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Suggestions on Fide events

Suggestions on Fide events

CyriacAntony
| 14 days ago
| 54
| 0

I am noting down some of the suggestion on Fide events so that one could enter them in the Fide suggestions form (which seems to non-functional for some time now), or to write an open letter to FIDE.  Candidates TournamentThe following are ...

How to fix Candidates Tournament?

How to fix Candidates Tournament?

CyriacAntony
| 24 days ago
| 166
| 16

Fide Candidates 2026 finished with Sindarov and Vaishali winning in the open and women's sections, respectively. Women's section was very competitive with five of the eight players being sole or shared leaders in various rounds (even without count...

Candidates 2026 in the Multiverse

Candidates 2026 in the Multiverse

CyriacAntony
| 24 days ago
| 67
| 1

In a previous blog, I seriously discuss about ways to fix Candidates tournament qualification paths. This time around, we take a casual look into a what if scenario of different lineups in Candidates tournament 2026 open section (without changing ...

Classification of time controls in chess

Classification of time controls in chess

CyriacAntony
| Feb 19, 2026
| 245
| 1

Chess world is moving to faster time controls, probably for the worse. But hey, live and let live. For players who are at beginners or intermediate stage, my advice is to avoid playing bullet, and also avoid blitz. True, blitz can be used to prope...

How to fill Candidate spots?

How to fill Candidate spots?

CyriacAntony
| Dec 10, 2025
| 236
| 6

Recently, the chess world has seen the phenomenon of calling the world champion to be underserving of the position (e.g.: Ding and Gukesh). Does this mean that the strength in chess is more volatile than in the past? While this theory cannot be di...

Changes in chess.com

Changes in chess.com

CyriacAntony
| May 10, 2025
| 103
| 1

Hi, just a question. Is there a way to see major changes in chess.com? I see that the interface to play game has changed (is it from chess.com beta by the way?). I am so sad to see that challenge lobby is removed. Why does chess.com not even notif...

100% accuracy vs 0 mistakes

100% accuracy vs 0 mistakes

CyriacAntony
| Apr 29, 2025
| 416
| 0

It is easy to get 100% accuracy (according to chess.com game review) when you play a miniature, (e.g., the opponent is checkmated or resigns or timeouts within 20 moves). This is often possible when one side made some blunders. I have seen games w...

Is game review becoming less useful to learn?

Is game review becoming less useful to learn?

CyriacAntony
| Feb 7, 2025
| 521
| 0

Game review is a popular feature here. Is it becoming bad in quality? If yes, then that should mean a change in the algorithm probably to cater to a different range more, or simply to give out more  'brilliant moves', 'great moves' and 'mista...

My thoughts on freestyle world championship

My thoughts on freestyle world championship

CyriacAntony
| Jan 29, 2025
| 256
| 30

I believe that world championship for a chess variant is fair, provided that it is clear in the title that it is the world championship for a variant, not chess. There is bughouse world championship, four-player chess world championship, and wait ...

What happened to rating of puzzles in puzzle rush?

What happened to rating of puzzles in puzzle rush?

CyriacAntony
| Dec 31, 2024
| 159
| 2

I find it very strange that rating of the puzzles that are featured in puzzle rush tend to become completely off the mark recently. Earlier, the human feedback of whether the puzzle rating fits was there, and the puzzle ratings made sense at that ...

'Knightmare'

'Knightmare'

CyriacAntony
| Jul 13, 2013
| 1,455
| 7

These are a few of my compositions. I hope the solutions are quite surprising to average chess players. The puzzles are interesting for endgame play with knights on. All problems (except the last) are white to play and win   My solution to th...

Mating nets

Mating nets

CyriacAntony
| Nov 22, 2012
| 950
| 3

This one is just for fun. I think average players can enjoy it. This is my composition, not from a game just as you can guess. Give it a try White to play and mate (spot the winning combination)

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