Vikalp

Calvin and Hobbes Enthusiast. Obsessed with Chess. Always learning.

[Vikalp @20ncounting]

This is everything. Pinning it.

[Athreya @Umpires_call_]

Area ka technical analyst

[Bayern & Germany @iMiaSanMia]

Vincent Kompany defends Vini Jr and criticizes José Mourinho for his statements after the game

[Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu @PatrickDorgu13]

Learned from the best. I’ve seen your goal against Bayern 🙏🏾🔝

[William Poulos @W_Poulos]

I’m not usually affected by the deaths of people I don’t know personally, but this one hurts.

Chess Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky has passed away, aged 29.

I never met him, but I’ve spent hundreds (maybe thousands) of hours watching his videos. I got back into chess during the Covid lockdowns, and I wouldn’t have fallen in love with the game without his generous, witty, and instructive lessons.

A history graduate from Stanford, Naroditsky was the most articulate and lucid commentator and teacher in chess. He was rare: a Twitch streamer and YouTube creator without a hint of ego. Everything he did was in the service of the game he loved.

He knew how to instruct weaker players like me. Commonly in his videos he’d say “you might be tempted to play…” followed by the exact terrible move I would have played, and then he’d explain why it was so bad.

I hear his voice and his idioms in my head when I play: is the opponent’s threat genuine or only a “paper tiger”? Can you set up a defence so that the opponent’s attack is “biting on granite”? Can you see a follow-up to your “sexy move” or have you succumbed to “onemove-itis?”

I’ll never be able to play as well as he did, but his videos always gave the impression that, with enough patience and effort, one day I might be able to.

It might be strange to have a teacher younger than you, but it’s even stranger to find out that he’s gone.

Remember Philip Larkin’s lines at the end of his poem “The Mower”:

"we should be careful

Of each other, we should be kind
While there is still time."

Memory eternal

[Arthur @ArthurTV]

I genuinely cannot believe this. He was my favourite chess teacher and content creator ever. I watch him all the time, if I'm eating alone or travelling anywhere I'm almost always watching his videos. I've never felt this devastated by the passing of a public figure in my entire life. A brilliant player, a passionate and inspiring teacher, and by all accounts a genuinely wonderful human being.

May he rest in peace and his legacy live on.

[Robert Hess @GM_Hess]

Do svid-Danya 💔

[h @htomufc]

got me by the bollocks again

[Levon Aronian @LevAronian]

Dear @VBkramnik

Forgive me for addressing you publicly, but I feel that the chess world and the new generation need to know about who you are and I want you to remember it as well.

Vlad, you have always been an inspiration to me and to the majority of people who know you, as just like you, dedicated their lives to chess.

The first time I ever got to spend a longer time with you was in Paris, in 2005. I visited you for a short time to train with you, but soon I understood that a person with such a fanatical approach is so far from my personality that I can’t even learn to work like that and be so deeply dedicated to chess. During that time you were recovering from some health issues and the world was bullying you for not being a dominating “proper champion”, despite you winning 2 world championship matches against none other than Kasparov and Leko (who you beat in the last game!). Then came your match with Topalov in 2006 where you showed so much character after a scandalous “toiletgate” that to me was another act of bullying against you. Honestly around that time, after you won I felt like this heroism that you displayed in those years kind of nullified the unfair circumstances that led you to the match against Kasparov in 2000. It was a sign that you are here to change the game. Then your brilliant career continued, and your opening innovations and incredible spirit, in my opinion, make you a top 10 player in the history of chess (in my view 6th or 7th).

So in my eyes, you will always be someone who was bullied and fairly fought for justice.

I will never forget how many times you gave me your helping hand and advised me. How many times have you pushed me towards chess when I was in a state of despair? If I exclude my first coaches, You, together with Borya Gelfand and Gabi Sargissian are my chess parents and I think that most of my Chess DNI comes from you.

My dear friend, I want to share something I feel that I haven't yet shared with you.

The last few years after you retired I to my surprise saw a different Vlad that I never knew.

Vlad that may be because the new chess world does not appreciate you enough ( sports fans and organizations, unfortunately, have a very short memory). A person who faced so much public pressure has turned against the chess world. Vlad, brother, ask all of your chess friends, nobody thinks that what you are doing is good and pure. You are fighting your own demons, and I can understand how much it drains you both mentally and physically.

A long time ago I read somewhere that most of the murders are committed because of disrespect. Vlad, guys like Danya, and David are not the ones that you should be having a vendetta against. I love them for what they are, perhaps a bit introverted but lacking any side of evil in them.

I know you as the biggest revolutionary when it comes to chess. You challenged every single dogma and proved that you understand the core of chess like nobody before or after you. I ask you, as a friend who has always been open and honest to you, please, challenge your convictions. You think you are saving chess from cheaters, but most of us see you as the guy with the hammer who thinks everything is a nail.

We are a family, we can’t go on suing or threatening each other for some weird online analysis that in most cases doesn’t make sense. We all have many friends in the world of mathematics, if you want, let's unite everyone and make a proper unbiased analysis, but let us start from a fresh page.

Your friend, your fan, and your little brother Lev

[Gaz Drinkwater @Radio_Gaz]

Onana

[👤 @jadinho97]

Educate these kids

[MUNDIAL @MundialMag]

James Tarkowski and Kendrick Lamar. What a world we live in.

[Viswanathan Anand @vishy64theking]

Can You Spot Two World Champions?

The first time I noticed Gukesh was here, the quieter one, always absorbing the class with remarkable focus. And then there was Pragg, by far the most restless kid, bursting with energy, who couldn't stop blurting out the answers. I remember Rakshita Ravi being there too. In the far end, is that Leon? Perhaps, the seeds of WACA were sown here.
@FIDE_chess
@WacaChess

[Culture Crave 🍿 @CultureCrave]

Happy 60th Birthday to Marisa Tomei 🎂

[Vikalp @20ncounting]

@Juventus_X For you who is chronically online, I refuse to believe you didn’t know which band is about to perform in India.

[Vikalp @20ncounting]

@Juventus_X Yeah right - “can’t wait to come back - just want to be in India”

[Vikalp @20ncounting]

@Juventus_X As if you don’t know why. OVERSMART

[D4🇺🇸🇧🇪 @D4KAComps]

Martin Tyler x #Barclaysmen

[Wigan Athletic @LaticsOfficial]

😎 Now everyone’s had their turn, it’s time for the real #Barclaysmen to stand up...

Wigan Athletic X Franz Ferdinand 🎵

#wafc 🔵⚪️