Lichess4545 Ledger 017

Lichess4545 Ledger

Issue #017 - February 20, 2017

State of the League

There is only 1 round left in Season 6 of 45+45. As any new members would most likely not get the opportunity to participate in season 6, the mods have closed registration. For those who want to compete in season 7 and are interested in the league, the moderators have set up a mailing list. Please fill out the google form (https://goo.gl/forms/XVk2NLJkrYjVSCCE3) and we will email you when season 7 registration opens (in addition to the regular announcements on slack/reddit).

RULE CHANGE: There have been a few incidents of cheat detected games throughout this past season. In Ledger #015 we asked for feedback about an additional rule to address this issue. We have come to the following rule change which is an addition to the rules about cheaters (addition is in bold):

Rule VII.A
A cheater is defined as either:
1. Those flagged as using computer assistance by Lichess on their profile page.
2. Those who have been determined by other methods to have used Engine-enabled assistance during their League 45|45 games by unanimous moderator vote.
3. Those who forfeited a game in the 45+45 leagues (ladder, blitz-battle, Lonewolf, or 45+45) where the game was terminated by lichess and marked as "cheat detected"

This means that any player that gets a forfeit in a game associated with the 4545 league due to a "cheat detected" termination will be banned, their prior scores reversed, and their Slack account disabled in accordance with the rest of rule VII https://www.lichess4545.com/team4545/season/6/document/rules/#VII.CheatingPolicy

The following (written by @lakinwecker) represents the moderators stance on cheating

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Cheating is not acceptable. We all agree on that point. However, playing chess online is inherently different than playing chess in an over-the-board tournament. So what, exactly, constitutes cheating in an online tournament?

There are the obvious things: Don't consult Stockfish (or any other engine). Don't have a friend help you choose moves. Don't get your GM bestie to play for you. However, there are many other things that would be considered cheating that might not be as obvious in an online setting.

We generally attempt to follow USCF rules for tournaments. If something is cheating in a USCF tournament, then it is cheating in our league. Obviously there have to be minor adjustments to the rules to allow for online play and to allow for things that  we can't change on Lichess (like takebacks) but generally speaking you should avoid doing anything that would be considered cheating OTB.  This includes, but is not limited to: Don't consult chess resources during a game. Don't watch chess youtube videos. Don't watch the chess championship. Don't consult your opening book or chessable or chesstempo. Don't practice tactics in another window. Don't browse previous games you have played. Don't browse previous games other people have played.  Don't discuss your game with other people. etc.

We realize that it's boring when you're still in your opening prep and your opponent is taking a whole 5 minutes to choose their third move. Yes, in the age of reddit, twitter and snapchat those 5 minutes can seem like forever and that it's tempting to entertain yourself elsewhere. But please be careful about what you are doing. The Lichess cheat detection mechanisms are improving every day and we intend to make full use of them. We act swiftly and decisively in response to all instances of cheating in the League.

The easiest way to avoid any possibility of doing something considered cheating is to open a single window to play your game and focus on your game while you are playing it. Your teammates will thank you for it as you're likely to play a better game. If you're bored during the game, then consider using the whisper command to talk about your position, opening prep etc. It's informative for everyone watching and it will likely help you focus on the game.

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In 45+45, the final round is coming up this week and Petrojan Horse has already clinched the top spot. They have led the entire tournament from week 1 and have not lost to any team they have faced this season. Congratulations! The battle for second and third place is still up for grabs with several teams still in contention.

In Lonewolf, there are still 5 rounds remaining and for the first time we have a sole leader. @DonJohn has taken the lead with 5.5/6 points.

Blitz-battle 4 was contested this past Sunday at 17:30 GMT with 12 participants. @Alex_1987 won with a score of 6.5/8.

Season 5 Youtuber Review

Chessexplained aka Christof Sielecki has started to release his youtube reviews of the 6 games chosen for the Season 5 End of Season Review.

So far the following reviews have been released:
Will be updated as the remaining videos are released

Coaches Corner

This is a new feature in the Ledger and hopefully other chess coaches in our community will find something to contribute.

Here’s a tip for teaching kids how to set up a board at the start of a game by @chessicstudent

First, you want to start with the castle walls. Which pieces looks like a castle walls? Right, the rooks! You put those in the corners, so that all your other pieces can be safe inside the castle walls.

Second, we need guards for the castle walls. Who better to guard the walls than a couple of knights? So the knights go right next to the castle wall.

Third, the royal family is surrounded by bishops to advise them, so they will go next.

Now, just the king and queen are left to put on the first row. You always know which square to put the queen on, because she wants her dress to match the square she’s on. So the white queen has a white dress, and goes on a white square. The black queen has a black dress, and goes on a black square.

Finally, all the pawns go in front, just like little kids go in front when you’re taking a picture, so that the big people in the back can see over them!

 

Notable Lichess4545 community member video/contributions:

@Atrophied continues to post his Lonewolf and 45+45 games

@Fuzz0410 joins the chess youtuber club. Here's his first video - an analysis of his 4545 game

Stats from Round 7 of 45+45: Thanks to @somethingpretentious for his work to automate the process of coming up with these stats. It is much appreciated!

  • Biggest upset: 168 point difference NonNocere 2233 beats LM Atrophied 2401 Gamelink
  • Lowest ACPL game: 7 ACPL by both players in ChessAndCoffee vs Star-Bearer Gamelink
  • Lowest combined ACPL game: 14 combined ACPL ChessAndCoffee vs Star-Bearer Gamelink
  • Highest ACPL game: 124 ACPL by Sazik in loss to majsza Gamelink
  • Highest combined ACPL game: 182 combined ACPL Seb32 vs tnan123 Gamelink
  • Longest game: Reached move 71 Arlberg vs gucelli Gamelink
  • Quickest mate: Mate on move 10 by majsza against Sazik Gamelink
  • Fastest draw: Ends on move 21 Ben_Yeomans2 vs sahkal Gamelink
  • Fastest resign: Resign on move 14 by val1313 against DaveyJones01 Gamelink

Stats from Round 6 of Lonewolf:

  • Biggest upset: 305 point difference MysticalRake1667 beats poet1c 1972 Gamelink
  • Lowest ACPL game: 5 ACPL by dctrip13 against demonicringworm Gamelink
  • Lowest combined ACPL game: 29 combined ACPL blaser vs Lightendiary Gamelink
  • Highest ACPL game: 129 ACPL by StriderJ in loss to dose7781 Gamelink
  • Highest combined ACPL game: 233 combined ACPL Boviced vs RaitonvsFuuton Gamelink
  • Longest game: Reached move 87 Priluk91 vs kponds Gamelink
  • Quickest mate: Mate on move 12 by dose7781 against StriderJ Gamelink
  • Fastest draw: Ends on move 41 arensma vs Bolsa Gamelink
  • Fastest resign: Resign on move 11 by JakobKS against HappilyNumb Gamelink

Finally as always feel free to join #lichessledger on slack if you want to help or contribute in any way to this newsletter.

Chess For You

Short Takes

Random Book Reviews

by @Petruchio

I am presenting in this piece several short book reviews.  Some readers may already be familiar with these, but I am deliberately choosing books that are off the beaten path and may give you something to think about.

Murray Chandler, How to Beat Your Dad at Chess.
Dan Heisman, Looking for Trouble
Dan Heisman, Everybody’s Second Chess Book (see review for availability)
John Nunn, John Nunn’s Chess Puzzle Book

 

Despite the humorous title, How To Beat Your Dad at Chess really isn’t a kid’s book.  You may have seen the book on Amamzon.com, but may not have thought it worth the time. Though it makes an attempt to be friendly to beginning players, the book is a catalog of the 50 best known mating patterns.  The book is written in an enjoyable and amusing style, but the information is top notch.  Each mating pattern is given two pages and six diagrams.  A head note explains the checkmate or gives some history, and the first two diagrams explain the pattern.  The next four diagrams show variations with different board layouts, colors, and interfering pieces.  Like any book that exhibits an ideal pattern, real life games may not come together so easily. However, the checkmates have withstood the test of time and will give players a good grounding in finding well known patterns.

 

NM Dan Heisman is a well known author and coach.  His column in Chess Café, Novice Nook, has been a staple of chess players for the last fifteen years.  He’s published a wide range of books aimed at different skill levels and problems for learners.  For example, in Looking for Trouble, Heisman takes a different approach to tactics.   While most tactics books ask you to solve the problem to win material or checkmate, in this book the challenge is to find the opponent’s threat and how to diffuse it.  It’s an interesting concept.  The book provides over 300 problems at all different rating levels, from 1100 - 2300 USCF/FIDE.  Heisman provides a lengthy introduction in which he discusses the theory of threats and how to counter them.  The problems themselves are divided into three sections: opening, middle game, endgame.  Each problem is rated 1 – 5 stars for difficulty.  Within each section the difficulty of the problems is mixed up, a 4-star problem possibly following a 2-star problem, for example. This is a feature I like, though a reader may have to give up or come back to the problem later.  Each problem is presented in three parts: the diagram and moves; the explanation of the threat; and the solution.  Heisman asks readers to look only at the diagram and listed moves first and find the threat posed after the last recorded move .  The reader should use their hand or a piece of paper to cover the rest of the problem so that they are not tempted to cheat. An option at this point is also to determine the solution to counter the threat, or the reader can wait. Once the reader has determined the threat, remove the paper and check your answer and read the explanation about the nature of the threat.  If the reader hasn’t already, it’s time to determine the solution to counter the threat (or if the threat answer was incorrect, to rethink the solution).  Then reveal the solution and check your answer.  All parts of each problem are thoroughly explained and annotated, and the explanation of the solution can be quite lengthy.  One bonus in the solution disucssion is that Heisman often includes information about well known positions or traps associated with the positions, adding yet more depth to the exercise. Occasionally, several problems are linked in order to show a series of threats in a single game.  The book is useful for improving board vision and seeing not just tactical possibilities but the way that threats and responses play into the larger strategic and tactical features of the game. 

 

Another book by Dan Heisman, Everybody’s 2nd Chess Book, is an odd but useful little book.  Like the title says, this is a book for those who are still early in their training.  It is intended, based on chapter matieral, for players rated under 1400 USCF/FIDE. There are no puzzles and few annotated games. What may interest members of this League, however, are the sections on board vision, thinking method, and planning.  This is the mental game. As in his Novice Nook columns, in this book Heisman is an advocate for the neuroscience and brain-work of chess. There is useful information for early and developing players, though sometimes mixed with information aimed at a scholastic audience (fair warning to adult readers, but keep in mind some scholastic players are ready to be masters). This is, however, a serious book with good (and well known) advice. If you as a player are struggling with board vision and general thinking method, this book may help; or if you have a family member or child who is just starting out, this book could save a lot of grief.  I wish I had come across it years ago.  NOTE: The book is apparently sold out.  Heisman notes on his website that there will probably be a new edition/printing.  In the meantime, you can look for used copied on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

 

John Nunn is a well known GM, chess author, and a puzzle solver having won the World Chess Solving Championship in 2004, 2007, and 2010.  John Nunn’s Chess Puzzle Book reveals his interest in solving and provides a unique variation on the chess puzzle genre.  This book was first published in 1999, republished with minor changes in 2008, and now a new revised and expanded edition appeared in 2014.  The first thing that needs to be said is that this book is difficult.  The easiest puzzles (rated 1 - 5) are pitched at a fairly demanding level, and go up from there.  Nunn explains in his Introduction that he does not organize the problems in traditional categories such as mates or winning a piece since deciding the purpose of the problem is part of the challenge in chess. Likewise, the book is not purely tactical nor positional. The book is arranged in three chapters of puzzles, another chapter titled “Find the Wrong Move,” which invites you to find the blunder that ends the game immediately, and a chapter entitled “The Test of Time,” which compares the playing strength of previous masters (from the beginning of the 20th Century) against contemporary master level play, and has a few puzzles as well. Finally a "Tests" section with game like puzzles (sometimes a quiet move is the solution), and a complex grading/marking scheme. You can compare your score to a chart that supposedly converts your score to Elo points (Nunn himself suggests taking the results with a large pinch of salt).  Each puzzle in the book has a diagram, a short description and a question, such as asking if you can do better than the players; or how does black counter a particular move; or is it possible to salvage the game; or even what should happen next.  Some puzzles contain tactics, but many explore other issues.  Every puzzle has a hint (on a different page), which doesn’t give away too much but hopefully points in the right direction.  Half of the book is given over to solutions.  As is Nunn’s style, the answers are thoroughly explained and highly annotated, with continuing lines of play, as well as possible alternative lines and problems that could be encountered.  This is not the kind of book one works through quickly.  I could imagine a dedicated player doing two or three puzzles a day (sometimes I only manage one in a day).  The book will provide you with very different types of solving skills than what you are used to.  Recommended for higher levels players or those who desire a formidable challenge.

 

Chess Puzzle

From a round 7 game in 45+45 on board 2: @riemannn vs @isaypotato. Black just played Bf6. White to move. Stockfish has trouble finding the solution initially. Only one move gives an large advantange for white but there's a lot of subtle ideas here. It's advised that you TAKE YOUR TIME with this one smiley. Thanks for the submission @riemannn.

For the answer see gamelink.

Gamelink

 

Creative Commons License

Lichess4545 Ledger #017 ©2017 by Thienan Nguyen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Thanks to @petruchio, @lakinwecker, @chessicstudent, @somethingpretentious, @riemannn and @Fuzz0410 for their contributions. Thanks to @petruchio for his help in editing this issue.