Dear Chess fans,
the first round of Season 8 was a 5+1 Blitz arena round with 20 players - a new record! This time we had an average rating of 1919 (second highest ever) with no less than 12 players with a >2000 rating! We could welcome several new players like @tungphon (blackswan21) and Blacknight186 (no Hive user name yet) and also @samostically (ZGM_Samostically) after a long absence joined the Hivechess crowd.
Despite of the very strong field, @sawko could again land on the first spot. Congratulations! He was 100% going berserk, that gave him the extra points, and a higher number of games played. Second was @tungphon (blackswan21), followed by @eniolw.
The games of this round can be found here, in case you want to replay some of them.
Season 8: 17 Sep to 15 Oct 2021 / Ranking after first round:
| Rank | Hive name | Lichess name | Rating | Rounds played | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | @sawko | CM sawkito | 2466 | 1 | 10 |
| 2 | @tungphong | blackswan21 | 2448 | 1 | 9 |
| 3 | @eniolw | eniolw | 2454 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 | @samostically | ZGM_Samostically | 2158 | 1 | 7 |
| 5 | @kreur | Kreur | 2096 | 1 | 6 |
| 6 | @stayoutoftherz | stayoutoftherz | 2098 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 | @jaki01 | jaki01 | 2377 | 1 | 4 |
| 8 | @kintokris | jonbellionfan | 2083 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | @pereu4ivatel | pereu4uwatch | 2090 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | @schamangerbert | HerbyW | 1769 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | @rodrook | rodrook | 1525 | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | ? | Blacknight186 | 2002 | 1 | 0 |
| 13 | @lighteye | lighteye | 1762 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | @maciejficek | XM9000 | 1539 | 1 | 0 |
| 15 | @sammy00 | migmag | 1508 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | @rafaelaquino | ajedrezclub2t | 1715 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | @zacherybinx | sirtetris | 2019 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | @burnoutawesome | burnoutawesome | 2073 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | @manncpt | Toful | 1245 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | @vasigo | vasigo | 968 | 1 | 0 |
The rules you can look up in the announcement post.
See you next week!
Did anybody follow the Norway Chess 2021 Tournament? Magnus Carlsen is in top form, as it seems, but also youngster Alireza Firouzja played extremly well, having won his last 4 matches in a row!
Here are the final standings:
source: https://norwaychess.no/en/pairings-and-results-2021/
As compared to my playing strength I am really slow and bad at (very) short time controls I really 'hate' the Arena mode: if at first I don't berserk to play more or less well, I always lose a lot of time and see the berserkers take the lead, but then, if in the end I berserk, too, to get some points I start losing because I cannot play fast and at the same time well enough to avoid the biggest blackouts. In German I would call it kind of a "Zwickmühle" (dilemma). :)
I think from now on in Arena mode I will just play "quick and dirty" (try to berserk always when possible) and don't care about losses (a win + a loss in berserk mode counts more than a win + 0 losses in normal mode) and quality of my game play anymore. However, I guess in case berserk time is less than 2 minutes that will be a rather hopeless try as well.
Yes, one has to find the right balance. Not easy.
Oh, mein Upvote ist mittlerweile immerhin wieder 4 Cent wert. ;-)
I don't like berserk. It often backfires on me when I don't have a good connection, a mouse, good form and good luck. I do it a few times.
You are right, but in Arena mode I will do it more often from now on: look for example at our game: it lasted very long, until the late endgame, and in the end I lost. If I had berserked I could have lost too, but maybe directly after that I might have won again.
The whole Arena mode favours playing fast over trying to play as well as possible, unless one simply doesn't care about the final rank (which of course is also an option to consider).
And yes, I always play with mouse. Which tools do they use (DGT boards?)? I have no idea, lol. :)
yeah I hate to play badly, so I prefer not to berserk. I think the tournament is more about fun. And the speedy players, they have a good mouse, one of those that video game players use.
My hivename is @tungphong, you missed “g” in last of my name. In several games, i didn’t know about berserk style, so i let sawko leading tournament. He was excellent sprinter. Congrats @Sawko !
Thanks, I corrected your name.
It was a very strong field this time. I hope we will see more normal players in the next rounds. Every time it's a challenge for me and I learn with experience to play fast. But I just won two times. The first and the last game. Unfortunately the last didn't count. ♟️🙃
Yes, it gets stronger over the time. We need more average ones, and newbies :)
BTW, didn´t @schmidi want to give it a try?
These days I'm a little bit busy - but I will definitely give it a try too 😁
!WINE !PIZZA
Congratulations, @soturi You Successfully Shared 0.200 WINE With @stayoutoftherz.
You Earned 0.200 WINE As Curation Reward.
You Utilized 2/2 Successful Calls.
Contact Us : WINE Token Discord Channel
WINE Current Market Price : 0.198
@stayoutoftherz! I sent you a slice of $PIZZA on behalf of @soturi.
Learn more about $PIZZA Token at hive.pizza (2/10)
Would be nice to play against you guys ♟️👊
Feels good to be back,i really wanted to be on the podium..but I'd take 4th place as there were better players.
Congratulations to the winners..see you next time!
Excellent day of play. I prefer the time under 3 minutes. I find 5 minutes interminable and with 1 second increment even more. But I still enjoy having a nice time playing chess.
Good tournament!
Thanks to the participants!
How long have You been searching for Your first job?
Not too long. I was on my PhD and was fed up with it, no progress, etc.
Then I applied at 2,3 companies and one took me. I quit my PhD.
So I had a job but no PhD. It turned out OK.