通知

As promised, the fantasy tournament that I hinted at is finally here. All the rules and the place to enter are in the link below. The deadline to submit your entry is April 20th at 4:20 AM, though it is recommended that you enter your submission a week earlier to avoid penalty. Good luck!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd_f6XxGnRsc2MFsILTSfONijP0qIXGvSXrU5JbI3AtC6uwbQ/viewform

Replacing the weekly recap for the third week of the 2021 Bongcloud World Cup is the first-ever DumberChess odds calculations, which takes in a multitude of factors including a player's score, tiebreak, and number of remaining games to algorithmically compute the player's chance of winning their section given the current circumstances. Linked below are the DumberChess Odds Calculations for each section.

Group One • Group Two • Group Three • Group Four

Group Five • Group Six • Group Seven • Group Eight

@suryakantv is a violator of the first special rule of the 2021 Bongcloud World Cup. "In each game, players are required to move their king forward once within the first seven moves without casting. If a player has not moved their king forward after seven moves, they must resign from the game." The aforementioned user was given a chance to resign their games where they violated this policy but foolishly chose to ignore instructions given by the tournament director. As such, they will be removed from the tournament. Unfortunately, I have no way of disqualifying a player until all of their tournament games are complete so I request that all participants of group four resign their games against @suryakantv. This is not a trick; please follow this direction if you wish for the tournament to be clean without any fair play violations.

I have posted the first weekly recap of the 2021 Bongcloud World Cup in my club, Children of 2Ke21-0. That report can be found by accessing the following link: https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/2021-bongcloud-world-cup-weekly-recap-1-all-eight-sections-up-for-grabs

Enjoy the read!

@vasilijj is a violator of the first special rule of the 2021 Bongcloud World Cup. "In each game, players are required to move their king forward once within the first seven moves without casting. If a player has not moved their king forward after seven moves, they must resign from the game." The aforementioned user was given a chance to resign their games where they violated this policy but foolishly chose to ignore instructions given by the tournament director. As such, they will be removed from the tournament. Unfortunately, I have no way of disqualifying a player until all of their tournament games are complete so I request that all participants of group four resign their games against @vasilijj. This is not a trick; please follow this direction if you wish for the tournament to be clean without any fair play violations.

@KIDFIRE is a violator of the first special rule of the 2021 Bongcloud World Cup. "In each game, players are required to move their king forward once within the first seven moves without casting. If a player has not moved their king forward after seven moves, they must resign from the game." The aforementioned user was given a chance to resign their games where they violated this policy but foolishly chose to ignore instructions given by the tournament director. As such, they will be removed from the tournament. Unfortunately, I have no way of disqualifying a player until all of their tournament games are complete so I request that all participants of group four resign their games against @KIDFIRE. This is not a trick; please follow this direction if you wish for the tournament to be clean without any fair play violations.

@MutaviBole is a violator of the first special rule of the 2021 Bongcloud World Cup. "In each game, players are required to move their king forward once within the first seven moves without casting. If a player has not moved their king forward after seven moves, they must resign from the game." The aforementioned user was given a chance to resign their games where they violated this policy but foolishly chose to ignore instructions given by the tournament director. As such, they will be removed from the tournament. Unfortunately, I have no way of disqualifying a player until all of their tournament games are complete so I request that all participants of group four resign their games against @MutaviBole. This is not a trick; please follow this direction if you wish for the tournament to be clean without any fair play violations.

@jasperseelemeijer is a violator of the first special rule of the 2021 Bongcloud World Cup. "In each game, players are required to move their king forward once within the first seven moves without casting. If a player has not moved their king forward after seven moves, they must resign from the game." The aforementioned user was given a chance to resign their games where they violated this policy but foolishly chose to ignore instructions given by the tournament director. As such, they will be removed from the tournament. Unfortunately, I have no way of disqualifying a player until all of their tournament games are complete so I request that all participants of group four resign their games against @jasperseelemeijer. This is not a trick; please follow this direction if you wish for the tournament to be clean without any fair play violations.

@Hector-2004 is a violator of the first special rule of the 2021 Bongcloud World Cup. "In each game, players are required to move their king forward once within the first seven moves without casting. If a player has not moved their king forward after seven moves, they must resign from the game." The aforementioned user was given a chance to resign their games where they violated this policy but foolishly chose to ignore instructions given by the tournament director. As such, they will be removed from the tournament. Unfortunately, I have no way of disqualifying a player until all of their tournament games are complete so I request that all participants of group four resign their games against @Hector-2004. This is not a trick; please follow this direction if you wish for the tournament to be clean without any fair play violations.

Prior to this announcement, only the winner and runner-up of the Bongcloud World Cup advance into the 2021 Bongcloud Invitational which formerly consisted of six selected participants. Now, I am increasing the capacity of the invitational stage to eight players with the world cup and grand Prix each entering one additional player. Practically, this change makes more sense to me as the players who chess.com recognizes as medalists, the top three finishers, should be rewarded with regards to qualification into the next round. Otherwise, getting a trophy for being the third-place winner would mean nothing at all.

Note that the wild card eligibility criteria remain unaltered. The hosting internet platform (HIP) is entitled to choose among all the participants of the world championship cycle that meet two of the following three conditions: non-qualifying finalist in the World Cup, non-qualifying top-ten finisher in the Grand Prix, and non-qualifying medalist in the Bongcloud960 World Championship. If there are no participants that meet at least two of the criteria, a wildcard invitational event will be held among all of the eligibles with the HIP determining the format of the event.

It has come to my attention that a tournament named the 2021 Bongcloud Daily Chess World Championship Qualifier has been created recently and has attracted one hundred and seventy-eight players at the time of writing. I want all of the people involved in the Bongcloud World Championship Cycle that that tournament has absolutely nothing to do with the world championship cycle that I am conducting on behalf of the Bongcloud Society. It seems obvious to me that the tournament director, alexandermatos, was bored and decided to bamboozle all those affiliated with the Bongcloud Society. Take a look at the tournament description; there is no tournament description. This tournament was not advertised beforehand. Unprofessional organization! I suggest that all those who have chosen to register in the aforementioned tournament withdraw immediately. Players registered for the Bongcloud World Cup will be removed immediately if it is found that they are also signed up for the said daily event.

Tragically, of all openings, it is the Bongcloud Attack that receives the least documentation despite its conceptual brilliance. To assist players struggling to identify reliable references in building a comprehensive Bongcloud repertoire, I have linked several exemplary articles, books, studies, and videos at the conclusion of the tournament description. These resources are ones that I condone and encourage to be used throughout the tournament, as well as any other informative guides on the Bongcloud opening that you acquire. I hope this edit will contribute to a higher-quality tournament in terms of theoretical accuracy.

As you all know, the 2021 Bongcloud World Cup qualifies the top two finishers directly into the six-player 2021 Bongcloud Invitational, the culmination of all the qualifying events that lead up to the Bongcloud World Championship. Registration for another direct path to the invitational stage has opened up - and registration spots are filling up rapidly! Out of the sixty-four spots available, forty-six of them have already been taken in two days' time without any advertising. So join the tournament before it is too late!

I am talking about nothing other than the 2021 Bongcloud960 World Championship which is set to start on January seventeenth. The format of that event is identical to this one and all other special rules apply with the only difference being that the game type of the event is Chess960 (full details can be found on the tournament description).

The winner of the final round is seeded directly into the six-player, 2021 Bongcloud Invitational and awarded the title of Bongcloud960 World Champion!

I hope all of you players find the time to register for the tournament or at least check out the tournament flyer. 

Due to the somewhat decent attendance that this tournament has attracted, I am hereby rebranding the Lenny Bongcloud Memorial as the 2021 Bongcloud World Cup, which qualifies the top two finishers into the 2021 Bongcloud Invitational. Read the tournament description for full details.

The start time of the tournament will be maintained on January 2nd, 2021 — the fourteenth anniversary of Lenny's revolutionary entrance to the chess community. Participants are still encouraged to play in remembrance of Lenny and the impact he made on the chess community. The Lenny Bongcloud Grand Prix will be postponed to June 24, 2021, as a live tournament that is part of the 2021 Bongcloud Grand Prix, which also qualifies the top two finishers into the 2021 Bongcloud Invitational.

Because of my inability to alter the starting game position after the creation of the tournament, please take note of a crucial rule:

All players are responsible for moving their king forward once in the first five moves. Failure to do so will result in disqualification from the tournament.