Jan-27-24
 | | FSR: This game had a bizarre and unexpected conclusion. After 26.Qb8+ I expected that it would end in perpetual check. Although I was two pawns up, I had no good way of escaping from the checks. With 29...Bf7, I allowed the strong 30.Be8, knowing that I had the resource 30...Qe1+. I was sure he would play 31.Kg2, when after 31...Qe4+ 32.f3 (32.Kf1 is also possible, and also equal) I could either give a perpetual with 32...Qe2+, or retreat with 32...Qg6, when 33.Qxa7 is again 0.00. To my astonishment, my opponent played 31.Kh2?? allowing 31...Qxf2+. Now after either king move I play Qf1+ followed by Qf4+, forcing queens off and winning. He immediately resigned, explaining that he had erroneously entered my move as 30...Qd1+ rather than the correct 30...Qe1+. Unfortunately this sort of clerical error is how ICCF games are won these days. Cf. J Edwards vs M Michalek, 2020, which decided the last World Championship Finals. This game is the first decisive game in a 13-player round-robin master tournament where all the players are rated over 2300. It will probably give me my second and final Correspondence Chess Master norm. (I just started playing ICCF chess in March 2023.) If I can somehow manage to win another game and draw the rest, that would be a correspondence IM norm. This game will likely also give me a tournament win or at least a tie for first, assuming that I at least draw my remaining games, since it is unlikely that anyone will win two games. |
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Jan-27-24
 | | Fusilli: Congrats on the correspondence title (I hope it's confirmed)! Yes, the end of the game is definitely odd, and knowing it was a correspondence game before I looked at it, I guessed that it was some kind of "typo." On the other hand, your opponent seems to like risky play, and "risky" can take multiple meanings, including insufficient attention to move record-keeping. Good luck in your pursuit of the IM norm, <FSR>! |
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Jan-27-24
 | | moronovich: Hope I am not jinxing anything, but huge congrats
<FSR> ! Great achievement. It takes a lot of effort and dedication. |
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Jan-28-24
| | FSR: Thanks, <moronovich> and <Fusilli>! tbh, these days you don't need to know anything about chess to be a world-class correspondence player. You just need the latest Stockfish. But the games are interesting (thanks primarily to the engines) and I am learning things about chess, especially about the best opening lines for Black. |
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Feb-19-24
| | FSR: It's official. I'm now a Correspondence Chess Master. |
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Feb-19-24
| | moronovich: Congratulations, <FSR> ! |
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Feb-20-24
| | FSR: Thanks, <moronovich>, though tbh it doesn't mean much in these days of Stockfish. |
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Feb-26-24
| | Fusilli: <FSR: Thanks, <moronovich>, though tbh it doesn't mean much in these days of Stockfish.> Nonsense! If it were so, all correspondence games would be draws, except for the lazy or broke players who don't have Stockfish. Congratulations, my friend! |
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Feb-28-24
| | FSR: Thanks, <Fusilli>. <Nonsense! If it were so, all correspondence games would be draws, except for the lazy or broke players who don't have Stockfish.> If the players are using engines, almost every game (~98%) will end in a draw. Take a look at the crosstable for the 2023 USCF Absolute Championship, which just finished: https://www.iccf.com/event?id=101114. As I said, most decisive games these days are due to clerical errors. Death and withdrawal from the tournament are other reasons. See my write-up of the 32nd Correspondence World Championship (2020) and the crosstable for the current championship: https://www.iccf.com/event?id=100104. In the latter there have been 79 draws. The ten decisive games all resulted from the death of three-time world champion Aleksandr Dronov. |
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Feb-29-24
 | | nizmo11: Congrats <FSR>, also the same for featuring in the Informator 158 theory article.
A question: if every serious corr. player is now playing at the 3500+ level, there must a massive rating deflation. So, are the ratings pretty much meaningless? It seems that the only way to increase rating is to draw with a higher rated player but this will eventually level out. |
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Feb-29-24
| | FSR: Thanks, <nizmo11>. Yes, I think that for ICCF players who use engines, as most everyone does these days, ratings are basically meaningless. I would be confident of drawing anyone in the world, not because I'm so strong but because Stockfish is. It's hard to even get games against significantly higher-rated players, since most rated tournaments are limited to players in a narrow rating range. For example, I am playing in the Dobri Semov Memorial, where all 11 of my games to finish so far have ended in draws (shocker). One game left. I am rated 2310. My opponents' ratings range from 2302 to 2316. https://www.iccf.com/event?id=103621 |
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Oct-22-24
| | FSR: As a result of this win, I ended up winning this tournament on tiebreak over CCM David Hamilton. Had Garau drawn this game, he, not I, would have won first on tiebreak over Hamilton. |
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Kibitzing
