You missed the chance to name the thread "YouKnowWho hunting for that YouKnowWhat"

Seeing Alexei Shirov in the Challenger section is making me sad.

Agreed, and it's a shame he didn't get his match with Kasparov.

Agreed as well.

Finally hit 40 on Puzzle Rush!



Shiiiiip it.

Nice, that's nice.

On a scale from 1-10 (10 being the most profitable thing you can do) where would you rank doing puzzle rush in terms of increasing ELO/getting better at chess?

Hmmm, that's actually a tough question and I am not sure about the answer.

I'd say if you have time to do other stuff, then Puzzle Rush is probably like 5/10 or so. But if your time to work on chess is very limited, then it becomes maybe 8/10

The organizers have updated the Prague Open starting list: http://czechtour.net/files/PICHF-C.pdf

A whopping change from the first preliminary list, and now I am already a 26th seed, with almost a month still remaining. Safe to say that getting title/federation requirements for a norm won't be an issue - so basically just a small technicality remains of having to play very well

Oh and how did I forget to mention, my books have finally arrived! I started from the Gelfand's book, just in my bed, without the board. I am only like 30 pages in, but so far I am quite mind blown at the quality of it. The clarity of his explanations is quite surreal, there are just these little gems scattered throughout the commentary that make me go "holy ****, is that so?!" constantly. Very eager to get back home and get back to it in the evening

I don't have a diamond membership and not likely to get one just for puzzle rush so was curious since to form my own opinion I'd need to play it a bunch (not just 1/day, which I don't even do).

I have to have a board to read it .

Any intereset and referencing the page/quotes that you've found most illuminating? I'd love to check it out and "read along" with you .

Can you give some examples?

There were other small ones, but the ones that stood out:

Page 16, after black's Bc5 - not because of the explanation, but because of the fact that he thought for 20+ minutes in this position. I would not recognize this as a position where white needs a long think, as a matter of fact I would play a3 very quickly as it feels natural, but that's not necessarily good, as I would likely be oblivious to quite viable alternatives for white.

Pages 16-17, explanation after black's a5 - this one is just a gem IMO. Firstly, because I would play a5 instantly as black in this position, so it is super good to see a very clear explanation as to why it just isn't good and is more of an automatic move. Secondly, the explanation as to why the inclusion of a3 and a5 definitely favors white is so simple and clear that it's just fantastic and not something I think of during the game. Thirdly, a bit deeper explanation of the weaknesses created by a5 (it's not just b5 square, but the fact that the base of the pawn chain is likely going to be on b6, instead of a7 is also something I would likely not think about at all during the game.

Page 20, explanation before white's Be3 - the concept in itself is well known (even to me!), but the reason why I enjoyed it very much in this case is that before reading it I tried to put myself in Gelfand's shoes and approach the position after black's Qb3, and this concept came to my mind in a different fashion - black is underdeveloped, how can I punish him by active play? So I even started looking at crazy stuff like Nd5 and so on. I came up with Be3 as my move in a bit, but not through consciously trying to make use of that concept, but just cause I thought it creates some immediate problems for black. It was refreshing to see that it's kind of how Gelfand thought of it too, that the use of the concept was more subconscious than conscious - except I am not sure if I have it there in my subconsciousness at all Well, I hope I do now!

Page 22 - "at this point I had to calculate that the knight endgame is winning", bro, what knight endgame?! Still four rooks on the board! Ooooooooooooh, that knight endgame... This one showed me how far ahead he is of me, as I would absolutely not be calculating any possible knight endgames in this position.

Page 23 - just the fact that this endgame is so obviously winning to him, while it is not so clear to me. I mean, I understand that white is much much better, but I would not dare to say it is winning. Now when I see it play out, it seems very obvious that it was easily winning all along.

Enough for now, I'll try to post others as I come along them, if I remember to do so.

Really cool to see what stands out to a 2400 .

Do you agree/disagree with it? What stood out to you?

I haven't had a chance to go look at the book yet :/. I will try to remember for tomorrow as this is really good stuff!

So a short update:

I've been working through the Gelfand's book and am still loving it. There are too many great bits of information to really point out, and they are all part of a broader context anyway, so some maybe wouldn't even sound that important without having the whole context with them. But overall, I think it is pretty much the best chess book I've read so far

Prague is now a bit more than a week away and I) it is unclear if I am still going and ii) I am not going to reach my weight loss goal.

As far as I), one of my kids just got chickenpox, the other also didn't have them yet so will for sure get it. Even though it is not a dangerous thing or anything, but I am not sure if the grandparents will still wanna stay with them and let me and my wife go to Prague. I hope they will, but it is still undecided.

As far as ii), I am currently at 295 lbs, which is 10 lbs from my goal before Prague. I feel like my goal was a rafter lofty one all things considered, and I am still very happy with the progress - the weight is dropping slowly, but surely, so all is well. Maybe more importantly, my habits have changed considerably and I feel like I am not struggling to maintain them, which is a good sign going forward - in the past I would start struggling and give up at some point. Currently, it does not feel "hard" to keep up my regime/routine, so I have hopes that it is sustainable

And in any case, -25 lbs is already something, even though I am obviously still a long way away from where I wanna be overall.

The best sign imo! People seem to far overrate how fast they lose weight -- and underrate their likelihood of sustaining it in an enjoyable fashion. So many diets fail because people frontload the weight loss, some of the point of mental self-torture, while not trying to instill new habits or manage environmental factors (e.g. minimizing household junk foods so that impulse eating is outright impossible rather than requiring exertion of "willpower" to avoid). So don't consider that a failure!

Btw, slower weight loss (as long as it is enough to keep motivation up) is likely better long-term anyway for quite a few reasons (including results over one's lifetime, the most important thing for health). The main reason to do it quickly is that ppl want quick fixes and for short-term compliance.

In other words. Keep up the great work! You are doing an awesome job at the beginning of what will be a journey and lifestyle change .

Bump for Prague Open starting tomorrow.

Good luck, YKW!

Will you keep us up to date?

Get it done YKW!

I will try to post some updates, but probably wont post games/analysis until after the tournament. We had a very tough journey by bus, arrived just at 10 am this morning, and had to play some hours later with basically no sleep. I beat a Van Foreest today! Machteld, though, a younger sister of the GM brothers. She is I think 11 y. o and 2030 ELO, so quite terrible pairing for round 1, but somehow managed to get it done waiting for pairings at a local pub now, two games tomorrow, with the first one at 9 am, which will be hard after already little sleep last night. Also, quite sick actually, but I hope that the beer will cure it in no time!

Won a pretty wild game vs 2180 FM as black. I am not sure how correct the game was, but the end was very beautiful, involved a queen sac I am secretly hoping for the game of a round prize hehe but probably aint gonna happen. Anyway, in R3 I assume I will get someone titled, either a GM or a high rated IM, so we will see how that goes. Given my condition (running nose, temperature, etc.) I am actually super happy to have 2/2, and I am feeling great pleasure just from sitting at the board and playing, so I hope that will carry me

Playing Icelandic GM Hannes Stefansson (2523) as white in R3.

The game will be live on http://praguechessfestival.com/live-english (I don't think chessbomb is showing the open, only Masters and Challengers for some reason).

The game is in 1 hr 19 mins from this post - time to prepare a bit

Seems like a pretty crazy game 3. It also seemed like you might have chances for quite a while. Glglgl in the next rounds, you're still off to a great start!

Sadly I didn’t get it this time I didnt have time to check with an engine yet, but it felt like I was doing OK before miscalculation in time trouble. Still fairly happy, as I on purpose tried to play in a most principled way and gave a big fight (at least how I felt during the game), but sadly didnt pull it off this time. But its all good