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Chess forum by Grandmasters
8 Months to get to 2200
Hello ChessMood Family ? I am sharing with you my situation in the hopes of some recommendations. If I can make 2200 USCF before the end of next February, I can make the U.S. Youth Team. I am currently 2068 USCF rating. What should I be doing/practicing/learning?
Replies
Hi Brody, We are all here trying to improve, and so we are all trying to solve the question of what to study :-) For your situation, you don't supply many details (such as what you have been studying already) so I guess it is hard for people to make specific recommendations. At a high level, I think there are three possible approaches: 1) Hire a good coach, and follow their guidance. The major disadvantage here is that it costs money! Other than that, I suspect it is the most effective approach. 2) Analyse your own games, which should inform you which parts of your game will be most profitable to work on. Note that this is not just quickly running over your games with an engine. It requires a lot of critical thinking and self-reflection, which isn't for everyone. 3) Just follow a generic program, where you allocate time to working on all aspects of the game. That way you will definitely spend at least some time working on the area of greatest need even if you're not sure what that is, and the other stuff won't hurt. This approach is the simplest, but the challenge is to make sure you spend some time on all areas and not just the ones you find most interesting. Did you do a 1:1 meeting with a ChessMood GM and get a study plan? If not, that could be a good first step. Additionally, I have two specific recommendations based on recent personal experience: 1) Solve the ChessMood Daily Puzzle every single day. Sometimes it's quite easy, but it's almost always an interesting position that is good for exercising creativity. When I solve it, I focus on visualising the solution to the end, and on finding all the defensive tries. 2) Try blindfold chess. You are at a level where you should be able to manage this. It's not for everyone, but I believe it has a good payoff if you can stick with it. Good luck!
Yes, Brody, you should provide more details about yourself. Time availabilty, what did you study already, what do you play… Everything and more in order to be able to give you some advice. Of course, as Peter M said, if you did not have the 1 on 1 call, you should…
Please provide more details, like how many tournaments you can play until the next February because to win 134 elo in 8 months may not be so easy… The last Chicago tournament you said that it did not go well for you…
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English opening e5 and d6 move
I have just looked back at my pgn file in the English Course.
My question is the following:
In Section 1-Introduction we continue with 5..,e5
In Section 2 - 5.Nf3 nr. 9 Introduction we continue with 5..,d6
Why this difference?
In both Cases the moves before that are the same:
1.c4, c5 2. Nc3, g6 3.g3, Bg7 4. Bg2, Nc6 5. Nf3
Replies
I am not the biggest expert but in some cases the moves can be interchanged and the position may transpose, that said, I truly believe that the order is first d6 and e5 in the 5 Nf3 line. In other lines it is not important and the order can be changed. In other lines, normally first e5, then in some cases even Ne7 can be played before d6…
Did you watch "10. Explanation of d6 and e5 difference" in section 2?
?Sorry I did not realize about the exact move order, I updated my post.?
Hey Tina, It's actually the same. So you can try to choose a sequence that is easier to memorize. If you choose e5 first don't forget to play d6 on time and have important Be6 tempo in some variations. Good luck!
Scotch game after move 10..cxd6 in advanced section!
Hi i have a question how white is playing after 10..cxd6 black is keeping the bishoppair and get rid of the double pawn. You do not discuss this. Should white go for 11 Nc4? if Be7 12 Bg5 and black seems to have problem to castle can yo give me some details please? https://chessmood.com/course/scotch-game/episode/925
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Give moves 1 to 9.
This is the position that Erik is refering to Kevin D… I do not see anything wrong with Nc4, but let's see what can we come up with…?
Hi Erik, In that case, black will need to spend more time on development and castle. White can go Knight to f3 or c4. With good options for the pieces and better structure. Will develop, castle and than uses open files and lines to pressure on black's central pawns. Good luck!
Closed tournaments
Hello Chessmood family !? Do you remember Guys our closed tournaments on lichess which are very helpfull to train practise skills. Frequent visitors had many fun. Is it possible to return this form with schedule to our chessmood events? Topics are very easy to say like for example endings or unbalanced positions. Take care !?
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I have been part of the family for a few months now. So I never experienced this. It is however exactly what we need to help us practice and improve various aspects of the game. I would love to see this resurrected.
I was thinking the same thing! Those tournaments were very fun. Of course, half the games went 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Nf3 e6...
The best games of May, 2022, and the prizes
Hello ChessMood family, hello champions and future champions!
Welcome to the "Best games of May, 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 April, 2022:
Mik B
Michael Larsen
John Fallon
Regis H
Mogens Nielsen
Replies
A super complicated Maroczy battle which I won (that too against a 2300 player)
Philidor game .. simple healthy chess, bring pieces into play, opponent king in center open position with e6 and a WWP finish https://lichess.org/aRyoyXnemZEC
1..c5 vs English https://www.chess.com/game/live/45423578505 funny queen trap in pirc https://www.chess.com/game/live/46893107513 queen trap again, this time in botvinnik setup vs rare g3 sicilian https://www.chess.com/game/live/46971707621 quick crush vs 2..g6 sicilian https://www.chess.com/game/live/47060499533 adventures in the dutch vs FM https://www.chess.com/game/live/47233315411 scotch attack chessmood style https://www.chess.com/game/live/47235090613 quick crush in Bb5 grand prix using CM knowledge https://www.chess.com/game/live/47235653181 quick KO in the Bd3 french, knowing CM stuff helps https://www.chess.com/game/live/47324381275 how to dismantle our sicilian grand prix :( https://www.chess.com/game/live/47325013547 acc dragon knockout in the opening https://www.chess.com/game/live/47666436551
My game against a CM . I launched a great attack as i was taught by coach , i lost but i am proud of this game https://www.chess.com/game/live/45420639223
https://www.chess.com/live
Non-boring French exchange https://lichess.org/K6KVvmQznfzz https://lichess.org/6lZhSvqO/
A nice win in scotch game https://lichess.org/BoBon0Mu2dqC
A nice win sicilian closed https://lichess.org/AnVTJwolE1KB
Smooth https://www.chess.com/game/live/45846639069
https://lichess.org/mTkvXmEF/black#0 One of my highest rated victories.
One Goal! https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/45930696035
French Tarrasch https://www.chess.com/live/game/45997804955
Hello everyone. Winning a rook endgame down two pawns. Good luck to all! https://lichess.org/b8Klt1pg/white#111
Nice king hunt after Rxg7 https://www.chess.com/live/game/46291804091
https://www.chess.com/game/live/46351753161 Aggressive from the opening, constant pressure, pawn sacrifice for activating 3 pieces! and finally a brilliant knight sacrifice to trap opponents queen!! Just 21 moves but every move made count.
Unique Game https://www.chess.com/game/live/46461681093
https://www.chess.com/live#g=46643501039
Opponent played passive and beautiful checkmate! https://lichess.org/bViwoncz/white
https://www.chess.com/live#g=46685974943
https://www.chess.com/game/live/46711769345 25. Rf5!!
When you win like your idol in one of the most prestigious games of your life. Compare this game to the game played by my idol (https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1018624)
Exchange Caro-Kann with a nice finish: https://www.chess.com/game/live/46212589459
Unusual french line: https://chess.com/live/game/46995003581 Nice checkmate!!
Defeated a FM ,took advantage of weak squares and points https://www.chess.com/game/live/47054509285
Benko gambit ? https://lichess.org/EodAKC1RgaW7
Defeated an IM with brilliancy!! https://www.chess.com/game/live/47133626841
Dancing Knights https://lichess.org/msTTro391tm4
Python strategy against 2500 :) https://lichess.org/H8tz19BRe8V4
Piece play a la Kasparov.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AJcGKVD1bpXaBiwyWiKxHLdiI_8vsow5/view?usp=drivesdk
Check out this #chess game: raghulbronstein vs erocattivo - https://chess.com/live/game/47577611033
Stafford Gambit - whitemood reply https://lichess.org/npln3TBi
Super Crazy Game! https://www.chess.com/game/live/47672968787
Attack in scotch with a hook checkmate in the end
Antisicilian attack
CM Scotch in action
Blackmar-Diemer gambit for black
CM french
CM Antisicilian
Started recently to play sicilian for black, one of the first experiences
Beating 2500 Nf3 with black
French Exchange https://lichess.org/MAQpbm5a/white#49
Hello champions!
Thank you for sharing all your games! You all have played some fantastic games in May. There were some beautiful attacks, sacrifices and good principled chess!
Keep up the good work!
Moving on, here’s the list of winners for the best games of April 2022:
The 1st prize goes to Lebuta Dampty. What a beautiful way to finish off the game with a Rook and Queen sac. Also, the quiet move Ra2 was a class!
Check it out on the page below.
https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/the-best-games-of-may-2022-and-the-prizes?page=2
Regis H takes the second prize, for starting and finishing off a beautiful attack in the Scotch.
https://www.chess.com/game/live/46291804091
Mik B bags the third prize for the following game where they find a principled way to grab the initiative and punish the opponent for developing the Queen early.
https://lichess.org/aRyoyXne#41
Paulius Juknis takes the fourth prize for another fine attacking game in the Scotch. Great attack mixed with a calm defense on the Queenside.
https://www.chess.com/game/live/47235090613
The 5th prize goes to Aayush Shirodkar. What a way to trap the opponent’s Queen with the last 3 moves of the game!
https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/45930696035
Congratulations to you all. And once again champions, thank you for sharing your games!
You all are doing good! Keep the #cogro!
Wish you all the best for June’s contest!
Dutch c4 e6 d4 f5 Nc3 Bb4 g3
Dutch c4 e6 d4 f5 Nc3 Bb4 g3...is my 3rd move wrong? Should have I played Nf6 first and on 4 g3 going for stonewall system?
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Yes, it was wrong. In Openings when there is a choice it is always better to first make the moves that have to be played anyway, in that way you retain maximum flexibility and avoid showing your cards prematurely.
I wouldn't quite call it "wrong". Perhaps it isn't optimal but should be very playable online at almost any level.
Dutch attack against English opening c4 Nc3 g3 Bc2
Do we still go with stonewall against English opening c4 Nc3 g3 Bg2? Thanks in advance
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Yes I think so, it makes sense and in many cases it will transpose to some positions that we know. Avetik is working on the section on how to attack against other 1st moves like 1.c4, 1.Nf3 and others. It will be uploaded in the near future.?
Achieving an idea Stonewall setup against the English can be very problematic, so your repertoire will need to be more flexible. See below illustrative model games for clarity - If you have a sharp eye you will notice that this is the mirror image of how we play with Black when White attempts the Stonewall Attack against us:
Hey Claudio, Yes, that's the point. If we choose the Blackmood course setup, we are not mixing it with the English.
French Attack against 2.f4
My opponent recently played 1.e4 e6 2. f4 I continued with d5 and it was like the advanced variations but white had already supported e4 with f4 and I found this difficult to break through. Any suggestions? Our opening was 1.e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. c3 d4 6. Bc4 ( I didnt this made sense at first but it proved to be dangerous) Ne7 7. d3 Nf5 8. O-O Be7 9. g4 Nh6 (my knight was kicked out the curb for a long time) 10. h3 b6 11. a3 a5 12, Qb3! (And all of the sudden there was an attack on my f7 and e6)
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My usual caveat: I'm not very experienced in chess. My comments come from working through the position with Stockfish 15 and anything else I can personally see in it (which probably isn't much). But for most of the opening you were actually ahead as black, up until 8...Be7, which I think was too passive. You could have either prevented g4 with 8...h5, or attacked the c4 bishop with a6 followed by b5. Na5 could have put more pressure on the bishop if necessary. Also, after 12. Qb3, 12...a4 would have more or less neutralized that threat and it'd be forced to retreat to c2 or d1. Here's a PGN with some potential sidelines and continuations.
Hi David, Something similar about f4 ( on move is covered in the course). If you don't play d4 as black but continue developing, soon or late white will go for d4. And then the attack on that pawn will be very easy as you are faster than usual. F4 move is not supporting pawn on d4 and in some sense, it's a waste of time.
Here's an amusing bullet (1+0) game I recently played with French vs 2.f4. Yes, I know I shouldn't play bullet, but old habits can be hard to break :-)
8...Bg4 line complications
In the ChessMood line that arises after 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bc4 Bg7 6. 0-0 Nf6 7. d3 0-0 8. Qe1 Bg4, we play 9.f5 Bxf3 10. Rxf3 Nd4 11. Rh3 Nxc2 12. Qh4. In the simul game Mr. Avetik shows, black goes for 12...Nxa1 13. hxg6 hxg6, which loses easily to 14. Nd5. But my question is, what if 13...h5? My computer is saying this is a forced draw.
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Do you mean 13. fxg6? If so, for me Stockfish 15 is showing a +3.5 evaluation, far from a forced draw.
Brody, I have been following your latest posts and it is always nice to read them but do not rely so much on the engine evaluations. ?
Try to look at the position from the Black point of view and you will feel that the position is not the best one… I would not like to play it, everything is depending on the h5 pawn protected by the knight… Once you remove the knight the pawn is gone and there is a free highway on the h file… To remove the knight we develop our last piece and attack it with the bishop, after this move all is in White's favor.
I also added a picture with the engine evaluation included because I do not think that your engine is working properly if it shows a forced draw, just for your reference. ?
Not getting desired results
Hi. I dont know whts happening to me.. I am unable to get desired results from the chessmood openings that I play. How to rectify my mistakes. Ratings are decreasing and I have lost self confidence. I want some one to analyze my games. Pls help my Avetik and Gabuzyan.. I feel depressed. that I am unable to meet my expectations..
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Losing is all part of the learning process, it is how we grow as players. Have you analyzed the games by yourself yet?
When you just start with new openings, IMO there may be a period of time when you actually perform worse. These new openings are unfamiliar to you. They have new moves, new pawn structures, new strategies, all of which you are unfamiliar with. It takes time to really *feel* the position and truly understand it. The openings aren't just a magic wand you wave and get a winning game. It's not just a sequence of moves. It's something you have to internalize and understand. You have to grasp why each move is being made, what the plan is, etc. So it takes practice. Play a game using a new opening, see where you made a mistake or encountered an unfamiliar move, and add it to your PGN if necessary. Then do it again, and again, and again. Pretty soon it'll be second nature. But it's not only that. A chess game isn't just the opening. True, it'll get you to a good middle game where you have a workable position. But if you are regularly blundering pieces, you could have the best g openings, but there aropening in the world and it wouldn't matter. Can you convert that workable position into a winning game? The opening is just one aspect. Are you studying tactics? Are you studying master games? Are you solving puzzles? I'd almost say for a beginner that the opening is one of the least important aspects. I hate admitting that because I love studying openings, but there are so many other important aspects to the game that are important to study. It's a holistic approach.
Post a few of your games here and you may get some useful feedback. I don't know what strength you are, but you might not need input from a GM. Generally feedback from anyone who is a couple of hundred elo points (or more) above you can be quite helpful.
Sreenath can you give us more personal info like age, rating, goals, daily hours of study and what are you studying? And also post your games, commented with your thoughts, in order to see if someone can help you… Otherwise it is impossible to see what is happening to you… The more info the better… Thanks!?
Here is how you link to a lichess game. The last blitz game you lost as black: https://lichess.org/6evVvuJB/black Just copy the link from the address bar in your browser. Also, I looked through your last 10 blitz losses as black. Generally the openings were going fine for you! If I were to pick one thing to work on, it would be winning won positions. In a few games you were doing great but seemed to panic when your opponent attacked you. You were usually ahead on the clock too. You even resigned twice when not losing. I suggest going over your games vs Yuschess (https://lichess.org/6evVvuJB/black) and FrankHermes(https://lichess.org/k28xPhua/black) and studying how you could have defended better to convert your material up positions into wins. Also, a side note: after 1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 you should play d5 not Nf6. Perhaps another theme is looking out for opportunities to make a good exchange in a cramped position: vs finishen (https://lichess.org/4zeAUQ7A/black) very natural was 13...Nxe3. Although it swaps their bad bishop it eases your cramped position and weakens their pawn structure. After fxe3 Be7 you will castle and play f6 with an easy game. vs Esmailelsheikh (https://lichess.org/kUaSXPeU/black#41) 21...Bxe4 22.Bxe4 d5 was the way to diffuse white's attack. Although you give up the 2 bishops advantage, you swap off a key attacker and strengthen your central control. Also your pawns on the light squares combine beautifully with your dark squared bishop. vs bodio0630 (https://lichess.org/flw9wtis/black) 10...Nxc3 is natural. Swaps off a strong bishop that is pointing at your king and means you don't waste time with your knight as your opponent builds an attack.
Hi Sreenath, So going by the game Peter posted below, I don't think it's the opening you're having trouble with. OK, a few of the moves were out of order, but that entire game you were outplaying your opponent, at least until move 20. In move 20 you missed a tactic, could have taken the b5 bishop with your c3 knight. Or you could have played 20...Re4 and then potentially captured the queen on the next move. Before move 20 Stockfish gave you a -12 evaluation (in favor of black). Even after move 21 you still had a -7, until you played 21...Kh8. So I think perhaps your position evaluation is a bit inaccurate. Perhaps you didn't realize you were ahead when you really were. But it's nothing to do with the opening, at least not in the posted game.
I took a look at your games, and I think that you are not objective in your evaluations.
You do not have any problem with the black openings, in the French and Dutch games you get good positions, but then you blunder pieces in many games, even some Queen. You also resign too early in some games.
You are playing way too many games and start tilting, this is not the right approach if you want to improve and become a better player.
Avetik just wrote this post a couple of weeks ago, did you read it? https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/the-5-main-mistakes-that-stop-the-growth
Because I am sure that you are not doing the 3rd point and also the 4th point applies perfectly in your case.
It is also obvious that you play too much and then start tilting. You must avoid this. Mandatory reading in your case:
https://chessmood.com/blog/how-to-multiply-good-results-in-chess
https://nextlevelchess.blog/no-more-tilt/
https://chessmood.com/blog/stop-playing-chess-when-your-body-does-not-want-to
You must concentrate on the possible tactics and check what the opponent is going to play before you move, otherwise you will never stop blundering pieces if you do not take into account the opponent moves…
I would also play slower games, like 10 min plus 5 sec. and try to understand exactly what the opponent is trying to do. Being a good chess player is not being a good blitz player. First you have to stop blundering pieces by realizing about the opponent's threats.
Playing less games with more concentration is better than tilting every day. There are articles about analyzing your games after you play:
https://chessmood.com/blog/analyze-blitz-chess-games
You must do it too.
Did you watch the Tactics ninja and Mating Matador already? If you did not, then start doing them, if you started, finish them.
Avetik is also recording the course about stopping blunders, but in the meanwhile:
https://chessmood.com/blog/how-to-handle-painful-blunders
https://chessmood.com/blog/mistakes-are-not-failures
https://chessmood.com/blog/the-golden-question-you-should-ask-before-resigning
And a last suggestion would be to take a week off from chess, now you are in a bad mood and you know it. Reset, come back with the right mentality by doing everything indicated above and please, remember: there is no one who can stop you of improving but yourself. You already know what to do. Now it is your turn. ?
Always good mood and the good moves will follow! ?
Can't find old SLPs and WWPs
Hi, I have been having issues finding old SLP and WWP content. Does anyone know where I can find this?
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Hi Brody If you Search you should find these https://chessmood.com/search?q=SLP https://chessmood.com/search?q=winning+won
translate
Hi all,how i can translate the vidio beacause i am having trouble understandingEnglish
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Try playing the videos at a slower speed.
Yes, the videos are in English as it is this website. We are very sorry that you cannot understand English well enough but at the moment it is not economically possible to translate this site and videos to other languages.
Thank you for your understanding.
Actually, providing subtitles is one of the things that we already checked, the site that Adam provided, we had already checked it, along with many other providers but the quality is very low always, only the timing is good. Chess moves are not properly understood by the IA yet and further tests will be needed but it is something that we will do on the long run. I am particularly interested in it but it is not yet feasible, I understand David's idea, we also thought about it but proper subtitles must be done by a professional, and it is a lot of hours and it is not always appreciated. Most of the times for a 1 min video it can take half an hour depending on the circumstances, correcting timings, etc… It is not an easy task, still we will come back to this later on…
Blackmood - the missing bit
Hi I'm starting t o learn the blackmood openings. When I play however I'm at a loss as to how to respond to 1. Nf3 or 1. c4 1.b3 etc. Any idea when we will have some guidance on this.? In the meantime is there any advice available?
Replies
Meeting Flank Openings are often closely linked to how one defends against 1.d4, so based on that idea give it a bit of a think and post your thoughts. Chess is a game of infinite possibilities and you will have to become comfortable making decisions when out of book using reasoning and logic. Magnus played 1.h4! the other day against Wei Yei, and I don't think we will see a ChessMood course covering this move anytime soon, so how would you respond and why? Looking forward to some interesting discussion.
Avetik is working on the section on how to attack against other 1st moves like 1.c4, 1.Nf3 and others. It will be uploaded in the near future.?
I find the English Opening course to be helpful and not hard at all to follow. I'd suggest just going through that course if you don't find it difficult.
French Attack "Dream Variation" Example Games?
Hello Chessmood family, Ive been working on studying the middlegame plans/ideas associated with the "dream variation" after reaching this position. I know the general idea after playing the reinforcing c6 move is to play moves like Nd7 - Nb6 (Stopping white queenside counter-play on f4 and h4) and then begin a kingside attack via a6, b6, Ne7 - Nb6, Kd7, etc. Avetik mentions that this variation has been used with success by GM Christian Bauer. Unfortunately I have not been able to find any of his games that use this variation (or any GM games for that matter) Does anyone have any example games that utilize middle-game plans suggested for this variation?
Replies
As far as I could tell, in rated games GM Christian Bauer's opponents have not ventured Bxb5 against him. However, below are a couple of games played by other GM's in the structure you requested:
The 5 main mistakes that stop the growth
Champions, as you know a few days ago I had a 12-hour-marathon of 1-1 calls with our students, where I was listening to their problems and challenges, and was offering solutions.
Many of the pain points and questions were common. And not surprisingly, the mistakes in the growth plan were common too.
So I decided to write this post and share the main ones.
So, even if you missed those 1-1 calls, you can correct mistakes that you might make too.
1 Correct Balance between playing and studying
Some are playing too much, some too little.
Both are wrong. There should be a good balance.
And by playing I don’t mean just OTB tournaments.
Training blitz/rapid games or online sessions count too.
What’s the correct ratio between playing and studying?
It very much depends on a few things.
But here is how you should approach it.
When we eat something, then automatically starts the digestion process.
But in chess, it’s not automatic.
When you study, you gain lots of knowledge - you eat. How to digest? - By playing!
Think this way. If you teach me 10 new words in your language, I might easily remember them. But if I don’t use them in the next few days, I’ll forget all of them.
While, the next day if I try to use those words in our conversations, they’ll become mine.
The same is in chess.
If, for example, you study a new opening and you don’t practice, you’ll forget…
So playing and digesting the knowledge is essential.
And here is how to find a good ratio.
Don’t play when there is nothing to digest. In other words, if you didn’t study anything particular, if you don’t have new ideas in your head, don’t play. And in the opposite, if you studied a lot recently, play more.
In some cases, it can be 50%- 50%, in some 80%-20%, and in some 20%-80%.
Just always ask yourself. Did I eat and is it time to digest?
2 Fear of playing
I’m very well aware of this issue.
At some point, during my career, probably I had this issue too. And I worked with many students, who fear of playing. They love chess, they love training. But they don’t want to play. Or find different reasons to avoid it.
If this sounds familiar, here is the reason and the solution.
Reason
It’s ego… What if we train very hard, but play badly in the next tournament?
Our ego will be attacked. Did we do something wrong? All the time we spent on training was in vain?
We’ll let our ego down…
That’s why many avoid competition. Because if we’re not detached from our ego (something very hard to do), by playing we risk “the happiness of our ego”.
Solution
1. “Ego is the Enemy” by Ryan Holiday, is a fantastic book.
I wish I had read it earlier…
It’s one of the most important personal development books you’ll ever read.
2. Detach yourself from the results.
Don’t pay attention to rating, you win or lose.
When you play, just try to do your best.
In one of the articles that I’ll publish soon on our blog, I’ll share with you a story that will change your perception and help with detaching from results.
But meanwhile, think about an artist, that paints and thinks about how much $ they’ll make… Not surprisingly, all the masterpieces in the art are created by people, who didn’t care at all about the price. They just made art.
So when you play, don’t think about the result.
Just try to perform your 100%.
3 When to play
To my surprise, I found that many of our students either didn’t read these 2 articles or didn’t follow the rules.
https://chessmood.com/blog/golden-method-to-increase-rating-in-chess
https://chessmood.com/blog/raise-your-chess-rating-by-cutting-your-losses
Many don’t follow the “9 games” rule, which you can find in the 1st link.
And the 2nd big issue is playing when tired or in bad mood.
If you also do this, you’ll not only play bad sessions and lose rating, but also it’ll harm your confidence. And consequently the results of your next sessions.
If you haven’t read those articles - please do!
As the Chinese proverb says: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”
4 Too Harsh
Many chess players are too harsh on themselves…
And they lose themselves, when they blunder, they play a bad game or a bad tournament.
Take it easy.
Even the top 10 players in the world, make blunders. They have bad games and very bad tournaments.
Everyone has.
The issue comes from here.
You often see their best games. You read when they played a fantastic tournament. But you don’t see their worst games and don’t read when they lost -20 points in one single tournament…
Please, please. Don’t be harsh on yourself. Just smile, acknowledge the mistake, try to find a solution for not repeating it again and move on.
A great book I want to recommend is “Chop wood, carry water” by Joshua Medcalf.
GM Noel Studer has recommended it to me, and I’m very grateful for that.
It’s a great book, for learning to enjoy the journey.
You’ll love it.
5 Bullet games
Here, I’ll be short.
No Bullet games… At all.
It’s not just useless, but it’s harmful.
It can only be acceptable if you’re a GM and you play a few games in a month. Or you’re a streamer, and you want to have some fun with your audience.
Later I’ll write a separate article, and explain scientifically why it’s harmful.
For now, if you’re playing bullet, just absolutely remove it from your schedule.
Rating boost
Most of our students who seriously invested time in studying the ChessMood material, significantly raised their ratings. It’s not an advertisement. You see the results on the website and in different forum discussions.
And the main barrier, for those, who also have done a good job studying our ChessMood material but didn’t raise the rating, in 99% of time, is they did wrongly at least one of the mentioned 5 points.
Some trained a lot but almost didn’t play. So if you don’t play, how you’ll raise your rating? :)
Many had a very bad study/training balance.
Playing when tired and in bad mood, additionally not following the 9-game rule - is the most common reason I saw, that stopped some from raising their rating.
Summary
Just training, watching courses, and reading chess books, isn’t enough.
You need to play. And you need to play smartly. With the right ratio between studying and playing. With Right Mood and with the right schedule.
If you do everything correctly, you’ll join hundreds of our success stories we have.
https://chessmood.com/feedback
P.S
Hopefully, this helps.
Hopefully, if any of the mentioned points resonate with you, you’ll fix them ASAP.
And hopefully, I’ll hear from you soon, sharing your success story.
Best wishes,
Avetik
Replies
Thank you, coach Avetik! Game changer tips ? Will try to play more according to advice in the articles. Now my training starts with playing instead! ? I'm confident to reach 2400 on chess_com in 500 games, almost 2300 atm just after couple of days (10 3+2 games per day session with analysis), next challenge will be on lichess.
Fear of playing is fascinating. Other things than ego could be factors. Sticking with your artist analogy - sometimes a blank canvas can be overwhelming. The fear is putting time and effort into something that might turn out to be garbage.
One of the obvious problems has been Covid. I've only played one tournament in the last couple of years (a few club league and national matches) and the rest online. Club matches are rarely against anyone stronger. I also found my rating increase leveled off in the early 2000s when I moved as there were not so many tournaments nearby as well as being in a county that is less serious about chess (most of the young smart minds leave for one of the bigger cities where there is decent money and career progression but horrendous living costs or commuting, but there again with working from home being more the norm that is changing). But yes fear of play is one I have, but more an inertia than a real fear. I think this one stems from exams, and the perhaps recurring nightmares you get about having some exam the next day and you've not studied. And then you think about your opening prep and all the lines you're not yet happy with and I guess it brings back the same anxiety. You want to be bullet proof prepped in everything which of course never happens no matter what you know. Chess is difficult as it's a mix of knowledge and intuition (i.e. absorbed by other means) and while it's inadvisable to go into an exam unprepared, chess isn't so simple and prep is only a part of the story. Sometimes actually playing and looking at the results can help point areas for study (the so called getting the biggest bang for your buck in terms of limited study time).
Thank coach Avetik! For everything, your advice are very useful! (I spoke for many..this is the piece of puzzle that they missed it)
Thank you Avetik, very good points (as always). Will stop the bullet play completely and focus more on rapid, maybe blitz. I'll also check out "Chop Wood , Carry Water" and "Ego is the Enemy".
Avetik, Some really good stuff here, thank you for taking the time to put this together for everyone!
Look Chessmood community. Fischer played and studied the same. He even learnt russian to accesos top notch chess knowledge published in soviet magazines. In the Sousse Candidates (1967) he forfaited although he was leading the table. Then in 1968 he only played and won two medium tournaments in Europe and in 1969 there is only 1 game recorded vs. A Saidy. What was he doing in the 68-69 period? Going to the beach? Watching TV? No. He was studying chess. In 1967 he realized that he needed an extra push to defeat the colluting soviet machinery. So he came black in 1970 with a chess strength never seen previously. The rest of the story we know: demolition in Vancouver, demolition in Denver, demolition in Buenos Aires and demolition in Rejkiavik. So the best path is to study first and only later try to put your knowledge into practice
once again...thank you! precious advices, it's only up to us to follow them properly
In reality all these are perfect pieces of advice but I do not tottaly follow thw Bullet rule. Ok I am an advanced player and in my 3 years of chessmood I gained 800 rating points, being over 2000 on lichess, close to 2100 and over 1900 on chess.com. Also my puzzle ratings are above 2200, have hit a 2400 barrier on chess.com. Sometimes, once or twice a month I play some bullet games but they have indifferent impact on my progress.
Thank you so much for this Avetik sir. Many of the points above I also did wrong and I will fix them immediately
My plan
Hi all, where I can find my plan?
Replies
You probably need to organize a 1-1 call first.
Antisicilian line
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. Bc4 e6...... Most of my recent opponent played e6 here in the 5th move. What should be white game plan in this line ?
Replies
This isn't the ChessMood line. Are you mixing up your lines here? Play 3. Bb5 and the course videos will explain the game plan in all the variations from here and you will do well out of the opening. Good luck!
I am attaching a couple of screenshots of positions arising from this, normally you play with the d3, Qe1 plan, the only difference is that depending on where the knight goes, we should play e5 or f5. Check out the screenshots and I hope that it will clear your doubts if you are playing with the 3 f4 move order. Otherwise, this is the course that you should check: https://chessmood.com/course/sicilian-defence-part-2
Happy hunting Shahinur!!!
Simplified blackmood course against the English?
Is there a section against the English yet? Maybe I missed it. Thanks for your response.
Replies
I think here we play ...f5 and go to the Dutch.
Avetik is working on the section on how to attack against other 1st moves like 1.c4, 1.Nf3 and others. It will be uploaded in the near future.?
Favorite Chess Player
Hello ChessMood friends! Who is your favorite chess player and why?
Replies
(Mine's Viswanathan Anand because he was the most dominate world champion of the past century.)
Mine is Bobby Fischer because he singlehandedly took on the USSR Soviet Union chess machine --- and won the world championship. Yes a flawed genius but still the only man to have to continually face the might of the Soviet GM's who supported whoever was playing Fischer in terms of analysis and preparation. His support by comparison was quite meagre.
Blackmood openings take a quiz
There will be take a quiz for blackmood openings as well? Thanks
Replies
Claudio, most probably next week.
