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Chess forum by Grandmasters
How to increase my Rating?
How to increase my Rating?
Replies
Your rating will only increase once you start improving your chess. So a better question should be "How to improve my chess". You'll find lots of articles about chess improvement here: https://chessmood.com/blog Check Chessmood's Study Plan and work seriously on what is important at your current level and you'll improve tremendously your chess (and also your rating as a consequence of your hard work 👍)
There are many ways to improve your rating, here are a few that I found helpful.
- Relax. I was studying all the time, and I wasn't playing chess, I was taking a test. It hindered my ability to be flexible. I wasn't playing the best move because I was trying too hard to remember the “right” move.
- Take breaks when losing. It is easy to want to end on a win, but losses bring about more losses. If you lose a few games in a row it might be time to take a break.
- Play at the right time. If you are playing at 3 in the morning, then you will likely not be playing at your best. If you are playing while you are distracted, you might lose games you should have won.
- Tactics. I know that this is one you will see in many videos/articles on this topic, but tactics are highly important. A lack of tactic knowledge might be the reason that you are blundering. Also, the way that you study tactics matters. I suggest studying puzzles by topic, rather than random puzzles such as on Lichess.
- Accept that it might take a little while to get better. Many people claim to have rapidly gotten a ridiculously high rating, but it might not be that way for you depending on how much time you have to study, and various other factors.
- Focus on getting better at chess and not rating. This one is easier said than done but know that if you are studying the right way, you will get better, and eventually you will see results.
- Remember that your value is not connected to your chess rating. I have heard many podcasts about people who quit chess for a while because they evaluated themselves based on their chess rating.
I hope that this helps, and if you need a sparring partner, my chess.com name is TheCheckmateDragon.
The best games of April, 2023, and the prizes
Hello ChessMood family, hello champions and future champions!
Welcome to the "Best games of April, 2023" 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 March, 2023:
A.D.
Vladimir Bugayev
Francesco Brighenti
Shaun Pinto
Marius Cornee
Replies
A game in the Scotch, you may notice that I went for a repetition, because I was on tilt, and lost 6 games and won only 1 in my session, losing the last game in horrible fasion - up a queen. But, I managed to pull myself in and won very nicely - https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/74184902759?tab=review This is the Game Review
Sicilian Canal blitz win with sweet finish with pawn mate 1-0 (030423) in 22 moves.
Next game...Win in Giuoco Piano Hungarian defence 1-0 8 move mate 100% game accuracy (5 min blitz) I literally cannot do more to win a prize or a mention here, but I know I won't get one even though I regularly show great sparkling games of chess :-) Alright, I clearly acknowledge there are many other fine games here, mais chaque un a son gout & I am perhaps a little biased....still Right Mood Right Move...right! :-) Happy chess all!
An attack swiftly executed with a bishop sac on an FM https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/74358246631?tab=analysis
Some random ~2500 caught in my opening prep! https://www.chess.com/game/live/74359356911
My best games of April here: Trying out the bishop opening https://www.chess.com/game/live/74278246223 Caro slaughter with Bd3 https://www.chess.com/game/live/74280794415 Crazy attack in french Bd3 https://lichess.org/9YINx9fQ0nbR From classical OTB https://chess-results.com/PartieSuche.aspx?art=36&id=4700605 Another OTB this one I won rather cleanly in the endgame https://www.chess.com/a/QsPteFcSZT2S?tab=analysis Endgame grind after weird opening https://www.chess.com/game/live/76341270761 Crushing in GP vs a6 https://www.chess.com/game/live/76345857089
https://www.chess.com/game/live/74092222129 One of my best games
Good game against the Owen defense. https://lichess.org/spptT8Sv
A nice win in scotch game: https://lichess.org/IE7d1YTNJ9eN & accelerated dragon: https://lichess.org/cpFl5b3Yyftg
Nice win in bird opening https://lichess.org/w1SqXLN2O5Ce
https://lichess.org/dAdgttEWUsj0
French advance https://www.chess.com/live/game/74688185971
One of my best win !! https://lichess.org/9iTTafRVAkSx
https://www.chess.com/game/live/74730724683 Playing against London, got a quick and decisive attack.
https://www.chess.com/game/live/74799148359 Maroczy Bind, opponent didn't know theory and got a bad position, tactic on move 21.
Power to the pieces! https://www.chess.com/live/game/74802178599
https://lichess.org/tlLAmyeV/black I played complex positional game and won against higher rated opponent.
https://lichess.org/e5OsvNvm Brilliant comeback in endgame with pawn down in endgame one of my good games
French exchange with Bxh3 idea https://www.chess.com/live/game/74889065493
https://lichess.org/IgyrgMns
https://lichess.org/PC6j87nk/white#47 A combinative and brave game against Sicilian Najdorf!
I had the chance to play the McCutcheon gambit in the final round of a big otb tournament last WE ! I got into the prize zone with this win ! Thanks a lot ChessMood ! After 5 weeks here , I have won prizes in every tournaments I participated in the last 3 weeks ! My record otb is 11 wins 3 draws and 2 losses only in my last 16 games ! The blunders courses is the one that helped me the most followed by the speed boat course and of course the blackmood opening as I started playing the French . I was already a Dutch player but classical . https://lichess.org/study/Te0yYvsg/eQ3uTqEG. I was travelling with 3 IM from Canada and I showed them my game . They said h6 was dubious but that I played a great game after that! It s French attack I answered ! My coach being one of them did not argue with me this time as usually he s saying , no French is defense not attack ! 😁
https://www.chess.com/game/live/75034469333 attacking chess, i need to work, still okay game
I think this was a good game, except for the fact that on move 16, I blundered 16...Bg5+! Which gives him a winning position, but except for that, nice game defeating the Scandinavian with our line - 3. Nf3! I have used this, and got a winning position out of the opening every single time! This is the game - https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/75084799843?tab=analysis
It was a Trompowsky main line: 2... Ne4. It was a pretty good game there were no blunders and I held my advantage throughout the Middlegame and Endgame. It was winning won positions, however, sadly, since it was a blitz game, I lost on time. However in the position where I lost on time, I had a winning endgame with a strong passed pawn. Even though I didn't play the "Crushing the d4 sidelines" recommended line or the Dutch defence. I used some concepts in the winning won positions course. It was a good game. https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/75099751117?tab=review
A good game with our 6.b4! against the 5...g6 line in the Nc6 Sicilian - https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/75169901329?tab=review (Preformed at 3050!)
https://lichess.org/xNZafPFEkOpx SLP - I was down a piece and under a heavy attack but sac'ed a bishop to grab 2x pawns and open the center, the resulting attack was overwhelming.
found Nge2!! brilliancy thanks to chessmood tactic course. pretty good game (at least for me 🙃)
https://lichess.org/HCI9LHwGeJfO Yes, I played the Scholar's Mate against a 1900 level player and it worked!!! He resigned in 4 moves! I spent about 40 seconds before playing my Queen because I couldn't believe the opportunity was really there.
This is a fun game, where after a mistake from my opponent, he switched to SLP mode with pawn storms and got me into trouble. Then I also switched to SLP mode and did the same to him. https://lichess.org/7LYXUdAy83XU
was played OTB in the Suisse team championship R1 (13.4.23). French exchange Variation. Winning quickly an exchange after "poisoned pawn was taken on b7". The conversion plan into the winning endgame worked nicely with the mate threat not seen by the opponent ..
https://lichess.org/nTqCw4H5/black One of my best games against highest rated opponent I ever faced it was great game.
https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/75370788331?tab=review Not really a prize contender, i just wanted to say: "Life is fun/ it feels like heaven/ when you play a knight on f7/ against the Caro-Kann"
https://lichess.org/lrAkHBSu (I played as white)
https://lichess.org/j7ROs78ToPy0
https://lichess.org/cEWVhDLb Nice tactic at the end.
https://lichess.org/iZG97wNa/white#38 Checkmate is unavoidable!
CM French for white https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/75763827307?tab=review
https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/75819772115?tab=analysis
Not the chessmood recommendation for carokhan but since I play this way , I have surprising result especially against stronger opponents! This was a 3 min+2 sec against a 1927 on chesscom. Maybe my best win in this short time control .https://lichess.org/study/BEZ4GkGS/XmZ3KU9S
CM antisicilian for white and mating motif in the end https://lichess.org/zhi4mRXW/white#55
99% accuracy attack in CM Antisicilian https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/75876699217?tab=review
And another perfect attack with white from CM repertoire https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/75874878141?tab=review
Played against Caro-Cann where Black played Bg4 and attack our Qd1. As per GM recommendation I played with Qb3 and nice game. https://lichess.org/k8RHl8WG
A very nice win in sicilian defense-closed https://lichess.org/bUt7DL3OPFDs
https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/75990233623?tab=review
A game with 2(!) Brilliant moves on my other account - https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/76011661065?tab=details-tab
Unexpected mate...i think my opponent didn't see the mate till the very end... https://lichess.org/YK1VmZzvtjwE
https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/76034382051?tab=review My first Stafford gambit ! I learned it last week ! I almost forgot about Qc2 . I waited to play a4 but as he took it , it was not possible anymore ! 😁
All the credits for this endgame to the endgame roadmap and the classic endgame courses! https://lichess.org/QbjsYwItdQ2r
Nice win for me today (Wed 260423) in the Italian as Black (nice mate!) 5 min blitz
Cool win as white against 2100 rating Alekhine Defense :-). Surpricing suggestion that 3.f4 line but it poses indeed some problems for black. I looove the chessmood suggestions :-) https://lichess.org/hpuEDMcN
https://lichess.org/XsOPhn29sg1g Blackmood op
A nice game in French Adv. Variation against white playing 1.e4 and 2.f4 line. https://lichess.org/yDGyoEtz/black
A philidor that I will have to revised but I m very glad of the mating idea that I found (which take more time for me usually ) https://www.chess.com/game/live/76390250515
Let's continue with perfect CM Antisicilian games
CM Antisicilian ...almost perfect play. Just couldn't resist to sacrifice a queen in GM Gabyzyan style
https://www.chess.com/game/live/76439050089 I lost on time in completely winning game against FM rated 2900 even my accuracy was better one of my best game
Against Pirc defense, I use the same Grand Prix attack as explained our GM team and managed to trap the Opponent Bishop g6 sq. Nice game https://lichess.org/yL1SuYjW
https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/daily/508012741?tab=review French exchange variation , a daily game but I dont use any help during the game even if access to anything except engine is legal . I try to avoid moving piece on a side board also as my main goal is to improve otb . I got a ?? for my best move but the idea was good (I could have prepared it better ) and I was able to convert the win . I really like my final move but the engine showed another equivalent one that would have been more spectacular ! Can you find it ?
A nice win in SLP mode: https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/75135215111?tab=review
https://www.chess.com/game/live/74979101765
https://lichess.org/Khc4JjcC#40 Wild wild west!
Here is my favourite game of April 2023 (I played Black & lost-5/0 blitz & is my most prized game this month!). The opening was the Queen's Gambit Declined Modern variation & my opponent, none other than GM H Gabuzyhan! At analysis, chessDOTcom gave estimated ratings 2400-1750 & the rating difference is clear. Also, I highly enjoyed playing a classic opening (while I like ChessMood openings, I also like other classic openings) & I can learn from this defeat! BTW-the game was NOT lost in the opening, as the analysis gave White 97.5% opening accuracy & Black 96.5% accuracy & as we all know games normally, have a mid & endgame that follows & it was lost in the midgame, with 87.8% accuracy vs 69.1% but I will fix that! ;-) Happy chess all....
A very Nice Win : https://www.chess.com/game/live/76439412453
Hello champions!
How are you all doing today?
Thank you for sharing your games! We enjoyed going through them and seeing you score some nice wins. Keep it up!
Moving on to the prizes for the best games of April 2023 now:
The best game of this month is played by Ashwin in the Grand Prix Closed Sicilian, where White builds an attack and calmly finishes off the game without giving the opponent any chances. It’s like a model game! Well done Ashwin!
https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/76011661065?tab=analysis
The 2nd prize goes to Valerio Carnicelli for their game where they sacrificed a Queen sacrifice and mated the opponent King with a double check! The way White makes something of their initiative after 19.Nxe6 is brilliant! Great job!
https://lichess.org/j7ROs78T#37
Vladimir Bugayev takes the 3rd prize for their miniature game in the Grand Prix Attack. Nice build-up; the killing blow with 19.Bg7!! and 20.Qh8 was extremely pleasing to see! Great game!
https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=7KrqXsnSdl1r+H17G/aDfn+IKJO3jQ6zvASIXNk6TMDth9l53SsN13kpqR4sCoAj
The fourth prize goes to Regis H for their classic victory in the Dutch attack! It’s great to see how Black conducts the attack with simple moves, without any flashy sacrifices. Good job!
https://www.chess.com/game/live/74802178599
The fifth prize goes to Amit Mishra for their 16-move victory with the White pieces, which finished with the awesome Greek gift sacrifice! The game is a great example of how to punish the opponent if they ignore development or don’t fight for the center.
https://www.chess.com/game/live/74979101765
Congratulations to all of you. And thanks once again to everyone for sharing your games.
It’s been a pleasure to go through them. Celebrate the wins, and let’s keep doing our best!
Keep the mood, keep the CoGro!
See you in the next month’s contest.
Here is another in the spirit of 2 out of 3..(see my last game post. This game win followed directly from my last one…The old story of waiting ages for good games & then 2 turn up one after the other!).
In this win I play White in the French Marshall opening.(1-0) analysed as 93.3% game accuracy for White (77.3% Black)
Caro Kann with early e6
In the course it is said that Caro Kann with black's early e6 is too passive. But in practice I am not able to get advantage if black are playing it in the following way:
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 e6 6. f4 Bd6 7. Nf3 Nge7 (not Nf6)
And later black are playing f6.
Let us say 8.0-0 0-0 and now Ne5 is not good because of f6.
Replies
Why are you playing f4 on move 6? Doesn't it restrict our bishop on c1?
6.Bf4 looks like a good move.
6.Nf3 is also possible because we no longer have to worry about Bg4.
There are severa😀l good moves but after, 6 f4 Avetik says Nf3, Qe2 and maybe longcastle. We do not castle so fast, we don't show our cards so soon. Try it and see how it goes 😄
In the mentioned position in my opinion white has a good practical chances, however since e6 is a strategically very bad move, Bf4 idea instead of f4 also leads to quite pleasant positions. You can choose that development option.
Good luck :-)
How to prepare for tournaments?
Hi guys! Just wondering how y'all prepare for tournaments. What I do is look back at my openings and refresh them and then try and find my round 1 opponent online and maybe do some prep for them. I'm asking this because I have a tournament in roughly a week and I am looking for the most effective way to prepare.
Replies
HI Ryan, welcome to the family!!!
Let's do one thing, check the articles in our blog that you can find below:
https://chessmood.com/blog/category/tournament-preparation
Order to study the courses
In the study plans, should I complete a full course first or study many of them at the same time? I am in the 1500-2000 study plan (I'm 2000 lichess) and for example it tells me to go through tactic ninja and mating matador but I'm unsure if I should go through the whole of tactic ninja and only then start mating matador or do both at the same time? Apologies if this has been asked before.
Replies
As Avetik wrote in the plan,
You can go through those courses together, the thing is to give priority to:
1. Go through the Rating Booster section. Complete all the courses, one by one. If you are doing Tactic Ninja, finish it before going to Mating Matador. Be concentrated to the max! You can also watch Blunderproof or another course together that does not require so much concentration and more understanding.
2. Then go through the Middlegame Mastery section. Complete these courses, one by one.
3. Watch Commented classical games. This you can do it together with Rating booster or middlegame courses, no problem. The thing is that as you’ll find in the instructions, remember not to do more than 1 game a day! You can go through 100 Classical masterpieces one by one. And then go to Classical attacks. If you struggle with your attacks, watch the Classical attacking games first.
Calculation course
Does chessmood have calculation course? i have seen the introduce in blunder proof but dont give the real answer,but i need to do study calculation and imagnation,can you help me chessmood？
Replies
Not yet but they've said there will be one at some point.
There is the new evaluation course which is a key component. Just an intro section so far, but would expect some more parts to appear in Tuesday most likely.
d4 Nf6 Nc3 Bg5
Good day is this in any trompowsky or Jobava video?
Cant find . But if anyone knows your directiin is appreciated
Replies
[Event "8.7.23 nq: Game 5 simon ramdath vs druva sookraj"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/study/kVzChyOC/3zOlY88I"]
[Result "*"]
[UTCDate "2023.07.15"]
[UTCTime "17:00:52"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "D01"]
[Opening "Richter-Veresov Attack: Richter Variation"]
[Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/Druveonecanobe"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bg5 Bf5 4. f3 c6 5. Qd2 Nbd7 6. O-O-O b5 7. e3 a5 8. Bd3 Bg6 9. h4 h6 10. Bxg6 hxg5 11. Bd3 a4 12. e4 b4 13. Nb1 e5 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. Qxg5 Nxd3+ 16. Rxd3 g6 17. Qe5+ Be7 18. g4 g5 19. h5 b3 20. axb3 axb3 21. Rxb3 Kf8 22. Ne2 Bd6 23. Qxg5 Rg8 24. Qh6+ Ke7 25. Nd4 Kd7 26. Nf5 Bc5 27. Rd1 Qc7 28. Qxf6 Qf4+ 29. Rd2 Rxg4 30. Rb7+ Kc8 31. Qxc6+ *
This is one of my games over the board
Missing Courses?
I had bought quite a few courses when i won some moodcoins such as benko, Latvian, etc. However now they do not show up in “my courses" section? I also cannot access the videos. Can someone please help me with this bug and resolve it? Thanks in advance
Replies
Skipper,
Sorry for the trouble, but for these kind of private account issues you should contact support at:
https://chessmood.com/contact Please explain your case and we will be in touch. Thanks!😀
Simplied chessmood french attack/general beginner openings question
Gidday guys!
I wanted to start looking at developing an opening repertoire so I had a look around and couldnt decide so I figured I'd sign up to chessmood and look at that as its spoon fed to you. I've been playing the simplified chess mood openings for black for about 3 weeks now. I normally play 1.e5 vs 1.e4 and the Englund vs 1.d4 so going to the French and the Dutch is an absolutely massive change for me. I started playing chess 9 months ago and sit at 1700 lichess rapid so I'm a total novice, I just smash large numbers of tactical puzzles every day without fail.
I didn't know a lick of black opening theory other than a single 5 move line in the Englund (and to be fair all I know for white is the Vienna which transposes into a Italian style late opening which gets played most often, and the Vienna gambit which is only a couple of moves of theory). So essentially zero opening knowledge, I just tried to obey opening principles.
Not surprisingly my win rates have gone from 70.8% with black (which is insane as I knew no opening theory at all I just push e5 and play open principled chess) and 58.3% with white in the 3 weeks prior, to after my first 3 weeks as a chessmooder 56.1% black and 41.7 percent as white and I've dropped about 70 odd lichess rating points down to ~1650 rapid. A big rating drop but I expected that. I'm playing totally different chess now in completely different structures and my brain is overloaded, I'm blundering in the stupidest ways and loosing on time a lot as I try and figure the new positions out.
It's funny that I thought “hey lets go with blackmood openings because I dont know what I'm doing as black, my white game is fine" - when I was actually crushing with black and had a much lower white win rate.
Anyways, sorry about the rambling - here is my actual question! :)
I've been playing a bunch of 5+3 to get reps in with the new openings. I am finding that I very rarely get to play out the lines in the course (not surprising, these are 1700 players) and that the simplified french gets me into big trouble if you don't know what you're doing. The encouragement of delayed castling, the tempo burning trying to ditch that bad bishop (which I actually seldom get to do due to the knight being played to cover g4 so I've just burned 2 tempo in the opening it feels like!) and the lack of space means you're inviting white to attack immediately and I end up on the back foot in really dicey positions for the whole game burning clock. I'm used to getting castled fast, getting out of trouble and looking for tactics like a hawk but with the french I'm just trying to hold it together vs players who are much weaker than me in open tactical play.
How do you guys feel about that? I'm sure the french/dutch will click with me eventually and I'm loving the PDF overviews, I feel like I have an idea of what I'm supposed to be doing in the middle game (though I don't often get those positions) and I understand some of the ideas of the opening and that is amazing - but I'm getting knocked around and fighting for my life with this late castling business/tempo burning.
Is the answer simply “you need to play them for more than 3 weeks you dummy..”?
How did you guys go when you switched to chessmood openings, I sort of “hoped” I'd skyrocket from 1700 → 1900 because I'm a moron but I knew that wasn't actually realistic 😆
Thanks guys, have an awesome day!
Replies
Wow I just re-looked at what I wrote, I'm sorry I wrote so much guys! I really love chess! 😍😅
You can learn a lot about chess by playing the French. As you hinted at, the themes such as handling a cramped position, undermining an opposing pawn centre, and dealing with a bad bishop are central to the opening and much less common in the openings you were playing. My advice would be to stick with it for a while longer. Be sure to go over your games afterwards to maximise learning.
Having said that, there is a lot to be said for playing 1.e4 e5 too! But against 1.d4 it's no contest: Dutch over Englund any day. So another alternative is to switch back to 1.e4 e5 and play the Dutch via the 1.d4 f5 move order. You'll need to learn how to deal with the tricky move 2 options like 1.d4 f5 2.e4, 1.d4 f5 2.Nc3 and 1.d4 f5 2.Bg5, but that shouldn't be too difficult with the help of lichess database.
Question to GM Gabuzyan about streaming...
Hello,
On the 04 july during “Racing from 1502 to 2000” you played 2 games with white : Sicilian with 2.Nc3 Nc6 ; 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bc4 e6…..
Introducing Anti-Sicilian part 2 Avetik explains that Bc4 is good after 2.d6 (It's Anti-Sicilian part 1)but after 2.Nc6 Black can play e6 and Ng-e7 (BTW the choice of your 2 opponents rated 2005 and 2100) go for d5 in only one move and obtain an easier game. Then he introduces and develops the system 2…Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4 4.Nf3.
Is one system stronger, easier to play or it's just a matter of taste ?
Thank you for your friendly attitude and sharing the comments during the videos.
Replies
That's an easy question Jean,
Gabu was following the Whitemood repertoire move order which is less complicated than the advanced one with the 5 parts on the Anti-sicilian.
The Whitemood repertoire is more simple to understand but of course is not so detailed and has less nuances than the advanced one.
So yes, Whitemood move order is easier to play but in some lines you will not get the “maximum” out of the position, for that, once you have a good level and understanding of the main positions, you will have to start with the more advanced ones…😀
Accelerated Dragon Question
Hello everyone, I am facing some problems against the Accelerated Dragon,
A sample variation - 1) e4 c5 2) Nf3 Nc6 3) d4 cxd4 4) Nxd4 Bg7
5) Nxc6 bxc6 This was covered in the Rock ‘n’ Rolling with Black course but now White plays 6) Qd4 Which is very unclear how to play after it - as an example 6…Nf6 7) e5 Nd5 8) e6 after which it's unclear how to get a fighting position with Black.
Thanks!
Replies
Hello Pratik, I have found an interesting line against 6. Qd4 move
- e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Qd4 Nf6 7. e5 Nd5 if 8. e6 Nf6 9. exd7+ Bxd7 (if 9. exf7+ Kxf7 10. Nc3 d5 11. Bf4 Bg7 with Re8, Nd7, e5 plan for black)10. Be2 Bg7 11. 0-0 Bf5 where the position is almost equal, and if after 7. e5 Nd5 there's 8. Nc3 Bg7 9. Nxd5 cxd5 10. Qxd5 Rb8 11. Bc4 e6 12. Qc5 Bb7 where the position is again almost equal. In both cases white maintains a slight advantage (+0.1 and +0.2 respectively). There's also the possibility to play 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Qd4 f6 with Bg7, e6, Nh6, Nf7, 0-0 and d5 plan but I don't prefer it…
qf6 scotch
morning , hope all is well
does anyone have suggestions as to best approach to qf6 in scotch,
not sure whats the best place for pieces…
?Bg4
[Event "8.7.23 nq: druva sookraj vs tristan siewdass game 4 !"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/study/kVzChyOC/mSxts6zY"]
[Result "*"]
[UTCDate "2023.07.11"]
[UTCTime "08:35:40"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "C45"]
[Opening "Scotch Game"]
[Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/Druveonecanobe"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qf6 5. Nf3 Bc5 6. Nc3 Nge7 7. Be2 (7. Bg5 Qe6 8. Qd3 h6 9. Be3 Nb4 10. Qd2 Bxe3 11. fxe3 O-O 12. Na4 (12. Nd4 Qe5 13. a3 Na6 14. Nf3 Qe6 15. O-O-O d6 16. Nd4 Qe5)) 7... d6 8. O-O Bd7 9. a3 Nd4 10. Be3 Nxe2+ 11. Qxe2 Bxe3 12. Qxe3 O-O 13. Rad1 Bg4 14. Rd2 Bxf3 15. gxf3 c6 16. f4 Ng6 17. f5 Ne5 18. Qe2 (18. Re2 g5 19. fxg6 Nf3+) 18... b5 (18... Nf3+ 19. Qxf3 Qg5+) 19. f4 Nc4 20. Rd3 Nxb2 21. Rg3 Rfe8 22. Qg4 Nc4 23. e5 dxe5 24. Ne4 Qh6 25. Rh3 Qxh3 26. Qxh3 exf4 27. Rxf4 Rad8 28. f6 g6 29. Qh6 Rd1+ 30. Kf2 Rd2+ 31. Nxd2 Re2+ 32. Kxe2 Nxd2 33. Qg7# *
Replies
Hi Druva this is explained in the Advanced section 4...Tricky moves. On move 7 play Nb5 (instead of Be2) to immediately target c7. If 7..Bb6 then 8.Be3. It's a recurring theme in our Scotch line, when the queen comes out to f6, c7 will be vulnerable.
Alex
A big problem for me
Hi everyone!
Sorry for another question but this one has been taking down my chess performance by a lot
It is…..
OVER-STRESS
Recently in my tournaments, this 9-letter word has destroyed my tournaments and I wanted to know how to fix this problem ASAP. As this problem leads to:
- Health Problems
- Losing the love for the game
- Playing horrible moves and blunders
- Unnecessary Pressure of winning
Always Appreciate the reply
Many thanks for replying to my question.
Vedant
Replies
Hi Vedant,
Through my chess career I also had difficult days and what helped me personally was taking short breaks, doing what I love and just having good positive days. After that I was feeling refreshed and continued playing chess charged with an energy.
In other words don't get super-exhausted and completely burned-out.
Is the London System Ruined?
I have been playing the London system since March of this year, and it seems like everyone is prepared for it. I have seen quite a few YouTube videos on how to destroy it. Is it too popular right now to be any good?
Replies
Well, World Champion Ding Liren played the London system in the final and he won… Maybe it's not about the opening… In fact, no one wins out of the opening… Did you check the Opening Principles course? If not I recommend you to go there…😀
French Schlechter 6. ... Be7 7. Nbc3 0-0 8. d5 Na6!? - question
Hi,
like in the title, I have a question about one line in French Schlechter.
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Bd3 dxe4 4. Bxe4 Nf6 5. Bf3 c5 6. Ne2 Be7 7. Nbc3 0-0 8. d5 Na6 9. a3 Nc7 10. dxe6 and now comes my question. What if Black will NOT take our queen on d1 and play just 10. … Nxe6? Exchanging queens by 11. Qxd8 Rxd8 brings Black's rook into the game, and going to 11. 0-0 allows Qc7 and next is Rd8, which looks unpleasant to me (it's hard to tell where to put our queen). I will be grateful for answers, especially from GM_Avetik Grigoryan :)
Replies
I asked the big boys to take a look at this line and it may take some time. Still, I had this position not so long ago and I took on d8, the problem is the Bishop on c8 that it is not easy to bring to the game and we can win some time. This was the line played that I would play again without any hesitation: 11. Qxd8 Rxd8 12. O-O h6 13. Rd1 Rxd1+ 14. Nxd1 ideas to play a4, g3, the knight can go to e3 centralizing the knight, the rook can go to a3 if needed too. Overall an equal position with a very strong light square bishop… 😀
Hello,
I found out that even if white play Qxd8 and black rook goes into the game still the bishop on f3 makes position practically better for white due to strong pressure on the long diagonal.
As well there is a chance instead of Qxd8 to play 11.0-0 Qc7 12. Re1 and if Rd8 13.Nd5!? - however that will be very concrete and you can investigate it with the engine.
Question on English Opening - Botvinnik pawn structure and playing d5
Can I ask a question about Black in English Opening on the pawn structure (e5-d6-c5) and breaking with d5.
I understand from the course that one of our main objectives is to play d5 to free our position.
Now I find that often in my games my opponent does not control d5 enough.
Example 1: 1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.g3 Nc6 5.Bg2 d6 6.O-O e5 7.d3 Nge7 8.a3 a5 9.e3 O-O 10.Nb5.
Example 2: 1.c4 c5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 e5 6.d3 d6 7.O-O Nge7 8.Ne1 Be6 9.Nc2
Example 3: 1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 d6 6.e3 e5 7.d3 Nge7 8.O-O Be6 9.a3 a5 10.Ne1
In all the games, when I get the chance I will play d5 immediately, as long as I cannot see that tactically I'm blundering something (especially playing d5 opens up the strong Bg2). Is there a general rule on this or is this the correct strategy to play as Black?
Thanks,
Alex
Replies
Hi Alex
Playing for d5 is always the best unless there is a tactical refutation as for the following reasons:
- Gives us a Space Advantage
- Makes our pieces more active
- We have a very good version of maroczy as white's pieces are crippled
Now Why other pawn breaks don't work:
- f5-g5 sort of attack is not great as white's pawn structure is very solid and attacking it is very difficult and not to forget white can counter on queen if we are toooooo slow
- a6-Rb8-b5 is a typical pawn break BUT it is not our main aim we only go for it when we cannot go for b5 break and if both aren't possible check what mistake you made😃
Vedant
Hi Alex,
Probably there is no general rule, however if d5 move isn't blundering anything I would almost always play it to get rid of weak pawn on d6 and weak square on d5. You can check out the commented games in the English course to get more practical experience.Good luck!
Sicilian Nc3 e6 Line Question
Hello!
Copying and pasting my original question to the PRO channel as requested. Original text below:
I am writing this to request a review of the recommended line:
- e4 c5
- Nc3 e6
- f4 d5
- Nf3 d4
- Bb5+ Bd7
- Bxd7+ Qxd7
- Ne5 Qd8
- Ne2
In this position, most of Black's options were covered. However, the move f6 is not covered and gives White practical problems to solve. The engine evaluates the position as approximately equal, but I am not able to come up with a good plan for White.
After 8…f6 9. Nf3, Black can play d3. If instead White plays Nd3, which is the engine line, the position is very unpleasant to play for White after either Nc6 or c4. Can you post a video recommending a plan for White? I have looked at positions after playing 8. Nb5, but the knight eventually gets sidelined on a3 and Black gets a lot of counterplay while White is wasting tempi with the knight.
Thank you in advance!
Joel Gargus
Replies
After f6 I believe that Ng4 is fine, we already created a weakness on f. Julio Granda always says: Never is too soon to move the f pawn. Here it already moved. Then we will play d3. If Black plays d3, we can just take and if Qxd3 Nf2. We will castle, play Nc3, and have a good healthy position with central control. We have more development too, very playable with usual plans.
Nothing major with this variation.
Hi Goel,
I checked and after f6 - both Ng4 and Nd3 are leading to practical positions to play. F6 in general weakens light squares and that can be used in the future. If you want to advance in the variations further you can work with the engine.
My personal preference is Nd3 followed by Nf2-pawn d3 and potential ideas on the Kingside.
Scotch 4.. Ne4?
Hi!
I was looking but I can't find any plan on how to play the Scotch Mieses variation with 4.. Ne4? I found a game where Fabi played Qe4, other GMs played the position differently, but I was wondering if there is a Chessmood recommendation?
Replies
😅Please Claudio, write the moves because your question makes no sense with 4…Ne4… 😅
Stuck
I have been playing chess for about 14 years. I was young when I started and mostly worked on endgames and some tactics. This year I have started working on openings, but despite all of this, I am only rated 1000-1100 on Chess.com. I keep seeing people talking about how they got to 1500 in a few months or maybe even a year. Am I studying the wrong way?
Replies
Possibly you are not doing it in one of the best ways. We suggest that you take a look at the Study plan and follow it through, stick with ONE plan and keep working on it. Switching openings, and approaches does not provide results. At 1000 you do not need to work on openings per se. Please check the plan and if you put the time and the effort you will improve for sure, no matter your age. 😀
Here is the plan:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NyVJXCzrN6LoiJGZgUhkEeS5almcQbH8JzE2jJETBYA/edit
French exchange after 5. Nc3
Hello, I'm following the black mood opening course french defense, aggressive setup against ed5 (exchange variation). I think 1 variation is not covered, what to do after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Nc3? As this knight attacks our d5 pawn, we can not play Bd6 because our queen will not defend our d5 pawn anymore. We can not play directly Ke7 because we need to develop our f8 bishop before... What to do? It looks like we must abandon our aggressive setup...
Replies
I've been running into this variation a LOT in my blitz games as of late. The last 7 exchange French's I've played have all had this move order and I too wish to know how to combat it. Following this thread for sure, hopefully we can get a solid answer! If I find anything, I'll also post here.
Hi Luc and Jules… Hapy New Year to you!
Luc, don't be so pessimistic! 😅 We would never recommend a line in the French that must be abandoned on the move 5! 😄
This is a first practical repertoire and as such we cannot include all the replies to every move, that's why there is a forum and webinars and streams too.😃
We do not recommend the move move 4...Bd6 for Black because it reduces somehow our possibilities, we will not be able to develop the bishop to b4 in some variations as in this case.
Therefore against 5.Nc3 we should go Bb4 pinning the knight. This will allow our knight to go to e7 and follow more or less our usual plan.💪
