There are many more useful books for the modern chess player looking to improve. But for anyone who enjoys vintage Penguin books, Gerald Abrahams’s “The chess mind” from 1960 is lovely simply for the cover. #chesspunks

You made me, Love your Inner Classical Music Geek. 😃 (This box set is hard to find at a reasonable price, and I lucked out, even finding a new one. It just arrived. Thank you for the inspiration that made me search!)

Carelessly, I found myself in this position in a daily game, with the threat of a fork from the knight if I took the bishop. But I saw a line that could give me a significant advantage & rescue me (& broadly did). The first move is easy. Can you see the whole line? #chesspunks

I always think this letter is a powerful cautionary note for anyone involved in fundraising for UK charities.

This is a really good and measured article about the RSPB tweets episode. Charities need more thoughtful stuff like this. Thanks for writing it, @AndrewPurkis.

This book is well above my level (currently, I like to believe, and I am working on that!). But I bought it nonetheless, based on GM Jacob Aagaard’s enthusiasm on Ben Johnson’s podcast, including the way he lovingly described how the pages open. I wanted to support this.

Thanks for writing this Ben Johnson & @JWvCChess for suggesting buying direct. I now need to read it & avoid idiocies like this trap in the KID, which I fell for y’day in a training game (despite knowing the trap). My Neal Bruce queen tactic moment. Never again. #chesspunks

I wrote a short personal piece about "A voluntary life", featuring lichess.org, BBC Reith lectures, and parkrun 🌳. It is a paean of praise for volunteering; I have benefited hugely from the voluntary acts of strangers during a difficult year. medium.com/@martinbrookes…

Calling #chesspunks & Ben Johnson. The Steps 2 thinking ahead book is unavailable. I am moving from daily to live games, & need to improve my visualisation. Based on Ben's (excellent) book, I sought this out & can't get it new or second hand. Any ideas? Tks.

I have now been to my local chess club 3 times. Casual games against much stronger players so far. Last night I got my first draw, against a 1825 player - forcing him to avoid mate by perpetual checks. I am excited for 2024. Plus, the KID is the future for me! #chesspunks

Self gifting at Christmas. Thanks to @JWvCChess & Ben Johnson for pointing out where to get them #ChessPunks

I began 2023 mostly ignoring chess, beyond playing with puzzles. Mid-year I broke my neck in a cycling accident & decided to devote time to chess. So, 2024 begins with a plan (& too many books!). Happy new year #chesspunks & all

A painful reminder that I need not to screw up pawn endgames as I switch to live games (rather than daily). Here I played Kf3, not Ke3. Reviewing it afterwards, the computer eval goes from 0.00 - & I would have been happy with a draw - to -7. Crushing, literally. #chesspunks

The decisive moment in my online game from last night. White to move. #chesspunks

Hi #chesspunks. I want to load onto my iphone endgame positions for study. I want to store several pgns on my phone and use a pgn viewer. The Chess Tempo pgn load fn doesn’t work, sadly. I can use the Everyman Chess app to read pgns, but not play moves. What options are there?

Hi #chesspunks, is there some way of seeing on databases how preferred move orders in openings have changed over time? I want to explore this to understand, eg, the increased use of 3...c5 in the French Tarrasch, but it is a general question I often have.

Hi #chesspunks, has anyone been using Chess.com's library feature and worked out how to use tags? I want to add different tags to games within a library (and across libraries) and am struggling.

Hi Chess.com and @danielrensch, I have been looking for help learning how to use tags in the library feature. So far with no luck. I got a generic "the library feature is fab" reply to my question (not from a bot, seemingly), but nothing since. Can you help, please? #chesspunks

With numbers📈 of ppl experiencing #Homelessness it's baffling to see a lighter touch approach to ending homelessness across #GeneralElection2024 party manifestos compared to promises to end homelessness made in 2019. Can we Make Homelessness History?👇

Can anyone explain to a non-IT person how to add the Stockfish engine to Hiarcs Chess on my Macbook, please? I have the Stockfish app but know that I just can't add this. I am lost. Matthew Sadler Andrew Rimmer #chesspunks