I remember a long while ago there was a system in place for 1 0,
3 0, 5 0, and chess960 games called pools. Where they would function like a warzone tournament but would be running all the time.
Here is a video by Kingscrusher using the 1 0 pool
www.youtube.com/watch?v=88fNTA_hFRwIs there any hope of these being brought back? I really enjoyed them.
I think the idea is that between the quick pairing buttons and tournaments there's enough of the auto-pairing type stuff around.
When the pools were implemented, they were initially fairly popular, but eventually just sat empty most of the time.
They just fizzled for a variety of reasons. It's possible things would be different now, but I'm not sure enough people would be interested.
If they were implemented the way ICC's auto-pairing system is implemented, they would be one of the best things in online chess. Unfortunately, I seem to be the only one that thinks that (plus it gets exhausting explaining why the previous attempt at pools was terribly flawed and why the shortcut buttons on the front page are absolutely not auto-pairing pools).
Well... They are auto-pairing and they are pools. Sure, they do not have a separate rating like on ICC. But, they are still auto-pairing pools.
They aren't pools. They are shortcut buttons. The games all lump together in the same categories they were before. Also, they aren't auto-pairing because you can go to the lobby and choose your opponent in those exact same rating categories. The buttons just basically put out a game seek the same way you can in the lobby.
They are shortcut buttons that do nothing new except funnel people towards a couple of selected time controls for no real benefit.
They automatically pair you with other players from a pool of players?
ICC pools have a ladder/rank for very active players.
Clearly, auto-pairing and "going to the lobby to find an opponent and click on their name" are separate and not the same thing. Auto-pairing, which I use almost exclusively, provides a benefit to players creating seeks.
Sure, but seeking a game in the lobby has always "automatically paired you with other players from a pool of players." This is literally just a shortcut button to do that. Auto-pairing pools were a concept that was defined differently than that long before these shortcut buttons showed up.
This is like saying "she's a girl and she's my friend so she's my girlfriend."
It's a term, not a checklist.
And again, it is literally exhausting explaining this over and over. It's a bit frustrating that the terminology has been hijacked like this because it makes conversation impossible. I don't care what you call it, what lichess is doing is not as good as what it could be doing. Arguing over whether it fits a definition you have in your head is just word games.
I wish lichess had what ICC has:
A pool for each time control that has its own separate rating with NO OTHER WAY to play games in that rating pool, no way to abort without resigning, and no way whatsoever to select your opponent or the color you play.
The benefits of this are enormous. Selecting your opponent or color in any game in a pool distorts the ratings significantly. Focusing on one time control also tightens the ratings. Having this type of feature (I'll not call it auto-pairing pools anymore just avoid that distraction) leads to immediately the toughest and most serious competition, making the ratings much more honest and reliable, therefore the most coveted. These types of ratings become the standard rating to cite since they become the most serious.
It would be nice for lichess to show some initiative in the serious direction for once.
