The Rook & The Raven
banner
therookandtheraven.com
The Rook & The Raven
@therookandtheraven.com
Nerdy Duo (but Raven does all the social media)
🏳️‍🌈🇮🇹🇺🇸
therookandtheraven.com
patreon.com/therooktheraven
tiktok.com/@therooktheraven
youtube.com/@therooktheraven
First chess.com game in a while and it’s comforting to know that some things never change
November 13, 2025 at 9:45 PM
As a beginner *theoretically* facing comparably-skilled opponents, it is so discouraging to lose nearly every game I play.

I would expect the margin of error to be razor thin at the higher levels, but as someone low ranked who only started playing a couple months ago, this is exhausting
October 9, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Today’s chess.com vent post includes 1 win, 1 draw, and 2 losses… can you guess which one was the draw?
October 8, 2025 at 1:48 PM
As I look back through all of these posts, one thing that stands out to me is that I’m actually consistently playing a lot better than it feels like I am

I may not win most of my games, but I’m obviously making my opponent work for their win
October 7, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Coming back to our YouTube channel after a short break, I was surprised to see that we are only ~40 subscribers away from hitting 1k!

Anyone not already subscribed willing to help push us over the top?

youtube.com/@therookther...
October 7, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Just can’t catch a break 😤
October 7, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Since this is apparently what it takes to maintain rank in the 500’s bracket… this is quickly changing from a fun way to pass the time into a full-time job as a chess student 😰
October 6, 2025 at 9:28 PM
Every game as a now-500s ELO on chess.com — maybe someday I will be able to play every game at a 1500 level so I can advance back up to the 600s bracket
October 6, 2025 at 10:37 AM
I won one!! Oh happy day 😅
October 5, 2025 at 9:08 PM
First game of a new day! 😭

Is anyone else seeing this or do I have some kind of Wheatonesque curse?!
October 5, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Even when I have an exceptional game as a 500s ELO, my opponent has an even more exceptional one 😣
October 4, 2025 at 5:28 PM
I’m just documenting it at this point. I did have a single game today against an at-level opponent that was a lot of fun, but now we’re back to busted
October 4, 2025 at 1:59 PM
What makes it so frustrating is that based on the game review, more often than not, I’m playing well above my rating, but in order to raise (or even just maintain) my ELO I literally have to play 2.5x-3x my actual skill level in practically every game I play 😖
October 3, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Is it like this on other platforms? This was against a 400s opponent
October 3, 2025 at 9:12 AM
I’ve literally forgotten what it’s like to face a sub-1100 player — as a beginner this is extremely demoralizing

Am I the only human on the platform? Or are the ELO rankings there actually that busted?
October 2, 2025 at 12:23 AM
Do you love D&D and hate Amazon?

In the summer of 2023, Amazon lost an entire shipment of our books

Two years later, they found the missing shipment, but we don’t want Amazon to profit from it

So we’re on a mission to re-divest the books by giving Amazon’s cut to you at therookandtheraven.com
September 30, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Another day, more of the same

I’m beginning to feel personally cursed by the matchmaking algorithm
September 30, 2025 at 10:35 PM
One non-early-abandon win in the last 48 hours and another loss — both ranked around 515 ELO 😖
September 30, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Is everyone on chess.com using bots or AI?! The 500-700 bracket is absolutely brutal

I’ve lost or drawn around 40 out of my last 50 games — I’m down in the low 500s again yet every single opponent I face is scoring between 1200-1500 in the game analysis

I literally only win when I play 1400+ 😡
September 29, 2025 at 11:48 PM
LONG LOST BOX SALE!

A shipment of A5 Paperback books that went missing in the U.S. nearly two years ago was just found! To celebrate, we’re knocking 40% (€10) off the price of all 5 titles that were inside while supplies last only at therookandtheraven.com
September 24, 2025 at 2:20 PM
We are on strike!

We have joined the nation-wide general strike in solidarity with Palestine

We are also continuing to raise funds to open a nerdy community center in our village to serve the surrounding underprivileged communities.

Please share or donate here: www.gofundme.com/f/help-us-re...
September 21, 2025 at 10:46 PM
TikTok’s censorship is on full blast and not just in the U.S.

I posted the video below to our U.S. TikTok account and it was taken down for “Violent Extremism”

I posted a similar video to my Italian TikTok account and it was taken down for “Hate Speech and Hateful Behaviors”

What do you think?
August 26, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Learn more at the link on our website (therookandtheraven.com) or jump directly to the newsletter at shop.therookandtheraven.com?mailpoet_rou...

#ttrpg #dnd #community
August 21, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Goblin’d In A Rocketship Wizard’s Tower (episode 2 of Scarlet Sorcerer) premieres in about 2 hours

Now’s your chance to catch up, beginning with the intro episode

youtu.be/W-29fEmsIWk?...
July 15, 2025 at 9:48 PM
The rangefinder on every encounter page is just one of the handy tools included in our Daggerheart GM’s planners
July 13, 2025 at 11:12 PM