Atlas Chess Tournament '21 (Final Scores)

[Oakvale]

I apologise for the slowness of my ongoing game - I've been trying to move as fast as I can for the last week or so (not that I begrudge my opponent for taking more time: those are the rules and we've all got real lives).

I do agree that a shorter time control might be in order next time around: I think most of us like the correspondence format - I play a lot better (obviously!) when I've got hours to think about a move. However 24 hours would seem to strike the right balance between the need to not have the tournament last a year and maintaining the relaxed, thoughtful pace of games that the format allows.

[NOVA Green]

I apologise for the slowness of my ongoing game - I've been trying to move as fast as I can for the last week or so (not that I begrudge my opponent for taking more time: those are the rules and we've all got real lives).

I do agree that a shorter time control might be in order next time around: I think most of us like the correspondence format - I play a lot better (obviously!) when I've got hours to think about a move. However 24 hours would seem to strike the right balance between the need to not have the tournament last a year and maintaining the relaxed, thoughtful pace of games that the format allows.

Totally agree with Oakvale on this and support the proposal for the next tournament to go to a shorter clock.

[Oakvale]

My game with NOVA has concluded, 1-0. Thanks to Nova for a hard-fought game: I had a lot fun in this one and it was never easy.

1. c4 e5

My recollection is that I glanced at NOVA's profile for some cursory research and saw he likes to play the French against my usual e4. Like any decent person I dislike playing against the French, so an English it is.

2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Bxc3 7. bxc3 Be6 8.Qb3 Rb8 9. d4 Bd7 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Ba3 e4 12. Nd4 Na5

13. Nf5 Bxf5

Threatens the extremely cheesy Nxg7#. In a real-time game there's a pretty strong possibility that the opponent impulsively takes the pseudo-hanging queen here. Another reason correspondence leads to better games. The chess.com auto-analysis engine says this is a mistake, which is probably true, but how do you resist?

14. Qb5+ Qd7 15. Qxa5 Qc8 16. Qe5+ Be6 17. Rfd1 b6 18. Bxe4 c5 19. Bc6+ Kf8 20. Bc1 Bxc4 21.Bg5 Bxe2 22. Re1 Bg4 23. Bxf6 gxf6 24. Qxf6 Rg8 25. Bd5 Qd7

26. Bxf7 Qxf7

The critical moment here: the idea is after Qxf7 Qh6+ Rg7 Qd6+ Kg8 white grabs a rook. A fun little bit of geometry. Unfortunately this is volatile enough that a simple misplay from black leads to a forced mate.

27. Qh6+ Qg7 28. Qd6+ Kf7 29. Re7+ (Black resigned) 1-0

As I said, thanks to my opponent for a very entertaining game. It was fun and made me think.

[NOVA Green]

Resigned against Oakvale on move 29.

Not quite sure how to describe this game without using a few small metaphors to describe unpleasant experiences.

"Death by a Thousand Cuts"

The phrase which I have been searching for over the past couple weeks recognizing that the writing was on the wall would be more something like the following:

Anybody who has not experienced being hogtied in various positions involving ALL appendages of the male anatomy over an extended period of time as part of a disciplinary exercise might consider if that is something which might bring more pleasure than pain.

Every time I thought I was slipping out of a knot, another handcuff or restrain mechanism was ruthlessly applied to bring me into submission.

I congratulate Oakvale for a well earned victory where early on he was able to establish massive positional advantages and controlling key lanes, although I believe that I did attempt a form of guerilla warfare when possible although the knots kept getting tighter and tighter.

Haven't played much with the English Opening as Black, but clearly here I was WAY out my element!

[NOVA Green]

My game with NOVA has concluded, 1-0. Thanks to Nova for a hard-fought game: I had a lot fun in this one and it was never easy.

1. c4 e5

My recollection is that I glanced at NOVA's profile for some cursory research and saw he likes to play the French against my usual e4. Like any decent person I dislike playing against the French, so an English it is.

2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Bxc3 7. bxc3 Be6 8.Qb3 Rb8 9. d4 Bd7 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Ba3 e4 12. Nd4 Na5

13. Nf5 Bxf5

Threatens the extremely cheesy Nxg7#. In a real-time game there's a pretty strong possibility that the opponent impulsively takes the pseudo-hanging queen here. Another reason correspondence leads to better games. The chess.com auto-analysis engine says this is a mistake, which is probably true, but how do you resist?

14. Qb5+ Qd7 15. Qxa5 Qc8 16. Qe5+ Be6 17. Rfd1 b6 18. Bxe4 c5 19. Bc6+ Kf8 20. Bc1 Bxc4 21.Bg5 Bxe2 22. Re1 Bg4 23. Bxf6 gxf6 24. Qxf6 Rg8 25. Bd5 Qd7

26. Bxf7 Qxf7

The critical moment here: the idea is after Qxf7 Qh6+ Rg7 Qd6+ Kg8 white grabs a rook. A fun little bit of geometry. Unfortunately this is volatile enough that a simple misplay from black leads to a forced mate.

27. Qh6+ Qg7 28. Qd6+ Kf7 29. Re7+ (Black resigned) 1-0

As I said, thanks to my opponent for a very entertaining game. It was fun and made me think.

Thanks Oakvale.... I was typing while you were posting.

IMHO... my critical mistake was pushing the pawn to e4 on move 11.

Although I knew that earlier in the English Opening 4 Knights and White K-Side fianchetto pushing the Black K-Pawn early could cause trouble, I thought I had a solid enough defense and did not see the white B-a3 response in the previous move.

I had considered the N-A5 move but didn't see an easy response had you followed it with Q-b4.

Overplayed but even with the N-a5 move would have left my pawn on e4 vulnerable.

You beat me to the initial response, but I was running into counter-play options from relatively early on in the game.   

This is where I started to get put into a straight-jacket since although I was planning on castling the

[muon2]

My game with NOVA has concluded, 1-0. Thanks to Nova for a hard-fought game: I had a lot fun in this one and it was never easy.

1. c4 e5

My recollection is that I glanced at NOVA's profile for some cursory research and saw he likes to play the French against my usual e4. Like any decent person I dislike playing against the French, so an English it is.

2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Bxc3 7. bxc3 Be6 8.Qb3 Rb8 9. d4 Bd7 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Ba3 e4 12. Nd4 Na5

13. Nf5 Bxf5

Threatens the extremely cheesy Nxg7#. In a real-time game there's a pretty strong possibility that the opponent impulsively takes the pseudo-hanging queen here. Another reason correspondence leads to better games. The chess.com auto-analysis engine says this is a mistake, which is probably true, but how do you resist?

14. Qb5+ Qd7 15. Qxa5 Qc8 16. Qe5+ Be6 17. Rfd1 b6 18. Bxe4 c5 19. Bc6+ Kf8 20. Bc1 Bxc4 21.Bg5 Bxe2 22. Re1 Bg4 23. Bxf6 gxf6 24. Qxf6 Rg8 25. Bd5 Qd7

26. Bxf7 Qxf7

The critical moment here: the idea is after Qxf7 Qh6+ Rg7 Qd6+ Kg8 white grabs a rook. A fun little bit of geometry. Unfortunately this is volatile enough that a simple misplay from black leads to a forced mate.

27. Qh6+ Qg7 28. Qd6+ Kf7 29. Re7+ (Black resigned) 1-0

As I said, thanks to my opponent for a very entertaining game. It was fun and made me think.

Thanks Oakvale.... I was typing while you were posting.

IMHO... my critical mistake was pushing the pawn to e4 on move 11.

Although I knew that earlier in the English Opening 4 Knights and White K-Side fianchetto pushing the Black K-Pawn early could cause trouble, I thought I had a solid enough defense and did not see the white B-a3 response in the previous move.

I had considered the N-A5 move but didn't see an easy response had you followed it with Q-b4.

Overplayed but even with the N-a5 move would have left my pawn on e4 vulnerable.

You beat me to the initial response, but I was running into counter-play options from relatively early on in the game.  

This is where I started to get put into a straight-jacket since although I was planning on castling the

I really enjoyed watching this game. I tuned in after black's move 12 since that was when it was becoming the only game left. It became a real slugfest with oakvale showing some creative bishop play and NOVA Green throwing everything possible in the way to distract. Personally I think NG's main error was not castling before move 10. Once white went 11 Ba3 the straitjacket was being fitted for wear.

My greatest fascination with the position came after black's move 16, which looked like this:


Though it's not the engine's best move, an interesting choice would be 17. f4, threatening f5 on the pinned bishop and winning the piece. So 17. ...exf3 is forced and after 18. Rxf3 the position would have been:


Black wants to play b6 followed by c5 to cut off the annoying bishop on a3, but if black tries that now 18. ...b6 19. Rxf6! gxf6 20. Bc6+ Kd8 21. Qxf6#. The rook sacrifice on f6 turns out to be powerful in most lines. For example 18. ...Kd8 19. Rxf6! gxf6 20. Qxf6 Kd7 21. Qe7#.

It's possible to block with c5 anyway since if white takes the pawn the black knight can fork the queen and bishop from d7. But white can create a rook battery on the f-file instead, 18. ...c5 19. Raf1 O-O 20. Rxf6! (there's that sacrifice again) gxf6 21. Rxf6 creating this position:


White is threatening Be4 followed by Bxh7+ which will expose the king to mate from the queen and rook. Black can escape, but at the cost of a piece.

[muon2]

Here is the scoreboard after four rounds:
pts   TB1   TB2   player
4   12   12   muon2
3   11   7   minionofmidas
3   9.5   5.5   oakvale
3   8   4   OBD
3   7.5   5.5   patzer
3   7.5   4.5   AGA
3   7   3   bore
2.5   7   3   NOVA Green
2   9   3   Ebowed
2   8   2   YPestis25
2   6.5   1.5   Mimoha
1.5   6.5   1.25   TimTurner
1   9   1.5   Scott
1   8   1   NewYorkExpress
0.5   8.5   0.75   Abdullah

These are the players who have withdrawn and their scores for calculating tie breakers.
(1.5)         HockeyDude (withdrew before round 4)
(1)         Ishan (withdrew before round 3)
(1)         morgieb (withdrew before round 3)
(1)         OSR (withdrew before round 3)
(1.5)         diptheriadan (withdrew before round 2)

[minionofmidas]

Challenge issued.

[GeneralMacArthur]

Damn this tournament is still going?  If any of the leaders wants to play some blitz DM me

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

Damn this tournament is still going?  If any of the leaders wants to play some blitz DM me

Look I'm still a novice and I have no idea how this works (hence why muon is in charge of these match-ups and not me) but if there's a consensus to switch to blitz then I won't protest.

[NewYorkExpress]

Damn this tournament is still going?  If any of the leaders wants to play some blitz DM me

Look I'm still a novice and I have no idea how this works (hence why muon is in charge of these match-ups and not me) but if there's a consensus to switch to blitz then I won't protest.

I'm opposed to blitz, but I would support reducing the time limit between moves to one day (or two days if one is to short).

[muon2]

Until this tournament I've always played 1 move/day games online. It's often hard to schedule a 30 min game, which is closest to an over-the-board feel. Blitz is a different game calling for different skills using the same pieces and rules. It's sort of like sprinting compared to cross-country, with correspondence (daily) games more like a marathon. All are running, but they are different sports.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Damn this tournament is still going?  If any of the leaders wants to play some blitz DM me

Look I'm still a novice and I have no idea how this works (hence why muon is in charge of these match-ups and not me) but if there's a consensus to switch to blitz then I won't protest.

Btw, I just accepted your challenge.

[NOVA Green]

Challenge sent.

[OBD]

Challenge issued.

Resigned. Good game.

[muon2]

Challenge issued.

Resigned. Good game.

Wow, that was fast. I haven't even received a challenge yet.

[minionofmidas]

Challenge issued.

Resigned. Good game.

Wow, that was fast. I haven't even received a challenge yet.

parts of it were played essentially as a blitz game. With the difference that we could adjourn for the night in between, which rather raises the attractivity of the blitz option. I'm all for oneday matches; would probably mean far fewer mid-tournament resignations.
But presumably you have to issue the challenge, on account of the ratings difference?

As to the game itself... whoever called this opening pianissimo had a pretty sick sense of humor.

[muon2]

Challenge issued.

Resigned. Good game.

Wow, that was fast. I haven't even received a challenge yet.

parts of it were played essentially as a blitz game. With the difference that we could adjourn for the night in between, which rather raises the attractivity of the blitz option. I'm all for oneday matches; would probably mean far fewer mid-tournament resignations.
But presumably you have to issue the challenge, on account of the ratings difference?

As to the game itself... whoever called this opening pianissimo had a pretty sick sense of humor.

I pm'ed AGA to see if he tried to issue a challenge, but he hasn't responded.

Edit: AGA did reply and asked me to issue the challenge, which I did yesterday.

[NewYorkExpress]

Resigned.

[YPestis25]

Resigned.

Good game! Was quite a bit of back and forth there.

[muon2]

Alas, AGA only made two moves, then disappeared. So I have won the game on time. I hope AGA's ok.

[NewYorkExpress]

I will be withdrawing from the tournament at the conclusion of this round, as part of my plan to withdraw from the forum.

[muon2]

I will be withdrawing from the tournament at the conclusion of this round, as part of my plan to withdraw from the forum.

This is the final round of the tournament.

[Oakvale]

My game with patzer has ended, 1-0. Congratulations to patzer on a well-deserved win and thanks for an extremely tough game in which I never felt like I even had an opportunity to win an advantage.

This is a classic cautionary tale - in a drawn position, I thought about offering a draw a couple of times but then reasoned, eh, why not make a few more moves? I mean, come on, what am I going to do? Blunder the endgame? A disappointing note to conclude the tournament on but on the other hand it was a very intense and interesting game, so I can't complain.

I might have a few thoughts later but at first glance I only see one move that really merits immediate comment.

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd2 c6 7. a3 Bxc3 8. Bxc3
b6 9. Rc1 Ba6 10. b3 Nbd7 11. Bd3 Qe7 12. O-O Ne4 13. a4 f5 14. Ne5 Nxe5 15.
dxe5 Qc7 16. cxd5 Nxc3 17. Rxc3 Qxe5 18. Rxc6 Qxd5 19. Bb5 Bxb5 20. Qxd5 exd5
21. axb5 Rfc8 22. Rfc1 Rd8 23. h4 h6 24. Rc7 d4 25. exd4 Rxd4 26. g3 Rb4 27.
Rc8+ Rxc8 28. Rxc8+ Kh7 29. Rc7 Rxb3 30. Rxa7 Rxb5 31. h5 f4 32. g4 f3 33. Kh2
Rb3 34. Kg3 Kg8 35. Rb7 b5 36. Kf4 b4

37. Kf5 Rb2 ??

What was I thinking here? This ignores White's forcing rook moves and leaves my pawns doomed. My best explanation is it's an example of how one can develop tunnel vision in these positions: I simply didn't pay any heed to the attack until after I'd made the fatal move, and that slow sinking feeling set in. If we were playing bullet or something you might play on, hoping for a counter-blunder, but there's little chance of such a thing in correspondence - and certainly not against a very strong player like patzer. As such, the only reasonable conclusion is to fall on your sword rather than be surgically picked apart for a few more moves.

38. Kg6 Kf8 39. Rf7+ (Black resigns) 1-0

[GeneralMacArthur]

My thoughts:

7...Bxc3 is a major positional mistake, especially since you play f5 a few moves later so you're giving up on the e5 break.  Need that dark-squared bishop with all the dark-squared holes in your camp.

14. Ne5 was a mistake but the follow-up from Black was inaccurate.  I like 15...dxc4 16. bxc4 Nxc3 17. Rxc3 Qc5 hitting e5 and e3 so f4 is impossible.  Black will get the d-file as well and is clearly winning here.

The whole sequence from cxd5 up through Bxb5 looks like only moves for both sides so if this was a calculated then nice

22...Rd8 another mistake, why play Rc8 in the first place if you don't intend to trade the rooks.  If bxc6 then the Black king is much closer to stopping the pawn than the White king is to helping it.  If Rxc6 then you can play Rd8 and d4 to get entry into the White position and hit the weak b-pawns.

23...h6 does not do anything but create a hole on g6 (which became a huge problem later) and you needed to play d4 and get your counterplay going.

so those are the points where Black could have improved imo.  The ending is a draw but I think you could have made life more difficult for White by activating the king after Rc8+ so it doesn't get stuck on the back rank.  The doubled b-pawns aren't going anywhere.