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Roll up, roll up for the OTF chess tournaments

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    Wouter may have been kind enough to invite me again, as he usually does, though I can't say for sure as I'm unable to recover my account on chess.com (my computer died, and I'd lost track of the email/login with which I created the account).

    Owing to my involvement in a long-running tournament I'd had to decline a string of invites to OTF tournaments; since I've now become un-involved, I'd be up for it this time - with the caveat that I'd have to ask for indulgence to be spared time-outs over the weekend of 24th-27th August when I'm away.

    Imaginatively, my new account name is irony_towers.

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      Cool.

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        Originally posted by irony towers View Post
        Imaginatively, my new account name is irony_towers.
        Easy to remember. I have sent your new account an invite too.

        I suggest that I pull the trigger on Monday, with whichever group of players we have by then.

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          No problem at all with the "no time out for IT on w/e 24-27th" thing, but how are we going to make that happen? 3 possibilities seem to be (a) relying on everyone remembering not to make a move in their games against IT on, say, the 24th or 25th, (b) Wouter changing the settings to have a longer time limit than 3 days or (c) Wouter changing the settings so it's not a no vac tournament, but with a gentlemen's agreement not to use the vacation facility except by special agreement. Obviously (a) is the simplest, but it does rely on people remembering when the time comes.

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            Yes, I think we've had similar situations before and it's worked itself out. I should be able to attend to games on the Friday morning and again on the Monday evening so, with a reminder message nearer the time, I hope it wouldn't create too much inconvenience. Of course, it's entirely my lookout if I do time out.

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              I really detest the vacation option, since it provides a distinct advantage to paying members. I play recreational games with a non-paying friend of mine, who has foolishly chosen a 1-day time limit. He regularly concedes the game by failing the time limit. I also failed the time limit once, but, being a paying member of the site, my status was automatically changed to "on vacation". This is unfair. I should have lost that game automatically.

              We have had less than ideal outcomes with longer time limits.

              I'd really rather arrange things through reminders.

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                If you could just beat a couple of people ranked about 1800 before the tournament starts, Mr Towers, to get your ranking a bit closer to where it should be!

                Joking aside, I think reminders should do the job.

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                  The important thing in chess is a sound defensive structure.

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                    Where is that from, Etienne?

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                      Just a game I'm playing in at the moment. It's surely a win from here, but even though I've been putting him under pressure I was so wide open that I've not been able to relax. It's a particularly odd position for a correspondence game rather than a blitz one. https://www.chess.com/daily/game/201881432

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                        Very unusual game! So much more open than most.

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                          You need to Apocalypse Now! your avatar.

                          Colonel Kurtz: Is my defensive structure unsound?
                          Capt. Benjamin Willard: I don't see any defensive structure at all, sir.

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                            Originally posted by irony towers View Post
                            Yes, I think we've had similar situations before and it's worked itself out. I should be able to attend to games on the Friday morning and again on the Monday evening so, with a reminder message nearer the time, I hope it wouldn't create too much inconvenience. Of course, it's entirely my lookout if I do time out.
                            Arsebiscuits! I just returned from my conference trip, and in my sleep-deprived state of mind*, I pulled the trigger on the tournament without thinking of the implications.

                            Please postpone making a move against Irony Towers for as long as reasonably possible. Thanks for your cooperation.

                            *in my field, there is a Sweden-based Greek professor who parties hard. I went along for a night, but even at 33, I am getting too old for this shit.

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                              Thanks, Wouter. Mercifully I've spotted this in the hour or so before we leave. I've made my first move in my games as White and sent requests to Bored and TPC to hold off until about 10pm today, which would give me the chance to pick up on Monday. Many thanks to all for your understanding and cooperation.

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                                I just found this thread after Irony T. mentioned its existence. Hi all.

                                I actually played a move against Irony before I read his comment - sorry about that.

                                I only play Blitz under normal circumstances, so I've developed a style where I play innovative but usually unsound lines in a bid to gain time. Of course that doesn't work in games where your opponent has time to think, so I've promised myself I will try and play more conventionally this time. Hasn't gone well so far.

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                                  Yes, that's my problem too.

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                                    I'd like to play some more Blitz but I've learnt the hard way that my internet connection is nowhere near good enough. I would forfeit half my matches through involuntary disconnection. Although, to be fair, that's probably a good thing as it stops me from playing (low stakes) internet poker, which some years ago I was probably losing around 15 hours a week to at my most compulsive.
                                    Last edited by Evariste Euler Gauss; 24-08-2018, 20:56.

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                                      Blimey, your internet must be atrocious if you can't get through more than a couple of blitz games without it hanging. I get annoyed with mine for loading pages slowly on the computer when I've got the VPN switched on.

                                      Anyway, good fun so far. I have thrown caution to the wind against EEG and have a feeling I'm about to come spectacularly undone against Wouter, although I can't quite work out how just yet.

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                                        Originally posted by Sam View Post
                                        have a feeling I'm about to come spectacularly undone against Wouter, although I can't quite work out how just yet.
                                        Same here.

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                                          Well, that match just finished was my first win against Etienne after a run of nine consecutive H2H defeats, my last previous victory having been in OTF no. 9 back in March 2017. In the last few moves of the match, I'm not sure Etienne was quite giving things his usual level of attention (and Etienne's very last move looked suspiciously like a deliberate decision to hasten the inevitable), but I'll happily take it.

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                                            Without giving away my tactics too much (I joke, the following is perfectly obvious to you all), I always go to castling as soon as possible. What are people's feelings on this? I think that there are a fair few on here that never seem to bother and I am starting to wonder whether it is actually that great a tactical move in general. Perhaps, more skilful players than I use it better.

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                                              EEG, missing the en passant was the only time I wasn't concentrating, but as long as you played properly there was no way back from that mistake.
                                              I don't think I could have done much else at the end. If I'd pushed the pawn up to block the check then R-d6+ wins my Queen.

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                                                Bored, castling early on is generally a good plan. The main downside (particularly if you castle on the Queen's side) is that you can make it a bit of a target, whereas until you castle the opponent doesn't know where to target their attack.

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                                                  Relatively early castling is generally a good thing. But so is getting a share of control of the centre, so there are usually difficult choices to make. I tend to castle after the main race to develop knights, bishops and a pawn or two is over. The main thing is not so much to castle super-early as to make sure that your opponent doesn't get the chance to prevent you castling. e.g by lodging an unmoveable assault on a square between king and rook, or by forcing a king move.

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                                                    Yes, what they said. I still prefer to castle early myself – certainly in the first ten moves – but I am less beholden to the 'move a pawn, then the king's knight, then the king's bishop, then castle (not necessarily in that exact order)' plan for my first four moves than I was during the first few tournaments when still learning the ropes. You don't want to fall behind on development, but at the same time the king is still a bit safer when castled (especially kingside) than it is when out in the open, so it's ... maybe not one thing less to worry about, but a bit of a thing less to worry about.

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