It is all about checkmating the opponent, right @wmiltti.bsky.social ?

From yesterday's game in Dutch regional league. My opponent played 30...e4 here with the obvious idea to checkmate me after 31.Nxe4 Nxh4. But is it a good move? #chesspunks

Two of my favourite chess players (photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess)

The Embassy staff of Germany, France and the United Kingdom sing Schedryk in the Kyiv underground. Wonderful!

A broken clock is right twice a day. Sometimes I can play chess. Just a random blitz game against an IM. Yes, I was black. #chesspunks

Oh no, not again. m.youtube.com/watch?v=oANr... #chesspunks

Haha, de Uitsluitpiet wil niks. Fatsoenpiet vindt het niet zijn probleem en nu moet Treinpiet het oplossen

Whatcha got? You got to do something!

From yesterday's game at my club. Black just played 26...d3 and thought he was winning. I believed him, played 27.Qd1 and lost a few moves later. What did we both miss? #chesspunks

De Verkiezing-A-Long 2025! Met nummers van ‘Euro-opa’ tot ‘We’ll build 10 cities’! Een muzikaal verzamelalbum voor de zwevende én swingende kiezer! #LUBACH

From yesterday's game at my club. What is the best move for White according to Stockfish here? I did not play it and it was not even on my list of candidate moves. I still won my game by the way, but only thanks to a blunder from Black in an equal rook endgame. #chesspunks

First round Dutch Senior Championship. I wanted to play 15...Ne4 but after 16.Bxe4 dxe4 17.Ng5 Black threatens the pawn and a fork on e6. So, in the end I settled for 15...Ng6 which is still a bit better for me. But what did I miss? #ForcingChessMoves #chesspunks

A position from the game Zubarev-Lechtynsky, Pardubice 2006. What is the best move for White? #chesspunks

Which move would you choose? Qg5 or Qg4? From the RLP open last weekend. A well organized tournament in Germany with friendly people and big schnitzels. And I even gained two ratingpoints. #chesspunks

Guess the move. From my game of round 5 of the Open Utrecht Championship yesterday. What do you play here? 20.e5 or 20.d5? And why? #chesspunks

Sore loser.

Some nice positions from my game yesterday in the final round of the Dutch league. I sacced an exchange, but I have some nice laserbeams on b2 and g2. White to move, how would you evaluate 20.Nxf7? #chesspunks

A nice position from a blitz game I just played. White to move. 1) I just played 21...Qc8. What is the threat? 2) White played 22.Kf1, was this a good move? #chesspunks

Chess Position xkcd.com/3082

Second round of the IX Open Internacional Semana Santa San Vicente del Raspeig. An interesting fight against a 2344-FM. After some inaccuracies in the opening, I had to use a lot of time to keep the position balanced. Later I got some chances, see diagram in next post. #chesspunks

First round of the IX Open Internacional Semana Santa San Vicente del Raspeig. Opponent did not show. It is a well organized tournament, but like last year around 20-30 no shows. People come to the tournament to play some chess and can go home after a 30 minute wait. Makes me feel sad. #chesspunks

Guess where I am? Chess tournament starts tomorrow. #SemanaSanta #Chesspunks

Yesterday was round 8 of the Dutch league. My team won 6-2 and remains in the lead. One more round to go with one matchpoint ahead of two teams. It will be a tense final round. Here are some nice positions from my game. #chesspunks

An interesting position from my yesterday's game. With White I came out of the opening with a nice advantage. Here I had to make a choice between first exchanging on b4 or play Nxc6 immediately. What would you do? #chesspunks

Solution: Our silicon friend says 30...Ng4!! is the best move in this position. After the forced 31.hxg4, Black continues with 31...Qa4+ (diagram). Now if 32.b3 Qa2+ picks up the loose rook on g2. If 32.Kd2 Bg5+ picks up the other rook. And also after 32.Kb1 Qa1 33.Kc2 Rc8+ Black wins material.

Position from the game Cabrera Pino-Basso after 30.Kc2. Black is much better, if not winning and played the logical 30...Ra3, which is around -4 according to the engine. Can you guess the move Stockie suggests as even better? #chesspunks

Solution: @meermaurits.bsky.social don't read if you are still trying to solve this. After 1...Nxd4! (tactics) 2.Qxd4 (2.Bxc4 Bxc5! with the threat of 3...Nf3+) Black continues with the amazing quiet move 2...Qa7!! threatening 3...Bxc5. #chesspunks

👑 Jane Fonda with a mic drop "Empathy is not weak or "woke." And, by the way, "woke" just means you give a damn about other people."

From the book Forcing Chess Moves by Charles Hertan. In the chapter about Quiet forcing moves. I did not solve this one, can you? Black to move. #chesspunks

Know your patterns! In the first position, six months ago, I missed a forced win. The second position is from last night. Now it was easy. #chesspunks

A position from a blitz game on Lichess earlier today. It is a bit of a mess, but apparently there is one move plus a long line with some surprise moves, which leads to a slight edge for White. Others are clearly better for Black. What move should I have played? #chesspunks

From today's game in the Dutch League. White to move.

A nice exercise from the Forcing Chess Moves book. From the chapter Equal or Stronger Threats. Black to move. Should the queen move? #chesspunks

Hey #chesspunks. It is February 1st. New rating list. I wanted to skip this one, but reality shows a little bump on the road to the FM title. But that is the past. Will work harder, learn from my mistakes and come back stronger. How are you all doing on the road to improvement?

Don't say it enough, but great job @bsky.app.

We had a fun blitz tournament with random openings at our chess club yesterday. This position is from my last round game. Yes, I am a few pawns up, but did White catch the Black queen? #chesspunks

Brilliant.

Hey #chesspunks! Any recommendations on courses or books or anything how to convert better positions. Happens way too often I don't win these or even lose. That's a lot of valuable rating points.

113 (Netherlands)

Hey #chesspunks, have you seen the posts by @imiljasirosh.bsky.social yet? He is sharing valuable insights daily.

Wow, this is some next level shit. From Under the surface by Jan Markos. Can you find a good plan for Black? Topic is protection. #chesspunks @meermaurits.bsky.social and all others, this time I did not forget to add the chesspunks tag :)

Just a fun blitz game on @lichess.org. Already an unpleasant position for Black, but here he wanted to solve his problems with 19...f5. How would you continue with White? Let's sack those knights.

Above my paygrade, but I do understand now. Can you guess what Stockfish 17 thinks is the best move for White and why? #chesspunks

From the Forcing Chess Moves book by Charles Hertan. Black to move. Who comes first?

At 19:00 (two hours from now) I will be giving a masterclass at my own club, showing one of my games from the European Club Cup. It will be streamed live via www.youtube.com/live/dm_M-1Z..., but it will be in Dutch. Still, it will be a lot of fun and a great way to start the new year. #chesspunks

This lazy New Year's day is a good day to start reading some blogs for chess improvers. So far on my list (in random order): www.nickplayschess.com by @nickvisel.bsky.social chessimprovementlab.substack.com by Dan Bock zwischenzug.substack.com by Nate Solon #chesspunks

On my way back home from a disastrous tournament in Böblingen, Germany. After a good start with 2 out of 2, I tilted and lost 49 rating points in the end. Now, looking for some motivation to come back stronger next year. Please, let me know where to find it.

No replies? What happened to all the #chesspunks here? So, the game continued 26.Qb5 Qxb5 27.Bxb5 Bxf3 28.Bxd7 Bxd1 29.Rxd1. Now it is not so difficult anymore, right?