Bold move by Dan
@boldmovebydan.bsky.social
Dan Bock from Durham, NC. Three-time chess podcast guest. 114th best chess player in North Carolina. I have a Substack called the Chess Improvement Lab.
Web and mobile app developer, runner and dad in my spare time.
Web and mobile app developer, runner and dad in my spare time.
I beat a high-rated kid in a tournament yesterday in a wild game where both kings were under constant attack and I did better at playing defense. Conventional wisdom about how to beat kids at chess (bore them to death with quiet positional middlegame and endgame grind) has not been my experience.
November 17, 2025 at 12:32 PM
I beat a high-rated kid in a tournament yesterday in a wild game where both kings were under constant attack and I did better at playing defense. Conventional wisdom about how to beat kids at chess (bore them to death with quiet positional middlegame and endgame grind) has not been my experience.
Uzbek Eric Rosen is in the quarterfinals at the World Cup
November 17, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Uzbek Eric Rosen is in the quarterfinals at the World Cup
A Chessup ad on the chess24 livestream uses the promise of engine assistance during a chess game as a selling point, with Anna Rudolf and Aman Hambleton demonstrating the feature and endorsing the thing. Bleak stuff.
November 14, 2025 at 12:14 PM
A Chessup ad on the chess24 livestream uses the promise of engine assistance during a chess game as a selling point, with Anna Rudolf and Aman Hambleton demonstrating the feature and endorsing the thing. Bleak stuff.
I hope we see Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the Candidates someday, but it looks like it will not be this year.
November 8, 2025 at 11:55 AM
I hope we see Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the Candidates someday, but it looks like it will not be this year.
Chess tip: don’t bother developing your pieces. Just attack.
November 4, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Chess tip: don’t bother developing your pieces. Just attack.
Older kid: constant whining and appeals of our “must be 13 to ride in the front seat” rule and endless comparisons to her friends’ parents’ rules
Younger kid: turned 13, still wants to ride in the back like a VIP being driven around by her chauffeur
Younger kid: turned 13, still wants to ride in the back like a VIP being driven around by her chauffeur
November 3, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Older kid: constant whining and appeals of our “must be 13 to ride in the front seat” rule and endless comparisons to her friends’ parents’ rules
Younger kid: turned 13, still wants to ride in the back like a VIP being driven around by her chauffeur
Younger kid: turned 13, still wants to ride in the back like a VIP being driven around by her chauffeur
It’s 2021. I have a random thought about chess. I post it on Twitter, because that’s where everyone is.
It’s 2025. I have a random thought about chess. I post it on X, Bluesky, Substack Notes, and a half dozen Discords and group texts, because that’s where everyone is.
It’s 2025. I have a random thought about chess. I post it on X, Bluesky, Substack Notes, and a half dozen Discords and group texts, because that’s where everyone is.
November 2, 2025 at 3:36 PM
It’s 2021. I have a random thought about chess. I post it on Twitter, because that’s where everyone is.
It’s 2025. I have a random thought about chess. I post it on X, Bluesky, Substack Notes, and a half dozen Discords and group texts, because that’s where everyone is.
It’s 2025. I have a random thought about chess. I post it on X, Bluesky, Substack Notes, and a half dozen Discords and group texts, because that’s where everyone is.
Guess the opening
November 1, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Guess the opening
Reposted by Bold move by Dan
It's Halloween. I am taking my kids trick or treating. So far I have seen eight couples dressed as the couple from the Coldplay concert and six dads dressed as Azel Chua
July 23, 2025 at 1:37 PM
It's Halloween. I am taking my kids trick or treating. So far I have seen eight couples dressed as the couple from the Coldplay concert and six dads dressed as Azel Chua
A Taylor Swift song is playing in the hotel lobby. “This is the one where she says ‘checkmate, I couldn’t lose,’ I say to myself. I am wrong. It is a different song. This symbolizes all the chess games where I mistakenly thought I had a winning position but didn’t. In this essay I will
October 27, 2025 at 12:12 AM
A Taylor Swift song is playing in the hotel lobby. “This is the one where she says ‘checkmate, I couldn’t lose,’ I say to myself. I am wrong. It is a different song. This symbolizes all the chess games where I mistakenly thought I had a winning position but didn’t. In this essay I will
ALTO. I wasn’t sure what it would feel like to be at a chess tournament in Charlotte this weekend, but it’s good to be here with everyone.
October 25, 2025 at 5:52 PM
ALTO. I wasn’t sure what it would feel like to be at a chess tournament in Charlotte this weekend, but it’s good to be here with everyone.
First two rounds at ALTO. I played an IM and a 2100, both Catalans, and had the same story: White gets an advantage out of the opening, goes on to win a pawn, and grinds out a win in the endgame. Luckily I had the white side in one of these games!
October 25, 2025 at 5:51 PM
First two rounds at ALTO. I played an IM and a 2100, both Catalans, and had the same story: White gets an advantage out of the opening, goes on to win a pawn, and grinds out a win in the endgame. Luckily I had the white side in one of these games!
I think AI chatbots would have a better reputation if, instead of being 80% right on factual questions, they just refused to answer them. You’d be like “who was president of the United States in 1954” and it would just say “ERROR: factual question detected. Please try again.”
October 22, 2025 at 7:12 PM
I think AI chatbots would have a better reputation if, instead of being 80% right on factual questions, they just refused to answer them. You’d be like “who was president of the United States in 1954” and it would just say “ERROR: factual question detected. Please try again.”
Good news, I asked ChatGPT if it can help with NFL officiating, and it said yes.
Roger Goodell says the NFL is looking into how AI can help officiating in the future.
October 22, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Good news, I asked ChatGPT if it can help with NFL officiating, and it said yes.
Has anyone effectively turned off the sycophancy in ChatGPT? Starting this response with “Good question” is psychopathic.
October 22, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Has anyone effectively turned off the sycophancy in ChatGPT? Starting this response with “Good question” is psychopathic.
This is an incredibly insensitive post from the CEO of FIDE. I cannot believe what I am reading.
October 22, 2025 at 3:10 PM
This is an incredibly insensitive post from the CEO of FIDE. I cannot believe what I am reading.
Incredible loss. Chess won’t be the same without him.
GM Daniel Naroditsky passed away. He was a talented chess player, commentator, and educator. FIDE extends its deepest condolences to Daniel’s family and loved ones.
October 20, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Incredible loss. Chess won’t be the same without him.
New post in my Substack: What do you do when your chess rating goes down? substack.com/home/post/p-...
What do you do when your chess rating goes down?
My rating dropped more than 100 points after my best year ever. Here’s how I handled it, and what I’m doing now.
substack.com
October 15, 2025 at 1:16 PM
New post in my Substack: What do you do when your chess rating goes down? substack.com/home/post/p-...
Nicolas Rossolimo
name an italian more worthy of an american holiday than columbus
October 13, 2025 at 1:00 PM
Nicolas Rossolimo
Good article. Chess improvement is rare, and anyone with a reality-based view of things will recognize the possibility that although they have improved in the past, it might never happen again for them in the future.
Also in New In Chess 2025#7:
James Altucher on the Code of the Adult Enjoyer.
5. Be OK Losing
My ex-wife once told me, 'Show me a learning experience and I'll show you a loser.'
James Altucher on the Code of the Adult Enjoyer.
5. Be OK Losing
My ex-wife once told me, 'Show me a learning experience and I'll show you a loser.'
October 12, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Good article. Chess improvement is rare, and anyone with a reality-based view of things will recognize the possibility that although they have improved in the past, it might never happen again for them in the future.
Ruy Lopez player, King’s Gambit player, King’s Indian player
Editor in chief, city editor, features editor
October 7, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Ruy Lopez player, King’s Gambit player, King’s Indian player
“The lyrics are really freaky but I think you can handle it.” - my 12 year old when I asked if I should skip this song in the car
October 4, 2025 at 1:24 AM
“The lyrics are really freaky but I think you can handle it.” - my 12 year old when I asked if I should skip this song in the car
Hell yeah go Red Sox
October 1, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Hell yeah go Red Sox
This is funny because I went to Walmart a lot in 2002 (just graduated, didn’t have a full-time job, was delivering deli food for minimum wage at a restaurant across the parking lot from Walmart) and as I recall, it was very depressing.
This is doing numbers on social media right now and it's so depressing how people truly yearn for this shit and want to preserve that feeling indefinitely like a mausoleum of false memories.
September 30, 2025 at 12:26 AM
This is funny because I went to Walmart a lot in 2002 (just graduated, didn’t have a full-time job, was delivering deli food for minimum wage at a restaurant across the parking lot from Walmart) and as I recall, it was very depressing.
I admire @lichess.org's commitment to offering all features to all users for free, but also I'm grateful they came up with something to offer to those of us who are paying, to feed our smug sense of superiority. lichess.org/@/Lichess/bl...
More colours for Patrons!
Recognising commitment!
lichess.org
September 24, 2025 at 12:05 PM
I admire @lichess.org's commitment to offering all features to all users for free, but also I'm grateful they came up with something to offer to those of us who are paying, to feed our smug sense of superiority. lichess.org/@/Lichess/bl...