We held our 6th online club tournament on Tuesday 23rd June. 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 (the list shows 13 but 12 participated in the end). A great turnout, and hopefully everyone enjoyed the event.

Congratulations to Sam Murphy on winning this week’s tournament! He had achieved a 100% victory record in some previous tournaments – without winning a podium position due to not accruing more points than opponents. This time he got plenty of games in during the hour – and plenty of wins. And once he started winning consecutive games he was on a double point streak – see how the scoring system on lichess works below.

The Arena format means that after a game you don’t wait for everyone to finish a round, but get paired again as soon as other players finish their games.

And well done to Graham Stuart (‘WillHeSac’)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.

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.

Next tournament

The next online Chandler’s Ford club tournament will be next Tuesday, 30th June, 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, 23rd June. 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:

If you are already on lichess and have joined the Chandlers Ford Chess Club there, then simply go to the Tournament and click Join. You can do this any time from now, the Tournament is already set up.

If you haven’t already registered on lichess.org, then sign up, using a Username of your choice. Then join Chandlers Ford Chess Club group on lichess. Once you’ve clicked Join, bear in mind there’s a chess-themed ‘CAPTCHA’ puzzle (simple, only one move, just to prove you’re human) just down the screen. Do that and click to finish. Membership requires Admin approval (Kev Lamb or Graham Stuart), but is a very quick process.

Further Information on Arena Tournaments

All the information you could wish for, taken from the lichess.org description of ‘Arena’ Tournaments (all this is visible lower on the Tournament Screen):

You will be notified when the tournament starts, so it is safe to play in another tab while waiting.

Is it rated?

This tournament is rated and will affect your rating.

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.

Steve Dunleavy announces the start of the 2020 Chandler’s Ford Chess Club Knockout Tournament.

The 2020 Knockout Preliminary Round Draw

Dear all the preliminary round draw (as carried out by Steve and Hanna Dunleavy 20/06/20) is as follows:

1. Peter Przybycin vs Rob Strachan
2. Don Creasy vs Rob Sims
3. Rob Bird vs Sam Murphy
4. James Daas vs Steve Saunders
5. Patrick Pavey vs Kev Lamb
6. Rose Saunders vs Peter Eales

7/8 byes- Steve Dunleavy and John Kooner

The additional guidance notes are as follows:

1. All games can be played on the internet (lichess.org or chess.com), by email, text or telephone – or whatever format that is agreed by both players;
2. All games played on the internet to have a 90 minute/player time control. Other formats can dispense with the time control unless both players can agree on a method to have a time control
3. All players named first to play with white
4. All games to be completed within 3 weeks(by the 11/07/20) and all results to be emailed to me as soon as possible thereafter, in the event of a draw the time period can be extended by another week(to the 18/07/20) but the game and result must be played/settled by that date

We held our fifth online club tournament on Tuesday 16th June. 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 – our best yet for numbers of players.

Congratulations to Graham Stuart (‘WillHeSac’) on winning this week’s tournament! And well done to Keith Gregory 2nd and Don Creasey (‘carouselman’) 3rd. There were some great scores in the tournament.

The Arena format means that after a game you don’t wait for everyone to finish a round, but get paired again as soon as other players finish their games. One player – Rob Strachan – managed to get seven games played in the hour!

Results

Next tournament

The next online Chandler’s Ford club tournament will be next Tuesday, 23rd June, at 8pm. 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, 16th June. 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 here to join

If you are already on lichess and have joined the Chandlers Ford Chess Club there, then simply go to the Tournament and click Join. You can do this any time from now, the Tournament is already set up.

If you haven’t already registered on lichess.org, then sign up, using a Username of your choice. Then join Chandlers Ford Chess Club group on lichess. Once you’ve clicked Join, bear in mind there’s a chess-themed ‘CAPTCHA’ puzzle (simple, only one move, just to prove you’re human) just down the screen. Do that and click to finish. Membership requires Admin approval (Kev Lamb or Graham Stuart).

Further Information on Arena Tournaments

All the information you could wish for, taken from the lichess.org description of ‘Arena’ Tournaments (all this is visible lower on the Tournament Screen):

You will be notified when the tournament starts, so it is safe to play in another tab while waiting.

Is it rated?

This tournament is rated and will affect your rating.

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 fourth online club tournament on Tuesday 9th June. It was a Rapid play tournament on lichess.com, in which players had ten minutes per player per game. The event was an Arena format for one hour, and there were 11 players.

Congratulations to Graham Stuart (‘WillHeSac’) on winning this week’s tournament! And well done to Rob Sims 2nd and David Culliford 3rd.

This week Graham didn’t go berserk (where you gamble half your time in a game for the chance of getting an extra tournament point), but at least two of us did. Mind you, it didn’t do me any good – I lost my game when I went berserk. But David did get the bonus point when he went Berserk in one of his games.

The event format was an Arena: players were re-paired once other players had become available, whereas a tournament comprised of rounds would see most players waiting longer before their next game. A consequence of this is some players squeeze more games into the one-hour event than others if their games end quicker.

“Play fast and return to the lobby to play more games and win more points” (lichess.org on Arena tournaments).

The scoring system on lichess

This is how lichess calculates the score, from their website :

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)

Another factor in scoring is going ‘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.

The next Chandlers Ford Chess Club online tournament on lichess.org is on Tuesday evening, 9th June. 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 here

If you are already on lichess and have joined the Chandlers Ford Chess Club there, then simply go to the Tournament and click Join. You can do this any time from now, the Tournament is already set up.

If you haven’t already registered on lichess.org, then sign up, using a Username of your choice. Then join Chandlers Ford Chess Club group on lichess. Once you’ve clicked Join, bear in mind there’s a chess-themed ‘CAPTCHA’ puzzle (simple, only one move, just to prove you’re human) just down the screen. Do that and click to finish. Membership requires Admin approval (Kev Lamb or Graham Stuart).

Further Information on Arena Tournaments

All the information you could wish for, taken from the lichess.org description of ‘Arena’ Tournaments (all this is visible lower on the Tournament Screen):

You will be notified when the tournament starts, so it is safe to play in another tab while waiting.

Is it rated?

This tournament is rated and will affect your rating.

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 third online club tournament on Tuesday 2nd June. It was a Rapid play tournament on lichess.com, in which players had ten minutes per player per game. The event was an Arena format for one hour, and there were 11 players.

Congratulations to Graham (‘WillHeSac’) on winning this week’s tournament! And well done to Phil 2nd and Sam 3rd.

The event format was an Arena: players were re-paired once other players had become available, whereas a tournament comprised of rounds would see most players waiting longer before their next game. A consequence of this is some players squeeze more games into the one-hour event than others if their games end quicker.

“Play fast and return to the lobby to play more games and win more points” (lichess.org on Arena tournaments).

The scoring system on lichess

This is how lichess calculates the score, from their website :

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)

Another factor in scoring is going ‘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.

Chandlers Ford Chess Club Tournament Tuesday 2nd June

The next Chandlers Ford Chess Club online tournament on lichess.org is on Tuesday evening, 2nd June. 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

If you are already on lichess and have joined the Chandlers Ford Chess Club there, then simply go to the Tournament and click Join. You can do this any time from now, the Tournament is already set up.

If you haven’t already registered on lichess.org, then sign up, using a Username of your choice. Then join Chandlers Ford Chess Club group on lichess. Once you’ve clicked Join, bear in mind there’s a chess-themed ‘CAPTCHA’ puzzle (simple, only one move, just to prove you’re human) just down the screen. Do that and click to finish. Membership requires Admin approval (Kev Lamb or Graham Stuart).

Further Information on Arena Tournaments

All the information you could wish for, taken from the lichess.org description of ‘Arena’ Tournaments (all this is visible lower on the Tournament Screen):

You will be notified when the tournament starts, so it is safe to play in another tab while waiting.

Is it rated?

This tournament is rated and will affect your rating.

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.

The Chandlers Ford Chess Club 2020 Summer Tournament begins!

Tournament organiser Malcolm Clarke has made the draw for the 1st Round of the Tournament. This year of course things will be different, with no over-the-board games at the club due to COVID-19 lockdown.

Even though we are locked down chess can still be played: many club players have already experienced online chess games now, and so playing their Summer Tournament games will be no problem. We can simply arrange a mutually convenient time with our opponent, and get online, to say lichess.org or chess.com, and play there. The online platforms have time controls that can be set to suit the players, so the 90 minutes each that we are used to over the board can be set for the game online.

There are other methods that players could consider, such as playing by email or text, with a board and pieces set up in the players’ homes, and pieces moved when the text or email arrives. There may be other methods people could think of too, although playing online is an excellent way of doing it as the time control is kept automatically.

Round 1 Pairings

White	v	Black
Peter Przybycin		Keven Lamb
Don Creasey		Phil Overton
James Daas		Rob Strachan
Steve Saunders		Sam Murphy
Nobby George		Steve Dunleavy
Ian Parker		Maha Chandar
Rob Sims		Rose Saunders
Bye – John Kooner