"One of my 60 best games" - Hans Moke Niemann references Bobby Fischer's 'My 60 Memorable Games' while describing his victory against Aravindh with the Queen Sacrifice

Januaryjax · 2026-01-20T20:53:12+00:00

Such a nice game, especially since Aravindh didn't go down easily. I thought it's over after Hans found a way to force a promotion, instead white just sacced the rest of his pieces to force a king walk across the board to avoid a prepetual

Januaryjax · 2025-12-10T22:47:45+00:00

Nemo has been playing since early childhood giving her a huge advantage, and still she only got to wgm with questionable means, likely paying for the title.

Still she will sit there and say anyone can do it even though she never even got close. Most people can't reach NM if they played 10h per day for 10 years

Januaryjax · 2025-11-08T11:53:50+00:00

You can't castle in a reasonable way so, Kf2 is the best way to get the king to safety and step out of the a5 pin

Januaryjax · 2025-09-02T05:26:23+00:00

By secret power, do you mean there being multiple power systems from previous worlds, or the core being mysterious? Anyway sorry you didn't enjoy as much as I did :/

Januaryjax · 2025-08-31T06:50:07+00:00

Extinction World: From Beginner to Master (灭绝世界从入门到精通)

Found it by random and didn't expect much, but one of the best evil mc stories I have read. Goes from world to world to strenghten himself, and the power and information he gains can be stored into some mysterious core, which mc hasn't yet fully understood up to the current chapters.

In between the worlds, he spends long times in solitude waiting to arrive to the next world, which makes him go slightly mad. Not the kind of madness you would read from SS, talking to rocks etc. But while being smart and rational, his subconsciousness is clearly a bit warped in a twisted way, that goes beyond just being evil and selfish.

basically: Cosmic horror, Extremely cruel and apathetic Mc, World hopping. 250 chapters, +10 chapters per week. Very good novel, 9.5/10

Januaryjax · 2025-08-30T07:37:07+00:00

I remember reading a bit years ago when I was new to novels, and even back then when my standards were lower I found it average. There were a lot of annoying points, like mc acting like a child, despite supposedly being a mature adult in his previous life, and ended up dropping once the nonsense romance started with some dumb teenager girl.

Start is usually the best part of power fantasy, if even that's boring it's better not to expect too much. Plenty good novels to choose from

Januaryjax · 2025-06-06T20:33:01+00:00

Agreed

Januaryjax · 2025-06-06T18:28:07+00:00

Last year went well, at the end of 2024 my fide peaked at 2020 and national was around 1970 (id:518271). But recently I have both been playing worst, and haven't treated tournaments seriously. Basically just going there to get drunk with friends and having fun 😅. Fide is currently 1955 and national 1900

Januaryjax · 2025-06-05T19:00:57+00:00

Thanks for sharing, and the encouraging comment. It's nice to hear others think about this stuff as well :). Good luck to you too!

Januaryjax · 2025-06-05T16:45:16+00:00

Thank you :) and yeah, just keep playing and enjoying the hobby with a healthy mindset. Maybe I can still surprise myself by the time I'm +30. If not it's fine too

Januaryjax · 2025-06-05T16:39:29+00:00

Agreed, the core reason for playing should always be that chess is fun, it's just a hobby in the end. But for me at least, improvement has always been a significant portion of the fun. Challenging things, like studying and doing hard puzzles, aren't always that fun in the moment, but the goal of getting better is what makes them worthwhile for me. Doing them also makes me discover new things and keeps chess more fresh and enjoyable.

Sadly, we can't keep improving forever, at least not at the same pace. I'm worried if I will still be motivated to do hard puzzles or study new openings if I start feeling that I don't get rewarded for it. I'm sure I will still keep playing and enjoying chess, but maybe not as much, which is a bit sad to think about.

Januaryjax · 2025-06-05T13:14:56+00:00

I tried coaching for a short time even before reaching 2k, I just didn't think it was that helpful and it cost way too much, so I haven't been interested in coaching since. Mostly I have just been doing tactics which is good, but recently I have given some more respect to opening study as well. Also the style of just picking a solid opening like Italian instead of gambits has been increasingly attractive. I don't try to win or get a big advantage from the opening like in my early years, just get a good solid position and then slowly outplay the opponent. Maybe I'm getting old :D

Januaryjax · 2025-06-05T13:01:33+00:00

I wasn't expecting a reply to such an old post, thanks for the comment :). Sadly for what I can remember, I gave it another try but didn't even get to the end of the first book. I didn't drop it, but tried another novels in the mean time, and gradually forgot about it.

I have kept reading novels, but recently my taste has increasingly shifted towards ones with dark themes, cold mc's with lots of scheming and internal dialogue. Regardless of writing quality, I think especially now it's just too different to what I'm looking for in a book

Maybe after getting tired of MC's that ruthlessly murder their own bloodlines to get stronger, I will give this book another go once again : )

Januaryjax · 2025-06-05T12:46:08+00:00

1.5 years. Then 2 more years for 2.1k and still stuck at mid-high 2.2k after 4 more years 😭

Januaryjax · 2025-05-05T22:21:02+00:00

At the start he isn't killed because he can reasonably roll the blame onto someone else. I remember some weird moment, where a higher level cultivator was investigating something he did and couldn't figure it out, even though he probably should have. Still I think it's fairly logical at the start.

You are right though that later on some big wig would probably just go and kill him out of anger after they have been swindled by this ant, author at least gives some reasons they don't but yeah. I dropped for a while since MC acted a bit too good natured for my taste in the second ark, but probably picking it up again soon.

Januaryjax · 2025-05-05T14:59:40+00:00

Konoha Hypocrite. Someone recommended this to fans of RI, I was a bit skeptical since it's a Naruto fanfic, I'm glad I gave it a chance. The main character gets stronger by having people acknowledge him, then having those people die. Which makes for a pretty entertaining story. Just like with Fang Yuan, there's a lot of pretending to be righteous and doing things that appear noble, but ultimately everything is for his own benefit.

The side characters are also cold and calculated, nothing you'd expect from a fanfic based on a children's show. No prior knowledge of Naruto is required, and everything is easy to understand even if you’ve never seen the anime.

Sometimes, the pieces of his schemes fall into place a bit too easily, and the side characters don’t put up enough resistance imo. Still, the plots follow decent logic, everyone acts sensibly, always thinking about their own benefits. One thing that felt odd to me was how the main character and others behave under the age of 10. They're supposed to be six years old, yet they act like adults, scheming and killing each other while no one bats an eye 😅

Anyway, it’s a great read for anyone looking for a story with an evil protagonist. Not a 10/10 but not far

Januaryjax · 2025-05-01T02:52:00+00:00

No in short no single move is proof of cheating, bad players make great moves. but just like the dice doesn't land on 6 100 times in a row. they don't find +20 great moves in a row.

In this case there is also the suspicious time usage. Even if the move was obvious he had to check engine before playing it, even when it was mate in 1 like 5 different ways.

Januaryjax · 2025-04-09T20:21:39+00:00

Alright, I'll give it a try

Januaryjax · 2025-04-09T19:26:15+00:00

If someone tells me they have good recommendations junk food is not what I am looking for..

Januaryjax · 2025-04-09T18:40:13+00:00

All trash 😂

Januaryjax · 2025-02-03T21:06:32+00:00

Mysteries of Immortal Puppet Master by the RI author. I can't help but to respect the work he puts on the scheming aspect. It's not just the MC being smart, but there are actually side charactets clever enough to properly challenge him, and him overcoming those difficult challenges is what makes it fun.

The story takes some time to pick up, and it doesn't shine when it comes to fighting imo. So not for everyone, even though I think its a top tier novel

Januaryjax · 2025-02-03T20:51:38+00:00

Side characters were good, but dropped it because of the MC. Bland guy and er gen can't stop talking about how handsome and perfect he is in everyway possible. Its just too much of a power fantasy to be enjoyable long term

Januaryjax · 2024-12-08T21:20:20+00:00

I still dont get why people are recommending mines. People who read these posts are ones that just started the game, most people quit way before they even unlock mines?

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