Chess forum by Grandmasters

First 100 games - a review

OK, I've finished my first 100 games so I thought I'd summarise them in case it may be of interest to other beginners (and as a way of encouraging me to improve).

<u>Statistics</u>

* Results: White (won 26, drew 6, lost 18). Black (won 25, drew 5, lost 20)

* Elo: Start-500, High-894, Low-500, Finish-852

* Blunders: None-45, one-39, two-12, three-4 (yes, three in one game!!)

* Brilliant moves: None-98, one-2 (frankly, at this stage, I'm pleased to have got any!)

Observations

* I review all of my games but only focus on things that I feel that I could (and should) have spotted - not interested in Stockfish 20-move sequences!

* Never surrender! In one game I was 5 pieces down and still won after opponent blundered their queen.

* I'm often amazed (and dismayed!) during a review at some of the moves that I make. A multitude of missed opportunities (including M1 missed chances in two games!).  I clearly need to take more time before moving during the game.

* Need to avoid tunnel-vision with whatever ‘cunning plan’ I have and pay attention to my opponent's moves.

 * Maintain focus until the game has finished.  Lost a number of games despite well ahead in the endgame (blunders can happen at any time - don't relax until the game is won).

* Stalemate sucks!  How is it reasonable that you can decimate an opponent's pieces and trap their king and they are able to claim that it's a draw?!  Seems utter madness to me but the rules of chess aren't going to change so I need to work on this (Jake - I know you are nodding your head and saying ‘Yes, you do!’)

* I deal poorly with marauding queens.  It should be an opportunity to develop my pieces at the same time as attacking the queen but I always seem to struggle.  Something else to work on.

* I often find ‘good’ moves but miss better opportunities.  Need to remember Emanual Lesker quote “When you see a good move, look for a better one.”

Areas to work on

Obviously, being a beginner there are lots of things to work on.  However, I think that the following are the main ones:

* Finish reviewing notes on Tactics Ninja course - often missed simple tactics like forks (both for myself and potential moves by opponent).

* A simple blunder can cost a game (and making 3 in a game is a disaster!).  Look at the BlunderProof course next (and in the meantime, try to spend more time considering moves before making them - perhaps the Russian schoolchildren approach of sitting on your hands!)

* Look at Endgames/checkmates (especially with a view to avoiding stalemates).

Replies

Congratulations on your first hundred games! It looks like you've settled quite comfortably in the 800 rating rage and, considering your progress, have good chances of increasing much more soon. However I would like to point out some things that you did not mention in this summary, that may help you in the future. 

1.  I assume that you're playing on chess.com. While both chess.com and lichess are excellent sites, lichess offers more free puzzles and lessons, which can be advantageous for a beginner. 
2.  You have not mentioned taking advantage of any lessons or puzzle training from either of the above mentioned sites. This, in my opinion, is a mistake. Take advantage of puzzles to improve your tactical eye, which will help immensely in seeing the M in 1s and other tactics that you missed. 
3.  Generally, the good move, which follows game principles and is sound, is the best move. Especially in faster time controls, (I don't know what time controls you've been playing, but I'll assume it's some variation of rapid) it's important to find good moves quickly instead of spending too much time looking for the best one. 
4. Good job reviewing your games. This habit will be vital later on. 

5. Of course, practice is the best way to improve. Just play more games, and good luck on your journey.

I would say that you should continue to review all of your games. There's almost always something to improve on, no matter whether you win or lose. However I would pay more attention to the games you lose, so you can understand why you lost and improve on those weaknesses. 

Puzzle of today 29.3.24?

Happy Puzzle today

.. but why is it not allowed to mate with the rook instead of the queen 

.. 😀 .. 

or did i drink too much?

Replies

Maybe you drank too much 😁

But still, Rook is fine, too 😉

Course Anti Siclian 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6

It is about this variant 3.f4 d5 4.Pf3 de4 5.Pe4 Nc6 6.Bb5 Ld7 7. Qe2 Pf6 8.f5 Ne4 9. Qe4 Be7 9. fe6 Be6 10.Bc6 bc6 10. Qc6 
“Our Coach: White is just a pawn up" After … Bd7  in my humble opinion 
It is not clear ;  Black bisschop pair is suffcient compensation. Black has even winning chances. 
What i miss here?

Replies

weird french line

what to do after e4 e4 f4 from black?

Replies

Nf3 Bc4 0-0

with 2. f4, d5 is still the main option, attacking the e4 pawn.

if e5/nc3, this is going to transpose into the steinitz variation, while if ed5, this is going to transpose to the exchange setup.

You’re talking about playing black after:

1 e4     e6

2 f4

True?

At 1:43 of Starter Course - BlackMood Openings (Section 22- Bird’s Opening)

https://chessmood.com/course/blackmood-openings/episode/6182

the same position occurs with Black to play and they recommend the French.

After:

1 f4     e4

2 Nf3

They recommend the Dutch (around 2:03).

That sound about right to you?

Daily puzzle 29.03.2023, underpromotion

went for rook promotion at last move and was told “oops, wrong"…and I disagree.

good Easter Holydays.

Replies

Same.Tried 3 times.

Is this concept related to space advantage? Cuenca course

Hi guys!

Enjoying new course In GM Cuenca's Mind and recently watched webinar about space advantage by our coach GM Gabuzyan with many concepts about space, amazing.

The question I got from 2 Cuenca's games are these breaks when he sacs a central pawn and gets squares for pieces + attack related to space advantage or is this completely different concept/tactic?

Also I remember seeing this on daily lessons with GM Avetik explaining.

https://chessmood.com/course/pepe-cuenca-best-games/episode/7111

he went d5 exd5 and e5, getting d4 square for a N and massive k-side attack

https://chessmood.com/course/pepe-cuenca-best-games/episode/7112

similar concept, went e4, dxe4 and f4!

Replies

Hi Witcher,

This concept probably is partially about Space and partially a breakthrough topic - opening the way of a pawn to be able to advance it at some point. 

Webinar ques

r2q1r2/1p1nppkp/2bp2p1/p7/2P1P3/1PN5/P1Q1BPPP/3RR1K1 b - - 0 15 

I saw this position in a book and the comment here was

 “We have a beautiful position. The side with more space almost never has the issue of a bad bishop (interesting fun-fact that I only heard recently and I believe it makes sense!). On the other hand, we have a free hand here and can choose where to play. I do think it will likely be kingside with an h4!? eventually, but I can also see merit in one day going for a3-b4.” 

 I didn't understand how the side with space never has a bad bishop issue.

Vedant

Replies

The position

WWP Position

Hello ChessMood Family,

I was playing this game as Black, and I got the following winning position. I couldn't find a good way to convert (it was a blitz game btw) and I allowed White to get counterplay by letting him take on e6 and g6 after the moves Qf4 Ng4 Rxb2 Rxe6 Qd2 and Qxg6+. I still managed to win this game but it got complicated. I can't seem to find a good way to simplify this position. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance. 

Replies

Hey there,

This position is extremely winning my friend :-) 

Just no need to allow capturing on e6 and losing the g6 pawn. Right now I am not seeing any concrete simplifying idea to trade everything. After Qf4-Ng6 I like Rd2 putting white's Queen in a tough position.

Good luck!
 

Black against 1e4 e6 2Bc4 ?

Hello chess students,

when I play Black I do not know how to play against 1e4 e6 2Bc4.

I could not find a hint in the French attack.

Thank you for some hints

Joachim

Replies

On 2.Bc4 the main reply is still d5, and after 3. ed5 ed5, white would be a tempo down and we would continue with the same exchange variation setup with nc6, bd6 and ne7

The 7 questions

Dear ChessMood Family, 

I finished the 7Q Method course but am confused when to use those 7 Questions to formulate a plan. Doing it on every move is very time consuming. It would be great to get a general guideline regarding this.

Thanks in advance!

Replies

😅😀Well, the idea of asking yourself what to do at any given moment, is to find a plan. Then when you have found a good plan, then you should follow it. There is no need to ask yourself at every move all the questions when you already have the plan. This would be impractical since when you decide a plan you should implement it and adapt it accordingly to the opponent moves… 💪

Click, drag, or both when moving pieces?

Hi All,

I've just had my second ‘dropped’ piece when my finger slipped off the mouse button while making my move (and, of course, it drops where it can be easily taken 😆 ) so I think I'm going to try click-only for a while and see how it goes.

I'm curious as to what method you use for moving your pieces - do you click, drag, or both?  

Replies

definitely drag on this one, idk if it's watching hikaru's streams or me playing fps games that made me use drag lmao😄😄
on some cases if my mouse is broken or if i play on a phone, i just use click, since i might ‘drop’ a piece at the wrong square (happens a lot to me😄)

I've always done drag. It just feels more natural to me. If you really want to be precise I'm pretty sure chesscom has a “Confirm your move” setting, where you have to click a checkbox before your move is registered.

As for your other forum post, congrats on your 100 games! My only recommendation is to watch Naroditsky's YouTube channel. He recently posted an amazing couple of videos specifically about puzzle rush strategies.

Yeah I also use drag. Although I once had a mate in one, dropped a square short, and lost :(. But I still find it easier, preferable, and less loud (Thats my moms preference :) )

pirc line with 2. ...nc6

 so there is this weird line that im having trouble with in the pirc, it goes 
1. e4 d6 2.nc3 nc6 3.f4 and e5. after this the opponent will develop their bishop to c4 and ill have trouble castling kingside and doing the standard gp attack, any help?

Replies

with nc6, this should transpose to the philidor/scotch/nimzowitsch setup, it's dangerous to play the GP on this one, so after nc6, you should play nf3 or d4 (both works here) trying to transpose to the said setup.

Right Mood Rituals/Activities before a Game/Tournament

Hello ChessMood Family,

I have one quick question. Whenever I play in tournaments, especially in an important game that I have prepared for months, I usually get very nervous, no matter who I am playing. I try to take a few deep breaths but this doesn't seem to help me get rid of the stress, and I think of harmful things before the game. Are there any Right Mood Rituals/Activities that you try to do before the game to clear your mind, get in a good mood, and focus on playing your best that may help? 

Thanks in advance!

Replies

Did you read the articles in the blog related to this already?

https://chessmood.com/blog/category/tournament-preparation

💪

Link Tactics Ninja tests to related course material

Is it possible to link the ‘take a test section’ to the Tactics Ninja course itself - sometimes if you get stuck it would be nice to be able to go directly to the relevant section of the course for that test example 

Replies

Is There An @Shadowheart1253 On Here From Chess.Com?

I really wanna find u if ur on here, it's me, Sola, if u see this, pls contact me….okie that's all for now

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How can i analyze my games with engine?

Every time i analyze games, its always from the site analysis (chess.com, lichess) and ive always wanted to one by one look at games with the engine and anotate them manually. any tips?

Replies

Hey, I think this blog could be helpful to you:

https://chessmood.com/blog/analyze-blitz-chess-games

Little warning on how you use engines, please don't use them as a crutch. But looking at your post I think you already know that 😄

Black against 1d4 e6 2c4 ...

Hello, I would like to ask in which section of the simplified BlackMood Openings I will find how to play against this White opening?

Thank you for a hint.
 

Replies

Hi Joachim,

That looks to me to be the Normal Development of the Dutch Defence.  Hope that helps.

PGN Files Question

1. Does the PGN file (say in Tactic Ninja) contains all the quizzes in the course including the new recently added Training Quizzes?
   
   2. What exactly it is supposed to contain for each course?
   Thanks!
   Dan

Replies

Hi Dan!

No, the pgn of the Tactic Ninja does not include the latest puzzles at the moment.
 

As for each course, it is different, you must check it for yourself but by practicing the quizzes you have the same moves. 
As for the opening courses you have the main moves, the scheleton that you can use to build up your pgns for your repertoire. 
How to work with the pgns is explained in the blog: https://chessmood.com/blog/the-most-effective-way-to-create-chess-pgn-files
Check it out please. 😀

PGN files problems

Hi!

I'd like to open the PGN withemood oppenings, but I can't.

Do I need to upload something to open them?
I am speacking about the first attachment. The second one I can open it.

Thanks

Replies

You need to either have a plan with chessmood or have bought the course to see the pgn files. Chessmood is worth the money :)

The file has been downloaded?

If so, can you right-click on: “WhiteMood Openings.pgn” and get an “open with” option in the drop down menu?

Then any software that will read text should do it.

Anti-Sicilian

I could not find a video to what happens after 1. e4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 Bb5 g6

What is whites best response?

Replies

The CM recommendation is 4.Bxc6 (whenever Black does not play 3…Nd4), doubling and weakening the black pawns on the c-file. The continuation given in “Anti-sicilian part 2” is 4.Bxc6, dxc6, d3, Bg7 and then 6.f4 or 6.Be3/Qd2/Ne2