User Profile: Penguincw

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Penguincw
Member since Dec-22-10 · Last seen Aug-22-17

♔ MY PROFILE ♔
I'd like to thank the user who gave me a year of premium services from Feb/14/2012-Feb/14/2013 and the user who gave me 3 years of premium services from Dec/26/2015-Dec/26/2018. :)
★★★ BIOGRAPHY ★★★
I prefer not to reveal too much about myself, but have the following words to say:
I'm a Canadian. I picked up chess in 2009, and joined this site just over a year later.
Outside of chess, I also like to watch sports (who doesn't), and even play sports (even though I'm not great at it). Baseball is by far my favourite sport.
★★★ GAME COLLECTIONS ★★★
Penguincw's Game Collections
To view all my collections, see here: Game Collection: 0: Table of Contents.
★★★ CHESS PUZZLES ★★★
Here are some chess puzzles I composed. I'm not a very strong composer, but they should be fun to solve nevertheless. However, since my forum won't always be open, I decided to use one of my game collections for that purpose:
Game Collection: Chess Puzzles
Here's a sample:
White to move, mate in three

click for larger view
Solution: (click on above game collection)
★★★ ACHIEVEMENTS ★★★
Here's my short list of achievements on this site (other than achievements relating to the prediction contests, which are listed further below):
966th user to open up their forum.
Became the 45th user to reach 13,000 posts (unofficial).
Only the 2nd user (honour shared with 7 other users) to win a membership from the Santa Claus draw twice.
In the ChessBookie Game, finished first in the Championship 2015 preseason with 1727 cbs, 174 cbs ahead of 2nd place. Also, in the Fall 2014 preseason, I finished in 2nd with 1418 cbs, just 40 cbs behind first at the last known update.
4th user, and 3rd overall (after <SwitchingQuylthulg> (x2), <wordfunph> and <Annie K.>) to run the ChessBookie Game.
At the 2016 Caissar Awards, I was nominated and won the "Most Helpful" award for 2015.
In Spring 2016, I became the 172nd user to qualify for the Championship Leg in the ChessBookie Game, finishing in 10th place with 4,204 cbs. (fact-checking needed)
★★★ PREDICTION CONTESTS ★★★
I like competing in the prediction contests, and so far, have won these medals (along with the rank listed):
<Golden Executive>
♔♔♔♕♕♕♖♖♖♖♖♖♖ (3 gold, 3 silver, 7 bronze; 24th)
<chessmoron> (hosted by <OhioChessFan>) ♔♔♔♔♔♔♔♔♔♘♘♘♘♘♘♘♘♘♘♘♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗ (9 gold, 11 silver, 22 bronze; 10th)
<lostemperor>
♔♔♔♔♔♔♖♖♖ (6 gold, 3 bronze; 3rd)
<Overall>
♔♔♔♔♔♔♔♔♔♔♔♔♔♔♔♔♔♔♕♕♕♘♘♘♘♘♘♘♘♘♘♘♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♖♗♗♗♗♗♗- ♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗♗ (18 gold, 14 silver, 32 bronze; 8th)
Updated through Sinquefield 2017.
<Golden Executive>'s Games Prediction Contest: User: Golden Executive
<chessmoron>'s Moves Prediction Contest (hosted by <OhioChessFan>): User: OhioChessFan
<lostemperor>'s Final Standings Prediction Contest: User: lostemperor
Other Notable Achievements:
Only user to ever win a quadruple crown (London Chess Classic 2011) in the Moves Prediction Contest (or any contest for that matter).
Only user to ever win a Betting title crown in the Games Prediction Contest, and defend it the very next year, same tournament (Tata Steel 2014 & 2015).
First user to ever win a gold medal in each of the 3 contests from the same tournament (Tata Steel 2015).
The 4th user to have won at least 3 golds in 3 different contests (after <chessmoron>, <lostemperor> and <SwitchingQuylthulg>). Members of this club are unofficially considered to be "grandmasters" of the prediction contests.
For the 7th consecutive year (2011-2017), I have won at least one gold medal in one of the contests. I am one of just 6 active users to have done so, the others being <chessmoron>, <cromat>, <lostemperor>, <SwitchingQuylthulg> and <WinKing>.
★★★ NOTABLE POSTS ★★★
I've made over 13,000 posts, but not all posts are created equally. In fact, most of them don't have too much value, but here are some of my best posts:
Probably my most "viral" post to date (introducing the now defunct Chessgames Playing Zone The Kibitzer's Café
Probably the first <on the internet> to notice the Original Six sweep the Tampa Bay Lightning were going through during the Stanley Cup playoffs, 2015: Mating Net chessforum.
More posts will be added as time progresses.
Here are some of my favourite posts by <other users> around the site (no reason given to some):
The Kibitzer's Café
SwitchingQuylthulg chessforum
chessgames.com chessforum
<YouRang> describes his Hall of Fame (which I am in): YouRang chessforum

More posts will be added as time progresses.

>> Click here to see Penguincw's game collections.

   Current net-worth: 1,991 chessbucks
[what is this?]

   Penguincw has kibitzed 13584 times to chessgames [more...]

   Aug-21-17 Phony Benoni chessforum

Penguincw: 3rd <active> pitcher to do so, of course. He hasn't won at Wrigley or Chase Field yet, although it'll be tricky, being in the AL. --- <WannaBe>, you were talking recently about how MLB pros don't shake hands or whatever. Did you see what happened at yesterday's LL ...

   Aug-13-17 Penguincw chessforum

Penguincw: Happy International Left-Handers Day.

   Aug-12-17 lostemperor chessforum

Penguincw: Hey! It actually worked. Well, no one likes to give out their secrets, but I just did. But it worked. I'll definitely try this again. Sinquefield and Tata, just way too unpredictable. It won't always work, but I can't stop anyone else from trying this as well. And yes ...

   Aug-12-17 OhioChessFan chessforum

Penguincw: Thanks <chessmoron> for hosting another great tournament, and thanks to <OCF> for making it possible. Congrats to the winners, hope to see you next time. Normally I would ask when's the next one, but I think you should take a well deserved break now. So I'll ask later.

   Aug-12-17 Golden Executive chessforum

Penguincw: Thanks for hosting. I had a terrible tournament, getting a triple clown (I believe my 2nd or 3rd), but oh well, it was still fun. Congrats to the winners, and see you next time!

   Jul-22-17 Short vs Timman, 1991

Penguincw: Video analysis of this game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnX... .

   Jul-19-17 M Bluebaum vs D Andreikin, 2017

Penguincw: What a save! Would've been a huge win for Bluebaum, as he would've taken sole possession of 1st, and mind you, he is the lowest rated player in the tournament. Must've been stamina; this game took a good 7.5 hours.

   Jul-10-17 I Pleci vs L Endzelins, 1939

Penguincw: Yay! Monday puzzles. Haven't attempted these in a while. Yep, 21.h5+ Kh6 22.Nf7# 1-0. No useless blocks needed. How did a rook get that deep into black's position?

   Jul-10-17 chessgames.com chessforum

Penguincw: I would like to further add that it is possible to delete a post up to 72 hours after posting it. After 1 hour, the link disappears, but with some manual URL editing, you can find your post. I'm not sure which post you want to delete, but here are the possiblities (I think these ...

   Jul-08-17 Chessgames Bookie chessforum

Penguincw: <Boomie> <cg> addressed the topic of allowing "top 10, excluding previous qualifiers" before: Chessgames Bookie chessforum (kibitz #8724) . Personally, I like it too, but <cg> (and others) gave good (better) reasons why the current system of just "top 10" is ...

indicates a reply to the comment.

March of the Penguins

< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 37 OF 37 · Later Kibitzing>
Feb-18-17		Penguincw: Good luck to all my friends with their migration: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201.... Personally, in real life, if I had to choose somewhere to visit in South America, I'd probably choose the southern tip of Argentina or Falkland Islands or Galapagos Islands (somewhere with penguins). Or maybe somewhere like Machu Picchu.

Apr-19-17		WinKing: Hi Penguincw, 2 days till Shamkir Chess - Gashimov Memorial 2017 - Friday Apr. 21st 2017!!! ♘Shamkir Chess♘Gashimov Memorial♗Shamkir Chess♗ This tournament will run from Apr. 21st thru Apr. 30th 2017. (9 Rounds) Participants include Adams, Eljanov, Harikrishna, Karjakin, Kramnik, Mamedyarov, Radjabov, So, Topalov & Wojtaszek. Average rating: 2761 - Category: 21 (FIDE-ratings as of April 18th. 2017) *** * <<> Gashimov Memorial 2017 <>> http://shamkirchess.az/ < 2 Prediction Contests: (Win virtual medals - Gold, Silver & Bronze) > * User: lostemperor - Predict the order the players will finish. Run & hosted by <lostemperor>. (3 categories to medal in) * User: Golden Executive - Predict the result 1-0, 1/2, or 0-1. Run & hosted by <Golden Executive>. (3 categories to medal in) This year will be the 11th Anniversary for this contest! (from 2007 to 2017 - 11 years running)** User: OhioChessFan - Predict the result 1-0, 1/2, or 0-1 & the number of moves. (4 categories to medal in). This contest is run by <chessmoron> & hosted by <OhioChessFan>. *No confirmation from <lostemperor> that he will be running his contest* Status - Unlikely <GoldenExecutive> has confirmed he will be running his contest Status - Definitely <chessmoron> has confirmed he will be running his contest Status - Definitely *** * Also, don't forget about <chessgames> ChessBookie game for this event. He can't wait to take some or all of your chessbucks. ;) ChessBookie Game Don't miss out on the fun for this Super Event!!! ****** ********

Apr-20-17		SwitchingQuylthulg: Whew. FIN - CZE U18 WC quarterfinal 6-5 after overtime. We managed to blow a 5-1 lead... though to be fair, we were lucky to get 5-1 up in the first place. We never really controlled the game and never really lost control, the Czechs got back in the game just by doing more of what they had been doing all along. It could easily have gone the other way. Next up: winner of the Russia-Slovakia game. We beat Slovakia once already, but that was another close game; whichever opponent we get, it won't be an easy semi.

Apr-23-17		Penguincw: Didn't see your message 'til now (I stopped reading after <WK>'s post ;) ) Anyway, I haven't been paying attention to this tournament at all, given the Raptors and Leafs are in the playoffs, and the Jays are back and playing. Sucks that Team Canada got eliminated in the quarters, albeit to a good team (well they're all good). Hopefully Team Canada will fare better at the regular IIHF Championship next month. I see the US beats Finland in the finals, but Finland still collects the silver. I'm sure <WannaBe> and <Mating Net> are really happy now.

Apr-24-17		SwitchingQuylthulg: Yeah, the US were better than we were and deserved the win. While they didn't have complete control of the game (shots on goal were pretty much even), they defended well, kept our scoring opportunities to a minimum and (unlike us) avoided stupid mistakes on the blue line and in their own end. And our power play, which was really good early in the tournament, was simply horrendous in the final; the US scored one goal short-handed and came closer to scoring another short-handed goal than we did to scoring a power-play goal. They got a lot of penalties, and probably should have got even more penalties; but it wouldn't have made any difference if they did, since all those penalties did was mess up our play. A couple of our key forwards were playing slightly injured, and I think that showed both here and in the semi against Russia. But that's part of hockey; in last year's final our best forward played injured and still scored a hat trick.

Apr-25-17		Penguincw: Woo, Happy World Penguin Day. http://earthsky.org/earth/world-pen...

Apr-25-17		OhioChessFan: Here you are doing a happy dance to celebrate: https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-s...

May-07-17		SwitchingQuylthulg: Good grief... Finland-France 1-5. Probably the worst result for a Finnish national hockey team since... I don't even know. Late 1950s? France are a lot better than they used to be; they have a few genuinely good players like Bellemare, Roussel and Auvitu, their weak lines aren't nearly as weak as even a few years ago, and they were playing at home. Their goalie played a really good game, and took one miracle save on a would-have-been equalizer. But they're still France; they lost to Norway; we beat them easily last year; they are not, by any stretch of imagination, a great hockey team. We need to start playing a lot better to even make the playoffs :(

May-07-17		Penguincw: <Switch> Well, France is also celebrating the results of the election as well. ;) But yeah, I was surprised too that Finland loss. France isn't a bad team, but Finland was the favourite entering today. But all teams here are good, and upsets are bound to happen. Finland gave up 5 goals today, which does point to perhaps a goaltending/defense problem. Unfortunately, Pekka Rinne is currently competing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Nashville Predators. His team leads 3-2 in a best of 7 series in the quarter-final round of the playoffs. Canada and the US also have many players competing in the playoffs, but they have more depth. Neither Bellemare, Roussel or Auvitu are in the SCP currently.

May-07-17		SwitchingQuylthulg: <Penguincw: Finland gave up 5 goals today, which does point to perhaps a goaltending/defense problem.> Defensive errors and so-so goalkeeping were both to blame. For a long time, it's been very rare for Finland to have a goaltending problem; but Korpisalo has been less than convincing so far. I hope our other goalies get an opportunity to show their form in the next games. Mind you, the whole Finnish team has been less than convincing so far. It's not that long ago that we could reliably build really strong teams just from players in the European leagues; but now it seems most of our talented young players head to America as soon as they're even remotely ready. Looking at our team in this tournament, it's basically a combination of young guys from the NHL and old guys from European leagues. Of course, there's another explanation for that beyond America swallowing most of our young talents: team selection. It's easier for an upcoming player to impress team selectors if he plays in the NHL. We also have a new coach this year (Lauri Marjam�ki), and I think that's part of the problem. His first big tournament was the World Cup, which was a flop; then there was the Euro Hockey Tour, which wasn't a <total> flop but didn't go well either; now here's the World Championships, and we seem to be heading for another flop. Under our previous coaches flops were few and far between; hopefully he can turn the ship around before it sinks.

May-08-17		SwitchingQuylthulg: <Penguincw: Unfortunately, Pekka Rinne is currently competing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Nashville Predators. His team leads 3-2 in a best of 7 series in the quarter-final round of the playoffs.> He's playing too well. We'd have got him if he weren't in good shape :-)

May-08-17		SwitchingQuylthulg: We somehow managed to lose to the Czechs (on penalties) after being 3-0 up after two periods, and 3-1 up with two and a half minutes to play. Respect to the Czechs; much like their U18 team earlier, they kept the pressure up and never stopped trying. But it was still up to us to find a way to lose it, and we delivered... again. The refs seemed to fall asleep at the end, to the extent that when someone woke them up and explained the game was over, it took them a while to realize what had happened. We should have got a penalty shot or at least a power play in overtime; but it was entirely our fault the game went to overtime in the first place.

May-14-17		SwitchingQuylthulg: Whew... we came back from 2-0 down to beat Switzerland in overtime, the first time all tournament that we've finished a game well. Now we just need you to beat Norway in regulation and we have a playoff spot in spite of all the ugliness... a bit of help, please :)

May-17-17		Penguincw: < Now we just need you to beat Norway in regulation and we have a playoff spot in spite of all the ugliness... a bit of help, please :) > Done. :) --- Damn, playoff time already. Well, here's my bracket prediction. QF: - <USA> vs. FIN - <SWE> vs. SUI - <CAN> vs. GER - <RUS> vs. CZE SF: - <USA> vs. SWE - <CAN> vs. RUS F: <CAN> vs. USA Bronze: <RUS> vs. SWE

May-18-17		SwitchingQuylthulg: Wow, you really went out on a limb! :) My predictions... QF: - <USA> vs. FIN - <SWE> vs. SUI - <CAN> vs. GER - <RUS> vs. CZE SF: - USA vs. <SWE> - <CAN> vs. RUS F: <CAN> vs. SWE Bronze: <RUS> vs. USA -- I'd like to say we'll beat the Americans, but unfortunately that isn't likely. They've played much better than us so far; and normally, when they play us, they do better and not worse than tournament results would indicate. Something about their playstyle makes them a very tough opponent for us. A lucky break like this would help :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F_... -- CAN-FIN 5-2. We were outclassed in almost every area, but especially near the goal - both offensively and defensively. We couldn't get the puck in front of your goal... at least not with any of our players anywhere nearby. It's pretty telling that our defencemen had more shots on goal than yours, even though you controlled the game. Our forwards were neutralized so well that even when they had the puck in your zone, the only thing they could do was pass to a defenceman who would shoot from the blue line. Your defencemen didn't have to shoot - you always had a forward in a better position that they could pass to.

May-18-17		SwitchingQuylthulg: USA-FIN 0-2 :-)) So much for sloppy defence and so-so goalkeeping.

May-18-17		Penguincw: < USA-FIN 0-2 > Ooh, FIN wins, destroying both our brackets. I think someone needs to be more loyal to their country. ;) However, since I predicted the US will go to the finals and lose, while you predicted the US will not win another game, I'm in a bit of trouble. Every other game at this point has an identical prediction. So believe it or not, you've actually clinched at least a share of gold. So, go Finland. :) --- As for the other 3 games, 3/3. I got the rare opportunity to watch CAN-GER live, and nearly got a heart attack after the SHG. Luckily Canada didn't need OT, because who knows what can happen in OT. CAN will face RUS next. Luckily RUS does not have Ovechkin despite the Washington Capitals being eliminated in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (injury), as CAN doesn't have Sidney Crosby, but still more than enough depth.

May-20-17		SwitchingQuylthulg: Nice comeback from Canada! Russia's play in the third period reminded me of some of our games in this tournament :)

May-21-17		Penguincw: With Sweden's semifinal win, you clinched the gold, and I got the silver, just like Canada did. Last 2 games pointless to the medalling, but oh well, here are the final standings: ♔ <SwitchingQuylthulg>, 6 ♕ <Penguincw>, 5 HOF Standings: ♔♔♔♕ <SwitchingQuylthulg> ♔♔♕♖ <Penguincw> ♔ <Mating Net> (assuming the World Cup of Hockey 2016 doesn't count, but if it does, add a gold for me and Switch) Thanks all for playing, and see you next time, which will likely be ... the World Juniors at the very end of the calendar year.

May-21-17		SwitchingQuylthulg: Congratulations on your shiny new silver medal! ;-) That was an exciting and entertaining final. Both sides played good hockey, both goalies played great games, and Sweden were that little bit luckier... as usual.

May-22-17		OhioChessFan: <Lonely penguin tries to find love on 'Plenty of Fish' dating website> https://www.aol.com/article/news/20...

Jun-04-17		WinKing: Hi Penguincw, Less than 2 days till Norway Chess! Countdown to Norway... https://www.timeanddate.com/countdo... Altibox Norway Chess 2017 ♘Altibox♘Norway Chess 2017♗Altibox♗ This tournament will run from Jun. 6th thru Jun. 16th 2017. (9 Rounds) Participants include Anand, Aronian, Carlsen, Caruana, Giri, Karjakin, Kramnik, Nakamura, So & Vachier-Lagrave Average rating: 2797.05 - Category: XXII *** * <<> Altibox Norway Chess 2017 <>> http://norwaychess.no/en < 3 Prediction Contests: (Win virtual medals - Gold, Silver & Bronze) > * User: lostemperor - Predict the order the players will finish. Run & hosted by <lostemperor>. (3 categories to medal in) * User: Golden Executive - Predict the result 1-0, 1/2, or 0-1. Run & hosted by <Golden Executive>. (3 categories to medal in) This year will be the 11th Anniversary for this contest! (from 2007 to 2017 - 11 years running)** User: OhioChessFan - Predict the result 1-0, 1/2, or 0-1 & the number of moves. (4 categories to medal in). This contest is run by <chessmoron> & hosted by <OhioChessFan>. *** *** Also, don't forget about <chessgames> ChessBookie game for this event. He can't wait to take some or all of your chessbucks. ;) ChessBookie Game Don't miss out on the fun for this Super Event!!!

Jul-29-17		WinKing: Hi Penguincw, Sinquefield Cup 2017 begins Wednesday August 2nd!!! Countdown to the Sinquefield Cup... https://www.timeanddate.com/countdo... ♘Sinquefield♘Sinquefield Cup 2017♗Sinquefield♗ This tournament will run from Aug. 2nd thru Aug 12th 2017. (9 Rounds) Participants include Anand, Aronian, Carlsen, Caruana, Karjakin, Nepomniachtchi, Nakamura, So, Svidler & Vachier-Lagrave Average rating: 2787 - Category XXII *** * <<> Sinquefield Cup 2017 <>> http://grandchesstour.org/2017-gran... < 3 Prediction Contests: (Win virtual medals - Gold, Silver & Bronze) > * User: lostemperor - Predict the order the players will finish. Run & hosted by <lostemperor>. (3 categories to medal in) * User: Golden Executive - Predict the result 1-0, 1/2, or 0-1. Run & hosted by <Golden Executive>. (3 categories to medal in) This year will be the 11th Anniversary for this contest! (from 2007 to 2017 - 11 years running)** User: OhioChessFan - Predict the result 1-0, 1/2, or 0-1 & the number of moves. (4 categories to medal in). This contest is run by <chessmoron> & hosted by <OhioChessFan>. *** *** Also, don't forget about <chessgames> ChessBookie game for this event. She can't wait to take some or all of your chessbucks. ;) ChessBookie Game Don't miss out on the fun for this Super Event!!!

Aug-13-17		Penguincw: Happy International Left-Handers Day.

Aug-15-17		OhioChessFan: https://thechive.files.wordpress.co...

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