Best games of August 2023

Dear Champions, as we didn't manage to cover all the selected games during the event. Here I am attaching all the great games on top of 5 selected ones in a lichess study.

https://lichess.org/study/XuLXhdQS/r0Xr0chN

Enjoy :-) 
 

Replies

Traxler counter to fried liver

Dear Friends,

I tried to play the Traxler defence against a fried liver attack, but couldn't get past evasive action by King moving Kf1. 

Any thoughts…?

https://lichess.org/zluqJVRO5sEw

Thank you 

John

Replies

Dear John,

Usually we are not analyzing the games here, but as an exception I revised and looks to me that Ne4 was the mistake, instead d5 is a move with very very complicated positions. Ov

Although, I have see your rating is about 1500 and it's a perfect time to build nice opening repertoire. The opening you choose is very gambit style, and it will be hard to learn right opening principles, and overall gain good understanding of chess by playing it.
You need a healthy opening choice.
 We have Blackmood openings where we play healthy lines in French and Dutch. On top of being healthy, our choice is also quite often aggressive and we are trying to get dynamical attacking positions + those are the simplified openings and learning them will not be consuming a lot of time.

Good luck! 😁😎

Question about a specific trade in Maroczy

Hi Team,

i played this game https://lichess.org/nAr6tSbd/black#37 in Maroczy with e4 and while analysing i discovered two possibilities at move 19.

Which of this both possibilities would a grandmaster more likely goes for?

First possibility is what i played: trading Nd5 with my own knight and play the endgame with same coloured bishops which should be draw but easier for me due to all my pawns on black sqaures. (is this a right conclusion?)

Second possibiliy: play 19.. Be6 and trade Nd5 with my bishop.

Now its knight vs bishop endgame and i have a strong knight which will in my opinion goes to c5. Also probably draw but white can push maybe his kingside pawns and attacked my outpost somehow. (Is this also a right conclusion?)

Thank you for your answer.

Fred

Replies

Hi Fred,

I do like to trade the bishop with that knight in this exact position, as White's light squared Bishop is very limited by their own pawns. 
In contrast Black's Knight can have several good outposts on the dark squares - for example on c5.

Becoming a chess teacher at school

Hey guys, 

I am a teacher and since I love playing chess I was thinking to found a chess club in my school. This school year, I am gonna do it. 

Unfortunately, I don't have any experience in teaching chess. I know that it is not supposed to be professional, but of course, I would like my students to have fun. If you have any ideas about how to make the chess lessons more interactive, fun and playful, please share them here. It would help me a lot. �😀�

At school, we have around 10 chess boards. That's it =(

I was thinking to discuss some chess news with them, especially the Carlsen-Niemann case, but also discussing some grandmasters (especially Fisher). 

What else is there? 

best wishes 

Boris 

Replies

Are there any junior chess clubs / associations in your area? They would be a good place to start to get ideas on how to run a club.

what do i do against e4 e6 d4 d5 Nc3 Nf6 exd5? French

😭

https://lichess.org/CfU678Qo9CEe i need to know how to play against it 

Replies

Hi Geeta,

We have lots of games during our streams where white is playing exchange variation with Nc3 and exd5.
I would recommend you to check the games, overall we are playing a healthy chess, trying to develope the pieces and fighting for the center.

With Nf6 it's hard to make our regular ideas, so usually playing with c6-Bd6. Trying to trade our bad c8 bishop with the good one of opponent.
As again to better feel this positions check the model games and games from event.

Good luck!

Question in the d6 Sicilian

Hi, I have been running into a move in the Sicilian part 1 which I could not find in the courses. I was wondering what your recommendations are after 8…Nf6. Many thanks, Zubin

Replies

Hi Zubin,

I checked this position and 9.e5 is leading to an advantage for white. Positions are concrete and if you are facing this to often you can check some variations with the engine.

Good luck!

How to become A tiled Player

i am 16 years old with a rating of 1800+ 

i wanted to improve my chess games (mail goal is to reach 2300+) and become a Fide master 

by playing forign tournaments. please recommended some books that are effective for my chess imporvement 

25935500 my fide  

Replies

Before recommending any book - have you already watched all ChessMood courses, including classical games and endgames? 

you need 2200 to become a CM

do not understand computer's logic

when i played a game on chess.com it told me that i should go to a4 to threathen a pawn.  I took a pawn with a Knight and threatened a Queen.   https://www.chess.com/game/live/81502783962

Replies

If it's the guided analysis I'd ignore most of what it says. With the engine analysis you can see if your move differs greatly from the top suggestion, and ask the question what happens if I don't play that.

Also the automatic analysis is at low depth and hardly any time per move, so it's often just a simple tactical check.

NEW ARTICLE: Chess isn’t for the Weak

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Awesome article!

Hi Avetik

Very inspirational article, thank you by sharing.

Close to the end, you said something about do right adjustment, to avoid blunder under pressure, could you share which kind of adjustments, in general of course.

Best Regards

marc

It is very useful for me. Many times in a complete wining position I make such kind of move, even with more than enough time in my hand. And just after move I say myself " Am I blind?". 

Hi Avetik,

Thanks for that article - that was inspiring. So inspiring I'm going to watch the first Rocky again after reading your words :-) 

Your articles do help a lot in terms of attitude - for example, the "why" and commitment are very important in helping a player negotiate his (or her) way through the chess jungle. Of course, as you'll be aware, these things are critical in all kinds of different ways outside of chess as well.

So thanks again :-)

Andrew

Great article, thanks for sharing. It was really inspiring and also reminded me of my own failures from which I didn't think I would come back up, but I did for my "why". We always think it was the only chance we had, and all has gone to waste, but it not so. 

Also you keep mentioning these routines you follow when you have particular goal in mind, can you share a good routine you've followed that served you well - how many hours of sleep, how you fought distractions and stay committed to your work, etc. 

Really instructive article !!.For me following inspirational takeaways:

1.You’ll get many punches to your mouth on your journey. Find the strength to get back up, &

2.Sooner or later the hard work pays off.

Very informative…these type of message will surely inspire the players

RocknRolling Black Maroczy Bind g3 line 4th Game

Hi Chessmood Team,

learning at the moment Maroczy Bind i am in the theory and practise with g3 line. In your 4th game in ROcknRolling Avetik is playing after Nb3 Qh5 e4 d6 Qh5 Nh5 c5 dxc5 Nc5 b6?!.. In my Analyse e5! is just good for white or did i miss something? 

Do you have more instructive games from your stream for this g3 line? Really interested in practical choices. 

Keep up the good work :)

Fred

Replies

Can you please send a link for the game you are referring to to be able to answer on your question?

Thank you.

Hi again Fred,

I throughoutly checked the e5 move and I agree it's better for white.

We added this game because it's very instructive after, however instead of b6 move Black can play Rb8 and get nice position without any problems.

On top of that also after 10.e4 move in the course GM Avetik offers several options as an alternatives.

Thanks for noticing and Good luck!

can anyone please help identify the following two pages of puzzle exercises from which chess book?

Dear chess friends,

Could you please help me identify the following two pages for puzzle exercises from which chess books? 

One is about "simple endgames" and another is also about endgame with many numbered diagrams. 

Thanks a lot! 

Replies

Hello

By asking identify the pages, you mean tell the answers of the puzzles or something else? Sorry for asking that, but I don't understand what the question is about.

sorry for the confusion. I meant, who can tell me which chess books contains those exercises? I do not mean to ask for answers to the puzzles directly. 

no problem. Thanks for replying to this post anyhow. 

The first I believe is from Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations and Games by László Polgár; the second unfortunately I cannot identify! Hope this helps!!

I can't identify the second, but I know books that are like that. Often the problem is the puzzles get too advanced, and a mix of instruction and tests are better. If under 2000 then the must know endgame theory course contacts most stuff you should know and 100 endgame you should know (great Chessable version) minus the last chapter is again pretty much it for U2000.

Full Dutch Opening Course

Hello!

I am writing this post to request a full length Dutch course complete with detailed analyses and example games similar to other courses such as the Scotch and Sicilian courses.

There is not enough content in the basic Blackmood course for me to understand how to adjust my plans if White doesn't follow the lines as shown in the current series.

Of all the ChessMood openings, I am having the most difficulty with the Dutch. It feels like White merely has to play simple, logical moves to get an advantage. I am to the point where I am considering switching back to QGD and Slav lines, because I simply don't have a deep enough understanding of the Dutch to be successful even against lower rated players.

Replies

Sorry if this is too obvious, but have you checked out the model games?

https://chessmood.com/course/blackmood-openings-model-games

Hello,

That is covered in the modern Maroczy course and here is the link https://chessmood.com/course/modern-maroczy-bind

Good luck!

BlackMood Dutch Attack vs London

I’m trying to understand the BlackMood Dutch Attack vs the London. 

In the PDF file for the Dutch Attack, on p. 3, the diagrams labelled Plan 1 and Plan 2 both appear to show a position after White has made 6 moves but Black has made 9 moves. It seems that White could easily prevent Black from reaching the position shown if White gets all their moves.

E.g., let’s say we try to get to Black’s position as shown in Plan 1.

1. d4 e6 2. Bf4 f5 3. e3 Bf6 4. Nf3 b6 5. Be2 Bb7 6. O-O d6 7. c4 Ne4 8. Nbd2 Nd7 9. Nxe4

or

1. d4 e6 2. Bf4 f5 3. e3 Bf6 4. Nf3 b6 5. Be2 Bb7 6. O-O d6 7. c4 Qe7 8. Nc3 Nbd7 9. Nb5 

and so on.

I.e., the plans shown don’t seem to be realizable unless White wastes a bunch of moves. Please help me understand.

Replies

If there is an answer to this question, someone please tag me. I came to the forum to say a similar thing, except it's with almost all variations of the Dutch. I'm having a much harder time with the Dutch than any other opening recommended by ChessMood.

Hi Jon,

To better understand this structures I would recommend you to check the Blackmood model games and attend or watch the streams, as very often we are getting types of positions you are speaking about, and you will see the practical solutions happening in the games.

Answering the why question; why i want to become chess Master

After reading the article of coach Avetik When  i came to know that answering the why question is important since then i tried to generate the answer for me. I came up with several answer at different time point. However i was not satisfied with any of them. So i was wondering what is the answer for me. Today morning while i was thinking again regarding this a sentence came to my mind “ Chess is my life line” and this is the answer of my why question. I know its solely personal for each individual just want to know your thought on this. Is this could be a  strong why which will motivate me? 

Replies

Hi Shahinur,

May be this can motivate you enough, but my opinion is - if this words were going to inspire you enough may be you wouldn’t ask a question here? In other words may be you can think about something stronger?

Again its just my opinion, as this question is very individual.

good luck!

Playing White Sicilian with 2...e6 and later g6

In many games, I run into structures where my opponent plays an early e6 and g6. I cannot seem to find any videos from the Sicilian courses or the Model Games Rock n Roll course, but I run into this set-up quite frequently (2300 lichess blitz level). One example from a game tonight:

1. e4 c5
2. Nc3 e6
3. f4 Nc6 (Sicilian part 3 assumes d5 in all lines)
4. Nf3 Nge7
   
   From 4…Nge7 I cannot find any Chessmood line from here. If 4… d6 I can easily play from part 1 with g3, Bg2, 0-0, h3, etc. I have in fact been doing this set up, but I cannot find any videos that discuss it with this pawn structure. Game continued as follows:
    
5. g3 d5 (now part 3 could have come into play, but with g3 I have committed to Bg2)
6. d3 g6
7. Bg2 Bg7
8. 0-0 0-0 and a normal game was played.

I see this delayed set-up time and time again with e6-g6. Is the g3-Bg2 the proper way to play? Should I have done something different earlier?

If the g3-Bg2 set up is correct, how should we play against the e6-g6 pawn structure? I have often played with h3-g4 and pushed for f5 or Qe1-h4 and Ng5, but these often feel forced and don't always work all that well. Thanks in advance for the feedback!

Replies

Check GM Avetik our coach games online. 

https://lichess.org/rZATCwEn

https://lichess.org/@/Avetik_ChessMood

Thank you Erik for help! You found a nice game! 
https://lichess.org/rZATCwEn#33 

That h4, Rh3 was strong :) 

Zachary, I think this Qf2 idea is very interesting. 

Opening Doubt

I was playing my game when my opponent played the following sequence 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5

I had no idea what was happening. I thought that I got the trompowsky but according to lichess it is Torre attack. Is it really trompowsky or is it some other opening. Also is it a very dangerous setup or can black do something against it.

Thanks

Replies

Yes, that's the Torre Attack.

In my eyes it's a potentially dangerous system, but only if black doesn't know what to do.

How did your game continue? 

Modern Maroczy 7. f3 line

Hi ChessMood GMs and community,

 I'm going through the modern maroczy course and just went through the 7. f3 section. I'm interested in the mainline position after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 d6 7. f3 Nxd4 8. Qxd4 Bg7 9. Be3 O-O 10. Qd2 Be6 11. Rc1 Qa5 12. Be2 Rfc8 13. b3 Rab8. You covered multiple moves but I don't think you cover 14. g4 which is given by the engine. Do you have any comments about what to do in this position. It seems that in the lines you give, white doesn't play g4, but it is possible in this position as well as on the next few moves. My understanding is that g4 prevents f5 which is a thematic break for us, trying to create a weakness on e4. For example, after 14. Na4 Qxd2+ 15. Kxd2 Nd7, 16. g4 is given here as well. Even after 16. Nc3 a6, 17. g4 is given here too. In all places, g4 is either the first or second choice from the engine and it makes sense since you discuss g4 being a typical problem for us in these lines. If you could give some plans for us from the black side, that would be great. 

Thanks!

Replies

Hello,

g4 is a possibility for white, however, that move is not super concrete, and black has options like a6 or h5 or many others. Even b5 which is a pawn sacrifice can practically be very interesting from the Black's side.
As you might have seen in the forum policies our goal is not to provide super-long engine lines, instead, we are trying to offer practical to-play positions.

Thanks!

Alapin Variation. A question to GM Gabuzyan.

Hi Coach;

Actually I'm learning The Alapin Variation and was creating a pgn. In Section 2 - 4. Nf3 Video 5.d4 - 7. … d6 we arrived at this position:

We were hoping to fight against isolated pawn and in the video the choice was to go Be7 and castle because White doesn't have a concrete idea. The problem it seems to me (Using an egine of course), that White can force exchaging his isolated pawn with our e6 one and maybe we should delay e6- 0-0 and play another move to keep someting we can play against it.

Here is the line where White can force exchanging pawns:

12... Be7 13. d5 Nxd5 14. Rd1 O-O 15. Nxd5 exd5 16. Rxd5

Again I'm not saying the position is bad. It's totaly equal. It's only that White got rid of his isolated pawn.

And here is the line where we could maybe keep something:

12... Qb4 13. Qc2 Be7 14. a3 Qd6 15. Qe4 Nd5 16. Nxd5 Qxd5 17. Qxd5 exd5

Here we also have a weak pawn but at least the White's one is in a dark square, so our bishop will ba an attacker and White's one a defender.

Is there any difference coach or am I missing something?!

Replies

Hello,

this looks like a natter of taste. The things is when you trade on d5 and get your pawn there, d4 pawn is no longer a weakness as you also get pawn in d5. In both scenarios Black gets at least an equal position which is a good result out of the opening.

Good luck!