James

Go and follow the Insta for more #Chess content 🤙🏼 instagram.com/exchangesotb

We can't all be like Mikhail Tal...but we can learn when it's best to sac a piece 👀 Share your best-failed piece sacrifice in the comments 💬😅 buff.ly/3QO8Bqr

Somehow, I ended up winning this game 🥲

Where's your favourite place to play #chess? 💭

@ExchangesOTB Sac the bishop 🤙🏼

White to move, what would you play? 💭 Bullet chess at its best 🤙🏼

Rainy days = chess study ♟️📚 Better than losing a load of elo playing bullet 😂

Hikaru’s brow game is strong 🤨

@ExchangesOTB @chesscom Doing 1. c4 proud 👏🏼♟️

Bullet chess isn’t pretty, it’s certainly not good for learning… But it’s so damn fun 😂

This is huge news for the UK chess scene 👏🏼♟️❤️

@ExchangesOTB @GrainAndGlassJQ Love to get some games going in Birmingham 👏🏼

Where do you play chess? 📍 Birmingham has some fantastic venues where you can enjoy a game♟️

@ExchangesOTB Awesome puzzle - everyone loves to SACKKK THE ROOOOK 🤣

What’s been your favourite puzzle to solve? 🧩 This has to be one of mine…

@ExchangesOTB @ChessAndBridge Best #chess store in the UK 👏🏼♟️❤️

Where’s your favourite place to pick up chess items? 💭 Mine has to be @ChessAndBridge 👀

🙌♥️♟️

@ExchangesOTB Knights rule the board 👏🏼

Two knights and a bishop 🤙🏼

What’s your favourite way to study #chess?

If you like #chess go give @ExchangesOTB a follow 🤙🏼♟️

@GMJanTimman And of course, “The fork is mightier than the spoon” myself, earlier today.

My quote of the week: “The Pin is mightier than the sword” . Fred Reinfeld

@lularobs The content we didn’t know we needed 😂

@olimpiuurcan A truly awesome photo 👏🏼📸

The signs of frailty that Ding Liren exhibited in the first game of the World Championship, both on and off the board, against Ian Nepomniachtchi, were further confirmed in the second game, which Ding himself described as a "disaster." His attempt to surprise his opponent with 4.h3 (after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5), a move suggested by Richard Rapport, his creative second, failed to give him any significant opening advantage, although it did spark an interesting debate about possible transpositions. Setting aside the intricacies of the opening, it is unusual for a player of Ding Liren's caliber to completely overlook a basic move like 12...gxf6. As evidenced by moves like 18...f5!! and 20...Rxg5!!, Nepomniachtchi's demolition of Ding was entertaining and executed with remarkable precision. However, based on these two early games, it seems that the current version of Ding Liren is not the same player who surpassed the 2800 rating barrier, challenged valiantly Magnus Carlsen and other world-class players, and achieved a historic and stunning 100-game undefeated streak before the COVID-19 disruption. Following the game, Levon Aronian tweeted that "Ding's long absence from competitive chess is visible both physically and chess-wise. No wonder he spends little time at the board. The resting room during such stressful times acts as a sanctuary." Peter Heine Nielsen, Carlsen's long-time trainer, described the game on his podcast as "very low level in terms of chess moves, time management, and, well, everything..." and suggested that there might be something else amiss in Ding's camp, such as the adequacy of his support system. Furthermore, what I find particularly bizarre, at least based on his press conferences, is the fact that Ding's mental readiness for the contest seems to be strangely off. Only he knows what causes this fogginess he finds himself in, but if that dream of “huge glory,” the crowning of a Chinese world champion, is to be achieved, the best version of Ding has to show up before he finds himself in an insurmountable deficit (FIDE/Stev Bonhage).

@Jesse_Feb ExchangesOTB (on Instagram) asks: If you’re victorious, what changes would you propose to the World Championship format, if any? #NepoDing

Drop your questions below!! ⬇️ (add your name too)

@ChessVonDoom Congratulations 👏🏼🧩

Finally.