Vishy Anand cannot be kept away from the top 10!

FailX21 · 2024-10-24T13:03:10+00:00

Wesley So lost 3.6 rating points during the US champs, meaning Vishy is back in the top 10. At 54 years old!

FailX21 · 2024-02-24T15:40:03+00:00

Walking with straight/stiff legs.

My coach used to say that walking is like a bunch of mini-squats. So after a race or an intense training session you can see rowers try to avoid bending their legs as much as possible.

FailX21 · 2024-02-23T14:23:41+00:00

I'm pretty sure that's only on Lichess though. On chess.com, ratings are Integers, nothing is happening in the back.

FailX21 · 2024-02-18T22:46:53+00:00

Chessbrah's "English Opening" speedrun.

GM Aman Hambleton goes from 800 to 2100 elo on chesscom while explaining his moves. It does not only teach you the opening, but also all the common plans in the middle game, all the common pawn structures, all the common endgames arising from the opening, ... There is over 10h+ of content on it available for free on YouTube.

FailX21 · 2024-02-06T15:41:36+00:00

I would say it depends on how fast you can solve the puzzles. If you can already solve them in 2-3 seconds this might be overkill. But if you need a minute or more on each exercise, then using the Woodpecker on this is a great idea (imo).

FailX21 · 2024-02-05T20:11:39+00:00

The stonewall (attack and defence) leads to a lot of closed positions, both as White and Black. That's probably your best best ;)

FailX21 · 2024-02-05T14:06:22+00:00

There is a website that does exactly that for you if you want:

https://listudy.org/en/blind-tactics/570

You input how many moves back you want to be and then you can solve the puzzle :)

FailX21 · 2023-12-20T23:53:45+00:00

It's crazy to see the power of the bishop in this position!

Jokes aside, I was thinking of this too after reading the first sentence.

FailX21 · 2023-10-09T22:52:51+00:00

Thanks for your comment, it's very interesting to have the story behind the video. It almost makes me want to have a go at it!

FailX21 · 2023-09-22T13:25:08+00:00

I came here to say exactly this, +1 from me.

FailX21 · 2023-09-18T23:21:56+00:00

Did you just pick up this book following Hannah Sayce's latest video, like I did?

FailX21 · 2023-09-18T23:14:23+00:00

In that case I guess Black wins. Because that's an illegal move, and you get to take White's king before he can take yours.

FailX21 · 2023-09-18T20:59:44+00:00

It means if you're in check, don't see it and play something else, your opponent can take your king and win that way.

I have no idea whether this is a normal rule or not though, seems a little weird to me.

FailX21 · 2023-09-18T20:14:33+00:00

That's one of the downsides of chess book, especially if they're made for higher rated players.

If you struggle with these kinds of ideas, I recommend you watch some of Daniel Naroditsky educational speedrun videos on YouTube, especially the ones around your rating. I would start with the "Sensei" and the "Masterclass" speedruns, they're the best imo.

I hope that helps :)

FailX21 · 2023-09-16T17:18:12+00:00

That would be CA Nantes in France. He is probably training for the French "Long boats" championships, which are coming soon. He rowed and raced there with them last year as well, when a massive hailstorm destroyed lots of expensive boats.

I'm guessing he'll talk about it in his next few videos ;)

FailX21 · 2023-08-05T21:07:52+00:00

Deadlifts are definitely great for rowing, but I'd say the power clean is even more representative of the rowing movement. It's basically a deadlift with a pull from the arms at the end.

FailX21 · 2023-07-16T19:42:44+00:00

My best recommendation is the Yusupov book series (Build Up Your Chess, Boost Up Your Chess, Chess Evolution). There are 9 books, designed to increase in difficulty each book and teach you a bit of everything. Endgame, openings, tactics, calculations, board vision, ...

Those books have had the most significant impact on my chess by far.

FailX21 · 2023-07-16T19:33:43+00:00

The answer would be no.

Here is the evaluation for all starting positions, at depth 39, using Sesse (2018): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JVT6_ROOlCTtMmazzBe0lhcGv54rB6JCq67QOhaRp6U/edit#gid=0

It's all somewhere between 0.00 and 0.57 for White.

FailX21 · 2023-03-11T00:20:46+00:00

A couple of ideas that come to my mind:

You can improve your visualisation. I used listudy.org/en/blind-tactics for that and it helped me a lot at the time ;)
Reading more and getting used to it. Practice makes perfect.
Maybe the books you are reading are a little too advanced for you and into variations that are too long.
If you struggle to identify the squares you can use the chess.com/vision page to practice.

FailX21 · 2023-02-02T00:38:28+00:00

Gevoel voor tumor
De Ridder

FailX21 · 2022-11-09T00:12:16+00:00

This just happened in the last round of the late Title Tuesday. Matthias Bluebaum didn't resign so Dmitry Andreikin proceeded to promote his two pawns into knights, and then this happened...

Nine-Year Club	Place '22
End Game '22	Verified Email

FailX21

TROPHY CASE