Chess forum by Grandmasters

Website improvements

Some suggestions for further improving the website: 1. Once member has logged in, remove all ads: "unlock courses" buttons, testimonials, steps to improve, etc. They take up a lot of space (resulting in unnecessary scrolling) and aren't useful to people who've already been converted. 2. Default to "log in", not "sign up". I understand why the latter is the default, but people log in 100x more often than they sign up. 3. Make forum compatible with iPhone. iPhone and iPad (and possibly also MacBook) use special characters for apostrophes, quotation marks, etc., which the forum rejects with a "please type text in English" message. This also means that completions for words such as "let's" don't work. 4. It would be great if the website search showed results while typing, e.g., to quickly navigate to a course.

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Another problematic character is three dots as in "12...Nf6", which iPhone automatically converts to ellipsis, which is again rejected.

Too much marketing drives people away - what's the catch and association with hardsell/poor products that need heavy marketing. As mentioned before a less in your face 2 minute video would cover much of it and be there if you want to know more. Generally the need is there when people come (they really want to improve) all they need is showing what's on the site will make a difference.

Just found another bug: 5. On iPhone/iPad, quizzes don't work reliably. Every few positions (perhaps related to changing page orientation or accidentally zooming the page), the quizz gets stuck, pieces can't be moved anymore, and reloading the page doesn't work either. Only way out is to press the browser back button. 6. Moving pieces in quizzes is difficult on iPhone/iPad. It would be much easier if I could select source and target square than having to slide the piece across the board.

I would like to see a better profile feature. Currently there is something called a public profile, but as far as I can tell it's not public at all and only the ChessMood staff can read it. By default, all details on the current profile should remain private. But let people somehow control which information is viewable by other members. This would enhance discussions because a little background information helps put things in context. And it would promote a sense of community.

Found another forum bug: 7. When editing a post that contains an empty line (such as this post), the empty line turns into multiple empty lines.

One more to add to the bug list. It seems on Android if you scroll during a quiz the page locks up.

Here's another forum usability issue that I keep running into: I type a long response, then accidentally click "Reply" above the post instead of "Send" below the post. As a result, the entire response is lost, and I need to type it again. Still waiting for #3 to be fixed. iOS compatibility of the ChessMood website could be improved by having a ChessMood employee regularly use iPhone or iPad.

I would never ...

...have played such an flawles attacking game before I met Avetik Grigoryan! 👏 https://lichess.org/Kdy5m504/black#40

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Endgames and training

It probably should mention at the end of Must Know Endgame Theory that as well as practising with a partner, you can practise practical endgames that rely on the knowledge in lichess puzzles. You can select themes of pawn, rook, knight, bishop, queen and queen and rook endings and well as general endings. Playing enough of these puzzles and analysing them when wrong decisions are made should help improve play and give a feeling for them.

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I think sparring endgames with partners is a great way to improve endgame knowledge/ technique. Now if only we had a community of like minded people who were intent on improvement.......

Reserve a seat

hi, I am new here and just wanted to know where to find the "Reserve a seat" button to book a 1-2-1 call. I see book a call and a time ticking down but I don't want to click it in case it is booking a call at that time. Any help? thanks Paul

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Hi Paul, 

In order to book a call you should be a promember. I saw in your profile that you have an essential plan.

This option is only for PRO Members, during which we'll set up goals and make a plan on how to take the player chess skills to a new level. 

Please take a look at the following page where you will find the detailed info of every plan.

https://chessmood.com/become-a-pro

When to Calculate and Evaluate

Question: When should you calculate and when should you evaluate? Obviously, every move should not be spent following some 5-step process. There has to be a more proficient way of using your brain energy.

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I don't think there is any magic answer sorry :-) I'd say that almost every position requires at least a little calculation. Beyond that it can depend on your assessment of the dynamics of the position. Are there tactical motifs present? Do you or your opponent have threats? What high level plans are in play? And, most importantly, what is your intuition telling you?

It's a bit of Spidey sense and a bit of evaluating first. I was of the opinion at least under 2000 everything is calculation and calculation is everything at long play (since more games are won that way than being strategically lost, and even the it's a forcing move that causes resignation). To unpack that a little, if you played any move, you still need to work out what the opponent replies to see if your plan gets what you want and stops the opponent from achieving theirs first. Evaluation has to take place to know what you did benefits you even if it's an attack or a tactical win of material. What does change as you go up in rating is you focus more on the important and avoid unnecessary calculation. There are two sorts of calculation to contrast. The first is a deep look at forcing moves (some times for both sides) because it's concrete and tactical until either the tactical shots run out or there is some indication that one side is clearly getting the better of it. The second is more the one-two (three) idea that I play, they play, I play (sometimes they, I, again), 'Did my position improve/get what I want?' to choose between candidate moves/plans ('mini plans'). There is still intuition and evaluation going on in deeper calculation since it's not possible to calculate everything like a computer. The less time you have the more intuition plays a part. Now how to tell which is needed and what to focus on. That's the Spidey sense which comes from a combination of experience, intuition, 'nagging feelings' something is important or going on, and also evaluation. The evaluation you can do is looking for opposing pieces interacting and hazards (just about defended, under/non-defended pieces, tactical geometry/motives, exposed/weak/poorly defended king, pieces with lack of moves/development potential, under-defended key lines, squares, pawn breaks) which start to tell you concrete operations are possible you need to calculate a bit more deeply or keep an eye on at least. In a longer game you can do that sort of audit and try to notice when hazards appear.

Looking for a coach

Hi, I am looking for a coach currently who will be able to augment the work that I am doing with chessmood material. My keys asks are as below. 1. I am 1400 odd on chess.com rapid with a greater than 65% win ratio. I would call myself an improving intermediate, and would like the assistance of someone around 2000 FIDE. 2. I have solidified my repertoire based on chessmood courses, and would prefer someone from this community, so that we understand each other well. If you feel we can work together, pls reply back to this post and we can take things from there. FYI, I am in India and would prefer someone from here, although I am open to options. Cheers.. Deb

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Hi Debasish,

Thanks for your message, we will contact you privately via email since we may have someone very nice for you. In the meanwhile, please let us know how old are you and what would be your preferred time frame.  

Someone around 2000 might help you initially, but often they themselves are stuck at that rating. The danger is getting to 1800 and hitting a wall due to bad advice. That said 1800 (OTB not blitz) is more about improving tactics, endgame and having some sound openings, plus the right mindset. Almost all you need for that level is here. Also the streams should help you see the difference between 1400 and say 1800 play. 1400 blitz is usually full of blunders.

Debasish, 

We already found a good coach for you and he already sent you an email. Please get in touch with him and good luck!💪

Tournament report: Coventry rapidplay open

At first glance a bit of a disaster tournament with 1.5/6 (three loses in a row, narrowly missing getting an 'Audi' - a joke name for getting 4 0s in row), aside from the top 3 competition +/-100 rating points approx so not overly difficult on paper. The win was a swindle as well. However I'm writing the report for a few reasons: . Not every tournament is a good one, it's very easy to assume that players who writing about their successes are always successful (hint just like social media few tell you when it's not unless they want help or attention). . It's not really that much of a disaster if you unpack it a bit. Chess is quite a cruel game in that you aren't rewarded just for making good moves, you have to win the game where a crucial mistake costs you (whether move 10 or 60). It's easy to get a bit down and dejected, but as long as you learn something, it's a step to improvement (and also put in context with other results and longer term trends). Plus there is luck that a string of bad results can come together just like flipping a coin and getting 5 heads in a row. On the flip side (no pun intended) eliminating one or two problems can make a big difference to results. First I had about 6 hours sleep which didn't bode well. I woke up about 5 hours, and eventually got another hour. It's easy to get in a bad mood (both meanings!) and play terrible, or temping to just quickly throw pieces at your opponent (hopefully not literally!) with little thought. However looking at my awareness during the game and actually how tired I appeared to be it wasn't a factor. Sometimes I play my best chess tired (perhaps less likely to overthink and more reliance on intuition perhaps?) so not letting a lack of sleep (or noisy neighbourhood party, fighting cats, kids, roadworks or whatever it is that didn't go right for you that morning) affect your chess by not thinking that it will and trying to be in the right mindset helps a lot. Who knows your opponent might also be suffering (I once played someone who fell asleep at the board; I was kind enough to wake him when it was his turn). The next thing to note was forgotten opening theory was pretty much the cause of most of the defeats (one in the modern maroczy which I'm still learning), which is 'easy' to remedy. Also with working there is not so much time to devote to study and that means less to keep what you do know fresh (which I've organised so it's not such a big task to do that). Normally it's bad play (tactics, endgame etc) but I don't think I played anything terribly bad and certainly no blunders. Bad play is a lot harder to fix, and in a rapidplay opening theory counts for a lot in both time you gain on the clock, time not having to sort out a slightly worse position and if you get it right keeping the opponent under pressure. Longer time control games often you can prepare, and if you can't remember things you have more time to run through scenarios, courses, games (in your head of course) to try to work out what the correct move is likely to be. Fixing other problems is a lot harder, and let's assume that it might have led to 2 more wins, then 3.5/6 wouldn't be a bad result. SLP is a big factor in quicker games. I swindled an opponent starting from a couple of pawns down who misplayed a rook ending (guess what puzzles I've been doing) and I ended up with (as black to move) pawn on b2, King on a2 where the opponent had king on f8 and pawn on h6. Both low on time, but SLP and continuing to play and set problems and go into an equal endgame on low time where anything could happen (no point offering a draw). Interestingly the opponent managed to get his revenge on his next opponent again winning a different pawn race with a8=Q+ with the enemy pawn on h3. I also lost a game I was winning due to SLP from my opponent, unfortunately too little time to stop a desperate attack. Rapidplay is fast and sometimes there isn't time to think out a slightly better endgame to a win with an opponent who is defending well (my draw where I was outplaying the opponent but needed a lot of time to work out the win). We tend to remember losses and losses in openings in a way is the hard way of learning the correct moves. Oh and I've come up with a couple of strategies to help remember openings better - TBA if successful.

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Hey David, Thanks for the report. For me blitz and rapid performance is very similar up and down to yours. Just recently I played in Lithuania open blitz and rapid championship and in blitz I was playing like crazily good, beating stronger players left and right and just crushing lower rated like it's no tommorow. But in the rapid section I lost about 30 rating points again, struggling and losing couple of games even against ~1800 opposition. Usually for me there's one crucial game which sets the emotion for the remaining rounds, so I guess I'm emotional player 😆 Yeah I can beat 2300 alright, but lose just as well to 1700-1800 range. Maybe Avetik can comment how to deal with this situation?

ChessMood opening courses available on YT for free

Googling "Maroczy Qb6" led me to this YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@chesscube1038 I assume this isn't authorized?

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I think it's authorised the same way as smoking dodgy substances while carry a bag with SWAG written on it by a car with 2 wheels missing, playing extremely loud gangster rap outside a police station. I've sent a direct message on contact us as they might not have seen this post. It looks like the material has been there a while.

Thank you, we did not know about this. Thanks for the email too David. Now we are aware of it and we will see what we can do about it. Thanks again!!!😅

New Book: The Chess Bible - Foreword by Avetik

Hello ChessMood family, I am happy to say my book "The Chess Bible - Most Instructive Tips, Axioms, One-Liners & Mantras" has recently been published by Thinkers Publishing. Avetik was kind enough to meet with me a few times last year to help me select examples for the book and was gracious enough to write the foreword. Links to get the book: https://thinkerspublishing.com/product/the-chess-bible-most-instructive-tips-axioms-one-liners-mantras/https://thinkerspublishing.com/.../the-chess-bible-most.../ or https://www.amazon.com/dp/9464201657/ref=cm_sw_r_api_i_6SC3R38Y9D7G4MFJQJ7Z_0?fbclid=IwAR15Mvu0x1LCNdpJcAUftb5sT-gUO6T8sr4ntc211TZS8kK8vehiNLYB5O4https://www.amazon.com/.../ref=cm_sw_r_api_i... More information about me (and the book): https://chessmood.com/feedback/vishnu-warrier https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2022/11/29/ep-306-adult-improver-vishnu-warrier-can-a-31-year-old-uscf-2100-make-become-a-gm-vishnu-wants-to-find-out https://www.buzzsprout.com/1700041?client_source=large_player&iframe=true&referrer=https://www.buzzsprout.com/1700041.js?container_id=buzzsprout-large-player-1700041&player=large# https://chess4life.com/blog/ (soon to be published on the Chess4Life Spotlight)

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Thanks Vishnu! I just listened to your podcast this morning! We are all very proud of you and we are sure that you will make it!  
💪😁COGRO!!!😀 Always here if you need us!

Congratulations Vishnu, I bought a copy on Forward Chess ... all the best sucess with the book and chess growth!

Congratulations Vishnu. I've just listened to your podcast. You are an inspiration to us all! Your dedication to improvement is impressive, I'm sure you will reap great benefit from your approach. I'm quite incredulous about how you can improve, have a career, a family and write a book. Keep it up!

Maroczy 15...Be5 plan 16. Nb5

Did we ever come up with a suggested continuation against Nb5 here (plan 2 15.. Be5) in video 5, 6, 7, since it seems to stop Black's plan of playing e6 dead and is the engine's best move, though I suspect Black isn't without practical chances against lower level competition. Most 2000 level maroczy players can reach here, so it's not deep, whether they find/know Nb5 over the board is another matter (if they work out Black's plan then it's a reasonably easy move to find). As well as stopping e6 there are some now tempo tricks eventually with f4 (hitting the bishop) and e5 which wouldn't be possible if f4 wasn't a tempo. That said Nb5 Qb6 Rfd8 Bf1 Qd8 seems to be playable going back to plan 1, but with White able to swap off his light squared bishop e.g. g3 Bg7 Bh3 Bd7 Bxd7, but an with arguably misplaced knight. This isn't possible in plan 1 of 15.. Qb6 because White doesn't have the tempos to play Rfd1, Bf1, g3. So is Be5 sound, or just a surprise than is objectively ?! but playable?

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16. g3 is also interesting, now if h5 17. Nb5 h4 18. gxh4 and if Qc8 19. Rf2 - the white DSB prevents Kg7 Rh8 ideas and if Qh3 Bf1

David, is this the position that you are referring too? Here you say that White plays Nb5, right? 😅

Can you provide the exact moves if it is not?

The best games of November, 2022, and the prizes

Hello ChessMood family, hello champions and future champions! 
Welcome to the "Best games of November, 2022" competition.
Under this post, we invite you to post the best games that you will play this month. 

The Prize fund is 350K MoodCoins which is equal to 350$.  

The 1st prize  - 150K
The 2nd prize - 100K
The 3rd prize-  50K
The 4th prize- 30k
The 5th prize- 20k

Good luck with your games and keep the Right Mood! 
#ChessMood
#Right Mood - Right Move 

P. S.
Here are the winners of October, 2022:

Mik B.
Andreas Sym
Giorgos Kechagias
Ovi Sacasan
Yuma Okabe
 

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Many Thanks To the entire, awesome Chessmood Team! Do you have a lifetime membership?🤣

I will kick it off since I will be gone most of the rest of the month. My best sicilian game so far applying some chessmood energy :) https://www.chess.com/game/live/61250973459 Not the best game ever, but I was very proud of it.

My favourite chessmood opening: SLP Gambit 😁 There was a triple SLP 😂 https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/61488106941?tab=review 1. e4 g6 2. Ba6 bxa6 3. d4 Bg7 4. f4 e6 5. Nf3 Ne7 6. Nc3 O-O 7. h4 h5 8. O-O f5 9. e5 d6 10. Qe2 dxe5 11. fxe5 Bb7 12. Bg5 Qe8 13. Rad1 Nd5 14. Nb1 Nc6 15. Nbd2 f4 16. Ne4 Ne3 17. Nf6+ Bxf6 18. Bxf6 Nxf1 19. Rxf1 Nxd4 20. Nxd4 Bd5 21. Rxf4 c5 22. Nf3 Qb5 23. c4 Bxf3 24. Qxf3 Qxb2 25. g4 Qc1+ 26. Kh2 Rad8 27. gxh5 Rd2+ 28. Kh3 Qc2 29. Qg3 Rd3 30. Rf3 Rxf3 31. Qxf3 Qxc4 32. Qg3 Qf1+ 33. Kh2 Qe2+ 34. Kh3 Qxh5 35. Qb3 Qf5+ 36. Kg2 Qe4+ 37. Kh3 Qf5+ 38. Kg2 Rxf6 39. exf6 Qxf6 40. Qb8+ Kg7 41. Qxa7+ Qf7 42. Qxc5 Qb7+ 43. Kh3 Qf3+ 44. Kh2 Qf4+ 45. Kh3 Qf5+ 46. Qxf5 exf5 47. Kg3 Kf6 48. Kf4 Kg7 49. Kg5 Kf7 50. h5 gxh5 51. Kxf5 Ke7 52. Kg5 Kd6 53. Kxh5 Kc5 54. Kg4 Kb4 55. Kf3 Kc3 56. Ke3 a5 57. Ke2 a4 58. a3 Kb2 59. Kd2 Kxa3 60. Kc2 Ka2 61. Kc1 a3 62. Kc2 Ka1 63. Kc1 a2 64. Kc2 1/2-1/2

My november highlights 😆 crazy attack in antisicilian https://www.chess.com/game/live/61581703447 power of f6 pawn https://www.chess.com/game/live/62183987461 caro Bd3 carlsbad adventures https://www.chess.com/game/live/61582791429 https://www.chess.com/a/2sAWUiobLZT2S (OTB blitz game in club tournament vs 2200 player, carlsbad b4 idea, txs chessmood) dangers of opposite color bishops in the middlegame https://www.chess.com/game/live/61584613407 Fierce N in benko https://www.chess.com/game/live/63395815547 Grand Prix famous d4 sac https://www.chess.com/game/live/62794197599 Trying out the french https://www.chess.com/game/live/63395919739

https://lichess.org/SeKKHl8n5Fij

Queen sacrifice to mate! https://www.chess.com/game/live/61685471163

Caro Kann exchange game my opponent accused me of cheating. One of my better played games.

Chessmood really has a great repertoire vs. the Modern https://lichess.org/IBkGLMOU/white

Pretty cool game I had with the Scotch. https://lichess.org/26Ml7wTkXjQT

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O d5 10. Qe1 e5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Bc4 Be6 14. Bc5 Qg5+ 15. Kb1 Rfd8 16. Bxd5 cxd5 17. g3 Rac8 18. Ba3 e4 19. f4 Qf5 20. Bb4 d4 21.Nxe4 Bd5 22. Nd6 Qxc2+ 23. Ka1 d3 24. Rb1 Rxd6 25. Bxd6 d2 26. Qd1 Bxh1 0-1 I played black. A Good dragon game where i punished my opponent for his opening mistake! This was played OTB recently in the Bangkok Chess Club Open. It was the last round and i was playing an opponent who was 400 points higher rated, and I was in the mood for fighting chess! A Very short miniature and definitely one of my proudest games

https://www.chess.com/game/live/61905012327 The Benko game which finally allowed me to reach 2200 after being at 2100 for almost 5 Months! HERE WE COME 2300!!!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/61981163411 Opponent castled into it, I tried different types of mating patterns

Queen sacrifice https://lichess.org/YSkuiwphbzRX

https://lichess.org/FnQgfVys/white

Probably the most boring win of the month but I played 68 moves with 98% accuracy. https://lichess.org/iNGzMIE5/white#135

A beautiful( coach Hohvanne's terms) middle of the board blitz mate that incorporates several Chessmood principles, including punishing early Queen development and attacking the weak c7 square. 21 moves. Thank you Chessmood! https://www.chess.com/game/live/62238527665

A nice win !! https://lichess.org/CjXi3rhrb1YA

https://www.chess.com/live/game/62368782815 Ne4 followed by Nf6 was killing!

Very beautiful game! https://lichess.org/hcHjlSBq/white#51

All in on the king https://www.chess.com/live/game/62419128735

French attack https://www.chess.com/game/live/62497125745 Although I made 3 blunders, I did not give up even in a losing position. With this win, I made it to 1005 for rapid. A 1000 target I made for myself when I sign up this course on 1 August. I was 861 for rapid then. As an adult learner at age 46 with working from home and taking care of my son (3 years old), this is a huge milestone for me. Looking forward to 1200 and more. Even I don't win the 1st prize for this month, this 1000 milestone was already my 1st prize.

This is a direct refutation of the Stafford Gambit, popular with the under 2000 folks nowadays. One can see in the analysis how white gains a huge positional advantage from the beginning. The Blackmood course made the difference in defeating this sometimes dangerous gambit. https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/daily/444732097?tab=review

Won a lost match !! https://lichess.org/wKeTLt0eP0DC

Hello, this was an OTB game (1h30min+30sec) in our club intern championship 22/23 against my good friend and roughly both 1800 rating and nice games over the last years playing usually for the 3rd or second place (most of our stronger players do not participate, usually only one over well above 1900.) Anyway we had played some rapid test french games the week before and it was clear that he would play french against me. Unfortunately, he did not have time to prepare for the Bd3 Schlechter variation and I had some time the day before. Anyway it went nicely and a quick end. During the game after about move 11 he said in desperation and with a smile .. "don't know anymore how to play against this setup" .. [White "Michael Dittmar"] [Black "Peter Bucher "] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/michaeld"] [BlackElo "1800"] [ECO "C00"] [EventDate "2022.11.10"] [Opening "French Defense: Schlechter Variation"] [UTCDate "2022.11.12"] [UTCTime "14:23:50"] [Variant "Standard"] [WhiteElo "1800"] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3 dxe4 4.Bxe4 Nf6 5.Bf3 Bd6 6.Ne2 O-O 7.O-O c5 8.Nbc3 Nc6 9.Be3 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 Qe7 12.Rfd1 Rd8 13.Qh4 e5 14.Bg5 Qe6 15.Nd5 e4 16.Nxf6+ gxf6 17.Bxf6 Bxh2+ 18.Kxh2 Rxd1 19.Rxd1 Bd7 20.Qh6 1-0

I haven't seen this line at all for 3 years, and now I have seen it 5-6 times in the last month... I need to revisit the videos LOL I did win this one though, in a fun game

French Exchange variation...tried to play it Gabuzyan style. I'm really inspired by his streams! Missed the mate in 1 at the end because of low time but still managed to pull it off. https://www.chess.com/game/live/62672366767

Stafford gambit refutation...Whitemood course so helpful! Bonus...marathon king chase. https://www.chess.com/game/live/62686149349

one brilliant and tow only move

https://lichess.org/eBs8QOC9/black#32 How to destroy your 2264 opponent in 16 moves with a game of sacs in end 😀😀

My favorite opening trap! heh

https://www.chess.com/live/game/60893435827 Never underestimate your opponent ,:-)

https://www.chess.com/live/game/62606465651 A kind of active play

https://www.chess.com/live/game/62850594391 Romantic , Evan's gambit:-)

https://www.chess.com/live/game/62605214711 Funny rapid games sacrifices

https://www.chess.com/live/game/62508598549 When the king is at the center

https://www.chess.com/live/game/62932823475 Albin (-morning coffee:-)) countergambit Also thanks a lot GM_Avetik Grigoryan for analysing everybodys games here and for the help.

https://www.chess.com/live/game/62956745465 French Bd3 variation. I guess I spent too much time watching Tactic Ninja course lately, intermediate moves :-)

This is one of the best games I've ever played

https://www.chess.com/live/game/63194974647 Classic bishop sacrifice:-)

A Caro-Kann exchange variation where I played White and won straight out of the opening thanks to a line GM Avetik gave in his videos 😀: https://www.chess.com/game/live/61774816821

On the Black side of a King's Gambit, my king bravely went to g5 and f5 during the middle game and survived. White's king then quickly came under checkmate threats in a few moves: https://www.chess.com/game/live/61746102725

The Guimard against the French https://lichess.org/e0X4jSg0/black

After blundering my Queen, I went into SLP mode with a surprising mate. The SLP course is sooooo helpful! https://lichess.org/ljivRwB1P8LT

Beatet a higher rated player in Caro-Kaan. Of cause not errorfree but a good game I think :-) https://lichess.org/QTUqpUPXcDUC

I'm happy to have a last-minute-starter: Gaining the initiative with Pseudo-Pawn-sac and finishing the attack in a special way: double rook sacrifice and mate. https://lichess.org/zxrFFr6z

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/63467255011?tab=analysis I'm White, KnightOwl_333

I tried to play aggresevily... what a mess! https://www.chess.com/game/live/62167214559 A tensed game... 93.4% accuracy. It was nice how computer agrees that allowing 17...Nc2 (which was not played) was correct! https://www.chess.com/game/live/62852368891

https://www.chess.com/game/live/62768376487 one of my favorite wins.

My first OTB 1850+ win! Using the white vs french course. So happy with this one!! https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/i7qzGfGYN

Standard stuff but still pleasant https://www.chess.com/live/game/63554280199

This is from a large, over the board event I played in 5 days ago in Chicago. It was a FIDE rated tournament, over 250 players. My opponent was rated 400 higher than me! It is the CM line against the French. There is a kingside attack and a Mating Matador finish. Thanks ChessMood!! John https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/game/?p=BKPnQ50e2lCBZKMvTBUYhyvPYw5SGqCuJtht+VDYizGIiIqRGVSUB8c46Y/ZjbIM

Good game :)

Hello Champions!

We’re coming to the end of 2022. It gives us great joy every time we see you all spot tactics, notice mates, play model games in the opening and show a good understanding of chess. Keep it up and thank you for sharing your best games!

Moving on to the prizes for the best games of November 2022…
 

The first prize goes to Andreas Sym! You took on a GM who was almost 800 points higher and won in just 21 moves, that too with Black pieces – really commendable! 17…Bf1 Just killed it – What a move! Well done!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/60893435827
 

Marcus F. grabs the second prize. Great use of space advantage to build up an attack and a stylish 25.Rd5 sacrifice to end the game! Nicely done!

https://lichess.org/zxrFFr6z#38
 

Regis H takes the third prize for the following game. It’s a model game on how to attack fearlessly attack in the Sicilian Grand Prix! Congratulations!  https://www.chess.com/game/live/63554280199
 

The 4th prize goes to Amit Mishra. A different spin on the Grand Prix attack. We loved the final Queen sacrifice with 28.Qxf6 and the mate that followed after. Well done!

https://lichess.org/CjXi3rhr#59
 

The 5th prize goes to Ovi Sacasan. A nice game to see how to attack in a symmetrical position like the French Exchange. The build-up of the Kingside attack and the killer punch Bh2+ was great! Good game!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/62672366767
 

Congratulations, and thanks again everyone for sharing your games. 

Good luck with the December month contest! End this year on a high!

New success story: +600 rating points and a visit to ChessMood

Chess is more than just a sport. It has the power to connect people, like it did for Mik Bernicchi and GM Gabuzyan🤝 

When Mik was discussing his chess goal with coach GM Gabuzyan, something interesting happened.

Gabuzyan revealed he was soon going to get married so Mik could drop by to attend his wedding.  

And Mik did – he flew 3000 miles, from London to Yerevan to be at Gabuzyan’s wedding! ✈️ 

During his stay in Yerevan, he was also here with us at the ChessMood office, where we had planned some fun activities!
 

In today’s story, Mik shares:

✅The things he did when he was in Yerevan for the wedding.

✅His experience being in the ChessMood office with the team.

✅His chess improvement journey, and more!
 

This article is dedicated to all our students, team members, investors, and well-wishers! Thank you for believing in us! 

We hope to host you one day at our office in Yerevan.

Link to the full story 👇

https://chessmood.com/feedback/mik-bernicchi 

Share your thoughts under this forum thread.

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Good work Mik, so how about Hastings for your next tournament?

It was very nice to read your story, Mik! I wish you to win a bottle of whiskey and we will drink it in our office 😅 see you in 2023 :)

Daily puzzle 2 Dec

Again another with 2 plausible solutions.

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That's weird.

Thanks David, fixed again. 

Main course

I've only been a member for a few months now. I'm an 800 level player at this time. Listening to Whitemood courses, specifically the Scotch opening. A comment was made that you can learn more at the main courses. I've heard this comment previously. What are these "main courses"? Thank you Allen

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On the courses page (https://chessmood.com/courses) you will see a heading "Step-by-step opening repertoire for White". That contains links to the main courses for each white opening, including the Scotch (https://chessmood.com/course/scotch-game).

Daily chess puzzle 29.11.2022

Hello cm community, it seems there is a flaw in today s problem at 1st black move, and on white reply to it

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We just fixed it! 

Thanks!

Daily puzzle of 29.11.2022

Hi everyone, I didn't know where to post this, but there is a problem with the solution for today's puzzle. The second move should be 2.Nf7+, bagging the Queen after the King has moved to safety. The proposed solution loses material unnecessarily. This should be fixed.

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I guess the first black move was supposed to be Qg7. Then the 2nd white move of Be5 makes more sense.

We just fixed it! 

Thanks!

difficulty to see long distance tactics

Hello, I noticed that somehow I have difficulties to see or imagine long distances "easy" moves (when attacking (King) and defending like in the example below (White to move) from a tactics exercise book. Somehow focusing on near king moves. Any good way to train for such problems? thanks michael

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Perhaps try solving more studies? It's also good to collect a set of such positions (with long distance moves) and periodically go through and re-solve them. You can even make a private Chessable course out of them. I like how the attached puzzle finishes with Qe8# :-)

It's a combination of sight of board (what you unconsciously notice) and where your conscious attention is drawn to (the king, it's a puzzle and many of them are to mate). Since your mind can easily filter the irrelevant e.g. the rook on a6, which is only of use as a move delaying sacrifice, it's easy to forget about the bishop. One way to solve this is after a quick glance go through the forcing move process: look at checks, captures threats in roughly most forcing to least order. While looking for _all_ checks you might notice Ba3+. The only trap then is to miss the Qe8# follow up in favour of superior material (found a good move, check if there is a better one). More studies yes, but take your time and be aware of your thinking process.

sparring partner

Hello chessmood family i am punit dodhiya from india with fide rating of 1403 and i just finished scotch opening of below 2000 i want to practice with some one in chess.com or lichess.org we can play 3+2 or 10+5 chess.com id pdodhiya lichess id Ar300

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you might find better luck asking in the pinned post at the top, this will soon be lost as new posts occur.

here i can be your sparring partner

i sent you a message in fb

Help me get some inferences

https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/11951337/ Above linked data is from 9.7k low elo +9.7k high elo = 19.4k games about the openings used by them. Why do you think sicilian defence is so popular in high elo and not low elo. (I am a beginner chess player but doing a project to understand some patterns and infer some useful conclusion for chess players). Any other useful insights to get from this data?🙏 please help

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My experience and understanding (as an intermediate player ~1700-2000 online, no OTB rating), is that the Sicilian is very strong, but also very complicated. I started off playing the Dragon, but never developed much of an understanding of it. I got to roughly 1000 strength pretty quickly, but stagnated. I jumped to 1400-1500 (online) pretty quickly once I started playing the Caro-Kann, which seemed simpler than the Sicilian. I went from playing the Sicilian poorly to playing the Caro-Kann poorly, and my results improved. But I also put at least some effort into actually learning the thing. With the white pieces, I also went from playing the strong but complicated Queen's Gambit to the simpler (if less powerful) London System. This suited me well at that point in my chess development, at least in terms of gaining rating and confidence. Now I play the White Mood openings with 1. e4, largely to improve my attacking play, and also because GM Avetik said so. :) I'd like to try learning the Accelerated Dragon sometime soon, but totally changing all of my openings with white feels like enough of a project at the moment. In terms of stronger players, I think they like to play the Sicilian because it is objectively strong and also theoretically challenging. The best players are less concerned with the need to learn lots of theory. At some point, perhaps it's more necessary to learn lots of theory, and there is an edge to be gained by doing that. But at lower levels, there is still so much more to work on, I think it makes sense to just get a position with some possibilities that doesn't have tons of theoretical pitfalls to avoid.

I think a relatively simple explanation can be that Sicilians are generally more "fighting" openings, since they create imbalances right from the very start. For example, after the most common response 2. Nf3 and 3.d4 from White (the open Sicilian), after 3...cxd4 4.Nxd4, an imbalanced pawn structure results from the trade of Black's c-pawn and White's d-pawn. White has a queenside majority which can be useful in some endgames, while the semi-open c-file for Black can be useful for Black to put pressure on White's pawn structure. Due to these imbalances, usually one or both sides have some practical chances to play for win, since positions are rarely too "dry". Moreover, different variations of the Sicilian can offer a wide range of play, for example some sharp lines in the Najdorf can lead to opposite side castling and many attacking ideas, such as ...a6 and ...b5 from Black, g2-g4-g5 etc. from White, while other variations like the hedgehog approach Taimanov (against the Maroczy) mind can offer a struggle between dynamic and static advantages. All-in-all, Sicilian positions have huge variety and offers fighting chances for both sides, and players with different styles can often choose an approach as White/black that suits himself/herself.

https://chessmood.com/blog/5-reasons-to-play-sicilian-defense-for-black

😀

Playing the board vs the person

An interesting thought crossed my mind. A usual piece of chess advice is play the board not the person, that is (opening prep aside) play the strongest moves, not the sort of move you think the opponent will fall for. But with SLP, I guess it's the reverse, play the person not the board. The 'strongest' moves on the board won't win, so play moves that will be troublesome for the opponent. That said psychology is useful against opponents. Younger juniors are likely to be impatient and tire early, so a long maneuvering game in 'dull' endgame positions are likely to lead to their defeat (see my round 4 at Birmingham), whereas a fun fur-flying attacking game will no doubt keep their attention and it's an urban-adage not to try to out-tactic a junior. Very old people are also likely to tire on a long game. I forget which book it was, but someone was being given advice to play against GM Barcza after an adjournment that he was an old man, so keep playing on. One of the players at my club (in his 80s) tends to get good positions or even beat me at skittles-blitz but the results he has at longer games are worse thus his rating is falling away. No doubt as the game time goes on, mistakes creep in. Age is a factor in how and what you play. There is also psychological factors in time scrambles that once the adrenaline wears off tiredness starts to happen. The Chessmood openings often talk about not playing the most principled moves, but tricky moves that give trouble to the opponent and avoid deep [big] theory. So it's an interesting topic, when to play the board and when to play the person/situation or practical moves vs principled ones.

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