We had our first ‘Swiss’ type club tournament yesterday, Thursday 23rd July on lichess.org. There were 9 players in the 5-Round tournament. Everyone seemed to enjoy the format, so another one will be set up soon, but the popular Tuesday Arenas will still run too.

Congratulations to Graham Stuart (‘WillHeSac’) on winning the tournament! Well done too Rob Sims second, and Patrick Pavey third.

In the table above, scores are shown for each of the 5 rounds; the next column in bold is the player’s tournament points total, and the right hand column shows the ‘tie-break’ score – the Sonneborn-Berger score (see below). A win is worth one point, a draw is a half point, and a loss is zero points.
When a player can’t be paired during a round (odd number of players), they receive a bye worth one point. If a player joins late, they get a single half-point bye (a single bye, even if they’ve missed more than one round).

What is a Swiss Tournament?

A Swiss system tournament is a non-eliminating tournament that is comprised of a number of rounds. There are fewer rounds than a round-robin as competitors do not necessarily play all the other players. Competitors are paired with opponents with a similar running score – but not the same opponent more than once. In our regular Tuesday Arenas you could play the same player more than once as Arena pairings are any available opponent with similar ranking. See the Wikipedia definition for more information on swiss tournaments.

The winner is the player with the highest accumulated score from all the rounds. The tie-break system used on lichess is the Sonneborn-Berger score (see Wikipedia definition): basically, add the scores of every opponent you beat, and half the score of every opponent you draw.

For more information on how Swiss system tournaments run on lichess.org, see their website page on the subject.

There’s an extra online club tournament this week, with a Swiss Tournament 8pm Thursday 23rd July on lichess.org.

The tournament is a 5-round event in which players have ten minutes each per game. This means that the individual games are 20 minutes: 10 minutes each player with no increment, just like the popular Arenas on Tuesday evenings. This is to give a like-for-like comparison between the two types of online tournament.

So what are the differences between an online Arena tournament and a Swiss Tournament?

The main difference is the Round structure of a Swiss Tournament. In those, all the participants play the same number of games (5 in Thursday’s tournament). In an Arena event, players can end up playing a different number of games, depending on how quickly their games end: try to get as many games as you can in during the length of the tournament to maximise your chances of points. As soon as your game ends and the system can pair you against another opponent, the next game begins. In a round-based tournament, if your game ends quickly you must wait for all the other games of that round to end before being re-paired for the next Round.

With an Arena, the Tournament ends when the pre-determined time is up: for our Tuesday tournaments that’s one hour. For a swiss tournament, the tournament ends when all the Rounds are completed: Thursday’s tournament is five rounds. There will be a 1 minute gap between the last game of a Round ending and the next Round starting (a setting that could be changed in any future tournament).

The swiss tournament on Thursday will be on the same online chess host as the Arenas – lichess.org. There are some differences between the types of tournament on that system: for example no winning streaks or draw streaks in a Swiss tournament – and no option to go ‘Berserk’. Berserk is a fun option in the Arenas where you can gamble half your time in a game for the chance of getting an extra point – if you win.

The swiss tournament is set up ready to join. The event starts at 8pm, tomorrow Thursday 23rd July.

We held our 10th online club tournament on Tuesday 21st July. It was a Rapid play tournament on lichess.org, in which players had ten minutes per player per game. The event was an Arena format for one hour, and there were 14 players – our best yet! A great turnout, and hopefully everyone enjoyed the event.

Congratulations to James Daas for winning this week’s tournament! Well done Graham Stuart (‘WillHeSac’) 2nd, and Keven Lamb (me!) 3rd.

How are scores calculated?

A win has a base score of 2 points, a draw 1 point, and a loss is worth no points.
If you win two games consecutively you will start a double point streak, represented by a flame icon.
The following games will continue to be worth double points until you fail to win a game.
That is, a win will be worth 4 points, a draw 2 points, and a loss will still not award any points.

For example, two wins followed by a draw will be worth 6 points: 2 + 2 + (2 x 1)

Arena Berserk

When a player clicks the Berserk button at the beginning of the game, they lose half of their clock time, but the win is worth one extra tournament point.
Berserk only grants an extra point if you play at least 7 moves in the game.

How is the winner decided?

The player(s) with the most points at the conclusion of the tournament’s set time limit will be announced winner(s).

When two or more players have the same number of points, the tournament performance is the tie break.

How does the pairing work?

At the beginning of the tournament, players are paired based on their rating.
As soon as you finish a game, return to the tournament lobby: you will then be paired with a player close to your ranking. This ensures minimum wait time, however you may not face all other players in the tournament.
Play fast and return to the lobby to play more games and win more points.

How does it end?

The tournament has a countdown clock. When it reaches zero, the tournament rankings are frozen, and the winner is announced. Games in progress must be finished, however they don’t count for the tournament.

Other important rules

There is a countdown for your first move. Failing to make a move within this time will forfeit the game to your opponent.

Drawing the game within the first 10 moves will earn neither player any points.

Draw streaks: When a player has consecutive draws in an arena, only the first draw will result in a point, or draws lasting more than 30 moves. The draw streak can only be broken by a win, not a loss or a draw.

Next Tournaments

There will be another Arena club tournament next Tuesday, 28th July.

If you can’t wait until then you will be pleased to discover that there is an extra tournament before then! This Thursday, 23rd July, we’ll be trying out the ‘Swiss’ tournament format. This is like over the board tournaments in that it is comprised of a number of rounds (5 rounds in this case). But like our Tuesday Arenas the individual games will be ten minutes per player. It is already set up on lichess: click here. Or the button below.

The next Chandlers Ford Chess Club online tournament on lichess.org is on Tuesday evening, 21st July 2020. Like last Tuesday, this will run for one hour 8-9pm. It is a Rapid play event of ten minutes per player per game in an Arena format.

How to join the Tournament

Click on the button below to go directly to the tournament Arena:

To join the tournament Arena you need to be a member of the lichess Chandlers Ford Chess Club Group. We currently have 23 members in the online club.

More information on lichess Arena events

How are scores calculated?

A win has a base score of 2 points, a draw 1 point, and a loss is worth no points.
If you win two games consecutively you will start a double point streak, represented by a flame icon.
The following games will continue to be worth double points until you fail to win a game. That is, a win will be worth 4 points, a draw 2 points, and a loss will still not award any points. For example, two wins followed by a draw will be worth 6 points: 2 + 2 + (2 x 1).

Arena Berserk

When a player clicks the Berserk button at the beginning of the game, they lose half of their clock time, but the win is worth one extra tournament point.

Going Berserk in time controls with an increment also cancels the increment (1+2 is an exception, it gives 1+0).

Berserk is not available for games with zero initial time (0+1, 0+2).

Berserk only grants an extra point if you play at least 7 moves in the game.

How is the winner decided?

The player(s) with the most points at the conclusion of the tournament’s set time limit will be announced winner(s).

When two or more players have the same number of points, the tournament performance is the tie break.

How does the pairing work?

At the beginning of the tournament, players are paired based on their rating.
As soon as you finish a game, return to the tournament lobby: you will then be paired with a player close to your ranking. This ensures minimum wait time, however you may not face all other players in the tournament.
Play fast and return to the lobby to play more games and win more points.

How does it end?

The tournament has a countdown clock. When it reaches zero, the tournament rankings are frozen, and the winner is announced. Games in progress must be finished, however they don’t count for the tournament.

Other important rules

There is a countdown for your first move. Failing to make a move within this time will forfeit the game to your opponent.

Drawing the game within the first 10 moves will earn neither player any points.

Draw streaks: When a player has consecutive draws in an arena, only the first draw will result in a point, or draws lasting more than 30 moves. The draw streak can only be broken by a win, not a loss or a draw.

We held our 9th online club tournament on Tuesday 14th July. It was a Rapid play tournament on lichess.org, in which players had ten minutes per player per game. The event was an Arena format for one hour, and there were 11 players. A great turnout, and hopefully everyone enjoyed the event.

Congratulations to Mike Henbury (‘Ewokmike’) for winning this week’s tournament! Well done James Daas 2nd, and David Culliford (‘djc202’) 3rd.

How are scores calculated?

A win has a base score of 2 points, a draw 1 point, and a loss is worth no points.
If you win two games consecutively you will start a double point streak, represented by a flame icon.
The following games will continue to be worth double points until you fail to win a game.
That is, a win will be worth 4 points, a draw 2 points, and a loss will still not award any points.

For example, two wins followed by a draw will be worth 6 points: 2 + 2 + (2 x 1)

Arena Berserk

When a player clicks the Berserk button at the beginning of the game, they lose half of their clock time, but the win is worth one extra tournament point.
Berserk only grants an extra point if you play at least 7 moves in the game.

How is the winner decided?

The player(s) with the most points at the conclusion of the tournament’s set time limit will be announced winner(s).

When two or more players have the same number of points, the tournament performance is the tie break.

How does the pairing work?

At the beginning of the tournament, players are paired based on their rating.
As soon as you finish a game, return to the tournament lobby: you will then be paired with a player close to your ranking. This ensures minimum wait time, however you may not face all other players in the tournament.
Play fast and return to the lobby to play more games and win more points.

How does it end?

The tournament has a countdown clock. When it reaches zero, the tournament rankings are frozen, and the winner is announced. Games in progress must be finished, however they don’t count for the tournament.

Other important rules

There is a countdown for your first move. Failing to make a move within this time will forfeit the game to your opponent.

Drawing the game within the first 10 moves will earn neither player any points.

Draw streaks: When a player has consecutive draws in an arena, only the first draw will result in a point, or draws lasting more than 30 moves. The draw streak can only be broken by a win, not a loss or a draw.

The next Chandlers Ford Chess Club online tournament on lichess.org is on Tuesday evening, 14th July 2020. Like last Tuesday, this will run for one hour 8-9pm. It is a Rapid play event of ten minutes per player per game in an Arena format.

How to join the Tournament

Click on the button below to go directly to the tournament Arena:

To join the tournament Arena you need to be a member of the lichess Chandlers Ford Chess Club Group. We currently have 23 members in the online club.

More information on lichess Arena events

How are scores calculated?

A win has a base score of 2 points, a draw 1 point, and a loss is worth no points.
If you win two games consecutively you will start a double point streak, represented by a flame icon.
The following games will continue to be worth double points until you fail to win a game. That is, a win will be worth 4 points, a draw 2 points, and a loss will still not award any points. For example, two wins followed by a draw will be worth 6 points: 2 + 2 + (2 x 1).

Arena Berserk

When a player clicks the Berserk button at the beginning of the game, they lose half of their clock time, but the win is worth one extra tournament point.

Going Berserk in time controls with an increment also cancels the increment (1+2 is an exception, it gives 1+0).

Berserk is not available for games with zero initial time (0+1, 0+2).

Berserk only grants an extra point if you play at least 7 moves in the game.

How is the winner decided?

The player(s) with the most points at the conclusion of the tournament’s set time limit will be announced winner(s).

When two or more players have the same number of points, the tournament performance is the tie break.

How does the pairing work?

At the beginning of the tournament, players are paired based on their rating.
As soon as you finish a game, return to the tournament lobby: you will then be paired with a player close to your ranking. This ensures minimum wait time, however you may not face all other players in the tournament.
Play fast and return to the lobby to play more games and win more points.

How does it end?

The tournament has a countdown clock. When it reaches zero, the tournament rankings are frozen, and the winner is announced. Games in progress must be finished, however they don’t count for the tournament.

Other important rules

There is a countdown for your first move. Failing to make a move within this time will forfeit the game to your opponent.

Drawing the game within the first 10 moves will earn neither player any points.

Draw streaks: When a player has consecutive draws in an arena, only the first draw will result in a point, or draws lasting more than 30 moves. The draw streak can only be broken by a win, not a loss or a draw.

We held our 8th online club tournament on Tuesday 7th July. It was a Rapid play tournament on lichess.org, in which players had ten minutes per player per game. The event was an Arena format for one hour, and there were 12 players. A great turnout, and hopefully everyone enjoyed the event.

Congratulations to David Culliford (djc202) for wining this week’s tournament! Well done Mike Henbury (‘Ewokmike’) 2nd, and John Kooner 3rd.

How are scores calculated?

A win has a base score of 2 points, a draw 1 point, and a loss is worth no points.
If you win two games consecutively you will start a double point streak, represented by a flame icon.
The following games will continue to be worth double points until you fail to win a game.
That is, a win will be worth 4 points, a draw 2 points, and a loss will still not award any points.

For example, two wins followed by a draw will be worth 6 points: 2 + 2 + (2 x 1)

Arena Berserk

When a player clicks the Berserk button at the beginning of the game, they lose half of their clock time, but the win is worth one extra tournament point.
Berserk only grants an extra point if you play at least 7 moves in the game.

How is the winner decided?

The player(s) with the most points at the conclusion of the tournament’s set time limit will be announced winner(s).

When two or more players have the same number of points, the tournament performance is the tie break.

How does the pairing work?

At the beginning of the tournament, players are paired based on their rating.
As soon as you finish a game, return to the tournament lobby: you will then be paired with a player close to your ranking. This ensures minimum wait time, however you may not face all other players in the tournament.
Play fast and return to the lobby to play more games and win more points.

How does it end?

The tournament has a countdown clock. When it reaches zero, the tournament rankings are frozen, and the winner is announced. Games in progress must be finished, however they don’t count for the tournament.

Other important rules

There is a countdown for your first move. Failing to make a move within this time will forfeit the game to your opponent.

Drawing the game within the first 10 moves will earn neither player any points.

Draw streaks: When a player has consecutive draws in an arena, only the first draw will result in a point, or draws lasting more than 30 moves. The draw streak can only be broken by a win, not a loss or a draw.

Next tournament

Although our venue, the Chandler’s Ford Central Club, has opened, over-the-board chess hasn’t resumed yet. In the meantime, another online tournament has been setup, and will be on lichess.org next Tuesday, 14th July at 8pm on lichess.org. The Arena is already set up, you can join at any time from now.

The next Chandlers Ford Chess Club online tournament on lichess.org is on Tuesday evening, 7th July. Like last Tuesday, this will run for one hour 8-9pm. It is a Rapid play event of ten minutes per player per game in an Arena format.

How to join the Tournament

Click on the button below to go directly to the tournament Arena:

To join the tournament Arena you need to be a member of the lichess Chandlers Ford Chess Club Group. We currently have 23 members in the online club.

More information on lichess Arena events

How are scores calculated?

A win has a base score of 2 points, a draw 1 point, and a loss is worth no points.
If you win two games consecutively you will start a double point streak, represented by a flame icon.
The following games will continue to be worth double points until you fail to win a game. That is, a win will be worth 4 points, a draw 2 points, and a loss will still not award any points. For example, two wins followed by a draw will be worth 6 points: 2 + 2 + (2 x 1).

Arena Berserk

When a player clicks the Berserk button at the beginning of the game, they lose half of their clock time, but the win is worth one extra tournament point.

Going Berserk in time controls with an increment also cancels the increment (1+2 is an exception, it gives 1+0).

Berserk is not available for games with zero initial time (0+1, 0+2).

Berserk only grants an extra point if you play at least 7 moves in the game.

How is the winner decided?

The player(s) with the most points at the conclusion of the tournament’s set time limit will be announced winner(s).

When two or more players have the same number of points, the tournament performance is the tie break.

How does the pairing work?

At the beginning of the tournament, players are paired based on their rating.
As soon as you finish a game, return to the tournament lobby: you will then be paired with a player close to your ranking. This ensures minimum wait time, however you may not face all other players in the tournament.
Play fast and return to the lobby to play more games and win more points.

How does it end?

The tournament has a countdown clock. When it reaches zero, the tournament rankings are frozen, and the winner is announced. Games in progress must be finished, however they don’t count for the tournament.

Other important rules

There is a countdown for your first move. Failing to make a move within this time will forfeit the game to your opponent.

Drawing the game within the first 10 moves will earn neither player any points.

Draw streaks: When a player has consecutive draws in an arena, only the first draw will result in a point, or draws lasting more than 30 moves. The draw streak can only be broken by a win, not a loss or a draw.

Our club venue, the Chandler’s Ford Central Club, has announced that it will be re-opening this Saturday, 4th July.

The Central Club, now 100 years old, will open its doors this Saturday, but with staff and member health the priority. Measures will be in place to make the venue safe as well as welcoming:

• Opening hours limited – at least initially – every day 2pm to 10pm.

• Initially it will be open only to Members and their partners/spouses and children – so remember to take your Membership card.

• Payment to be contactless card – or cash if it is the exact amount (no change will be given).

Full story – see below from the Chandler’s Ford Central Club website.

The Staff and Committee of the Chandlers Ford Central Club are delighted to announce that the club will be re-opening from Saturday the 4th July. We want to state upfront that our first and main objective is to keep our staff and our members safe and to adhere to government guidance. This will mean, and I am sure you will all appreciate, some changes to our usual trading conditions. We will, of course, continually review this situation based on experience and ongoing changes in government guidance. Initially, the club will open every day from 2pm until 10pm. The club will only be open to Club Members, their partners / spouses and their children under 18. Unfortunately, other guests will not be allowed to be signed in at this time. Please, therefore, ensure membership cards are carried at all times as you may also be required to sign in. Payment can only be made via Contactless Card or via cash with the right money, no change will be given. We do hope you will all support your local club and bear with us as we all adapt to these unprecedented times. Mark W Treacy Club President

One of our chess club players, Dave Holmes, has participated in the Devon County Chess Association Spring Grand Prix on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/club/dcca-online-club-devon-england – and has made it all the way to the event’s Graded Final. The Final will be held online tomorrow, Friday 3rd July.

And you can watch him live!

The event will be shown live on twitch (Chesster1883 twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/chesster1883 – with commentary – 7:30 pm (you can connect from 7:20). The evening continues with the the other half of the event, the Championship Final, from 8pm. Dave Holmes is in the Graded Final part of the night, and goes by the username of ‘Gashead4‘. He is up against Nicky Bacon (‘MateInMinusThree‘).

Grand Master Keith Arkell to commentate

The twitch channel is run by Tom Thorpe. He is a top Arbiter, and trained our own club’s David Culliford to be an official Arbiter. Tom Thorpe and Tim Paulden will be joined in the Commentary team by GM Keith Arkell.

The event is contested over 4 games. The first 2 have a time control of 9 minutes overall +3 seconds per move for each player. The next 2 games are shorter at 5 minutes plus 2 second increment. If tied, another pair of the 5 + 3 type games will be played.

Full details from the DCCA:

Watch our Spring Grand-Prix Finals this Friday, with live commentary from GM Keith Arkell!

To tune in, simply go to https://www.twitch.tv/chesster1883 from 7:20pm on Friday 3 July!

We are delighted to announce that GM Keith Arkell will be joining Tom Thorpe and Tim Paulden for our live broadcast of the DCCA Spring Grand-Prix Finals this Friday evening (3 July). To tune in to the commentary, simply go to Tom Thorpe’s Twitch channel at https://www.twitch.tv/chesster1883 from 7:20pm on Friday!

Each match in the Final will consist of four games – two at a time control of 9min+3sec increment, followed by two at 5min+2sec increment. If one player is leading after these four games, that player is immediately declared the winner. In the event of a 2-2 tie, an extra pair of 5min+2sec games will be played as a tiebreaker – repeating as needed until the match is decided!

The players battling it out for the trophies this Friday evening are:

Graded final [starts 7:30pm]: MateInMinusThree (Nicky Bacon) vs gashead4 (David Holmes)

Championship final [starts 8pm]: JackRudd (Jack Rudd) vs JUDevon (Jon Underwood)

We really hope you will be able to join us for what promises to be an exciting conclusion to our Grand-Prix season!

Lastly, if you have any fun / interesting questions you’d like us to ask GM Keith Arkell, please drop a quick chess.com message to “ExeterPrez“) before 4pm on Friday, and during any breaks in play we will read out some of the best ones!

P.S. If you missed Tom Thorpe’s excellent commentary on last week’s four semi-finals, the video is still available on Twitch for the next few days, at the following link: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/658348185