Tony Rotella

Engineer/Ex-Rocket Scientist, brown belt in BJJ, chess author, book enthusiast. Check out my YT below if you like to nerd out on chess.

[Tony Rotella @Tony_Rotella]

@chessmensch 1...h5!? maybe? If so, no one is finding that unprompted in a blitz game. 🤣

[Boris Avrukh @askavrukh]

Ivanchuk is still very dangerous. How about this positional masterpiece from French League?

[Tony Rotella @Tony_Rotella]

@BishopPair The problem for me is still that in h3 lines Black basically has to play b5 and play a bunch of only moves to not be worse immediately. Not the fun one intends when you go 2 or 3...c5. 😢

[Tony Rotella @Tony_Rotella]

@BishopPair I have seen quite a few tier lists like this and EVERY one pisses me off. 🤣

[Tony Rotella @Tony_Rotella]

@sedatesnail

[Tony Rotella @Tony_Rotella]

@sedatesnail GIMME BO JACKSON ALL DAY

[Tony Rotella @Tony_Rotella]

@NealBruceBC @ErikKislik Happy to help, cheers! 💪👊

[Neal Bruce @NealBruceBC]

I'm sick of losing to the Grob (1.g4?!), so today I learned how to smash it as Black. 🔥

I also learned the Borg as White (1.e4 g5?) as it is similar. 😊

Thanks to @Tony_Rotella & @ErikKislik for their excellent youtube videos on countering the Grob.

#chesspunks

[Chess Pain @chess_pain]

https://t.co/olLY9ghPRq

Reply with a screenshot of your donation and I will match donations of a few people who become patrons today

[Chess Pain @chess_pain]

Donate to Lichess

[Tony Rotella @Tony_Rotella]

@chesscoachandra 😁

[Tony Rotella @Tony_Rotella]

@BishopPair I have been pretty amazed by Claude. I have vibe coded a script that downloads TWIC in batches user-defined and combines them into one file. After a few other successful tests, I started working on a Chessbase competitor. After a month or two, I'm shockingly far. 😁

[Tony Rotella @Tony_Rotella]

@ColinBykowski @LouStagner A huge majority of people using broomsticks will still have a putter that's shorter than their driver. There is 0 evidence to support any of the arguments dorks use against a long putter. It'd be more convincing & genuine if people just admitted they hate the way they look.

[Alex Colovic @GMAlexColovic]

Since all of theoretical paths lead nowhere, here's a practical tip.
You can take literally any idea, even from 19th century, and make it work with engines.
It will also lead nowhere, but it will be new and interesting nowhere.
And that is already something.

[Tony Rotella @Tony_Rotella]

@caulixtla @GMAlexColovic Bad is a stretch imo, 6...c5 is very good of course, but plenty of strong players still go 6...b6 7.Bd3 a6! with a mess and decent results. It's even been recommended twice in courses over the last few years. If +.5 is bad, you're going to have to toss out the whole KID! 🤣

[Boris Avrukh @askavrukh]

Stunning game by David Navara! Only in Catalan it can happen 😎

[Max Farberov @ChessGainz]

A very Thug Life kind of game

Gong-Grischuk, Aeroflot Open 2026

[Tony Rotella @Tony_Rotella]

@askavrukh Yep! At the time 6.N1c3 a6 7.Na3 Be7!? was very new and no one had really covered it, and 6...g6 wasn't really a thing so I covered by the usual ...Be7 stuff and sharper ...f5 ideas that were favored by guys like Shabalov. But I'm happier with the newer g6 ideas, that's for sure!

[Boris Avrukh @askavrukh]

Looking for Sicilian variation without crazy theory of main lines as you get in Najdorf, Dragon, or Classical? My new Database is "Kalashnikov Sicilian: Repertoire for Black" offers Black much more positional approach with a lot of dynamic flavor.
For detailed PGN file - https://t.co/6WlIwMhIEp
On my site you will also find the package containing two variations : Kalashnikov and Rossolimo, which provides almost full repertoire for Sicilian 2...Nc6

https://t.co/ewaFJMT3En