I prefer longer games and an increment.
1 Like
If it’s just one game per round, I would change my vote to longer. If it’s blitz, maybe do a best of 3?
Isn’t it a tournament ie a league not a knock-out?
Optimal would be double round robin (ie with white and black against all others), but that might be too long if there are a lot of players, in which case single round robin (or Swiss I guess).
OK, I’m going to bring this up because someone has to.
The overriding problem with longer time limits in online games is people using openings “books”, which would take a lot of the fun out of it imo.
Oh right, sorry, missed that.
I’m not sure, but I think it’s actually allowed on chess.com up to a certain number of moves? I don’t use them though, and I don’t know them really, other than what I’ve worked out in game, so my openings are all pretty mistake-ridden.
That’s really generous. Thank you.
5 Likes
Yes it is allowed (they can hardly prevent it). But ime playing out book openings to move 20 or 25 or whatever becomes a somewhat tedious theoretical exercise - and I’ve done it before with people in 3 day games on chess.com.
1 Like
Banned for using book openings?
How can they possibly tell you’re not someone playing a line you know like the back of your hand?
I remember reading their official policy a year or two ago that said it’s allowed for that reason.
Not engines though of course.
This is me as well. I’m fine with 3+2 or 5+0 as the starting time, and 1 minute added to that time per rating difference.
I looked it up on lichess and the only way to set up that format is to add time to your opponent at the start of the game in 15-second increments. I don’t play on chess.com but a quick google search tells me there’s no way to add time to your opponent or to set up a time handicap.
One more idea: if two players prefer 10+0 and the format we agree on is 5+0, they could have the option of playing their preferred time control if both agree to that. Maybe that would make it more enjoyable for everyone.
I’m bad at chess so I’d be happy to give someone a bye
1 Like
This seems a good idea.
I think we can get around this fairly easily - in a 7 min vs 9 min game, start it as a 10 min game with one player allowing their clock to run down 3 mins at the start and the other 1 min.
I think maybe they allow it in one-day or slower games but not otherwise? Not sure though.
I would hope that nobody here will be using a book to cheat. I don’t think that’s something we really need to worry about.
2 Likes
Ah that would explain it, and it seems sensible for sites to ban it in OTB games.
You can give time to your opponent, but it has to be an unrated game between friends.
Chess.com’s contention is that giving time in rated games would mess up the ratings, like cause players to be rated unnaturally highly because they’re playing with extra time. That’s fair enough I think. The “between friends” requirement is weird though.
btw I realised there’s no reason to even have “rounds” as such, its round robin so we can just play all the pairings whenever convenient.
Sounds fun, I’m around 1800 on chess.com
Instead of time handicaps, another idea maybe is 1 pawn for every ~100 point difference.
Count me in, I’m at 1500 provisional on lichess, have played about 10 games rapid.
Oh hell I’m in. I haven’t logged into chess.com in forever. Looks like my blitz rating is 1189, and that was only playing people I know. I’m pretty sure that rating has to be pretty much sandbagging with respect to this tournament. Without knowing anything about Alex I would snap play him with a rook and pawn odds.
Also I have always been a bigger fan of 3 2 versus 5 0. I like to at least have 2 seconds to consider a board.
(hey I beat kioshk the two times I played him, surprised I played that fucker twice. Easily my most hated person I’ve met on message boards, guess he must have raged me after 2013, but still fuck him)
We have 15 people who voted yes in the poll already, so a good sized group. Do we want to consider Swiss or Quads? That could help with the rating gap problem and possibly even eliminate the need for handicaps.
I personally think a long tournament may drag and become less fun, but maybe that’s just be me. Up for whatever!