Admin Tools - Starting New Vote Chess Games

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wormrose


Part One: how many - how often?

Our KIA inc Club Vote Chess games are intended to be instructional games for the benefit of all of our members; advanced and beginning players and everyone in-between.

The ideal is to provide a steady flow of tutorial activity without overwhelming those who participate. The formula I have found which works best is actually quite simple - start one new game each month.

After a month at three days per move we will have made five moves.This is usually enough that the game will have assumed a distinct variation, although still in the opening phase.

It is then time to start another game.

In another month and another five moves, the first game will most likely be entering the tactical phase. Then on to the middle game, the late middle game, the end game, etc.

The average vote chess game lasts between six months (30 moves) and eight months (40 moves). Many games are shorter due to time-outs and aborted games. In practice this usually results in an aggregate of about six games running consecutively, all of them in different phases. This keeps it interesting. The Vote Chess participant will constantly be seeing how the KIA works at different phases of the game.

Part Two: what day to start a game?

If we are not careful in scheduling, the situation could easily arise when it could become our turn, in all of our games, all on the same day, or on nearly the same day, resulting in a frenzy of activity followed by doldrums days wherein nothing happens.

To avoid that kind of logjam, I have been starting new games according to a schedule using a calendar software based on the six day turn around of 3 days per move.

When it became that time each month, to start a new game, I could simply check the calendar for an open slot (day) and then submit an open seek on the morning of that day, and usually have a game underway vs a good opponent by that afternoon.

With a new game starting each month and a new position to analyze each day, like a daily puzzle, we have instructive games in all phases and spread out over time making our Vote Chess program more interesting and instructive for all who follow and participate.

I have done it this way successfully for several years.

But times have changed.

Today Open Seeks are overrun by absurd challenges and low rated, one-person teams taking open seeks. If we are going to have meaningful instructional games then we need to find good opponents. And finding them is the easy part.

Once you have found a suitable opponent, do you just send a challenge? And what if they don't accept? How long do you wait for a response? 

I think the best way is to contact the club in advance and ask if they are willing to play and that we will be the one to send the challenge on a day of our choosing. It might mean days of back and forth discussion but since a VC game lasts six to eight months, I believe it is worthwhile to make this preparation.

But right now I just don't have the time. I don't play the KIA anymore. I never did play it very much. For several years I have been maintaining this club simply because of the people who enjoy these games.

Crick3t

Thanks for the summary.

As I am an admin in multiple groups and usually responsible for vote chess in them, I can organise vote chess games and I can even get those clubs to play against this team, so we would have good opponents on both side.

The only issue is that I cannot write a challenge and accept it too and I cannot be present in both teams to admin.
In some of my bigger teams, it is not an issue as I can ask another admin to accept it.

On the other hand I can organise challenges with other then my teams or if we have at least another admin here, then he/she could challenge and I can accept. happy.png

My point is, I am happy to help and create vote chess games and/or take on other admin tasks if needed and trusted by them, but ideally we would have at least one more person to help out in those special cases mentioned above.

 

Nonotanymore

Well I would happily fulfil the role of ‘deputy’ if needed.  Would private messaging suffice, or would we be better with a ‘KIA admins’ club to facilitate such 2 way but possibly 3 way conversations?

Crick3t

If it is two way then private message should be more than enough happy.png

Nonotanymore

However, if the SA wanted to see what was happening without the need to ask...

wormrose

It really changes things when people are willing to help. I have been feeling so overwhelmed for such a long time. I enjoy doing this but it takes so much of my time and I have other non-chess interests which I am neglecting.

After reading these comments I feel an enormous burden has been lifted. And the problem actually seems quite small right now. 

If you guys want a full roster of six games then we can start some games on an accelerated plan to bring things up to speed.

We have two open slots Nov 8th and 9th. That's about a week short of a month since the previous game start. So we need two clubs that are willing to accept a challenge on those dates. If we start two games and if one of them is a preset position for a 1.e4 KIA. The preset would put one game ahead of the other in terms of development.

I will make both of you admins as long as that doesn't cause any problems with making and accepting challenges between clubs.
Let me know if each of you are willing to be admins.

Nonotanymore

Yes I’ll do my best

Crick3t

Happy to hear that this issue seems to be resolved and thanks for trusting us with this. I will also do my best.

Being an admin is not an issue, the only limitation is the same user cannot write out a challenge and accept it too.
With Nonotanymore's help I can write out a challenge and she can accept it or the other way around, with my other teams or her other teams (there are loads of options).
That's why, for me, two active admins seems like the best solution here.

 

Crick3t

"one of them is a preset position for a 1.e4 KIA" that one is easy. happy.png
@Nonotanymore: I will create a challenge from the "French Defense Fanatics " that team needs a new vote chess, you will just need to accept it.

The question is what would be the best starting position?
1. e4 e6
2. Nf3?

Nonotanymore

Is 1.e6 e6 a Hallowe’en special?

Crick3t
Nonotanymore wrote:

Is 1.e6 e6 a Hallowe’en special?

haha, fixed. e4 e6 happy.png

Nonotanymore

In our current 3 VC games, 2 started with the knight and only one with the e pawn, so e4 e6 would seem best out of those 2 choices

Crick3t

I mean. Wormrose said one game should start with e4.
If we play against  the French guys they will answer with e6, 100% happy.png
So we could set up the next move too like "e4, e6, Nf3" as a starting position.

Nonotanymore

Well I know 1.e4 e6 2.d3 is a KIA.  Isn’t d3 the usual response to the French?  In the Vote Chess guidelines for this club Nf3 is the default starting move, and e4 is only acceptable in certain preset circumstances, like 1.e4 e6 as the perfect example.  

wormrose

In general the members have always preferred 1.Nf3 KIA. 

For the 1.e4 variations I have always asked the players in the current VC games what they would like to play. Or if one of you has a preference, that would be fine.

The main thing about the preset position is that the position should be one which makes in hard for Black to deny us a KIA. For example 1.e4 d5 and we are easily taken away from our goal.

The reason I suggested one 1.Nf3 game and one 1.e4 preset is so that the two games (started at the same time) will be in different stages of development. 

If you start a bunch of games at the same time then they will usually progress at nearly the same rate and end at nearly the same time, and it will be a long time before you will dealing with the opening again. One game per month keeps it "fresh".

I don't want to interfere too much with what you guys do but I will interject my experience now and then.

The one thing I insist on is that we must play the KIA. 

Crick3t

I also almost always play Nf3, if for nothing else just to surprise my opponent a bit. I had many OTB games where my opponent was thinking more than 5 minutes on his first move grin.png

I have checked the forum https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/kiaemms--contents

and one of my books. 1. e4 e6 2.d3 seems like the best starting position.

The other one can start from 1. Nf3.

Nonotanymore

Ok that’s perfect: 1.e4e6 2.d3 seems like a good preset to me, especially against the French club

Nonotanymore

... and thanx for sharing that link @Crick3t!

wormrose

I always got my presets from the Emms book which is mostly about 1.e4 KIA.

Dunnington's book provides more of the 1.Nf3 viewpoint.

https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/kiadunn2---contents

I just realized those are not linked on the main page. I will fix that.

Nonotanymore

The amount of resources hidden in the middle of knowwhere absolutely astounds and humbles me again and again.  Thank you @wormrose! - now comes the HARD part...