Leon Watson

I've got a triple:

One Love - The Wailers 10/10
One Love - Stone Roses 10/10
One Love - Blue 0/10

The Low-Key Chess Event That's Actually One Of The Best

Why the European Team Champs is a stone-cold classic of the chess calendar and shouldn't be overlooked.
worldchess.com/news/Europea...

What Just Happened? The Chess World Is Fighting—Please Stop! GM Hikaru Nakamura cooked up a storm at the Checkmate: USA vs India match. Was the reaction was over the top?

Chess went nuts over a "yeeted" king this weekend.

Here's why:
worldchess.com/news/nakamur...

Smokers, obviously. They smoked 'em.

a pink background with the words dad joke loading on it ALT: a pink background with the words dad joke loading on it

My new favourite gif.

I don't think the board is very relevant to this, sorry.

I'm confident Frank has and will get what he needs to build success. Rome wasn't built in a day.

Looking at the squad, if he fails it'll be his responsibility.

But we won't get an idea about that for a while yet.

I don't think there's any "he's been sold down the river" conspiracy here.

I think this is a bit drama-drama. Does Frank really have "struggles"?

The results have been ok. We sit 4th in the Prem. 4pts in the UCL. All while he's implementing a new system.

It's decent, just not spectacular.

I think you're just expecting too much at this point and being swept up by noise.

It's No Fischer-Spassky, But USA Vs India Match Does Have Beef Chess has this funny habit of mirroring international relations and the Checkmate: USA Vs India match fits into that trend (just about).

It's No Fischer-Spassky, But USA Vs India Chess Match Does Have Beef

worldchess.com/news/Checkma...

I was at a primary school yesterday teaching chess and got into some chit-chat with an Arsenal fan, about 8. He delivered a Spurs jibe that in 40-odd years of supporting Spurs I'd never heard: he called us Tottenham Snotspur 🤣

#COYS

Watch Out World — The Daddy Of Chess Now Has A Child Chess players around the world are quaking in their boots after Magnus Carlsen's wife Ella Victoria revealed she has given birth. How long until the newborn becomes a grandmaster?

Watch Out World — The Daddy Of Chess Now Has A Child

"He's just taking a nap there after refreshing Najdorf theory he learnt a couple of days ago."

worldchess.com/news/magnus-...

Jeffrey Epstein depicted as king among young women in creepy custom chess set A custom chess set commissioned by Jeffrey Epstein features him as king and nine young women as pieces, created from photos taken in 2016 for $5,000

Not the chess news I was hoping for:
www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news...

Just filed what I think is a nice, balanced article for New In Chess magazine on the polarising issue of whether transgender players should be allowed to compete in female-only events. In chess, this is an extremely hot potato. Maybe with extra nuance? You tell me.

Sounds like total nonsense.

Welcome to family, Tajikistan! Why you'll be seeing more Tajiks on WorldChess.com World Chess will be the host for Tajikistan's national championships, among other events, under a new partnership with the Chess Federation of Tajikistan.

Now that's what I'm Tajikin' bout: World Chess will run the Tajikistan national champs early stages on its platform worldchess.com/news/world-c...

My 5-year-old did this.

6 wild cards, 206 in total. Huge event!

Going Wild With The Wildcards: FIDE's World Cup Invites Go Out FIDE's Emil Sutovsky is slowly teasing out who's getting a golden tickets to the World Cup in November. And they've chosen well.

What a tease FIDE's CEO Emil Sutovsky is. #chess

worldchess.com/news/fide-wo...

Use The Grand Prix Attack! F1 Drivers Play Car Crash Game Against Radjabov Celebrities and sports stars playing chess against grandmasters never ends well. Formula 1 drivers Charles Leclerc and Sir Lewis Hamilton found that out against GM Teimour Radjabov. Photo: Ferrari.

Use The Grand Prix Attack! F1 Drivers Charles Leclerc and Sir Lewis Hamilton Play Car Crash Chess Game Against A Grandmaster

worldchess.com/news/charles...

Bluebaum Has No Coach. Gets No help. Qualifies For The Candidates One more thing to mention from the FIDE Grand Swiss: German GM Matthias Bluebaum. He was incredible. Here's why.

All hail Matthias Bluebaum, the chess underdog: worldchess.com/news/matthia...

Surrey are Nott the County Champions.

Can you spot who didn't turn up to the Grand Swiss prizegiving? He came third, picked up $62,000 in prize money, but didn't turn up for the closing ceremony. Is it because he missed out on a place in Candidates? Photo: Michal Walusza/FIDE.

Wrote something on the FIDE Grand Swiss.

Did Firouzja throw his toys out of the pram?

worldchess.com/news/alireza...

Nope.

I have a sister and two Mexican nieces who live in Chiapas, and a brother-in-law who's native.

I'm aware of Mexican food. I love it. But it's pure ignorance to say it's better than the huge variety in D.

It's D, you freak.

FIDE Moves To Spice Up 2025 World Rapid & Blitz Champs. Will It Work? FIDE loves a rule-change. And this year we're not disappointed as a series of tweaks are made for the upcoming 2025 World Rapid & Blitz Championships in Doha.

FIDE Moves To Spice Up 2025 World Rapid & Blitz Champs. Will It Work? #chess

worldchess.com/news/fide-mo...

The wonder of chess: Prodigy, 10, takes on golden oldie, 92 Sometimes chess just gives you a nice warm feeling inside. So it was when Bodhana Sivanandan faced U.S. Chess Hall of Famer James Sherwin at the 2025 UK Open Blitz Qualifier.

Sometimes chess just gives you a nice warm feeling inside. By me.

worldchess.com/news/the-won...

Won't be a chess match.

Make a band singular:

One Star

"West Ham's cup final" is good enough.

Oh. Best of luck.