
Title image by Omotayo Kofoworola on Unsplash
After some corresponding, we have our next 4545 interview.
Another week brings us another 4545 Interview with a league player conducted by our resident reporter, @fork2020The player being interviewed has been a team captain for nine seasons in a row, winning a league championship (season 39) during that streak. This player also helps moderate the correspondence league, and has contributed to the most recent full edition of the ledger. Can you guess who it is?
If you guessed @Feet_Barbie, you are wrong on multiple counts. First of all, Feet_Barbie has played in six seasons, which is less than the nine straight seasons captained. Second, while Feet_Barbie was a member of the season 39 championship team, the captain was... @MilsBees!
Tell us a bit about yourself and/or your chess play.
I'm 33, from the Netherlands, though I grew up abroad, mostly in Indonesia but also spent some years in Bangladesh and Australia. I've been playing chess since about 2014 or so, though I only started OTB play in 2024. I was a league regular from season 11-17 before taking a long break from classical chess. I've been back since season 32 and really enjoyed it! Besides that I'm going to be playing in Wijk aan Zee this year, as well as the Reykjavik Open so it will be a big year for chess for me.
You captained “Senior dogs that can't get onto the couch (or sofa if you're British) anymore due to their bad knees”, the champions of season 39. Can you share anything from that experience? What put your team above all others?
That was a fun season. The team consisted of all league friends (we all requested to be teamed up). Then we ended up winning the league by half a point despite losing in the final week. One thing I like to do as captain each season is to do a pairing announcement which includes a chess related motivational speech, adapted from popular culture.
Which of your games this season is your favorite?
This season I don't have any games that immediately jump out to me, but I'll select my game against AACtrl because it was the first game I ever streamed so it will be a game I remember for a long time. Here's the game:
My most memorable game ever was this game:
The game was fully prep from my side and is what earned me the reputation within the team as the prepper. That was a lot of fun to play, though I did feel bad for my opponent, it was pretty brutal.
You also moderate the correspondence league. How long have you been in this role?
I've played in the correspondence league for a little over 2 years I think and have been a moderator for maybe a year and a half now I think when @Haspelknecht asked me if I wanted to help him out with it. Most of the credit should go to him as he's automated a lot of the work. I just assist where I can really.
Can you tell us a little about the correspondence league?
The correspondence league is an infinite competition that you can join and leave at any time. Every Monday we give the active players a new pairing and then you just play a correspondence game with them (time control is 2 days/move). We have an XP leveling system and a standings table based on recent performances which changes a lot. I really enjoy it because being able to use the opening explorer allows you to get some really crazy positions you may never get otherwise and it's an easy way to tickle the chess bone without having to set aside time for a whole game at once. We're always looking for new players, so come to #correspondence and join the quest!
Which league member would you most like to see interviewed in a later edition of the ledger?
I think @flipiflapi would be a good choice. Besides being a long time league veteran with a league win and over 100 games played, he also has a really interesting life and is one of the ones who rekindled streaming amongst 4545 players.
Which league player do you most respect?
I think I'd go for @jcarmody. He's always super quick in picking up mod summons (even at strange hours) and he was a long time participant in the correspondence league so that scores bonus points. Plus, he was one of the few to win their game in the simul against Silkthewanderer a few weeks ago!
How would you react if your opponent suddenly turned into a pumpkin mid-game?
Oooo, chess and a snack! Sign me up!
Lichess4545 is an online chess league for people who like playing long time control games online. Players are assigned to teams and play one game per week with a 45+45 time control. For more information visit our league home page.
LoneWolf is a side league of the Lichess4545 league. It is an 11-round Swiss tournament where players play one game per week with a 30+30 time control. For more information about the LoneWolf tournament visit the LoneWolf homepage.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA).
Interview conducted by @fork2020
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