Let me explain exactly why every new subdivision in America looks like the top photo, because the math is wild. A mature tree increases a home's value by 7 to 19 percent. On a $400,000 house, that's $28,000 to $76,000. A single shade tree produces the cooling equivalent of ten room-size air conditioners running 20 hours a day. One tree on the west side of a house cuts energy bills by 12 percent within 15 years. The bottom photo is worth more, costs less to live in, and sells faster. This has been documented by the University of Washington, Clemson, Michigan State, and the USDA. The data is not in dispute. Removing those trees saves the builder roughly $5,000 per lot. Concrete trucks need twice the dripline radius of every standing tree. Utility trenches need flat ground. A bulldozer flattens 200 lots in an afternoon. Preserving trees adds weeks and thousands per home. So the developer pockets $5,000 in savings and the buyer eats $50,000 in lost value for the next two decades. The person making the decision and the person paying for it have never been in the same room. The Woodlands, Texas is the proof of what happens when they are. George Mitchell bought 28,000 acres of Houston timberland in 1974 and preserved 28% as permanent green space. He forced McDonald's to build behind the tree canopy. That McDonald's became one of the highest-volume locations in Texas. The first office building, designed to reflect the surrounding forest so you couldn't see it from the street, leased completely. The Woodlands median home price today: $615,000. Katy, a comparable Houston suburb that clear-cut: $375,000. Named #1 community to live in America two years running. Fifty years of data. The trees are worth more than removing them saves. Developers clear-cut anyway because they sell the house once and leave. You live in it for 30 years.

Congrats to Magnus on his phenomenal 20th World title, he is the greatest mental athlete of all time imo.

I am excited to share a work we did in the Discovery team at @GoogleDeepMind using RL and generative models to discover creative chess puzzles 🔊♟️♟️ #neurips2025 🎨While strong chess players intuitively recognize the beauty of a position, articulating the precise elements that constitute creativity remains elusive. To address this, we pre-trained generative models on public datasets and then applied reinforcement learning, using novel rewards designed for uniqueness, counter-intuitiveness, realism, and novelty. This approach doubled the number of novel chess puzzles compared to the original training data, while successfully maintaining aesthetic diversity. Three distinguished experts—International Master of chess compositions Amatzia Avni (author of "Creative Chess"), Grandmaster Jonathan Levitt @JonathanLevitt7 (author of "Secrets of Spectacular Chess"), and Grandmaster Matthew Sadler @gmmds (author of "Game Changer")—evaluated and selected the puzzles they found most compelling. Their preference was for puzzles exhibiting original, paradoxical, surprising, and naturally occurring positions, with particular emphasis on those that integrated aesthetic themes in innovative ways and demonstrated exceptional over-the-board vision. 🧩Try to solve the puzzles @chesscom: chess.com/c/2wCTN7Uv2

I hate missing ALTO this time around! Any #chesspunks going?

This is the sweetest clip 😂

Fun mate-in-one in my 3|2 blitz game this morning. Always feels so good to spot a tactic like this! #chesspunks

Gukesh winning the Candidates made this much harder, but I am happy to publish this one, titled "Nakamura Fan Reacts to Gukesh Winning Candidates". I will never reach the glory of the Kramnik one. But I did entertain myself, so I hope I can entertain you, too! 1/8

Driving the 4.5 hours up to Charlotte in the morning to play in ALTO and grateful I don’t have to worry about what shoes to pack.

Please join us in Charlotte on April 19 #chesspunks !

Eclipse, minute-by-minute. We drove 1.5hrs to the east of St Louis to make it into the band of totality. This is my 4th time experiencing totality and few experiences compare - highly recommend if you ever get the chance!

I’m in St Louis for the weekend! We’re here for the solar eclipse tomorrow, but very happy to finally visit the World Chess Hall of Fame! #chess

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 :).

I found Nh4! here, although I admit I didn’t see the full mate in 4 (blitz game, 20s on the clock). Thankfully my opponent played Kh3? which made it a mate in 1, which I did find! Both mates are satisfying 👍

I’m signed up and can’t wait! Hope to see many more #chesspunks there.

Ugh team tournaments I tell you - I am playing @thestrongchess in round 3 after losing rounds 1 and 2 against 2000 rated opponents already...getting ready to be slaughtered 🥹

The Menopawns are driving down to Team Championships South right now! Which other #chesspunks will be there too?

License plate ideas OHNOMYQ BXF7GG CSTLLNG E4C5D4 SACEXCG OFFRDRW JADOUBE FCKFIDE

Guys I just beat a 7 year old in my rapid game, under time pressure, from a worse position. Damn what an adrenaline rush. Feels fantastic. (Poor kid though, he was upset). #chess #chesspunks

Rather late than never! I’m in Charlotte for the 2-day. We have 3 rounds of rapid and then join the 3-day for round 4 this afternoon. I don’t love rapid, but excited for the classical games tonight and tomorrow! #chesspunks please say hi if you spot me!

Amen.