Well played to RowanKent, Midnight17 & ADannatt26, our top three players today, scoring 23 points, 18 and 16 respectively.  There was some very good chess today, so well played to all - it was great to everyone winning at least one game.

I think that one question that all members must ask themselves is "how can I do better?"  Arena chess rewards players who win games quickly because they fit more games in and so have more opportunities to score points.  But, everyone knows this, and so there is a temptation to rush.  I would strongly suggest that you are better to play reasonably quickly, but also to understand that there are periods of games and certain positions which require more thought.  I suspect that the easiest way for most players improve their results is to try to be aware of the moments in games which deserve more attention.  After all, you get no points for losing games.  Another thing to think about is when you go Berserk.  You get more points for winning if you do take this option, but you also half you time.  It is probably worth thinking about this as well.

I would like to congratulate two players in particular today.  Firstly sana333.  This was sana333's first tournament in the SJC Lichess club and sana333 played really well, winning 6 games out of 9 and coming 6th overall.  Very well played, and welcome to the club.

I would also like to congratulate MerryJazz.  MerryJazz regularly does very well in these events, but today had a tough start, losing several matches.  In that situation, it can be tempting to give up and stop trying.  But, that is not what happened.  Instead, he continued playing and managed to win 3 and draw 1 of his last 5 games, including winning against the runner up in todays event.  Very well played.  Is it possible that you were rushing a bit at the start?

If you have a Lichess login, you can see the full results and look through all the games here: lichess.org/tournament/5qIyeEDu

We are continuing to run our events on Lichess.  Tonight we had two tournaments, both and Arena set-up.

Fischer Random
We started with Fischer Random (also known as Chess960.  This is where the board is set up differently.  The Pawns are in the usual places, but the other pieces, while remaining on the back rank, are mixed up.  Why play this form of chess?  Well, it is nice to have a change and it is fun.  It is also good to mix things up a bit.  Players get used to using certain openings and rely on this knowledge.  By changing the set-up, it forces players to play a bit more on instinct, which sharpens them up.  But the main reason? - it's fun.

 So - how did everyone do?  RowanKent managed the change in set up best to secure a win, even lose in his last match to a very amusing Checkmate after only 5 moves.  Well played to OliverRichards for seeing it.  The position has been used in the Checkmate in 1 puzzle below.  Can you find Checkmate?

Koliyfl0w37 and OliverRichards finished equal on points, with Koliyfl0w37 taking second place on tournament performance grade.  Well played to all the players.

If you have a Lichess account, you can see the full results and all the games here: lichess.org/tournament/pj0F722b

Blitz
In our second Arena style event this evening, we had a half hour Blitz competition.  There was a very close finish to the event with Midnight17 pushing RowanKent all the way and very nearly winning himself.  AbleLopsidedGiraffe looked on course for victory after winning his first three matches before losing a few towards the end.  Very well played to all.

If you have a Lichess account, you can see the full results and all the games here: lichess.org/tournament/EKqfAGfQ

Chess Problem - Checkmate in 1
This position is from the game between OliverRichards and RowanKent.  How did OliverRichards deliver checkmate in only one move here?
​
By the way - you may wonder how the pieces came to be in these positions - surely it is an impossible position?  Yes, in normal chess it would be an impossible position, but this was a game of Fischer Random chess - otherwise known as Chess960.

A match took place today between Essex, King Edwards Grammar School (Chelmsford) and Suffolk in a Team Battle Blitz on Lichess.  It was a great event and played with a great spirit.  With three strong teams playing each other, we were in for a treat.  The contest remained tight for the first half an hour, before KEGS pulled out a lead.  Being in a strong position, a couple of their players very kindly paused for a cup of tea, before re-joining the battle in the last 15 minutes.  Suffolk took full advantage of the opportunity and took the lead with about ten minutes to go.  It was then neck and neck all the way to the finish, with Suffolk taking victory by a single point.  The match finished as follows:

1st: Suffolk - 125 points
2nd: KEGS - 124 points
3rd: Essex - 99 points

What a close contest - who would have imagined that we would have such a tight finish? I would like to say a big thank you to all the players from all three teams.  This was the first time Suffolk has competed in this arena, and we are very grateful to Essex and KEGS for playing us, and to Robin Slade for setting up the event and organising the Essex and KEGS teams - very much appreciated.  I would also like to thank every single player in the Suffolk team.   We had a truly fantastic turn out - 25 players represented Suffolk and we are grateful to all of them.  It is always tempting to look at the highest graded players, but what we consistently find in tournaments is that it matters much more how strong the team is as a whole than whether you have the best two or three players.  Congratulations to the whole Suffolk team - and thank you.

If you have a Lichess account, you can see the full results and all the games here: lichess.org/tournament/P1cSD2Vm

Game of the Day
The game below is taken from one of the games today, and earned HarryOscar the "Game of the Day" award, chosen by Ed Player - see awards list below for further details.  Ed has analysed and made notes in the game - this is well worth a look and is shown below.  Thanks Ed!
You can also find this analysis here: lichess.org/study/9tbsYAXq/UBTw9RFG

​​Suffolk Awards
We were very lucky to have had both Adam Hunt and Ed Player following the Suffolk players.  Both are titled chess players and we are very lucky to have them helping chess in Suffolk.  Ed Player very kindly looked through a lot of games and followed the event and has made the following awards and special mentions:

​Player of the Day
"Best player has to go to Midnight17. He managed to take out the Essex no.1 seed SYM_Lak2Splashy and only lost two games.  Very well played Midnight17."

Performance of the Day
"Meapearson gets my vote for best performance, performing at 1444 with a rating of just 1223 . He played really steady chess and if he can play a bit more actively and confidently against higher rated opponents, he'll be even tougher to beat.  Very well played Meaperson."

Game of the Day
HarryOscar - "For best game prize, I found this game: lichess.org/lTPcx5I2/ - the standard is really high for two 1500s and HarryOscar had some amazing vision (or perhaps a bit of luck - who knows, it's blitz) to come out of a complicated tactical combination in the middle game."

Mentioned in Dispatches
"There were some great team performances from the likes of Rafandros, RowanKent, and Meancactus, who used the berserk options regularly to try and help the team score more points."

Final Thoughts...
Don't be carried away by the event.  If you are too desperate to win and gain points for the team, you may well not do as well as you would like.  The thing is to focus on playing the best chess you can while managing your time effectively.  If you can do that, you will get the points anyway.

Oh - much more important than that - enjoy it - otherwise there is no point...

Can anyone stop him???  RowanKent had a night to remember - played 11, won 11.  Not a bad streak!  Well played.  With a number of players tied on 14 points at the end, Koliyfl0w37 mounted a late surge and took second place on tiebreak on the basis of having a slightly higher performance grade - extremely well played.  HarryOscar took 3rd place on tiebreak, while AbleLopsidedGiraffe was very unlucky to miss out on the top 3 while also scoring 14 points.

Full results and all the games here: lichess.org/tournament/qDzFg5RE

A bit of a change today.  We are playing Essex next weekend - Sunday 22nd November at 10.30am in a Battle Blitz on www.lichess.org, so we thought we had better have a trial event this weekend.  It was brilliant.  It was a different format to the events on Chesskid.  Instead of being Swiss pairings over a number of rounds, players instead played as many games as they could in one hour.  It was really exciting and tense.  Also - some great chess.

As tournament organiser, I can not play in the events on ChessKid, but on Lichess I can take part - in fact it enters me automatically.   So, how did I do? - I lost nearly every game.  And, yes, I was trying... oh well!!!

In one of the games I was playing Precho605.  I got off to a good start, and then it went downhill.  Precho605 very kindly pointed out that I missed taking his Queen for free!!!  But, I loved the way he got me with Checkmate and I have used it in the chess problem this week.

Suffolk vs Essex - Sunday 22nd November 10.30am on Lichess
Next week, Suffolk are taking on Essex in a similar event on Lichess - if you want to take part, you win need to join the Suffolk Junior Chess Club on Lichess.  To join, please email Tim Kent at suffolkjuniorchess@gmail.com.

Results from today's event
We had a great event today - lots of players and lots of chess.  Well played to everyone.  In the end RowanKent scraped home with a win, just beating HarryOscar to first place, mainly by going 'Berserk' more often.  This is where you half your time, and so make it more difficult, but get an extra point if you win that game.  AbleLopsidedGiraffe also played extremely well to come third.

But - well played to all players.

Answer:

..., Nh3+;
Kh1, Qg1+;
Rxg1, N2#

Black moves his Knight to h3, which is 'Check'.  White has no option other than to move his King to h1.  Black then puts his Queen on g1, which is, again, 'check'.  White's only option is to take the Queen with his Rook - this is the only route out of 'check'.  White Queen is now penned in by his own pieces and can not move.  So, Black moved the Knight to f2, which is 'checkmate' because the Knight can not be taken and the white King is penned in by his own pieces.  This is known as 'smothered mate' and I think is one of the most satisfying ways to win a game - very well played Precho605.

I saw a brilliant game this evening.  I was watching theworldoflegend playing ORichards and they were both playing really well.  There was a great finish to the game;  theworldoflegend (playing as black) had 3 extra pawns, but ORichards had a Bishop.  I was fascinated to see who would win.  I suspected that having more pawns might be better, but the computer analysis showed was roughly equal.  Well played to both players.  You can click through the game at the end of this article and see who won in the end.  It finished with a really clever move which won the game.

You can also see the whole game and analyse it at this link (assuming you have a ChessKid login): www.chesskid.com/fastchess/game/30417610


Results

Sunday 16th November: Long Lay In Bullet
www.chesskid.com/tournament/sunday-long-lay-in-bullet-134065/results

Wednesday 11th November: Wednesday Blitz
​www.chesskid.com/tournament/wednesday-blitz-144856/results

Congratulations to theworldoflegend who won tonight's event with a perfect 3 wins from 3 games.  Well played also to AbleLopsidedGiraffe who also looked on course for 3/3, only to draw by repetition.  That is the thing with computer chess - in a normal game the players may not notice that the position has repeated, but the computer certainly does.  One to watch out for, but you will never spot all the repeats.  MeanCactus completed the top 3 positions with 1.5/3.

If you have a Chesskid login, you can see all the games and the full results here: www.chesskid.com/tournament/wednesday-blitz-133206/results