Lichess4545 Ledger 095

Lichess4545 Ledger

Issue #095 - April 11, 2019

State of the 4545 League

by @kostasvl

There is still 1 round left for the team 4545 league to end and after an accurate calculation we made, 4 teams are fighting for the first place with "Lichess Lovers" and "Stop googling! Zher0 chance Erin is a girl, okei?!" being closest to that place with 11 match points each. "Return of the Sac" and "Snow White and the Seven Najdorfs" have also a chance to win the season under specific circumstances. They both have 10 match points and they have enough game points to win on tiebreaks (if things need to be decided on tiebreaks).

There will be a blitz battle tomorrow Friday at 19 UTC. Registrations will open 17 UTC. Make sure you're there for an exciting battle. For more information join the #blitz-battle channel.

Interview

by @adande1 and @kostasvl with @scarff

Our featured player this week is someone who has achieved a feat that will likely be impossible to beat or replicate. Scarff has the unique distinction of having played the most number of team games (120 and counting) in the league, not having missed a single game since he started participating in Season 2 when he was part of the winning team (Sicilian Dragons). He has also twice been part of the team with the third place finish (Season #12 - All You Need is Luft and most recently Season #15 - Illogical chess: Blunder by Blunder). Scarff will play his 121^st game this Sunday for team PawnHub!

Tell us a little something about yourself. How long have you been playing chess and what has been your history/ participation with the different leagues in the community?

I'm Bram, I'm Dutch, and currently almost done with a study to be a Biology teacher. I've been playing chess since January 14 2014, so a bit over 5 years now. And in this commuanity mostly the 45 45 team league. I played a season in the lonewolf league, which was fun, but the team aspect really makes the difference to me.

Please answer some fun facts below:

Favorite opening: No opening in particular really. I know a few better than others. But the fun in chess is really not in openings for me. I'm trying to get myself to study them more, since I feel like it would really help my chess. But it's just not where the fun is for me, so it's challenging to really study it!

Favorite chess icon/ inspiration: Used to be Tal. Attacking chess, sacrifices, he's just super appealing, and his quote about a hippo in the marsh won me over even more. But Carlsen is just so good, and he's entertaining outside the board, I like that. And he's alive, that helps! I've followed his World Championships live, and that has been a joy. I feel like it adds a lot to follow a current player. So Carlsen.

Most memorable achievement (preferably chess related): Getting better. There's no real one moment that I like more than others. But just feeling that you got better than last year is nice. And sometimes you feel for a long time that you're not getting better, or even getting worse, and I hate that!

Most memorable failure (preferably chess related): Gamelink This move in this season of 45 45. Probably no where near my worst failure, but it's the most recent, so the most memorable for me at the moment.

Most memorable game and/ or opponent: Gamelink Probably this game. It was the first really really long game of chess I played, as far as I can recall anyway. And it felt crazy for most of it. Both sides could win, and it ends a draw. I think the game lasted over 3 hours. (Crazy to think GM games last over twice as long sometimes, it's so exhausting!)

Most memorable Lichess4545 Season/ Team: I don't have a most memorable season. And the most memorable team is the people I regularly play with.

What is the story behind your username – how did you come up with it?

Not really. I used to play pokemon too much, so followed a lot of people on youtube that played it. One guy ended up uploading a chess video, that's what got me into chess. His account was coatey (I believe). So me being awful at choosing an account name, I thought that sounded like coat, so let's choose another piece of clothing, scarf. Apparently chesscom already had a scarf, so scarff it was.

What role does chess play in your life?

Enjoyable hobby that I can sink too much time in. I enjoy playing chess, and chess is also something that you can always keep getting better at, and that's also fun. It's a super simple hobby to start, it takes a few minutes to learn the rules and start your first game. And then you're ready to waste all the free time in your life on it, if you want to. I just really enjoy it!

Do you have any goals with respect to chess?

Getting better than I am now. No concrete goals for now. Maybe playing OTB at some point, but I'm not sure?

What are some of the changes you’ve seen in the League since Season 2. Do you have any suggestions to improve the League further?

It's a good way to play slow chess, which is very enjoyable. Most of my experience and joy has just been playing chess, which hasn't changed. But I think all the parts outside of chess have really improved. There's a nice website and chesster does things (showing timezones of opponents is a nice one!). I'm not sure, the league has probably improved a ton of things that I don't give credit too, but I really love playing in it, and I think it runs very smooth! So good job everyone involved, I really appreciate all the effort.

Talk about your motivation to play in every single game every season since Season 2. Did you ever come close to missing a game?

I like to play chess. And I don't think so.

What would you say makes a “perfect” team?

Teamspirit. Watching each others games, giving advice, talking about other stuff, talking shit about Lukhas. Feeling like your teammates want you to win makes you take it more seriously, for me at least. The team part of the league is what makes it special. I have no one in real life to talk to chess about (mostly due to me being too lazy to sign up for a chess club, but maybe if there's no chess club near you, this is about as good a replacement as you can get, I think?). So it's nice to be able to talk chess with some people who know about chess. Because otherwise you're stuck with just your mom, who is nice enough to ask about chess because she knows you like it, but she doesn't even know the rules, so yeah... I appreciate it, but a chess team helps, and this league offers that .

Talk about your team’s recent performance in Season 15 when you placed third and the biggest factors behind its success.

Doing your best every game, which the team aspect in slack stimulates I think. And the games can last ages, so being awake and sober helps. These long games don't just come down to chess, but also to the mood you are in at the moment, I think. And you always play someone you can beat, because of the boards. So if you take it seriously, and show up feeling good and sharp, then you have a good chance to win!

Describe your chess regimen. What chess resources (books, applications, websites etc.) do you use regularly and how did these help you?

I mostly just play chess. I never had a coach, and I have no books. But I do watch quite a bit of youtube. Saint Louis has really good lectures on openings, they help a lot to learn an opening for me. And I watch a lot of ChessNetwork, EricRosen, TonyRotella and PowerPlayChess on youtube too. Mostly for fun, but I'm sure every now and then I learn something too. ChessNetwork probably helped me most. I really like his calm and clear way of talking about chess, and he was the first person I really followed and that helped a lot to get me even more hooked on chess.

What advice would you give to the average team player in the league?

Get to know your teammates and watch their games, it's fun! And make sure you feel good going into your own game, and do a bit of preparation just to have a general idea what to expect, it helps helps your chess

How has this League and the community affected your experience of the game?

It got me in tough with chess players which made chess more fun. And it offers a good way to play slow chess, which I really enjoy. So very positively! Thanks!

Any final thoughts you’d like to share with the community?

I didn't even realise I played here so much, and that I apparently haven't missed a game. But I think that does a good job of showing how much I enjoy it. So thanks to the mods for organising all of this, no idea how much work it is, but I'm very grateful for it! And thanks to everyone playing in this league for being involved, I'm also grateful for it! Can't play without other people! And I hope everyone has fun playing, that's what it's about <3.

Thanks for taking the time and we wish you many more seasons of success and enjoyment in the League.

If you liked the featured player interview and have any thoughts on who and/ or what you’d like hear next feel free to post in #lichessledger or DM @adande1.

Weekly Stats

by @kraaft, @RobUmbra and @Somethingpretentious

Thanks to RobUmbra we get the stats per board frome now on!

Stats for Season 16 Rounds 7:

The fastest mate was white on move 19 found in Gamelink White: boomer34, Black: llyoiel2.
The fastest draw was found in Gamelink White: krisolis, Black: chesspatzerswan.
The fastest resign was black on move 9 found in Gamelink White: msiipola, Black: timikofski.
The biggest upset was 162 points in Gamelink White: isavulpes, Black: moistvonlipwig.
The longest game ended with black on move 75 Gamelink White: menzc, Black: chesspatzerfrance.
The longest think was 17 minutes 55.0 seconds on move 26 in Gamelink White: david252525, Black: lethgo.
The most time left was 69 minutes 15.0 seconds in Gamelink White: swohl19, Black: asian42.
The most time spent was 94 minutes 52.0 seconds in Gamelink White: menzc, Black: chesspatzerfrance.

Board	MinACPL	MaxACPL	CombinedMaxACPL	CombinedMinACPL
1	8 by lovlas GAMELINK	62 by f1nn33 GAMELINK	95 by f1nn33/thetacticianmagician GAMELINK	31 by titan_twelve/prof_moriarty GAMELINK
2	12 by axp156 GAMELINK 12 by nonamek GAMELINK 12 by kn960 GAMELINK	107 by quietstorm24 GAMELINK	166 by ma1ah/quietstorm24 GAMELINK	29 by axp156/mcastellani18 GAMELINK
3	10 by vicpez GAMELINK	89 by dkillian GAMELINK	156 by dkillian/scarff GAMELINK	21 by k-night-moves/vicpez GAMELINK
4	15 by xobeci GAMELINK	92 by oatmate GAMELINK	166 by lakinwecker/oatmate GAMELINK	46 by queen_blunder/ed84 GAMELINK
5	14 by jameslatham GAMELINK	110 by dmsa_or GAMELINK	199 by dmsa_or/oddskill GAMELINK	44 by the_italian_dream/jameslatham GAMELINK
6	10 by izzie26 GAMELINK	95 by mmb4854 GAMELINK	153 by footpath/mmb4854 GAMELINK	21 by izzie26/sherlockholmez GAMELINK
7	10 by msiipola GAMELINK	133 by timikofski GAMELINK	143 by msiipola/timikofski GAMELINK	49 by swandog/momor GAMELINK
8	22 by upgoerfive GAMELINK	108 by alex123a GAMELINK	163 by darubaru/ssyx GAMELINK	78 by n4se/mohityadav143 GAMELINK

-PGNs-

Stats for Season 14 Round 3:

The fastest mate was white on move 18 found in Gamelink White: sinquefieldcup, Black: bigpajaro.
The fastest draw was found in Gamelink White: traxxin, Black: phib.
The fastest resign was white on move 6 found in Gamelink White: mad_shaving, Black: babatunde1.
The biggest upset was 227 points in Gamelink White: bward10, Black: sanganakam.
The longest game ended with white on move 99 Gamelink White: mathijshuis, Black: mmb4854.
124 was the highest ACPL in Gamelink White: alex123a, Black: iterjeki.
10 was the lowest ACPL in Gamelink White: jameslatham, Black: pavalski, Gamelink White: mohityadav143, Black: scv-chess.
Combined maximum ACPL was 230 in Gamelink White: alex123a, Black: iterjeki.
Combined minimum ACPL was 38 in Gamelink White: grumpar, Black: kaizacorp.
The longest think was 22 minutes 42.0 seconds on move 11 in Gamelink White: donoran, Black: lucyismywaifu.
The most time left was 39 minutes 18.0 seconds in Gamelink White: mqll, Black: iqb.
The most time spent was 68 minutes 43.0 seconds in Gamelink White: mathijshuis, Black: mmb4854.

-PGNs-

Chess Puzzles

by @forhavu, @kraaft and @okei

Click on the images for the solution.


SirNateALot (1718) - sgis (1758) Gamelink. ◯ White to play.	krispl (1951) - KnightyKnight1996 (2048) Gamelink. ⚫ Black to play.	richtri_rj (1672) - GuyIncognito_de (1607) Gamelink. ◯ White to play.	darubaru (1445) - ssyx (1571) Gamelink. ◯ White to play.
f1nn33 (2052) - TheTacticianMagician (2119) Gamelink. ⚫ Black to play.

adande1 (1718) - dmavro (1785) Gamelink. ◯ White to play.	ckargl (1541) - TotallyCrazyBishop (1324) Gamelink. ◯ White to play.	Queen_Blunder (1897) - sivvaaa (1746) Gamelink. ◯ White to play.	Anjablaserr (2062) - Zimny_Toster (1926) Gamelink. ◯ White to play.
Shared by the community (can contain imperfect puzzles.)
paolone (1963) - okei (1941) Gamelink. Shared by @okei. ◯ White to play.

Chessboard images provided by lenik terenin.

Please feel free to join #lichessledger on slack if you would like to contribute towards the ledger in any way, or provide any feedback. Both are highly encouraged and appreciated. Thank you for reading.

Thanks to @adande1, @forhavu, @kostasvl, @kraaft, @okei, @RobUmbra, @scarff and @Somethingpretentious.