Legendary Grandmaster

Ever wanted to play chess with a Legendary Grandmaster?

During this Midnight Code Cup, you have the opportunity to play against Ian Nepomniachtchi and a chance to win up to $300$ points for your team.

The contest has two phases:

• In the Qualification Round, participants play Lichess Puzzle Storm.
• For each team, only that team's highest-scoring participant is considered for qualification. Scores by other participants from the same team do not affect who qualifies.
• We rank those representatives by their best valid Puzzle Storm score from the qualification window.
• The top 10 representatives qualify for the Final round.
• A team receives $100$ points if its top scorer qualifies.
• In the Final round, each qualified top scorer plays a simultaneous game with Ian. If Ian likes the game, that scorer's team receives 200 additional points.

Accounts and fair play

• One person = one Lichess account = one Telegram account.
• You must play on your own Lichess account, submit only your own username, and never share your account with anyone else.
• Unlike most Midnight Code Cup problems, this is an individual chess challenge: you must play without outside assistance during every Puzzle Storm run and during the Final round game with Ian. This includes AI, chess engines, scripts, automation, analysis tools, teammates, and other people.

Qualification Round

1. Check how to play Puzzle Storm. If you have never played Storm, you can read about it below.
2. Use your existing account or register a new account on lichess.org.
3. Play Puzzle Storm at lichess.org/storm on July 4, from 12:00 to 18:00 CEST.
4. Submit via Telegram bot @midnight_cup_bot:
   • Send /start.
   • Then /submit your_lichess_username and choose your team name.

Scoring:

• Your individual qualification score is your best valid Puzzle Storm score from the qualification window.
• Each team is represented by its highest-scoring participant.
• The 10 highest-scoring representatives advance to the Final round.
• Ties are broken by Telegram submission time: the earlier valid submission of the score being considered ranks higher.
• Each represented team that advances receives $100$ points.
• Submit again if you improve your score.

Rules:

• Do not submit someone else's username.
• Do not pick the wrong team; be very attentive when submitting.
• Your Lichess profile must be public.
• Late submissions are invalid.

We can disqualify for: account sharing, multiple accounts, submitting someone else's username, outside assistance, teammate help, or unfair play.

Deadline for the Qualification Round: 18:00 CEST

Final Round

We will publish the list of finalists who will play against Ian at 18:30 CEST.

The finalist is exactly the top scorer who qualified for their team. A team may not replace them with another teammate or share the account with someone else.

The Final round is a simultaneous game with Ian.

If Ian likes the game, the finalist's team receives 200 additional points.

How to play Lichess Storm

TL;DR: over 3 minutes, solve chess puzzles back to back and try not to make mistakes - correct move streaks add time and let you rack up more points.

IMPORTANT: don't forget to log in to your existing Lichess account or create a new one! Only registered accounts are eligible for participation.

Lichess Storm is a chess puzzle mode built around speed. There are no normal games against an opponent - just solving ready-made positions one after another. Here's how it works.

Goal. Solve as many puzzles as you can in 3 minutes. Each puzzle you complete earns one point.

How to play. You're shown a position where you need to find the best move, usually winning a piece, delivering checkmate, or saving a losing position. A puzzle can require several moves in a row: you make a move, the program replies for the opponent, you make the next move, and so on until the combination is finished. Throughout a run, you always play the same color. The puzzles get harder as you go.

Time is the main resource. There's a "combo" bar at the bottom. Every correct move fills it. When it fills up, you get a time bonus, and each following bonus is bigger. The bonuses are:

• 5 moves in a row: +3 seconds
• 12 moves: +5 seconds
• 20 moves: +7 seconds
• 30 moves: +10 seconds, then +10 seconds for every additional 10 moves

Mistakes are punished. If you make a wrong move, the combo bar resets to zero, and you lose 10 seconds. The goal is to solve puzzles not just quickly, but accurately: clean streaks build up bonuses and keep the timer alive longer.