Round 1 of 2016 US Tak Open

This past week featured the first round of the 2016 US Tak Open. As this is only the first week, players are only just beginning to distinguish themselves.  The top 37 players are currently undefeated. This puts the pressure on them even more to keep their scores up to ensure a place in the top 32 by the end of the Swiss-style stage. The middle 74 won one game, but not the other putting, meaning their match win or loss was determined by the individual game scores and tie-breaker rules. Both these individuals and the bottom 37 will have to up their game if they want a chance at the coveted top 32.

2016 US Tak Open

With the 2016 US Tak Open Tournament imminent, there is a lot to be excited about. Perhaps most notably, this is the first official major online Tak tournament, fully supported by the US Tak Association. As a result, there are actual prizes in store for first and second place. More so, there is actual prestige and status on the line. In addition, there are 149 registered participants, making it the largest Tak tournament to date. Of these participants, 81% are from the US, while the rest are from 11 other countries, making this an international event!

Analysis: Tak Open Finals R1: applemonkeyman vs SultanPepper (1/2)

Note: The analysis and positions described are for the 6x6 game. Extend the principles and ideas to the 5x5 and the 8x8 at your own risk...

The next match in the Tak Open finals that I'll be looking at is the first game between applemonkeyman (white) and SultanPepper (black):

Analysis: Tak Open Finals R1: Gerrek v Simmon (2/2)

Note: The analysis and positions described are for the 6x6 game. Extend the principles and ideas to the 5x5 and the 8x8 at your own risk...

The next game in this series is the second in the match between Simmon and Gerrek, this time with Gerrek as white and Simmon as black:

Analysis: Tak Open Finals R1: Simmon vs Gerrek (1/2)

Note: The analysis and positions described are for the 6x6 game. Extend the principles and ideas to the 5x5 and the 8x8 at your own risk...

The number of games in the tournament is quite massive, so with the current state of the tournament, I am shifting focus to comment the Finals matches. Granted, this still will wind up with 14 matches (for 28 games) to comment, which is still quite a bit. As such, if anyone wants to pitch in their own comments, feel free to get in contact with me and I'll set you up with a game not currently being processed.

To kick this off, I will be looking at the first game between Simmon (white) and Gerrek (black):

Analysis: Open Tournament A: Simmon v. Maron

Note: The analysis and positions described are for the 6x6 game. Extend the principles and ideas to the 5x5 and the 8x8 at your own risk...

To continue my series of analysis of games from the Open Tournament, I want to move onto the second game between Simmon and maron, with Simmon as white and maron as black. (Note: While it is important to consider the context of the game in the match, I am analyzing this and other second games in of their own merit and play).

Analysis: Open Tournament A: ts52 vs. Simmon

Note: The analysis and positions described are for the 6x6 game. Extend the principles and ideas to the 5x5 and the 8x8 at your own risk...

In this post, I am continuing my analysis of varied games from the Open Tournament. As there are a lot of games to look at and each one may take a fair bit of time to analyze, I will continue to update as I can, but it may be a while before I get into any particular game. I may also collaborate with others to help with this task. 

One final note: In the course of (all) my analysis, I am using a tool I designed to help delve into particular lines and variations: https://github.com/nqeron/TakAnalysis. For the moment, the functionality to attempt to annotate moves is a bit weird, so I'm primarily using it to ask TakticianBot for its move recommendations. For more details on how either of these work, feel free to send me an e-mail.

With that note, I'd like to delve into the next game: