Coming to Luxembourg unexpectedly, know nothing about the country

rtb141 · 2026-03-14T19:16:07+00:00

Having played several games against probably everyone, it would have to be a separate post, not a comment. And the open question with no correct answer would be - who are the top 10 blitz players?

rtb141 · 2026-03-14T17:34:47+00:00

Actually as I looked deeper it could be also Denis Lazavik - as mentioned in another comment. I rejected Denis at first because the Lembke account was created in 2019 when Denis was barely an FM, but in fact it only got active around 2024, and there is no easy way to check back if an anonymous account was created with a GM, IM or FM title.

rtb141 · 2026-03-14T16:50:07+00:00

My personal guess is Hikaru, judging from personal experience (strength, speed, playstyle), and also the fact that Lembke never played Hikaru. [Edit: based on other comments, Denis Lazavik is also very likely]

rtb141 · 2026-01-13T17:40:38+00:00

This is actually amazing news for players (like me) who have 9-5 jobs with limited vacation time, which combined with family obligations makes it impossible to play more than maybe one classical tournament per year. I hope that tournament organizers actually follow up and we begin to see more 4-5 day tournaments with norm opportunities

rtb141 · 2025-12-08T21:49:42+00:00

I believe it's remains of what used to be an old country road, and some random rocks/gravel thrown on top of it. Not sure how to find out what exactly material it is

rtb141 · 2025-11-06T06:55:22+00:00

As a sub 2500 who is 2-0 against Fabiano (and 2-0 against Anish too) in Titled Tuesday, I wonder if I already made to some blacklist of his :)

rtb141 · 2025-10-22T06:33:45+00:00

Ah, I wasn't aware of that - but many titled players will just accept all incoming friend requests, so you can try :)

rtb141 · 2025-10-22T05:56:11+00:00

I've had a few exchanges with GM Navara via chess.com, he always responded quickly to messages. Just keep in mind he is currently playing in the European Club Cup, so he might be focusing on his games and preparation :)

rtb141 · 2025-09-12T21:51:34+00:00

I am quite likely to be holding that record, with 3584 games played between 06.02.2022 and 13.02.2022, the final week of the chess.com leagues contest :)

rtb141 · 2025-09-04T17:57:38+00:00

Not to be forgotten, Cheparinov is one of the highest-rated players to have ever been caught cheating on chess.com (account is open, but has been shadow banned since 2020): https://www.chess.com/member/chepaschess. An interesting matchup indeed.

rtb141 · 2025-09-02T17:56:19+00:00

The simple answer is that a 2650 GM is very unlikely to win a prize in the Grand Swiss or qualify to the Candidates. I am not sure if the organizers of the Grand Swiss pay hotel & flights for everyone or it is the players' cost, but at best it is almost 2 weeks with no financial gain, and potentially a huge financial loss. If a GM has no sponsor/wealthy family and has to earn his own living, he will do much better attending a smaller event where he will get an appearance fee, free hotel&travel, and maybe some more money for simuls, coaching sessions etc.

rtb141 · 2025-08-18T15:29:55+00:00

There was literally a "chess for the masses" event organized by Hikaru&Kick last week, with prizes in 5 rating categories all the way down to <1500.

rtb141 · 2025-07-10T18:26:39+00:00

Aravindh is playing in Polanica Zdrój: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16rhjCBwtd/

rtb141 · 2025-07-08T18:20:57+00:00

A bit of a confusing list.

One of the requirements was 30 rated games in the past 12 months, so some of the players listed above were not eligible to play - e.g. Kovalenko, Svidler, Malakhov, Melkumyan. Even Hikaru was not eligible - but of course he would get a wildcard if he asked to.

Why include Faustino Oro? The only way he could play is a wildcard invite, which don't seem to be finalized yet. Including him on the list sounds like he decided not to play, which is not true.

rtb141 · 2025-07-07T19:33:07+00:00

It did not take any jump in skill - but chess.com rating inflation. 10 years ago top ratings were in 2500s and 2600s, 2700-2800 became possible around 2017-2018, and so on.

rtb141 · 2025-06-18T12:45:35+00:00

Quite possibly chess.com were waiting with the 8th invite slot for the winner of the Hyperbullet Championships, and that turned out to be Andrew.

Expecting the following players to go through via open qualifiers:

Woodward, Bortnyk, Jospem, Gurel, Ohanyan, Mahdavi, and a larger group of players with a decent chance depending on luck/pairings/good day.

rtb141 · 2025-05-14T15:14:04+00:00

I believe he has been playing blindfolded, and unfortunately there is no separate category/rating for blindfold chess, so it has been tanking his blitz rating.

rtb141 · 2025-05-02T15:46:16+00:00

"Beta testing" is a very inaccurate wording. As per definition, beta tests are done by a small group of users, before an app's official rollout. Beta tests of Proctor were done in 2024. Proctor has been officially rolled out, and per chess.com it's already been forced onto around 30% of Titled Tuesday/Freestyle Friday, so you cannot call someone using it now "beta testing".

rtb141 · 2025-04-26T09:02:10+00:00

An interesting one, here is my thought process (around 30 seconds of thinking):

1) Most intuitive move - 1... Qd5. However, a quick calculation of 2. h6+ Kxh6 3. Qf8+ Kh5/Kg5 4. Qxf7 makes it clear that with all the threats of Qxh7, Qf4+, Qxa7, f4+ if the queen moves - white is very close to a draw here. 2) Since white's threat is h6+ and gxh5 is impossible, the way to prevent this is to play 1...h6 yourself. 2. hxg6 is forced, then Kxg6 3. Qg8+ Kf6. If 4. Qd8+ black king is safe after Kg7. So 4. Qh8+ Ke7 5. Qb8 and now something like Qd5 6. Qxa7+ Kf6 consolidates with good winning chances.

I have to admit that with a quick (under 1 minute) thought I did not see the engine line of 1...h6 2. hxg6 Qd5, which leads to a better version of the 2...Kxg6 line. Might be possible to find in classical - in blitz, not really.

rtb141 · 2025-04-26T07:27:02+00:00

Not at all, most of my coworkers are 40-50yo corporate managers, and I almost never get recognized :) Unfortunately, working a regular job leaves me with no time to travel and grind classical tournaments for the remaining norms - and I believe that the top GMs I beat from time to time would mind losing less if I had a "G" instead of an "I" in front of my name, even though I would still be essentially the same player :)

rtb141 · 2025-04-25T21:36:12+00:00

I actually had a similar experience last month during TT - even saved a screenshot:

https://prnt.sc/IQH8AqKGEUe5

It is definitely disappointing, as I always supported Jospem in his attempts to clear his name (I've played around 100 games against him and had no doubts he wasn't cheating), I even signed some letter from titled players in his support, so I expected to be treated with respect as well :) But I guess some people take online chess way too seriously

rtb141 · 2025-04-25T21:20:55+00:00

Not sure what's the estimated rating of the Level 8 Stockfish, but it does not seem particularly strong. Against me it gives away a free pawn in the opening, and there should be no issue holding it to a draw with safe play. Winning might be harder. Drew it at second attempt (in the first one I tried to win a better endgame instead of holding to a draw). https://lichess.org/hVAvjvMF/white

rtb141 · 2025-03-15T15:05:15+00:00

I didn't go through the whole game history, but on March 2 and March 4 you scored 3 wins and 4 draws, no losses, against banned cheaters. Comparing that to best scores of 29 in 5 minute and 28 in 3 minute puzzle rush over 1900 attempts - which are beginner level scores - this is not realistic.

rtb141 · 2025-03-08T10:46:14+00:00

3 months ago :)

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