tournament that player gets a bye, not eliminated. That gives them a free point which is why after round one it is always the last place player who gets the bye. That way it keeps everyone in the mix.

In terms of initial pairings, the usual way is to use the ratings at the start of the tournament. If there are 20 players, then number 1 would play number 11, number 2 would play number 12 and so on to number 10 playing number 20. The idea is to try to keep open spots for the top players to face each other in the later rounds.

When you initially said that the lowest-scoring player gets a "bye", I thought that meant they were eliminated.

Doesn't this mean one person has to sit out each round?

A bye means that you have to sit out the round, but it counts as a win. It's the same as if the opponent forfeited. In a single elimination tournament without a full bracket, byes go to the highest seeds (like the top teams in each NFL conference in the playoffs). In a Swiss tournament the bye goes to the last place player, since giving them a win has the least effect on the eventual champion. Sometimes a Swiss tournament will give the bye a half point as if it were a draw rather than a full point for a win.

Registrations close tomorrow, but late entries can still be accepted.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Are you ready, folks?

Here are our first matchups!

White - Black
Hockey Dude - AGA
YPestis - TimTurner
New York Express - Old School Republican
minionofmidas - Mimoha
muon2 - oakvale
Ishan - Ebowed
morgieb - bore
Abdullah - OBD

diptheriadan gets the first bye and sits out the round, but wins by default.

But remember: people are allowed to join at any time. That person gets to face diptheriadan.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

...

The rules are as follows:

...

2. All Standard challenges must assign sides randomly (in other words, a player cannot send a challenge that designates them as white).

...

Are you ready, folks?

Here are our first matchups!

White - Black
Hockey Dude - AGA
YPestis - TimTurner
New York Express - Old School Republican
minionofmidas - Mimoha
muon2 - oakvale
Ishan - Ebowed
morgieb - bore
Abdullah - OBD

diptheriadan gets the first bye and sits out the round, but wins by default.

But remember: people are allowed to join at any time. That person gets to face diptheriadan.

What?

Which way does it go?

That has been changed. (Again, this is my first time having anything to do with a Swiss tournament.) White has the upper-hand at the start of all chess matches, so the initial pairings were determined by a spreadsheet compiled by muon, based on player scores.

I'll edit that part out of the OP.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Sent two challenges to OSR.

I'm also unfamiliar with Swiss.

One would suffice. Just as long as you're white and he's black.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Sent two challenges to OSR.

I'm also unfamiliar with Swiss.

One would suffice. Just as long as you're white and he's black.

The second challenge meets that requirement.

Okay, so cancel the first one.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Right, started my game against Abdullah. Not a huge fan of ranking determining colors as I'm not actually a 1271 (last time I played a significant amount of games on Chess.com I peaked at around 1005, and my skill level now is more in the 800-900 range at most), but whatever. Good luck to y'all.

Fun random chess fact: The Whale is actually one of a few books that gives black the upper-hand, at least statistically speaking. Good luck to both of you!

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Congratulations, OBD!

Round 1
White vs. Black
Hockey Dude - AGA
YPestis - TimTurner
New York Express - Old School Republican
minionofmidas - Mimoha
muon2 - oakvale
Ishan - Ebowed
morgieb - bore
Abdullah - OBD
diptheridan - Scott

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

I agree with muon.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

Rule change:

Wins are one point and draws count a half point to the total tournament score. No rematch is needed for a draw.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

I defeated TimTurner with a time victory.
https://www.chess.com/game/daily/351178157

I never had any actual indication you were going to be playing in earnest, but okay.

Sorry? I responded to your initial move, and you didn't play for three days so the game expired. I'm happy to replay it if the group thinks that is necessary.

I mean, I don't have any problem with this. You can do a rematch, provided the colors are the same and provided it's a quick match.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

I want games, so I'm entering the tournament. No conflict of interest here really because muon is co-hosting and also a player. I'll be challenging diptheriadan on black.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

When is the next round starting?

I'm still playing diptheriadan. Sorry for not updating the board.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

When is the next round starting?

I'm still playing diptheriadan. Sorry for not updating the board.

NewYorkExpress v Old School Republican and morgieb v Ebowed are also still in progress. Pairings for round 2 can be posted as soon as all the games are complete.

Wait, morgieb already beat bore on time? He won this round.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

diptheriadan has resigned (too early imo). Good game.

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

ROUND 2! diptheriadian has been left out per his request, and so morgieb will be getting a bye unless someone else jumps in.

UPDATE: morgieb will play against NOVA Green

White vs. Black
AGA - Scott
bore - NewYorkExpress
Ebowed - minionofmidas
OBD - muon2
oakvale - YPestis25
Old School Republican - HockeyDude
Mimoha - Ishan
TimTurner - Abdullah
NOVA Green - morgieb

[Mad Deadly Worldwide Communist Gangster Computer God]

I'm pretty much deferring judgment for this Swiss-style tournament to muon. NOVA Green can play as black against morgieb.

Interested in taking the open slot if it's still available...

I believe I already have an account, although not sure if I need to pony up a few $$$ for my chess.com account.

You don't need money for a basic account. But as an FYI, lichess allows for unlimited puzzles daily. (I haven't used it enough to see if there's post-game analysis though, which is what I like most about chess.com)