My First Lichess Tournaments
Yesterday I played in my first two Lichess tournaments.
No podium. No undefeated run. No dramatic claim that the chess world has been put on notice. I entered two Classical Swiss events, played the games, and finished with two rankings that now belong permanently to the record.
The results
| Tournament | Time control | Field | Score | Finish | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classical | 30+0 | 43 | 1.5 | #17 | 1277 |
| Classical Increment | 25+3 | 25 | 0.5 | #22 | 1402 |
Those numbers are modest. That is fine. The milestone was entering.
A tournament changes the feeling of a game. There is a round, a field, a scoreboard, and another pairing waiting after the result. A loss is no longer the end of the session; it is something to absorb before sitting down again.
The first event left me at #17 in Classical. The second left me at #22 in Classical Increment. Neither result needs polishing. They are starting coordinates.
First Lichess blog post. First Lichess tournaments. More games to study, more mistakes to archive, and—if the position demands it—more opportunities to resign like a panda.