Atomic World Championship #3: Duality of Atomic

Overview

The AWC 2025 Qualifiers and Round 1 have finished. As the matches get more and more competitive, White's first move advantage has become more and more evident. So scoring points as Black becomes important in close matches. There were some matches where a Black win or even draw changed everything.
Spoiler: Even though I was eliminated, this series will continue.

Qualifiers

Since the last blog, only one more qualifiers match was played: @Alphadream defeated @miller2345 6-4. The match was very exciting. After three fairly clean White wins, miller2345 had a chance to increase the 2-1:

However, the knight sacrifice to take advantage of the open king was hard to find (I can't find it in real games), and Black lost further material to eventually lose the game.
It was Alphadream who scored the first Black win in Game 5, which turned out to be decisive. The critical move was the knight invasion — sometimes being greedy with Bxd7 is fine!

Possibly tilted, Miller missed a mate in 1 threat in Game 6. Black didn't have any more meaningful chance as the match ended with 4 more White wins, one in only 7 moves:

Alphadream edged out miller to qualify for top 64. The other unplayed qualifier matches all ended in forfeits.
Qualified: SoftBerserkRoyalty, szura, joe121, Alphadream, cFlour, R2300, Ericahhhhhhh, Marcello01785
My initial Prediction: 4/8

Main Bracket

The updated bracket: https://challonge.com/2025awc
Group A, I, L were already completed before the last post.

Group B

OK, here is my match against @StealYourKidney. I mainly prepared against Nf3 e3 as Black, and also Nf3 d6 in desperate situations.
Game 1, I missed (forgot) the classic Ba3 trick in a standard d5 line:

In Game 2, I played Nf3 e3 against a Nf3 e3 spammer, not a good idea because I don't know a lot of Nf3 e3 theory. Apparently, I had chance to draw in the pawns vs rook endgame:

However I missed that the pawn advance and queen idea and lost.
In Game 3 I avoided the Game 1 mistake and drew. In Game 4 I resigned in this position as White:

As engine points out, this position is playable after Qe3 because Black's f-pawn was pinned!
Down 0.5-3.5, I tried to bounce back in Game 5, and despite missing a mate (You can try to calculate it):

I converted the queen up connected kings endgame. In Game 6 I hit my opponent with the classic knight sac after c5 and won a quick game. My opponent played a perfect Game 7 to reach 4.5 points. In Game 8 I had a win but blundered in time trouble:

Luckily, my opponent was also in time trouble and allowed be to connect kings and then flagged. In Game 9, I tried the "secret weapon" d6, resulting in an interesting endgame. Can you see the move here to guarantee that the bishop can take one Black pawn?

Game 10, in this must-win game, I somehow thought I was up material and traded everything, missing a very simple win with Rad1 (the bishop can't block because Bxc6!)

Eventually the game ended in a draw, ending the match 5.5-4.5 to @StealYourKidney. As far as I know, my opponent will continue to prepare for @chrisrapid and it's possible for him to score several points against Chris. But for now Chris still looks bound to qualify for top 16.
Winner prediction: chrisrapid

Group C

@Natso defeated @R2300, but allowed @R2300 to score 1.5 points — That's certainly not so great for the defending champion. However, Natso is known to play casually in first rounds, I'll give you a fact — I also scored 1.5 points against Natso last year. Yeah, you read that right. That's because Natso played the very solid 1.g4!!
As for this match, Natso was caught in time trouble in Game 3 and White played well to secure the win (There was one drawing line here, can you find it?)

In Game 5 Natso also missed a win as Black with the two bishops and was held to a draw:

The other games featured no more meaningful mistakes by Natso. It's possible that Natso meant to give some hope to the next opponent and win anyway. The match between @ekulxam and @Rider3208 will be played soon.
Winner prediction: Natso

Group D

@vlad_00 defeated @cFlour 6-0 without much trouble. @cFlour played suspicious openings like a4 and didn't have a lot of chances, perhaps the only meaningful mistake by vlad was the Black game here allowing Bc4!:

On the other hand, @Orcinus_Orca defeated @Paul8900 convincingly 5.5-1.5. The first game White offered a draw in a completely winning position:

Ornicus then played 4 good games and won 4 times in a row. Paul did have some chances, like here as Black (try to see the idea of the winning move!) :

Again, I have an engine to analyze those games after the matches, the players don't, so don't blame the players for missing "obvious" moves.
Paul scored a nice Black win in e3 Qh5 to keep the match going, only to miss a theoretical opening line and proceed to lose (It's not a common line and I also don't know the theory here):

@vlad_00 showed decent form and will still be the favourite against @Orcinus_Orca.
Winner prediction: vlad_00

Group E

@MaxwellsSilvrHammer created a new method to avoid scams — offering draws in worse positions (or the opening) against lower rated opponents. He beat @Alphadream 5.5-1.5 (It's actually 2.5 but the last game was troll and unimportant). Apart from the agreed draws, MSH had some quick wins as White. There was a missed chance though:

On the other hand, @sircachetes won the match 6-2, despite losing the first game as White in a winning postion:

Sircachetes then made no meaningful mistakes in the next 3 games, including this solid defence in a dangerous position:

However, after "castling into the attack", sircachetes got into serious trouble in the next game but Black missed the sniper bishop:

There is a reason why bishops are called snipers, it's hard to see in real games especially when nervous. Jack managed to bounce back next game and in Game 7 it seems that the Nf3 e5 opening was finally going to pay off — until this missed fork opportunity:
https://lichess.org/qUeHyK1g#21
In the last game of Nh3 d4, despite allowing White back into the game, sircachetes played well in time scramble and simplified to win. They will face @MaxwellSilvrHammer. I predicted an upset here and I'm going to keep the prediction, but if MSH plays seriously it would be hard.
Winner prediction: sircachetes

Group F

@Ihatespammers defeated @joe121 6-0 without much trouble. Well, theoretically Nf3 e5 should be beatable. And joe121 did get into winning positions, only to lose to Black's scams. For example, can you see how to survive here?
https://lichess.org/rz22C0p9#18
And this was perhaps the quickest Black win.
https://lichess.org/lX9Kr19o#3
I'm still predicting Ihatespammers to outspam seaside. The clash of spammers will likely be determined by surprising scams.
Winner prediction: Ihatespammers

Group G

@Opabinia beat @szura 6-1. @szura did score one win as Black — after the iconic King sacrifice (the position was losing anyway because of the open king):
https://lichess.org/rWPZj5yc#25
@kuma0418 defeated @U1CBC 5.5-2.5. At least kuma is a reliable e4 player and saved e4's win rate. The very first game featured a missed mate in 1, but the best puzzle is the drawing idea here:
https://lichess.org/Q2GvD3vv#61
After a messy time scramble draw in the last game, kuma secured the win and will face Opa. Opa should be able to win this.
Winner prediction: Opabinia

Group H

@ArjanZS defeated @JurrYan 6-2. JurrYan played well as a much lower rated player, finding the pawntinization idea in Game 1 while Arjan missed it:
https://lichess.org/8JE5NUFZ#57
He even had a chance to take the lead and played the wrong capture in Game 2:
https://lichess.org/cdKSE8NB#15
There were 3 (almost 5) consecutive wins as Black, including this attack:
https://lichess.org/MCuk71gM#45
This endgame calculation (the idea is to stop the pawn when you can and opponent can't):
https://lichess.org/LLvuq1oE#109
I just don't think @ArjanZS can defeat @Randoomplayer. @Randoomplayer might be a surprise contender.
Winner prediction: Randoomplayer

Group J

@RabbieR defeated @always_play_atomic 5.5 (6.5 actually) -2.5. The first game saw White using 2N line to win easily. Then in the next few games, time trouble kicked in and RabbieR was able to win 3 straight, before losing a drawn endgame:
https://lichess.org/g15EcQ5V#84
Then RabbieR scored one more quick White win (I might lose by playing this line as well):
https://lichess.org/WHSjt85A#10
RabbieR proceeded to win two more without many mistakes, actually securing the match win. The last 2 games were not important, but the last draw featured some interesting endgame calculations:
https://lichess.org/fnZr14rZ#58
Bishop and rook checkmate idea is hard to find, even for top players. Anyway, @RabbieR will play @JakeStateFarm and JSF should be able to win.
Winner prediction: JakeStateFarm

Group K

@Quasabianth got a forfeit win and faced @Rechesster, @Rechesster won convincingly 8-2 (the meaningful score was 5.5-0.5, even better for Rechesster.) Rechesster won the first 4 games without much trouble. In game 5, Quasa had an obvious move but chose not to play it:
https://lichess.org/LjrnN44G#31
It turned out that being greedy is sometimes fine and sometimes winning. Later in the game Quasa had another chance to take advantage of White's open king, but it was missed.
https://lichess.org/LjrnN44G#53
Rechesster almost won 6-0 but Quasabianth was able to draw with a connected king against a queen. The rest of the match was not important anymore. Here is a puzzle: how can White keep the advantage and win?
https://lichess.org/6cS8eUrL#30
Winner: Rechesster

Group M

In Round 2, @GRX_BULLET defeated @Maracker 5.5-4.5. It was a close match despite Maracker being much lower rated. In Game 1, GRX used the time advantage to win as Black in a complicated position.
https://lichess.org/pcwaOFCB#39
Game 2 was a fairly clean win by GRX. Maracker bounced back to win Game 3 using d4. In Game 4, Maracker escaped with a draw in a losing position, here taking the bishop would be a clear win:
https://lichess.org/8rfxs4uD#66
After getting flagged in Game 5, Maracker defended well in the endgame of Game 6:
https://lichess.org/xXa3Gesg#53
Maracker then scored a quick win and drew his third consecutive Black game:
https://lichess.org/cusnHnpN#92
GRX was about to win the match but blundered heavily in Game 9 when up a queen:
https://lichess.org/5lwY5brA#43
It turned out to be meaningless as GRX won as White in a 2N game in Game 10 without much trouble, and Maracker did not find the best defensive resource:
https://lichess.org/BqMlBDYa#31
Winner: GRX_BULLET

Group N

@C9H13N got forfeited, so @JudeBaeTorrens will play @digvijay_sunil. The former should be the favourite.
Winner prediction: JudeBaeTorrens

Group O

The biggest upset so far — actually, not that big if you check the ratings — was @imjustanotherbot defeating @boogaly 5.5-4.5. The match can be concluded by "almost all White wins", which is sadly the trend. The match had some controversies after imjustanotherbot's takeback requests, but no takebacks were accepted. They both played well as White, and the only Black draw gave iamjustanotherbot the win. Here are some puzzles:
https://lichess.org/hXGhNtba#19
https://lichess.org/MgeCcOWm#45
https://lichess.org/UBBtUZpy#19
Maybe 2N is just too overpowered. Boogaly did have a chance in the last game though.
@F55555 defeated @CondensedWater 6.5-3.5. As the lower rated player, Condensed played well and even lead at one point, but F55555 bounced back. Here are some puzzles:
https://lichess.org/y4Tcnxsa#20 (think about the full defence sequence)
https://lichess.org/Qba3WIVU#29 (Kinda obvious, but hard to see in real games)
https://lichess.org/I1hpJi6r#40
https://lichess.org/ykOPqdvq#26 (Even engine had to think about this one)
Winner prediction: Idk anymore, but perhaps Imjustanotherbot

Group P

The TD @HowlinD defeated @BlunderPandaZz, the only GM in the bracket, 6-1. HowlinD played fairly well and didn't lose (only 2 draws), perhaps the biggest mistake was the time scramble scam here: https://lichess.org/vIzsn7rz#68
But it's hard to play this endgame anyway.
Meanwhile @arinor0109 defeated @mike-bear, 6-3. I don't know why but they played a casual match. Anyway, the first two game were won by White; the next two games Black gained advantage out of the opening and successfully converted. In Game 5, Mike blundered mate in 1 in an equal endgame without time trouble, before offering two draws in losing positions in Game 6:
https://lichess.org/tv4QsMgm#70 (Actually, a6 is a draw because of one more tempo)
Mike continued offering draws and successfully scammed in Game 7:
https://lichess.org/Ws3el7YS#48 (There is a winning idea)
But Arinor won the next 2 games without much drama to win the match. The last important mistake was missing the diagonal check:
https://lichess.org/PIIsf0LH#23
Winner prediction: HowlinD

Round of 16

As we said, the Round of 16 pairings are decided by Group A vs Group P, Group B vs Group O and so on. So we can preview the likely pairings:
NeverofZero vs HowlinD — Never is just too strong to lose before top 4.
chrisrapid vs imjustanotherbot — chris also has great form in games.
Natso vs JudeBaeTorrens — The defending champion should also be able to proceed.
vlad_00 vs GRX_BULLET — If vlad prepares normally, this match is winnable. If vlad got busy though, anything can happen. For now I'd believe in vlad but could change in the next blog.
sircachetes vs TAiSThuban — No matter it's Maxwell or sirca, this will be close. Hard to predict and somehow I think Thuban can scam.
Ihatespammers vs Rechesster — Will be exciting. Rechesster could possibly win but spammer should still be the favourite if he prepares his spam.
Opabinia vs JakeStateFarm — Maybe it's time for JSF to breakthrough.
RandoomPlayer vs Wolfram_EP — Can Wolfram win this year? It will be hard, but possible.

Trivia

• No under 2000 players are left in the bracket.
• No armageddon was played. In fact, no matches reached 5-5. There could be one if a certain weak player didn't miss Rad1. Duh.
• e4's stats becomes much better, but still no 1.Na3 games yet. Seriously, where did the Na3 spammers go?

Thanks for reading, if you are still in the tournament, good luck to you!
It's easier to look back
than to play the moves right.
Try for scams as Black
and don't allow them as White.
Think twice before you resign,
There's possibly a move missed.
Make good use of your time
and sneak into the top 16 list!