Say Chess

I Slept My Way to 2100 in Blitz on Chess.com

It seems fitting to reemerge and give an update on my chess journey now that I have something positive to share.

Aug 6 • 

Martin B. Justesen

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12

March 2025

February 2025

Newsletter Update: Slow(er) Productivity

In the last 4 years, I have written +300 newsletters and published 19 chess books. It has been a very intense and productive period, but it is also…

Feb 22 • 

Martin B. Justesen

12

3

Part II of Mapping Checkmate Patterns with a 27-Dimensional Fingerprint

Last week I posted a try to find and organize checkmate patterns using a clustering algorithm combined with a focused look on the 3x3 squares around the…

Feb 13 • 

Martin B. Justesen

14

8

Mapping Checkmate Patterns with a 27-Dimensional Fingerprint

Some days ago, I read in a blog post on Lichess that the kill box checkmate pattern had been added as a puzzle keyword.

Feb 7 • 

Martin B. Justesen

20

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January 2025

The Tactics Ladder is Now Free

I’ve decided to make TacticsLadder.com completely free to use.

Jan 31 • 

Martin B. Justesen

22

3

Building a Data-Driven Chess Opening Repertoire + FREE TEST REPERTOIRE AGAINST 1. e4

Today, we'll explore a new approach that combines database statistics and engine evaluation to build an opening repertoire.

Jan 25 • 

Martin B. Justesen

13

10

#2 Weekly Calculation Time

This week has been a bit challenging for me.

Jan 17 • 

Martin B. Justesen

9

5

#1 Weekly Calculation Time

While I continuously work on fixing bugs and improving tacticsladder.com, I have also considered how to develop this newsletter.

Jan 10 • 

Martin B. Justesen

13

12

Who Wears the Trousers in the Chess World?

Magnus Carlsen’s recent actions at the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships were not just controversial but a significant rebellion against FIDE.

Jan 3 • 

Martin B. Justesen

14

12

December 2024

The Checkmate Camino is Out!

I've just added a new book to tacticsladder.com! It's a collection of 10,000 carefully analyzed mate-in-two problems. Each puzzle has been evaluated on…

Dec 20, 2024 • 

Martin B. Justesen

6

3

Update on TacticsLadder.com

Starting something new is always a bit frightening.

Dec 18, 2024 • 

Martin B. Justesen

11

4