Another retirement

Regretfully I will not be able to play the 2020 AWC. I'd hoped to play and make it my final atomic event but real life has intervened.

I've enjoyed playing atomic on Lichess, although my best years were before I joined here. Although I'm still capable of playing well my level has gradually become more inconsistent and disappointing to me. This can only be fixed by regular play and study, which I do not have the time or motivation for. I've done a number of things in the atomic world that I'm proud of, some that stand out to me are:

- Reaching the #1 rank regularly on FICS, ICC, Buho21, USCL (at times all simultaneously), as well as on Lichess
- Winning the 2016 AWC and in reaching a total of 3 finals from 4 attempts
- Introducing the AWC to Lichess, turning it into an annual event for the first time and inspiring other variant WC events
- Setting atomic rating records on FICS, USCL and Buho21 (although ratings are of course over-rated)

Thanks to all the friends I've made in atomic, especially @VTChess @siggemannen @onubense for forcing me to become better in order to compete. I will likely still be around in the community and possibly run some future AWC events. If there's interest I may also organise a fun farewell tournament to give people a final chance to embarrass me :)

Good luck to everyone in the 2020 AWC and beyond!

pepehands

pepehands

pepehands

While you have done a great many things for atomic, one thing that I would like to specifically thank you for are your endgame studies and your video series. These are both excellent resources that greatly helped me not only as a beginning atomic player, but when I was top 50 as well. You explained the ideas in a concise manner, and I still find myself checking them out from time to time and sending them to new players. With Stockfish constantly changing theory, the fact that your opening videos are still relevant after all these years is a testimony in itself to how well they are made. I would love to see a farewell tournament as one last hurrah! Hopefully other players are also interested.

Wishing you the best of luck in all your future ventures!

I'm just curious - is it the extent of opening preparation needed nowadays that's prompting you guys into retirement? And if so, all the more reason to expedite addition of 960 here.

When I think of atomic chess, I think of @tipau . Growing up on ICC in the early 2000s, we analyzed, sparred and pushed each other to improve. I consider him to be the best opponent I've ever had the pleasure of playing. He is a legend of the game and a "first-ballot hall of famer" when it comes to atomic chess. Thanks for all the games. Cheers and best wishes in the future.

- TheChessKid

I watched your videos, I've seen your tremendous involvement and construction of the theory and play of this game which I know largely nothing about, I only got addicted for about a month.
I hope all your life goes good and you can continue enjoying and being present on this game in other ways. Thank you for the great games and theories!

First of all,sorry for my English
But I consider it my duty to write about this great player
My initial acquaintance with Atomic Chess was through the Molten Thinker page
His good expression introduced me to the beauties of this chess variant
But my serious progress was on the Buho21 In those years, I played with ID "Proshat"
At one point on the Buho site, I was able to reach rating of 2796!!
The reason was that Siggemannen gave me a text file in which all the openings of atomic chess were analyzed with great accuracy!
And in fact, this was the text of Tipau's analysis!
And because of this superiority, I became the first rank on the Buho , of course
Before Onubense became very strong in atomic (in fact, we played a few games together, but at that time Onubense had very little information about the openings of atomic chess and he was not very strong yet)
Shortly afterwards, I stopped playing Atomic Chess and did not play for years until a few months ago when I decided to try Atomic again, but unfortunately its theory has expanded a lot and the text file of Tipau does not help me like before!
Tipao has a great contribution in the development and expansion of atomic chess and I am sure that many Atomic Players have learned even simple and typical Atomic Endings from his youtube educational clips and also I am sure that the majority of good players today that are familiar with Atomic closed forms (d4 and similar formations) It has been through valuable clips of Tipau
In addition, his beautiful interpretations of the AWC are very pleasant and instructive, and I am personally indebted to him.
Dear Tipau
Thank you for all the efforts you have made over the years to introduce and develop Atomic Chess.
Best Wishes

For me @tipau has being an inspiration, a legend and a player to admire. I remember when I was starting watching his games (way before computer analysis) to learn. Thanks to him I become a better player and this experience would not have been the same without you.

Also a reference for your contribution to the community, which will not be forgotten.

I had the luck to meet him in London 2 years ago. It was a very pleasant experience for me (He bringed with him a mini-pocket chess set and we played while taking dinner! haha).

Thanks for all and I wish you good luck for your new goals in life... but I have the feeling that probably our paths will converge at some point in the future...