Leonard Blackburn

GM Daniel Naroditsky passed away. He was a talented chess player, commentator, and educator. FIDE extends its deepest condolences to Daniel’s family and loved ones.

Chess was an old game even in Shakespeare's day. From The Tempest:

(Here Prospero discovers Ferdinand and Miranda playing at chess.)

Miranda: Sweet lord, you play me false.

Ferdinand: No, my dear’st love, I would not for the world.

A book with title, Cognitive Chess: Improving Visualization and Calculation Skills. Author: Konstantin Chernyshov. Foreword by Ian Harris. The book sits next to a pen on a spiral-bound notebook.

Improve your #chess visualization skills with the book, _Cognitive Chess_ by Chernyshov. I recommend it. Solve exercises without looking at a board, like this one:

White: Kc1, Be4, Pb2, Pg6.
Black: Kb3, Rg7.
White to move. How would you play?

¡Me encanta! Gracias.

A chessboard with the pieces set up for the beginning of a game, except that the kings are missing.

That's a great shirt! I had an electronic chess game in the 80s. When I was White, a game would often go 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Rg8 3.Nc3 Rh8.

There are some great games in that book!

I won't watch. I don't care about fast-paced chess, and I won't watch a spectacle. Bring back long, classical chess as the predominant form of chess.

The whole article was great advice. I'll probably never be a master, but I'll continue to enjoy this beautiful game for as long as I can.

YouTube video by BobDylanVEVO Bob Dylan - Only a Pawn in Their Game (Official Audio)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8X0U...

A chess rating graph that shows an equal game until about halfway through, when the graph swings wildly in White's favor and stays there. Next to the graph it shows LBB13 with 3 inaccuracies, 0 mistakes, 0 blunders, and 92% accuracy. It also shows Adrenaline09 with 2 inaccuracies, 0 mistakes, and 2 blunders.

What the rating graph often looks like when you play the Evans Gambit:

I saw this endgame study by Mark Liburkin in the book, _Secrets of the Russian Chess Masters_ by Alburt and Parr. It stunningly requires underpromotions to knight, bishop, and rook for its solution. Unfortunately, Stockfish has found an error. See:

lichess.org/study/E5ZuqEo8

Some Caro-Kann carnage. Learned from the chessable course of

@hanschut.bsky.social

(lichess.org/Q9QmKhw4mwhP)

Damiano's mate. Nice! Must be quite satisfying to get this in a game. By the highlights on the squares, it looks like you pre-moved Rc8-h8.

Never heard that. Sounds great!

YouTube video by Steely Ben Yes - Your Move (single version)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxJL...

A graphic showing lichess ratings of some player: 2507 (bullet), 2450 (blitz), 2378 (rapid), 2361 (classical)

A graphic showing lichess ratings of some player: 2095 (blitz), 2182 (rapid), 2261 (classical)

But I'm a bit outclassed for my Round 5 pairing:

A chess tournament table showing LBB13, rated 2261, in 7th place after 4 rounds of 11 with a score of 3.5/4. In first place is StrikingBolt with a score of 4/4.

After 4 rounds in Season #38 Open of the Lonewolf 30 30 tournament, I'm in 7th place out of 283.

A shelf containing NIC Yearbooks, Chess Informants, and chess magazines. The top magazine is New in Chess with Fabiano Caruana on the cover.

A bookshelf containing these books: Starting Out the Caro-Kann, Starting Out the Sicilian, Starting Out the Scotch Game, The Closed Spanish, Winning with the Smith-Morra Gambit, The Sveshnikov Sicilian, Semi-Slav Defense, Modern Chess Openings (MCO-14), Standard Chess Openings, The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal, Instructive Chess Masterpieces, Zurich International Chess Tournament, 1953, Spassky's 100 Best Games, Kasparov v Karpov 1990, Kasparov and Deep Blue, Endgame by Frank Brady, Essential Chess Endings by James Howell, Bobby Fischer Goes to War, and Bobby Fischer and His World.

A bookshelf containing these books: My System 21st Century Edition, Simple Chess by Stean, The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings, Best Lessons of a Chess Coach, Chess Fundamentals by Capablanca, Better Chess for Average Players, Creative Chess, Saving Lost Positions, Weapons of Chess, The Complete Chess Course by Fred Reinfeld, The Immortal Game a History of Chess, The Amateur's Mind, How to Reassess Your Chess, The Complete Book of Chess Strategy, Mastering Opening Strategy, Mastering Chess Strategy, Mastering Endgame Strategy, 1001 Deadly Checkmates, Winning Chess Tactics, World Champion Tactics, and Cognitive Chess.

A bookshelf containing: a DGT North American chess clock, a US Chess Federation pocket set, the book Test Your Endgame Ability by Livshits and Speelman, a bag perhaps containing chess pieces, and a solitaire chess game on a collection of cards.

My chess bookshelf.
#chess, #books, #ChessBooks

Me too! Since my childhood.

On a table sits a chess board with the pieces set up with this FEN: r1bq1rk1/pppnbppp/4pn2/3p2B1/2PP4/2N1PN2/PP3PPP/R2QKB1R w KQ - 1 7 Also on the table is a laptop sitting on top of three large books. An analysis board from lichess shows on the screen. The computer board shows the same FEN as the physical board.

Studying in my chess room.

Listening to Led Zeppelin IV on vinyl.

A chess diagram with FEN: r5kr/p3Pb2/2p2Q2/3p1R1q/7p/2N3P1/PPP5/4R1K1 b - - 2 29

When the engine tells you your move is a blunder and then your opponent immediately resigns:

Thank you so much for posting this enlightening statistic.

Thanks for sharing this! There were many artists on the list I didn't know were LGBTQ+, and there are some artists whose music I don't know. Great to learn something new today, and I now have more ideas of music to listen to.

That really made me laugh out loud. Made my day!

That's funny. Now I'll have to look up some of his games.

Great picture. I never heard of Willie Watson, and he was playing for the British Championship! I need to learn more chess history.

This was hard, but White wins by opening the 7th rank: 1.Bxf6 gxf6 2.Qh4 g5 3.Qh6.

Improve your chess by watching the Steps Method Concept Series by @hanschut.bsky.social. Find lichess studies with links to the videos in this PDF:

drive.google.com/file/d/1_MqK...

#chess, #LichessStudies, #ChessSteps, #HanSchut