SGO-Spring Edition

Sorry for the late blog! I seem never to have time to write these things...I apologize again, and I hope this blog is to everyone's liking :)

As promised, here is the Spring edition, delayed for quite a while, but it is here now!

One of the suggestions from the last blog edition was to include puzzles from games our members played. However, @greenteakitten and I, the writers of this blog, are both quite busy at the moment so we're procrastinating on that.

Well...I'm not procrastinating! She is! Down with the tyrant--Oh, I forgot about the last guy that said that.

Liga and Rapid League

It's been a while in the Liga and Rapid League. Sometimes Liga and Rapid League, especially at the lower levels, is painfully slow. People don't join, and then the few that join come at such random times that it's very hard to get a game.

Despite this, SGO members have still showed up to play! Thanks to yours truly for carrying the team many times, like in this Liga, https://lichess.org/tournament/QQL9xrsy, or in this one, https://lichess.org/tournament/73pgl6Fz, we have started climbing back up the ranks. But seriously tho. Without the dedication of all the members that sacrifice their time and blood for the glory of beating an occasional "high rated guy", we'd never be where we are now. C'mon guys! We can do it!

Now, here's a little secret. You shush up about it, you clear on that?

Okay. So - in smaller ligas, the more people that join a team to play, the more that team rank is boosted. Also in smaller ligas, there tend to be a lot of ties. And the way Lichess does tiebreaks? That's right! The number of people playing for that team.

So if you aren't sure whether you can play or not, don't wait on it! Join and pause immediately. Whenever you're ready, you can come play - and if you don't come play, you might just be able to get us to a promotion spot!

SGO Team Championship

SGO has, sorry, HAD, a team championship which everyone did grea...ahm....AMAZING at not finishing! Great job guys! Hhmph...

New members of the team are encouraged to join the tournament! And we really, really need to get that thing moving.

New Discord Server

It's not new! But you guys seem to have massive beef with Discord because we ain't gotten a lot of people in it yet. Regardless, it's a great place to make friends! And have fun :)

Unlike our team, which at least pretend to be serious about studying (Okay! Fine, fine. We do study...like once every hundred days?!), our Discord server is filled with random pictures and anecdotes about our daily lives. A lot of you like to make new friends in chess...and our Discord is the perfect place to do that!

And for those of you that appreciated the recent horsey chain...we have a real big one at the Discord! So hop in and check it out!

Oops, almost forgot the link: https://discord.gg/JCxNGy4vV5

Interview w/@OctoPinky

I did an interview with @OctoPinky, leader of Rapid League and Liga. Well, correction, Ms. Procrastinator @greenteakitten did a great job of doing that interview *ahem* half a year ago - and then forgetting all about it.

So here it is!

And of course, per blog tradition (yeah, yeah, two blogs ain't a tradition), we need a nice, long introduction for our noble knight in shining armor...sorry. I trailed off. Oh, and remember, YOU have a chance at the Hall of Fame too! So go help the team now, or I'll send the green cat after you!

This month, we’re interviewing @OctoPinky, a dedicated player who has been helping us for months and in some cases, singlehandedly promoting us! We wanted to learn a little more about them as a person, so we asked them a couple of questions.

1. I noticed that you are almost always in Rapid League or Liga. What is the motivation behind your commitment?

A: Liga and Rapid League have a defined time span and happen at a convenient moment in my time zone. For me it is better not having a choice, that's why I prefer to play tournaments, otherwise I can find myself switching between not playing for weeks and staying awake until 04:00 AM.

2. How do you feel when you’re the only player in the tournament that’s representing SGO?

A: I understand people can be busy, so I just pray for somebody coming later to add some points. In the meanwhile, I try to keep things going on... and the worst result (losing all the games) is not too bad. It is just as bad as not playing at all.

3. You beat a lot of 2000+ players! What is your advice to the rest of us to accomplish this feat?

A: I wouldn't say 3 is "a lot" XD [editors note! It's now more than 11] but anyway: other that the usual advice, stay calm. Your best bet for defeating high rated players is they sometimes launch a premature attack, so don't panic at checks and take your time to find the best defensive moves.

Also (but this is just usual advice): study endgames. They are a different thing and require another kind of knowledge than opening or tactics, it is very difficult (or impossible) to grasp the subtleties of, say, a pawns endgame while playing it. Many good players are not perfect at it, so add a little time pressure or anxiety and you suddenly have a chance!

4. When did you start playing chess?

A: I learned the basics at 11, in 1987. I know because it was while having in Spain a world-class event: Karpov-Kasparov match in Sevilla. But I was an absolute disaster mainly because, ignoring the opponent's wish of winning, I literally didn't see the threats. Hanging pieces, forks, checkmates, that kind of surprises. I never played serious, but enjoyed watching games and could appreciate the beauty in classical masterpieces by Tal, Fischer, Kasparov...

I finally restarted this year, for no particular reason, and at the very least I knew a good repertoire of mistakes to avoid.

Funniest thing is I have a degree in Mathematics, so people keep saying "you must be exceptionally smart, you must be real good at chess". Well... no and no.

5. What are your favorite hobbies outside of chess?

A: My main hobby is violin, I try to practice some 2-3 hours a day. I studied it at the Music School for some 10 years and then stopped for another 15, then I restarted in 2017... I can see a trend here.

Also, I love old/classical bicycles, (until 1990s) both riding and doing maintenance. And a random set of poorly executed hobbies including drawing, origami, keeping plants alive, woodworking or photography... is petting cats a hobby?

6. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? (You’ll still be able to drink water)

A: If you thought as a Spaniard I would say "paella"... you are wrong! Both paella and gazpacho are culinary wonders, but correct answer for me is "cocido" (literally "boiled"), a pot full of chickpeas, some meat and some vegetables. Sometimes I cook a large batch for an entire week and I don't regret it!

7. Tell us a joke!

A classified ad stated:
"Wanted: very experienced lumberjack"
A man answered the ad and was invited to an interview to describe his experience.
"I worked 10 years at the Sahara Forest."
"You mean the Sahara Desert," replied the interviewer.
The man laughed and answered, "Oh sure, that's what they call it now!"

Ooh-la-la! The Sahara Forest, hmmm? I want that lumberjack. I've been having a mess around my home, and I want the trees gone...ya know what? I think an experienced lumberjack would take a house and throw it apart to get rid of the wood, wouldn't they?

Come Join Us!

@greenteakitten has a message for us before I sign off:

I just want to thank you all for your support in making this team possible! All leaders have done a great job of running the team, but without you, the members, we would not have such an active and growing community!

Thank you all of you that have invited other people into this team, and thanks to all who have contributed to the growing amount of resources and studies our team now has for everyone to learn.

As SGO reaches 100 members, I just want to say I appreciate all of your support. So many people have volunteered their time to play Liga and Rapid League. No matter what your rating is, you can always help the team by simply being there. Especially in slower leagues and ligas, just joining could move our team up enough spots to avoid relegation! Whether you win or lose in tournaments, just being there often boosts our team morale. A lot of you have already won amazing games in these tournaments, as well as supported our in-team tournaments and team battles as well!

To those that have joined the SGO discord, I appreciate you as well! (For those that have been having technical difficulties, try discord.cab) I recommend all of you that are looking for friends to join our Discord. We have a lot of different places where you can chat about your day, showcase a chess game, or even just spamming horseys! It’s a great place to make friends and also a great place to ask people from SGO to play chess with you. I, for one, spend way too much time on my phone, and will probably see your message sooner or later. :)

If you’re reading this blog and have not joined SGO yet, we welcome you here! We are all a big family here - learning chess and having fun! Join us to make friends and study chess together :)

Okay now, and remember the team chant! (From that team anthem you guys never finished)

Go Study Group One!

We'll show everyone!
How to move the queen how to move the pawn!
En Passant!
Fianchetto!
We'll make the moves that make you spill your sphagetto!" - courtesy of @salmon_rushdie

We're the best of the best!

Acing every test!
We destroy our opponents,
Reveling in every moment,
For we know that we'll prevail
And we ain't ever gonna fail!
Knight f3!

Pawn c4!
English openings, that's our lore
Maybe a bishop to f4 too,
That's the kind of London trickery we'll pull on you!
Every opening on the board

We play all those galore
Ever seen a 4 move trapper?
Now your king's headed to the corner

Step right in
Get in line
We'll take you
One at a time
SGO take a bow
Never gonna be afraid or back down!

Take up your bow, SGO, don't back down, we've got them now.

Sniper bishops, forking knights, mating queens, there alright.
But what we need is teamwork, together we'll hunt them down, together we'll track them down.
Mate!
Mate!
Mate!

Credits (in no particular order) to @A_Dragon_Riding_King, @End_Game_Flame, @greenteakitten and @salmon_rushdie yet again :)

Go see the rest of our anthem in the team forum! Along with a bunch of studying resources that no one ever uses.

Also SGO has a new forum game! So yeah, check that out.

Have a good day (or night) everyone! Again, please join Study Group One here: https://lichess.org/team/study-group-one