Elephant Chess Cup 7 - Everything Thread

by **South Newlandia** » Thu Aug 03, 2023 4:43 pm

Welcome to the seventh Elephant Chess Cup in Newport, South Newlandia

Signup Thread | Sixth edition

Format:
The Elephant Chess Cup is a chess tournament. Teams will be playing in teams of four (although you can also include reserve players into your roster if you want to), on four separate boards. The player on board one will play the player on board one of the other team and so on, for four total matches in a matchup. For every win on a board, the team of the winning player gets one game point, (half a point each for a draw). The team that gains more points across four boards gets two board points for the team (one in the event of a 2-2 draw). The time control for every match is 15+5, meaning that every player has 15 minutes to make all their moves and gains 5 additional seconds after making a move. For more information on the game of chess, here is the Wikipedia article on chess. Chess knowledge is absolutely not required for RPing this tournament, though.

The format used for matchups is called a Casaran (or Swiss) system. The first match will be a completely random draw. After the first match, teams will be ordered in a table, and the top teams will be playing each other for the next match. This process continues for a total of eight matches, although teams will never play a team they already played previously. The top six placing teams will advance to the second stage, the Super Six, where they compete in a round-robin, playing each of the other six teams once. Half of the points from the first stage will carry over into the second stage. The two top teams after the second stage will compete in the final.

There are some available options to automate Casaran/Swiss matchups, however, I haven’t gotten one to work for me (and most do not eliminate rematches, anyway). Therefore, I will be doing matchups “by hand”. For transparency, my system will be to sort teams by the regular tiebreakers (up to Board Points), and break any ties after that by alphabet. Then, I will have the first team play against the second, third against fourth, and so on. If, for example, the 3rd and 4th teams in the standings have already played, the 3rd team will play the 5th one instead, and so on.

Tiebreakers:
The tiebreakers will be, in that order:
Game points
Board points
H2H game points
Buchholz points (total game points by all opponents, to reward teams with tougher schedules)
IC coinflip (scorinated game)
OOC coinflip
If a tie between multiple teams must be broken and one team wins the tiebreaker at any stage, while the remaining teams are still tied, the tiebreakers start at the top of the list again to break the tie between the remaining teams.

Rosters will be available below the spoiler sometime after being posted:

Schedule:

The cut-offs for every scorination will be occurring between roughly 20:00 and 21:00 UTC every matchday.
August 11th: First stage MD1 and 2 (Thursday 11:00, 13:00 ICly (in-character))
August 13th: MD3 and 4 (Thursday 16:00, 18:00 ICly)
August 15th: MD5 and 6 (Friday 11:00, 13:00 ICly)
August 17th: MD7 and 8 (Friday 16:00, 18:00 ICly)
August 19th: Super Six MD1 and 2 (Saturday 11:00, 13:00 ICly)
August 21st: MD3 and 4 (Saturday 16:00, 18:00 ICly)
August 23rd: MD5 (Sunday 13:00 ICly)
August 25rd: ECC7 Final (Sunday 16:00 ICly)

SUPER SIX SCHEDULE HERE

RP Information:
You may now start posting in this thread. The best way to do that is by posting a roster, to give your opponents an idea of who they’re going up against. Names should be the minimum, and you can go into further detail about whatever you want (ages, heritage, club team (if any), play style, favourite openings etc.). Otherwise, you can Roleplay about whatever you like; it doesn’t have to be chess, either.
You are also advised to include a Roleplay permissions box in your roster post. An example may look like this:

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my lineup: Yes/No
Decide board results: Yes/No
Decide moves made: Yes/No
Godmod game events: Yes/No
Godmod other events: Yes/No

This can reduce conflicts between you and your opponent when you both want to RP the same match, but the best plan to do that remains to message your opponent on discord or by telegram.
Otherwise, I, as the host of this competition, ask you to not to inflict any damage to South Newlandian people or property without talking to me first. I generally am okay with stuff like that, but I do not enjoy being blindsided about those things. The same goes for clear proof of an opponent cheating (although accusations and stuff are fine).

Matchups for matchday 1:
(teams listed first have the white pieces on boards two and four)

Aeragny - Alezian Union
Archalit - Natanians and Nosts
Kharakia - Chess-playing Elephants
Oueskaba - South Newlandia
Sky Reavers - Græntfjall
The Jovannic - Xanneria
The Kytler Peninsulae - Delaclava
TJUN-ia - Poafmersia

SUPER SIX SCHEDULE HERE

If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a telegram or message me on discord!

by **South Newlandia** » Thu Aug 03, 2023 4:44 pm

WELCOME TO SOUTH NEWLANDIA

In a nutshell
South Newlandia is a small Esportivan island with about four million inhabitants, located east of Super-Llamaland. South Newlandia is known for democracy, elephants, regulated capitalism and environmentalism, and the friendly population, happy to help you out if you run into any problems.

Overview
South Newlandians don’t like to be divided into groups, because they believe that it can never do a singular person justice to reduce them to a single feature of them, but occasionally, it’s just necessary. For example, when you talk about South Newlandian places, you need to group the country into some geographical areas to get any idea what is being talked about. In general, you can divide South Newlandia into a Southern and a Northern Part, each consisting of five general areas. Newport is considered part of the Northern part, and belongs to the Eastern subregion. You can reach a Newport directly with an airplane, but you’ll be a bit outside of the main city. Fortunately for you, getting around is easy, with public transport being almost free in South Newlandia, while renting a car can be more expensive.

Travel
The best options to get around in South Newlandia are the multiple high-speed trains that can get you almost everywhere in the country fairly quickly. If you don’t like trains, for some reason, there are also busses and cars to rent, but the streets aren’t always in perfect condition, and are far less convenient, to be honest. Flights inland are banned in South Newlandia. If you want to be mobile within a city, you can rent bikes for free, or you can take the underground if you are in a bigger city and the bus if the city is smaller. There are also busses and rental cars in the bigger cities, but unless you really need to, we wouldn’t advise you to use them. The bus is slower than the underground, and the underground gets you pretty much everywhere within a city. Cars can get very inconvenient because they are banned in many areas, and where they aren’t, there are rarely any parking spots. Seriously, don’t try to drive a car in South Newlandia. Most of the citizens don’t either; many of them don’t even have a license.

Weather
The climate typically stays the same in South Newlandia throughout most of the year, with warm winters and moderate summers. Snow is a foreign concept to everyone not living on the Dragon Island, and extreme heat is similarly uncommon. Weather extremes in general are rare, too; don’t expect any windstorms or floods or anything like that.

Animals
There are some wild animals in South Newlandia, but they will generally don’t disturb you if you don’t disturb them. Basically, just stay on the outlined paths in the forest and don’t do anything to anger animals, and you’ll be fine. Most of South Newlandias wild animals are friendly, like the elephants, for example; in the unlikely event that you meet a bear, probably the most dangerous animal you could meet in South Newlandia, in the woods, you should follow standard bear safety guidelines. In any emergency, you can call or text the number 123 to get immediate help, or the number 321 if you just need less urgent, but still important advice.

Rules and Laws you should be aware of
If you plan to visit South Newlandia, there are a few things you should be aware of beforehand. Laws on imported goods are rather strict, and things you’d expect to not be allowed to take into other countries are usually banned in South Newlandia as well. Examples for this include dead animals, living people unwilling to enter and bombs of any kind. The same regulations will also apply if you go to leave the country again. Special note should be made of South Newlandian drug laws. While all drugs, and this means all drugs, including alcohol and tobacco; are decriminalized in South Newlandia; this does not mean you are allowed to deal drugs. Selling or giving away drugs for any reason is strictly banned; this includes, again, alcohol and tobacco. However, you are allowed to take any drugs you want to without punishment, and are allowed to own any that are only for your own consumption. You are probably going to be treated like an addicted person though, so people might attempt to get you professional help to fight the addiction they perceive you to have. This is rare; most people are aware that different customs exist in other countries. In short, you are allowed to take any drugs into South Newlandia as long as you can convince officials that you aren’t addicted to them and do not intent to sell them. Bribing South Newlandian officials is basically impossible; border control is a very well-paid job in South Newlandia. Otherwise, the South Newlandian legal system is similar to the legal systems of most other civilised places; with the exception that jails and prisons have recently been outlawed.

About Newport

Newport is located on the East coast of South Newlandia, and is the second-biggest city of the country at about 330,000 citizens. It used to be a very industrial city, named after the port that is the biggest in the country today. If anything is getting shipped to South Newlandia, odds are, it arrives in Newport first. In recent years, Newport has been the fastest growing city in the country, as job prospects have quickly attracted people from around South Newlandia and the multiverse.

Sports
Newport has always been an important city for South Newlandian sports. You might be able to attend a baseball game of either the Newport Owls or Newport Dolphins. One of them has been playing really solid baseball in Llamaphant Pro Baseball recently. One thing you won’t be able to attend, but that still exists, are the Newport Rooks, one of South Newlandia’s better chess teams.

Other attractions
Newport has basically everything you’d expect a city to have, including food from around the multiverse, malls, and everything else. Two of the most well-known attractions of Newport are the East-Newport minigolf course, considered the best in the country, and suitable for all ages and skill levels; and the Newport Cineplex, one of the biggest cinemas in the nation, featuring all the currently relevant movies and blockbusters. If you’re more interested in culture, you can visit the highest court of law here, or the Newport College for International Relations, or the Newport Law School, or the Newport Politics Institute…

The people
The citizens of Newport are pretty normal for being South Newlandian, friendly, and commonly welcoming toward foreigners. Of course, many citizens of Newport are immigrants themselves, moving to South Newlandia for job prospects or whatever else. They do have a reputation for being a little bit less open than South Newlandians from other places, but that’s mostly a myth.

The venue
The tournament will take place at the Ivory Crown Hotel, which has been closed to all visitors unrelated to the ECC for the duration of the tournament. It is considered one of the nicest hotels of South Newlandia, frequently winning all sorts of awards, and a common place to stay especially for rich foreigners. The hotel comes with all bells and whistles, including a pool to relax in, all kinds of sporting equipment, and much more. If you try to come up with something you’ve seen in a luxury hotel before, odds are, the Ivory Crown Hotel has it too.
All players will have their own room to stay in, study, sleep, and relax, and rooms to train as a team are also available. The games will be played in various rooms on the ground floor. They have been redesigned for this purpose, and every board is hooked up to all sorts of stuff to allow streaming the games in real time. Every player is also allowed to request a specific chair for comfortable sitting.

Weather forecast
Most likely, the weekend of the tournament should be dry, with relatively cool temperatures around 16 degrees Celsius; but with a coastal city, after the storm is always before the strom.

If any of you need/want additional info about anything, please feel free to ask me!

by **The Kytler Peninsulae** » Thu Aug 03, 2023 5:52 pm

The inaugural Kytlerian entrants to the Elephant Chess Cup have all come from within the walls of the University of Zube, home to the famous Margaret Institute of research into sport and its culture. While chess has a growing niche following in Kytlerian intellectual circles generally, its bedrock of popularity is within universities, and this team consists of two of the players that won the most recent Kytlerian Campus Chess Championship for the University of Zube plus two professors from the same university. This is a team that is expected to be stronger in future editions, as a new generation of players dream of potential international competition and potentially gain corporate support to that end.

Board 1: John Roach, 45, Professor of Pure Mathematics. Effectively denied a chance of an international chess career by the Kytlerian isolation, he has focused instead on his academic career whilst remaining the leading voice for Kytlerian chess on campus. Befitting both his experience and background, he has a highly theoretical approach to the game, and is known as a Sicilian specialist. Can be caught out by time pressure in unusual situations.

Board 2: Julia Willis, 20, second-year mathematics student. Being a normatively attractive young woman made her chess mentorship from Roach a minor campus scandal at one point, as speculation grew that it was less innocent than it was. These students evidently didn't know that Willis, whose father was himself one of the better players in the country once, was taking on and regularly beating some of the top Kytlerian adults whilst she was still in school. Whilst she's started to take on some of her mentor's Sicilian strategies, a prior tendency towards symmetrical openings as black remains. As white, she will more happily mix things up, often playing 1. Nf3 to force black to make the "first move" (her usual response to 1...Nf6 is 2. c4).

Board 3: Hahnea Izorigor, 39, Professor of Sports Media. A distant relative of the noted former TV journalist Shrifflu, Izorigor's research interests at the Margaret Institute include the differences in newspaper reporting styles between countries. Got into chess as a doctoral student at the Margaret Institute and was responsible for creating the Mathematics vs Margaret Institute inter-departmental matches that some argue may actually represent the best annual competition in Kytlerian chess. Tends towards various hypermodern openings.

Board 4: Ben Higgins, 23, doctoral student at the Margaret Institute (researching the influence of prior international experience on sporting performance). The national chessboxing champion in his weight class, he tends towards a quick and simple approach to the game where possible, and has generally been strongest in blitz games; most of his inaccuracies are "obvious moves" with hidden traps.

Reserve: Stijn van Dijk, 19, first-year statistics student. An ascending talent whose main vulnerability is a tendency to second-guess himself at times, as if thinking he knows less than he does. Doesn't have many strong tendencies apart from usually trying to build a strong pawn structure.

A note for those who haven't seen my past RPs referring to it: the Margaret Institute, essentially, is a fourth-wall-breaking concept; its research essentially amounts to "finding IC explanations for the OOC things in NS Sport that make much more sense OOCly than ICly." Notably, RP bonus is believed to reflect the use of so-called Recognised Performance Drugs (RPDs), such as RP-inin and the more potent but dangerous Verbosita, whose use in elite sport is not only legal but encouraged. And yes, Ben Higgins' research interest is extremely meta.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my lineup: Yes, but it will *usually* be the listed one. A player may be moved off their usual spot if that engineers a matchup against someone who struggles with their style.
Decide board results: Yes
Decide moves made: Yes, but TG me if you're planning an opening that isn't standard for my player
Godmod game events: No
Godmod other events: No, probably (but TG me if you have any weird ideas you're not sure about, and I might not say no!)

by **Archalit** » Thu Aug 03, 2023 10:30 pm

About Pirates Chess
Archalit and chess go way back. It's play and the study of the game has been conducted within borders by dedicated players since long
before the nation played internationally, and many consider it the national sport. As a result of this, the Pirates shocked many in the
international chess stage by winning the Elephant Chess Cup, one of the biggest international chess competitions, as a debuting team.
There were many components to credit for that. Bungki Gungo, a brilliant chimpanzee who was taught to play chess, revitalised
interest in young players. Further adding to this was Angelus Adranos, who gained a massive following through streaming his games on
chess.arc. All of this amounted to five of the best players stepping up to compete in ECC6 for Archalit, where they won by taking down
the two-time winner TJUN-ia. Now, the Pirates are back for revenge, and in a shock qualifiers, all five players who competed
previously topped the standings in the Pirates Chess Qualifiers to represent Archalit in this Elephant Chess Cup.
AELO (Domestic Ranking System)
AELO, or Archalitian Elo, is the system used in Archalit to determine the strength of all players within the Pirates Chess Federation.
AELO can be found on ww1.chess.arc, and the following classifications can be earned according to a players AELO:
C Class @ 1500 AELO (typical amateur player)
B Class @ 1750 AELO
A Class @ 2000 AELO (typical semi-pro player)
PCF Master Class (MC) @ 2200 AELO
National Class (NC) @ 2300 AELO (typical professional player)
International Class (IC) @ 2400 AELO
Grandmaster Class (GC) @ 2500 AELO
International Class has only seen usage since the last ECC, and was previously referred to as "Candidate Class," to refer to a
candidate for the Grandmaster Class.
RP Permissions
My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my lineup: No, assume the lineup listed in the roster
Decide board results: Yes
Decide moves made: Yes
Godmod game events: Yes, be reasonable (PM or TG me if clarification is needed)
Godmod other events: Yes, be reasonable (PM or TG me if clarification is needed)

About Archalit
Archalit is a socialist state associated with the Pacific. After a recent regime change, the nation has begun the radical shift from an oppressive totalitarian state with closed borders to an open, friendly country with overarching social policies and libertarian left beliefs. As a result of this, the nation has become open to international sports among other activities. They are notable for their incredible unity and trust amongst one-another. The nation is massive, spanning the equivalent width of a supercontinent, filled to the brim with over 6 billion people where the population has since stagnated.
Qualification Information
This lineup mirrors the one used in the previous ECC, with a few noticeable differences.

Because this invitation was granted according to a tournament rather than objective AELO, upsets were to be expected. As a matter of fact, while all five made it, and Angelus Adranos is still the reserve player, the exact boards each player will occupy has slightly changed. Bungki Gungo, who went undefeated with only a handful of draws at the end of the tournament, will once again take board one. Trailing not too far behind was the young Octávio Vidal, who took one loss in a surprising final match against Aiden DuMarsh. Board two will go to Octávio Vidal, while Evan Kennedy will sit at board three, having lost to Vidal by just half a point. The fourth and final board will seat Iara Carlson, who only took the position from Angelus Adranos after a tiebreaker match (their head-to-head results ended up identical, and their match resulted in a draw). With tournament results in mind, the seating plan is as follows:

Board One: Bungki Gungo

Board Two: Octávio Vidal

Board Three: Evan Kennedy

Board Four: Iara Carlson

Reserve Player: Angelus Adranos

Roster

Bungki Gungo
Most Played Opening: Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation
AELO: 2817
Classification: GC
Age: 24 years
Since his birth, he's been learning how chess works. His strength has grown astronomically, and he plays at a superhuman level. This is not beyond any being however, as Yevgeny Solovyanenko proved by beating him three times in ECC6 before his retirement from international competition. Still, this chimpanzee remains as the strongest player produced by Archalit, and the tactics he's created are nearly impossible to find.

Octávio Vidal
Most Played Opening: Queen's Gambit Declined
AELO: 2765
Classification: GC
Age: 19 years
Avid supporter of the London system, this kid has been playing chess his whole life. He's supported by a natural intuition and has been raising his skill significantly over the last couple years. Having been GC since he was just fourteen years old, he has pulled off some incredible feats over the board. He has infamously played without prep in many major tournaments, including the previous Elephant Chess Cup.

Evan Kennedy
Most Played Opening: Modern Defense
AELO: 2798
Classification: GC
Age: 36 years
He's here to have fun and play some entertaining games of chess. If he wins, he wins, and if he loses, he loses. He's not one to play main lines and heavily theorized openings like the sicilian, and prefers to force his opponent out of prep as soon as possible. He announced that he's considering retiring a year ago, but he is still around to play for the Pirates this year.

Iara Carlson
Most Played Opening: Italian Game
AELO: 2748
Classification: GC
Age: 28 years
Her AELO has been faltering over the last couple years, but Iara should never be ruled out in competition. She brings out the best in her when she needs it, and her preparation is very diverse, making it harder for her opponent to prep against her. She's very aggressive, and is very sharp in the middlegame. Her style of chess is unique, and it has won her a number of matches with the odds stacked against her.

Angelus Adranos
Most Played Opening: Ruy López Opening: Berlin Defense
AELO: 2721
Classification: GC
Age: 22 years
This man has been number five for a while. While AELO changes and players swap back-and-forth in position, this man always somehow sticks as the fifth-highest ranked player in Archalit. He's very unlike Iara, a slow and defensive player who's satisfied with a draw and comfortable in closed positions. His matches tend to be very sharp the whole way through, and he's one to push his opponent as far as he possibly can.

Team Information

Trigramme: ARC
Name: Archalit
Demonym: Archalitian
Nickname: The Pirates
Governing Body: Pirates Chess Federation

by **Natanians and Nosts** » Thu Aug 03, 2023 10:39 pm

Magnus Carolus Mihailescu - 1st table
Openings:van't Kruijs,Giuoco Piano,Giuoco Molto Piano,Italian
Deffences:French,Englund gambit,Italian game:Two Knights Defence
Only Natanian and Nost to play chess at the Olympics.Started playing chess from childhood at the school,and tought to his siblings.His father,who played in his own infancy,realized that his kids had potential and talent,sought ways he could make his kids grow in chess.His older sister became good really fast and repeatedly defeated him,what incentivized him to become strongr,and he finally beat her when he turned 16.Of his parent's three kids,only his younger sister did not pursue chess profissionalizations,focusing on an academic career instead.He became Natanians and Nosts' Chess Champion,for the first time,at age 20.He also participated at the NationStates Chess Classic in 2015 and regularly plays football with his friends.

Mihai Ion Antonescu - 2nd table
Openings:Trompowski attack,Benko,Portuguese,King's gambit
Deffences:Modern defence,Englund gambit,Fried Fox
Born in N-City,he was taught chess by his grandfather and grew up playing with his siblings.He started playing in competitions for his school and was invited by the then-current champion to train under him on the club he played.He went to college to study biological sciences,and on the year he earned his Barchelor of Sciences degree,he also became Natanians and Nosts' Chess Champion.Tied with Jake Woods (Coldfield) as first-place on blitz at the Natanian Chess Tournament in 2017.

Ion Carolus Petrescu - 3rd table
Openings:Ruy López,King's Indian Attack,Russian game,Hammerschlag
Deffences:King's Indian Defence,Englund gambit,Scheveningens Sicilian
Born 27 years ago,Ion Carolus Petrescu played chess with his relatives whenever his parents took him and his siblings to their grandparent's home.Although chess was only a passion for a great part of his life,during middle and high school,he started to play competitively and fared quite well,right before he enrolled grad school for a M.Sc.,he was vice-champion domestically and was second on blitz at the Natanian Chess Championship,the following year,he managed to become Natanians and Nosts' Chess Champion the following year,during his first year of master's research.

Magnus Mihai Vnuk - 4th table
Openings:Amsterdam attack,van't Kruijs,Bird
Deffences:Sicilian Dragon,Dutch,Alekhine
Respected throughout the nation,he comes from a chess family,where the game is taught generation by generation,although he is only the third to pursue professionalization,and his only daughter is the fifth in the family.Undoubtedly the strongest player in Natanian and Nosts during the 2000's,several times champion;he decided to focus more on coaching and spreading chess through the nation,even though whenever he plays,he does it fiercely.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my lineup:
Decide board results: Yes
Decide moves made: Yes
Godmod game events: If you want anyone playin the bongcloud,or the double bong cloud as black,it's alright!Other things try to be realistic,or at least plausible but funny.
Godmod other events: Be somewhat realistic

by **South Newlandia** » Fri Aug 04, 2023 12:16 pm

Elephant Chess Cup 7 – South Newlandian roster

Chess is the 4th-most popular sport in South Newlandia, behind baseball, football, and the other football. Many children learn chess at a young age, and quite a few choose to pursue chess professionally. However, following the success of South Newlandia at the other sports, especially compared to the disappointing results the chess team was able to produce, chess was slipping in popularity further; but in Fermont and Sarim, the team finally was able to showcase their abilities, finishing in a remarkable second place both times, falling short to TJUN-ia in the final. Back at home, the Elephants went quickly back to playing mediocre chess; but maybe this time, they can finally do some damage at home.
All South Newlandians usually feel more comfortable in open positions, which can be a weakness against skilled opponents. The four players know each other well; most of them have played in multiple ECCs already, and with a limited supply of chess players (mostly due to a limited supply of people in general) in South Newlandia, the strongest players tend to keep running into each other. The four are all good friends, and will be fighting for the team above their own score.

Board 1:
Cecilia Blossom, 32
Blossom used to be one of the biggest talents in South Newlandian chess history. Despite her young age, she had been taking the country by storm, including winning several local tournaments and becoming a role model for many South Newlandian children. Ultimately, she didn’t quite live up to her sky-high potential, but she is a very talented chess player regardless. She is easily able to keep calm under pressure, and likes to create chaos on the board, especially when up on the clock. Her opening repertoire includes the Italian with both colours; however, Blossom is also known to create chaos early by playing interesting side-lines.

Board 2:
Adam Esteban, 23
The young talent of the South Newlandian team. He doesn’t have the experience the others on the team have, but he’s extremely talented, a great attacker that still gets carried away in his attacks too often, and finds himself in time trouble frequently. He likes to play really aggressively from the get-go, and you’ll likely see him employ fancy new openings. He’s coming into his own as a player now, with a couple of years of top level experience under his belt, and he’ll likely be the top board in a few short years.

Board 3:
Lisa Morgen, 39
Morgen is one of those players who are really, really fast. She’s not at the very top in Classical, but in the faster time controls, she really excels. She sometimes plays a bit too fast, but it works out well for her. Her favourite openings are the Caro-Kann with both sides, as well as the Slav with Black; she likes to sit back a bit at first and let the opponent come to her.

Board 4:
Elani Jabulan, 21
The newest young talent of South Newlandian chess, Jabulan has impressed at various youth tournaments throughout South Newlandia. Having grown up in Stuska in Southern South Newlandia, her talent was quickly evident, with a remarkable instinct and ability to calculate quickly, making time pressure no real issue for her. For openings, she frequently finds herself playing most of the major viable variations, making it very difficult to predict what she’s about to play. She will frequently look into her opponents opening database to try and choose something that’ll give her good chances. If there’s a weakness to her game, it certainly is the occasional missing of relatively simple (for her level) tactical ideas, but maybe that’ll come with experience. She’ll certainly gain trunkfuls of that in her first Elephant Chess Cup.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my lineup: Please use the lineup listed above.
Decide board results: Yes
Decide moves made: Yes
Godmod game events: Please consult first
Godmod other events: Please consult first

by **Delaclava** » Sat Aug 05, 2023 2:46 pm

Elephant Chess Cup 7 - Delaclava team

Board 1: Simon Vondracek
The 31-year-old psychology professor is the six-time Delaclav chess champion, remarkably steady and composed although weaker under limited time controls. He is admired for his consistency and his dedication to the game, playing an extensive schedule, yet he's equally as adept on a couch as on a chess board.

Board 2: Reid Craig
The 25-year-old mathematics student has won two national championships, and is an incredibly studious player known for playing a less rigorous schedule in favor of extensive preparations for major competitions. A masterful opening and endgame theorists who is prone to anxiety and paralysis in unexpected situations, leading to lost time and blunders against more unorthodox players.

Board 3: Xaver Sussmayr
The 27-year-old composer is widely considered the best Delaclav chess player never to win the national championship, but this may be due to his relative inconsistency. However, he is wildly creative and offbeat, yet by no means impulsive, devising long and unexpected strategies that lead to a satisfying conclusion.

Board 4: Mykola Mazur
The 20-year-old biology student won the 18-and-under national championship at age 14 and made the final (eight player double round-robin) of the senior national championship for the first time at age 16. Careful yet confident and daring who is expected to take over Vondracek's helm once he gains knowledge and experience.

Alternates
Valentin Kucherov
The 19-year-old amateur filmmaker is the two-time defending junior national champion, yet chess is his second passion. His first full-length film, A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing, drops on VousTube shortly after the tournament concludes.

Issa Saye
The 27-year-old tax attorney took up his chess studies relatively late but has a methodical and detail-oriented approach and an encyclopedic knowledge of both the game and the tax code.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my lineup: No, see above
Decide board results: Yes
Decide moves made: Yes
Godmod game events: Ask first
Godmod other events: Ask first

(O.O) · by **TJUN-ia** » Sun Aug 06, 2023 1:26 pm

Name: TJUN-ia
Trigram: TJU
Demonym: TJUN-ian/Jaguar
Nicknames: Jaguars/Jaguar Knights
Governing Body: TJUN-ia Chess Federation (TCF)

And just like that, we're back in the chasing pack. TJUN-ia has really grown into treating Chess as seriously as you can imagine and as we enter our 5th tournament overall, you can certainly see the progress we have made. We made the podium in our debut campaign before turning into one of the biggest forces the sport had seen, winning back-to-back titles with a playstyle that many couldn't keep up. It took some brilliant play from Archalit to rip the crown off of our head but now that we are back in the chasing pack with 1 member leaving the squad, the aim is simple: regroup and try to get our gold back. The lineup had to change but the mentality remains the same...so who's here to try and pull some more magic off?

TCF Rating System (Elo)
Professionals
Grandmaster of the International Community (GIC): 3001+
International Master (IM): 2751-3000
TCF Master (TM): 2501-2750
Candidate Master (CM): 2001-2500
---------------------------------------------------
Semi-Professionals
Class A (CA): 1801-2000
Class B (CB): 1601-1800
Class C (CC): 1401-1600
Class D (CD): 1201-1400
Class E (CE): 1001-1200
---------------------------------------------------
Amateurs
Class F (CF): 801-1000
Class G (CG): 601-800
Class H (CH): 401-600
Class I (CI): 201-400
Class J (CJ): 101-200
Rookie (R): under 100

This is how Chess is organised here in TJUN-ia, with 15 titles and 3 overall Tiers to cover all 500,000+ players who play Chess in TCF-affiliated or run tournaments and leagues. This system was created by the TCF to encourage more professionalism within the game and runs on a simple formula: 2 points per win, 1 for a draw, -1 for a loss and -2 for a loss in 30 or fewer combined moves (or the "15 each" rule). If you take part in any TCF-related event, then you can add to your Rating with 0 given to those making their TCF debuts at any given level. Because this system has only been in effect for about 12 years, only 4000 players total has reached the Professional Tier - with no one so far coming close to attaining the highest title of them all through natural means: Grandmaster of the International Community (GIC). However, it has been decreed that if anyone can claim an ECC for TJUN-ia, they would get GIC status on the spot - which would certainly be an incentive for many in the game. For our participation in any edition of the ECC, the TCF will be using a "3+1" mentality - Three Professionals, One Semi-Pro.

Board 1 - Tshering Gyeltshen

Age: 22
Place of Residence: Trashiyangtse, CEA Zone
TCF Rating: Grandmaster of the International Community (N/A)
ECC6 Record: 8-3-2

Chess has a knack for not being a sport based on age, where anyone and everyone can become great if they can play the game well enough. Tshering Gyeltshen will certainly know that for a fact, he's won 4 CEA Championships before in a region usually dominated by players from larger cities like Tiankong and Hindubharat. He's certainly done very very well for someone both so young and from a city like Trashiyangtse, mostly Buddhist and considered one of the happiest places in the entire International Community. With this in mind, many consider this young gun to be Chess' answer to one Joe Katsi - a player who always plays with a smile and plays for the love of the sport. He's certainly been on an adventure since claiming that first crown, including going off on the NSSCRA trail to be with his good mates in Batu Tüvshinbayar and Lam Chow-Cheung, but his first love is still in this sport and he will hope to keep on playing the game that he loves his way. It was another great record overall for him last time, but now he enters a new era as the guy on Board 1 (despite the fact he doesn't consider himself to be the main guy in this group). How he deals with the pressure of being on Board 1 remains to be seen.

Board 2 - Anne Christian-Warren

Age: 26
Place of Residence: New Adamstown/Adamstaun, UO Zone
TCF Rating: Grandmaster of the International Community (N/A)
ECC6 Record: 5-3-5

Anne Christian-Warren is a very interesting player in her own right - one of the highest-rated female players in the TCF and a rare athlete in any sport from New Adamstown, making her Pitkerner. She certainly likes to be known as someone who represents her heritage and the blood of the HMS Bounty with pride, playing her game like a pirate as well - win no matter what, go for broke and all that jazz. She became a hero back in her home town after winning it all twice, with her strategy becoming so famous that it's even included in official Chess strategy guides published in the International Community. The Lesbian Pirate Queen, one of the most badass nicknames in TJUN-ian sport, doesn't have her crown anymore and you know she will be hungry to get it back - but can her distinctive playstyle translate into the role of Board 2?

Board 3 - Margarita Altamiranda

Age: 30
Place of Residence: Ciudad Calamar, UAC Zone
TCF Rating: Grandmaster of the International Community (N/A)
ECC6 Record: 6-3-4

Jumping from Class A to GIC is unprecedented in TCF history, but that's what winning that 1st title meant for Margarita Altamiranda. Margarita hails from Cuidad Calamar in the UAC zone - a city and region not really seen as a Chess powerhouse by any means. Despite that, she's certainly a talent and plays with that Latin flair we all expect - quick and powerful at the same time. Being considered a professional for life certainly did wonders for her, especially back home, and while she doesn't have the crown anymore, she certainly has proved that she deserved to be considered a professional alongside her teammates. Now? She's going to fight to get that crown back, of course...and from Board 3 at that!

Board 4 - Gideon Irosaea

Age: 18
Place of Residence: Kirakira, UO Zone
TCF Rating: Class C (1564)
ECC6 Record: N/A

As Yevgeny Solovyanenko retired after losing his crown, the TCF needed to find someone new to step in at Board 4 as a Semi-Professional, as per the system the TCF employs when concerning the Jaguar Knights. Picking out someone from Classes A-E (1001-2000 points in the scale) was always going to be a difficult task considering the pool of talent...but then the most recent TCF Circuit just gave them the answer. A pretty unknown player got promoted to CC by winning the UO Championship despite being unseeded, before then going on to make a run to the Quarterfinals of the National Championship as the best Semi-Pro...and that was certainly enough to grab the TCF's attention, enough to place this player on the team in fact. His name is Gideon Irosaea from Kirakira in the UO Zone - a region that is usually dominated by those of Aussie and Kiwi persuasion in general. Gideon excelled in his remarkable rise through tactical chess, taking at least 5 seconds to think of his next move before executing it and that precision to detail is what really excited those at the TCF. He may take time to bed in, but the sky's the limit for this young man.

by **Sky Reavers** » Thu Aug 10, 2023 3:08 pm

Chess is a rather popular tabletop game among Sky Reavers, being played at pubs, bars, or other places of entertainment. Some play for money and sometimes, they play strip chess during parties, where the rules are "Lose a piece, lose some article of clothing.", or drunk chess, where taking a piece means, that one has to drink some alcohol, type and quantity of which depends on what piece he has taken. Being a strategic game, where dumb luck decides little, they are popular among military commanders, from green, aspiring battlemasters to seasoned warlords, who use this game to challenge eachother and prove, who is better commander and who will be buying beer and snacks for a chosen platoon of the better commander. There are some folks, who play professionally, but most of the best players are either commanders, bar regulars or wanderers. From such folks, a team, that will represent Sky Reavers on chess tournament has been assembled after qualification matches.

Board 1:
John "Four Fingers" Escobar, 43

John is not only a formidable commander, who gained his rank of Warlord after winning a particulary hard battle while being severely outnumbered, but also one of the best chess players among the high ranking military officers of Sky Reavers. His chess playstyle is shaped after Sky Reaver military doctrine, that relies of shock and awe and relentless lightning attacks. It involves decisive openings, where the goal is to make way for as many pieces as possible after initial offesnive, with which he would try to "tie up" opponent's moves. Maybe even going for early checks.

Board 2:
Liam Graham, 28.

A pest exterminator and a famous traveller and adventurer with many talents, who seeks to engage in some new activity to fight boredom. After hearing about the assembly of chess team, he couldn't resist the temptation to join it after qualifying once again. Just as willing to learn new skills, as he is willing to travel, he thinks of all this as a cheerful adventure. His playstyle is rather messy, wildcard and yet effective. It focuses more on offense, rather than defense and emphases on speed with aggressive debuts.

Board 3:
Yevgeny Babayev.

During breaks on a Syndicalist factory, Babayev used to play chess with other workers, using a set made of bolts and nuts. Steady winning streak lead to a creation of a contest "Babayevsky Kubok", where anyone, who manages to win a game with him, gets a crate of beers. Siffice to say, only five people ever got that present. Now, he decided to move from playing with colleagues to the Chess Cup. His playing style appears to be a bit "mechanical" with moves having various patterns and his viewing his pieces as parts of a mechanism with a system.

Board 4:
John Jackson - 67.

John Jackson is a Revolution veteran and owner of "Grey Cow" Saloon, which he gained by winning it in a chess game with it's previous owner. While these claims are sometimes dismissed as a myth, it's true, that he is an expert chess player, who managed to win a large collection of valuable items, his opponents bet during the friendly games of chess with him, including an ornate revolver that became his new favorite gun. His desire for calm life has reflected in his playstyle, making it calm, relaxed and focused on defense rather than offsense.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my lineup: Yes
Decide board results: Yes
Decide moves made: Yes
Godmod game events: Within reason.
Godmod other events: Within reason

by **The Kytler Peninsulae** » Thu Aug 10, 2023 5:24 pm

"The historic tendency for Kytlerian sportspeople to succeed immediately in many international competitions, such as the World Lacrosse Championship and the World Tour of Cycling, contrasts significantly with their failures in soccer's World Cup. Given that the established physical properties of RPDs do not vary across sports..."

Thus began the thesis of Ben Higgins, national middleweight chessboxing champion and doctoral student at the University of Zube's infamous Margaret Institute of sporting research. Its studies had become controversial with the Kytlerian isolation, not least because a big part of the reason for it was moral panics over the RPDs Ben refers to, so-called "Recognised Performance Drugs" such as RP-inin and the stronger, more dangerous Verbosita. The popularity of Verbosita in recent years has been specifically cited by the government as a reason to maintain a long-standing ban on Kytlerians in international sport, but as that moral panic faded and the demand grew for Kytlerians to do what frankly most in the multiverse who know the country at all know it for, the right-wing Liberal-FFP coalition was spectacularly toppled by the Workers' Party, under the symbolic leadership of former FC Alaer manager Clituleng Giisost. The country's first ever Vephra Prime Minister made a point of ending the isolation, and for sportspeople like Higgins, there were new opportunities. But for Higgins specifically, his curiosity - the brain that made him good enough at chess to not embarrass himself on the international stage if he got the chance to compete there - extended to the entire sporting environment. And his study of sporting history leaned on a distinct theme with major Kytlerian resonance - the way that in some sports, but very much not others, prior international experience is a major factor in performance.

His data source was a wildly varied one, filled with all sorts of international sporting events. One of them was the Elephant Chess Cup, and while that might have looked like a decidedly personal addition, it turned out to be a crucial one. The closest he'd come to a conclusion was that the greater the mental component of a sport, the more likely it was that past experience mattered. Yet the Elephant Chess Cup didn't fit that at all. The mental component was the entire slani sport, yet there was little sense of a trend here, and indeed the last one was won by a debutant entry in Archalit. So clearly there was an anomaly here, one that befuddled Higgins almost as much as the Sicilian Defense's most theory-heavy lines and the complex traps held within. And upon that thought, he went back to practicing just that. It could come in handy if he ever did get the chance to compete on the international stage...

---

The University of Zube has become the de facto headquarters of Kytlerian chess. This technically isn't accurate, as there is a national governing body (the Kytlerian Chess Association) whose offices are a few kilometres away in the central part of the city, but such is the concentration of chess as a university sport in general that the national championship is very often a students-versus-staff affair at the business end, and the true concentration of talent is at Zube. The reason for this is a certain Professor John Roach, a man whose last two decades have been theoretically dedicated to the study of algebraic topology and in practice just as dedicated to the study of the Sicilian Defense.

Roach has won the last nine national championships he's contested, which hasn't been all of them; he's always no-shown the nationals if academic commitments came first, and the tournament he actually always made time for was the university's own Mathematics v Margaret Institute inter-departmental battle. The creation of Professor Hahnea Izorigor of the Margaret Institute (a popular lecturer in the Sports Media department with a research interest in newspaper reporting styles between countries), the annual contest takes place on the first weekend of the second semester and involves four staff and four students from each department competing in an eight-round Scheveningen contest with 10+9/3 time controls (10-minute clock, 9-second increment for the first 40 moves, 3-second increment thereafter). If that time control seems whimsical and kind of is, the play is so competitive that some have argued it is the actual best Kytlerian chess event of the year. It's certainly a big reason why Zube students have dominated the Kytlerian Campus Chess Championship of late.

Roach's all-time record in that event stands at a formidable 66.5/88, and he hasn't actually lost a game in five years. But the Margaret Institute team actually won the event two years running before Julia Willis began her mathematics degree at Zube last year. Willis was beating many of the top non-university adults (including her own father) before arriving on campus, her mentorship from Roach sparked a minor scandal on campus because a student journalist speculated that there was something inappropriate about it. This quickly turned into a scandal for student media as it turned out the supposed sexy messages between the two were fake, and Willis kept her dignity and simply said "I prefer to focus on the board, where truth always wins." She's 13.5/16 against the Margaret Institute, and this year the Mathematics team secured a record 44-20 winning margin behind 7/8 performances from both herself and Roach. Higgins managed a draw as white against him this year, happily playing the London System to good if stultifying effect, but lost as black to Willis in a Réti Accepted. His 4.5/8 was one of only two winning records for Margaret Institute players that weekend (alongside Izorigor's 5/8 despite losses to both Roach and Willis), and he marked himself out with a superb victory as black against first-year statistics student Stijn van Dijk, who went 5.5/8 overall.

While the KCA declared an interest in entering the Elephant Chess Cup when entries opened for it shortly after the Giisost administration took office, they specifically delegated responsibility to the University of Zube. The ECC's 15+5 time controls are very comparable to (just far less weird than) the 10+9/3 controls at Mathematics v Margaret Institute, and the teams there were obviously used to playing against each other. Besides, Roach de facto ran Kytlerian chess as it was, even if the KCA's board might pretend otherwise. So he led the team, and some of the university staff responsible for handling academic travel - which wasn't restricted in the isolation - took charge of logistics for the event alongside Roach. Willis, Izorigor, and Higgins would join Roach on the team, with van Dijk as reserve.

When he got the call, Higgins was naturally excited. But he also realised, with a sudden shock, that he was literally contributing to his own research...

by **The Jovannic** » Thu Aug 10, 2023 8:05 pm

The Jovannic Roster for the Elephant Chess Cup 7

This will be the second edition of the Elephant Chess Cup, in recent memory at least, that The Jovannic will be participating in.

The Jovannic had specifically participated in the 5th edition of the cup, and proved relatively sturdy throughout, bouncing back from a 0-1-1 start in the group stages to finish 2nd in the group with 3 wins, before knocking Klakahollin out 3-1 in the round of 12.

Waiting for them in the quarterfinals were Poafmersia, which unfortunately proved to be a step too far for the internationally inexperienced Jovannicans.

Experience should not be a problem this time around however, as the Jovannicans look to field an extremely similar side to the one assembled during the 5th edition.

Board 1: Bremin Loh

Home Province: Chan
Age: 36
National Tournament Golds: 4

An Online Tournament Challenger from 19 to his early 20s, Loh came into the physical scene with a bang, defeating former National Champion Nert Valoha 2.5-1.5 in the second round of the Chan Regional Open. He would produce further upsets and reach the semi-finals of the open, where he would finally lose to then national second seed Mason Tatriner 3.5-0.5. Starting his Physical career at 22, he would become the top 32 ranked chess players in The Jovannic by age 24, qualifying for the National Tournament. 3 Golds in the 5 years before the 5th Elephant Chess Cup saw him taking board 1 of the Jovannican contingent. Since then, some may say he has tapered off a bit, and after winning his fourth gold the year after the cup, he has gone three years cold, and almost 1 without a regional title. Nevertheless, it's not to say he hasn't come close, achieving runner-up twice in the national tournament now, including the most recent edition.

Bremin Loh is a extremely sharp attacking player, and has no qualms playing gambits such as the Blackmar-Diemer.

Board 2: Horace Barley

Home Province: Inzen
Age: 52
National Tournament Golds: 5

In the 4 years after the 5th Elephant Chess Cup, Horace Barley seemed to have finally fallen off, with tournament success eluding him time and time again. Yet, the man from Inzen produced a stunning comeback against Bremin Loh on the latest National Tournament, giving him a record-equalis8ng 5th Gold and shooting him straight back into the top 5 rankings.

Horace Barley usually plays a more technical and structured game, although he also likes to catch fragile defences by surprise.

Board 3: Carrius Rolle

Home Province: Jovannica
Age: 23
National Tournament Golds: 1

The newest talent in the national scene, he won the Callios Open at 17, and made waves by defeating once national champion Nert Valoha in the East Coast Hearts Cup at just 18 years of age. Reaching the top 32 by 19, he poked into he top four again and again, winning his first gold at just 22 years of age.

Rolle prefers a tactical approach, and is not afraid of sluggish games. He has, however, run an aggressive attacking style to surprise his opponents.

Board 4: Amelia Broyleson

Age: 48
National Tournament Golds: 2

Only the second female player to win the National Tournament at the age of 38, she became a professional at the age of 21, and regularly challenged at regionals. For most of her 20s and early 30s, she would rank among the top 50, with the highest being 34th after her 2nd consecutive victory in the Juxe Regional and a 5-3 upset victory in the final against then 27th ranked Charlie Waston. She finally broke into the top 32 at age 34. Her second Tournament victory was at age 42, where she had upset the heavy favourite Bremin Loh in the final with a score of 4.5-3.5. A proponent of the Jovannican Contingent in the 5th Elephant Chess Cup, She hasn't been particularly convincing on the National stage, but a solid record across four years sees her back in the squad.

She likes a closed game, and is possibly the most drawish player in the roster.

Reserve: Zachary Ho

Home Province: Juxe
Age: 43
National Tournament Golds: 1

Rising to fame through the Bilipat Open, where he volunteered at 29 years old and reached the Quarter-finals, defeating the 1st and 5th seeds along the way. His heavy-hitting style of play led to him rapidly rising through the ranks, winning the National Tournament at 32. His ranking has ebbed up and down after that peak, but has still contended for trophies extremely consistently. A member of the 5th Elephant Cup Contingent, his last open win saw him go undefeated in the Matisrma Open against the pool that included Amelia Broyleson and Carrius Rolle.

If my opponent roleplays first, they may:
Choose my starting lineup (if applicable): Y
Decide individual match results: Y
Godmod other events: Y but do tg me.

by **The Kytler Peninsulae** » Fri Aug 11, 2023 12:49 pm

There is something neat about the format of the Elephant Chess Cup. 16 teams of four players means 64 in total - one for every square on the board. 32 of those boards were assembled across multiple ground floor rooms of the Ivory Crown Hotel in Newport, South Newlandia - a port city that reminded Kytlerian team leader John Roach of Santa Mordana in terms of its size and cosmopolitan nature. He was pretty sure it didn't have a hotel as startlingly upscale as this, mind. He'd done far more international travel than most Kytlerians of his generation, given the dispersed nature of the academic conferences he got invited to, but he'd never stayed anywhere this plush and doubted he ever would again.

This, too, was a business trip. But not the type he'd become used to, and instead the manifestation of what felt like an alternate reality for him, and unthinkable for almost anyone else who joined him on this journey. This was a trip on behalf of the entire Kytlerian nation, to represent them in an international sporting event - the first sportspeople to do so in any capacity for many years. Mind sports, after all, are sports. (There are some time dilation shenanigans around this event relative to the GCF T20, the first physical-sport Kytlerian participation of the new era if that's the right term, but this is firmly established as starting first.)

Roach would have aspired to this, and met that aspiration to boot, if it wasn't for growing up firmly in the isolation years, where the influence of the arch-conservative FFP and in particular their moral panic over drug use led to a conscious decision to avoid international sport. The very thing the Kytlerians were known for, gone. And while nobody noticed that for Roach compared to the likes of baseball wizard Shrifflu Cliriputed or soccer sensation Robbie Barnes...

But that was then and this was now. On this mild cloudy morning in Newport, the Ivory Crown Hotel was the scene of something historic. A famed sporting nation was back, not in front of baying crowds of thousands, but in an unnervingly quiet room that was probably last used for a high-level business meeting. Which, of course, is exactly what this was for Professor John Roach too.

---

The team spent the pre-tournament Wednesday night in the Ivory Crown Hotel. More specifically, most of them gathered in John Roach's corner suite, room 401; Ben Higgins preferred solo prep and some time in the well-appointed hotel gym, particularly the heavy bag (after all, he is the national chessboxing champion). They played practice games with the 15+5 time control, one as white and one as black; Roach against reserve Stijn van Dijk, Julia Willis against Hahnea Izorigor. The aim at this point was simply to drill "live games" in the same time environment as they'll be in when the real tournament arises; the theory prep came earlier, although the Willis-Izorigor pairing was deliberate, giving the former a game against someone who tends to play hypermodern openings and the latter a chance to respond to a more reactive playstyle. Naturally, Roach as black played his usual Sicilian, and van Dijk played the Alapin, a line Roach was surely going to face at least once and maybe a few times this tournament. The specific line ended up being a Smith-Morra Declined, and after the queens were exchanged early, the game ended up drifting into a draw, as was the reverse game where the Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation was the opening. Willis and Izorigor also exchanged draws, and the general sense in the room was that everyone was playing solid if not necessarily imaginative chess. This was a strange thing to say about Izorigor, given her unusual opening style, but she wasn't as wild as she sometimes is, and her game as black ended up in a Queen's Gambit Accepted, after she went for a King's Indian Attack to start as white.

Higgins was booked to room 404. As the clock ticked to 10pm, he was still not found. Izorigor was just about to check in on him when suddenly, he appeared, at least slightly sweaty despite his post-gym shower. His tall, wiry figure (at 189cm, he was known for having a reach advantage over his under-80kg middleweight chessboxing opponents) was unmistakable.

"If I'm going to be an international sportsman, I'm going to prepare like one," he said, notwithstanding the fact he'd technically missed final team practice.

"So are we," Willis said. "In our own ways. As I've said before, the board is where truth always wins."

Within an hour, they were asleep. By 7:30am that morning, they were settling in to room service breakfast - nobody wanted to spy on each other in the morning, or at least none of the Kytlerians wanted part of that - and their brains were whirring ready for that truth-telling session, whilst carrying a unique burden of history that fell heavy on Ben Higgins, who was now officially about to start contributing to the dataset of his own thesis.

by **South Newlandia** » Fri Aug 11, 2023 1:56 pm

Cutoff for games one and two! If you're new to this, I will first post the results for MD1 as well as the MD2 matchups in a bit, the MD2 scores and MD3 matchups will come sometime later.
Good luck!

Match 1 – Thursday, 11:00

Results:
(the team listed first has white on boards two and four)

Aeragny 2–2 Alezian Union
Archalit 3½–½ Natanians and Nosts
Kharakia 2–2 Chess-playing Elephants
Oueskaba ½–3½ South Newlandia
Sky Reavers 3–1 Græntfjall
The Jovannic 2½–1½ Xanneria
The Kytler Peninsulae 3½–½ Delaclava
TJUN-ia 2½–1½ Poafmersia

Table:

P                           Pld    W   D   L     PF     PA    PD   Pts 
 1 Archalit                   1    1   0   0     3.5    0.5   +3     2
   South Newlandia            1    1   0   0     3.5    0.5   +3     2
   The Kytler Peninsulae      1    1   0   0     3.5    0.5   +3     2
 4 Sky Reavers                1    1   0   0     3      1     +2     2
 5 The Jovannic               1    1   0   0     2.5    1.5   +1     2
   TJUN-ia                    1    1   0   0     2.5    1.5   +1     2
 7 Aeragny                    1    0   1   0     2      2      0     1
   Alezian Union              1    0   1   0     2      2      0     1
   Chess-playing Elephants    1    0   1   0     2      2      0     1
   Kharakia                   1    0   1   0     2      2      0     1
11 Poafmersia                 1    0   0   1     1.5    2.5   -1     0
   Xanneria                   1    0   0   1     1.5    2.5   -1     0
13 Græntfjall                 1    0   0   1     1      3     -2     0
14 Delaclava                  1    0   0   1     0.5    3.5   -3     0
   Natanians and Nosts        1    0   0   1     0.5    3.5   -3     0
   Oueskaba                   1    0   0   1     0.5    3.5   -3     0

Match 2 - Thursday, 13:00

Results:
(the team listed first has white on boards two and four)

South Newlandia 2–2 Archalit
The Kytler Peninsulae 2–2 Sky Reavers
The Jovannic 1½–2½ TJUN-ia
Alezian Union 2½–1½ Kharakia
Chess-playing Elephants 2–2 Aeragny
Poafmersia 1–3 Xanneria
Græntfjall 2½–1½ Oueskaba
Delaclava 1½–2½ Natanians and Nosts

Table:

P                           Pld    W   D   L    PF     PA    PD   Pts 
 1 TJUN-ia                    2    2   0   0    5      3     +2     4
 2 Archalit                   2    1   1   0    5.5    2.5   +3     3
   South Newlandia            2    1   1   0    5.5    2.5   +3     3
 4 The Kytler Peninsulae      2    1   1   0    5.5    2.5   +3     3
 5 Sky Reavers                2    1   1   0    5      3     +2     3
 6 Alezian Union              2    1   1   0    4.5    3.5   +1     3
 7 Xanneria                   2    1   0   1    4.5    3.5   +1     2
 8 Aeragny                    2    0   2   0    4      4      0     2
   Chess-playing Elephants    2    0   2   0    4      4      0     2
10 The Jovannic               2    1   0   1    4      4      0     2
11 Græntfjall                 2    1   0   1    3.5    4.5   -1     2
12 Natanians and Nosts        2    1   0   1    3      5     -2     2
13 Kharakia                   2    0   1   1    3.5    4.5   -1     1
14 Poafmersia                 2    0   0   2    2.5    5.5   -3     0
15 Delaclava                  2    0   0   2    2      6     -4     0
   Oueskaba                   2    0   0   2    2      6     -4     0

Match 3 Pairings – Thursday, 16:00

TJUN-ia - Archalit
South Newlandia - The Kytler Peninsulae
Sky Reavers - Alezian Union
Xanneria - Aeragny
Chess-playing Elephants - The Jovannic
Natanians and Nosts - Græntfjall
Kharakia - Poafmersia
Delaclava - Oueskaba

by **The Kytler Peninsulae** » Fri Aug 11, 2023 4:11 pm

The records would show that the first sporting actions made by a Kytlerian on the international stage in this post-isolation era were Julia Willis playing 1. Nf3 against Delaclavan Reid Craig and Ben Higgins playing 1. d4 against Mykola Mazur. (The moves were genuinely simultaneous; video footage suggested Willis had started her move a fraction earlier, but it registered on the electronic database of moves a fraction later. Moving a knight takes more time physically.) If you want an omen for the future of Kytlerian sport, "don't expect the obvious" is it; the majority of players start with 1. e4 as white, but neither Kytlerian did. (The two professors who had the black pieces against their respective Delaclavan opponents, John Roach and Hahnea Izorigor, both faced 1. e4 openings, replying with 1...c5 and 1...g6 respectively.)

Covering this was a challenge. The historic significance of it demanded live TV coverage, but it's chess, which is pretty much impossible to broadcast to the uninitiated (and the entire point of broadcasting this was to draw viewing from the uninitiated) when it's one classical game at a time. This was four rapid games at a time. National broadcaster NBO - its full privatisation having been threatened but never executed by the Liberal-FFP coalition, and formally abandoned by Clituleng Giisost's new administration - would provide streams of the games on their website, and there would be a separate broadcast on NBO1 which spent more time on the background of the moment, the symbolic significance of it, and tried in vain to maybe explain the broad strokes of what was going on. "Izorigor likes what's called hypermodern openings, where instead of launching pawns forward to directly control the centre of the board she attacks with other pieces, like how Bravin Rangers like to play counter-attacking football down the flanks, it's a bit like that." Even with no prospect of international play, even with the knowledge it was between ten and 93 levels below the best in the world, Kytlerian soccer was still popular enough to be the go-to analogy source for the flailing broadcaster. The overall impression was a bizarre hybrid of NBO's "Scoretrack" around-the-grounds soccer show - up to and including the graphics package, showing the board where a score/statistics box would be - and the broadcast of a major state occasion.

Even the structure of the tournament - the so-called Casaran model - needed some awkward explaining. Basically, a fully random draw decided who played who first, but then winners would play winners and losers would play losers in the second round, and there'd be some attempt to have similar-strength matchups the rest of the way based on record. Then the top six would go through to the final two days, and then there would be an actual group stage, but with half the points carried over, and the top two from there would meet in the actual final. Trust this sport to have a galaxy-brain tournament structure. You probably needed to be able to play high-level chess yourself to understand it. Maybe that was the point. If it was, needless to say, this was not great for explanations to a new curious crowd...

Anyway, the "state occasion" feeling could have been funereal if the Kytlerians lost, even if that was at least half-expected. But this is a country who have an uncanny knack for making a strong instant impact in a lot of different sporting competitions, and in this new era debut - and international chess debut - the hoary old narrative was being revived yet again. First, Roach's use of the Poisoned Pawn Variation of his beloved Sicilian Defense was not handled well by Simon Vondracek on the Delaclavan side of the first board, allowing Roach to win all too quickly. Second, Izorigor's hypermodernism met Xaver Sussmayr's inconsistency and a chaotic middlegame broke in favour of the Margaret Institute professor and suddenly the Kytlerians had two points out of two. They secured the match win when Higgins-Mazur finished as a bloodless draw, but then Willis-Craig - which had opened with a Réti that turned into a Reverse Blumenfeld Gambit - drifted firmly in favour of the Kytlerian during the middlegame, and while Craig gamely defended for a draw in the endgame, one false move undid that work and he resigned on move 63 to complete a stunning 3.5-0.5 win for the Kytlerian team.

It was only one game, of eight in just the first group and four today, and this winning margin would pair them with a similarly dominant opponent - Sky Reavers, as it transpired - just a short time later. There was no time to let this sink in, and probably just as well, because frankly there was no amount of time sufficient for this to sink in.

(O.O) · by **TJUN-ia** » Sun Aug 13, 2023 5:42 am

The Ivory Hotel. Newport, South Newlandia. The beating heart of the Elephant Chess Cup (even if the organisers want more variety in terms of hosts). It's good to be back. Last time we were here, our crown was given to someone else...and our first leader, Yevgeny Solovyanenko, had to say "do pobachennya" to the international scene. That fact that we aren't the defending champions anymore wasn't being taken lightly but we still had that air of confidence surrounding our Jaguar Knights that we can make a challenge to get it back at the first time of asking. Reinforcements had to be made but this team entered Newport hungry for more gold...so how would things start on Thursday?

GIC Tshering Gyeltshen bt Poafmersia #1
GIC Anne Christian-Warren bt by Poafmersia #2
GIC Margarita Altamiranda drew with Poafmesia #3
CC Gideon Irosaea (debut) bt Poafmersia #4

By random draw (as is tradition), our first contest of this ECC would be up against good ol' Poafmersia - a fellow chess-loving nation from the North Pacific. We didn't have much in the way of data heading into this one in terms of who would be on what board, but we played the way we knew we would play and it pretty much worked a treat. Tshering Gyeltshen had his first match on Board 1 and while you could see the pressure upon his face a bit, she still duelled it out with a smile on his face and got the dub everyone wanted to see. Anne Christian-Warren, on the other hand, didn't have that much fun as the Lesbian Pirate Queen was swept aside on Board 2. Margarita Altamiranda would have an interesting game on Board 3 but ended up with a draw. The main event, however, was on Board 4 for the debut of one Gideon Irosaea - with most of his hometown of Kirakira practically shutting down to watch his board on local TV. He was just as precise as those hyping him claimed to be, treating this game like the tactical battle men used to fight long ago, and this attitude would power him through to his first-ever victory at this level. 2.5-1.5, job done...what's next?

GIC Tshering Gyeltshen (1-0) bt Bremin Loh
GIC Anne Christian-Warren (0-1) bt by Horace Barley
GIC Margarita Altamiranda (0-1-0) bt Carrius Rolle
CC Gideon Irosaea (debut) (1-0) drew with Amelia Broyleson

After lunch, a date was made with The Jovannic - a team with a lot to learn, but with a lot of potential at their hips. We knew that this matchup was going to be tougher than the first but the first two boards went exactly the same way as Match 1 - with Gyeltshen taking down the attacking Bremin Loh and ACW getting scuttled by the solid Horace Barley. The differences would come in the lower boards with Margarita Altamiranda providing enough punch to take down Carrius Rolle while Gideon Irosaea's 2nd game ended in a stalemate against Amelia Broyleson. Still, it was another 2.5-1.5 victory...enough to put us top of the table after the 1st half of Day 1.

Time to regroup...and we will certainly need to. Archalit, the defending champions, are up next at 4 pm - and there would be nothing else that TCF wanted more than a slice of revenge. GO JAGUAR KNIGHTS!

RESULTS TABLE
Swiss Stage
M1: vs Poafmersia (Thurs, 11 am) W 2.5-1.5 (T-5th)
M2: vs The Jovannic (Thurs, 1 pm) W 2.5-1.5 (1th)
M3: vs Archalit (Thurs, 4 pm)

Records: TG - 2-0/ACW - 0-2/MA - 1-1-0/GI - 1-1-0

by **South Newlandia** » Sun Aug 13, 2023 1:22 pm

Cutoff! Let's see who's in the best shape after Thursday.

Match 3 – Thursday, 16:00

Results:
(the team listed first has white on boards two and four)

TJUN-ia 2½–1½ Archalit
South Newlandia ½–3½ The Kytler Peninsulae
Sky Reavers 2–2 Alezian Union
Xanneria 1½–2½ Aeragny
Chess-playing Elephants 2–2 The Jovannic
Natanians and Nosts 3–1 Græntfjall
Kharakia 1–3 Poafmersia
Delaclava 3–1 Oueskaba

Table:

P                           Pld    W   D   L    PF     PA   PD   Pts 
 1 TJUN-ia                    3    3   0   0    7.5   4.5   +3     6
 2 The Kytler Peninsulae      3    2   1   0    9     3     +6     5
 3 Sky Reavers                3    1   2   0    7     5     +2     4
 4 Aeragny                    3    1   2   0    6.5   5.5   +1     4
   Alezian Union              3    1   2   0    6.5   5.5   +1     4
 6 Natanians and Nosts        3    2   0   1    6     6      0     4
 7 Archalit                   3    1   1   1    7     5     +2     3
 8 Chess-playing Elephants    3    0   3   0    6     6      0     3
   The Jovannic               3    1   1   1    6     6      0     3
10 South Newlandia            3    1   1   1    6     6      0     3
11 Xanneria                   3    1   0   2    6     6      0     2
12 Poafmersia                 3    1   0   2    5.5   6.5   -1     2
13 Delaclava                  3    1   0   2    5     7     -2     2
14 Græntfjall                 3    1   0   2    4.5   7.5   -3     2
15 Kharakia                   3    0   1   2    4.5   7.5   -3     1
16 Oueskaba                   3    0   0   3    3     9     -6     0

Match 4 - Thursday, 18:00

Results:
(the team listed first has white on boards two and four)

TJUN-ia 2–2 The Kytler Peninsulae
Aeragny 2–2 Sky Reavers
Alezian Union 1½–2½ Natanians and Nosts
Archalit 3–1 Chess-playing Elephants
The Jovannic 1–3 South Newlandia
Xanneria 2–2 Delaclava
Poafmersia 1½–2½ Græntfjall
Oueskaba 3–1 Kharakia

Table:

P                           Pld    W   D   L    PF     PA     PD   Pts 
 1 TJUN-ia                    4    3   1   0     9.5    6.5   +3     7
 2 The Kytler Peninsulae      4    2   2   0    11      5     +6     6
 3 Natanians and Nosts        4    3   0   1     8.5    7.5   +1     6
 4 Archalit                   4    2   1   1    10      6     +4     5
 5 Sky Reavers                4    1   3   0     9      7     +2     5
   South Newlandia            4    2   1   1     9      7     +2     5
 7 Aeragny                    4    1   3   0     8.5    7.5   +1     5
 8 Alezian Union              4    1   2   1     8      8      0     4
 9 Græntfjall                 4    2   0   2     7      9     -2     4
10 Xanneria                   4    1   1   2     8      8      0     3
11 Chess-playing Elephants    4    0   3   1     7      9     -2     3
   The Jovannic               4    1   1   2     7      9     -2     3
13 Delaclava                  4    1   1   2     7      9     -2     3
14 Poafmersia                 4    1   0   3     7      9     -2     2
15 Oueskaba                   4    1   0   3     6     10     -4     2
16 Kharakia                   4    0   1   3     5.5   10.5   -5     1

Match 5 Pairings – Friday, 11:00

Natanians and Nosts - TJUN-ia
The Kytler Peninsulae - Archalit
Sky Reavers - South Newlandia
Græntfjall - Aeragny
Alezian Union - Xanneria
Chess-playing Elephants - Delaclava
Kharakia - The Jovannic
Poafmersia - Oueskaba

(O.O) · by **TJUN-ia** » Tue Aug 15, 2023 7:44 am

Hello and welcome back to the 7th Elephant Chess Cup - coming to you from, where else, the Ivory Crown Hotel in Newport, South Newlandia. After a 2-0 start (with both matches ending with 1.5 games conceded), the Jaguar Knights were certainly in a good position and everyone knew that...including debutant Gideon Irosaea, who celebrated his first half-day as a Jaguar Knight with a slice of cake from the pantry. But the work was far from over and our biggest test awaited...so how would we do?

GIC Tshering Gyeltshen (2-0) bt by GC Bungki Gungo
GIC Anne Christian-Warren (0-2) bt GC Octávio Vidal
GIC Margarita Altamiranda (1-1-0) drew with GC Evan Kennedy
CC Gideon Irosaea (debut) (1-1-0) bt GC Iara Carlson

It was always going to happen. A rematch against the Pirates of Archalit always seemed like a certainty no matter how far we got, so having it happen on Day 1 made it all the more critical. Tshering Gyeltshen now had to deal with Bungki Gungo, a player that Yevgeny Solovyanenko managed to take down 3 times last time out, but those experiences made the primate all the more powerful and in this contest, Gyeltshen had no answer. Anne Christian-Warren had yet to take a win in this ECC before her contest with Octávio Vidal but that would all change here as her famous tactics became too hot to handle for young Vidal and resulted in the result going the way of the Lesbian Pirate Queen. Margarita Altamiranda ended up facing Evan Kennedy this time and to no one's surprise, we ended up with a draw, but what was a surprise was Gideon Irosaea vs Iara Carlson, which actually ended up in a win for the debutant and a 2.5-1.5 win for us over the defending champs. That certainly did feel good...but the day wasn't over yet.

GIC Tshering Gyeltshen (2-1) drew with Prof. John Roach
GIC Anne Christian-Warren (1-2) drew with Julia Willis
GIC Margarita Altamiranda (1-2-0) drew with Prof. Hahnea Izorigor
CC Gideon Irosaea (debut) (1-2-0) drew with Ben Higgins

With revenge secured, #ECCAfterDark took over as our matchup with The Kytler Peninsulae ended up being the most stalemate-y stalemate in the history of stalemates. Gyeltshen vs John Roach? Draw due to time constraints. ACW vs Julia Willis? Draw due to enough chaos being applied on the board. Altamiranda vs Hahnea Izorigor? Draw due to stalemate. Irosaea vs Ben Higgins? Draw due to chessboxing tactics causing utter confusion. It was just a stalemate...which was OK enough to keep our lead at the top of the table, but certainly interesting all the same.

Day 1 of this ECC was now complete and as we all went to bed, TJUN-ia was top of the group on a record of 3-1-0 and a Match Differential of +3. Tomorrow, we would start against Natanians and Nosts...and from there, the battle to get into the Top 6 will begin. GO JAGUAR KNIGHTS!

RESULTS TABLE
Swiss Stage
M1: vs Poafmersia (Thurs, 11 am) W 2.5-1.5 (T-5th)
M2: vs The Jovannic (Thurs, 1 pm) W 2.5-1.5 (1st)
M3: vs Archalit (Thurs, 4 pm) W 2.5-1.5 (1st)
M4: vs The Kytler Peninsulae (Thurs, 6 pm) D 2-2 (1st)
M5: vs Natanians and Nosts (Fri, 11 am)

Records: TG - 2-1-1/ACW - 1-1-2/MA - 1-3-0/GI - 2-2-0

by **Archalit** » Tue Aug 15, 2023 11:34 am

Games Recap
The Elephant Chess Cup has started back up and it is intense. We are officially out of Thursday and some crazy matches have happened so far. Right now, we're gonna be delving into ~~three~~one of the craziest games for Archalit ~~and delving into the standings out of the first day~~.
(OOC: sorry, didn't get around to doing the three I wanted to in time, might get around to more if things slow down a bit)
Elani Jabulan vs Iara Carlson (SNL vs ARC)
Normally I'd go ahead and look at the opening, but for this game I decided to jump over to move 30, and the reason for that is that this was not a very exciting game. We saw a Ragozin and nothing particularly special except that Elani Jabulan is actually better. Iara Carlson has somehow gotten her king on e5 and it's not looking all that great. However, Jabulan started letting the game slip, and after 31...g5 and a trade of knights, Iara managed to stabilize the game. Some short while later, there was a massive trade ultimately leading for a bishop for knight swap. So now Jabulan has the 3 on 2 but it's an irregular pawn structure. You've got two connected passed pawns, isolated pawns on the d and g file. So, a couple moves later, something completely insane happened. On move 42 Carlson played 42...Rd4?? Now if you just look at the move at a first glance you'd think it makes sense since she's looking for a trade, and yeah, Elani Jabulan played takes-takes. Except, Jabulan missed f4 which wins a rook. f4, you take with either the rook or pawn, the rook is lost and the game is over. Okay, so they played some more moves and Carlson does an excellent job suppressing Jabulan's movement, and there's just no way to advance anymore. A few more moves later, all the pieces are traded, and the game ends in a draw.

[Event "7th Elephant Chess Cup"]
[Site "Newport SNL"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Elani Jabulan"]
[Black "Iara Carlson"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[BlackElo "2748"]
[Board "1"]
[Stage "Swiss Stage"]
[EventType "tourn (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "13"]
[EventCountry "SNL"]
[TimeControl "15+5"]
[BlackTitle "GC"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bf4 c6 7. e3 Bf5 8. Qb3 Qb6 9. Nh4 Bg6 10. Nxg6 hxg6 11. h3 Nbd7 12. Bd3 c5 13. a3 Ba5 14. Qxb6 Bxb6 15. dxc5 Nxc5 16. O-O-O O-O-O 17. Kb1 Ne6 18. Be5 Bc7 19. Bxc7 Kxc7 20. Bc2 g5 21. Bb3 Kc6 22. Rc1 Kd6 23. Nb5+ Ke5 24. Nxa7 Ne4 25. Nb5 g4 26. Rc2 Rh5 27. f3 gxf3 28. gxf3 Ng3 29. Rd1 Nf5 30. Rc3 Ne7 31. Nc7 g5 32. Nxe6 fxe6 33. Rc7 Nf5 34. e4 Nd4 35. Rxb7 Rxh3 36. exd5 exd5 37. Re7+ Kd6 38. Re3 Nxb3 39. Rxb3 Rf8 40. Rdd3 Rf4 41. Kc2 Ke5 42. Rb5 Rd4 43. Rxd4 Kxd4 44. Rb3 Rh2+ 45. Kb1 Rh3 46. Ka2 Kc4 47. Rc3+ Kb5 48. Kb3 d4 49. Rd3 Kc5 50. Kc2 Rg3 51. a4 Rg2+ 52. Rd2 Rg3 53. Rf2 Kb4 54. b3 g4 55. fxg4 d3+ 56. Kd2 Rxg4 57. Kxd3 Rg3+ 58. Kc2 Rc3+ 59. Kb1 Rxb3+ 60. Rb2 Rxb2+ 61. Kxb2 Kxa4 1/2-1/2

by **The Kytler Peninsulae** » Tue Aug 15, 2023 12:40 pm

This "audio RP" is an extract from the TV coverage of the tournament from Kytlerian broadcaster NBO, with presenter Ryan Thatcher and analyst Wecoisus Whootung. And while it involves some controversy, SNL has already confirmed I'm OK to do this - and it may set up a future rule clarification...

---

RYAN THATCHER: So we have had confirmation from the organisers of the Elephant Chess Cup that the lineup change we were talking about earlier, where two of the players swapped boards, was indeed not a violation of the competition rules, so that extraordinary victory over the hosts South Newlandia will stand. If you're just joining us, Julia Willis and Ben Higgins were swapped around and there was a complaint made but that has now been officially dismissed, and Wecoisus, could you confirm why there was a controversy and what the thinking was to start with?

WECOISUS WHOOTUNG: So the controversy was - is because the convention at chess tournaments is, you set your order, then you stick with it. But there was never actually a rule to formally require that you did that, which is obviously something that the Kytlerian team had noticed, and this comes to the thinking part, which is that they wanted to create a more favourable matchup for the two players in question. Adam Esteban on the second board of South Newlandia, he's known for adventurous openings and sometimes running into a bit of time pressure, so they wanted Ben Higgins to face him, because of his blitz skills and his tendency to keep things simple, they thought that would be favourable. And then the flipside is Julia Willis would move onto the fourth board, and Elani Jabulan who plays that for South Newlandia very much focuses on preparing for specific opponents and their opening tendencies, and so a change of opponent would make her vulnerable because she'd obviously have prepared for the prospect of playing Ben and his relatively straightforward openings, but then suddenly Julia has more variety and although she did go - for a symmetrical response to the e4 opening and it went into a Ruy Lopez, Elani was clearly shaken up, and made some inaccurate plays quite early in a familiar setup.

RT: Was it seen as somehow dirty play from the Kytlerians, to do this?

WW: I think it could possibly have been, but I don't think they necessarily saw it as malice, there was certainly no accusation of cheating in the games themselves, simply a bewilderment when they lined up that way and a wondering "can you actually do that?" - in a sport like chess every little thing can get blown up so there could have been ill feeling, but I think mostly there was surprise that the rules allowed this, and an assumption they wouldn't, and probably in future they won't. And in fact we have heard that for the next match, that is - against... TJUN-ia, that the original lineup is going to be used there, I don't know if that's an inadvertent apology or simply because they don't see a reason to change the order like they did for South Newlandia.

RT: Where nothing changed, the first and third (boards) - the win for Hahnea Izorigor was particularly interesting.

WW: Yes, she went with the Benko, the g3 opening, and we know she has these hypermodern tendencies, that's where she doesn't want to advance her pawns early, and instead wants to destroy the centre from a distance, and it took this unusual pattern where it really didn't transpose into a specific regular opening at all, and Lisa Morgen sometimes makes some impulsive moves and we saw that with (8...)f6 here, that leaves a vulnerability which Izorigor was able to eventually exploit, but if you look here, after ten moves, she still has six pawns on the back rank, all sorts of pieces have been developed by both players, and this is the environment that Izorigor is more comfortable with than most players she faces.

The TV graphics at this point illustrate the opening part of the game: 1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 e5 3. c4 dxc4 4. Qa4+ c6 5. Qxc4 Be6 6. Qc2 Nd7 7. Nf3 Bc5 8. O-O f6? 9. Nc3 Ne7 10. Ne4 Qb6 and white is evaluated by the engine as clearly ahead.

by **South Newlandia** » Tue Aug 15, 2023 1:17 pm

“No ill feelings, certainly”, team captain Blossom told the Elephant Valley Sports Mail. “They caught us off-guard; clearly, we need to make sure to be properly informed about the exact rules and regulations.” The interview had been set up very quickly, for just about ten minutes on Friday morning, ahead of the South Newlandian matchup with Sky Reavers. “But we don’t think this is some kind of breach of the unwritten rules. Also, given the results and our play, we almost certainly would have lost regardless.” Blossom had lost her match with the black pieces against Kytlerian top board John Roach. In fact, Esteban was the only player to manage so much as a draw in the 0.5-3.5 defeat – despite being involved in the unusual switcheroo. “Apparently, this has always been possible, and we’ve just never seen it before. We’ll see if the Elephant Chess Cup tightens the rules for the next edition, now that this has moved into the spotlight” the interviewer explained, more to the audience than Blossom. “It’ll certainly be interesting to see how they proceed there, yes,” Blossom answered. “But for us, we’re more focused on the next games. I think we did that admirably, defeating The Jovannic, who has looked promising, in the last game.” “It was certainly much closer than the scoreline makes it appear – with his team trailing 1-2, Carrius Rolle had to press with the black pieces, and Morgen was able to take that game as well.” “Always a bit of luck involved. I think we’ve played a good Thursday despite that third match, setting ourselves up well for Friday and another tough slate of matches. Taking a draw, with winning chances no less, against defending champions Archalit has been more than we could’ve asked for.” “Is there any chance”, the interviewer wanted to know, “of the Elephants executing the same, or a similar, stunt as the Kytlerians did?” “We aren’t sure”, the South Newlandian top board answered. “We certainly talked about it following that match, but we’re not sure we want to. That is, except for a potential re-match with The Kytler Peninsulae; we might want to make sure to get our preferred matchups there, this time. Such a potential, pardon the pun, stalemate – is of course part of the reason why such stunts are usually not permitted.”

by **South Newlandia** » Tue Aug 15, 2023 1:35 pm

Cutoff! It's a new day!

Match 5 – Friday, 11:00

Results:
(the team listed first has white on boards two and four)

Natanians and Nosts ½–3½ TJUN-ia
The Kytler Peninsulae 2–2 Archalit
Sky Reavers 2–2 South Newlandia
Græntfjall 2–2 Aeragny
Alezian Union 1–3 Xanneria
Chess-playing Elephants 1–3 Delaclava
Kharakia 1–3 The Jovannic
Poafmersia 1½–2½ Oueskaba

Table:

P                           Pld    W   D   L    PF    PA    PD   Pts 
 1 TJUN-ia                    5    4   1   0    13     7    +6     9
 2 The Kytler Peninsulae      5    2   3   0    13     7    +6     7
 3 Archalit                   5    2   2   1    12     8    +4     6
 4 Sky Reavers                5    1   4   0    11     9    +2     6
   South Newlandia            5    2   2   1    11     9    +2     6
 6 Aeragny                    5    1   4   0    10.5   9.5  +1     6
 7 Natanians and Nosts        5    3   0   2     9    11    -2     6
 8 Xanneria                   5    2   1   2    11     9    +2     5
 9 Delaclava                  5    2   1   2    10    10     0     5
   The Jovannic               5    2   1   2    10    10     0     5
11 Græntfjall                 5    2   1   2     9    11    -2     5
12 Alezian Union              5    1   2   2     9    11    -2     4
13 Oueskaba                   5    2   0   3     8.5  11.5  -3     4
14 Chess-playing Elephants    5    0   3   2     8    12    -4     3
15 Poafmersia                 5    1   0   4     8.5  11.5  -3     2
16 Kharakia                   5    0   1   4     6.5  13.5  -7     1

Match 6 - Friday, 13:00

Results:
(the team listed first has white on boards two and four)

TJUN-ia 2½–1½ Sky Reavers
Aeragny ½–3½ The Kytler Peninsulae
Archalit 2–2 Xanneria
South Newlandia 3–1 Natanians and Nosts
Delaclava 2–2 The Jovannic
Græntfjall 2–2 Kharakia
Oueskaba 2–2 Alezian Union
Chess-playing Elephants 1½–2½ Poafmersia

Table:

P                           Pld    W   D   L    PF    PA     PD   Pts 
 1 TJUN-ia                    6    5   1   0    15.5   8.5   +7    11
 2 The Kytler Peninsulae      6    3   3   0    16.5   7.5   +9     9
 3 South Newlandia            6    3   2   1    14    10     +4     8
 4 Archalit                   6    2   3   1    14    10     +4     7
 5 Xanneria                   6    2   2   2    13    11     +2     6
 6 Sky Reavers                6    1   4   1    12.5  11.5   +1     6
 7 Delaclava                  6    2   2   2    12    12      0     6
   The Jovannic               6    2   2   2    12    12      0     6
 9 Aeragny                    6    1   4   1    11    13     -2     6
   Græntfjall                 6    2   2   2    11    13     -2     6
11 Natanians and Nosts        6    3   0   3    10    14     -4     6
12 Alezian Union              6    1   3   2    11    13     -2     5
13 Oueskaba                   6    2   1   3    10.5  13.5   -3     5
14 Poafmersia                 6    2   0   4    11    13     -2     4
15 Chess-playing Elephants    6    0   3   3     9.5  14.5   -5     3
16 Kharakia                   6    0   2   4     8.5  15.5   -7     2

Match 7 Pairings – Friday, 16:00

South Newlandia - TJUN-ia
Xanneria - The Kytler Peninsulae
Archalit - Sky Reavers
Delaclava - Aeragny
The Jovannic - Græntfjall
Natanians and Nosts - Kharakia
Alezian Union - Poafmersia
Oueskaba - Chess-playing Elephants

by **Chess-playing Elephants** » Tue Aug 15, 2023 2:10 pm

Roster

Habbhah-Hannhah (a senior Matriarch of the Upper Limpopo herds)
Gorramorra (the nation's Matriarch for Security)
Unghrrenne (Matriarch of a herd from the Coastal Azania area, with experience of pla ying against foreigners -- members of the Asiatic Elephant community that inhabits several trading posts in that region, and that first brought this game into Africa -- as well as against members of her own people.
Mirrhrrenne (an adult daughter of Unghrrenne)

All four are members of the African Bush Elephant's sapient subspecies, Loxodonta africana sapiens; all four are adult females (because the femaales of this species typically have rather more patience than the males, and therefore provide a significantly disproportionate share of the nation's top chess=players); and they are listed here in order from oldest to youngest. None of them are claustrophobic.

They have brought along some sapient Ground Hornbills who will act as interpreters for them.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my lineup: Yes
Decide board results: Yes
Decide moves made: Yes (except that these players will not attempt "Fool's Mate" and if that gambit is used against them then they will recognise it in time to avoid falling for it.
Godmod game events: Yes
Godmod other events: Yes

N.B. These elephants will often take as long a time as they're allowed to consider their moves, except when it's the endgame and their path to victory is clear.

I apologise for not posting this several days earlier, but for some reason I've been finding it hard to concentrate on NationStates -- and haven't even done much with my main nation (which, in case you're wondering, is Bears Armed...) -- recently.

______________________________________________________________

The time: Sunset, two days before this tournament opens.
The place: a gathering-site close to the River Limpopo -- the "great grey-green, greasy Limpopo, all set about with fever-trees" as Rudyard Kipling desribed it -- on an Earth where hominids are still at only the 'Australopithecine' stage.

The quartet of Elephants who are entering this tournament, and several travelling companions, leave the assembled herds and walk off (with their Hornbill translators riding on their backs) in the direction of the setting sun.

__________________________________

The time: Sunset, one day before this tournament opens.
The place: a few miles east of the hotel in which this tournament is taking place.

Any people who are looking in this direction from the west see a blurry patch in the air, appearing very much like an intense but highly localised heat-haze,reaching about twelve yards upwards from the ground and roughly four times that distance from side to side [i.e. north to south]. The group of elephants and hornbills arrives through that patch, walking towards the contest's venue, and all of the elephants are "singing" -- as they needed to do in order to traverse the 'songlines' en route -- as they advance. Once all of them have fully arrived here they end their song and simultaneously trumpet out a greeting.

"UNGAWA!"

(O.O) · by **TJUN-ia** » Wed Aug 16, 2023 2:56 pm

Hello and welcome back to the 7th Elephant Chess Cup - coming to you from, where else, the Ivory Crown Hotel in Newport, South Newlandia. After the first day of action in this 7th edition, the Jaguar Knights of TJUN-ia were top of the group at a 3-1-0 record - leading the pack at the Ivory Crown by a single point. The team were happy with what they managed so far but with the Top 6 on the horizon, they needed to carry on going in order to ensure of their progression. So how will the 3rd half go?

GIC Tshering Gyeltshen (2-1-1) bt Magnus Carolus Mihailescu
GIC Anne Christian-Warren (1-1-2) drew with Mihai Ion Antonescu
GIC Margarita Altamiranda (1-3-0) bt Ion Carolus Petrescu
CC Gideon Irosaea (debut) (2-2-0) bt Magnus Mihai Vnuk

Up first would be a date with Natanians and Nosts, a nation historically known for giving TJUN-ian sides a good scare in a few instances. Based on that, the Jaguar Knights were never going to underestimate the team in blue and white and that would lean into the things that ended up happening in this match. It was, for the most part, a pretty good day as Magnus Carolus Mihailescu, Ion Carolus Petrescu and Magnus Mihai Vnuk were all taken down by Tshering Gyeltshen, Margarita Altamiranda and Gideon Irosaea respectively in games that seemed almost too good to be true. The only blemish this team suffered in this match would be on Baord 2 as Anne Christian-Warren drew with Mihai Ion Antonescu, but that was mainly due to a clash of styles that seemingly didn't make for great chess. But still, it was a 3-1 win that still kept us on top of the table.

GIC Tshering Gyeltshen (3-1-1) bt by John "Four Fingers" Escobar
GIC Anne Christian-Warren (1-2-2) bt Liam Graham
GIC Margarita Altamiranda (2-3-0) drew with Yevgeny Babayev
CC Gideon Irosaea (debut) (3-2-0) bt John Jackson

Up next at 1 pm would be Sky Reavers and like so many matches yesterday, there were contrasting fortunes across the boards. Gyeltshen tried his best against John Escobar, but Four Fingers did what he needed to do to use his doctrines to great effect. Yevgeny Babayev is a player built on Syndicalist power and might but in this contest, he was equal to Altamiranda as they ended up in a draw. But the real winners here would end up being both the Lesbian Pirate Queen and the Rookie ending up with one more win to their names, taking down Liam Graham and the experienced John Jackson to end up with another 2.5-1.5 triumph in our favour.

Now officially qualified for the Super 6, we just have two more games to go on this important Friday...with the first of which coming against hosts and good rivals South Newlandia. Things will be interesting no matter what happens next...but what will happen next? GO JAGUAR KNIGHTS!

RESULTS TABLE
Swiss Stage
M1: vs Poafmersia (Thurs, 11 am) W 2.5-1.5 (T-5th)
M2: vs The Jovannic (Thurs, 1 pm) W 2.5-1.5 (1st)
M3: vs Archalit (Thurs, 4 pm) W 2.5-1.5 (1st)
M4: vs The Kytler Peninsulae (Thurs, 6 pm) D 2-2 (1st)
M5: vs Natanians and Nosts (Fri, 11 am) W 3.5-0.5 (1st)
M6: vs Sky Reavers (Fri, 1 pm) W 2.5-1.5 (1st)
M7: vs South Newlandia (Fri, 4 pm)

Records: TG - 3-1-2/ACW - 2-2-2/MA - 2-4-0/GI - 4-2-0

by **Natanians and Nosts** » Thu Aug 17, 2023 12:55 am

Arriving late at his hotel room,Magnus Carolus Mihailescu went straight into his bed,under the warm blankets,to escape the 15°C that was making,an extremelly cold temperature,at least for a Natanian and Nost.He boot up his computer,which uses the Linus kernel created by Torvald Linuxson.This computer is the one he uses solely for chess,and soonly he got the games' PGN files.Four rapid games.
His first match was a defeat to a Chimpanzee,whose only task in life was to play chess...a chimpanzee...he lost to a chimpanzee...Even though he wanted and Italian and had to try an Alapin,be cause 1.e4 was met with 1...c5,after an excrutiating thirty-five minutes of middle game,the Pan [i]troglodytes[i/],managed to beat him in a beautiful end game,with some nice tactical traps.After eating anything instead of a proper lunch,he went on to play his second match,which reflected in him feeling a tad bit more hungry than usual,and craving some bread and milk with Nost-cau,instead of sommething more complete and elaborated.
He scrolled through the results of his tied battle with Simon Vodracek,playing the second time in-a-row as white,and made some notes reminiscing details as the mo time went though.A van't Kroys,which seemingly left Vondracek confused and insecure,and it took until,20...Nxc5 for the mood to change and sway in a clearly confident and pressuring Vondracek;21. Bd5 Qg4 22. Ne4 Qxd2 23. Nxd2.The maemories started to go back on his mind,a sudden fast sequence of movements,which left him thrilled and was crucial in the later development of the game,and it last a total of three minutes,three minutes of time wrapped into a sensation of a little over 10 seconds.The endgame was arduous,and left to a mutual agreement tie.
Then came the match against Grvæntfiall,in which he conquered a victory,playing the French deffence,exchange variation,on a relatively fast game,vividly remembering he had over seven minutes to think when the player from Græntfiall resignet after 34...Qxa8,which proved to be a forced mate in eight,although talking to the gentleman he defeated,there was a mate in five,of which he took note,avoiding a mistaken seen on his third seen movement,which allowed for longer survival.
The last match of the day was against the Alezian Union,where he played a fierce positional game which overextended,in addition to the first ten moves being fastly played in the opening,there were two later moments in which the players quickly moved,accumulating more future thinking time,which ended in a draw by repetition.
After that,he went to bath before meeting his teammates for a tasty dinner and preparation reunion,because they have to face TJUN-ia friday in the morning.

by **The Kytler Peninsulae** » Thu Aug 17, 2023 6:09 am

Tucking into the hotel-supplied lunch ahead of the Friday afternoon session, John Roach sat back and let the scale of the team's achievements so far sink in. This was not meant to be their moment, not yet at least; the Kytlerian chess program was too immature, too campus-centric to compete with the far larger and more consciously resourced chess nations like TJUN-ia and Archalit. Except... they'd drawn with both of the above and were second overall behind the former, who had beaten every other opponent except the Kytlerian quartet. In terms of actual match wins, not even the Jaguar Knights could match the 16.5/24 the Kytlerian quartet had collectively managed. The aim was to maybe sneak into the six-team second phase; they'd made it there with a session to spare, three points clear of the seven-team logjam that straddled the cutoff line.

Somehow, the ambition now was to make the final. Roach might normally have been thinking through his tactics for the next game - he was drawn as white for that, so the thinking would be what double king's pawn opening he might go along if his customary 1. e4 was met by 1...e5 to avoid the Sicilian, whether to play the Ruy Lopez or diverge from it with an Italian or even a Scotch. But instead, when he was deep in thought as he swallowed his tasty luxury hotel food, all he could think of was how wild it was that he could lead Kytlerian sport out of isolation - that bit was wild enough - and do... this.

Meanwhile, Ben Higgins' mind was somehow even more blown. Not only was he fulfilling international sporting dreams he didn't even grow up thinking he could realistically have, his own thesis data was being complicated once again. And he was literally part of it. He wasn't typically one to get visibly emotional, but this wasn't typical, nothing about this was typical. And a small tear crept through his eye as the enormity and improbability of all of this started to sink in.

Elephant Chess Cup 7 - Everything Thread

Elephant Chess Cup 7 - Everything Thread

Check!: A New "Leader" To Try And Reclaim To Crown

Check!: Back To What We Know Best

Check!: Day One? Completed It, Mate

Check!: Onwards We Must Go

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