IT IS BETTER TO CASTLE AWAY FROM

Often, it is better to castle in the open positions, even if it costs some material.

In the rapid game played on CHESSCom, my opponent was too late to castle.

Mikromeister - Axumzs, CHESSCom 2024

Below is the analysis of the game

I SHALL STOP SOLVING CHESSCOM PUZZLES

OK. I have received a puzzle rating above 3400. One day, it was 3448. 

I shall stop solving CHESSCom puzzles from now on.

The reason is the poor quality of the puzzles with higher ratings. The rating points and the target times are also not well-tuned.

Yesterday, I got Kubbel's endgame study as a "tactics puzzle" to solve with the target time of 30 seconds.

Today, I got several messy positions as "tactics puzzles".

The last "puzzle" was not convincing at all. It looked somewhat like an attack with several options to continue that attack at several points.

It is evident that no human being has ever checked these positions and their solutions; there is too much trust in computer algorithms.

The themes of the puzzles are too often highly misleading, too.

By the way, other chess platforms have similar features.

CHESSCom puzzle rating 3448

WHITE TO MOVE

White to move and win

FEN:

8/8/1p1K4/Pp6/2k1p3/8/1P6/8 w - - 0 2

I am sharing here the CHESSCom puzzle (#59358) that I failed to solve. Its pass rate is below 20%.

The puzzle itself is excellent.

However, I am dissatisfied with the so-called "target time," which is below 1 minute in the present case.

If you are not well-trained in the queens' endgames and/or not acquainted with the rare theme included in that puzzle, then hardly you can solve that puzzle in 10 minutes.

Please note that I keep in mind that you have to see the solution from beginning to end before moving any pieces! You do not "solve" the puzzle; if you are making naturally looking moves, the computer replies, and you arrive at the crucial position to start calculating the difficult move.

Thus, it is not a tactics puzzle at all. Rather, it is an endgame etude, problem.

The other obstacle is that the CHESSCom puzzles, even those with a high rating, are usually standard. 

Nevertheless, solving any such puzzle gives only 5 points, independent of its difficulty. 

I have obtained a rating above 3400 in puzzles on CHESSCom. Unfortunately, I do not believe I could progress further because, at that high level, the puzzles are less tested due to the fewer solvers. There are already too many invalid puzzles like that one, which demands that you be a Carlsen and solve in a few minutes what others are solving in one hour.

PS

Indeed, one commenter on CHESSCom writes:

"It is a study by Kubbel, BTW."

ISRAEL BANNED FROM THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIAD IN INFORMATICS

Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the international chess federation FIDE recently decided to continue the sanctions imposed on Russia. However, the other countries have remained with impunity (the US - for the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, Israel - for the Gaza massacres of civilians).

I have repeatedly argued that international sports sanctions should be avoided. However, if such sports sanctions are unfortunately applied, it must be done consistently.

Recently, the International Olympiad in Informatics (the IOI) banned Israel. However, I do not see they have banned Russia or the US.

Here is the full text of the IOI's decision:

IOI response to the conflict in Gaza

"Members of the community requested that the IOI respond to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza caused by the ongoing conflict. During IOI 2024, the General Assembly debated many options at length. The question about what action to take, if any, was not taken lightly. The result was a vote to sanction Israel for its role in the crisis. Over two thirds of the delegations voted in favour of this action. Specifically, the action means that beginning in 2025, Israel will not be recognized as a participating delegation at IOI, but four contestants from Israel may still participate under the IOI flag."

While Israel was banned from the IOE with a voting majority of 67%, Russia received a "crushing defeat" - the proposal to annul FIDE sanctions on Russia was rejected with a voting majority of 54%.