Atlas Chess Tournament '21 (Final Scores)

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

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

[AGA]

A_G_A

[Stuart98]

Petition for an Atlas 5D Chess with Multiverse Time Travel tournament

[YPestis25]

I'll play. My username is YPestis25 on chess.com.

[NewYorkExpress]

I'm playing again.

My username is still Postgeek49 on Chess.com.

[muon2]

I'd like to play, which I hope is ok as owner of the club. My chess.com name is count-Y

[Continential]

I'll play again and my username is ChesIshan on chess.com

[bore]

I'd love to be involved again

[OSR stands with Israel]

Joined:

My username is Blazers-1977

[lfromnj]

lfromnj
X

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I would like to reserve a spot.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

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.

[diptheriadan]

Reserving a spot, will fill in info later

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

snip

DennyCrocker.

[Biden his time]

AAA786786AAA

[GeneralMacArthur]

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.

[lfromnj]

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.

Its lfromnj

[muon2]

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.

But blitz, classical, and correspondence are in significant ways different games. People who are skilled at one form may not be as good at another. I thought it took a lot away from the classical world championship to introduce rapid games for the tie breaks. One doesn't use classical games to settle a tie for the blitz world championship.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

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.

[GeneralMacArthur]

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'll pass then.  My offer to do a match with the winner stands, call it what you like.

[AGA]

I agree with GMac's idea of having the final be a blitz match. Correspondence doesn't take as much skill since one can spend hours poring over the position.

[KoopaDaQuick 🇵🇸]

dm me on discord if you have trouble reaching 16

[NewYorkExpress]

I like General MacArthur's idea for the winner to face him in a series of blitz matches (of course I'm saying this because I doubt I'll win.).

[muon2]

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.

Swiss pairings could actually work better than single elimination if players abandon. In a single elimination match holes can open up in the brackets and create unfair advantages in the late rounds. In a Swiss players that abandon are just left off of subsequent pairings. It guarantees that no one near the top gets a bye due to an abandonment unless it happens after pairs have been set.

[muon2]

I agree with GMac's idea of having the final be a blitz match. Correspondence doesn't take as much skill since one can spend hours poring over the position.

Being able to concentrate on a position at length is a very specific skill, separate from being able to quickly analyze a position and find a move. Hikaru Nakamura is one of the best rapid and blitz players in the world, but often struggles in top classical events that require deep calculation.