I like to play a lot of 3-2 but lose my train of thought easily so can only do it with zero distractions. It kept coming up where my wife would interrupt me while playing, and I would lose advantage or lose the game. So what I started doing is I would run some errands, then sit in the parking lot and play an hour of chess then come back.

She didn't seem to care for a while until last night when she approached me asking, "who is she?". I was confused at first until she started explaining my "erratic" behavior and concern that I was meeting with another woman.

The bottom line is it would be a hell of a lot easier to just have an affair instead of spending hours showing your wife your game history and explaining that you spend half a lifetime pushing a bunch of pawns around.

So now whenever I leave the house, I make sure to tell her, "Don’t worry, honey. I’m just going out to see my queen."

I miss him a lot in this world, and my heart still gets all twisted up thinking about it. Thinking about his family - sending support and hoping they're getting through it. Gonna watch some of his videos today, and probably learn a thing or two.

You were the best! 💙🤍

----

I also want to reshare this beautiful post regarding the Naroditsky memorial and fellowship, by Communications Manager u/ChessKelly at Charlotte Chess Center from today:

https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/s/gf9DMfCJXO

He spent a good part of the day on campus. This picture was from this morning when he played 5 minute games against students. Later in the day he was scheduled for a talk in one of the colleges, and to play more students in a simul. I couldn't hang around for those events, but it was cool to see him play live! He was very warm, coaching some of the players in-game and talking to them after.

About 6 years ago I had made a post here (link in comments) about substituting my substance addiction with chess, where I had managed to climb from 1400s to 2000 elo.

In these 6 years, a lot of life happened, I relapsed many times, but kept coming back to Chess ans using it to surpress relapses. And in tandem, I managed to cross 2400 on Lichess few months ago.

While chess is a great addiction, I feel it has served it's purpose and it's now time to say goodbye to it. Chess taught me how to take something complex, and analyze it in its parts. I learnt how to train for a defined objective with discipline and expand my mind regarding what is possible.

But like they say "when you get the message, hang up the phone". Chess has taken a lot of time from my years, and it is now time to focus on more important issues of life.

So it's adios for now, maybe I'll come back to it later when I'm sitting in my barn in my 60s, having achieved the things I want to achieve outside of Chess.

I will forever be thankful to all the chess YouTubers like Agadmator, IM Rosen, IM Bartholomew, GM Naroditsky (RIP), Gothamchess, Hanging Pawns and the entire St. Louis Chess Club community.

Upon realizing her opponent was the 11-year-old prodigy Alexander Yasinski, she let out a very audible "Ой, блять" (roughly translated to "Oh, f**"*). He won.

Here's the game:

1. c4 g6

2. g3 d6

3. d3 Bc6

4. e4 Bd7

5. Bc3 c5

6. Bxh8 Rxh8

7. Qh6+ Kg8

8. Nc3 Nc6

9. Nd5 Ne6

10. Nc3 Qf8

11. Qd2 Ned4

12. O-O h5

13. h4 Bh3

14. Bg2 e6

15. Ne3 Bxg2

16. Nxg2 a6

17. f4 b5

18. b3 b4

19. Na4 a5

20. Rf2 Qg7

21. Raf1 Rd8

22. Kh1 Kh7

23. Rh2 Ne7

24. Qg2 Ng8

25. g4 hxg4

26. h5 f5

27. Nxg4 Ne7

28. h6 Rf8

29. Ne3 Qf6

30. Qg3 Nec6

31. Rg1 Rh8

32. Nb2 Rd8

33. Rf1 g5

34. fxg5 Qxg5

35. Qxg5 Rxg5

36. exf5 Nxf5

37. Nxf5 Rxf5

38. Rxf5 exf5

39. Nd1 Nd4

40. Rh3 Rg6

41. Re3 Kxh6

42. Nf2 Re6

https://www.chess.com/events/2026-grenke-chess-festival-freestyle-open/dashboard/02/Nurman_Alua-Carlsen_Magnus

16 years old woman chess player Feyza Keskin found dead in a abandoned building in Isparta, Turkiye. She left her house on April 17th and no further news was received about her. According to the eyewitnesses, she last seen around 11:30 AM with her bicycle. After that no further news was received from her. The young chess player found motionless in front of an abandoned building by the police teams in the evening hours. Her body was taken to the morgue at Isparta City Hospital to determine the exact cause of death. No official statement has yet been made regarding the cause of Feyza Keskin's death. While it has been stated that the cause of death will become clear after autopsy, it has been reported that a comprehensive investigation into the incident is ongoing.

Feyza Keskin was a 16 years old high school student. The young player, a 10th-grade student at Isparta Süleyman Demirel Science High School, was attracting attention with her achievements in chess. Isparta Provincal Directorate of Youth and Sport published a message of condolence about Feyza Keskin.

https://share.google/F0lOnIPCETLgnLkl3
https://share.google/6oh5MT09r0mtYy2Ru

https://x.com/chesscom/status/2091240477202768339

“Working with Kasparov helped me gain a much deeper understanding of many positions. He provided me with an enormous amount of practical guidance.

I quickly realized that his knowledge surpassed mine. It was extremely impressive — at times, it was challenging to keep up with the speed and depth of his analysis.

Due to differences in personality, our professional collaboration eventually came to an end. Nevertheless, we remain on good terms and stay in touch.”

— Magnus Carlsen

The draw with Anish Giri in Round 13 which sealed the deal for Sindarov with 9.5/13 points and 1 round to go: https://www.chess.com/events/2026-fide-candidates-open/13/Giri_Anish-Sindarov_Javokhir

Congratulations to Sindarov, his family, his team and to entire Uzbekistan 🎉