Panda Nation has passed 100 members. As of November 1, the team has 107 accounts, up from 72 on October 23. That is 35 more pandas in a little over a week.

The total includes 88 non-BOT accounts and 19 BOT accounts. We have people coming to play, people experimenting with engines, and room for both.

This is the first edition of The Panda Post: a place to keep up with our tournament results, recognize the people behind them, and find the next event to join.

In this edition

Bamboo Blitz 1: a small beginning

On November 1, we hosted our first Panda Nation: Bamboo Blitz 1 Team Battle: 90 minutes of rated 2+3 chess, with the top two scorers counting for each team.

The final standings were:

  1. Speed Chess Academy
  2. The Sacrifice Club
  3. Panda Nation

Congratulations to Speed Chess Academy and @totor515508 on the win.

And a particular thank-you to @Piratesboy, who represented The Sacrifice Club in their second-place finish.

Liga, MEGA, and the games in between

The team results include some points, some difficult rounds, and people turning up to play anyway.

There are a couple of games worth keeping alongside the numbers. @Viktor_Kulak earned the October 29 Liga points with a berserk checkmate as Black. @Etkalombo20 joined Panda Nation on November 1 and then played four Chess960 games, winning two. One was this berserk checkmate. Welcome to the team.

Points are only part of who showed up. @Nikches played two games in the October 26 Friendly battle. @moveNumber37 played four in the October 27 sacrifice battle. @mannyfresher played four and @Piratesboy played one in Harvey’s Chess960 battle. All finished those events on zero Panda points.

I know that part of the score sheet fairly well. Thank you for playing through it with us.

A Bot League win and a Halloween second place

Bot League 10

On October 28, Panda Nation won Bot League 10 with 147 team points, ahead of Ukrainian national team’s 74 and Rocking Superstars’ 42.

The four Panda bots took the first four individual places, in this order: @TwoSillyPandas, @FourCuriousPandas, @FiveJoyousPandas, and @OneZenPanda.

@PiratesRustV2 also contributed, alongside two human scorers: @BATMAN_6767, with three points, and @MechikaburaDemonKing, with two. Both human wins ended in checkmate: one with a berserk bonus, and one without.

There were 79 teams listed, but seven had recorded games. We finished first among the teams that played, and all seven of our scoring accounts contributed to the result.

Halloween Chess Night 2

The next team podium came in Halloween Chess Night 2, a 12-hour battle spanning October 31 and November 1.

  1. DarkOnBot, 443 points
  2. Panda Nation, 256 points
  3. TakticproChess, 191 points

The same four Panda bots were joined on the score sheet by @sarthakppd, who added six points from three wins.

Congratulations to DarkOnBot, and thank you to everyone who played for Panda Nation. This was a mixed event with bots allowed, and it is good to see human contributions alongside the engine games.

Panda shout-outs beyond the team standings

Members have also been playing in individual arenas and representing other teams. Those results deserve a place here, even though their points do not belong in Panda Nation’s team totals.

I also want to thank @RaphaelRahman, @Usausa7, and the other regulars who keep showing up to play.

Pandafish gets started

I’ve also started building Pandafish, my own chess engine, playing on Lichess as @GoPandaFish. Its starting point was simple: choose a random legal move.

In my first game against it, I tried a cheeky Scholar’s Mate. After 4.Qxf7+ Nxf7, my queen was gone.

Random legal moves were enough to collect my queen. I eventually won the game, after giving the engine a rather generous head start. I shared the debut on Bluesky.

Pandamonium continues

Our individual Panda Bot Pandamonium 2 arena finished with @TwoSillyPandas in first place.

@JYLee115 also picked up a checkmate against me. The bots were available, but apparently I was the more manageable assignment.

@McDonalds1955 won both Pandamonium 3 and Pandamonium 4.

These were individual arenas, so there was no Panda Nation team score. There were human players taking part, though, and I want to thank @ExertC, @Grisha_Pauli, @MUJATALEX, @SADEESHA_23, @karnishhariraman, and @JYLee115 for playing.

It takes a particular willingness to sit down in a room full of chess engines. I appreciate it.

What’s coming: November 2 to 8

Alongside our Team Battles, Monday brings a chance to support one of our team leaders in the Streamer Arena.

Each Lichess tournament page shows its start time in your local time zone.

Monday, November 2

We’ll be supporting @UST_B, one of Panda Nation’s leaders, in the November Streamer Arena. Join UST_B Chess Fighters to play for their team. It’s a two-hour, rated 5+0 battle.

Tuesday, November 3

Wednesday, November 4

Thursday, November 5

Friday, November 6

Saturday, November 7

Sunday, November 8

Our Sunday Liga assignment is not confirmed yet. Check the Panda Nation tournament page for updates and any new events added after this edition.

Until the next Panda Post

Thank you for being part of Panda Nation. It means a lot to see people joining tournaments, trying something new, and coming back for another game.

Three pandas are sad. Together, we are a nation. 🐼

Every panda counts. 🩷

Join Panda Nation on Lichess.

- @ThreeSadPandas 🐼🐼🐼