Hi everyone, is there any chess players on this board? If so you're invited to the MA chess tournament. Even, if you're not a chess player you just know the rules, just have a go. For the record, I'm not a serious chess player, I just started playing again and found myself enjoying it again. I'm hoping even some of the mods throw their hats in.

Here are the details:

No of players: 32 (or so)
Prize: Prestige of being the inaugural MA chess champion, also know you're the best player on MA currently.
When: 20/12/12
Where? Chess.com

On the number of players the number I hope to get is 32, based on all the members on MA, I think this is a realistic number. However, if we get an overwhelminng poor response, ie less than 8 players, I won't bother with this, there will be no point. On the flip side, the more the merrier, however, no more than 64, otherwise it will logistically be a nightmare for me to organise. Also, you don't have to play the tournament at chess.com, if you want to play it on another website its fine so long as your opponent agrees to play you there.

OK, I'll give you some more details: once I have enough players I will organise a tournament bracket, you will look up your opponent on the bracket and organise a time which is suitable for both of you.
e.g.

Mogila
______
Metantoine

Then I'd play Metantoine and we'd organise a time to play each other

I know there are many different time zones on this board but I do believe this can be overcome. If you defeat your opponent, take a screenshot of it to prove you've beaten them just in case there are any disagreements over who has won. The final will be out of 1 or 3, or any other amount of matches which the finalist agree on, same with the 3rd and 4th place match.

Here are some rules which I think will make the tournament run better:
1. Show up to your match, if you don't and you agreed to the time, auto-forfeit
2. Leave the match for any reason, including disconnect, auto-forfeit (the only exception is only when the person who disconects was going to win without a shadow of a doubt)
3. Don't be an asshole and deliberating take ages to move just for laughs, if you do this and several opponents complain about you, you will be disqualified.

That's it, at the end of the day it's just a game so have fun.

I'm interested but I will more than likely be busy that day. We'll see.

I have a 67% win streak on Chess Titans and have beaten tournament players on a local level

Interested, but the time zones thing will make that a bit hard for me. I'll play any American/Euro Insomniacs though

I'll sign up for this. Some of the circumstances are a little out of my control, but I will do my best to attend.

I'm actually interested, but I haven't played in years and would rather not embarrass myself nowadays

Depending on time difference, I'd be in for this. I might be busy. If the OP could state GMT times of when this would run, I'm sure the likes of us on the fence would have a much better idea of when we'd be available.

Same thing for me, I used to be in a chess club in high school and I used to play a lot against my dad. Thanks for using me as an example, I'll see if I can join!

I'd sign up, but then I remembered that back in October I played chess for the first time in almost a decade and lost twice in ten minutes.

I'm in however we tried this a while back via the same website and it didn't get a great response.

My username there is Orion_metalhead

I third this. I used to play against my dad (a chess genius) and got very very good, but I haven't played in years. Will consider this.

A lot of people are claiming that they aren't as good as they used to be, well, it's not meant to be a serious tournament so don't worry too much.

I also said that the tournament would start on the 20th, that's just hopefully when we can have the first match(es).

I know the rules. that's about it, so may as well give it a go.

COUNT ME IN!!!!

Good to know were having a bit more interest, I will be posting brackets on the 20th, I will put everyone in this thread who has posted (come on guys just give it a shot, it will be fun), if we have an odd number on the 20th, some people will be lucky enough to have a draw. More details will follow.

Chess is awesome. I'm down to play.

I'm also interested to play, IF we can manage something with different times...

The idea that you won't play because you're not good at it isn't really a good indicator of whether you are a good chess player. It take time and playing plenty of games to become a good chess player. I'm an average player but I still constantly lose to my dad yet play him all the time. Additionally, me and my girlfriend are very evenly matched and we constantly lose to each other yet still enjoy playing. Not being good at something isn't a reason not to take part, it's a reason TO take part with the hopes of bettering yourself.

Hell, I lose miserably to Failsafeman, along with almost everyone else, when we play Dominion but it's still a lot of fun.

Additionally, anyone that would like to play before the tournament PM me. I'm looking for people to play/practice against to get my chops back up.

yo sign me up...

The normal chess tornaments on Chess.com have a 1 day per move length. Ideally, it may be better to organize a time by which the first round, second round etc should be complete. Say a week to finish each game / round. This should help alleviate any time zone differences hopefully by allowing people a little more time for their games to overlap.

I guess I can see if I can join. I haven't played in a while since I got bored of playing against the same people, so hopefully this will be interesting.

I prefer checkers or backgammon, but I'll join in for shits and giggles.

Eh, not interested in Chess but I'd totally be down for a Tetris tournament.

A game between good evenly matched players can go on for hours. How would you propose a game that runs over time be decided?

There will be a bracket put up on binarybeast.com, so the games will be played on chess.com but the bracket will be on a seperate site. Don't worry I'll post the bracket here too. Also I think we should organise it so that all round 1 matches are finished in the first week, all round 2 matches are finished in the second week etc. If you want to brush up on your skills before the tournament I suggest playing chess titans on a higher difficulty than which you normally play. Or just play random people on chess.com. As for the time zones for me personally I'll try and arrange a time on GMT with my opponent.

On chess.com, there usually is a time limit, the max is usually around 30 minutes, so, no game should run in acess of an hour really. So I don't think we will see 6 hour marathon matches unless players want to play on another site....

Aside its good to see we're getting more interest

I'm saying you have to finish your game before the end of the week to move on to the following bracket. Chess.com has setting which allow players to take several days to submit each move. It could take months to finish a tournament because of this.

You're setting an overall game time limit of 30 minutes or move submission of 30 minutes?

It's up to you, you can have a game time limit of 1 minute if you wish, provided your opponent agrees. I am saying that on chess.com the maximum game length you can have is 30 minutes (rated, if you play unrated you can have up have as much time as you want). I will make a rule later on about the time limit you can have if you cannot agree on a time later, I'm thinking making it 30 minutes. If your time runs out, you loss the match. I think 30 minutes because that way games wont run on too long and its still long enough for most people to get a result yet still you have enough time to think.

Whatever the rules are is fine with me. I usually don't play rated games so I guess my knowledge as to the conditions there is lacking.

Anyway, anyone want to play now? PM Me. I'm bored.

30 minutes? I have never, ever completed a game in under an hour...

...That is strange I haved played over 500 games and some have finished in under 10 minutes. Admitedly I have played some long games (2 and a half hours) but that is rare.

...then either you or your opponent were not on the same level. Chess is not a game of 10 or even 20 minutes. Not in my experience at least. Unless you or your opponent make careless moves, you cannot strategize to your fullest potential in a game like chess in so little time.

Unless you are a genius of course, and you play blitz style.

EDIT: Maybe I take chess more seriously than most people; I view it as the ultimate thinking man's game (while I realize others just view it as just another board game). I'd say my AVERAGE per game with my father is 2 and a half hours.

Let me not even get into scrabble. At least 5 hour average per game.

I play chess regularly on chess.com and have a rating of 1419.

chess.com is weird. Whenever I move to promote a pawn it automatically turns into a queen without giving me the other options. What if I wanted a knight?

PF you may some issues with time then because the max time you can spend on chess for rated games is 30 minutes. You don't have to play rated games though or even on chess.com, that's if your opponent agrees to it. I will make the standard time limite 30 minutes though, ie if neither player can agree on a time limit then the game will have a timer of 30 minutes per player. So the game shouldn't exceed an hour. The reason why I make it this long is because while I know some take chess very seriously not everyone might be interested in an intense 2 hour match or a risky 5 minute blitz match.

Feedback?

EDIT: I will be posting set rules + a player list on around the 18/19th so look out for that. Seems like a lot of us will be having byes but some wont so be prepared for that. Hopefully we will have a bit more interest by that date some if you want, invite friends on MA to play.

Fair enough. But whew, thirty minutes per game... I can't even imagine it. I expect ill make more than a couple careless mistakes. It's all for fun though, so no big deal.

What happens if no one has won by the time the thirty minutes is up, though?

A player has to win because each player is given a timer of 30 minutes each. When you make your first move, the count down timer starts for you. When its your opponents turn, their count down timer is running, whilst yours remains static. Sorry if this seems unclear, play a few games on chess.com and you'll understand what I mean.

I believe if no one has been checkmated by the end of the 30 minute timer, the player with the most points wins?

No, if your time runs out or you're checkmated, you lose.

This. Also, if your time runs out but your opponent is left with insufficient material on the board with which to checkmate you, the game is drawn.

How will you handle draws for this tournament if they occur? Best 2 out of 3?

If there is a draw you will need to replay the match again until there is a clear winner. The 3rd/4th and final will be the best of 3.