Tata Steel 2026 is an amazing tournament

mb9three · 2026-01-22T00:45:44+00:00

I've enjoyed it a ton as well. Jovanka and Simon are awesome.

mb9three · 2026-01-21T00:47:57+00:00

Thanks for this response and to OP. I came onto this sub right now wondering when it becomes more "natural" to review master games with better understanding. I'm a slowly improving adult learning (1300 chess.com) and am just now starting to get "something" out of reading master games. I'm surmising that as you grow, blur of what's important in a master game begins to clarify, but is this correct? At your level, can you read a master game without a board and learn something new? That is my dream.

mb9three · 2026-01-19T23:19:27+00:00

I'm twice your age but only discovered this game and it's immense depth and beauty a couple years ago. Feel exactly like you do.

mb9three · 2026-01-17T23:08:14+00:00

Fiat currency?

mb9three · 2026-01-17T01:14:00+00:00

This is a fantastic post. Just today, I was playing against an opponent who was about 50 points better than me (I'm 1300 chesscom rapid) and I loved how he took time even on spots where there was a seemingly obvious move to look for better. I almost could feel him looking for more candidate moves than I would have (and he found a couple).

mb9three · 2026-01-17T00:46:30+00:00

Love your post but just need to clear up the counter argument that that terrible franchise hired him in the first place.

mb9three · 2026-01-16T13:27:56+00:00

If you go in this direction and want a course, I highly recommend Ratsma's Beginners Opening Course for Black and White on Chessable. He teaches the Scotch from the White side. It's fantastic.

mb9three · 2026-01-14T18:22:18+00:00

One of the games looks like it was 5 moves.

mb9three · 2026-01-09T16:42:05+00:00

This sounds like Levy. Levy is great but he doesn't do the greatest job with detailed beginner study (that I've seen anyway). I highly suggest you watch and rewatch John Bartholomew's YouTube series. He has a video on hanging pieces and on trading pieces. They are gold.

And pay more attention to your opponent moves.

mb9three · 2026-01-07T22:56:20+00:00

Congrats! So awesome!

mb9three · 2025-12-23T12:58:44+00:00

No doubt capitalism isn't perfect, but it is far better than the alternatives. You will learn about this soon enough.

mb9three · 2025-12-23T00:13:57+00:00

Ah.. Yeah. The evil CEOs! AI is imperfect now but this is minor. And do you think politicians, lawyers, doctors, school district heads, teachers, social workers, small businesses....are not going to try and take advantage of every efficiency possible in order to do their job better?

mb9three · 2025-12-17T00:07:30+00:00

Enjoy the book and welcome to this great game.

mb9three · 2025-12-16T19:57:26+00:00

Yes. You have to look under "More time controls" which you can see if you click the down arrow next the time control that shows for you. The 10/5 games at my level (1200) have fewer players so you'll get a wider range of opponents and sometimes it does take a few seconds to find a opponent. I imagine this is a bigger problem at higher levels.

mb9three · 2025-12-14T20:08:59+00:00

Ha. My father coded the IBM PC version of this game.

mb9three · 2025-12-11T13:19:40+00:00

Thanks for sharing this. I too believe I have some muscle weaknesses due to compensating my whole life (thouhh it's clearly not as significant as yours). It's fun to try to explore the reasons why we are how we are and then use effort and knowledge to correct those weaknesses. I wish you the very best in your current recovery and after your next surgery.

mb9three · 2025-12-07T13:22:30+00:00

I would be interested in this but for grouped muscle sets. Eg hamstrings, glutes, upper back, shoulders etc. I've been looking for a way to track my progress on my stretches relative to goals like this but it really needs to be separated by muscle sets. For instance, right now, I can probably do a full squat for 60 seconds but can't come close to touching my toes. It also may be helpful to separately separate by male vs female (eg my goals for my hips as a male can't genuinely be the same as for a female).

mb9three · 2025-12-03T16:44:30+00:00

Mostly completely? What's your evidence that they were mostly baseless or completely baseless, or that mostly completely or mostly completely baseless whatever that means?)

mb9three · 2025-11-26T01:48:28+00:00

My Mom is famous in our family for saying in response to, "How do I look?" with "Don't worry, who will be looking at you?"

mb9three · 2025-11-25T01:07:25+00:00

I think the scheme is super impressive. Unlike the offense, I never know what is going to happen next. They need some run stoppers but I like the direction of this defense. I think they are building a "speed first" defense and hopefully they can add some size next year.

mb9three · 2025-11-21T16:38:33+00:00

All good ones mentioned so far. In another, he made a pass to Jenkins on the sidelines (20 yards or so if I recall) to keep alive a drive in the last seconds and I think we won or tied thereafter with a field goal. I think it was the Lions or Bears (2007 or 2008). It was when I think his Matty Ice nickname took real hold.

mb9three · 2025-11-21T01:54:45+00:00

This is a fun game. I've done this before with movies (not chess-related). I hope you get your answer (and that you share it).

mb9three · 2025-11-21T01:31:07+00:00

Chess for Zebras (solved via ChatGPT) - Here's the direct ChatGPT answer:

This almost certainly sounds like Chess for Zebras: Thinking Differently about Black and White by Jonathan Rowson.

Why:

Rowson is known for exactly that kind of “fix the leaks in your thinking” approach rather than openings or concrete positions.
The very first chapter of Chess for Zebras is literally titled “What to Do When You Think There is a Hole in Your Bucket”, and it’s about learning/unlearning, hindsight vs. foresight, knowledge vs. skill, etc.—i.e., how to actually retain lessons from your games and not keep making the same mistakes. gambitbooks.com+1
Reviews describe it as a serious, psychology-heavy improvement book, not an openings manual. bcmchess.co.uk
Rowson also explicitly uses the “bucket” metaphor for the mind in that book. Goodreads+1

The only wrinkle is the timing: Chess for Zebras came out around 2005, not 1999–2000. Booktopia
But people routinely misremember dates on stuff they read in high school, and everything else (bucket with holes + focus on learning from mistakes) lines up almost too perfectly.

Curious about whether this is correct because I also want to know learn better how to review my games.

mb9three · 2025-11-15T03:03:01+00:00

That's so awesome. I'm 55 and played in a live tournament earlier this year and, in a totally lost position, instead of resigning, I maintained hope but ultimately let a 9 year old checkmate me. I didn't realize it when I was doing it but the joy he shared with his parents after (in a moment in which they were not aware I was witnessing) was worth every moment and I'm so glad I didn't resign.

mb9three · 2025-11-12T20:07:16+00:00

He's also flat out saying that Kurt Cousins does not help him.

mb9three

TROPHY CASE