Freestyle Chess is Coming Home

[Eduard]

We are 20 Players today.

[Ozymandias]

Didn't registration end yesterday? There were 19 this morning.

[Eduard]

New Rules:

(3) The following criteria are used for tie-breaking in this order:

a) number of „stalemate wins“ or „material wins“ against a bare king
b) number of games played in „centaur mode“
c) number of games with Black
d) Buchholz (BH) points
e) Sonneborn-Berger (SBP) points
f) number of wins
g) number of wins with Black
h) highest rated and defeated opponent.

This three games I played few minutes ago in a row in Centaur mode on InfinityChess:

[Event "Long 12' + 2'', Rated"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.11.12"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Paul, Stockfish"]
[Black "SolistaChess \[ct\]"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A06"]
[WhiteElo "2421"]
[BlackElo "2212"]
[PlyCount "185"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 e6 3. c4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5 c6 8. Bd3
b6 9. b4 a5 10. a3 Ba6 11. O-O Qc8 12. h3 Qb7 13. Qc2 Bxd3 14. Qxd3 Ra7 15.
Rab1 axb4 16. axb4 Rfa8 17. Nd2 Bd8 18. Qc2 h6 19. Rfc1 Ra3 20. Bg3 Be7 21. Qd1
Bd8 22. Bh2 b5 23. Qc2 Bc7 24. Bxc7 Qxc7 25. Qb2 e5 26. Nb3 R3a7 27. Ra1 e4 28.
Rxa7 Rxa7 29. Ra1 Nb8 30. Ra5 Rxa5 31. bxa5 Na6 32. Qe2 Qb8 33. f3 Nc7 34. Nb1
exf3 35. Qxf3 Ne4 36. N1d2 Nxd2 37. Nxd2 b4 38. Qf5 Qe8 39. e4 dxe4 40. Qxe4
Qxe4 41. Nxe4 b3 42. Kf2 b2 43. Nd2 f5 44. Ke3 Kf7 45. Kd3 Ke6 46. Kc2 Kd5 47.
Nf3 g5 48. Kxb2 g4 49. hxg4 fxg4 50. Ne5 Kxd4 51. Nxg4 h5 52. Nf6 Kxc5 53. Nxh5
Kb5 54. g4 Kxa5 55. g5 Nd5 56. g6 Ne7 57. g7 Kb5 58. Kc3 Kc5 59. Nf6 Kd6 60.
Kc4 Ke5 61. Ng4+ Ke6 62. Nh6 Kf6 63. g8=Q Nxg8 64. Nxg8+ Kf7 65. Nh6+ Kg6 66.
Ng4 Kf5 67. Ne3+ Ke4 68. Nc2 Kf5 69. Nb4 Kf4 70. Kc5 Kf5 71. Kxc6 Kg6 72. Na6
Kf7 73. Nb8 Ke6 74. Na6 Kf7 75. Nb4 Kf8 76. Kd6 Ke8 77. Ke6 Kf8 78. Nd5 Kg7 79.
Nf6 Kg6 80. Ne4 Kg7 81. Nd2 Kg6 82. Nb1 Kh7 83. Nd2 Kg6 84. Nb1 Kh7 85. Kd6 Kg6
86. Nd2 Kf5 87. Kc6 Ke5 88. Nc4+ Kd4 89. Nd6 Ke5 90. Nb5 Ke6 91. Nd6 Ke5 92.
Nb7 Kd4 93. Kd6 1/2-1/2


[fen]8/1N6/3K4/8/3k4/8/8/8 b - - 0 93[/fen]


Draw but opponent won with materal win.

[Event "Long 11' + 0'', Rated"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.11.12"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mairaj42, Stockfish"]
[Black "SolistaChess \[ct\]"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2450"]
[BlackElo "2281"]
[PlyCount "130"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f3
h5 9. Nd5 Bxd5 10. exd5 Nbd7 11. Qd2 g6 12. Be2 Bg7 13. O-O b6 14. c4 O-O 15.
Rae1 a5 16. Bg5 Qc7 17. Na1 Rac8 18. Be3 Rfe8 19. Nc2 b5 20. Na3 bxc4 21. Rc1
e4 22. Nxc4 exf3 23. gxf3 Qb8 24. b3 Bf8 25. Kh1 Qa8 26. Rcd1 a4 27. Bd3 axb3
28. axb3 Qb7 29. Bd4 Ne5 30. Bc2 Qxd5 31. Qg2 Qb7 32. Bxe5 dxe5 33. Bxg6 fxg6
34. Qxg6+ Qg7 35. Qf5 Rcd8 36. Rxd8 Rxd8 37. Nxe5 Bc5 38. Qe6+ Kf8 39. Re1 Be3
40. h3 Rd2 41. Qc8+ Ne8 42. Qf5+ Kg8 43. Qe6+ Kh7 44. Qf5+ Kg8 45. Qe6+ Kh7 46.
Ng4 Bg5 47. Qxe8 hxg4 48. Qe4+ Qg6 49. Qxg6+ Kxg6 50. fxg4 Bf4 51. h4 Rb2 52.
Kg1 Rxb3 53. Re4 Rg3+ 54. Kf2 Rxg4 55. Ke2 Kf5 56. Kd3 Rxh4 57. Ra4 Rh3+ 58.
Kc4 Rh1 59. Kd5 Re1 60. Ra8 Re5+ 61. Kc6 Re6+ 62. Kb5 Be5 63. Kc5 Rg6 64. Ra4
Rg4 65. Rxg4 Kxg4 1/2-1/2


[fen]8/8/8/2K1b3/6k1/8/8/8 w - - 0 66[/fen]


Draw but I won with material win.

[Event "Long 7' + 2'', Rated"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.11.12"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Murx, Lc0"]
[Black "SolistaChess \[ct\]"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D30"]
[WhiteElo "2380"]
[BlackElo "2296"]
[PlyCount "143"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Be7 4. Bf4 Nf6 5. Nc3 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Bd3 dxc4 8. Bxc4
c5 9. d5 exd5 10. Nxd5 Nc6 11. Nc7 Rb8 12. Qa4 Bb7 13. O-O Qc8 14. Rfd1 Nh5 15.
Nd5 Nxf4 16. exf4 Bf6 17. Nxf6+ gxf6 18. h3 Qc7 19. Bd5 Rbd8 20. f5 Nb4 21.
Bxb7 Qxb7 22. a3 Qa6 23. Qxa6 Nxa6 24. g4 h5 25. Rd2 Rfe8 26. Kg2 Rxd2 27. Nxd2
Nc7 28. Kf3 hxg4+ 29. hxg4 Rd8 30. Ne4 Kg7 31. Ke2 Rd4 32. f3 Nd5 33. Rc1 Nf4+
34. Ke3 Nd5+ 35. Kf2 c4 36. Rc2 b5 37. Rd2 Rxd2+ 38. Nxd2 a5 39. Ke2 Kf8 40.
Nb1 b4 41. axb4 axb4 42. Nd2 c3 43. bxc3 Nxc3+ 44. Kd3 Ke7 45. Kc4 Kd6 46. Kxb4
Nd1 47. Kb5 Kd5 48. Kb6 Kd4 49. Nf1 Ne3 50. Nh2 Ke5 51. Kc7 Kf4 52. Kd7 Kg3 53.
Ke7 Kxh2 54. Kxf7 Kg3 55. Ke7 Kxf3 56. Kxf6 Kxg4 57. Kg6 Nxf5 58. Kf6 Ne3 59.
Ke6 Kf4 60. Kd6 Ke4 61. Ke7 Ke5 62. Kd8 Ke4 63. Kc7 Kd4 64. Kc6 Ke4 65. Kd6 Kd4
66. Ke6 Ke4 67. Ke7 Nf5+ 68. Ke6 Nd4+ 69. Kd6 Nf5+ 70. Ke6 Nd4+ 71. Kd6 Nf5+
72. Ke6 1/2-1/2


[fen]8/8/4K3/5n2/4k3/8/8/8 b - - 0 72[/fen]


Draw but I won with material win.

[Ozymandias]

Unfortunately, the big news about the first weekend of the tournament, was that there's nothing new.

Games ended in a draw, as expected, and some people kept disrespecting the game and other players, as usual. To name names: William Fuler AKA Balabachi, AKA Valhala, AKA Takker AKA PublicEnemyN1... and Olivier Evan. The first is an admin and TD over at IC, the other is a player know by everyone for his "unorthodox" openings; even Arno singled him out as "one player, who lost an extraordinary number of games, not comparable to any other player or engine" (just below the first graph in the article linked).

Out of 30 scheduled games, 28 were drawn, with the other two being awarded loss and victory to the aforementioned TD. A loss by forfeit, as he didn't show up and this is what he had to say for himself:



A "victory" for this game (a game it was indeed, although I don't know what white was playing at):
[pgn][Event "Long 60' + 30'', Rated, Freestyle Chess League Qualification Tour (starts 13thNovember, 1830 ST)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.11.14 8:33 PM"]
[Round "?"]
[White "PublicEnemyN1 [ct]"]
[Black "OlivierEvan [ct]"]
[WhiteEngine ""]
[BlackEngine ""]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[TimeControl "0:0/0:0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2549"]
[BlackElo "2379"]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 g6 6.Nf3 a6 7.h4 h5 8.g4 c5 9.f5 hxg4 10.fxe6 fxe6 11.Bd3 Rg8 12.Ng5 Qe7 13.O-O cxd4 14.Rf7 Qc5 15.Nxe6 dxc3+ 16.Nxc5 Bxc5+ 17.Kh1 Kxf7 18.e6+ Kg7 19.exd7 Bxd7 20.bxc3 Nc6 21.Rb1 Rge8 22.Rxb7 Ra7 23.Rxd7+ Rxd7 24.Bxg6 Ree7 25.Bf5 Rd6 26.Qxg4+
1-0[/pgn]
All this might just strike as odd to the uninitiated, but I've been around since before IC was up, back when they played under the CB umbrella, and I remember. Nothing needs to be said about Olivier, he has many games like the one above, while in between, he'll play just like anyone else who has an engine an a decent book. But William needs his memory refreshed, as he was joking at the end asking if he owed Olivier 20€ or what. When called upon his sense of humor, he unsurprisingly played coy and tried to make it about me and my suspicions. I told him there was history, he asked about it so this is what I can recall, off the top of my head:

• In Qualification Group C, for the 1st Infinity Freestyle Chess Tournament 2012, he withdrew as soon as his chances evaporated.

• In the 1st Centaur Weekend Tourney (Freestyle Grand Prix 2015), he was absent in rounds 3-5.

• Today he didn't even show up; this is a pattern, when the tournament isn't important, he may fulfill his obligation as a player, or not.

It would be bad enough for any player to show this lack of sportsmanship, but when one is among the organizers of an event, he has to set an example (Caesar's wife and all that).

[mbabigian]

I can say I'm very disappointed by the way these are run and this will be my last. I've played in many of these over the last 25 years and the lack of professionalism is ridiculous. I'm in the absolute worst timezone for this event (2am start) and I'm not a kid anymore (4 grandkids). If I can commit to arriving 30 minutes before the round starts and be ready to play, I expect the same respect from my opponents.

The delayed start of round one because two people were late was already a disgrace in my book. The clocks should be started on time, every round. In addition,, putting a player that won due to a disrespectful no show in the awkward position of asking him publicly to allow the no show to make up the game is also disrespectful.

I regret entering,
Mike

[Eduard]

Unfortunately, the big news about the first weekend of the tournament, was that there's nothing new.

Games ended in a draw, as expected, and some people kept disrespecting the game and other players, as usual. To name names: William Fuler AKA Balabachi, AKA Valhala, AKA Takker AKA PublicEnemyN1... and Olivier Evan. The first is an admin and TD over at IC, the other is a player know by everyone for his "unorthodox" openings; even Arno singled him out as "one player, who lost an extraordinary number of games, not comparable to any other player or engine" (just below the first graph in the article linked).

Out of 30 scheduled games, 28 were drawn, with the other two being awarded loss and victory to the aforementioned TD. A loss by forfeit, as he didn't show up and this is what he had to say for himself:



A "victory" for this game (a game it was indeed, although I don't know what white was playing at):
[pgn][Event "Long 60' + 30'', Rated, Freestyle Chess League Qualification Tour (starts 13thNovember, 1830 ST)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.11.14 8:33 PM"]
[Round "?"]
[White "PublicEnemyN1 [ct]"]
[Black "OlivierEvan [ct]"]
[WhiteEngine ""]
[BlackEngine ""]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[TimeControl "0:0/0:0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2549"]
[BlackElo "2379"]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 g6 6.Nf3 a6 7.h4 h5 8.g4 c5 9.f5 hxg4 10.fxe6 fxe6 11.Bd3 Rg8 12.Ng5 Qe7 13.O-O cxd4 14.Rf7 Qc5 15.Nxe6 dxc3+ 16.Nxc5 Bxc5+ 17.Kh1 Kxf7 18.e6+ Kg7 19.exd7 Bxd7 20.bxc3 Nc6 21.Rb1 Rge8 22.Rxb7 Ra7 23.Rxd7+ Rxd7 24.Bxg6 Ree7 25.Bf5 Rd6 26.Qxg4+
1-0[/pgn]
All this might just strike as odd to the uninitiated, but I've been around since before IC was up, back when they played under the CB umbrella, and I remember. Nothing needs to be said about Olivier, he has many games like the one above, while in between, he'll play just like anyone else who has an engine an a decent book. But William needs his memory refreshed, as he was joking at the end asking if he owed Olivier 20€ or what. When called upon his sense of humor, he unsurprisingly played coy and tried to make it about me and my suspicions. I told him there was history, he asked about it so this is what I can recall, off the top of my head:

• In Qualification Group C, for the 1st Infinity Freestyle Chess Tournament 2012, he withdrew as soon as his chances evaporated.

• In the 1st Centaur Weekend Tourney (Freestyle Grand Prix 2015), he was absent in rounds 3-5.

• Today he didn't even show up; this is a pattern, when the tournament isn't important, he may fulfill his obligation as a player, or not.

It would be bad enough for any player to show this lack of sportsmanship, but when one is among the organizers of an event, he has to set an example (Caesar's wife and all that).

When Medusa sacrificed his bishop against you yesterday, I honestly thought that he did it intentionally. I couldn't imagine that someone who had posted the freestyle rules in the InfinityChess forum for others, but didn't know these rules himself. Of course, I was all the more astonishing when it turned out that he had simply forgotten the rule with Material Win. Happens. However, it is not funny that someone does not show up for the game in round 2. The opponent was known to him the evening before. One could think of cheating without false shame. Someone who as TD runs daily tournaments on InfinityChess, himself forgets the time. Has an engine tournament been canceled because of this? My joy for this event has decreased a lot. Things like that are what ruin the tournament. And even worse if it is the infinityChess TD who behave strangely. Instead of advertising on their own behalf, they destroy the course of the tournament themselves.

[Ozymandias]

Sorry for the wake-up call, but newcomers are catching on quickly, and this is the hard reality. When Arno insist on keeping on players like Olivier, he's being very shortsighted. Yes, he's a longtime "player" and ensure one slot on every IC tournament, but how many are turned off by people like him? I know of a few who no longer take part in Freestyle, can you blame them?

As for the TDs, it's just William who exhibits this kind of behavior. I wouldn't include Kevin in the bag.

[Ozymandias]

I can say I'm very disappointed by the way these are run and this will be my last. I've played in many of these over the last 25 years and the lack of professionalism is ridiculous. I'm in the absolute worst timezone for this event (2am start) and I'm not a kid anymore (4 grandkids). If I can commit to arriving 30 minutes before the round starts and be ready to play, I expect the same respect from my opponents.

The delayed start of round one because two people were late was already a disgrace in my book. The clocks should be started on time, every round. In addition,, putting a player that won due to a disrespectful no show in the awkward position of asking him publicly to allow the no show to make up the game is also disrespectful.

I regret entering,
Mike

As I was saying above, you're just adding your name to an already too long a list. When will Arno take note and clean house? Freestyle is dying, there's not much room for more mistakes.

[Eduard]

To the posted game. It's a joke that you play something like this in Centaur mode and 60m + 30s in our time. Every player with 1500 Elo plays better as a human (without an engine)!

[Ozymandias]

I've often wondered whether he does it as a favor for friends, for money or for what. It makes no sense, he knows perfectly well they're bad openings. If he wished to test them, he could just as well see the engine play it out.

That's why I found William's joke completely out of place.