Nice tactic today on ChessTempo, hint in the comment below. #chesspunks

Puzzle-rush type tactic that settled my rapid game today. #chesspunks

Maybe old dogs CAN learn new tricks. In my mid-60's, this is my tactics results on Chesstempo for the last year - the blue line is the 30 day moving average, which IMO is better to focus on than the day-to-day fluctuation. 80+ point increase in a year is pretty good, I think. #chesspunks

Forcing moves, people, forcing moves! Best chess lesson I ever had. Highly rated puzzle, but just followed the forcing moves first and it led me to the solution. With that hint this one shouldn't be too difficult. #chesspunks @lionchess.bsky.social

This chesstempo puzzle has an average solve time of 9:18! - longest avg solve time I remember seeing - with a 49% success rate. Took me 11:44 to solve, and even then it was more of a "this is the only thing I see" than a slam-dunk ok I figured this one out. #chesspunks

Knowing about forcing lines, and to calculate them to the end even if they don't seem promising, sure does make puzzle solving easier and faster. This was a good example, I kept wanting to quit on the most forcing line, as it looked like a dead end. But pushed through to solution. #chesspunks

Set a new high standard puzzle rating on Chesstempo (1900), and high FIDE estimate (1833, it's based on puzzle rating and average time to solve). Both are improved - especially the average time to solve - since a calculation lesson with @lionchess.bsky.social a couple of months ago. #chesspunks.

Had an absurdly low total acpl rapid (15+10) game today. Caro Cann with lots of trades, which contributes to the low acpl, but still 6 acpl for each of us is pretty crazy. Quite happy as he was 80 points higher rated :-)

Guam National Championship Round 2: What's white's move here to gain an advantage? Note: black has multiple possible replies that need to be calculated, but all result in an advantage for white. Went on to a smooth victory from here. #chesspunks

Won my first two games in the Guam National Championship today, against opponents about 200 - 250 points lower rated. For round 3 next Sunday, I play up about 200 points. 2 games each Sunday for 4 weeks, 9th and final game on the 5th Sunday. Looking forward to it!

Two 15/10 rapid games in a row with no inaccuracies, mistakes or blunders. Maybe the 2 free chess lessons I won on here with @lionchess.bsky.social are paying off? #chesspunks lichess1.org/game/export/...

Super clean 15/10 rapid game today on LiChess. Sometimes the game just plays itself it feels like. #chesspunks

World Champion Gukesh defeats GM Anish Giri in Round 1 of the Tata Steel Masters! An exciting turnaround after Giri didn't find the only winning move 35... Ng4: https://lichess.org/broadcast/tata-steel-chess-2025--masters/round-1/HmnX0y6b/jmJbcrNl

FIDE is afraid of Magnus after the jeans debacle, he's treating them like a rag doll. Complete disgrace that they change the rules during sudden death to give both players the title. Magnus taking a wrecking ball to the reputation of chess in the public arena, and it's not good. #chesspunks

What a contrast! On one hand we saw this fighting and emotional game and on the other hand we had these ridiculous prearranged draws in almost all first boards, in the last 2 rounds. Ivanchuk is more than a legend. #chess #chesspunks www.youtube.com/watch?v=_evi...

I rarely accept rematch offers. The other day, after declining one, my opponent said I had bad manners. Asked why, he said because I had the white pieces and didn't give him a chance to have the white pieces. Is that really a thing? #chesspunks

Nice puzzle from chesstempo - where I do most of my tactics work. Very nice puzzle set there, most seem to come from Master games. I thought it was not very hard, but it was agreed to as a draw after 2 more moves! Black to move. Game is here: old.chesstempo.com/gamedb/game/... #chesspunks

#chesspunks Chessable year in review - I don't go much for opening study, this year was Hellsten's Mastering Chess Endgames (awesome and only halfway through it so far) and Silman's Reassess Your Chess.

Interesting chesstempo puzzle that took me a moment to visualize, and based on its rating (1727), it's tricky for many others also. White to move. Simple concept but there's one element that is easy to miss in the visualization. #chesspunks

Hi #chesspunks, saw a question about whether people had managed a smothered mate in a game, reminded me of Eric Rosen's website that will download your games and tell you if you've managed all sorts of unusual mates and motifs. Check it out! rosen-score.vercel.app How many do you have?

Interesting to see many great players criticize the quality of play in the WCC. Game 6, which Magnus, Hikaru and others roundly criticized, had 1 inaccuracy between the two players, acpl of 8 for each of them. Games 4 and 5 were even cleaner. Not sure what to make of that. #chesspunks

Fun blitz game, had a little bit of everything. I love facing the advance Caro Kann - even though it's the most principled - just have a grasp for the ideas in that line. Messed up a couple of moves in the opening, and missed Rd3 (instead of Qd3, saw it right after I moved).

I really don't like the use of the engine during the post-game press conference. Having the engine at the podium, showing the players the engine moves right after the game, and asking them why did they miss a move? It's like quizzing a school boy rather than the WCC contenders. Doesn't seem fair.

I really need a "is my move safe?" routine for online rapid games, to prevent one move blunders (hanging pieces). My OTB rating is so much better than online. Don't have the problem in blitz or long games online. More below in replies. #chesspunks

Judit Polgar is the best chess commentator I've ever seen. Head and shoulders above whoever is second best. #chesspunks

The Chess World Championship starts at 7 PM local time for me in Guam! Pretty excited about that. Usually things like this happen in the middle of the night in Guam.

So, anonymous blitz chess while drinking is fun once in a while. Except on days like today, when I realize that I'm not in an incognito window, but a regular window (i.e. logged into Lichess), getting waxed in a rated game for what turns out to be the second in a row because....drinking, you know?

Anyone #chesspunks have experience with Chessable's The Positional Chess Patterns Manual? Looks very interesting, and the early reviews are quite positive. www.chessable.com/the-position...

Played in an OTB rapid tournament last weekend, and got this puzzle rush type tactic in one of my games (Caro Kan advance). Easy one, but it was fun to actually get something like this OTB. #chesspunks