The new championship started just one day after the 39th finally finished.

I compare first league participants to the top twelve of the full list.

No Maciej

No Gyorgy

No Florian

No maraca

No spd_iv

No Thierry

No Alan

No Csaba

No tasuki

No iwin

No dushoff

I don't mean to deride the strong players who are competing, but this does not feel like a championship to me.

Twixt championship tournament participation is back down to 2003 levels.  Do you think the quick starts contribute to that?

I don't know, but didn't it use to take a week or two? Maybe some were planning to register and got caught off guard.

Several years ago it was almost exactly one week between the finish of the last game in one championship round and the start of the next round, but then this was cut down. I think people should have noticed this already, and if they played in the round before, they don't need to register for next one anyway; only if they have actively signed off the championship in between.

Isn't it a balance between strength and effort? And if the strongest players are exhausted, aren't they weak?

The problem with the full list is it contains player who don't play the game for a long time ago. Maciej doesn't play 5 years ago, may be. The short list is better for that i think.

We can hope they're back for the next ch

Hey!

Playing the 1st championship takes a lot of time, actually I don't have this time, but I will be back for sure.

I want to respect the games I play, so I don't play if I have not time to do it.

See you soon!

On a related note, I miss rororo's announcements that tournaments were ending / about to start.

Yes I agree, the short list would be a better comparison if I want to complain about lack of attendance. Gyorgy, Thierry, and Alan might never play here again, for example. I was merely comparing my notion of an ideal tournament to the reality. There's just too much focus on living and stuff like that.

I know one player who does not deserve to be there.  ME!  Lambs to the slaughter.

Let me, then, be the FIRST to congratulate Sam D for his championship victory!  Finishing with only one loss - everyone else has at least two - seals it.  Sam's been here a while, quietly (?) blowing away his opposition, so getting his name on the board of champions is well deserved.  WELL DONE!!note that I just played through the moves of his win over Steven, another excellent player for sure, and I can not fathom a thing!!  That's just my limitation, but I certainly won't mind reading through a few game notes.This was NOT a 'weak' championship!  I don't care what some earlier threads opined; everyone here deserved to be here, and I look forward to seeing their games and results in future tournaments!(meow)

truncation??!  “note that I just played through the moves of the game between Sam and Steven, both excellent players in my mind”, or some such.  Don't know why clipped out.(m)

what I meant to say in the clipped out portion is that I found the game between Steven and Sam unfathomable; that's my limitation, but is why I would happily read some posted analysis. meowie!

Congrats Sam !!