Lichess4545 Round 7 Recap: A Dark Horse Gallops Into View

Entering the penultimate round of the season, plenty of teams remained in contention for the league title. The matches have been unpredictable all season long, and this might be one of the tightest seasons from wire to wire in recent memory, with a new league leader every week. Last week, “increasing our activity through harmonious piece play in order to deliver mate against the opponent's king: the team” were able to grab the lead. Did anyone else manage to join them?

As always, the stories are provided by @izzie26. Go check them out.

Enter the Hamsterless face-off

After winning their first five matches, "Chessmaster Ate my Hamster" had suffered a rude defeat in Round 6, and now they were aiming to bounce back against "the team". But their opponents evidently had other plans, swiftly vaulting to a 3-0 lead thanks to wins from @TSSCFTTSOS, @TBest, and @Constant1n. Refusing to back down, the Hamsterless squad clawed back into contention to only trail by a point with two games remaining, the first of which was a Board 7 meeting between @jurica_c (with White) and @SuspendedSeventh - who was hoping to seal the deal for "the team."

https://lichess.org/oWMm8uzf

It turned out to be a game to forget for White as two early blunders paved the way to a short but oh-so-sweet victory for SuspendedSeventh. Thus, “the team” managed to clinch the match by a single point, with the score 4 ½ to 3 ½ - and so they retain their place at the top of the table with just one round to go.

Sneaky Contender Emerges

“Erigaisi and the Arjunauts” started the season in mixed fashion, with a win, loss and draw in their first three matches. Still, it’s a bit surprising that they haven’t merited a mention at all this season, given that they were sixth in the league table at the start of Round 7, albeit with several strong teams ahead of them.

But how did these other teams do? Well, let's see: at #5, The Cambridge Spring Breakers lost; at #4, Chessmaster Ate My Hamster also lost; at #3, Avengers: Middlegame also lost. And finally we reach the #2 team, MrScribbles' Lost Pawns Collection...who played our Arjunauts in Round 7. How did this high-stakes chess showdown unfold?

By Thursday, the Arjunauts must have been happy with their 2 ½ - ½ lead (with two victories and one scheduling draw). And what happened next turned out to be pivotal for the match and - perhaps - the whole season.

@PatchyThePirate, armed with the White pieces, represented the Arjunauts, while the notorious @MrScribbles commanded the Black army. Although we're used to @MrScribbles tossing pawns around like confetti in search of the elusive "compensation", this time El Scriablo found themselves enjoying a cushy two-pawn advantage in a favourable endgame. Further proof of the surrealness of the season. And then, calamity struck.

https://lichess.org/1dW2QqcL#80

What seemed like a clever bid to simplify the position turned out to be a colossal blunder. After Rxe4, recapturing wasn't an option unless you fancied giving up a mate in one. MrScribbles found themselves down a rook and, in the end, waved the white flag of surrender.

Aided by this twist, the Arjunauts seized the opportunity and emerged with a 4 ½ to 3 ½ victory, catapulting them into 2nd place, setting up a thrilling final round to come.

Final Act

The situation ahead of us is quite simple. Here are the standings. There will be an almighty battle for between "the team" and Erigaisi and the Arjunauts, in a battle that's bound to decide the champion of Season 34. There will also be a mad scramble for third place as no fewer than six teams remain in the hunt with 10 points.

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Welcome @electricfalcon to the “100 games club”

This week, we welcome yet another league legend to the “100 games” club - @electricfalcon! A veteran since Season 21, EF was nice enough to answer our questions without cursing, slamming any doors, or asking for a restraining order. If only all our interview subjects were like that.

What initially drew you to playing in the Lichess4545 league?

I was looking for a consistent competitive league, and I was recommended 4545 so many times I thought it must be great!

How has your approach to playing chess evolved since you started playing in the league?

I've definitely learnt to take my time a lot more, and to consider study and analysis after the fact a lot more. I can't say I've improved drastically but hey!

If you had to choose three words to describe your approach to chess, what would it be and why?

Dramatic, rollercoaster, surprising.

Which game from your 100 played in the Lichess4545 league stands out the most to you and why?

Has to be my perpetual check on the first game of season 26

https://lichess.org/nlulabFy/white#76

It was literally the first game of the season, I had a ton of spectators, and finished in dramatic style! I was buzzing! [Eds. - this is the famous “electricfalcon immortal”, probably the most-watched league game ever.]

What is your favorite chess opening and why?

I definitely tend to go for a queen's gambit opening. It's just the first I properly studied, and I feel an affinity for it for that reason.

Do you have any specific pre-game rituals or routines that you follow? Do you do anything to prepare for a game (beyond opening prep)?

I usually do a quick opponent opening check on the database, and also try and make a coffee!

Which chess player, past or present, do you admire the most and why?

I'm a data geek so probably Kasparov for the Deep Blue link!

Outside of chess, what are some of your other hobbies and interests?

Outside of chess I like to get involved in data science competitions, rock climb when I can, and play other video games!

What advice would you give to aspiring chess players who are just starting out in the Lichess4545 league or in chess in general?

Use the time! 45+45 is a long format, there's no need to rush. Many times I've considered making a move then taken a breath and realized it would've been a blunder!

And the last, most important question: How would you react if your opponent suddenly turned into a pumpkin mid-game?

If my opponent turned into a pumpkin, I'd probably add more time to the clock until it hit midnight, Cinderella returns from the ball, and we can resume play.

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We're Starting a New Tradition

A lot of you who have been around know about the special “Lichess4545 anniversary tournament” that we used to hold each autumn to celebrate our league. An eight-hour long arena with a 15+15 time control - it's quite the spectacle. However, some of you may not have liked its timing, which is usually in the EU afternoon/evening.

Well, if that’s the case then we have some good news, because starting next season, the mods will be changing up the anniversary tournament format.

These tournaments will now be held just before the start of every season, and over multiple seasons the start times will shift later and later to allow everyone to play and have fun, wherever they are!

In fact the first tournament is already pencilled in for 11:00 UTC on Saturday 29 April: https://lichess.org/tournament/4545se35

So if you’re up for eight hours of solid classical action to get in the mood for Season 35 (or lose that provisional rating), then grab your calendar and circle the date with a big, bold marker!

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Tales from Infinite Quest by @Silkthewanderer

Round 114 of Infinite Quest is drawing to a close. Let’s recap some of the recent highlights:

The clash of bloodied champions: A core feature of Quest is ‘rematch avoidance’ which prevents players (particularly at the top) to play each other too often. This feature was the only thing that stood between a match of Chesstrix01 and moistvonlipwig while the two kept beating their respective opponents... until last week when both of them suffered a rare defeat (at the hands of Zyfaro and shallowjr). Alas, it also was the week where (for them) rematch avoidance ended, so they will be paired against each other in the next round, and, for one, there will soon be an even rarer streak of two losses.

Symmetry, Beautiful Symmetry: Over the course of an infinite tournament with a large range of ratings, many players will eventually gravitate towards a 50% record. Hitting it exactly on a symbolic milestone is extra pretty of course, so let’s appreciate gavalanche20 who brought home the 64th match with a clean victory that puts them at 32-32. Can this be surpassed? We’ll see - adande1 is sitting at 49-50 and the only missing piece to a perfectly symmetrical record is a win against pulsar512b which is easier said than done.

Beat them when you can... because it is rarely getting any easier. This, I guess, is what Ivory12 and LunarAmbrosia might be noticing. They joined Quest in Autumn 2021 and got paired in Week 39 while still pretty new and in the 1600s rating-wise. By now they have risen to Levels 7 and 8 and added 240-300 rating points respectively. The favorite by rating is (again) LunarAmbrosia but the upward trajectory of both of their Quest ‘careers’ should make clear that everything is possible here.-2400 heavyweights.

Other laudates: Besides these major highlights, we also celebrate the 25th match win by tommeketoch.

Infinite Quest is a perpetually ongoing 4 x 15+10 rapid side league of the Lichess4545 league where everyone collects XP and gains Levels at their pace. Players can join, pause and resume anytime, a new round starts every Wednesday with pairings for everyone checked in for that week. More information is available from the league Slack.

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Lichess4545 is an online chess league for people who like playing long time control games online. Players are assigned to teams and play one game per week with a 45+45 time control. For more information visit our league home page.
LoneWolf is a side league of the Lichess4545 league. It is an 11-round Swiss tournament where players play one game per week with a 30+30 time control. For more information about the LoneWolf tournament visit the LoneWolf homepage.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA).
Contributions to the text by @Tranzoo, @izzie26, @electricfalcon, @silkthewanderer
Title image by Omotayo Kofoworola on Unsplash
Match stories image by @izzie26