Alex Cook

@seanhanlon77 @itvracing That’s still the answer to your original question.

@Alexi_Cookov @itvracing I made it in 15 seconds calm yourself

I’ll never understand why we can’t squeeze in 3 or 4 more horses @itvracing Put the bar on the bottom line beside the X handle

@xxChessMaster I’m curious - how does a game even reach this position in the first place? Like - how does black’s queen get into the corner without being noticed? And how many tempi did it take to get white’s knight to sit on that particular spot on the sixth rank?

Checkmate in 2 moves, white to play 🧩

@_nateschwartz Just not cricket 🏏 is it!

I will die on the hill if you end up on the other side of the wall with the ball, that should be a HR. you didn’t prevent the ball from clearing the fence

@RoizMichael83 With Rb8 on the other hand - I can’t work out what white’s best move is in response? Do they save the bishop, in which case it has to move to the edge, allowing black to secure a very good knight outpost with a pawn? Or give up the bishop pair?

@RoizMichael83 I’m leaning towards Rb8. I don’t like Rd8, because whilst it may defend the knight at that point, it creates another passive piece for black, reduces the king’s available squares and looks to me like it would only invite further pressure from white.

A challenging calculation task. What should Black play here in Malek, J - Licznerski, L, Polish Championship 2026?

@chesscoachandra I looked at Nxb4 and Nxe3. Nxb4 was with the idea of giving the bishop b4 to cut off the kings escape that way… but presumably that allows castles, so I’m siding more towards Nxe3.

1.- Rxf2 mops up easily enough, however, there is a sneaky idea for Black that is even better than the rook sac!

@RoizMichael83 Whilst this appears to leave F2 and the D2 knight hanging - I don’t think black can risk that given Qh4+, Qh6 (forced), Rh5. So a queen exchange looks forced - with black having to now stop a renewed mate threat - which doesn’t look easy!

@RoizMichael83 My hunch… white could take on G5, but took with the wrong piece. Taking with the Queen creates a 2 square mate threat on the H file whilst maintaining the points of contact on the key knight relating to that threat.

Test your defensive skills. In this visually unpleasant position White lost on a spot with 1.Rxg5?? Rxe7 in Vokhidov, S - Pranav, V, Kaz Chess Masters 2026. However, it is still acceptable for White! Can you mention the way?

@distrezz @GMJacobAagaard Why look to regain material first when you can win by ignoring a free pawn for a move!

@GMJacobAagaard Qxh5 is sexy but i can't make it work ??? gxh5 rxh5 f6 r1h1 kf7, and the king runs away ?

From my course at killerchesstraining.com on positional play, where suddenly we had a fun little tactic. White to play and win.

@Mishi_2210 Anyway. The couple (2) presumably have 12 kids in total - the declared 5 sons, and indirectly implied 7 sisters of those sons. We can also assume they have 3 grandchildren - making a total of 17 declared people. But only 2 have been declared as being at the picnic - so 2.

@Mishi_2210 Is the actual test pointing out all the errors in the question itself? I’m sure “have” should have been used. And picnic is spelt in two different ways - for no obvious reason.

@RoizMichael83 I certainly like the look of G6 - i think it poses many questions. However, there are so many potential strands to that move, it’s difficult to be certain of a line - plus it does open a line to your own king, so I can understand why someone wouldn’t play it.

This interesting position took place in today's GM clash Volokitin, A - Fedoseev, V. White decides to call it a day by means of 1.Bxe5 Qxe5 2.Qe8+ with perpetual. How could he set Black serious practical problems instead?

@xxChessMaster All depends doesn’t it! Black doesn’t have to take the queen - knight E7 looks like a good reply, at which point white’s dangerous looking attack stalls and worse still, they’re probably losing an exchange at some point.

Brilliant or Blunder?? 🤔

@GMAlexColovic It’s quite popular at lower elo’s… but it does become abundantly clear that ‘most’ that do don’t have a clue why they’re taking and what to do afterwards!

I can't escape the feeling that the Queen's Gambit Accepted is underused at the highest level. Maybe Cyprus Candidates will change that.

@kibitzingpatzer Rook F6 (if you go with the knight, it can be ignored) - twice. Knight comes in later to help deliver the mate I think.

White to move and mate in eight! 😯

@thearsfamily97 @EmerysVilla Darren Huckerby!

This is categorically false. EVERY club did not have this. The best clubs had silky pacey wingers and strikers. You definitely don't know Manchester City's wingers or striker in the 1995-96 season when they were relegated, or Coventry City's attackers in the 1996-97 season. Fans loved football in the 80s and 90s because there was no analysis. Now, a team can get every single match you played, monitor the moves your best players make, analyse them to death, and make a tactic to stop you. Players made more mistakes back then, had more route one football pumped back and forth like a ping pong. I don't see that as bad same way I don't see football now as bad. But if you see football today as bad, you need to watch the average EPL match in the 90s. Not the one between your favourite club and a rival. Watch the average EPL game.

Adam Clery perfectly counters this nonsense view that EPL football suddenly became shit. 👏🏾👏🏾

@Bitmap1337 @RoizMichael83 And so whites queen ends up on an interesting diagonal

@Alexi_Cookov @RoizMichael83 Black just takes the b pawn.

Some more classical chess. This position took place in Petrosian, T - Lebedev, S, Tbilisi, 1944. What's the best for White?

@chesscoachandra @askavrukh @RoizMichael83 @anishgiri @RenierCast @GMPeteWells Yeah, if black, I’d seriously question taking a knight landing there in this position. Probably go knight F6 to block a couple of lines towards my king, open my own bishop to the E6 square and be that much closer to castling.

@Alexi_Cookov @askavrukh @RoizMichael83 @anishgiri @RenierCast @GMPeteWells I don’t think I would have played it in a game , even if I saw the move. The follow-up idea is insane. Also it’s only about 0.5 against best defence.

I was preparing my Killer Chess Training lesson when I came across this position. White to move, how do we proceed? @askavrukh @RoizMichael83 @anishgiri @RenierCast @GMPeteWells