Got blocked by Kramnik yesterday, so thought I would celebrate it by making this parody video :). It is not perfect, but I spent way too many hours on it! I did entertain myself - so I hope I can also entertain you :).

It's been a while since I made one of these, but Candidates 2026 seemed like a decent opportunity to do so. Forgot how much fun it is to make them.

17 year old IM Roman Dehtiarov has just won clear first at the European Individual Championship with a 2750 performance, after beating 6 2600 GMs. Dehtiarov was 126th seed (!!). Is this one of the biggest upsets ever? Crazy!

If anyone has real paying work, I would consider that. I applied for a job fairly recently in the chess world, couldn't even get an interview, even though I thought I was absolutely ideal. I'm 60 next month, will have to work into my 70s, so now is the time to find something.

Yeah, thank god top players in Freestyle never want to avoid big risks in situations where it suits them.

Heartbreaking. Really hope Anna can somehow win the whole thing, feels like she has been playing the best chess overall. If not, this one the game vs Divya are going to haunt her for a long time. Such a wonderful endgame, too...

It is very sad to see people missing their norm opportunities because of forfeits, and it is unfortunately common in big open events. I can count 16 forfeits in the last round of @ChessMenorca. Is there something that can be done for these situations @EmilSutovsky?

Dear chess players, Can we please stop doing this? Not appearing at the games you are paired for is rude and unsportsmanlike, even when it doesn't fuck up somebody's chances for a GM norm.

GOAT discovers how it is to play in a chess open after a long time?

Don't let Obama play the Iran card in order to start a war in order to get elected--be careful Republicans!

Game of the year material?

While I don't have a bone to pick in this fight and do think being elitistic toward 1600 players is stupid, I do feel the need to point out that Dejan Joveljic, a Serbian professional footballer, is rated 2200 FIDE, 2300 blitz on chess.com

Was waiting to see "Oh it is just a kid" or "Why are you dunking on a kid" comment, and wasn't disappointed... If anything, I think the fact that this is normalized EVEN in the case of a 12-year-old kid makes it even worse.

Except that there is a whole curriculum (Step Method) where there is strong emphasis precisely on the concepts of capturing, attacking, defending, and taking unprotected pieces. Maybe you should get more familiar with literature and read some CHESS BOOKS before making such claims

Did you put this in the intro section of your own book?

In watching the clip below of Danya's last stream and hearing the pain in his voice, how deeply the baseless accusations affected him, I am left so mad at what we all allowed to happen right in front of us. It's time to stop worrying about the backlash. I am calling on the FIDE EDC to remove Vladimir Kramnik from the FIDE record books, revoke his title, and disqualify his world championship. Chess is one of the most beloved games in the world and should be a place for kindness and inclusion. It should be unilaterally unacceptable to use a platform that Chess has given you to bully, harass, and slander a colleague. What Kramnik has done to David Navara, Hikaru, and Danya, and others can not be tolerated. It is up to our community and the governing body to set an example that this type of behavior will have consequences. Make it known loud and clear that Chess stands against these hateful acts. If you do them intentionally and maliciously there will be no place for you in our game. FIDE and it's EDC must establish clear policies moving forward around the safety of it's players both in person and digitally. The events leading up to this tragedy happened in broad daylight over the last 18 months. They could have been stopped. Nothing like this can ever be allowed to happen again.