Suspicious players.

Half the games you show I lost or drew?

I'm not going to make any comment on whether or not anyone cheated, however, I too have noticed many new players entering this variant after Hikaru's content came out... and some of them have seemed much stronger than they should.

July 5, 2022

White: Felixwen621 (1805)
Black: Atomic960 (1518)
Chess.com Atomic Rapid Pool (Rated 10+0)

1. Nf3 f6 2. e3 e6
A quiet opening move, and the most standard one as well. In 1. Nf3 openings, on the second move black can choose between 2...e6 and 2...d5, which leads to completely different styles of games. 2...d5 is often much more theoretical than 2...e6, because of the sharp lines it unleashes.

3. Nd4 c6
Another tranquil choice of move. If black plays 3...f5 here, the battle among the players will be mainly focused on the f-file. For example, 4. Qh5+ g6 5. Nb5! Qh4! 6. Qxh4 Nf6 7. f3 a6 8. Nxc7 Ne4! 9. fxe4 f4! 10. d4! (White can’t lazily take the poisonous exchange: 10. exf4?? Bb4! 11. c3 0-0! 12. Kd1 Rf2 13. d4 Rd2+ 14. Ke1 Rd1+ 15. Ke2 Rxf1#) f3! 11. g3! (White still can’t take the pawn: 11. gxf3?? Bb4+! 12. Kd1 0-0! 13. Kd1 Rf2 14. a3 Rd2+ 15. Ke1 Rd1+ 16. Ke2 Rxf1#) f2+ 12. Kd1 Rc8 13. c3 g5 14. e4 d5 15. e5 - a highly unorthodox position appears where white has a locked center and 2 extra pieces, but black’s pawn on f2 will still become a long-term liability for white. Most likely white will need to sacrifice an extra piece back to remove the pawn-pin, and black will utilize the open f-file with the rooks for counter-play.

4. Nb5!
This is the “Knight Sacrifice Line” - a seemingly impossible move which frees up the b5 square for white’s queen to infiltrate. Here white can also play 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Ndb5 d5 6. Bd3! (Black cannot take the extra piece: 6...Bxc3? 7. Nd6+! Kf8 8. Nxb7) g6! 7. Qg4! with subsequent 8. Bxg6! and 9. Qg7 threats. Black can hold on easier if white plays 4. Nc3, however, great precision is required.

4...cxb5
“Wait, why can’t I just take it?” - My opponent talked in the game chat in a very confused manner before making this move. In a previous game against this individual, he easily played with 2500 strength, beating me in 6 moves after I made an opening blunder in the 1. Nh3 opening (The Ammonia opening). But now he is confused by this very basic idea in an even more basic opening, which is already a sign of inexperience. Watch on, and judge by yourself.

5. Qh5+ g6 6. Qb5 Nc6 7. Qc5!!
A novelty by white. Normally white plays 7. Qb6!! instead of 7. Qc5!! to activate the “hook” technique. The standard 7. Qb6!! line can give black chances to consolidate with accurate play: 7...Kf7! 8. Qc7 Ne5! 9. Bc4 Kg7! (Taking the bishop will lead to material loss: 9...Nxc4? 10. Qc3! Ke8 11. Qd3! Bd6 (11...d5 12. Qb5+ Kf7 13. Qe8+ Kg7 14. Qxg6#) 12. Qb5! Kf8 13. Qxd7) 10. Bxe6 Qxc7 11. Nc3 - black is only down one pawn, and white still needs to defend against black’s kingside developments. However, if black chooses to play 7...axb6, then white has the simple continuation 8. Bb5! Kf7 9. Bxd7 Rxa2 - black is down two pawns for a knight (Yes, in Atomic 2 pawns are superior than a piece, which is different than standard chess), and white will use the pawn majorities and the open a1-h8 diagonal for active play, which gives black serious problems for not developing the kingside pieces at all.

7...d6
When I was chatting with this individual in the game chat, I asked him about the general idea beyond this opening. He simply cannot give a response AT ALL. I asked him about his actual rating at this point, and he refused to give me a response. Therefore, as you know, I am already very suspicious of this person’s abnormal behavior.
Here, a bit more precise is 7...Bd6! - But if you observe the engine, 7...d6 is only 30% of a pawn worse than the top move (7...Bd6 is +1.6, and 7...d6 is +1.9). The idea of this move is that after 8. Qb6!! Kf8! (If black takes the queen the problem would be even more severe: 8...axb6 9. Bb5! Kf7 10. Bxd7 Rxa2, where black is down two pawns cleanly without any compensation) 9. Qc7 Nb4! 10. a3 Nxc2 11. Qxd7 Rc8 12. Rc1 Rc2 13. Rxc2 - white is up a pawn in the endgame, but white will leave the idiosyncrasy of a move behind black’s development. Black can hold on in the endgame with accurate play against white’s bishop. At this point, I’m not sure that if my opponent is alternating between the top line and the second line of Stockfish, trying to make himself seem “clever”. But let’s go on with the analysis and watch what will happen.

8. Qb6!!
Now we can see white’s idea: delaying the “hook”, and this time black must take the queen and allow the following piece exchanges.

8...axb6
If black tries to hang on with 8...Kf7, white can easily play 9. Qc7+ Bd7 10. Qxd7, making black lose a piece.

9. Bb5+ Ke7 10. Bd7 e5
This is black’s only defensive move, and black spent nearly 10 seconds on this move in a rapid game. You may argue that I am suspicious of everything because I’m so bad at Atomic, but if you are at a strength of easily 2500, this move 10...e5 would even be premoved. As far as I know, when I was still 2000 in blitz, I would play e6-e5 in this position without even thinking. Okay, maybe I’m just assuming that everyone is same as me who plays very fast. Let’s continue with our analysis.

11. Nc3!
The right move. If white plays 11. Bxc8? too early, black has the counterplay 11...Rxa2, leaving white with a piece down with insufficient compensation.

11...Qa5 12. b4 Qd5!!
When this move - the top line of Stockfish - lands on the board in less than 10 seconds, I asked black if this was a mouseslip. But black chooses to offer me with a draw instead of answering my question. I didn’t know this was the top line of Stockfish, and I declined the draw and played the next move - until later I suddenly realized how strong this move was.

13. Nxd5 Rxa2
This was black’s idea - sacrificing the queen to gain a tempo against me, and leave me with a piece down without enough compensation. Nevertheless, according to the computer, this position is still +3 for white, because: 1) White’s bishops are much more dynamic than black’s bishops; 2) Black’s kingside development would be easily refuted by white’s kingside pawns; 3) White can castle and use the open files on the queenside for infiltration. But in a game, with this much material imbalance, I was starting to freak out.

14. b5 Bh6 15. Ba3 Kf8 16. g4 Bxd7!
A normal human being would definitely play 16...Bg7, moving the bishop to safety, and refute 17. g5 with 17...f5. But if you let the engine run for 10-15 seconds (which is exactly how long my opponent spent to play this move), 16...Bxd7 is actually the top line of Stockfish. Because in response to 16...Bg7, white can play 17. Be8!! - suppressing the movement of black’s knight. If 17...Ne7 then 18. Bxd6, white is up two pawns for a piece. If black does not move the knight, 18. Bxg6 is another threat. If 17...g5 happens, white can play the timely move 18. c4! - the idea is to play 19. c5 on the next move, and with the black king being aimed between white’s bishop pairs, black will not be able to prevent 20. cxd6+ Ne7 21. Bxe7#. If black tries to fight back by playing 18...b6, white can play 19. 0-0, with subsequent 20. Rc1 and 21. Rc7 infiltration threats.

17. g5!
I continued with my plan to trap black’s bishop, and equalize the material count.

17...Bxg5 18. c4 Nh6 19. h3 Kf7?!
“WHAT IS THAT? (WTF posture) What is this? Why? You have Queen, Rook, Knight, you move KING? Why are you moving your KING?” (Rozman, Levy. “Trying to GUESS Subscribers’ Chess Ratings (Guess the Elo Ep.5)”. Youtube, 2021. https://youtu.be/StSGz5dx52s.) Imagine having a rook and a knight, and 6 pawns, and you move your king in this position - the king is the most BETA piece in Atomic, and you are moving it for no reasons at all? And the craziest thing is that this is the 2nd line of Stockfish! The top line is 19...Nf5, which is far more human-like. A possible continuation would be 20. c5! Nh4 21. 0-0 Nf3+ 22. Kh1, getting white’s king out of danger, while simultaneously activate the rook to the open c-file.

20. f4?!
Oh my god - I’m so bad at chess! I didn’t play the right move! Here I have to play the timely move 20. c5! to refute 19...Kf7 (The reason why I laughed about the last move is that it can be easily refuted). The natural capture 20...dxc5 will lead to 21. Bf8! - completely suffocating black’s movements. The rook is now completely shut out of the door, and black’s lone knight cannot protect against white’s rook. Black will eventually lose even with best play. Therefore, the better move would be 20...Nf5 21. c6 Nh4 22. 0-0 Nf3+ 23. Kh1 Ne1! 24. c7! Rc8 - this is a chaotic position where both sides have to work very hard to prove their advantages.

20...Re8 21. c5?!
Now it is a little bit late, since the rook is already activated. White needs to play 21. d4, and after 21...exd4 22. f5 g5 23. e4, white gets a solid center and is ready for 24. Bb2 Kg8 25. 0-0 ideas. If black tries to play 23...d5, white can play 24. 0-0! d4 25. Re1 d3 26. e5 Kg8 27. e6 d2 28. Rd1 - the d2 pawn cannot promote on its own, and white will easily push the queenside majorities for a win. If 24. cxd5 Rc8 25. Bc5 occurs, black should not play 25...b6? - because it allows white to play the brilliancy 26. 0-0!! bxc5 27. Rc1! Rc2 28. Rxc2 - white has the outside passed pawn, and it will eventually give white a winning pawn endgame: 28...Ng8 29. b6 Ne7 30. b7 Nc6 31. b8Q Nxb8 32. e5! fxe5 33. f6 h5 34. h4 g4 (34...gxh4 35. Kh2 h4 36. Kh3 - this is winning because white has 2 retreating squares, and black has 1. In this position white just needs to use the “triangulation” technique to win - 36...Kg8 37. f7+ Kf8 38. Kg2 h3+ 39. Kh2 - black is placed in zugzwang and will lose in a few moves) 35. Kh1! (Warning: It is never too late to lose! If white plays 35. Kg2?? g3! - both sides have 1 retreating square, but white needs to move first: 36. Kf1 g2+ 37. Kg1 Ke8 38. f7+ Kf8 - white is placed in zugzwang, and black will win in a few moves) g3 36. Kg2! Ke8 37. f7+ Kf8 38. Kf1 g2+ 39. Kg1 - white is winning because black is forced to move the king and allow white a queen.

21...dxc5 22. Be7! f5 23. Bd8
Even if this plan of blocking the rook infiltration still works, now black can try to open the e-file, since the rook is more active than it used to be.

23...exf4 24. d4 f4 25. 0-0!
Moving out of the center and try to use the f-file against black.

25...f3 26. e4 f2+ 27. Kh1 Nf5!!
A stunning sacrifice by black! Unsurprisingly this move took black only 15 seconds to play. At first I was a little bit hesitant about taking the piece, because I thought that black’s rook can infiltrate. But after some thought, I still played this move.

28. exf5?
The sacrifice should actually not be accepted. The move 28. e5! is better, because white connects the passed d-pawn and e-pawn, and is ready to play 29. d5 and 30. e6, threatening the imminent promotion. But the acceptance of the sacrifice eventually cost me the game.

28...Ke6! 29. d5+ Kd7
Now we see the idea of black - sacrificing the knight and remove my e-pawn, to block the d-passer with the king, and try to infiltrate with the rook by playing 30...Re4. After that, black will try to find a way to sneak into the back rank, trade off my rook and promote the f2 pawn. What’s interesting is that at this moment my opponent tried to tell me that he watches GMHikaru and GothamChess a lot, while they don’t actually play Atomic chess (With the exception of the one Atomic video by GothamChess: Rozman, Levy. “EXPLODING PIECES in Atomic Chess”. Youtube, 2021. https://youtu.be/tv9XetsDzeU). At this point, I asked him a fairly philosophical question: “What do you think is the difference between standard chess and Atomic chess?” He could not give an answer. Instead, he tried to mediate the dispute by telling me that his standard chess rating is not so high. I started to wonder if this person has some sort of mental disease, since he has never directly answered any of my questions so far. However, I would like to give my short answer to the question asked by myself: In Atomic chess you need to know how to use your knight and queen, and oftentimes the opening moves matter more than standard chess. One opening mistake will cost you the entire game by accident.

30. d6?
Now I barely have any moves that is superior. 30. Bf6 is better, but after 30...Re4! 31. Bg5 h6 32. Bf6 g5! - white’s bishop is completely shut out of the kingside, and after 33. Kh2 Ra4 34. Bd4 Ra3 35. Be3 Kd6, both of my pieces are completely paralyzed, and black can easily sneak into the back rank and continue with the plan.

30...g5 31. h4??
At this point I was really angry towards my opponent’s behavior, and I played a move that threw the game immediately. The best continuation was 31. Bf6 Re4 32. Kh2 Rb4 33. Bd4 Rb3 34. Be3 Rb1 35. Bd4 Rd1! (Not 35...Rxf1 36. Bxf2! - White’s d-passer will decide the game easily) 36. Be3 Rd5 37. Kh1 g4 38. Bd4 g3 - black connected the passed pawns and will suffocate white’s king easily in a few moves.

31...g4 32. Kg2 Re1! 33. Kg3 Rxf1
This is the final move. Do you know how much my opponent spent on this move? More than 10 seconds. After this move we started a very intriguing conversation:
Me: “I’m very curious - why do you need to spend so long on this move? If you are going to play 32...Re1, then 33...Rxf1 should be auto-dubbed, shouldn’t it?”
Opponent: “I haven’t enabled premoves yet.”
Me: “Okay but you can hover your mouse, and no matter what, 33...Rxf1 should be your next move.”
Opponent: “Just move - I’ll premove the mate.”
Me: “How are you going to mate - I know it is mate, but how?” (I tried to let my opponent tell me the exact moves to set him a trap into admitting that he was cheating - because human beings would never copy the engine when it comes to mate with the queen)
Opponent disabled chat communication.
At this point I realized that the f2 pawn cannot be stopped, therefore I resigned the game.

(I wrote this analysis like a year ago lol)

I'll be honest, your analysis is thorough and surely you have done well to learn from the ideas played in this game. There is also a good reason to suspect cheating by this player.

But I'll also say this: I feel like you put yourself through much more frustration and anxiety than you had to on account of having faced this player.

Whenever I face a player whom I suspect cheated, all I do is block them and move on. It's good to analyze and learn from games, yes, but when it's fuelled by a desire to vindicate yourself against another player who has behaved poorly, I have a feeling that much of that energy has been misplaced.

19. Kf7?! From my point of view, Kf7 is a reasonable move cuz then you will free the black rook, honestly, I would do the same if I had more time to think. After 18 moves almost all his moves between the diapasons from 10-15 seconds (quite sussy)