Chess forum by Grandmasters

Training partner

is anyone here from Philippines? reply here i want someone to be my trainin partner 

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New article: How to Use ChatGPT to Improve Your Chess

Hello champions,

Can you use ChatGPT to improve your chess?
From where does ChatGPT get its information?
What are the dangers and how can it lead you in the wrong direction?

Discover the answers and enjoy some amusing stories in today's article⤵️

https://chessmood.com/blog/ChatGPT-chess

Feel free to share your thoughts on this topic under this forum thread.

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Hi Avo,

What an excellent article!

I'm a blogger and I know only too well the power of ChatGPT and its impact on internet articles.  It is brilliant … at regurgitating what others have already written.  There are no original thoughts, no shared wisdom from experience gained over the years, no humour, no emotion, just an ‘average’ article produced very, very quickly and cheaply.  

Sadly, for many websites that is exactly what they want - it is good enough for Google and good enough to attract customers to the website.  And that is how they make their money.

I'm glad that there are still people who write based on their own skills and experiences - keep producing great content Avo!

Dear GM Avetik, 

Nice article! 

ChatGPT is not intelligent, it is a plagiarism/BS machine. “Artificial intelligence” may be a good aspiration, but we are far from it. 

I asked ChatGPT a basic physics question a few months ago: 

“A boat is floating in a bath tub. A stone is in the boat. The stone is gently transferred from the boat to the bottom of the bath tub. Does the water level in the bath tub go up, go down, or stay the same? Explain.”

ChatGPT gave a correct answer, with a very poor explanation. I told it that its answer was incorrect and to try again. It said sorry, here is a correct answer now, and changed its answer from a correct one to an incorrect one. I said OK, now your answer is correct but your explanation can be improved. It replied with a different incorrect explanation. 

So yes, there is no intelligence there, just a BS machine that plagiarizes from all over the internet. There are documented examples of it getting even basic, factual information incorrect, so I don't think it should be trusted even for basic facts. Because it just trawls the internet for the most common phrases, in topics for which disinformation or misinformation is common, incorrect facts are likely to be returned in ChatGPT queries. The potential consequences are frightening.

Simple proof is ask the moves of a well known opening, often you'll get something else. It's not just consuming untrustworthy data, there isn't enough reinforcement in the amount of chess information freely available on the net. If it could consume all the books by grandmasters I suspect it would be more accurate and right more often.

Excellent article Avo, sure sounds like it wasn't written by a machine…

The poem is a primitive attempt to mash together some Asimov and some rhymes.

This is still infant AI. If it starts learning at a exponential pace, it could become dangerous in a decade or less. Consciousness awakening might be in the mix also!

This is fun article. Clearly ChatGPT is not a chess master. Take it from a literature teacher, it's not a poet either. :) 

New article - 9 Rules You NEED to Know to Win Won Games

“I was so close to winning…” has left many chess players frustrated.
You play a nice game. You get a big advantage. 
But still, you don’t win.
It doesn’t have to be this way.

There are specific Must-Know rules every Grandmaster uses to convert more winning positions than an average player.

They’re easy to apply in practice once you know them.

GM Avetik has shared 9 such rules in today’s article👇
https://chessmood.com/blog/win-won-games

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Kinder Surprise Variation

hi everyone , I have just finished the section 4 of the french attack and in my opinion the move 4...,Ng8 is very interesting and surprising  ; GM Avo named it “The kinder surprise variation”…

what do you think if it named …..may be…

 “The wild horse Variation” ?

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Hi Riccardo! 
Well actually Avo named it kinder surprise already, but it was not a new variation completely. It had been played in the past too by some strong GMs, still the name you propose it's a good one, but in English it should be: The wild knight variation… 😁

Mating Matador quiz problems

Hello, 
Section 22, Greco's mate quizzes aren't working!

and many sections afterward as well! 

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Yes, I confirm that I'm having the same problem.

Checking this.😀

Hi guys, thanks for letting us know!
We are working on!

CB17 & Engines...

Does anybody have had problems with infinite analysis when an engine (Stockfish or other) works in the background of CB17 ?

when firing the engine the chessboard becomes frozen and it's impossible to move any piece or pawn.

My sofware is out of use now since many weeks and the different tries I have made have not solved the problem. CB's staff contacted has not offered great help ?!

Many thanks to anyone having an idea 

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Scotch Game

In the 8.a5 line after c4 instead of Ba6 what if black plays Nb6? Any suggestions Chessmood team members

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In the section about 4.Nf6.

Pawn protection for king - escape square or not?

Hi all,

I'm a little confused (an increasingly common state since starting to play chess!) and would appreciate some feedback.

Imagine a typical scenario where you have castled kingside and your king is protected by the 3 pawns on f2, g2, and h2.  Should you, or should you not, have an escape square (eg moving h2 to h3)?

Some people recommend making the escape square as an essential part of the casting process.  Others say that as soon as you move one of the pawns you weaken the defence and so you shouldn't do it.

What do you do, and why?

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Hi! 😃

Usually, when both sides are castled on the same side it's fine to move one of the pawn the h or a pawn to create a escape square for your king. However, if you are castled short and your opponent castled long, moving the pawns will create a target for your opponents attack. Additionally, remember activating your pieces is usually more important than pushing some random pawn on the king-side. 

It depends :)

If your opponent is threatening back rank mate, better do it. But if he has many pieces that can easily target your king… Try not to do it, BUT, if your king is in danger that can be removed by pushing pawns than it is ok. By the way, have you watched this? https://chessmood.com/course/spartan-shield Watch it if you want to understand it better, and choose what to do depending on your playing style. It would be different for every position.

I wholeheartedly agree with all of the other posts thusfar. Here's a way to think about the pros and cons of playing a move like h3:

Hints you SHOULD play h3:  it's the most reasonable way to defend back rank mate;  An opponent's piece on g4 could be deadly;  You really don't want your Nf3 pinned because that would weaken d4/e5;  You are considering playing g4 and attacking in front of your king (risky);  Your Bf4 could escape to h2;  Your Nf3 could redirect itself with Nf3-h2-g5;  An endgame is approaching and space is more important than time

Hints you SHOULD NOT play h3:  there are ways that develop pieces that also deal with the back rank threats;  Your opponent has castled queenside or is otherwise threatening a pawn storm;  Taking a piece with hxg5 would be ill-advised because the h-file would open (think Fishing Pole trap perhaps, if you're familiar);  You are only playing it because you lack a productive plan;  Two of your opponent's pieces are attacking h3 and threatening a sacrifice;  You lack a pawn on f2 and would be weakening g3

That got a lot longer than I intended, probably because I've wondered the same thing before. Obviously the answer depends on the specific position, but playing h3 should be secondary to piece development and not automatic at all.

It depends. 

If you have seen some of the ChessMood courses, you will see that it is a commonly repeated theme for the queenside-castled king to attack the king-side castled king. doing for example h3 (h6 for black) will only help your opponent force g5 through, opening lines. I recommend keeping your structure intact as much as possible when it is an opposite side-castled middlegame. 

On the other hand, If you have to kick out some unpleasant knight or other piece that is chilling on g5 feel free to do so (Although think about it first as you will be weakening your position a bit!)

If it is same-sided castling then it is possible to do such moves as h3 (h6) and nearing the endgame, often essential to survive back-rank ideas! But always keep in mind that freeing the king also makes it a bit more open and think about whether such moves are really worth it or not in the position.

Cheers, 

Ashwin

Most of the time it is up to your opponent's castling.

1. h3 - Sometimes you may have castled earlier than your opponent. If this is the case, then don't play h3. It will help your opponent to open lines by g7-g5-g4. Same is the case when castle on opposite flanks. Never play h3/g3 in this case as he can bring the rooks and open the files. It might also weaken your kingside. But remember, if the opponent has castled on the same side, then feel free to play h3 as a prophylactic move to remove a minor piece from g4. It is most of the time useful.
2. g3 - Play this only when you want your light-squared bishop to control h1-a8 diagonal from g2. Never exchange the bishop or else it will weaken your kingside.

Remember, you can always use these moves to prevent back rank mate.
But always think if you really need to move the pawns in front of king. Later the pawns can be moved to create a zugzwang in the endgame.

Thanks,
Naman

Moodcoins

I have a suggestion why don't you start doing the weekly tournaments on chess.com and reward moodcoins as the prize

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We used to do weekly tournaments for years on chesscom where the prizes were similar to the monthly games, but we are not doing them at the moment. We will maybe do them again, thanks for your suggestion! 😀

Recommendation against 1. b4

Hello chess friends ! What would be the ChessMood setup recommendation against first move 1. b4  

Thanks a lot for your advices !

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Hello Haik, in another thread chessmood odysseus gave the following answer to your question:

“We will occasionally do a short course on b4 probably in the near future, but do not worry about b4, it is not a good move, just play healthy moves in the center. Personally the only thing I used in my games has been e5, Bxb4, Nc6 winning a tempo on the Bishop that will take e5  and that's it. Healthy development after that. No need to know more since you will almost never face this, and even if you face this opening, having a good center will give you a good game.”

This has worked very well for me and I hope you find it useful, too.

I think black has to be a bit careful and accurate in the e5-main (b4 e5 Bb2 Bxb4 Bxe5 Nf6 “etc”, many branches here) because, after all, white does obtain a central pawn for a wing pawn in this line, though at the cost of a lot of time..

Obviously there are no theoretical problems for black in that line, but I can understand the hesitation. Personally, I've had success with the main, but also with b4 e5 Bb2 e4(!?) and b4 c6 Bb2 a5 :D

It seems you have found some effective methods to fight 1.b4. I also like the setup with e5, Bxb4, Nf6, and eventually d5 and Nc6. Here's a win I just got against this questionable opening using this method:

https://www.chess.com/live/game/102271431937

Some of my play was questionable, but not more so than my opponent's first move!

Few questions from the bishop pair course

Hello everyone,

Thanks as always for the great courses on ChessMood :D. I just have a few questions after finishing the bishop pair course. Number one, what happens if I don't have the bishop pair and I try to trade one pair of bishops, but the opponent just continues to refuse? Isn't there no way for me to do anything? Number two, how should I judge if the bishop pair is stronger than the pawn or other pieces in a game? In a practical game, giving up the queen for the two bishops is hard to make unless there is a concrete reason that I can see why it is better for me.  

Thanks in advance :D

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Dear H. L.

The question is a little bit too generic and makes it hard to provide an accurate answer, can you please post the positions where you got these questions so it's easier to answer.

Error on Quiz Tacting Ninja - Blocking

Colors are switched. Qxa6 then it should be white to move. Nf5 blocking the f6 pawn and winning the queen or mate. SF says white is +8 here, there is no black to move to save the day. :)

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Thank you :)
Yes, should be white's move :)

Fixed!

Error on New Training Position

Hello, on this puzzle why Qf8+ fail? Both Qf8+ and Qe8 are mate in 2.

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Thank you!
Fixed!

tactic-ninja[Section 2]

https://chessmood.com/course/tactic-ninja/episode/2960/2189

It's possible to play Qd6 and get the same result as Qd3, but the exercise marks it as incorrect. ☹️

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We have over 10,000 quizzes on the website, and we're adding hundreds of new. We try to be as careful as possible, but there is still the human factor… 

Thanks for sharing the link and details with us, much appreciated! 😀

Hi Jose :) Thanks for your help!
Fixed! 

I need help with chess:)

Hello my friends, I am an average chess player (1500) from Egypt, and I need some advice to reach a rating of 2000. I need (a strong opening for white and another for black) and some advice from the masters

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Hi Abdalla,

Have you had a look at the various ChessMood courses?  The main menu is here: https://chessmood.com/courses

In particular, you may wish to look at the Simplified ChessMood Openings section if openings are where you want to focus (these are for Elo levels between 800-1800): https://chessmood.com/courses?scrollTo=#simplified-chessmood-openings-for-800-2000-level  there is also an advanced section (for 1800-2600 Elo) for both white https://chessmood.com/courses?scrollTo=#step-by-step-opening-repertoire-for-white and black  https://chessmood.com/courses?scrollTo=#step-by-step-opening-repertoire-for-black .

Note that the courses are all currently unlocked to celebrate the 6th birthday of ChessMood so … take a look now, for free, to see which courses appeal to you.

Hope that helps.

Everything is explained here:

https://chessmood.com/chess-study-plans

Read carefully, it is full of advice.😀

How to identify?

When can we identify that endgame started from middle game?

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That's a bit generic, but normally it should be when the Queens are our of the board and a few pieces are left. Still there is no clear definition of it. 
Please check the endgame roadmap course for knowing in general terms more about the endgame, it's a very good course where everyone can learn many things, practical things… 😀

Not making progress

Hey,

I have gone through the Tactic ninja course two times and also the Opening principles. I have also studies both black and white basic openings, Blunderproof and Fearless warrior and almost done with spartan shield. 

It seems that regardless of the huge amount of effort im putting in I am hard stuck in the 800 ELO range of rapid in chess.com. 
 

I am throwing everything I have at improving in chess but for some reason I just cant seem to make progress.

Not sure what I can do but its getting really frustrating.

If anyone wants to go through and check my losses, you are welcome. Would love some advice in what I can do differently because I feel lost:

https://www.chess.com/games/archive/nickelito85

PS. Im around 1600 ELO in rapid in lichess, and while I know that lichess rating is kind bloated, it feels like 800-900 in rapid on chess.com is way harder and I dont think the rating conversion table found at https://chessgoals.com/rating-comparison/ is outdated.
According to that one I should be around ~1000 USCF but how can that be if I cant even get over 900 in chess.com??

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First of all, your opening is good, but better get rid of trying scholar's  mate because you will get punnished when you play against better players. (I learned that on harder way)

You said you watched tactic ninja course. Have you tried to solve puzzles on specific themes? You have it on lichess https://lichess.org/training/themes but I don't recommend you to do it without thinking-you have to deeply understand every single position in order to improve your tactics. And important thing: it would be easier for you to learn if you repeat the puzzles you didn't solve on first try

https://lichess.org/training/replay/3/mix

That is about tactics. 

Now about endgame - you haven't mention that you watched this, which is all you have to do with endgame for now - https://chessmood.com/course/engames-you-must-know

Train this on the same way as tactics.

Now, you shouldn't play very long games such as 30 minutes by player if you aren't player that can use that to calculate, rather 20, 15 or 10, but if you like it-go ahead. And important thing-make a document, e.g. Excel, where you will every time you loose write why did you loosed. After enough games, you will see what is the problem, and, hopfully, solve it (GM Avetik recommended to do that for blunders, so if you made it you know what I mean) 

Wish you best luck, and tell me have it helped you!

Hi Niklas,

If it makes you feel any better, I'm in a very similar position when it comes to the advancement of my Elo rating.  But do you know what?  It doesn't matter!  I have faith that if I continue to study and continue to play then eventually the regular wins will happen - and I'm in no rush.

How many games have you played in total?  If it's a relatively small amount then there is plenty of scope for variance within that.  Over a larger sample your results could be very different. 

Also, do you have the right mix of Study/Play/Fix.  At the beginner level you, and I, should be playing plenty of games to help develop our overall board awareness (which happens whether we win or lose): https://chessmood.com/blog/how-to-get-better-at-chess

As I said, I'm only a beginner myself but I'm happy to look at one of your games and offer my thoughts.

hi Niklas! i had went through some of your games and hope my advice will be helpful. i can and sense how you had be applying the things you had learnt from chessmood in your games and that is great!

Generally for players in the 800-1000 range. i would say that as long as you do not blunder and take advantage of their blunders. you will be winning already.

I was looking through your games, and felt that you tend to rush into attacking ideas and that might often contributes to you blundering. 

hence you might want to 

1. keep your pieces nicely connected and not rush to attack. that's one way to minimize blunders
2. once you are up in material, just focus on exchanging pieces so you can go into end games with advantage
3. in my personal opinion, no need to sacrifice needlessly for advantage. it can be a good sacrifice sometimes, but you will also need to have enough attacking pieces and/or the correct moves to continue the attack. however, you can always take the easier way out of just being alert and wait for opponents to blunder. and then exchange pieces and go into end games.

sincerely hope this will help! 

In chess safety and consistency is just as important as brilliance and creativity.  Probably more important!

To get past 1000 you need to reduce the frequency at which you make unforced mistakes that either give away material, or put your king in big danger.  It's that simple.

Well, the idea is simple but doing it is not so simple!  For most people the way to do it is to spend some time looking at their lost games , finding the most obvious mistakes, and asking themselves “why did I do that?”.

Why did I let my opponent take that bishop for free when I could have simply moved it away or swapped it for their bishop?  What was I thinking when I did that?  How can I adjust my thinking so it won't happen again?

Why did I move that pawn to a square that was attacked twice by my opponent but only defended once my me?  (And yes, pawns matter, particularly central pawns or pawns that protect our king.). What was I thinking when I moved that pawn?  How can I prevent such mistakes happening in future?

Learning from our losses requires a certain amount of contemplation and introspection.  It can be frustrating and annoying to look at your lost games!  But any effort you put into this area will more than repay itself.  In fact, the more annoying a loss was the more effort you should put into it!  Be determined not to make the same mistake again.  Developing this skill will give you a chess super-power that will be useful for the rest of your chess life.

Hey Niklas! 
I checked your profile. 

A few things that I immediately noticed:

1. You don't have any problem from the openings. You're doing great. Don't spend there much time. 
2. You have an issue with simple 1-move blunders. Which isn't often tactical. 
Questions:
Have you watched the BlunderProof course? Do you follow the advice there? 
Which of the advice you don't follow. Clearly something is wrong. Maybe you play when you're tired, or when your mood isn't okay, etc… 

3. Your time management isn't great. And I felt when you get low on time, you pannick. 
Check this out:
https://chessmood.com/event/webinar-time-management 

4. I am in the process of recording a course for 0-1000 players. 
This should help! 

5. Try to participate our live events when Gabu plays vs 1,500 below players. 
This will be super helpful, as you'll see the common mistakes of this level, and how to punish them. 

6. A few questions. 

How long have you been with us? Beside the Tactic Ninja and opening courses, what are the other ones that you've gone through.  
What's your age? 
Any information you can share with me, that might be useful? 

My main account is cursed…

I honestly get waaay harder opponents and get like +6 for a win and -20 for a loss. This is my alt account that I only play when I want to chill or try new stuff:

Hi again everyone!

I just wanted to come back and share that thanks to your help I was able to overcome my losing streak and I’m very pleased with my current performance (and slowly but steadily climbing in rating again).

With your help I was able to realize that the issue had 100% to do with mentality and nothing to do with my actual chess skill.

Here is what I found and did different:

1. Responsibility. Realize that even though I may not like it, the reason I am not making progress is because of myself, not because my account is cursed or that I am unlucky or that my opponents are cheating. 
   Fix: taking an honest (and humbling) look at what is causing me to perform worse than expected
2. Playing Chess nonchalantly. Fix: Treat every game and every opponent with respect! Play it like you had to justify every move in front of the entire chessmood community. When I made this thread I was guilty of thinking that my opponents were so much worse than me that I could just play any move and that should make me win. Every move counts,  one silly blunder can take everything away in a second. Like this one for example 😂: Kolla in detta #schackparti: https://www.chess.com/live/game/101811823461
3. Not enjoying the game of chess! Fix: I didn’t celebrate wins and I got absolutely destroyed by losses. Why? Because again, I felt that I was in the wrong rating range. But I wasn’t. I was in the right rating range for someone who thought that making the right move didn’t matter. I can’t say that I feel good after a loss now either, but the shift I did was to look for an interesting gameplay and to always play the best move on the board, no matter what. When I win I take a moment to appreciate that game and applaud the things I did right.
4. Focus. Like I said, I have 2 very young kids and a good career and everything that comes with it. Playing chess at 2AM or 4AM, or while changing diapers and expecting to progress is simply just nonsense (at least for me). Fix: Find timeslots during the day where you feel sharp, can focus without being disturbed for the duration of the game and allow yourself to immerse fully. 
5. Im on my phone now and apparently I can’t get out of list mode so please excuse the weird layout of this post. In summary I just wanted to express my gratitude to this community and I hope that this thread will ultimately help someone else that is in the same situation. My takeaway here is that it truly doesn’t matter how many hours you put in unless you show up to games where you intend to play your best.
    
6. Thanks again!
    

Blackmood Opening

After playing e6 as black in response to the white opening of e4, I occasionally get e5 from white, just pushing the pawn.  I know this is not a good move but I have to admit I find it somewhat annoying because it prevents me from going into my normal Blackmood repetoire.  Just wondering what is the strongest move here.  I have been playing d6 and then recapturing with the bishop if they take.  The engine seems to prefer c5.  Thoughts, suggestions?  Thanks!

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After White's aggressive pawn advance with 1. e4 e6 2. e5, Black has several effective ways to punish this overextension and seize the initiative. Firstly, prioritizing normal development is crucial. Moves like d5, Nc6 aid in controlling the center and challenging White's pawn on e5. Secondly, employing pawn breaks such as d5 or f6 can undermine White's central control and open lines for Black's pieces. Thirdly, focusing on piece activity with moves like Be7, and Bb4 indirectly challenges White's center while preparing for potential pawn breaks. Furthermore, Black can opt for queenside expansion through moves like b6 and c5 to create counterplay against White's overextended e5 pawn.

I would still go d5. If they take, bxd6, or if not then just play regular French.

Pretty smart move that e5! You might face such annoying moves as 2. e5, 2. Qe2!?, or even 2. b3!?. Weird moves as such are of course considered worse as they are not mainlines or even close to popular sidelines. 

In this case, I would recommend 2… c5 as you said, with the idea of 3… Nc6, 4… d6 and black has a better position. 

E.g. 1. e4, e6 2. e5!?, c5! 3. Nf3, Nc6 4. c3!?, d6! 5. exd6, Bxd6 with a happy position and as GM Avetik calls it “Happy Pieces"! Your plans here include: Firmly planting a knight on d5 (Nf6-d5), placing your bishop on the long a8-h1 diagonal (after b6-Bb7) and placing a rook on the d-file where it will very much enjoy itself. 

As you said, d6 and Bxd6 after they take (Nf3 is preferably a little better but the same problems for white.) but even after that, you might have to play c5 to restrict white's pawns or force him to create an Isolated Queen's Pawn.

Hope it helps, 

Ashwin C 

Trying to join zoom meeting

Looking for password to join member zoom meeting.

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how to spend MoodCoin?

how to spend MoodCoin?

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On the page of a video, you should find an option in the top right that says "Get lifetime access". If you click on it, there should be several options regarding your payment method, one of which should be using moodcoins. (This is a quote from Peter M. that I am kindly copy and pasting, Thanks Peter!)

You can spend MoodCoins by buying courses or participating in the ChessMood chess events. When you click on the Moodcoin symbol, it will redirect to a page where you can find about Moodcoins.