Let's hear about TCLA members' hobbies!

[Legal_Hawk]

Can't believe this whole thread is basically about F1 and Chess and I'm only just finding out about it xD

@James Carrabino Drive to Survive is good, but honestly just check f1.com for when the next race is and tune in (Sun 5th December at 5:30pm).
There are only 2 races left in the championship and the title contenders are only 8 points apart.

Definitely up for a game of chess with anyone.
Don't want to sound cocky, but I'm in and around the 2000 elo rating online 🙃

 

[James Carrabino]

Can't believe this whole thread is basically about F1 and Chess and I'm only just finding out about it xD

@James Carrabino Drive to Survive is good, but honestly just check f1.com for when the next race is and tune in (Sun 5th December at 5:30pm).
There are only 2 races left in the championship and the title contenders are only 8 points apart.

Definitely up for a game of chess with anyone.
Don't want to sound cocky, but I'm in and around the 2000 elo rating online 🙃

Wow that's an amazing chess rating! I guess I'd only have a chance against you in four-player chess 🤣 And thanks so much for the F1 rec - I remember seeing your username and wondering whether I should link you to this thread! Turns out I have a couple of friends who are quite into F1 so may ask them if they'll watch with me Do you have any other hobbies?

 

[Legal_Hawk]

Cheers ahaha! Funnily enough, there is actually a 3-player chessboard which is crazy (google it).

Other hobbies:
I love working out, so I try and go to the gym every morning.
I enjoy most racket sports so badminton, table tennis and tennis.

I do really enjoy playing chess ngl, and weirdly I enjoy longer games rather than blitz.
While there is the theoretical approach to chess and just learning theory and openings, I enjoy the middle game more, where you have to think on the spot and come up with good combinations of moves. I've never bothered learning openings and I'm still a decent player, so I would advise anyone getting into chess to just get stuck in and play games against others online.
I would avoid blitz at the beginning, but rather 10 minute games where you have some time to think.

 

[RoughWood]

Cheers ahaha! Funnily enough, there is actually a 3-player chessboard which is crazy (google it).

We've got one! My daughter loves chess and my parents got it for her Xmas last year so we could all play together....very fun, easily confusing but great! The board is hexagonal! I recommend it for anyone who is a fan of the game

 

[Legal_Hawk]

@James Carrabino I beg you watched the race today ahahahah!
Insane race full of drama, tbf you might have been confused with all the incidents!

 

[George Maxwell]

@James Carrabino I beg you watched the race today ahahahah!
Insane race full of drama, tbf you might have been confused with all the incidents!

Actually intending on starting to watch F1 actually! You may have to guide me @F1_Legal 🏎️🏎️🏎️

@James Carrabino was it big in the States when you were studying there?

 

[Legal_Hawk]

1 pm tomorrow on Sky Sports or Channel 4 @George Maxwell

 

[James Carrabino]

Cheers ahaha! Funnily enough, there is actually a 3-player chessboard which is crazy (google it).

Other hobbies:
I love working out, so I try and go to the gym every morning.
I enjoy most racket sports so badminton, table tennis and tennis.

I do really enjoy playing chess ngl, and weirdly I enjoy longer games rather than blitz.
While there is the theoretical approach to chess and just learning theory and openings, I enjoy the middle game more, where you have to think on the spot and come up with good combinations of moves. I've never bothered learning openings and I'm still a decent player, so I would advise anyone getting into chess to just get stuck in and play games against others online.
I would avoid blitz at the beginning, but rather 10 minute games where you have some time to think.

I googled 3-player chess and it looks so cool

I'm also trying to go to the gym regularly but right now it's every couple days or so. I love tennis and table tennis too and have just been getting into squash recently! Never was so good at badminton though

Blitz games make me feel so inadequate as a player 🤣 Honestly 10-minute games are also quite short! I love playing over the board with people where there is no time limit but where you feel awkward if you spend too long on any individual move and so are held to account by the opponent's presence. This is because my biggest problem is making awful blunders when I panic under time pressure! I think that I am able to come up with some really creative moves when I have a little more flexibility with time.

I love the middle game too, but sometimes my lack of openings knowledge stops me from getting into a good enough middle game! That is something I definitely need to work on. Also, I need to learn my endgames properly. I have ended up in many a won endgame that I just can't close out within the time limit!!

 

[James Carrabino]

We've got one! My daughter loves chess and my parents got it for her Xmas last year so we could all play together....very fun, easily confusing but great! The board is hexagonal! I recommend it for anyone who is a fan of the game

This is amazing - definitely something worth investing in! I have been getting really into board games with friends more generally and there's never the right game for the number of people present... having a 2-player, 3-player and 4-player chess board could definitely help fix that

 

[James Carrabino]

@James Carrabino I beg you watched the race today ahahahah!
Insane race full of drama, tbf you might have been confused with all the incidents!

Ahh @F1_Legal I sheepishly did not respond to you earlier as I did not get round to watching it in the end 😢 After hearing about the crazy controversy in today's race though I went back and watched all the highlights...wow! What is your take on the whole matter?

I am going to try getting into the season from the start next year so that I can follow properly!

 

[James Carrabino]

Actually intending on starting to watch F1 actually! You may have to guide me @F1_Legal 🏎️🏎️🏎️

@James Carrabino was it big in the States when you were studying there?

Funnily enough not as far as I was aware (or just not in my friendship circles)!

 

[Legal_Hawk]

Ahh @F1_Legal I sheepishly did not respond to you earlier as I did not get round to watching it in the end 😢 After hearing about the crazy controversy in today's race though I went back and watched all the highlights...wow! What is your take on the whole matter?

I am going to try getting into the season from the start next year so that I can follow properly!

VERY Controversial indeed. Crazy time to be a lawyer at Mercedes!
As a neutral fan in terms of Max vs Lewis, I personally just enjoyed the last lap showdown.
But what the FIA did in terms of 'bending the rules' to allow some unlapped cars through but not all of them was suspicious.
The regulations are not overly strict, as the Racing Director does have discretion... (which most people on the internet don't know)
What they did can seem artificial in terms of 'choreographing' a massive moment in F1 history "for the show" and may have tarnished this year's championship.
But I think both drivers deserved it across the year and there is always an element of luck in sport.

 

[James Carrabino]

VERY Controversial indeed. Crazy time to be a lawyer at Mercedes!
As a neutral fan in terms of Max vs Lewis, I personally just enjoyed the last lap showdown.
But what the FIA did in terms of 'bending the rules' to allow some unlapped cars through but not all of them was suspicious.
The regulations are not overly strict, as the Racing Director does have discretion... (which most people on the internet don't know)
What they did can seem artificial in terms of 'choreographing' a massive moment in F1 history "for the show" and may have tarnished this year's championship.
But I think both drivers deserved it across the year and there is always an element of luck in sport.

All the terminology confuses me - I can't understand any of the articles explaining what happened! What do people mean by allowing unlapped cars through?

I have also read that the racing director was overly lenient to Lewis Hamilton earlier on? It all sounds like a very exciting controversy

 

[Legal_Hawk]

All the terminology confuses me - I can't understand any of the articles explaining what happened! What do people mean by allowing unlapped cars through?

I have also read that the racing director was overly lenient to Lewis Hamilton earlier on? It all sounds like a very exciting controversy

Ahahaha, yep so lapped cars are the back-markers that Lewis and Max had to pass/go through during the race because they were 1 whole lap down.
Max and Lewis were a whole lap ahead of quite a few cars basically (Lando, Alonso...).
The whole controversy is that usually ALL of those lapped cars can "unlap" themselves by repassing the safety car and doing that lap that they were behind on, and rejoin at the back of the queue, while the safety car is holding the leaders (Lewis, Max...).
In this race, only the 'lapped' cars between Lewis and Max were allowed to unlap themselves, aka get out of Max and Lewis' way.
The other lapped cars behind Max were not allowed to. There was no time basically as they were reaching the final lap
This was all to create a 1-lap showdown for the Championship Title.

This is all super complicated to explain to a new watcher, I'm sorry I couldn't explain any better 😥
Basically, the backmarkers in between Max and Lewis were cleared away to let Max catch up to Lewis for the last lap fight.
The FIA didn't care about the backmarkers behind Max.
However, the regulations leave discretion to the racing director (Michael Massi).

 

[James Carrabino]

Ahahaha, yep so lapped cars are the back-markers that Lewis and Max had to pass/go through during the race because they were 1 whole lap down.
Max and Lewis were a whole lap ahead of quite a few cars basically (Lando, Alonso...).
The whole controversy is that usually ALL of those lapped cars can "unlap" themselves by repassing the safety car and doing that lap that they were behind on, and rejoin at the back of the queue, while the safety car is holding the leaders (Lewis, Max...).
In this race, only the 'lapped' cars between Lewis and Max were allowed to unlap themselves, aka get out of Max and Lewis' way.
The other lapped cars behind Max were not allowed to. There was no time basically as they were reaching the final lap
This was all to create a 1-lap showdown for the Championship Title.

This is all super complicated to explain to a new watcher, I'm sorry I couldn't explain any better 😥
Basically, the backmarkers in between Max and Lewis were cleared away to let Max catch up to Lewis for the last lap fight.
The FIA didn't care about the backmarkers behind Max.
However, the regulations leave discretion to the racing director (Michael Massi).

Thanks so much for explaining - I think I get it! I guess I understand why this could be unfair to the lapped cars behind Max as they did not have the opportunity to unlap themselves, but I don't understand why it would be deemed to have changed who won out of Max and Lewis from the scenario in which all cars would have been able to unlap themselves?

I have also seen suggestions that the race should have ended with the safety car? That doesn't seem very exciting!

 

[Legal_Hawk]

Thanks so much for explaining - I think I get it! I guess I understand why this could be unfair to the lapped cars behind Max as they did not have the opportunity to unlap themselves, but I don't understand why it would be deemed to have changed who won out of Max and Lewis from the scenario in which all cars would have been able to unlap themselves?

I have also seen suggestions that the race should have ended with the safety car? That doesn't seem very exciting!

Yep you've asked the perfect question! So essentially there was not enough time to let all the unlapped cars go before the final lap.
So Massi had to decide either let none of them go, in which case Max would be stuck behind 4 lapped cars for the final lap, giving Lewis the win.
OR, let all of them go = they would not have been able to start the 1 lap showdown before they crossed the finish line, as all the cars have to unlap and then driver a far enough distance away from Lewis and Max.
OR, let the cars in between Lewis and Max go, they unlap themselves, get out of the way, and have a classic showdown.

YES: safety car end to a thrilling season would have been the most anti-climatic finish and you can imagine the media's response.
Another option: have a RED Flag (this basically pauses the race, everyone goes to the pitlane and waits for the track to be cleared (Latifi's broken car on track).
^This would allow everyone to change tyres and have a restart. I'm not actually entirely sure why this didn't happen.
Again: everyone forgets the director/stewards have to make decisions in such short amounts of time when cars are travelling at 200+ kph.

 

[Legal_Hawk]

@James Carrabino

EXPLAINED: Understanding one of the most chaotic, controversial title showdowns in F1 history | Formula 1®

In some ways, it shouldn't have been a surprise that a remarkable see-sawing title fight was settled by a remarkable see-sawing finale. After 1296 laps, it all turned on the 1297th and final. For two hours, Lewis Hamilton was on course for an unparalleled eighth title. But one lap from the end...

www.formula1.com

 

[James Carrabino]

Yep you've asked the perfect question! So essentially there was not enough time to let all the unlapped cars go before the final lap.
So Massi had to decide either let none of them go, in which case Max would be stuck behind 4 lapped cars for the final lap, giving Lewis the win.
OR, let all of them go = they would not have been able to start the 1 lap showdown before they crossed the finish line, as all the cars have to unlap and then driver a far enough distance away from Lewis and Max.
OR, let the cars in between Lewis and Max go, they unlap themselves, get out of the way, and have a classic showdown.

YES: safety car end to a thrilling season would have been the most anti-climatic finish and you can imagine the media's response.
Another option: have a RED Flag (this basically pauses the race, everyone goes to the pitlane and waits for the track to be cleared (Latifi's broken car on track).
^This would allow everyone to change tyres and have a restart. I'm not actually entirely sure why this didn't happen.
Again: everyone forgets the director/stewards have to make decisions in such short amounts of time when cars are travelling at 200+ kph.

When you say 'stuck' behind 4 lapped cars what do you mean? Would he not be allowed to overtake them?

So it sounds like the below suggestion is the best, and second best is the one that happened in your opinion?

Thanks for the article!!

 

[Legal_Hawk]

Yep, so he would be allowed to overtake them (they have to let him go asap as they are not 'racing him').
BUT, by then, Lewis would have gone well ahead (in F1, 5 seconds is 'well ahead') and there was only 1 lap left.
FIA wanted a show, wanted a moment, and wanted the season to end with a battle between the two championship contenders...
Hence, Mercedes fans are complaining it is all choreographed blah blah...

 

[James Carrabino]

Yep, so he would be allowed to overtake them (they have to let him go asap as they are not 'racing him').
BUT, by then, Lewis would have gone well ahead (in F1, 5 seconds is 'well ahead') and there was only 1 lap left.
FIA wanted a show, wanted a moment, and wanted the season to end with a battle between the two championship contenders...
Hence, Mercedes fans are complaining it is all choreographed blah blah...

Oh so basically it would slow him down a bit trying to get around the cars to overtake them? Haha so I take it you're not a Mercedes fan? 🤣 Thanks so much for the F1 intro - the only sport I really get into watching is tennis (or sometimes pool/snooker)!