24 February 2024

Freestyle Goats Might Return

Continuing with last week's post, Carlsen Wins First Major Chess960 Event of 2024 (February 2024), here's a Youtube stream showing the games from the final day.


Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge - Final (3:09:15) • 'Streamed live on Feb 16, 2024'

For streams from the previous days, see @freestyle_chess/streams (youtube.com). The 'About' page informs,

The primary focus of the competition is on showcasing the personalities and extraordinary skills of Super Grandmasters, with Magnus Carlsen himself handpicking seven world-class challengers.

Handpicked challengers? Is that why two of Carlsen's most dangerous opponents -- GM Nakamura and GM Wesley So -- weren't playing? Whatever the reason, in Jan Henric Buettner: "My dream is a Grand Slam of Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenges on five continents" (chessbase.com; 'Press release'), we learn,

It was also revealed that Hikaru Nakamura, the reigning World Fischer Random Chess Champion, has an "extended invitation," so the American top GM and streamer will likely join the field in 2025. He had to decline for the first event because he wanted to prepare differently for the upcoming Candidates Tournament.

If this comes to fruition, we can look forward to much top-level chess960. Thanks, Weissenhaus people, for a great show!

17 February 2024

Carlsen Wins First Major Chess960 Event of 2024

In last month's only post on this blog, Freestyle Goats Challenge (January 2024), I closed it saying,
The official site is Weissenhaus - Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge (freestyle-chess.com). I know that I'll be coming out of hibernation to spectate.

I didn't find the opportunity to spectate, so I'll make up for that lapse by documenting the event: Carlsen Beats Caruana To Win Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge (chess.com; Colin_McGourty; 'Day 8'). For his final article on the same event, the same Chess.com journalist produced the following list.


2024-02-17: Nine Things We Learned - Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge 2024 (chess.com; Colin_McGourty; links to previous articles: 'Day 1-8')

Every one of those nine points is worth further discussion, but I'm not the right person to discuss them, at least for now. Also worth a mention is Tag: Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge (chessbase.com), with links to 14 Chessbase articles by various writers. A few of those articles are of considerable background interest, but they will have to wait for another time.

20 January 2024

Freestyle Goats Challenge

I admit it; I just can't stop. In my previous post, Sayonara? (December 2023), I wrote,
Now I'm going back into hibernation, although I won't rule out an occasional post if I have something to say about a subject.

The hibernation can wait for now, because an upcoming event deserves to be promoted. From two of the top chess news sources:-

  • 2023-12-01: Freestyle Super Tournament in Germany - Seven top players challenge Magnus Carlsen (chessbase.com; Press Release) • 'From 9 to 16 February 2024, the Weissenhaus Private Nature Luxury Resort on the Baltic Sea in Germany will be the venue for a super tournament in "Freestyle Chess", also known as Chess960. Seven world-class players, including world champion Ding Liren and Vincent Keymer, will challenge the G.O.A.T (Greatest of all Times), Magnus Carlsen, in a Chess960 tournament with classical time control.'

  • 2023-12-04: Carlsen, Ding, Caruana In New $200,000 Classical Fischer-Random Event (chess.com; TarjeiJS) • 'Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T Challenge will take place February 9-16 and marks Carlsen's first battle with his successor, World Champion GM Ding Liren, since the Chinese grandmaster took over the throne.'

Freestyle? It's becoming a rite of passage for a new chess960 sponsor : invent a new C960/FRC name for a new tournament. I'll add it to the names at the top of the blog. The more the merrier! From the 'Press Release':-

In addition to Magnus Carlsen (33) and Ding Liren (31), the following six players will compete: Fabiano Caruana (31, USA/Italy, #2 in the world), Levon Aronian (41, USA/Armenia, #4 of all times), Alireza Firouzja (20, France/Iran, #5 in the world), Dommaraju Gukesh (17, India, top world rank #9), Nodirbek Abdusattorov (19, Uzbekistan, world rank #25), and Germany's number one, Vincent Keymer (19, top world rank #18).

Where are GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So? I imagine it's a coincidence that both were threats to Carlsen in high-visibility chess960 matches. But enough nitpicking -- the show must go on!

The official site is Weissenhaus - Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge (freestyle-chess.com). I know that I'll be coming out of hibernation to spectate.

30 December 2023

Sayonara?

My chess960 blogging started on my main blog and lasted for about nine months...

...It continued uninterrupted on this current blog for a little more than six years, when I decided it was time for a pause...

...The pause lasted a year and a half...

  • 2017-01-21: 'Everyone I Know Plays Chess960' • 'After an 18-month absence from chess960 blogging, I'm going to return to the subject with a couple of posts every month.'

...Now I'm going back into hibernation, although I won't rule out an occasional post if I have something to say about a subject. Bye for now!

23 December 2023

A Chess Christmas Carol

Chess of Christmas Past, Present, and Future

Chess of Christmas Past: People read books and study so-called opening 'theory', trying to find new moves to spring on unprepared, unsuspecting opponents.

Chess of Christmas Present: People run powerful chess engines and memorize computer analysis, trying to find new moves to spring on unprepared, unsuspecting opponents.

Chess of Christmas Future: People play chess960 (or whatever they prefer to call it).

***

Have a Merry Chess960 Christmas! And please drive carefully...
[Images: AI Comic Factory]

16 December 2023

'You Dream of Getting Something Playable'

The description of the following video explained,
Levon Aronian talks to Anastasiya Karlovich before the start of the 2023 Sinquefield Cup. This aired during round 4.

GM Aronian has been seen many times on this blog. Use the search box in the right navigation bar for earlier references.


Aronian: It Has Happened! Neural Networks Have Killed Classical Chess (8:46) • '[Published on] Nov 25, 2023'

At around 3:50 into the video, the discussion turns to this blog's favorite subject.

Q: What is your opinion about all these things which are happening in the chess world right now, on the top especially. With Ding absent, with Magnus who doesn't want to play that much in classical events -- what is your opinion about everything that is happening, let's say with a Candidates tournament...

A: I think the time is slowly coming to a point where it's difficult to play classical chess because of the openings and the fact that neural networks became a part of chess and and made studying chess so much easier. It's very difficult to get a game playing with White. Therefore I think we're almost reaching the time that I've been waiting for my whole career when we switch to chess960. I think Magnus is ready. I think almost everybody is ready for it

Q: Really? This is what you think is happening?

A: Yes, it's not much fun because of the openings. I understand that it might be difficult information for a majority of amateurs, because for them there is still a lot of meat on the bone, but for professionals, just showing that you are a better player than an average Grandmaster, is already very very difficult. You have to hope for -- as they would say in tennis -- an unforced error, because if you play your best and your opponent knows the opening there is just no chance for you to win the game.

Q: Maybe something like this happened at the Isle of Man where you had good chances also. Then you played four draws in the last rounds. Maybe some like this happened there.

A: Yes, generally that's a problem, because the positions that you get from the opening -- I mean you dream of getting something that is playable -- there are actually pieces on the board. It's a bit of a problem. Maybe people will think I'm pessimistic. A lot of my colleagues will think I'm actually optimistic.

Q: So in 10 years we'll have the Sinquefield Cup with chess960?

A: Oh, I hope. I can't wait.

Q: This is where you see yourself in 10 years?

A: I hope I will be fighting. You know it all depends on such factors as health but so far I can't complain. I love to fight. I love to learn from young players and it's just a very interesting thing to do.

For two previous posts referencing the Sinquefield events, see Chess940 in 'Chess Life' (December 2021), and 2023 Champions Showdown, Videos (September 2023).

25 November 2023

Organizing an OTB Chess960 Tournament

A couple of months ago, in What about Biel? (September 2023), I wrote,
Before I discovered this video, my objective in the search was to learn about best practices for organizing and directing an OTB (i.e. not online) chess960 tournament. The year 2023 saw both a round-robin and a Swiss chess960 event in Biel. What can be learned from them?

I posted a few more times about Biel, where the most recent was Live Coverage from Biel (November 2023). I didn't learn much about Biel 'best practices', but I did have the time to create my own list of points to consider.

Note that I've never participated in an OTB chess960 tournament, so I have no direct experience here. I've discussed the main points with a few people, always informally. If you have something to say about the subject, you can leave a comment at the end of this post. Here's my list of considerations (SP = Start Position):-

  • Allow SP518 RNBQKBNR?
  • Play same position on each board?
  • Play two games with each SP?
  • Use what time control?
  • Use what ratings for seeding / pairings?

  • Choose SPs how? [A]
  • Announce chosen SP how?
  • Announce SP how long before game starts? [B]

The first five questions can be decided beforehand. The last three are more operational. The comments in brackets ('[]') have further considerations below.

[A]: There are a number of pitfalls to avoid. The first pitfall involves the SP generator on Chessgames.com, which uses nonstandard numbering. I've posted a few times about this:-

The second pitfall is that there are a number of bad algorithms in use. They are bad because they overlook the requirement that all SPs should have an equal possibility of being chosen. See, for example:-

For some novel selection methods -- not necessarily good -- see:-

[B]: One idea is to distribute a short list of SPs before the event starts, then choose one SP from the list before each round. This allows for some brief home preparation. The short list can be longer than the number of rounds, e.g. twice the number, to satisfy purists who want to keep home preparation to a minimum.

While preparing this post, I found an interesting description for the NZ Fischer-Random Championship 2023 (newzealandchess.nz; New Zealand Chess News). The announcement ('Format') said,

There will be two six-round Swisses. The A-grade is restricted to players familiar with Fischer-Random (Chess 960) rules; the B-grade is open to less experienced players (the Organisers reserve the right to move a player to an appropriate section).

We are using FIDE rapid ratings for seeding, and will apply FIDE rapid chess rules (eg 2nd illegal move loses the game). The time control is 25 minutes for the game with 5 seconds increment per move from move one.

Positions will be drawn at random and displayed. Players will be expected to set up the boards themselves, and there will be 10 minutes between the start of the round and the start of the clocks, for players to study the position (without moving any pieces).

One of the problems in researching 'best practices' is the large number of synonyms for chess960, like 'FRC', etc. Add that to the large choice of relevant keywords and I was never sure if I was overlooking good announcements.