24 Hour Chess Marathon

[Matthew Carr]

Good Day to you all

I am performing a 24 hour chess marathon at Keele University to raise money for Children in Need on 16/11/12.

The games will be going out on Live boards so people can keep track of our scores and progress. Whoever has the most points by the end of the 4 hours wins.

Does anyone have any tips and advice on how to keep going for 24 hours, how to maximise publicity and of course would anyone be interested in sponsoring me and my colleague.

The link to the sponsorship page is here:

http://www.justgiving.com/MatthewCarr-FraserGreenroyd

Look forward to your comments and help.

Matthew Carr

[John Upham]

When I was lucky enough to take part in Andrew Martin's attempt on the World Blitz Marathon record in 1981 we had plenty of blankets, hot coffee and Mars bars.

We sat under Waterloo Bridge on concrete benches.

We started on Friday night and carried on until Sunday. The record was broken.

World Blitz record attempt, 23rd July 1981

img_0011_lv.jpg (18.08 KiB) Viewed 3082 times

In this picture (taken by Yours Truly) are Aaron B. Rose (what happened to Aaron?), Byron A. Jacobs, Jon J. Ady and Andrew.

Oh what fun!

[Joey Stewart]

I used to do these frequently during my degree - here is my tip of how to pull it off.

1.Get up early'ish to go to lectures (about 9-10 being early in this case)

2. Stop off in the computer rooms to quickly check online before going in.

3. Start playing a couple of quick blitz games.

4. realise that the quick games have gone on for longer then expected, so there is no point going into the lecture now as people will notice you arriving late ...

5. Keep going for a few hours more, stopping about 6-7 for some food and drink at the nearby shop (or vending machine)

6. Get back to it, continuing until you miss the last bus home and are therefore obliged to stay the night playing.

7. As above... stopping for periodic breaks for refreshment, and toilet.

8. Hang in there, with the promise of a nice fried breakfast when the cafe opens at 7am.

9. play a few more games 'for the road' before catching a bus home to go to sleep.

[Matthew Carr]

When I was lucky enough to take part in Andrew Martin's attempt on the World Blitz Marathon record in 1981 we had plenty of blankets, hot coffee and Mars bars.

Thanks John, ill make sure to have blankets and tea and mars bars for this. Were doing this in the main entrance to the library so this is going to get rather cold.

Joey thanks for the idea but ive made sure to clear my schedule for that day. I can assume Saturday afternoon will be uneventful. I have images of completing this challenge and then falling asleep at the board. Hopefully I wont get a pawn in my eye

[Dan O'Dowd]

I couldn't advise on the 24 hours of chess; since I seem to be a player who peaks and troughs more rapidly than others. I did once play my best friend over 24 hrs but not constantly, at the millennium, and not blitz: I think we had something like 27 games. On the other hand, my sleep pattern is so byzantine and obtuse that staying up all night (or 24hrs in this case) is common enough in my experience that I can offer some pointers.

The idea of constantly drinking coffee may seem attractive; but remember that successive waves of tiredness (and thus skill lowering) tend to increase geometrically in power especially if you're on the juice a lot. Perhaps the best way is eat as you normally might (but a bit less) and extend time between meals. Or perhaps just eat weetabix/oatibix every few hours until you begin to get your first tired wave. What I often find is that my body clock signals me to go to sleep for a few hours in a set window at the latest - for me, presuming I woke up the day before about 3-4pm, that's about 9am-11am (can be a bit earlier), and that's when I'm at my most vulnerable even if I've taken highly sugary/caffeinated stuff. In fact that can often trick the body into wanting to sleep more! During that lowest time there will be scant little you can do to immediately defug short of ingesting sherbet fountains, or other purely sugary sweets, and hoping for mental flow. Perhaps put a semi-interesting tv program on in the background and play some of your blitz on pure intuition (I often find it nice to shove Krypton Factor on while I read of a morning.) If you're the sort of person who eats well, little and often, rather than who goes for starbursts of high-powered thought, the unsleeping will be easier but your level may lower for longer, though whether you're competitive enough that this bothers you who knows.

When people do world record marathon attempts they are typically allotted a break time of 5 minutes per hour, which can be accumulated towards rest periods. I should imagine that perhaps taking 10 minutes at 2-hourly intervals (if required!) will help greatly - take a quick shower (hot, not cold - relaxation is the aim since if you try to trick your body into untiredness you will find the later waves much more striking, whereas if you work with your body on maximum restedness, the need for full sleep decreases), perhaps get some simple head/neck massage going - the less you resist your body's urge to rest, the better, except perhaps once every 5-6 hours, when some brisk shock exercise or cold exposure might do you some good. Not regularly though lest you become accustomed, since then you lose a weapon of wakefulness. I often find that once I am past the nominal point at which my body insists I would sleep, things start as if it was a new day but just less intelligent or aware, within less than 24 hours (which is of course how people often stay up for 2 days or however long). A nip of alcohol in that second phase is often useful just to relax you as well.

[Matthew Carr]

Thanks Dan

The idea is to perform this in a public place, thats why we chose the Keele Library. It gives me and Fraser (my opponent) the chance to walk around and since were right by the door some of that cold exposure you were talking about.

If it also helps heres the plan for the challenge.

A challenge of Skill vs Endurance

Children in Need is coming and an interesting chess challenge has been accepted at Keele University.
Staffordshire chess player and ECF Arbiter Matthew Carr is performing a 24 hour chess marathon at Keele University to raise money for Children in Need. Facing him in this challenge is Fraser Greenroyd, Matthew’s best friend and fellow madman. Its a game of skill vs Endurance. Matthew has the skill and tactics to be able to take Fraser down but not the endurance to make it last at high a level for 24 hours. Fraser may not be as powerful but is more than capable of lasting foe the entire duration. Who will win and how will the games go? Lets find out.
When & Where: Keele University Library foyer, Starting at 12pm on Friday 16th November until 12pm Saturday 17th November.
Time Control: All moves in 20 minutes + 10 seconds per move.
Rules: The game shall be played according to the FIDE Rapidplay laws of chess. We will play as many games as we can using the time control in 24 hours. 1 point for a win and ½ point for a draw. Whoever has the most points at the end of 24 hours will be declared the winner.
Boards and Equipment – For this challenge we will be using a DGT live board. The games will be broadcast online for the whole 24 hours so everyone will be able to keep track of our progress and who has the most points.
All are welcome to come and watch our progress and see how well we are getting on. We will have a donation bucket by us so feel free to come and donate any money you have to our cause. If you are unable to come and see us in person then you can donate money to our cause online. The donation website is at: http://www.justgiving.com/MatthewCarr-FraserGreenroyd
The website with the live games on will be announced at a later date.
You can also follow our preparations on facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/282626361773821/
Finally the children in need website is: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008dk4b

Hope this helps

[Matthew Turner]

I cannot help noticing that we have been a bit **** poor at supporting this. I think we can do a little bit better.

[Mick Norris]

Agreed, would be good to have something useful from this Forum

[Sarah de Lisle]

Agreed, good luck Matt! All in a good cause, ladies and gentlemen...

[Matthew Carr]

Thank everyone so far for your support, its really appreciated

[David Gilbert]

Good luck Matthew. By the way, is the 12pm start and finish time, 12noon or 12 midnight? This often confuses me - but I'm easily confused!

[Greg Breed]

12pm is midday. 12am is midnight. I much prefer the 24 hour clock!

[Matthew Carr]

Good luck Matthew. By the way, is the 12pm start and finish time, 12noon or 12 midnight? This often confuses me - but I'm easily confused!

We will be starting at 12:00 or 12 noon.

[Greg Breed]

Oh and Good Luck Matthew!
I will pass on your Just Giving link to my club members.

[Matthew Carr]

Oh and Good Luck Matthew!
I will pass on your Just Giving link to my club members.

Thanks very much Greg, very appreciated. Also if your interested im planning on using a live board so people can keep track of the score and progress of the games.