Yet, Edna, whether you are nearsighted or farsighted, this in no way means that love is blind

Photo © nata1978

Deep Blues

Vincent Keymer – Magnus Carlsen

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; first leg; Stage 2: Knockout; Semifinal match game 1; time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; Wangels, February 11, 2025

nbrkbrqn/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NBRKBRQN w FCfc - 0 1

Position #360

1. g4 Ng6 2. Nb3 e5 3. Ng3 f6 4. c4 0-0-0. Carlsen took to the confession booth to critique his own development strategy, complaining that it had turned Black’s game into a struggle for survival.
5. d4 Nb6 (5. ... exd4 6. f4⩲/±)
6. d5 d6 7. Bf5+ Bd7 8. f3 a6 9. e4 Nf4 10. Bxd7+ Rxd7 11. Kc2!? White offers a Pawn and the Exchange (11. ... Nxc4 12. Kc1 Nh3 13. Qh1 Ne3 14. Bd2) for the sake of the initiative.
11. ... Ba7 12. Bd2 Kb8 13. Be3 Nh3 14. Qg2 Nf4 15. Qf2 h5 16. Rfd1 hxg4 17. fxg4 Nc8 18. c5 dxc5 19. Bxc5 g6 20. Bxa7+ Nxa7 21. Kb1 Qh7 22. Nc5 Rd6 23. Ne2 Nxe2 24. Qxe2 Nb5 25. Qc4 Rc8 26. a4 Nd4

27. g5! Keymer throws fuel on the fire, compelling Carlsen to think long and hard about each move.
27. ... Rcd8 (27. ... fxg5!? 28. Rxd4! exd4 29. e5 Ka8!! 30. Qxd4 Rdd8 31. Qb4 Rb8∞)
28. gxf6 Rxf6 29. Rf1 Rb6 30. Rf2 g5 31. Ka2 Ka7 32. Rcf1

Carlsen defended well so far, but now the clock tells its own story.
32. ... g4? (32. ... Rc8 33. Rf7 Qxh2 34. R1f2 Qh3∞)
33. Qc3? (33. Rf7! Qxh2 34. R1f2 Qh6 35. Rxc7+−)
33. ... Nf3 34. Rg2 Rg8 35. Rff2 Rd6 36. Qe3 Ka8 37. Ne6 c6? An oversight in time trouble.

38. Qa3! Rxe6. 38. ... Rd7 39. Nf8 loses material by a Knight fork.
39. dxe6 Rc8? 1–0. The g4-Pawn also falls and Carlsen has had enough of it.

Yeah, Edna, great times are ahead of you, but until then, be careful

Artwork © Linda Bouderbala (@linda_bouderbala)

A Castle for Dragons

Fabiano Caruana – Dommaraju Gukesh

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; first leg; Stage 2: Knockout; Quarterfinal match game 2; time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; Wangels, February 10, 2025

nrknqbbr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NRKNQBBR w HBhb - 0 1

Position #270

1. Nb3 Nb6 2. e4 e5 3. f3 Nc6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4

5. ... f5!? 6. Nxf5 g6? A definite mistake, which loses a Pawn. Black should play at once 6. ... Bxa2, for after 7. Ra1 Be6 8. Nd4 a6 9. Nxc6 dxc6 his game would be tenable.
7. Nd4 Bxa2 8. Ra1 Be6 9. Nxc6 dxc6 10. Rxa7 Qe7 11. Qa5 Bh6+ 12. Be3 Bxe3+ 13. Nxe3 0-0 14. Qc3 Ra8 15. Rxa8 Rxa8 16. b3 Qg5 17. Be2 c5

Black is desperately searching for an opening for counterattack, but the White King cruelly jumps onto the other side of the board!
18. 0-0! 1–0. Black has a Pawn less and a disconsolate position — that’s enough for Gukesh to resign.

And yet, Edna, a doubt still remains, whether you are nearsighted or farsighted

Photo © Svetlana_lana

Only In This World

Magnus Carlsen – Nodirbek Abdusattorov

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; first leg; Stage 2: Knockout; Quarterfinal match game 1; time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move; Wangels, February 9, 2025

nrkbrnbq/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NRKBRNBQ w EBeb - 0 1

Position #381

1. f4 f5!? That is a very unusual situation as they both sacrifice the Exchange after only one move! The alternative was 1. ... Nb6 2. Nb3 f5 3. e4 fxe4 4. Rxe4 Bd5 5. Re1 Qg8 6. Bf2 Ng6 7. f5 Nf4 8. Ne3 e5 9. Nxd5 Nfxd5 10. g4! c6 11. Ra1!⩲ Gukesh – Caruana, 1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour (first leg), Stage 2: Knockout, Wangels 2025, Quarterfinal match game 1 (time control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds per move).
2. Bxa7 Bxa2 3. e4

3. ... Bxb1. “If I manage, let’s say he’d taken the Pawn immediately, I go g2-g3 up, make up for the Queen, protects the Pawn with Pawn to d5. Then I think I can probably give a check with the Bishop. And then after he blocks the check, I can, like move the Rook from b1 to d1 castling. As far as I can see, the rules allow that”, Carlsen explained in the confession booth.
4. Kxb1 fxe4 5. g3! “So at first, I’m thinking what is he doing because now g2-g3... The thing is his Bishop is covering the squares along the diagonal. So it seemed that nonsensical to take the Rook and also tactically, d5 was hanging in some lines or even if he was protecting e6. But I think that’s what he was worried about. Now I think ... d7-d5, looked very unappetising without the light squared control. So I think I will be able to bring the Queen out to e4 and I think be a little bit better”, said Carlsen.
5. ... c6 (5. ... d5 6. c4!⩲)
6. Qxe4 g6 (6. ... e6 7. Nb3 g6 8. d4 Nc7 9. Bxb8 Kxb8 10. Nfd2⩲)
7. Ne3 Bb6?! (7. ... e6 8. Nc4 Bc7 9. Bxb8 Kxb8 10. Ne5 d5 11. Qe3⩲)
8. Bxb8 Kxb8 9. Nb3

9. ... Nc7? (9. ... Ne6 10. Qb4 Nd4 11. Nc1!±)
10. Qb4 Bxe3 11. dxe3 Nd5 12. Qa5 e5 13. Bf3 e4 14. Bg2 Qg7 15. c4 Nf6 16. Kc2 Qf7 17. Bf1 d6 18. Ra1 N8d7. Or 18. ... Ne6 19. Qa7+ Kc7 (19. ... Kc8 20. Bh3+−) 20. Ra6! Nd8 21. Na5 with irresistible attack.
19. Nd4 Nc5 20. b4 Na6

21. b5! cxb5 22. Qb6 Nb4+ 23. Kd2 1–0.

Indeed, Edna, one may just wonder if he will ever know how wrong he is in his vision of you as an exotic Cinderella

Photo © Svetlana_lana

The Last Word

Dommaraju Gukesh – Magnus Carlsen

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; first leg; Stage 1: Rapid Round Robin; time control: 10 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; Wangels, February 8, 2025

brkrnqnb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/BRKRNQNB w DBdb - 0 1

Position #931

1. f4 b6 2. b3 Nh6 3. Ngf3 g6 4. Bxh8 Qxh8 5. g3 c5 6. e3 Nc7 7. Nd3 f6 8. Nf2 Nf7 9. e4 f5 10. Qe2 e5 11. fxe5 Nxe5 12. Nxe5 Qxe5 13. 0-0 d5

14. d4. An interesting Pawn sacrifice which gives enough compensation.
14. ... Qxd4 15. exf5 gxf5 16. Rbd1 Qg7 17. Nh3 Rf8 18. c4 0-0-0 19. Nf4 Rfe8 20. Qd3 d4 21. Bxa8 Nxa8 22. Qxf5+ Qd7 23. Qxd7+ Rxd7 24. Nd5 Rg7 25. Rde1. White has regained his Pawn and now heads towards a level ending.
25. ... Rxe1 26. Rxe1 Nc7 27. Nf4 Kd7 28. Re5 Re7 29. Rh5 Ne8 30. Rh6 Nd6 31. Nd5 Rf7 32. Nf6+ Kd8 33. Nd5 Nf5 34. Re6 Kd7

35. Re2?! 35. Rf6 seems a simpler and safer way to secure a draw.
35. ... Kd6 36. Rf2 b5! As such, there is nothing transcendental about it, except that Black’s moves come easier.
37. Kf1 bxc4 38. bxc4 Ke5 39. Ke1?! Nd6 40. Nf4 Rc7

41. Re2+? This makes things less easy. After 41. Nd3+! Ke4 42. Ke2 Nxc4 43. Rf4+ Kd5 44. Rf5+ Kd6 45. Rf6+ Black has nothing better than to repeat moves.
41. ... Kf5 42. Nd5?? A bad mistake, which allows Black to penetrate with overwhelming effect. 42. Rf2! would still hold everything up — at least for a while.
42. ... Rb7 43. h3 Ne4 44. g4+ Ke5 45. Kf1 d3 46. Re1 Kd4 0–1.

Nevertheless, Edna, one should not take dreams too seriously unless one wants to

Photo © Svetlana_lana

🌸

黎雨诗 (Lí Yǔshī), 《梦境之后 》 (After The Dream), 2022. Photo © 黎雨诗 (Lí Yǔshī).

Randomnicity

Fabiano Caruana – Magnus Carlsen

1st Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour; first leg; Stage 1: Rapid Round Robin; time control: 10 minutes plus 10 seconds per move; Wangels, February 7, 2025

nnbrqkrb/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/NNBRQKRB w GDgd - 0 1

Position #55

1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 b6 3. 0-0 0-0 4. Bf4 Ba6 5. g3 c6 6. Qd2 Nd7 7. Rfe1 e5? A catastrophic mistake which precipitates Black into an unsustainable situation. 7. ... f5! was almost called for.

8. e4! c5. On 8. ... exf4 9. exd5 White catches the Black Queen in a curious trap.
9. dxe5 d4 10. Nd5 Nxe5 11. b4! Nc4 12. Qe2 Rxd5. A desperate try for Black before he gives up.
13. exd5 Qxe2 14. Rxe2 Nb2. Black regains the Exchange, but the positional evaluation does not leave room for doubt: White is winning.
15. Rde1 Bxe2 16. Rxe2 d3

17. Re7 g5 (17. ... cxb4 18. d6+−)
18. Bxg5 cxb4 19. Rxa7 b5 20. d6 Nb6 21. d7 N2a4 22. Nb3 Nxd7 23. Rxd7 dxc2 24. Be4 Rc8 25. Rd8+ 1–0.

And so here they are again! Photo: Nils Rohde.

After all, Edna, Shakespeare mentioned Valentine’s Day in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and in “Hamlet”

Artwork © Ankel💡⟨>/<⟩

Peanut gallery

黎雨诗 (Lí Yǔshī), Your Reservation Is Confirmed (Stairs), 2018. Photo © 黎雨诗 (Lí Yǔshī).

The Twin of the Opera

Loong Koon-tin, an actor, portrays Donald Trump in a Cantonese opera, Trump, the Twins President at 新光戲院 (Sunbeam Theatre) in 香港 (Hong Kong), China. Photo: Billy HC Kwok/Getty Images.

To be sure, Edna, it’s just a Valentine’s cliché, but there’s a truth behind it

Artwork © wisely

Arrowheart

黎雨诗 (Lí Yǔshī), The Death of Actaeon, 2020. Photo © 黎雨诗 (Lí Yǔshī).

Lady Justice

Four-time Women’s World Chess Champion 侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán)’s dazzling appearance did not go unnoticed among the many other patrons at the opening ceremony of the 30th “李成智杯” (“Lǐ Chéngzhì Cup”) Chinese National Youth Chess Championship held on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, at 富悦大酒店 (Fùyuè Hotel) in 嘉兴 (Jiāxīng), 浙江省 (Zhèjiāng province), China, where she was invited as a representative of the referees.

侯逸凡 (Hóu Yìfán) to take an oath before she acts as a referee. Photos: Chinese Chess Association.

You know, Edna, they say they are not hungry — yet, as always, they will end with cannibalism

Artwork © wisely

Multiple Nash equilibria in tariff games

黎雨诗 (Lí Yǔshī), The Smothering Dream, 2022. Photo © 黎雨诗 (Lí Yǔshī).

Of course, Edna, all negotiations are confidential

Artwork © JoshuaECW21985

Tariff Bargaining

黎雨诗 (Lí Yǔshī), The Nightmare, 2019. Photo © 黎雨诗 (Lí Yǔshī).

It would seem, Edna, that he doesn’t know what the proverb actually means, “grasp all, lose all”

Artwork © Jose-Ramiro

Beneath the Sun

陈漫 (Chén Màn), Story of 厦门 (Xiàmén), 2022. Photo © 陈漫 (Chén Màn).

But of course, Edna, if only you wanted, you could play and flutter gracefully over any flowery bed

Artwork © wisely

Hello World

Call on the break. Caption & photo: 林修铭 (Lín Xiūmíng).