1. Right, but actually there is no big difference in perfomance on #1 and #2 charts, please check GPU on this vid:
http://recordit.co/if5hFIPo9Q (no antialiasing) and
http://recordit.co/OuLiBSpz1t (antialiasing enabled). As for the #3-5 charts it should be disabled in any case as there is no difference on the result views.
2. No strict requirements can be deducted from provided mockups so alternatives can take place. For example, I did the way you described at the first stage of the contest:
http://recordit.co/wcJj9I5Xb0. Also there was a discussion in the contest chat and participants assumed that transparency should depend on a distance between labels. As for me it make sence and should be convinient for users - they are still able to see important data and informed that dates will be gone on zoom action.
3. I found this solution in the app that took #2 place of the stage #1. I like it!