IC Ultimate Challenge Tour 2017 - $ 20'000 Prize Money

[Ozymandias]

With still a week left for registration, we already have 57 players lined up. That's a record for IC (I mean on their own).

Arno can correct me if I'm wrong.

[Steamhammer]

PREVIEW ARTICLE:
http://www.infinitychess.com/Page/Publi ... spx?id=299

60 players already signed up... some more expected... about 1/3 freestylers...

Best games awards after each round

[Ozymandias]

With most of the tournament behind us, and taking advantage of the rest day, I took a look at the players performance (*). Disclaimer, playing mode is directly taken from IC's PGN files, which may not reflect the actual entity:

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   # PLAYER                    :  RATING  POINTS  PLAYED   (%)   D(%)
   1 Zor                       :    2400     7.5      12  62.5   75.0
   2 Regina_H.Milch [ct]       :    2374     7.0      12  58.3   83.3
   3 EtaoinShrdlu [ct]         :    2371     7.0      12  58.3   83.3
   4 CoffeeOne                 :    2362     4.5       8  56.3   62.5
   5 Thomas_A_Anderson [ct]    :    2358     6.5      12  54.2   91.7
   6 Harry_Potter [ct]         :    2350     2.5       4  62.5   75.0
   7 Ozymandias                :    2346     6.5      12  54.2   91.7
   8 Paul [ct]                 :    2344     4.0       7  57.1   85.7
   9 Soloman                   :    2331     7.0      12  58.3   83.3
  10 MCDermont                 :    2326     5.0       9  55.6   88.9
  11 Akhtar                    :    2325     6.5      12  54.2   91.7

Fists things first, this resembles a lot like the official ranking, with the six leading players among the 11 best performers, and only three players standing below the eigth place, creeping in. Those players are Harry_Potter and Paul, who took the apparently correct decision, of playing some games as centaur, and improved their performance by doing so. MCDermont was the other one, to have also imroved his position, but by going the other way.

Places two and three, are filled by centaurs who actually have a +2 score, Soloman would be the other one. These are the players that really deserve to be in the lead.

In fourth place, we have CoffeeOne, who after losing against Zor, mainly switched to centaur mode. As such, his performance has not been that great.

But there is another aspect to consider, when looking at the players performance, and that is the performance of their opponents, and here is where things get interesting.

Zor leads, but basically because he has been the only player, among the ones listed, lucky enough to get two oponents more than 200 ELO points behind. Add to that, the second one chose the same losing line for black, all the way up to move 26. This was four rounds after the first occurrence, but I am sure Kevin is just too busy to tune his book, while the tournament is running. You have to take into account that he is an admin there, and has his hands full, dealing with us players.

(*) To calculate it, I discarded not only forfeited games, but also disconections and blunders (most of which were mouse slips). In this later cases, the game was included, but the win was only accepted when clear, otherwise, the 89% draw rate, suggested that this result was the most likely outcome.

[Ozymandias]

Tournament rules were "clarified" yesterday:

http://www.infinitychess.com/Page/Publi ... spx?id=313

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As Zor is playing vs. all the top players, he might probably keep the lead due to a higher Buchholz score even if someone levels his score. Buchholz is the first tie-break criteria and is here used according to FIDE recommendations, which include some possible modifications. The modification used on our server is: cut off the two lowest scores, when summing up all the scores of your opponents.

This were the initial rules, as of March 21st:

http://www.infinitychess.com/Page/Publi ... spx?id=297

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§ 6 Tournament regulations

[...]

(5) The following criteria are used for tie-breaking in this order:

a) Buchholz (BH) points 

b) Sonneborn-Berger (SBP) points 

c) number of wins

d) number of wins with Black 

e) highest rated and defeated opponent.

In the very unlikely case of a tie still continuing, money prizes will be devided between the tied players.

According to the FIDE Handbook, Buchholz is defined this way:

http://www.fide.com/component/handbook/ ... cle&id=187

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(b)    Buchholz System
        The Buchholz System is the sum of the scores of each of the opponents of a player.
(b1)  The Median Buchholz is the Buchholz reduced by the highest and the lowest scores of the opponents.
(b2)  The Median Buchholz 2 is the Buchholz score reduced by the two highest and the two lowest scores of the opponents.
(b3)  The Buchholz Cut 1 is the Buchholz score reduced by the lowest score of the opponents.
(b4)  The Buchholz Cut 2 is the Buchholz score reduced by the two lowest scores of the opponents.

So, now they are now using the Buchholz Cut 2, and not the proper Buchholz System, as originally announced. More than a clarification, this is a rule change, but they can always say that they were using it from round one, so what is the point? As a corollary to that possible excuse, it should be noted that often times, it has been pointed out to players, that tie-breaks as reflected on the in-tournament info page, were not the official ones. So there is also that.

Is very revealing that they "clarify" the situation when talking about Zor, without mentioning that the two players that would be cut off, are nowhere near "all the top players".

[Ozymandias]

After checking the original *.icdx database, I detected a couple of errors that affect my previous performance list, but as I suspected, things have gotten worse in latter rounds. Here's the rundown:

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ArKheiN round 7 plays as centaur but doesn't have [ct] in the official icdx DB            (no engine)
Biertrinker round 6 plays as centaur but doesn't have [ct] in the official icdx DB
Nightmare round 16 plays as engine but does have [ct] in the official icdx DB             (Stockfish)
McDermott round 13 plays as centaur but doesn't have [ct] in the official icdx DB         (no engine)
MGR round 19 plays as engine but does have [ct] in the official icdx DB                   (Raubfisch)
miguello round 19 plays as centaur but doesn't have [ct] in the official icdx DB          (no engine)
PublicEnemyN1 round 16 plays as centaur but doesn't have [ct] in the official icdx DB *	(no engine)
Spaghetti_Chess round 15 plays as engine but does have [ct] in the official icdx DB       (Stockfish)

(*) Yes, this means that the playing mode was somehow interchanged.

So, what made me check the timestamps in Biertrinker's game moves? AFAIK, he's never played as engine.

With this data, here's the performance so far, of all players:

Code: Select all

   # PLAYER                    :  RATING  POINTS  PLAYED   (%)   D(%)
   1 deepkrack11               :    2601     0.5       1  50.0  100.0
   2 zor                       :    2600    11.5      20  57.5   85.0
   3 soloman                   :    2594    11.5      20  57.5   85.0
   4 thomas_a_anderson [ct]    :    2589    11.0      20  55.0   90.0
   5 etaoinshrdlu [ct]         :    2588    11.0      20  55.0   90.0
   6 regina_h.milch [ct]       :    2587    10.5      19  55.3   89.5
   7 ultra-d [ct]              :    2578     0.5       1  50.0  100.0
   8 regina_h.milch            :    2578     0.5       1  50.0  100.0
   9 deepthroat [ct]           :    2578    11.0      20  55.0   90.0
  10 ozymandias                :    2577     9.5      18  52.8   94.4
  11 mcdermont                 :    2575     5.0       9  55.6   88.9
  12 akhtar                    :    2568    10.5      20  52.5   95.0
  13 coffeeone                 :    2566     8.0      15  53.3   66.7
  14 woodrun                   :    2566    11.0      20  55.0   80.0
  15 victorious [ct]           :    2562    10.5      20  52.5   95.0
  16 paul [ct]                 :    2560     6.5      12  54.2   91.7
  17 harry_potter [ct]         :    2558     3.5       6  58.3   83.3
  18 ultra-d                   :    2556     0.5       1  50.0  100.0
  19 jpn                       :    2552    10.5      20  52.5   95.0
  20 coffeeone [ct]            :    2547     2.0       4  50.0  100.0
  21 newton296                 :    2546     4.0       7  57.1   85.7
  22 mcdermont [ct]            :    2545     5.5      11  50.0  100.0
  23 gilgamesch                :    2540    10.5      20  52.5   95.0
  24 kingslayer                :    2540    10.5      20  52.5   95.0
  25 maximus [ct]              :    2531     8.0      16  50.0   87.5
  26 mateinfour [ct]           :    2529     7.0      13  53.8   92.3
  27 coco69                    :    2524     9.5      19  50.0   78.9
  28 knightmare                :    2523     9.5      18  52.8   94.4
  29 murx                      :    2521    10.0      20  50.0   90.0
  30 team_komodo               :    2520     1.0       2  50.0  100.0
  31 mateinfour                :    2520     3.5       7  50.0  100.0
  32 izanagi                   :    2518    10.5      20  52.5   95.0
  33 spaghetti_chess           :    2517     8.0      16  50.0  100.0
  34 mgr                       :    2517    10.5      20  52.5   95.0
  35 time_bandit               :    2514     9.5      18  52.8   83.3
  36 a_h_a_n_i_b_a_l           :    2512    10.5      20  52.5   95.0
  37 fati64                    :    2510    10.0      20  50.0   80.0
  38 theforce                  :    2510     9.5      19  50.0   89.5
  39 jkec [ct]                 :    2509     8.5      16  53.1   93.8
  40 kolelo                    :    2506    10.0      20  50.0   90.0
  41 kullani                   :    2505    10.5      20  52.5   85.0
  42 katzenmaier               :    2505     8.5      18  47.2   83.3
  43 spaghetti_chess [ct]      :    2504     1.5       3  50.0  100.0
  44 dovahkiin [ct]            :    2504    10.0      20  50.0   90.0
  45 kobudera                  :    2503    10.0      19  52.6   94.7
  46 harry_potter              :    2501     7.0      14  50.0  100.0
  47 medusa                    :    2500    10.0      20  50.0   90.0
  48 arkhein                   :    2500     0.5       1  50.0  100.0
  49 lordsirknight [ct]        :    2498    10.0      20  50.0   80.0
  50 fahad [ct]                :    2496     1.0       2  50.0  100.0
  51 paul                      :    2496     4.0       8  50.0  100.0
  52 biertrinker [ct]          :    2495     9.0      19  47.4   94.7
  53 brtroy                    :    2494    10.5      20  52.5   95.0
  54 team_komodo [ct]          :    2491     9.0      18  50.0  100.0
  55 prepared                  :    2491    10.0      20  50.0   90.0
  56 miguello [ct]             :    2490    10.5      20  52.5   95.0
  57 maximus                   :    2488     1.0       2  50.0  100.0
  58 kraken                    :    2487    10.0      20  50.0   90.0
  59 publicenemyn1             :    2486     5.5      11  50.0  100.0
  60 rjn                       :    2484    10.0      20  50.0   90.0
  61 xeonrocks                 :    2483    10.0      20  50.0   90.0
  62 phyrros                   :    2482     9.5      19  50.0  100.0
  63 suzy                      :    2481     4.5       9  50.0  100.0
  64 publicenemyn1 [ct]        :    2481     4.0       9  44.4   88.9
  65 gamelover                 :    2478    10.0      20  50.0   90.0
  66 skypilot                  :    2476    10.0      20  50.0  100.0
  67 firefather                :    2476    10.0      20  50.0   90.0
  68 sirocco [ct]              :    2473     9.5      20  47.5   95.0
  69 ocirema                   :    2473    10.0      20  50.0  100.0
  70 longin                    :    2471    10.0      20  50.0   90.0
  71 ozymandias [ct]           :    2470     1.0       2  50.0  100.0
  72 dinkelberger              :    2469     7.0      14  50.0  100.0
  73 chesslion                 :    2467     0.5       1  50.0  100.0
  74 the_machine               :    2467    10.0      20  50.0   90.0
  75 jkec                      :    2465     2.0       4  50.0  100.0
  76 knightmare [ct]           :    2463     1.0       2  50.0  100.0
  77 assa                      :    2462     7.5      15  50.0   86.7
  78 arkhein [ct]              :    2462    10.0      19  52.6   84.2
  79 mrscience [ct]            :    2461     0.5       1  50.0  100.0
  80 newton296 [ct]            :    2461     6.0      13  46.2   92.3
  81 mrscience                 :    2458     9.0      18  50.0   88.9
  82 neutrino [ct]             :    2458     3.5       7  50.0  100.0
  83 xxaaxx                    :    2456     9.5      20  47.5   95.0
  84 mig29                     :    2456    10.0      20  50.0   80.0
  85 ugurpc                    :    2454    10.0      19  52.6   94.7
  86 retep1                    :    2453     9.0      19  47.4   94.7
  87 maniac                    :    2452    10.0      20  50.0  100.0
  88 suzy [ct]                 :    2445     4.5      10  45.0   90.0
  89 katzenmaier [ct]          :    2443     1.0       2  50.0  100.0
  90 marsell                   :    2439     9.5      20  47.5   85.0
  91 solidor                   :    2428     4.5      10  45.0   90.0
  92 wolle                     :    2426     9.5      20  47.5   85.0
  93 kobudera [ct]             :    2415     0.5       1  50.0  100.0
  94 khalidomar                :    2404     8.5      20  42.5   85.0
  95 hafaba                    :    2402     8.5      18  47.2   83.3
  96 jernjoffen                :    2394     9.0      20  45.0   70.0
  97 fahad                     :    2391     4.0       9  44.4   88.9
  98 chesslion [ct]            :    2390     8.5      19  44.7   78.9
  99 time_bandit [ct]          :    2370     0.5       2  25.0   50.0
 100 ironman                   :    2357     2.5       5  50.0   60.0
 101 claexit                   :    2332     6.0      17  35.3   70.6
 102 sunnytown [ct]            :    2326     6.5      18  36.1   61.1
 103 olivierevan [ct]          :    2298     6.0      18  33.3   66.7
 104 olivierevan               :    2277     0.5       2  25.0   50.0
 105 claexit &#91;ct&#93;            < &#58;    2142     0.0       2   0.0    0.0

As with the previous performance list, I've altered some adjudicated results. That's not to say that my adjudication is 100% accurate, but still way better than the official one, in the spirit of finding the players "real" performance.

Also, it's not finished work, I only check wins, which are few, as Arno himself pointed out, no one knows how many mistakes there are in a drawn game. Case in point, yesterday a player made a mistake, and went from clear advantage, to drawn game. I've kept it as a draw because the result isn't clear, and I don't tamper with draws... yet.

Another very important factor to consider, which will also be addressed in my final report, is the opening choice, which is in some case dubious, and in others, simply baffling. For example, in TheForce vs deepthroat, there's a white book move that really stinks, can you find it?