I originally started filming Utrecht because of its cycling infrastructure. Looking back over seventeen years of footage, I realised I have documented something much bigger: the transformation of an entire city. Blog, video and playlist:

My favorite chess player. Great interview. Thank you @lichess.org for putting this online. www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHV8...

Position from a blitz game on Lichess. White to move. What would you play and what is your evaluation? #chesspunks

Burning down the house. A brilliant David Byrne at The Late Show. www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtvK...

Ik vind deze campagne erg belangrijk - doe je ook mee? actie.degoedezaak.org/petitions/st...

Just a bullet game with white against some 2641 dude. Black played ...Qxc2. Was that a good move? #chesspunks

Love David Byrne….hope the kids at Coachella were paying attention and appreciated the genius they were witnessing last night "Love and Kindness are a form of resistance"

Go Ding!

Just some online blitz game. What would you play here with Black? #chesspunks

When you have the chance, please take the time to watch Harrison Ford's remarkable, beautiful Life Achievement Award acceptance speech. #ActorAwards www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV_2...

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.