Atomar World Cup Recap Part 2: Time management is important!!

First things first, if you know nothing about atomar, see the introduction here.
My previous blog post is here.
Or maybe see some AtomarWC streams here by Wolfram?

Or some streams here by DanDan2016?

Now let's get to the point, buckle up!

Round 1 matches

Iubar vs Jnanor

Jnanor forfeited.

Crepuscular 5.5-0.5 Lavarider

Similar to my prediction, Crep dominated this match.
Game 1 They went for the "boring" center block opening. They pushed pawns and nothing was going on until black gave away a pawn in a trade. Black (Lava) didn't have enough counterplay, blundered a queen, white was eventually up a rook for nothing, black resigned.
Game 2 White went for the "inferior" Nh3, black countered with Nc6, they pushed pawns again. White somehow created a hole in his position and let black bishops in, black won a pawn, white flagged in a worse position.
Game 3 Black didn't defend properly against Nc3, so he lost a lot of material and resigned.
Game 4 White lost a piece in an opening trade (Nf3 Nc6 trade opening). The rest is technical, black continued to win material and was up two rooks, white gave up.
Game 5 White went for the e4 Qg4 opening and black allowed a Q for RNP trade, white didn't trade it. Then they traded, the position was symmetrical at some point, white won a pawn and was up a piece. In an endgame, instead of Kc4 and queening, white allowed black to capture both c and d pawns for a draw. Lava avoided adoption.
Game 6 White went for the 2N. Black used the c6 and Nf6 defence and it was effective. White lost a piece in some trades and was eventually forced to give away more material. Black succesfully queened and white resigned.

Queeneatingdragon vs Thelongestday

Thelongestday forfeited.

Opabinia vs cliriocors

They both forfeited, very strange.

Ingvarlie vs R2300

Ingvarlie forfeited because apparently he forgot who he was playing.

Superprosper vs Shepbox

Superprosper pulled a Rightline and claimed the win. Shepbox forfeited.

mathwhiz16 1.5-5.5 Kevinlel

What are you doing mathwhiz? You could have claimed a win. Just to ruin my prediction?
Game 1 White (mathwhiz) successfully developed both his bishops, lured a knight invasion and black was forced to give up his queen. Even so, white is only up a queen for a rook and a pawn, Wolfram thinks it's fairly even. They still make some atomic-ish moves (like responding to a move "indirectly threatening" the king) In a time scramble, white won a pawn and black flagged.
Game 2 In a Nc3 opening, black allowed Nb5 for some reason. Despite not going for Nb5, white won material with a knight invasion. The black queen and rook did have some counterplay which forced white to sacrifice the queen -- although I doubt white had to do it. (Black had no checks after Kd1) After some more weird moves by black queen, black finally blundered his queen to a knight capture. Black resigned.
Game 3 They played symmetric Nf3 trade opening and traded almost all pieces. In a rook and bishop endgame, white gave away a pawn for some reason, allowed black's king to get active and allowed black rook to control the second rank and eventually blundered mate in 1.
Game 4 In a e4 Qg4 opening, white traded Q for BNRP, which is theoretically good. They traded pieces, white gave away a knight when he didn't need to, then black won back material and was up an exchange in the endgame. Then black allowed a knight fork to get into an equal (?) endgame. Instead of cxd4 for a simple draw, black played for a win and forgot that white could stop his pawn. White missed mate twice but it didn't matter, he still captured black king.
Game 5 The opening was d4 e5 dxe5. White didn't play Qd4 after the bishop pin, and subsequently lost a pawn with tempo. However, white found a nice back rank check to win back the knight. Black missed a chance of winning material and gave away the queen for N+R which is normally an "even trade", eventually white flagged.
Game 6 In a French-like opening position, black sacrificed a bishop for active play. Instead of winning a pawn, black won a piece and a pawn for a rook which is normally an even trade. Black missed a tactic to win back the rook for free but white allowed queening for some reason so the material was equal again. They both queened, traded, and drew by KvsK.
Game 7 It's a French opening again, white found a nice tactic to win a pawn (by threatening a knight invasion). But as we all know in atomar, a pawn advantage is normally nothing. They traded pieces, white sacrificed a bishop for a possible promotion but forgot to respond to a check.

Round 2 matches

fast-tsunami 5.5-1.5 Stephanie_s_Symphony

Not that dominating, but still proves fast-tsunami's strength.
Game 1 In a delayed center block opening, black (tsunami) took advantage of the blocked center and was able to invade with the queen. The problem is white was not down material. In a still unclear position, white blundered a rook and resigned, which is not recommended -- that position was still unclear.
Game 2 Another center block opening, black and white pushed their pawns but white was able to get the two bishops into the game and invaded black's position. The black king got active but it couldn't do anything. Black flagged in a worse position.
Game 3 In a Nc3 opening, white won an exchange out of the opening becuase black didn't defend Nb5. They traded pieces and got into an endgame where white was up an exchange but black had two bishops. White sacrificed back the exchange for no reason but it was difficult to win anyway. Probably white just wanted to get a draw and avoid adoption. The draw was quickly forced.
Game 4 In a Nc3 symmetrical trade opening, white controlled the e-file and was able to win a piece by an unstoppable knight invasion. They traded into an endgame where white should be winning -- but white blundered back a bishop to the king. Then it was a draw, black still blundered back a pawn and white king was more active, but still black was able to force a draw somehow.
Game 5 After some normal Nc3 opening moves, white decided to sacrifice a knight for a bishop check -- but it did nothing. Black queen was able to infiltrate but only traded it for a rook and a knight, white should have a draw but sacrificed the queen back too early, leaving black with two bishops up and an easily winning endgame where white flagged anyway.
Game 6 They again traded most of their pieces in the opening, into an equal bishop endgame. Black messed up by allowing white king to control the queenside and white queened first. But white had to stop the two connected passed pawns with the queen and bishop, which is difficult -- black queened and after some checks black was given the opportunity to have an easy draw by Qg8+ and Qd5+ (or Qg8+ and back, something like that, easy perpetual) instead black gave away the queen for the bishop and white was able to stop the pawn and win. Black hung mate anyway.
Special thanks to Fastie and Stephanie, correcting my QvsP endgame mistake
Game 7 White played Na3 opening which obviously doesn't work in atomar (it does nothing after b5). However, after some combination, white was able to maneuver the knight into black's position and win a pawn. Unfortunately, a pawn is usually not a winning advantage. White was able to win another pawn but black rook controlled white's king on the back rank. White sacrificed back a pawn for activity but then the position was simply drawn. Black defended well to achieve the draw.

luka3916 vs Puddingbirne

I thought it would be close...
Game 1 White (luka) played e4 d5 e5, the game was positional for a while and black decided to sacrifice a bishop to open up white's king. The thing is, the king is not easy to get mated. The black queen couldn't force a perpetual and white was able to trade into an endgame. The endgame should be drawn. But white won black's d2 pawn nicely and was able to limit black's king -- black didn't take the white pawn at the right moment (when the king was not on back rank, and king couldn't be forced to the back rank. And white was able to force the famous R vs K win with "opposition".
Game 2 After a French opening, white was able to invade with the bishop and was able to win some material -- except that black also won some material, and queen is not that useful in this game. Black king got active, and despite possibility to force a perpetual, white lost the queen to a king capture.
Game 3 White played e4 and black went for the 2 knights. White found a nice sacrifice of a pawn with check (black couldn't stop loss of material if black took) They traded all pieces to get into an endgame, where white was able to scam black in a time scramble (white king was more active anyway)
Game 4 White won a piece in a Nc3 e3 opening scam. They traded pieces and white was theoretically better with a piece up. Was it enough to win? Probably not. White played passively and black king was active, white king was doing nothing and black won the knight and the game.
Game 5 Again a e4 d5 e5 opening. Instead of winning the queen and a pawn with two pieces, black let the white queen escape and won a pawn and two pieces (black lost two pawns). Black had no counterplay and lost the queen to a knight fork. Black resigned.
Game 6 In the opening trade, white was up a queen for two pieces, and was able to trade into an endgame. White was unable to convert the advantage, allowed the advanced passed pawn to be captured, and they agreed to a draw. Pudding avoided adoption and luka advanced.

CyberShredder 0-6 LearningVariants

LV was better than I thought.
Game 1 In a 2N opening, they played a positional line, white went for the knight invasion but forgot to give the check first and also forgot to react to the check.
Game 2 White played e3 Ne2, which is interesting. Black got confused and missed the Qf3 defence, and lost a rook. They traded into an endgame, black lost more material and resigned.
Game 3 After an advanced French, black queen was able to invade white's position (white didn't need to take it and lose a piece though). Later in the game, white played too aggressively and forgot that kings don't explode in atomar. Black was able to win more material and white resigned. But, never resign.
Game 4 In a Nc3 d4 opening, instead of trading knights, black decided to give away a piece in the trade. All games in this series are similar -- one side won more and more pieces and the other side resigned.
Game 5 I don't even want to comment any more. Probably Cyber played too fast. Some two knights line, white didn't safe the queen and went for a pawn capture that couldn't blow up black's king (unlike atomic). White resigned quickly.
Game 6 Cyber was probably tilted and allowed a easy Nc3-b5-c7 and resigned after 4 moves. The shortest legitimate game.

FonsecaErnesto 0.5-5.5 Iubar

Wow, Iubar is strong!
Game 1 White started with Nf3 e5 opening and instead of winning a rook, white sacrificed the queen for a pawn. Flashback to my first post: the king doesn't explode in explosions unless it's taken. You know what? It's good to know the rules. White still had some counterplay until they didn't respond to a check.
Game 2 The opening was weird, e4 e5 was countered with e6 f6. White sacrificed a bishop but black took it with the knight, eventually white knight invaded into black's territory and won a rook. The black queen didn't have enough counterplay and white was able to reach an endgame with two rooks vs a bishop. Black resigned. (They played many atomic-like moves)
Game 3 White pushed a lot of pawns in the opening. The opening was not so interesting and they got into a middlegame where black won a pawn and black's a-pawn was able to push through, white white's mate threats are non-existent. White resigned in a still unclear position (but probably winning for black).
Game 4 White played a two side knights opening. The opening was normal and they traded pieces, white sacrificed a piece for a pawn, but the endgame was pretty equal. Black missed a free rook (and an easy win), and they got into an endgame where both kings were limited to the back rank. They checked for a few times and agreed to a draw.
Game 5 It was a delayed center block opening, but white was able to get to the e-file and win a piece. White, however, allowed a knight fork for black to win back material (knight is a tricky piece). Even so, white was still up a piece for a pawn. But white didn't know bringing the king up is better in atomar endgames, and lost his knight. White resigned.
Game 6 Probably still tilted from the previous game, black timed out in a totally normal French defence position.

Crepuscular vs Hysterix

Hysterix forfeited.

Astavakra 5.5-1.5 IMakeManyMistakes

I just feel bad for IMMM. He played so well.
Game 1 In a center block opening, they traded pieces and castled. Black seemed to hold but white successfully won a pawn and slowly pushed the pawn to the 7th rank, and later forced the loss of the black queen, and an easy win being up a queen.
Game 2 White won a queen for only a piece in a Nc3 opening. White should be winning. However, black's two bishops got active and almost trapped white queen. White played for a win and settled for a pawn up endgame. But white missed a tactic and allowed black to win back a pawn. In the pawn endgame, black king was trapped on the back rank but white let it out. Black won another pawn and probably even missed a win but eventually white was able to force a draw.
Game 3 White went for a knight ride opening but even though white won a pawn, black won 3 pieces + pawn for a queen. Black was eventually able to win white's queen, white was down an exchange. But black gave away their advantage by allowing a king capture, and was lucky that 2 pawns was not enough to force a win. A draw was forced.
Game 4 This was the saddest game. White played e4 and got into trouble in the middlegame because of two devastating pins. Black was up a queen but allowed white to win back some material by a bishop threat. In the rook vs queen endgame, both players played very accurately and defended all their pawns. White was eventually able to win a pawn but their king was trapped on the side, and got scammed in time scramble (blundered mate in 1).
Game 5 In a d4 e4 game, they traded pieces, black's center king was very dangerous and white was able to win black's queen. White sacrificed the queen for only a knight for some reason and then the position was unclear. White still was able to win an exchange and reach a rook vs king endgame with some pawns, but the king was not cut off successfully and black was able to win white's rook for a draw. This shows that unlike many other players, IMMM can fight till the end.
Game 6 Another d4 Nc3 game. They traded pieces, white unsuccessfully sacrificed two pieces for activity and after the rooks were traded, black's two bishops were just too strong. Black was able to win the rook, cut off the king and win.
Game 7 Nf3 e4 opening, and black played defensively. After some piece trades, white pushed the defended e-pawn to the 7th rank and after some checks, the black king was forced away and white won a queen. Then the position was hopeless for black and black got mated and timed out (the final position was a checkmate).

VariantsOnly vs Stephenhello

Now that VO learned some atomar theory, I still don't think Stephenhello learned any atomar theory. So now I'm going to change my prediction.
Prediction: VO wins, 6-3

Dartanian vs QueenEatingDragon

Dartanian forfeited.

two64brocc vs (forfeit)

Two64brocc advances.

Wolfram_EP 6-0 R2300

Expected. See Wolfram's stream above for details and better commentary. But first 2 games were interesting.
Game 1 A French defence was played, white (Wolfram) was able to get a knight into black's position and force black's king to move. Finally, black's pinned bishop was won due to pawn push (and taking it results in disaster as bishops come in). Just a move later, black was checkmated by a knight (not really but black needs to give up the queen, which is lost for black).
Game 2 In a normal e4 opening, white pushed pawns and sacrificed two pawns in trades for some reason. They traded pieces, both bishops invaded, black had a more active king and won an exchange in the process, limited white's king and ladder mated white in a time scramble.
Game 3 Black allowed Nc3 to b4, and then settled for a Q for RNP trade, then didn't react to a check.
Game 4 White was tilted, bongclouded, gave away all the pieces including the king.
Game 5 White played h4. Black was totally tilted, gave away his pieces and king again.
Game 6 White played Nf3 e5 Ng5, and after Bb4, white gave his queen away and bongclouded the king to hang mate in 1 again.

vlad_00 9-2 (6-1) Superprosper

Game 1 Big trade opening. In these openings, you don't just give away a bishop for a pawn -- that's what white (superprosper) did. Then white blundered the exchange into an endgame where white was down a full rook. That means "resigns" in atomar. Even so, white did scam and win black's rook! Unfortunately black could queen and still win.
Game 2In an e4 line, white won black's queen by a series of threats and counterthreats. White was simply a queen up but forgot to respond to a check. Superprosper scammed!
Game 3 In a positional center blockade opening, white got the queen in black's position but wasn't able to win any material. Instead, black was able to win a pawn and then scam white by a bishop check (white didn't see the check)
Game 4 In a Nf3 d4 line, white was able to win material with two knights on the side, while black won white's queen by two bishop penetration (Although I doubt it was forced for white to give up the queen). Then black gave away the far advanced pawn and missed a chance to trade queen for two rooks, then white was just up material and converted easily by rook skewer winning black's queen.
Game 5 In a trade-ish symmetrical opening, black broke the symmetry by losing a piece for a pawn voluntarily. Then white was up a piece. But black scammed, got his king active and took all white pawns and pieces. White should have limited black's king.
Game 6 In a Nc3 e3 opening, black traded queens but lost a pawn. Later in the game white won another piece for a pawn by an intermezzo. Finally white scammed black and black didn't react to a check.
Always react to checks!
Game 7 A side knights center block opening, which is not good for white as two side knights can do nothing. White couldn't avoid losing material and black had a strong attack, white had some counterplay and after some scam moves, white won black's queen at the cost of the advanced passed pawn. White tried to force a perpetual with the queen since white's still down material (queen for 3 pieces), but black's king found safety. (A draw was not enough for Superprosper anyway) Then white blundered a knight fork.
Game 8 The match should be over but they played on. White went for some funny opening (f4). As a result, black pinned the knight easily and won white's queen. Eventually they traded into an endgame where black was simply a rook up and could cut off white's king easily. Instead black allowed white king to take all black pawns and missed a chance to limit white's king to the back rank. Finally black gave away his rook and lost.
Game 9 Another center block opening. Both kings got active, but black forgot that mate is still possible, and got baited into taking a center pawn, which at least loses a rook to a skewer were it not just a mate. But vlad probably played for fun.
Game 10 Center block again, they traded pieces and white's two bishops got into black's camp. White won an exchange but black was up two pawns -- except that he blundered a knight by a pawn push. White queened easily and black blundered mate in 1.
Game 11 Yeah, even a game 11. Vlad played f5 against e4 which is obviously a troll opening. Black won a piece in the opening due to white's unsound sacrifices and white didn't have enough counterplay, and white gave away a bishop for free, Then black won all white's pieces and white hung mate in 1.

lesha2002 vs kevinlel

kevinlel forfeited. He beat mathwhiz convincingly and just disappeared?

Winners' Round 3

Not even one game was played yet.
fast-tsunami vs luka3916 : Fastie showed his strength in friendly games and real match, luka also showed strength. Hopefully it will be interesting but I'm going to keep my prediction. Prediction: 6-3
LearningVariants vs Iubar: LearningVariants and Iubar both won but their opponents were not that familiar with the game. It's hard to predict but I'll stay with the old prediction. Prediction: 4-6
Rightline3127 vs Crepuscular: I'll try to scam a draw. Prediction: 0.5-5.5
Astavakra vs DanDan2016: DanDan is strong, but Astavakra also showed his strength and he's very solid. It will be hard for DanDan but I think he can still win. I'll change the prediction but not the result. Prediction: 4.5-5.5
VariantsOnly (likely) vs QueenEatingDragon: Again, QED didn't do well against DanDan, I think VO can win. If Stephen advances, he can also win. Prediction: 6-0
two64brocc vs Wolfram_EP: Wolfram showed his domination, but two64brocc didn't do badly in a friendly match (vs Wolfram). I'll keep my prediction, it will be close. Prediction: 4.5-5.5
vlad_00 vs RoyalManiac: Vlad is stronger than I thought and I'll give him a bigger edge. Prediction: 6-1
lesha2002 vs Natso: Natso should not be underestimated but lesha is also getting stronger. It's hard to say now. It will be the closest match, probably going into armageddon. Prediction: 6-8

Winners' Round 4

Since the bracket will be full of guesses, I'll omit any analysis.

fast-tsunami vs Iubar(?): Prediction: 6-3
Crepuscular vs DanDan2016 (Astavakra?): Prediction: 2-6
VariantsOnly vs Wolfram_EP: Prediction: 0.5-5.5
vlad_00 vs Natso/lesha2002: Prediction: 6-4

Losers' Round 1

dpalm vs Equanimity8: Equanimity was forfeited in the AWC and is probably still tilted, so dpalm can take advantage of this. Prediction: 6-0 or Equanimity forfeits
Kevinlel vs cFlour: It doesn't look like Kevin is going to be online, so probably a forfeit win by cFlour. Prediction: kevinlel forfeits. If he plays, he wins 6-4
The_Knight_Of_Spring vs neroccag: Prediction: neroccag forfeits or 6-0
Superprosper vs jnanor: Prediction: jnanor forfeits or 6-0 (These forfeits need no explanation)
R2300 vs The_Troubled_Patzer: I don't know if they will play. If they play, TTP will win since R2300's games were terrible. Prediction: TTP wins 6-1
cliriocors vs Lavarider: cliriocors didn't even appear. Supposedly they are in the house server but I doubt they know the rules. Prediction: Lavarider wins 6-0 or cliriocors forfeits
Dartanian 0-1 Camisapricity: Dartanian forfeited.
Stephenhello(?) vs hellfira: Whoever loses in stephen vs VO will win this easily -- or will they? Hellfira should not be underestimated. He played decently against DanDan. He can take some games from Stephen/VO. Prediction: Stephen wins 6-2
lecw 2.5-1.5 N0puedeser: The only played match so far in the losers' bracket. And it was not even finished. We obviously expect many forfeits here.
Game 1 White (Nopuedeser) opened with e4 and they went for an interesting opening. Black missed a bishop tactic and lost a pawn. But even if black won back material by a knight invasion, he got tricked by a backward knight move and lost the rook. Even so, black's connected passed pawns were strong and somehow black won white's queen (probably in a time scramble). Black had the advantage in an endgame where white's rook couldn't move, but blundered mate in 1 instead.
Game 2 White started with the knightrider, black lost a rook and pawn and never won them back. White took black pawns and queened. Black resigned after the rook was taken.
Game 3 White chose a trade opening, got into a somewhat equal endgame. Black sacrificed the exchange for activity but almost got mated. White missed an obvious chance to get into an endgame a rook up. In a RP vs B endgame, white missed the chance to win by allowing black to win the rook (Rb1-b6 was clear win) and got into the theoretically drawn Q vs B endgame.
Game 4 White started with Nf3 and black allowed white to take the material (R+P) again. Black didn't have much counterplay. They both missed Nxb5 for two moves and white finally took the black queen, causing resignation.
IMakeManyMistakes vs Thelongestday: Even if IMMM doesn't get the forfeit win, he will win easily. Prediction: Thelongestday forfeits, or 6-0
Hysterix vs Opabinia: This would have been interesting if not for the fact that Hysterix said he would forfeit. Prediction: Hysterix forfeits.
CalmWaters vs Ingvarlie : Ingvarlie probably still doesn't know who they are playing. Prediction: CalmWaters wins, 5.5-2.5, or Ingvarlie forfeits.
FonsecaErnesto vs Shepbox: Hard to predict. Really, this could be one of the closest matches in the losers' bracket. Prediction: FonsecaErnesto wins, 5.5-4.5, or shepbox forfeits
CyberShredder vs Sam_125: Sam doesn't seem to know how to play this, so probably Cyber will win. Prediction: CyberShredder wins, 5.5-0.5
Puddingbirne vs mathwhiz16: Despite saying Puddingbirne was bad, he's probably the strongest among all those players in losers' round 1 (barring Stephenhello, probably). Prediction: Puddingbirne wins, 6-0
Stephanie_s_Symphony vs DualityGg: I suppose this will be close, but if Stephanie can use scams properly she can beat fft. Prediction: Stephanie_s_Symphony wins, 6-4

Losers' Round 2

dpalm vs cFlour: How good is cFlour right now? I think he improved a lot. Dpalm is not unbeatable, and we cannot have a prediction without any upsets. Prediction: cFlour wins, 7-5
The_Knight_Of_Spring vs Superprosper: TKOS doesn't know the rules well, so Super can surely win this. Prediction: Superprosper wins, 5.5-0.5
The_Troubled_Patzer vs Lavarider: Is Lavarider good enough? TTP never played, and is still probably tilted from my behavior, so -- Prediction: Lavarider wins, 5.5-3.5
Camisapricity vs Stephenhello: Is Stephenhello really as strong as I think he is? Not sure, but he can beat Camisapricity. Prediction: Stephenhello wins, 6-0
lecw vs IMakeManyMistakes: I'd like to predict another IMMM win, but lecw is better in atomic generally, and his success in AWC can help him get confidence here. Prediction: lecw wins, 6-2
Opabinia vs CalmWaters: Opabinia is probably busy nowadays, while highestcliff can get better easily. But I still think if Opabinia plays, he can win. Prediction: Opabinia wins, 6-3
FonsecaErnesto vs CyberShredder: Again, difficult to predict. Prediction: CyberShredder wins, 6.5-5.5
Puddingbirne vs Stephanie_s_Symphony: Still difficult to predict. But Puddingbirne is probably slightly stronger? Prediction: Puddingbirne wins, 7-5
Despite predicting so many tiebreakers, no tiebreaker games were played in the atomar wc yet.

Losers' Round 3 (not reliable at this point)

As for now, just predictions, no reasonings because my bracket is unreliable, anything can happen.
Astavakra/DanDan2016 vs dpalm: Prediction: 6-2
Rightline3127 vs Superprosper: Prediction: 1-0 I will try to forfeit him.
LearningVariants vs Lavarider: Prediction: 6-3
luka3916 vs Stephenhello: Prediction: 7.5-6.5
lesha2002/Natso vs lecw: Prediction: 5.5-2.5
RoyalManiac vs Opabinia: Prediction: 3-6
two64brocc vs FonsecaErnesto: Prediction: 5.5-1.5
QueenEatingDragon vs Puddingbirne: Prediction: 2-6

Thank you for reading all these nonsense and wish you good luck!