MafiaScum Chess Round-Robin Tournament 2021 (IT'S OVER)

[Umlaut]

Welcome to the first ever

MafiaScum Chess Round-Robin Tournament!

Scores
Player	Score	Wins	Draws	Losses	Canceled
innocentvillager	8½	8	1	0	0
Umlaut	7½	5	1	1	2
Menalque	5½	4	1	3	1
Dannflor	5	4	2	2	0
Datisi	5	4	0	4	1
MURDERCAT	4½	0	1	4	4
tris	3	3	0	4	2
Sirius9121	1½	1	1	4	2
Gypyx	½	0	1	3	5
clidd	0	0	0	4	5

Spoiler: Completed games (34)

• innocentvillager vs. Umlaut (1–0)
  
• Menalque vs. Gypyx (1–0)
  
• Umlaut vs. Dannflor (½–½)
  
• innocentvillager vs. MURDERCAT (1–0)
  
• Dannflor vs. innocentvillager (0–1)
  
• Dannflor vs. clidd (1–0)
  
• innocentvillager vs. tris (1–0)
  
• Gypyx vs. innocentvillager (0–1)
  
• innocentvillager vs. Menalque (1–0)
  
• Menalque vs. Datisi (1–0)
  
• Umlaut vs. MURDERCAT (1–0)
  
• Menalque vs. Umlaut (0–1)
  
• clidd vs. Sirius9121 (0–1)
  
• tris vs. clidd (1–0)
  
• innocentvillager vs. clidd (1–0)
  
• Sirius9121 vs. innocentvillager (½–½)
  
• Umlaut vs. tris (1–0)
  
• Dannflor vs. Datisi (1–0)
  
• Datisi vs. innocentvillager (0–1)
  
• Menalque vs. Dannflor (1–0)
  
• Menalque vs. tris (0–1)
  
• Umlaut vs. Sirius9121 (1–0)
  
• Sirius9121 vs. tris (0–1)
  
• MURDERCAT vs. Dannflor (0–1)
  
• Datisi vs. Gypyx (1–0)
  
• Datisi vs. Umlaut (0–1)
  
• MURDERCAT vs. Datisi (0–1)
  
• Gypyx vs. Dannflor (½–½)
  
• tris vs. Datisi (0–1)
  
• Dannflor vs. tris (1–0)
  
• Sirius9121 vs. Menalque (1–0)
  
• MURDERCAT vs. Menalque (½–½)
  
• Dannflor vs. Sirius9121 (0–0)
  
• Sirius9121 vs. Datisi (0–1)

Spoiler: Canceled games (11)

(These games are scored as 1–0, 0–1, or 0–0 depending on whether one or both players forfeited.)

• Datisi vs. clidd (1–0)
  
• clidd vs. Menalque (0–1)
  
• clidd vs. MURDERCAT (0–1)
  
• Gypyx vs. clidd (0–0)
  
• clidd vs. Umlaut (0–1)
  
• Umlaut vs. Gypyx (1–0)
  
• Sirius9121 vs. Gypyx (0–0)
  
• tris vs. Gypyx (0–0)
  
• Gypyx vs. MURDERCAT (0–1)
  
• tris vs. MURDERCAT (0–1)
  
• MURDERCAT vs. Sirius9121 (1–0)

Lichess study
(As games are completed I'll be adding them to this study for analysis.)

[Umlaut]

Rules

You are assumed to know the rules of the game of Chess. If you need clarification on any point, the complete rules are available from FIDE.

1. Queueing
   1. At any given time players should be playing or enqueued for at least two games. Players are free to play more if they wish.
      
   2. When you are ready to begin a new game, you should post "Queueing" in this thread. You may post "Queueing x2" if you are ready to start two games, and likewise for more.
      
   3. The tournament director, Umlaut, is responsible for starting all games and PMing the participants when it starts.
      
   4. If a player has fewer than two games in progress and still has pending games, they will be automatically enqueued for up to two games,
      unless
      1. they explicitly re-queue before the tournament director can enqueue them;
         or
         
         
      2. they lost/drew their last game by time forfeit or abandonment; in which case they must explicitly queue within 72 hours or forfeit all their pending games as well. (Games forfeited by both players in this manner will be scored as abandoned.)
2. Time controls
   1. Once a game begins (determined by the timestamp of the thread when it is created), each player's clock will have
      240 hours
      (10 days).
      
   2. Each time a player makes a move, an increment of
      3 hours
      will be added to that player's clock.
      
   3. Players are responsible for noting when their opponent has run out of time, and that claim must be made while the game is still otherwise in progress. Claims of a win or draw on time will not be entertained once the game has already concluded.
      
   4. On a correct timeout claim, the game will end in a win for the claimant,
      unless
      there is no possible continuation of the game in which the claimant could checkmate their opponent; in that case the game will end in a draw.
      
   5. In addition, a player may claim a win or draw on time if their opponent does not make a single move in 72 hours.
      
   6. A game will be considered
      abandoned
      if one player fails to move for 72 hours and the other fails to claim a win or draw on time for 72 additional hours.
3. Scoring and reporting results
   1. Once a game concludes, one player should post in this thread reporting the result (White wins, Black wins, or draw).
      
   2. Decisive games will be scored as 1 point for the winner and 0 points for the loser.
      
   3. Draws will be scored as ½ point for each player.
      
   4. Abandoned games will be scored as 0 points for each player.
4. Outside assistance
   1. Players
      may not
      seek assistance in their game from other humans or from computer programs.
      
   2. Players
      may
      use a "dumb" analysis board to play out variations privately.
      
   3. Players
      may
      make use of pre-published material on opening theory and strategy.
      
   4. Do not
      post in the thread of any ongoing game in which you are not a player or acting as arbiter!
      Interfering with a game in progress is grounds for disqualification.
5. Dispute resolution
   1. If players have a dispute about rules, scoring, or conduct, they may ask the arbiter for their game to resolve that dispute for them.
      
   2. The arbiter may proactively step in but should avoid doing so unless necessary (for example, to note that a game has already ended due to 75 moves without progress, or has been abandoned).
      
   3. Arbiters are as follows:
      • Umlaut, for games in which he is not playing;
        
      • Menalque, for games in which Umlaut is playing, but he is not;
        
      • Dannflor, for the game between Menalque and Umlaut.

[Umlaut]

Players have (expired on 2021-02-04 18:25:00) to confirm their participation in this tournament.

[Umlaut]

/confirm, I can be an arbiter if needed

You've got it!

Also, I should probably /confirm

[Umlaut]

Players may make use of pre-published material on opening theory and strategy.

What does this mean?

It means you can read books and watch videos and use pages like the Chess Opening Theory Wiki. Sort of like how you can read people's "101 great scumtells" articles while in an ongoing Mafia game.

This is the usual rule for correspondence games because otherwise people who play a lot of correspondence would basically be unable to study at all.

[Umlaut]

Like I can’t just get to move 4 and be like “oh what’s the main line here?”

Bold of you to assume a game will still be in book on move 4.

But yes, that's completely fine. Unless we have a couple of secret masters here it's unlikely to make much difference except maybe preventing any massive blunders in the first five moves or so.

[Umlaut]

Gypyx confirmed in the wrong thread but I'm taking him as confirmed as well.

[Umlaut]

is it too late to join?

Hmm. I'll allow it, but it will be a little while before I can update the list of games. Stand by!

[Umlaut]

Reminder that anyone who wants to play more than two games is free to queue up again as many times as they like.

[Umlaut]

tris vs. clidd has started.

[Umlaut]

Dannflor vs. innocentvillager has started.

[Umlaut]

Queueing x1

[Umlaut]

innocentvillager vs. Umlaut has ended, innocentvillager wins by resignation.

[Umlaut]

Umlaut vs. Dannflor has started.

innocentvillager vs. clidd has started.

[Umlaut]

queueing

Is this in addition to your auto-queue for being in fewer than two games, or is it just that one?

(Didn't think about this question when I was making up the rules, heh)

[Umlaut]

No misunderstanding! I said "explicitly queueing is appreciated," and didn't think about the ambiguity.

I'll update the rules to be clearer.

[Umlaut]

innocentvillager vs. Menalque has started.

Datisi vs. Gypyx has started.

[Umlaut]

Rule 1(d), regarding queueing, was amended to read:

If a player has fewer than two games in progress and still has pending games, they will be automatically enqueued for up to two games,

unless

1. they explicitly re-queue before the tournament director can enqueue them;
   or
   
   
2. they lost/drew their last game by time forfeit or abandonment; in which case they must explicitly queue within 72 hours or forfeit all their pending games as well. (Games forfeited by both players in this manner will be scored as abandoned.)

[Umlaut]

Datisi vs. innocentvillager has started.

(Hope you don't get too bored waiting for everyone else to finish their games, IV)

[Umlaut]

Umlaut vs. Dannflor ended in a draw by agreement (would have ended in a draw by threefold repetition in short order)

Queueing x1

[Umlaut]

Menalque vs. Umlaut has started.

(Dannflor queued before I did, but in general I'm going to prioritize matching up players who are currently in fewer than two games.)

[Umlaut]

Btw, as games are completed I'm adding them to a lichess study: https://lichess.org/study/VcRzBrej

[Umlaut]

MURDERCAT is auto-queued x1, I'll get around to kicking off a game later tonight

[Umlaut]

MURDERCAT vs. Dannflor has started.

[Umlaut]

Queueing x1

[Umlaut]

tris is auto-queued x1.

[Umlaut]

Umlaut vs. tris has started.

[Umlaut]

Menalque is auto-queued x1.

[Umlaut]

Sure!

[Umlaut]

IV gunning for the clean sweep

I'm kind of rooting for him to get it now! If only because I don't mind losing to him if literally everyone loses to him

[Umlaut]

Gypyx vs. Dannflor has started.

Menalque vs. Dannflor has started.

[Umlaut]

/in

Hmm. This is already ongoing (and I would say it's past the "just started" point in that most players have completed at least one game), but it's not

too

too late so I suppose I can still allow it, with two conditions:

• I'll have to raise the minimum number of simultaneous games to 3.
  
• Since this rule change affects players who already joined under different rules, everyone has 48 hours to object via PM. One objection will be enough to disallow it.

I think this is also the last /in I'll allow as 55 game threads is probably enough for me to be managing.

[Umlaut]

I got at least one objection so I'm afraid bugspray can't join. If we do this again I'll make sure to invite you in advance, though!

[Umlaut]

Umlaut vs. MURDERCAT has ended, White wins by resignation

MURDERCAT is auto-queued x1

[Umlaut]

MURDERCAT vs. Datisi has started.

[Umlaut]

Menalque and Umlaut both auto-queue x1

[Umlaut]

I'm in Texas weathering the snowpocalypse, and could at any time lose my power and/or internet service for an indefinite period of time. Is there someone else who can take over starting games and the like if I disappear?

[Umlaut]

In clidd vs. Sirius9121, Sirius9121 won by time forfeit.

Sirius9121 is auto-queued x1.

[Umlaut]

clidd has elected to withdraw from the tournament, and forfeits all remaining games. Thank you for playing, clidd!

tris is auto-queued x1.

[Umlaut]

Umlaut vs. Sirius9121 has started.

Menalque vs. tris has started.

[Umlaut]

Sirius9121 is auto-queued x1.

(And congratulations on taking a half-point off IV!)

[Umlaut]

In Umlaut vs. tris 1-0 by timeout.

Queueing x2

[Umlaut]

Sirius9121 vs. tris has started (a few days ago, but I forgot to post about it).

Datisi vs. Umlaut has started.

/in to replace if needed!

I'm afraid the tournament is closed to new entrants at this point, but assuming we do this again I'll put you on the mailing list!

[Umlaut]

Menalque is auto-queued x1.

And congrats to IV on having already finished all his games with a score of 8½ out of 9, which guarantees him at least a tie for first place!

(Formally if a tie occurs I'll just allow it to stand since there is nothing in the rules saying otherwise, but if the players want to play a tiebreak game as a matter of personal honor then I can't exactly stop them.)

[Umlaut]

Going to just throw this out there, in case anyone is unclear: If you have a legitimate claim to a win (or draw) by time forfeit, please don't feel you owe it to your opponent to be 'polite' by allowing them to play on. Time is a resource in the game, and letting your opponent take more time than allotted, while you yourself stay within the allotted time, is allowing them an unequal advantage and arguably is not playing to win.

If you think you may have a timeout claim but don't want to do a bunch of timestamp math, you can ask me and I'll do it for you.

[Umlaut]

Menalque and tris both auto-queue x1

[Umlaut]

As a result of Sirius9121 being banned from Mish-Mash for a week, I'm considering him to have forfeited his ongoing games: Umlaut vs. Sirius9121^* and Sirius9121 vs. tris. Once his ban expires he will be allowed to queue up for his remaining games.

tris auto-queues x1.

---

* I'm aware that this ruling potentially creates an appearance of impropriety since it allows me to claim a win in my own game, so I got a second opinion from Menalque, the arbiter for my own games, before settling on it. If nonetheless someone feels aggrieved they are welcome to say so and I will consider revising this ruling, though I'd prefer any criticism to come with a specific alternative suggestion. One way or another it seems clear to me that Sirius' ongoing games must end, since it wouldn't do for him to get the benefit of extra time as a result of a ban.

[Umlaut]

Oh hey, happy scumday, MC!

[Umlaut]

MURDERCAT vs. Dannflor ended 0-1 by resignation; both players auto-queue x1.

[Umlaut]

MURDERCAT vs. Menalque has started.

Dannflor vs. tris has started.

[Umlaut]

Datisi vs. Gypyx ended 1-0 by time forfeit.

Gypyx must manually queue for at least one more game in the next (expired on 2021-03-23 00:08:00).

[Umlaut]

Unfortunately Gypyx' allotted time to re-queue has expired, meaning he forfeits all his pending games. (He may play out his one ongoing game if he likes.)

[Umlaut]

tris vs. Datisi has started.

[Umlaut]

Sirius9121 vs. Menalque has started.

Sirius9121 vs. Datisi has started.

(Also, happy scumday Datisi!)

[Umlaut]

MURDERCAT vs. Datisi ends 0-1 by time forfeit.

MURDERCAT must queue for another game in the next (expired on 2021-03-31 17:19:00).

[Umlaut]

Gypyx vs. Dannflor ends ½–½ by mutual timeout.

Dannflor is auto-queued x1.

[Umlaut]

tris vs. Datisi ends 0–1 by timeout.

tris must manually queue in the next (expired on 2021-04-03 19:18:00).

[Umlaut]

Dannflor vs. tris ends 1–0 by timeout, and tris vs. MURDERCAT is canceled at tris' request.

The tournament is nearly over! Only two games remain unstarted. As people begin their final games, I'll be adding their points from canceled games to their scores. We're in for a close finish: right now just about everyone has a shot at placing in the top three!

[Umlaut]

Sirius9121 vs. Menalque ends 0–1 by timeout.

Sirius9121 must manually queue for another game in the next (expired on 2021-04-12 21:47:00).

[Umlaut]

Sirius9121 vs. Menalque ends 1–0 by timeout.

shouldn't this be 0-1?

Yes, fixed.

[Umlaut]

Dannflor vs. Sirius9121 ends 0-0 by mutual abandonment.

Sirius9121 has (expired on 2021-05-09 15:00:00) to queue for his next (and last) game.

[Umlaut]

Sirius9121 vs. Datisi ends 0-1 by timeout.

[Umlaut]

Well, the last pending game was Sirius' and he's out of time, so I'm afraid this tournament ends with a whimper.

Surprising no one, our winner is:

innocentvillager!

In second place: myself,

Umlaut!

And in third:

Menalque!

I'll get the lichess study updated reasonably soon with all the games that are still not on there.

Thanks for participating, everyone, and special thanks to everyone who stuck it out to the end! I have a few ideas about things I will do differently if I try to run something like this again:

• First and foremost, I'm not going to try to play in the tournament myself while also running it. It led to too many situations where I had to make rulings that stood to potentially benefit my own standing. I had thought it wouldn't matter because "chess is objective" or something, but I'd rather avoid that whole can of worms in the future.
  
• Get rid of the two-tiered time control system and just say players have X days per move, perhaps increasing the minimum number of simultaneous games to make up for the potentially increased length of the game. I was the only person who actually made a claim on time that was not based on the 72-hour rule but on the actual clock, and this isn't surprising since keeping track of an opponent's time is kind of a pain.
  
• On a similar note, don't require players to make a time claim for themselves; if I notice someone's time is up I should just award the game to the opponent. Some players seemed reluctant to claim wins in this manner and as a result their games went on much longer than they should have.
  
• Come up with a punchier name. ScumChamps, or something.

Overall it seems like enthusiasm waned as this tournament went on, and I'm interested to hear ideas on what could be done differently if we do something like this in the future.

[Umlaut]

ggs everyone!

It did go on for quite a while, I'd probably prefer if we had to arrange a time with each opponent and we had a 30 minute clock. I still had a lot of fun though!

If enough folks join Team MafiaScum on lichess we can run a real-time tournament there! (Edit: Password is

omgus!

) I don't really think the message board format is well adapted to real-time play.

[Umlaut]

Oh, I forgot there was a password! It's

omgus!

(with the exclamation point).