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.