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George Orwell’s final warning. #1984

At this time of year, when we all wish each other happiness, it seems timely to share my New York Times opinion piece from five years ago called: *We don’t actually want to be happy* nytimes.com/2019/11/04/opi…

Is 2025 the second quarter of the 21st century?

Sad news on Robert Huebner, chess grandmaster & linguist, and my teammate in the Bundesliga. I wrote to him about the etymology of “gumption” and received a wonderful reply. I also remember when he told me, with glee, he was translating Homer’s Odyssey into Finnish. RIP 🙏

Is the increasingly widespread EE wifi provision in the UK having the perverse effect of leading people to use more data? The wifi doesn’t always work but interferes, so I turn off wifi but I forget to turn it on at home/office and use more data than I otherwise would. Just me?

Sunsets in Aberdeenshire just hit different ❤️ 🌄 🌳 🥰

It's strange to watch modern #chess as a (more or less) retired Grandmaster. Yesterday's Pragg vs. Sarana game had bizarre moments. 8.Be2 followed by 9.Bd3 is so subtle as to be suspicious, and 13...g4? is a strategic mistake I would not expect of a 2270, never mind a 2670. 🙀

The Realisation Festival is happening again this summer from 26th-29th June Realisation 2025

I can. In fact, the Canadian version is so great, I can't think of an American equivalent. 🧵

Here’s my verdict on AI art. No matter how much money they waste on it, these problems won’t go away.

Zelensky is a wartime leader watching his people suffer and die under Russian attacks every day. To be lectured and lied to by Trump and Vance, as they defend the war criminal dictator committing these atrocities, is unimaginable agony. An everlasting shame for America.

Here's how I saw it: 1 Why not? Both underpromoted 8 pawns 2 Maybe not. To promote, a pawn must bypass its opposing pawn; meaning captures 3. 20 knights! 16 Ps + 4 Ns are involved 4 16 promotions required, but only 10 remaining pieces are 'edible' 5 The answer is probably no. 🤔

Alas, AI indicates that the answer is yes. It is geometrically possible because even though there are only ten 'edible' pieces, enough captures can create two passed pawns, and that can be arranged. It's definitely not normal though!

Important and widely relevant on the mass demonstrations in Serbia, from Jonathan Rowson : "What do all these people want? The real demand is terrifying for those in power: "Can you please ensure that our institutions work as they are supposed to?" jonathanrowson.substack.com/p/whats-happen…

I took Vishnu(9) for a junior session at The Mind Sports Centre in London and was pleasantly surprised by their selection of vintage books. I may have bought a few… Who could resist Larsen’s invitation?

Nearing the end of a holiday in St Ives, Cornwall, England. The chess set is mostly for Vishnu(9) but I confess it still makes me happy to look at it.

Doing some tidying up. I came upon this gift I received last year. The bubbly was a thank you for two impromptu analysis sessions to a crowd of fifty or so at The London Junior Chess Championship. The note made me feel seen and appreciated and very glad to have gifted my time.

“In a world that can seem shallow, chess meets a longing for depth. In a world that can feel lonely and confusing, chess offers the experience of shared meaning and mattering. In a world of shrill whataboutery, chess offers rule-bound intellectual clarity” open.substack.com/pub/grandmaste…

I took Vishnu(9) & friend to a chess camp near Brompton Cemetery earlier today. I remembered that there is a famous chess player there - Johannes Zukertort (28.Qb4!!) - so we paid homage. Kudos to Stuart Conquest for his work in 2012 that led to restoring the gravestone.