Bobby Fischer humble as always

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94_ZsMoWfes

A nice little puzzle

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1d9n0dH9Ek

I saw the first move immediately, but I missed the second move.

Chess Level 02: White to Play and Win (Instructive)

https://chesslevel2.blogspot.com/2025/11/white-to-play-and-win-instructive.html?sc=1763992600709

GM Daniel Naroditsky

I have been waiting to hear the cause of death of 29 year old Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky.  He was a popular chess Youtuber having made hundreds of videos.

The police said that they were investing his death as a possible suicide or drug overdose.  His family was requesting privacy, so I am not sure if we will hear the official cause of death.

The night before Naroditsky died, he was playing a marathon session almost till morning. He may have been streaming his games at the time.  Reportedly, some of his friends tried to intervene, saying that he was playing himself to exhaustion.  He said that he was fine.

I looked at his history on chess.com.  He lost his last 6 games, which is when he probably decided to stop playing.  In his last game he hung a rook before resigning, which is rare for a Grandmaster.  It probably shows that he was exhausted.  Hanging a rook is an unfortunate way to end one's chess career.

Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik has shown paranoid levels of suspicion about online cheating.  Although online cheating is a problem, Kramnik has accused way more people than what would be reasonable.  He has accused some of the world's best players of cheating.  In particular, he slandered Daniel Naroditsky for over a year in a way that was harmful and Naroditsky said caused him distress.  Many people believed the former world champion.

Although we still don't know the cause of death for Daniel Naroditsky, the world chess federation (FIDE) is considering sanctions against Kramnik for what they perceive as improper behavior.  They even tried to warn Kramnik that he was getting out of line.

--
Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

The Type of Chess Problem I Don't Like

White to play and mate in 2

Solution...

I don't particularly like problems with castling as the solution. They feel like trick problems. I was thinking that it was impossible until I realized that White could castle.

There is no reasonable way that you would reach this position in a real game.

Chess for Babies?

I doubt that babies are capable of abstract thinking.  (BTW, the games on this video are really interesting.)

I remember that at a young age, maybe 9 or 10, I was fascinated with any kind of grid, like a tiled surface.  I would imagine a ball traveling along a diagonal and bouncing off an edge at a right angle and continuing on bouncing off other edges.  This was long before ball and paddle video games were invented that did essentially the same thing.  

My point is that humans have a natural fascination with geometric patterns and chess is a geometric game.

Jumble Puzzle

The answer to the puzzle is ...

"Make a move"

A World Champion designed this, white to move and win!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Jc0hDxV_Gs

I would call this a master level endgame.  These corresponding-square problems arise when the king is trying to advance on one of two sides, and the enemy king is trying to guard both sides.  So the two kings do a dance to out maneuver the other.

@john2001plus
0 seconds ago
It was obvious to me that this was a classic corresponding-squares problem. Starting from the left, the Black king must be on b6 when the White king is on c4. If the Black king is on a6 then he is too far left to prevent the White king from marching to h5. From this we obtain five more corresponding squares: the White squares d3, e3, f3, g3, and h4 correspond, respectively, to the Black squares c7, d7 e7, f6, and g6. If it is Black's turn when both kings occupy corresponding squares, Black is forced out of position. 

From that I knew White would need to triangulate at some point, but the actual triangulation move was not obvious to me. Maybe in a real game I would stumble on the correct move. 

The key idea is that after 1. Kb2 Kb8 Black wants to move to a corresponding square after White does. White also wants to move to a corresponding square after Black does. 

Note that 1... Kb7 loses to 2. Kc3 because both players attack two corresponding squares and it is Black who has to move first. This is tricky to see. 

(I'm still trying to wrap my brain around 1. Kb3 Ka7 draws.  After 2.Kc3 Kb7 we have the situation described above where both players attack the same two corresponding squares, but it is White's turn.  Can't White still try to triangulate?  Apparently not.   I need to look at this further.)

So where's the triangulation? 

2. Kc2 Kc8 

(2... Kb7 3. Kc3 is still winning.) 

3. Kd2 Kd8 

Black stays in range of b6. 

4. Kc3 Kc7 

Still keeping in range of b6. 

5. Kd3 

This is the triangulation because Black must still guard b6. Both kings are on their corresponding squares and it is Black's turn 

5... Kd7 

(5... Kb6 6. Ke3 wins on the kingside.) 

6. Kc4.