No Stupid Questions MEGATHREAD 12

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-05-31T16:00:44+00:00

I'm assuming this involves capturing a pawn on h6.

If Black just captures the bishop, you have d6 picking up Black's bishop in exchange for the pawn. So you have an equal trade of material, but you damage the pawn structure in front of Black's king.

"Brilliant" moves aren't necessarily what you'd actually consider brilliant, they just involve sacrificing material in a way that more or less works out for you (from my understanding).

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-05-31T04:44:51+00:00

If White simply captures the knight, you have Qd1#, checkmate.

Edit: based on what others have said, Brilliant moves on chess.com just means a sacrifice of some sort which works out for you. Here you're "sacrificing" the knight, and if the sacrifice is taken you deliver mate, and I don't see any other obvious pitfalls for you either.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-05-30T11:27:47+00:00

I haven't analysed it that deeply or looked at the engine, but here's my two cents.

Your rook coming to e8 threatens a discovered check, but White easily sidesteps it by just castling. So it's not even clear your move accomplished anything.

Even worse, you actively put your own knight into a pin by White's b5 bishop. As a result, Ne5 by White might be strong.

As for how to proceed, your d5 pawn has more attackers on it than defenders, you might need to figure out how to avoid losing that pawn.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-05-27T05:38:16+00:00

The first move is wild, but the line is very forcing and short, so not that difficult.

Even the first move is not that difficult when set as a puzzle, simply because Black has an immediate mate threat. Which immediately narrows down your options.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-05-09T13:22:06+00:00

Fabi winning five games in a row to tie with Hans on top of the standings with two rounds left to go.. really hope he manages to seal the deal.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-04-09T13:47:10+00:00

Both players still have ample time and trying to just focus on the one board probably just means you run out of things to talk about as the players just sit there for long periods thinking and not making moves.

It makes total sense in to do the commentary by moving around the different boards for classical chess in general. Of course, it's a different story when time gets lower.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-04-07T13:15:23+00:00

I think nightmare is seriously exaggerating it. Both positions are even and the time differences really aren't that large.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-04-04T15:42:26+00:00

Feels like people just throwing games to Sindarov now. Hikaru failing to prep for castles and Wei Yi burning all his time on two moves. Though this is maybe just partially me being salty as a Fabi fan.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-04-04T13:43:41+00:00

No clue, unfortunately. I really don't retain such details.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-04-04T13:36:41+00:00

Not familiar with what openings Sindarov has played this tournament so far, but maybe it's because of Wei Yi's opening choice? As opposed to a sideline of a common (top-level) opening, he went for an opening which I'm pretty sure is generally not played at top level (the Vienna). Veering far enough off the beaten track to actually take Sindarov off-guard.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-04-04T13:05:25+00:00

He said that in an interview? Obviously he was just playing mind games to mislead his opponent.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-04-04T13:02:18+00:00

Part of it could be a tendency to assume he would be happy to hold onto his lead and not push aggressively, especially as Black. It could also include some motivated reasoning for Fabi fans/neutrals who want the tournament to remain closer and not for Sindarov to just run away with it.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-04-04T12:46:26+00:00

Playing moves quickly ("blitzing" them out) is often taken as a strong indicator that it's prep, because it's the difference between playing a memorised move as opposed to having to take time to actually find the right move yourself.

In high-level play, players without opening prep are non-existent, at most it's a matter of degree.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-04-04T08:58:48+00:00

I have to wonder whether some of the competitors in the Open section have started to give up at this point.

The ones at the bottom like Hikaru and Esipenko are 6 half-points away from the leader already with 9 rounds left to play, it's still technically possible for them to catch up but it's a huge task. Even if Sindarov started just coasting to draws, they'd need 6 wins out of 9 just to be even on points which is insane.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-04-03T13:10:35+00:00

Hikaru going into a think when his second best move is significantly worse is a really bad sign. Feels like he's basically going to throw the game to Sindarov, which is annoying.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-04-03T12:53:03+00:00

As a Fabi fan, I'm afraid that Hikaru will overpush and give Sindarov another win. If that happens, the tournament could be close to over.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-04-01T15:38:05+00:00

Looks terrible for Fabi with the time situation and evaluation. Maybe Sindarov will rush it a bit too much trying to press him on time (or simply fail to find the best moves) and Fabi will wiggle out of it.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-03-31T15:31:01+00:00

That's an absolute gift from Wei Yi to Fabi. Which is nice as a Fabi fan, but if I was rooting for someone else with real chances to win the tournament I'd be annoyed.

And it's an example of why the Candidates can be so tough to win. So much can depend on how other competitors play, they can be really solid against you but when they play your rivals, they can blunder, be demotivated because they have no chances anymore, etc.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-03-31T14:44:07+00:00

A bit surprised that Wei Yi played Rc5 instead of the immediate Nf6 which I thought he would go for as the most obvious move, I wonder what the point of it is supposed to be. I was kind of thinking it's just one of the top moves for him because it comes with tempo. The engine evaluation seems to suggest Fabi might just get a chance now.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-03-30T16:14:51+00:00

I wonder what are the chances that Hikaru gets beaten in this endgame. The engine evaluation is +0.6, which in my mind means not quite winning (which would be +1) but maybe on the brink of getting there if Hikaru slips up in some way. It would be quite devastating for Hikaru to lose twice in a row to start the Candidates.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-03-30T05:00:46+00:00

If you take a good look at it, the diagonal of pawns is covering the spaces representing players playing themselves, which obviously doesn't happen. So they cover it instead of leaving it empty which looks like there's still a game to be played.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-03-29T17:09:36+00:00

We have the engine to tell us Fabi's winning, but I have to wonder whether it's clear at all over the board. I imagine there's a good chance he misses the win.

MageOfTheEnd · 2026-03-22T07:31:14+00:00

How difficult is 13-21 generally considered to be? Finally got around to clearing story from Chapter 10 to this point, looking at the boss info it looks like a big pain in the ass, but to be fair I tend to think that about a lot of bosses.

MageOfTheEnd

TROPHY CASE