This 🤏 close to a new online rapid rating milestone. #chess #chesspunks

After two months of no caffeine, I had my first cafe latte today at Hideout Cafe in Grassmarket. While the coffee was good, it didn't have any transcedental effects and I may go back to a steady diet of camomile and peppermint teas.

'We must stop playing blitz' cried toad as started another game #chess #meme #chesspunks

First pumpkin carving for Halloween as requested by the 5 y.o. I have 2 more to carve. Probably do them late tonight or tomorrow morning. #halloween

Uber locating a driver is the new Microsoft progress bar - a totally unpredictable work of fiction.

A foggy morning on the Ferry road path. #edinburgh

Really sad to hear GM Daniel Naroditsky's passing. I have spent many a morning going through his speed run videos and learned many things from him (including the Sicilian Alapin, Stafford gambit refutation, etc). He was too young. It's tragic and unfortunate. #chess

Magnetic, foldable chess set made by a friend.

"When nothing seems to help, I go and look at the stonecutter hammering away at this rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it -- but all that had gone before" Jacob Riis

Every time I am rummaging through the house looking for my phone, I am reminded of the useful Jan Hankl's Flank Pat system: www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY-Z...

The game Anand - Lautier 1997 has an insane discovered attack tactic. I wrote about it in my chess blog: chessreflexion.blogspot.com/2025/10/disc... #chess #chesspunks

First game of this year's Edinburgh chess league for our team Sandy Bells at our home venue of Mayfield Bowling club. We lost the match to Wandering Dragons. 6 boards final score: 2.5 - 3.5. I drew my game, although I had a fairly good position. Just got tired at the end, and accepted a draw.

It’s much easier to say yes to: Can I run for the next 30 seconds? Rather than say yes to: Can I run for the next 5 miles? Wrote a few words about how I came to use the run/walk approach to running bananainbin.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...

I started a chess blog to capture thoughts that I am gaining while plodding through my unread stack of chess books. Blogger seems to not have gotten an update since the early 2000s, but I like the simplicity and the lack of pressured monetization. chessreflexion.blogspot.com/2025/10/lear...

I went back to an indoor climbing gym after over a decade. Last time was in Seattle, in what seems to have been a different life. This is EICA Ratho. #edinburgh

Finished reading "Rivet Boy" written by @scattyscribbler.bsky.social after not being able to sleep at 4 AM. It was a great read! Apart from a lovely story, it was also nice to learn more about the history of the Forth Bridge. I am thinking of riding up to North/South Queensferry.

Here is my short guide to perpetual chess improvement as an adult: 1. Spend copious amounts of time listening to podcasts, and reading blogs about adult chess improvement. 2. Don't actually do the chess work required to improve. 3. Go to step 1. #chess #chesspunks

Exporting from chessgames.com URLs is no longer possible on Lichess studies. From Thibault: " looked it up. It's chessgames.com that explicitely forbids it. They worked on making it impossible to export the PGN to another server such as lichess." #chess #chesspunks lichess.org/forum/liches...

"Stop being the product that gets fed videos for others to make money off of your attention." GM Noël Studer on how to use YouTube for chess improvement nextlevelchess.com/chess-improv...

As part of Walktober, I did the classic route of taking the Wardie steps down to Wardie bay and walked the water break to the end. #edinburgh

"We have been posting about our lives for a long time ... I see people turning into TV characters, their memories into episodes, themselves into entertainment. We have become the meaningless content, swiped past and scrolled through." www.afterbabel.com/p/we-are-the...

Attended the "Captain's meeting" for the Edinburgh Chess league yesterday at the Slateford Bowling Club to fix the coming chess season's schedule. The bowling club is located right below the Slateford aquaduct that I frequently cycle on while traveling to Balerno and such. #edinburgh

"His majesty now has the audacity to walk into a discovered check" - Michael Stean, Simple Chess (p 117), describing Mikhail Tal vs Georgy Lisitsin 1956 #chess #chessbooks #chesspunks

I am off to the SCT rapid (20+10) chess tournament at Edinburgh Park. Average tournament rating 1704. Average tournament age 14. I start off at rank 5 and feel a bit imposter-ish. #chess #edinburgh

"Time to resist the billionaires club". Cycle stand sticker. Leith public library. #edinburgh

A cold run followed by a hot shower makes for a great combination.

Edinburgh castle from Dance Base grass market

"The time that I saved was by avoiding learning" Colton Voege on LLM use/vibe coding in the context of software development. From Better Offline (20m:40s) open.spotify.com/episode/1jS1...

Whenever someone asks me if I have read a particular chess book. #chess #chesspunks

I am mid way in my belt journey where the current belt buckle hole feels too loose and the one lower to it feels too tight.

Day 1 of starting the Woodpecker method. 30 minutes 12 exercises done. #chess #chesspunks

Back to the familiar grey #edinburgh.

It's been a long time since I finished a fantasy book, much less in a single day. Emperor's Soul by the prolific Brandon Sanderson is a great and quick (130 pages) read.

4 year old's chess piece arrangement. We play 5-0 blitz with a clock. Her strategy is to play fast and illegal moves to put me under time pressure.

Rode up to Harlaw reservoir, Balerno, and then back, just in time to beat the afternoon rain. #edinburgh #bicycle

The air is getting chilly in the mornings. I never understood why winter air is referred to as being "crisp". Afternoons still don't require a jacket which is nice.

If you are an Edinburgh resident who uses the Roseburn or Telford paths, and would like to preserve it, you may want to have your say on the Edinburgh Tram consultation. #SaveTheRoseburnPath has put out some guidance www.savetheroseburnpath.com/consultation... #cycling #edinburgh

My mutant sunflower #potentialbandname

6th day of not having caffeine. Woke up at 4 AM and couldn't go back to sleep. I had to attend some talks this afternoon, so I couldn't get a nap in either. Felt tired, and stayed tired. The one thing parenting has taught me is that you can still function when you are tired; caffeine not required.

Finally got my FIDE standard rating after playing my first two classical chess tournaments. I also have a rapid rating which I feel might be a bit inflated since I have only played one rapid tournament (in which I had a good result). #chess

Edinburgh e-bike hire via Voi seems to have activated. This solitary e-bike is only 3 KM away. I think I will pass today. #edinburgh

Finally finished my first ever chess book. Logical chess by Irving Chernev. It's a game collection with both tactical and positional ideas and I would heartily recommend it. My goal was to finish 3 chess books this year. At 1/3 it seems unlikely I will achieve it but will try. #chess #chesspunks

Day 2/30 of no caffeine. I had a dull headache yesterday, but feeling good so far. I assume my withdrawal symptoms were light because I was only on 1 cup of coffee a day anyway. Unsure if it's premature for me to start boasting about my energy levels right away. #smudge

ANNOUNCEMENT 🚫☕ In 24 hours I am going to definitely (maybe) give up caffeine for at least 30 days (more or less). My current record is 1 day.

Nottingham sights so far

Waverley mornings. En route to Nottingham for the first time. #edinburgh

Checked out Lego Brick journeys at The Pitt. 4 y.o understandably was more interested in building rather than the exhibits #edinburgh

Among other toilet news, the toilets at Inverleith Park are yet to open, though it seems dangerously close -- the barriers have been removed but the doors remain closed. The graffiti artists have already laid claim to one side of prime real estate. #edinburgh

2 in 1 sink and toilet. Sink drain feeds the toilet flush, saving water. We need more such innovation. Location: Artisan Roast, Stockbridge #edinburgh

I was so wiped from my round 5 game in the SCT Edinburgh Park chess tournament game that I couldn't remember the bus number that I got on. Had to confirm with co-passengers which just showed doubt in their minds about whether they got on the right bus. #chess #edinburgh