diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
index 858e5e9204..eb262afc0f 100644
--- a/CLAUDE.md
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -95,6 +95,8 @@ VIZ=1 python -c "from tinygrad import Tensor; Tensor.ones(10).sum().realize()"
 ## Workflow Rules
 
 - **NEVER commit without explicit user approval** - always show the diff and wait for approval
+- **NEVER amend commits** - always create a new commit instead
+- Run `pre-commit run --all-files` before committing to catch linting/type errors
 - Run tests before proposing commits
 - Test with `SPEC=2` when modifying UOp-related code
 
diff --git a/test/test_tensor_variable.py b/test/test_tensor_variable.py
index cbffc2dbb5..643b1c5dec 100644
--- a/test/test_tensor_variable.py
+++ b/test/test_tensor_variable.py
@@ -95,6 +95,37 @@ class TestTensorVariable(unittest.TestCase):
     assert t.uop.base.buffer.size == 30
     assert t.uop.shape == (3, vb)
 
+  def test_symbolic_chunk(self):
+    # chunk should work when split dimension is concrete, even if other dims are symbolic
+    vv = Variable("a", 1, 10).bind(4)
+    t = Tensor.ones(10, 8).contiguous()[:vv, :]  # shape (vv, 8)
+    chunks = t.chunk(2, dim=-1)  # split along concrete dim 8
+    assert len(chunks) == 2
+    assert chunks[0].shape[1] == 4
+    assert chunks[1].shape[1] == 4
+    # verify the values by shrinking to concrete shape first
+    np.testing.assert_equal(chunks[0].shrink(((0, 4), (0, 4))).numpy(), np.ones((4, 4)))
+    np.testing.assert_equal(chunks[1].shrink(((0, 4), (0, 4))).numpy(), np.ones((4, 4)))
+
+  def test_symbolic_split(self):
+    # split should work when split dimension is concrete, even if other dims are symbolic
+    vv = Variable("a", 1, 10).bind(3)
+    t = Tensor.arange(30).reshape(10, 3).contiguous()[:, :vv]  # shape (10, vv)
+    splits = t.split(5, dim=0)  # split along concrete dim 10
+    assert len(splits) == 2
+    assert splits[0].shape[0] == 5
+    assert splits[1].shape[0] == 5
+    # verify the values by shrinking to concrete shape first
+    np.testing.assert_equal(splits[0].shrink(((0, 5), (0, 3))).numpy(), np.arange(30).reshape(10, 3)[:5, :3])
+    np.testing.assert_equal(splits[1].shrink(((0, 5), (0, 3))).numpy(), np.arange(30).reshape(10, 3)[5:, :3])
+
+  def test_symbolic_chunk_error_on_symbolic_dim(self):
+    # chunk should fail when trying to split along a symbolic dimension
+    vv = Variable("a", 1, 10).bind(4)
+    t = Tensor.ones(10, 8).contiguous()[:vv, :]  # shape (vv, 8)
+    with self.assertRaises(AssertionError):
+      t.chunk(2, dim=0)  # can't split along symbolic dim
+
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
   unittest.main()
diff --git a/tinygrad/tensor.py b/tinygrad/tensor.py
index 291f068655..1a5c25959a 100644
--- a/tinygrad/tensor.py
+++ b/tinygrad/tensor.py
@@ -1334,10 +1334,11 @@ class Tensor(OpMixin):
     print("\\n".join([repr(x.numpy()) for x in split]))
     ```
     """
-    assert all_int(self.shape), f"does not support symbolic shape {self.shape}"
     dim = self._resolve_dim(dim)
-    if isinstance(sizes, int): sizes = [min(sizes, self.shape[dim]-i) for i in range(0, max(1, self.shape[dim]), max(1, sizes))]
-    assert sum(sizes) == self.shape[dim], f"expect sizes to sum exactly to {self.shape[dim]}, but got {sum(sizes)}"
+    dim_sz = self.shape[dim]
+    assert isinstance(dim_sz, int), f"does not support symbolic shape in split dimension {dim}: {self.shape}"
+    if isinstance(sizes, int): sizes = [min(sizes, dim_sz-i) for i in range(0, max(1, dim_sz), max(1, sizes))]
+    assert sum(sizes) == dim_sz, f"expect sizes to sum exactly to {dim_sz}, but got {sum(sizes)}"
     return tuple(self[sl] for sl in [tuple([slice(None)]*dim + [slice(sum(sizes[:i]), sum(sizes[:i + 1]))]) for i in range(len(sizes))])
 
   def chunk(self, chunks:int, dim:int=0) -> list[Tensor]:
@@ -1359,10 +1360,11 @@ class Tensor(OpMixin):
     print("\\n".join([repr(x.numpy()) for x in chunked]))
     ```
     """
-    assert all_int(self.shape), f"does not support symbolic shape {self.shape}"
-    assert chunks > 0, f"expect chunks to be greater than 0, got: {chunks}"
     dim = self._resolve_dim(dim)
-    return list(self.split(ceildiv(self.shape[dim], chunks) if self.shape[dim] else [0]*chunks, dim=dim))
+    dim_sz = self.shape[dim]
+    assert isinstance(dim_sz, int), f"does not support symbolic shape in split dimension {dim}: {self.shape}"
+    assert chunks > 0, f"expect chunks to be greater than 0, got: {chunks}"
+    return list(self.split(ceildiv(dim_sz, chunks) if dim_sz else [0]*chunks, dim=dim))
 
   def unfold(self, dim:int, size:sint, step:int) -> Tensor:
     """