Lichess4545 Season 50 Registrations Open! Warning: Legends Will be Watching

50th season of Lichess4545 is an opportunity to celebrate. It is time to reach into the bag of tricks and make it really special for all of our players. And I think we have done that.

Starting with a man who appeared on the special "Season 49 Awards Stream" to break the news first, the one and only GM Daniel King is going to make an appearance as a commentator two times. Players will want to avoid split rooks, putting their queen in Siberia and they will all hope to pin and win (but make sure to stay hydrated and drink while they think) under the watchful eye of our special commentary guest.

The first appearance is scheduled for Saturday, 26th September (Round 1 of the league) — 14:00 UTC. The second appearance is expected on Wednesday, 21st October (Round 5 of the league) — 19:00 UTC.

But we do not stop there, not even close.

For Round 3 (Sunday, 11th October) and league finale Round 8 (Sunday, 15th November) we have pencilled in none other than the former #4 in the world, legendary GM Peter Svidler! If you will be a little nervous while you play your game, knowing that this legendary commentator is watching, I do not blame you. But I hope you will be more excited than nervous!

The registrations are open! Check the league website for that.

Oh and yeah it does not end here either. We will have WGM Sabina Foisor, NM Marc Nassar, GM Davorin Kuljasevic and our own league member Alparslan Yalcin take part in special events all season long. Here is what you can expect!

The individual time-slots are subject to change, but this is the plan.

I have to say, as someone who was able to receive the information about ongoing communication with all these personalities and how things were going, I am still a bit shocked we have managed to pull this sort of line-up for our league.

In case you are intrigued like me and want to join us for Season 50, the registrations are open! Check the league website for that.

P.S. That is not all. There might be some other bonuses along the way.

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Season 49 Knows the Champions

Before we fully turn our eyes on the festivities around Season 50, let us also celebrate the winners of Season 49. along with the names of all the medalists. Here are the results.

Special shout-out to @Scarff, who was able to pull in their record tying 3rd league championship and has now 7 league trophies in their cabinet. Undisputed league GOAT. Can they do it again in Season 50? We will be watching.

Big thank you to all our players for a fantastic Season 49! We hope to see you for our Season 50, crowned (pun intended) with very special events and guests!

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Season 47 Champions Interview (brought to You by @fork2020)

As we say farewell to season 49, we can look back on the past and realize that we haven’t heard from some of the other recent champions yet. Since the season 45 and 46 championship interviews were released, the ledger has heard nothing from our champions. Today, we finally release an interview with two members of the season 47 champions! Can you remember which team won?

If you guessed “Better Call Sindarov” you are technically 62.5% correct. Five members of this team were season 47 champions, because they remained together under this new name for season 48. No, the fully correct answer is “Better Call Tal!”

First, congratulations on your victory. How does it feel to be the season 47 champions?

@Lotus_62: “It feels great! I wasn't expecting to do so well this time, I took some time to practice before the season so it definitely paid off!”

@superfighter: “It's an honor to win and to have felt the team spirit that carried us all the way to the top! Having played the league on and off since Season 21, I'm proud to have finally secured the 1st place trophy and to even have contributed to our win from the top board.”

What matchup do you believe was the most critical during your run to the championship?

Lotus_62: “Well, for me, it was certainly the last round!... I had the deciding game and if I lost, I'd lose the championship by close margins so the pressures were undoubtedly high. 30+ Spectators watching made it feel more intense.”

superfighter: “Our last round win to leapfrog the leaders was obviously the most critical, and it was where we felt the most pressure. I'd like to dedicate an honorable mention to our third round win with 7.5 points, which ended up being very important later on since it turned out that we had a better first tiebreaker than every other team in contention.”

Do you have a game that you'd like to share from season 47?

Lotus_62: “There's the pretty comical game I played against Mizrab in round 6. On move 5, I straight up hung the bishop, and my opponent was winning the whole game. Until they decided to blunder a rook in a position with 3 passed pawns and a knight vs my rook which was still probably winning for him. On the very next move, they decided to self-pin their knight to their king, blundering the knight and somehow turning the game around in my favor.”

superfighter: “My round 1 win against Leverkuhn was memorable both because it helped us secure that first important match point and because it was a nearly-perfect game from my point of view. I got some very nice preparation on the board and quickly got the advantage with the Black pieces. An intense battled followed where I was always putting pressure. In the end, I found some great moves to break through and then force simplifications in my favor. Also, I love it when there's an audience discussing the game so I can read the commentary afterwards!”

When did you first believe that you had a shot at winning it all?

Lotus_62: “I was not ever thinking about winning the league before round 8!”

superfighter: “Since we were not in contention at any point in the middle of the season, I don't think it crossed any of our minds until the very end. At some point during round 7, I was looking at the potential results to see if there was a chance for us to sneak onto the podium. I think some results and matchups went perfectly in our favor, and the rest, as they say, is history.”

Outside of your championship, what will you remember season 47 for?

Lotus_62: “It's a bit of a sad memory. Towards the end of the season, my mom was starting to get sick. She could not walk or get up by herself anymore. She passed away a month later.”

superfighter: “This was my first season facing titled players, CM HandKnit in round 4 and FM Sterpfi in round 5, and I was able to draw both games!”

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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.
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