FC Chess Tournament: Final Round!

[Yelnoc]

Oakvale and I were chatting while playing a game of chess on Gameknot and he said "Why not have an Atlas chess tournament?" and I was like "Dude!"  So that's what this is.

***

It's time to get this show on the road!  The below eight will be participating in this tournament, and the other people on the list are alternates in case somebody bows out before this actually gets underway.  Note that these are not rankings; the numbers were assigned based on when you signed up.  I have used them to create a tournament bracket with random.org, which you can see below.

Participants
1. Yelnoc (yelnoc)
2. Oakvale (oakvale)
3. Napoleon (furballz)
4. Homelycooking (homelycooking)
5. Franzl (franzl1990)
6. Anvikshiki (anvishiki)
7. Mikado (pattersong)
8. Gustaf (gustafus)

Alternates
Clarence (clarencemoore)
A Person (cabbageStems)
20RP12 (tragedy_carl)
Shilly (hoolyaa)
Benconstine (yorktownbc)


Round 1
M1: Franzl vs Mikado
M2: Napoleon vs Oakvale
M3: Homelycooking vs Yelnoc
M4: Gustaf vs Anvikshiki

Round 2
S1: Franzl vs Oakvale
S2 Homelycooking vs Anvikshiki

The player whose name is listed first will be white, and send the challenge to the player listed second, who will be black.  I will PM all of the white players; if you are black, just sit tight until you get your challenge.  For the whites, note that you should call your challenge "Atlas Chess Tournament Round 1" and you should have Time per Move set to "2 days."  I will cover all of that in the PM though, so don't worry.

For those interested the winners of M1 and M2 will play each other as the winners of M3 and M4 will play each other in the semi final match, and the winner of those two games will play each other for the final.  I will be updating this post with more information as the tournament moves forward, so please remember to check the OP.

Thank you everybody, and let's have us a fun chess tournament!

[Yelnoc]

I will play

Great, what's your nick on gameknot?

I've come to the conclusion that knowing you leads me to obligations that I'm usually too lazy to fulfill, to sadly, I'll have to say "no" to this.

You sure, man?  If you don't show up to your game, you'll forfeit and the other guy will advance.  A win-win?  Hmm, maybe not the right turn of phrase, but still.

Im in. Username is furballz.

Awesome, added.

[Yelnoc]

You should probably move this thread over to the games board.

I put it in here because it is like a community event.  Besides, nobody looks in the games forum.

I'm up for some chess, even though I'm terribly out of practice. Username is homelycooking.

Added.

[Yelnoc]

I've decided that Ultima Chess is the way to go.

What's that?

And I need six more people to sign up before I can create brackets.  So please, if you don't play very often, sign up as a low seed player

[Yelnoc]

I've decided that Ultima Chess is the way to go.

What's that?

And I need six more people to sign up before I can create brackets.  So please, if you don't play very often, sign up as a low seed player

It's crazy chess with crazy rules. I'm afraid I don't really have much time over the coming month, otherwise I'd be interested.

I'm pretty sure it's normal chess.  Or do you mean that Chess is crazy?

[Yelnoc]

Come on now, we need an even 16 before we can begin.  If you're already on the list, PM a friend or something.

[Yelnoc]

Yelnoc, if you still need people, sign me up.  I misspelled my nick on that site, it's anvishiki.

Added!

5 more spots open!

[Yelnoc]

Alright, I'll be starting this tournament within a few days.  We have 12 people on the list and 11 signed up, so the first 11 to confirm participation will go.  If you aren't on the list but still want to play, please sign up below.  That list was made a while ago and I expect more than one of them will not be available.

[Yelnoc]

Awesome, I'm glad there is still interest. 

I looked more into the mini-tournament frame that I had meant to run this on, and it appears that everyone needs to be ranked (i.e. have played at minimum six games and won three of them) to participate.  Obviously that won't work for our purposes, so we will be reverting to my original bracket system.  This means two things.

1. You all are responsible for setting up the games I assign you.  I will set up the brackets and monitor the games once they start, but only you can challenge your opponent to a match.

2. There will be 16 players, which means we still need three more forumites to sigh up.  Don't be bashful; this won't be some tournament of masters.  Oakvale and Mikado can both tell you how bad I am at chess, yet I'm still setting this up.

[Yelnoc]

Hey Yelnoc, does gameknot require 16 players for a tournament or something?  There are ways to set up round robin or Swiss System tournaments with an odd number of players, of course. Just asking in case we don't get more volunteers.

No, we won't be using the gameknot tournament system because of the aforementioned problems.  I wanted to get 16 people so that single elimination would work without a hitch, because with correspondence chess I am afraid other tournament set-ups would take much too long.  Not that I have a problem with a lot of chess, but I'm trying to budget in short attention spans ( ).  If we don't find three more people soon though, then a Round Robin might be a good idea.

EDIT:  I just realized only 8 people have confirmed interest, so if none of them speak up in a day or so we might just put them on an alternates list and start an 8-man tournament.

[Yelnoc]

Alright, we will go with the eight confirmed.  I drew the first round match ups with random.org and the numbering in the OP.  In case you were wondering "M1" means Match One of that round.

Round 1
M1: Franzl vs Mikado
M2: Napoleon vs Oakvale
M3: Homelycooking vs Yelnoc
M4: Gustaf vs Anvikshiki

The player whose name is listed first will be white, and send the challenge to the player listed second, who will be black.  I will PM all of the white players; if you are black, just sit tight until you get your challenge.  For the whites, note that you should call your challenge "Atlas Chess Tournament Round 1" and you should have Time per Move set to "2 days."  I will cover all of that in the PM though, so don't worry.

For those interested the winners of M1 and M2 will play each other as the winners of M3 and M4 will play each other in the semi final match, and the winner of those two games will play each other for the final.  I will be updating this post with more information as the tournament moves forward, so please remember to check the OP.

[Yelnoc]

For those of you who want to see the games, below are links.  The first one will hopefully take you straight to the board, while you will need to click on the game with the last two.

Homelycooking vs. Yelnoc
Gustaf vs. Anvikshiki
Franzl vs. Mikado
Napoleon vs. Oakvale

[Yelnoc]

I'm down to join, if you can get enough other people to turn the alternates pool into the other half of a 16 man bracket

Just make an account on Gameknot and give me your username and I will do that.

I either didn't realise or forgot that the timelimit is two days. Put me in the alternates pool as well please.

You already are.


It's unfortunate that the Napoleon vs Oakvale game has not yet begun.  I'm thinking if Napoleon does not send a challenge by tomorrow we will have to replace him with an alternate.

[Yelnoc]

All of the round one games have begun.  You can view them by click on the links a few posts up.  Let's try to get through these games relatively quickly, so as I said earlier, set a time with your opponent when each of you can play.

As games finish, I will post here the winner, the end board, and maybe the move log.

[Yelnoc]

Homely beat me soundly.  Now that I'm back home, I'll have the game summaries up soon, and once Napoleon and Oakvale finish, we will move on to Round 2.

[Yelnoc]

Alright, here is the first game analysis as promised.  Unfortunately, I cannot use the back/forward buttons to visualize the moves that are cataloged below the board, so I won't be able to give the in-depth analysis I thought I would. 


Homelycooking vs. Yelnoc

Homely started out with the standard King's Pawn opening and I countered by playing my king's pawn short with the aspiration of setting up a French defense.  We played a somewhat cagy opening; I established a fairly extensive pawn center while he played around me with his pieces.  I ran into trouble when my king side rook came under fire from his Knight but, in true Yelnocian form, I didn't even see the threat and lost the piece.  From that point on it was all downhill for me, though I did manage to draw the game out to 35 moves.



1.   e4   e6
2.   d3   d5
3.   Nf3   Nf6
4.   e5   c5
5.   Bg5   Be7
6.   exf6   gxf6
7.   Bh6   e5
8.   Nc3   d4
9.   Ne4   f5
10.   Bg7   Rg8
11.   Bh6   Rg6
12.   Bg5   fxe4
13.   Bxe7   Qxe7
14.   dxe4   Rg4
15.   Qd3   Be6
16.   Nxe5   Qc7
17.   Nxg4   Bxg4
18.   Be2   Be6
19.   O-O-O   Nc6
20.   Qg3   Qd8
21.   Bb5   Rc8
22.   c3   Ke7
23.   e5   Qf8
24.   f4   a6
25.   Bxc6   bxc6
26.   Rhf1   f6
27.   Qh4   Bf5
28.   g4   Be4
29.   g5   Ke6
30.   exf6   c4
31.   Rfe1   Kf5
32.   Qxh7+   Kxf4
33.   Rxe4+   Kxg5
34.   h4+   Kxf6
35.   Rf1#   
CHECKMATE

[Yelnoc]

Thanks for your input guys.  I'll go ahead and put up the board and move log for Gustaf vs. Anvikshiki but since I can't visualize the board I won't have much to add, so Anvi/Gustaf, feel free to add your own analysis.

[Yelnoc]

Gustaf vs. Anvikshiki

Gustaf also opened with the King's pawn, and Anvi responded with the Sicilian defense.  There was an immediate exchange of pawns in the center, allowing Anvi to complete his goal of retaining a central pawn majority by capturing with a flank pawn.  Gustaf immediately developed his queen, which Anvi brought under attack with a knight.  Not quite sure what all of the mid-game notation signifies, though by the end Anvi had backed Gus into a corner, which is what we seen on the board snapshot below.



1.   e4   c5
2.   d4   cxd4
3.   Qxd4   Nc6
4.   Qe3   Nf6
5.   Be2   g6
6.   c3   d6
7.   Nf3   Bg7
8.   h3   O-O
9.   O-O   a6
10.   Rd1   Qc7
11.   Qd3   b5
12.   Bf4   Bb7
13.   e5   dxe5
14.   Bg3   Rad8
15.   Qe3   Rxd1+
16.   Bxd1   Nd5
17.   Qe4   Nf4
18.   Bxf4   exf4
19.   Nbd2   Ne5
20.   Qe2   Rd8
21.   Nxe5   Bxe5
22.   Nf3   Bxf3
23.   Qxf3   Rd2
24.   Rb1   Qd7
25.   Qa8+   Kg7
26.   Bf3   Qd3
27.   Be4   Rd1+
28.   Rxd1   Qxd1+
29.   Kh2   f3+
30.   g3   Qf1
31.   Bxf3   Qxf2+
32.   Bg2   Bxg3+
33.   Kh1   Qe1+
34.   Bf1   Qxf1#
CHECKMATE

[Yelnoc]

The fourth and final game of the round has finished, with Oakvale victorious.  Now it is time for round 2.  Below are the two matches, which I will update with links once the games have begun.  As it happened, white won M1 and M3 while black won M2 and M4, so the same people will have the first move advantage.  I thought about intervening, but on balance I think this setup works.  

Franzl vs Oakvale
Homelycooking vs Anvikshiki

PMs are sent, so get playing!

EDIT: About the analyses, I had meant to cover the Franzl vs. Mikado game but never got around to it, and I don't think I will be doing Napoleon vs. Oakvale.  But if you want to post your own, feel free to!

[Yelnoc]

Yelnoc,

Could you post the links for all the second round games, so everyone can follow them? 

Thanks!

Sorry about that, here you are.

Franzl vs Oakvale
homelycooking vs. anikshiki

[Yelnoc]

We will try a more complex system next time.  I am treating this tournament as a test to see how much chess interest I could drum up.  The one benefit single-elimination has is due to the quick paring of players, there is less chance of games being ruined by apathetic time-outs.  If this tournament is completely successfully and thus establishes a positive legacy, I would definitely be open to a round-robin or Swiss system.

[Yelnoc]

Once again, thanks for the analysis, Anvi.  As a very visual person the chess move notation doesn't mean much to me, but I found this excellent site where you can set up scenarios on the board if anyone else is interested.

[Yelnoc]

We have an interesting trend going here.  Again, white won the first match and black the second.  Going by the last system, that would mean Franzl would be white and Anvi black.  I'm starting to think I should have randomized the colors for round 2.  However at this point it would probably be best to stick with the same system.  I want to get the thoughts of the players, though. Franzl, Anvi, are you ok with the same system, which would have you playing the same color you played in the previous two rounds, or do you want me to randomize it?

[Yelnoc]

Alrighty then, gentlemen, you know the drill.  Once somebody has a link, I'll post it here.

Franzl vs Anvikshiki

[Yelnoc]

Well, I had just intended this single elimination tournament as a test run.  So if you want to run the next one, feel free to do it round robin/Swiss style, expand the number of players, and set the date whenever.