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Chess forum by Grandmasters

Course recommendation

When will the course Win Won Position come out? I have been eagerly waiting for that.😀😀

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Book recommendations

After my very nice and relaxing 1 on 1 chat, Avik recommended a few books to me. Thank you again. It felt like we know eachother for a long time already, such a natural conversation.🤍 (Which makes me wonder, do we get another call next year?) Reading the back of the books and online reviews I have ordered them all :-) Ego is the enemy Obstacle is the way Discipline is the destiny Stillness is the key These should arrive on monday but I don't know which one to read first 🙈 I feel I should read them all at the same time. 😂

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simplified chessmood or step by step ?

Hi, I have a FIDE Elo rating of 1620 (1800 Elo in blitz on chess.com and approximately 1950 Elo in blitz on lichess.org). I'm wondering if it would be useful for me to learn the step-by-step repertoire, which is designed for players with Elo ratings between 1800-2600, rather than the simplified ChessMood opening, which is designed for players with Elo ratings between 800-2000. I've noticed that my mistakes in both long FIDE games and blitz games are mainly due to missed tactics rather than mistakes in the opening. So my questions are: Should I focus more on training tactics rather than opening? Is the simplified ChessMood opening sufficient for my rating? Why is the black simplified ChessMood opening different from the step-by-step black opening? Is it because the latter is inferior? Thank you for your response.

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From the Black side (step by step / advanced) there is a lot of theory, and also the courses IMO don't do enough, at least as well as the White side ones. For that reason there is the plan to update the Benko and maybe the accelerated, there are missing d4 sidelines that need covering, there is f4. Playing Black is usually tough under 1800 at least unless the players walk into your pet line you know everything 20 moves deep... The idea was (I believe) to give a simpler alternative that players under 2000 chess.com (1700 OTB IMO) could work with so that they are not spending all their time learning openings and can concentrate on tactics and the other rating booster courses which will help their development. To get the numbers through the doors to keep the lights on, much focus has been there in the last couple of years, somewhat at the expense of the more advanced stuff. There are plans to add additional advanced material for the simplified openings which might appeal more than the step by step ones, or alternatively add a second option for Black which is useful going above 2200 at least since prep becomes a bigger thing. 'Should I focus more on training tactics rather than opening?' you said yourself you are losing games due to missed tactics, so I think you know the answer. A second question to ask is whether you are missing tactics because you need to work on tactics, or you are just overwhelmed that you don't understand the position or are under pressure so you lose focus. The second one may be a reason to look at openings where you have trouble. How do you do on the quizzes, or playing puzzle rush for example, do you miss much then when someone says there is a tactic to find. What about when you are comfortable with the position you're playing (not when taking it too easy). 'Is the simplified ChessMood opening sufficient for my rating?' 1620 FIDE (assuming it's not one of those who are really 2000+ but not played much FIDE so so undergraded and that's roughly your national rating level, then I'd say probably. Many league players I face below 1750 have not great openings (more a problem of not being ambitious and setting problems than the actual choice), but it's not their opening that loses them the game. Usually it's a missed tactic or endgame skill (that includes when I'd getting the worse of it to force a draw). Perhaps try them out and see if you like it or not. If nothing else you learn some different positions which will help your chess and the commitment is much lower than the step-by-step ones.

"Should I focus more on training tactics rather than opening?" I would study tactics and calculation in tandem with openings for best results :) Especially at our level, tactics decide games. "Is the simplified ChessMood opening sufficient for my rating?" I've gotten to 2100 Rapid on Lichess from purely ChessMood Simplified Openings for both White and Black. Hope that helps answer your question. "Why is the black simplified ChessMood opening different from the step-by-step black opening? Is it because the latter is inferior?" Quite the opposite, actually! The Step-by-step openings are much more in-depth and advanced and are probably suited for players going for titles such as CM/NM/FM and beyond. Seeing as I'm not ready to explore those options of titles yet, I'm sticking with the simplified openings for White and Black and they're working pretty great! Here are a couple model games of mine from the last month if this will help with your decision: https://lichess.org/zAVSA23U/black (Black against 2147) https://lichess.org/KNE1KEyf (White against 2146)

Hi Mate, just as example i tried simplified chessmood repertoire in OTB games. My opponent rated 1850 at the time and me 2013. (see below) In my experience i get with any opening prep one chance at least in a game to have huge advantage. You can only use it if you study also tactics and so on. Just train continously all parts of your game and you will progress. Dont give too much at engine evaluation in the opening. If you have a plan it's more valueable than have no plan but a good engine position. (My experience) [pgn][Event "OTB Tournament"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Opponent"] [Black "Me"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C02"] [WhiteElo "1850"] [BlackElo "2000"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "????.??.??"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bd7 4. Nf3 a6 5. Be3 Bb5 6. Nbd2 Ne7 7. b3 Bxf1 8. Nxf1 Nf5 9. c3 c5 10. Ng3 Nxg3 11. hxg3 cxd4 12. Nxd4 Qc7 13. O-O Qxe5 14. Re1 Be7 15. Nf3 Qc7 16. Bf4 Qb6 17. Ne5 Nc6 18. Qg4 Nxe5 19. Bxe5 Rg8 20. c4 dxc4 21. Qxc4 Bc5 22. Qa4+ Ke7 23. Qf4 Rac8 24. Rad1 f6 25. Bxf6+ gxf6 26. Qh6 Bxf2+ 27. Kh1 Bd4 28. Re4 e5 29. Rdxd4 Qxd4 30. Rxd4 exd4 31. Qxh7+ Kd6 32. Kg1 Rgd8 33. Qxb7 d3 34. Qxa6+ Ke7 35. Qb7+ Kf8 36. Qb6 Kg7 37. Qb7+ Kh6 38. Qf3 Kg6 39. Qe4+ Kf7 40. Qh7+ Ke8 41. Qg6+ Ke7 42. Qe4+ Kf8 43. Qe6 Kg7 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

New with french attack

Hi! I just started playing french attack after looking blacks opening course. After advance variation 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 Bd7 4 Nf3 a6 5 Bd5 Bb5 After the bishops change I got really good positions and won a lot and get better and better to understand what the plan is. To my question: After 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Bd3 Bd7 4 c3 Bb5 5 Bc2 Whats the plan after white not want to change the whitesquare bishop? Regards Niklas

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C'mon Theme in game

Hi Mates, found a great game in a League called Lichess Lonewolf. It's 30+30 time control and there was an incredible C'mon tactic involved. Sadly not found by player: https://lichess.org/TEJTt9WY#42 Move 21 black played a4 but he had with Nb4 great C'mon forced mate in 10 Stockfish found after axb4 axb4 Kb3 bxc4 Kxc4 d5 Kxd5 Be6 Kc6 Ra6 Kc5 Ra5 Kc6 Bd5 Kd7 Qe8 Kxc7 Qd8. Hope you enjoy :) Kind regards, Fred

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Crossing the 2000 barrier chess.com blitz

Don't congratulate me yet, this is not something I've achieved. Noting from hanging in the 1900 range for a bit, then getting some bad games (or good opponents), it's fell back into the 1800 range. Getting back to 1900 is hard work. The magic number is 1750. Why? Because that's often a point where new players are rated to make a rating difference against their first opponent. Thus many players land in there, and although chess.com doesn't display a mean distribution, I imagine there is a big bump there, if you remove the skew of newbies sub 800 from the rating set. Thus if you (at 1850) set your rating range +-200 getting a 1700-1800 player is much more likely than a 1900-200 player. Thus you need to win more games to get back to 1900, or to 2000, and losses cost you dearly compared to a player above your rating. Setting rating ranges also runs into a couple of problems. You can inflate your rating by 'eeking' which means becoming a big fish by eating lots of small ones. That is your play players you'll definitely beat, hope you don't get draws and use the +1 points to gradually build your way up. The other problem is players might get wise to playing weaker players and make it less likely you'll get to challenge them by filtering your request. A side note is because how chess.com is set up, 0 inc gets a lot more prominence than 3 inc which means 5 3 games are hard to find, so without a fast set up (phones don't do the job), it means a high proportion of games lost due to running out of time in promising positions. Add that to the 1700 problem and it shows why getting to 2000 is hard work at least for me. So perhaps I should up my lower rating range to eventually get to 2000, or if not get experience of better players at blitz. Also would prove or disprove my point.

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Whenever I play a game on my phone it feels like a non-trivial handicap. I much prefer using computer + mouse. FWIW, one thing I'm coming to conclude about blitz is that a small amount of prophylaxis can have a big positive impact on results.

New players on chess.com have a high rating deviation or RD which means if you lose to them you will lose less rating points. If you take some time out your RD will increase which means when you start playing again on the server your rating will rise quicker if you win and fall faster if you lose. https://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-ratings---how-they-work

One thing that has helped me tremendously was taking my coach's advice and setting it to +250 only. This has allowed me to skyrocket from 1600-2100 pretty rapidly (roughly 3 months). I'm pretty much exclusively only playing players either right at my rating or higher. Hope this helps!

"Your rating is the shadow of your level in chess. Become better and the rating will follow you" - Avetik's Dad.

Can we fix it? How?

The fix it stage is mentioned in several blog articles but I feel it never gets to the heart of the problem enough to give enough guidance. It's also probably why improvement plateaus as detecting and fixing stuff gets harder. The first problem is at what level? E.g. Sub 1800 look for tactical blunders - shows up usually well on engine analysis Check the first 2 moves after an opening tabia or any on the way to one, what should you have played vs a course or database and was your move inferior (why?) Endgame were you active enough, did you mess up a well known theoretical transposition. The fix it is reasonably easy at this level, do some puzzles on the theme, look at the opening/ endgame course. Going from 2000+ it's a lot harder to fix mistakes because the engine deviations are usually smaller and the bigger blunders often happen in difficult positions that the problem was moves earlier. Even if you nail it like giving away space, often it's not as simple as train 20 positions on the theme (assuming you can even find such a resource). It's often not so easy to isolate from what else was going on, so giving away the space might have been right or wrong depending on what else was going on. What to look for, and how to fix it a more comprehensive guide would be useful. Very little work exists in this area and often the study phase picks up the slack (or frustration leads to more play without analysis beyond the superficial).

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So to more thought, what does it mean to fix one's game/mistakes? Prevent / lessen a mistake happening a second time in a similar situation. The mistake (psychological and time aside): Bad calculation (couldn't / missed a future move, stopped too early) Candidate selection (didn't see a valid candidate in the current or future position, missing tactical shots, well known ideas) Evaluation (missed features or overall impression was wrong or lacking intuition) Strategic plan (wrong exchange, wrong pawn structure / play, wrong squares, overplaying/underplaying a feature) Knowledge (opening, plans, middlegame, endgame) or ease of access to that knowledge / recognising it Overlooking opponent (resource, ideas, last move, tactics...) Above one's competence (a line, opening, complications that becomes more luck than skill until skill level greatly rises). The fix will likely be different for each scenario, and possibly each instance of it Also the fix will be weighted against rating since the fix might be to calculate the variation 20 moves deep, but for players less than 3000... so a compromise might be to find a simpler idea somewhere in the calculation, or something the opponent will have more trouble with And the questions to ask: What was the mistake? Why did I make the mistake (my state of mind, what else was being focused on)? Given hindsight, would I be able to calculate the right move here? What material to look at to cover this weak area, how to study it, how to remember it. What practice can be done?

Yes we can! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtgA9w5vHp8&t=26s

Tactic Ninja Quiz 348

Just a small observation from one of my students: In the last move only promoting to knight is correct, but it accepts everything as correct solution. 😀

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The Power of the Bishop Pair, section 3, chapter 8

very good example where you also show the endgame trick of the wrong color bishop with rook pawn against a lone king. Nice combo.

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French Attack line

Hi I am playing a correspondence game and it has gone ; 1e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 h6 5 BxN QxB 6 e d5 Bb4 7 Bb5+ How do I play against this? I can only see 7...c6 and my pawn structure gets ruined after 8 dxc6 bxc6 9 Be2 for example, then white gets to play Nf3 and 0-0, his position looks good compared to mine. Am I missing something? Thanks Paul

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Is it within the rules to get outside help during the game? I know it's against the chess.com Daily Chess rules.

Any thoughts? Thanks

Sorry, I thought it was against the rules of correspondence and I did not check it out. 

What is wrong with Bd7 developing the piece? You are playing a gambit line where we give up one pawn for development. If they play Nf3 you can recapture and not allow dxe6 anymore. I would go Bd7 if taken Nxd7, if necessary you can also spoing White-s structure after castling, nothing wrong with this I think.😅

The best games of February, 2023, and the prizes

Hello ChessMood family, hello champions and future champions! 
Welcome to the "Best games of February, 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 January, 2023:

Sidharth Sreekumar
Vladimir Bugaev
Zhong Kai Tan
Andreas Sym
Regis H 
 

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https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/69248256525?tab=review I really enjoy when my opponents trade bishops on e3 giving me the f open file in the Italian Game

Congratulations to the January winners! How do we post our games here?

https://lichess.org/ShS5JQ8FCz44 Scotch domination - Rook Sac on move #17 to rip open the center. Thank you GM Avetik for the Scotch material and the idea of fianchettoing the light squared Bishop when the Black King is looking to Castle long.

https://www.chess.com/game/live/69245207569 A nice rook sacrifice in the queenside on c2. I am playing as Black in this game.

absolutly clean game! https://lichess.org/yHTY4PdS/white#68

Ma february best game collection goes here: Insane king hunt in sicilian https://lichess.org/atVuXpc14KII Insane attack after typical Nd5 sac in sicilian https://lichess.org/Sd3ZWKCAezZ4 French attack (when opp greed backfires) https://www.chess.com/game/live/69268542403 GP in action in titled tuesday (missed huge tactic after 14..0-0?? but still stood ground with draw vs IM) https://www.chess.com/game/live/69524739373 Crushing Alekhine g6 https://www.chess.com/game/live/69882328881 Weird GP with early e5 https://www.chess.com/game/live/70221375075 Crazy Rg1 line vs phillidor https://www.chess.com/game/live/70223552707 Positional outplay in KID https://lichess.org/aYRG5HYQEJCx Another queen in cage in c5 english https://www.chess.com/game/live/70735534633 Improvised anti london attack KID style https://lichess.org/oQeD5c898Rwd

https://www.chess.com/game/live/69395068759 A good game that starts with a inferior position, then some resources and good combinations turn the game in my favor.

https://lichess.org/KFbryF4H really spicy game

https://lichess.org/u86zE4mURr7l a game i thought i played well.

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/69398780991?tab=review Caro-Kann opening trap straight out of the CM openings, it worked perfectly! Thank you Avetik!!!!!

A nice game against the Pirc Defense. Exactly use the same idea of Grand Prix Attack and it works well . thx Coach. https://lichess.org/wSFAS2e2

https://lichess.org/YLVNL4mY Better position out of the opening thanks to the CM Openings!!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/69432335655 Pawns ,soul of the game:-)

https://lichess.org/A0rD90KA/white#61 I played 23 move in 0.1 second and hold to draw!

https://lichess.org/0IPx8WVb/white#75 A big game with sacrifices, nice tactics and a checkmate with 0.1 seconds

https://lichess.org/6ahIfD81/white#23 My rival plays bersek against me, i search for a faster development of my peaces sacrificing pawns in the way, finishing in a strong atack

https://www.chess.com/game/live/69457171627 SLP in action. Down a Knight after messing up the opening, then the exchange but I refused to give up. I finally found a chink in the armor and it all came crashing down for him. The SLP material is the reason I won this game, thank you GM Avetik and thank you ChessMood!

These are 2 of my games, the first match was started with 1.d4 and converted in French. In the second game, she tried to blockade me with her pawn chain but her base was very weak and with the help of pin I got advantage and converted it with intuitive sacrifice.

Closed Sicilian https://lichess.org/lDKNep4J/white

French defense as white, Steinitz variation. Gabuzyan, I know I said during the stream that I don't like chaotic positions, but what you said after resonated with me. And here is the game, every move with logic and answered questions about why I moved them. Black also helped, but there is no win without someone making a mistake :) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Qb6 8. Na4 Qa5+ 9. c3 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 b5 12. Nc5 Bxc5 13. b4 Bxb4 14. cxb4 Qxb4+ 15. Qd2 Qxd2+ 16. Kxd2 a6 17. Rc1 O-O 18. Be2 b4 19. Rc7 a5 20. Rhc1 f6 21. Bb5 fxe5 22. fxe5 Nb6 23. Bxb6 Rb8 24. Bc5 Rd8 25. Ba4 d4 26. Be7

Super beautiful game! https://lichess.org/SpX4ANzf/white#0

Grand Dutch Prix attack https://www.chess.com/live/game/69620098431

Nice attack in the Chessmood Sicilian: https://www.chess.com/live/game/69626251689

A nice ending in the Scotch using Chessmood openings https://lichess.org/7cKAE7NLLESH

https://www.chess.com/live/game/69671191487 Sharp game:-)

SLP in action, I targeted the king without thinking of my queenside pawns and later on created a trap mating the king. https://www.chess.com/game/live/69684339025

Philidor with kingside push https://www.chess.com/live/game/69699145351

https://lichess.org/37HYCvui I completely crush an im

https://lichess.org/QtfLAmEr After reading GM Avetik's blogs It let me confident enough to beat a 2500

Pretty good game! https://lichess.org/WfdhKtd8YbGC

French exchange https://www.chess.com/live/game/70054539909

Very fast game https://lichess.org/ZNVqxCk9#33

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/70114460299?tab=review A game Tal would be proud of

Beautiful domination! https://lichess.org/toGbAJJE/black#72

Why didn't I win in Jan? This is a fix. Nevermind, I press on for February 2023 with my first entry ..5-0 blitz Caro Kann Advance Prins (one of my favourite Caro Kann variations) -Black resigns after 12 moves with White +8

https://lichess.org/IzS21JR9qQ93 Blindfold game vs an IM friend (they haven't updated it yet)

Missed a simple check (19.Qh3) and got in a tactical mess. I kept the mood and it worked out :-) Final mate is funny https://www.chess.com/live/game/70218732671

Good game against Chessmood French https://www.chess.com/live/game/70232843159

Caro turned into chessmood English for black with two exchange sacrifices https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/70262595385?tab=review

A nice blitz win in Petrov defence as White (well, at least engine analysis thought there were 2 or 3 good moves played)

https://www.chess.com/game/live/70344315051 A very crazy game, when i been losing in the exchange, running with my king and finishing with a gorgeous combination

classical game on lichess between me (1820, black) and opponent (2150,white), Sicilian defense, closed. I was in a worse position by the middlegame, but managed to equalize, then opponent blunders and I immediately go on attack, simplifying and winning a piece by the end of it, then traded the rooks and won some pawns, opponent resigns. note- I did not know much theory in Sicilian defense as black, just recently started playing it, so some of my moves in the opening could be inaccurate according to theory https://lichess.org/9ECx5Q8R/black#0 PGN- 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 Nf6 6. Be3 d6 7. h3 Be6 8. Qd2 h6 9. Nge2 Qd7 10. f4 a6 11. g4 Qc7 12. O-O Bd7 13. Ng3 e5 14. g5 hxg5 15. fxg5 Nh5 16. Nd5 Qd8 17. Nxh5 Rxh5 18. Rf3 Ne7 19. Nf6+ Bxf6 20. gxf6 Nc6 21. c3 Qc7 22. b4 cxb4 23. cxb4 Be6 24. Kh2 Kd7 25. d4 exd4 26. Bxd4 Rah8 27. Rd1 d5+ 28. Kg1 Bxh3 29. Bxh3+ Rxh3 30. Rxh3 Rxh3 31. Bc3 Qg3+ 32. Qg2 Qxg2+ 33. Kxg2 Rxc3 34. Rxd5+ Ke6 35. Rd2 Nxb4 36. Rf2 Rc2 37. Kf3 Rxf2+ 38. Kxf2 Kxf6 39. a3 Nc2 40. a4 Ke5 41. Kf3 Nd4+ 42. Ke3 Ne6 43. a5 Nc5 { White resigns. } 0-1

[Event "Rated Blitz game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/DrJxSYbQ"] [Date "2023.02.17"] [White "Me"] [Black "Anonymous"] [Result "1-0"] [UTCDate "2023.02.17"] [UTCTime "10:31:07"] [WhiteElo "2074"] [BlackElo "2044"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "180+2"] [ECO "B13"] [Opening "Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "lichess.org"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 { B13 Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation } cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Qc7 6. Ne2 Bg4 7. O-O e6 8. Qe1 Bd6 9. f3 Bh5 10. Qh4 Nf6 11. Bg5 Bg6 12. Bxg6 fxg6 13. Bxf6 { Black resigns. } 1-0 Quick win in the Caro Exchange line with the beautiful move Qe1! suggested by GM Avetik sir...

Hi, this is my first game for this competition ever, but I think, I made a good effort against a opponent 250 higher than me in unknown openingen after move 3.

A nice win !! https://www.chess.com/game/live/70125869355

A good win who starts with a nice trick, winning with a better one in the end

Nice About-to-be-mate against an FM in the Schlechter: https://www.chess.com/game/live/70326393745 Nice Game with the doubled f-pawn structure: https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/70158720197?tab=review Complicated the position, tricked an FM via back-rank tricks: https://www.chess.com/game/live/70049776201 Nice 5. c3! game against a NM: https://www.chess.com/game/live/70000972175 6...cxd4?! in the Schlechter the better endgame: https://www.chess.com/game/live/69737133837 Cheater who stopped cheating in the endgame trying to flag me: https://www.chess.com/game/live/69634373279 Complicated game: https://www.chess.com/game/live/69123790761 Miniature with the double-pawns structure in the Schlechter French: https://www.chess.com/game/live/69045704281 This post was featuring Schechter French Games My rating is 2400-2500 depending on tilt and my opponents were in the same range

Simul Game against GM Gabuzyan https://lichess.org/ISzbg4sQ/black

A good game in French Adv variation with our special line of Bd7 & a6. https://lichess.org/OVa67Wt6/black

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/70542062601?tab=review

https://www.chess.com/game/live/70566686229 SLP down a million pieces I mouseslipped c6 instead of c5 and had a lost position but I saved it somehow 😀

English opening, me (Karanay Sultanov) playing with black An OTB FIDE tournament with classical time control, I was amazed by myself, to be honest

[Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2023.02.18"] [Round "-"] [White "Mr-TacTic13"] [Black "Aavash_001"] [Result "0-1"] [Tournament "https://www.chess.com/tournament/live/50-blitz-3832674"] [CurrentPosition "3rk3/p1Q2pp1/2p5/8/8/5P2/P5PP/q6K w - -"] [Timezone "UTC"] [ECO "C45"] [ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Scotch-Game-Schmidt-Variation-5.Nxc6-bxc6"] [UTCDate "2023.02.18"] [UTCTime "15:17:29"] [WhiteElo "1141"] [BlackElo "1009"] [TimeControl "300"] [Termination "Aavash_001 won by checkmate"] [StartTime "15:17:29"] [EndDate "2023.02.18"] [EndTime "15:24:51"] [Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/70472558371"] [WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/98833478.2b6bac52.50x50o.c54b14cb69d1.jpeg"] [WhiteCountry "52"] [WhiteTitle ""] [BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/186448275.f2011f58.50x50o.bc7c73e20128.jpeg"] [BlackCountry "100"] [BlackTitle ""] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Bd3 O-O 8. Bd2 Re8 9. f3 $6 d5 10. O-O dxe4 11. Nxe4 Bxd2 12. Nxd2 $6 Qd4+ 13. Kh1 Qxb2 14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. Bxe4 Ba6 16. Re1 Rad8 17. Qb1 Qf6 $6 18. c3 $6 Qxc3 19. Bxh7+ Kf8 20. Be4 Bd3 21. Bxd3 $6 Rxd3 $2 22. Rxe8+ $9 Kxe8 23. Qb8+ Rd8 24. Qxc7 $4 Qxa1# $1 0-1

I had never seen this line and was out of prep by 9...Nbd7, but a few moves later, I played the risky 12.Nd5 and got rewarded by my opponent's strange play.

Using the ChessMood Caro Kann repertoire, sacrificing Knight, Bishop and Rook in an 8 move checkmate sequence https://lichess.org/kDwqqPHi5quL

Modern Benoni https://lichess.org/UOQ67kwC/black#1

Got the Stafford Gambit for the first time online. Played the Chessmood suggested lines, and it worked like a charm :). This game was almost perfect!!

A quick finish in the Dutch Attack. Could have attacked a wee bit more, was nice though to end with a checkmate.

A nice win!! in Scandinavian defense; https://lichess.org/Zz0vppOE0S5C

I know there are some mistakes, but I really enjoyed this attack :D https://lichess.org/OIxOQf7TqQnx

I think I finished well in initiative sense https://lichess.org/kML80besm0KT

[Event "National Amatuer below 2300"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.02.19"] [Round "1"] [White "Prakash, Ram"] [Black "Vedant, Garg"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A04"] [Annotator "vedan"] [PlyCount "76"] [SourceDate "2023.02.23"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. b3 Nc6 3. Bb2 d6 4. g3 e5 5. d3 g6 6. Bg2 Bg7 7. O-O Nge7 8. c4 O-O 9. Nc3 h6 10. Ne1 Be6 11. Nd5 Rb8 12. Qd2 b5 13. f4 a5 14. Nxe7+ Nxe7 15. fxe5 dxe5 16. cxb5 Rxb5 17. Rc1 c4 18. a4 Rxb3 19. Bc3 cxd3 20. exd3 Qb6+ 21. Rf2 Nc6 22. Bxc6 Qxc6 23. Bb4 Qxa4 24. Bxf8 Bxf8 25. Nf3 Qb5 26. Qe3 Rxd3 27. Qxe5 Rd5 28. Qe3 Bc5 29. Rxc5 Qxc5 30. Qxh6 Rf5 31. Kf1 Qc4+ 32. Ke1 Qe4+ 33. Re2 Qxf3 34. Rxe6 Qf2+ 35. Kd1 Rd5+ 36. Kc1 Qc5+ 37. Kb2 Qb4+ 38. Kc2 Qc4+ 0-1 Defeated my first player rated above 2000 in classical chess using the good old killer chessmood line😀😀

SLP win for me-White in Scandinavian defence after Botez gambit (blundering Queen) 1-0...never resign :-) (Or, did I mean to win this way?! LOL!)

Benko for black

https://lichess.org/BRbmHjZM/white#0 Pirc transposes into the Sicilian but the Grand Prix wins the day!

https://lichess.org/BpUXHYlZ

This is a classical, rated OTB game. I consciously deviated from our WhiteMood (and regular Anti-Sicilian) repertoire to give g2-g4 are chance. When I saw this idea a couple of days before the game, I thought that I had seen this in one of our regular Anti-Sicilian courses. But I did not find it in my notes.

https://lichess.org/6G69MTNite5Z Briliant Queen and rook sacrifice in anti-sicilian 2.Nc3, played against 2033 rated player on lichess.

90+30 game. I've been working through the quizzes for Tactic Ninja and Mating Matador, and learning the Grand Prix Attack, and it paid off for me in this game. I played too timidly in the endgame and the game ended in a draw, but the opening and the kingside attack would have been impossible for me even a month ago. One of the best games I've ever played, and against an opponent rated more than 200 points above me. Thank you ChessMood! https://www.chess.com/game/live/71177155765 [Event "Live Chess - chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2023.02.26"] [Round "?"] [White "happy_pieces"] [Black "Alive50"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] [WhiteElo "1261"] [BlackElo "1445"] [Termination "Game drawn by repetition"] 1. e4 {[0.1]} 1... c5 {[0.1]} 2. Nc3 {[13.4]} 2... e6 {[21.8]} 3. f4 {[19.4]} 3... d5 {[21.2]} 4. Nf3 {[12.2]} 4... d4 {[53.1]} 5. Bb5+ {[6.8]} 5... Bd7 {[10.7]} 6. Bxd7+ {[4.9]} 6... Qxd7 {[3.2]} 7. Ne2 {[4.3]} 7... Nf6 {[1:52]} 8. d3 {[8.5]} 8... Be7 {[58.3]} 9. O-O {[1:00]} 9... Nc6 {[55.0]} 10. h3 {[5:07]} 10... O-O {[2:56]} 11. Ng3 {[29.0]} 11... Qe8 {[2:51]} 12. Qe2 {[2:37]} 12... Nd7 {[13.8]} 13. f5 {[5:27]} 13... e5 {[40.0]} 14. Nh2 {[4:22]} 14... Nf6 {[3:40]} 15. Ng4 {[2:33]} 15... Qd8 {[18.0]} 16. Nxf6+ {[1:08]} 16... Bxf6 {[4.8]} 17. Nh5 {[8:19]} 17... g6 {[7:05]} 18. Qg4 {[5:27]} 18... Kh8 {[1:30]} 19. Nxf6 {[26.6]} 19... Qxf6 {[11.1]} 20. Bg5 {[13.3]} 20... Qd6 {[2:45]} 21. Bh6 {[5:39]} 21... Rg8 {[1:18]} 22. f6 {[2:50]} 22... Nb4 {[52.7]} 23. Bg7+ {[1:16]} 23... Rxg7 {[6.2]} 24. fxg7+ {[2.9]} 24... Kxg7 {[1.9]} 25. Rf2 {[2:53]} 25... Rf8 {[43.4]} 26. a3 {[19.6]} 26... Nc6 {[16.0]} 27. Raf1 {[13.7]} 27... Qe7 {[2:06]} 28. h4 {[4:07]} 28... Nd8 {[27.3]} 29. Qf3 {[5:48]} 29... Ne6 {[1:16]} 30. Qf6+ {[3:12]} 30... Qxf6 {[10.8]} 31. Rxf6 {[3.2]} 31... Nf4 {[8.8]} 32. Rd6 {[1:33]} 32... f6 {[4:21]} 33. Rd7+ {[3:18]} 33... Rf7 {[3.6]} 34. Rxf7+ {[5.8]} 34... Kxf7 {[2.9]} 35. g3 {[1:25]} 35... Ne6 {[1:00]} 36. Rf2 {[5:22]} 36... h5 {[20.9]} 37. Kf1 {[6.8]} 37... Ke7 {[31.6]} 38. Ke1 {[5.5]} 38... Ng7 {[7.4]} 39. Re2 {[1:04]} 39... Kd6 {[11.1]} 40. Kd2 {[10.4]} 40... Ne6 {[5:00]} 41. Rf2 {[1:39]} 41... Ke7 {[4.7]} 42. c3 {[2:39]} 42... dxc3+ {[2:20]} 43. bxc3 {[18.5]} 43... b6 {[2:58]} 44. Ke3 {[52.5]} 44... Nc7 {[2:07]} 45. Rb2 {[45.3]} 45... Ke6 {[19.9]} 46. d4 {[1:00]} 46... exd4+ {[2:08]} 47. cxd4 {[6.0]} 47... cxd4+ {[7.5]} 48. Kxd4 {[11.5]} 48... Kd6 {[46.2]} 49. a4 {[10.1]} 49... Ne6+ {[8.4]} 50. Ke3 {[3:55]} 50... Nc5 {[56.5]} 51. Rd2+ {[1:24]} 51... Ke6 {[13.4]} 52. Rd4 {[57.8]} 52... f5 {[41.7]} 53. exf5+ {[1:15]} 53... gxf5 {[5.8]} 54. Kf4 {[42.4]} 54... Ne4 {[53.0]} 55. Rb4 {[5:45]} 55... Kf6 {[26.2]} 56. Rb5 {[51.9]} 56... Nd6 {[44.8]} 57. Re5 {[2:59]} 57... a6 {[1:07]} 58. Rd5 {[21.8]} 58... Ke6 {[15.1]} 59. Re5+ {[3.8]} 59... Kf6 {[5.6]} 60. Rd5 {[1:04]} 60... Ke6 {[10.8]} 61. Re5+ {[0.8]} 61... Kf6 {[2.9]}

Played against the French and Opponent get trapped in the same way GM Avetik taught . Opponent Knight get trapped at d4. thx Coach.. nice game. https://lichess.org/GJXvRZnY

Missed mate in one at the end :-) but still winning in a Dutch Stonewall https://www.chess.com/live/game/71230454931

https://www.chess.com/game/live/69479228451

1. b3 Nf6 { A01 Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Indian Variation } 2. Bb2 e6 3. c4 b6 4. Nc3 Bb7 5. d4 d5 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. cxd5 exd5 8. h3 Bb4 9. a3 Bd6 10. g4 h6 11. Bg2 O-O 12. O-O Qe7 13. Nb5 Rfd8 14. g5 hxg5 15. Nxg5 Bf4 16. h4 a6 17. Nc3 c5 18. e3 Bc7 19. Ne2 Ne4 20. Bxe4 dxe4 21. dxc5 Nxc5 22. Qc2 Nd3 23. Bd4 Qd6 24. Nf4 Nxf4 25. exf4 Qxf4 26. f3 Qg3+ 27. Kh1 exf3 28. Qf2 Qxf2 29. Rxf2 Rxd4 30. Rc1 Rd2 31. Rxd2 f2+ 32. Nf3 Bxf3# { Black wins by checkmate. } 0-1

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ exf6 { B15 Caro-Kann Defense: Tartakower Variation } 6. Bf4 Bd6 7. Bxd6 Qxd6 8. Nf3 O-O 9. Bd3 Re8+ 10. Be2 Bg4 11. c3 Nd7 12. Qd2 Bxf3 13. gxf3 Qe7 14. Rg1 g6 15. Kf1 Nb6 16. h4 h5 17. Re1 Kh7 18. f4 f5 19. Kg2 Qxh4 20. Rh1 Qf6 21. Reg1 Nd5 22. Bxh5 gxh5 23. Rxh5+ Kg7 24. Kf3+ Kf8 25. c4 Ne7 26. Rgh1 Ng6 27. Qb4+ Qe7 28. Qd2 Qe4+ 29. Kg3 Qe2 30. Qb4+ Kg8 31. Qxb7 Qg4+ 32. Kh2 Qxh5+ 33. Kg2 Nxf4+ 34. Kf1 Qd1# { Black wins by checkmate. } 0-1

Dynamic attack in CM Antisicilian https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/71044418043?tab=review

a good game with changes in the correct moment and decisive positional advantage in the end https://www.chess.com/game/live/71152608483

A game with a good control in the exchanges and with the favor of the mistakes from part of my rival https://www.chess.com/game/live/71006127907

A endurance game with cool head for amazing win https://www.chess.com/game/live/71335751233

https://lichess.org/zt3PKJ5B An OTB tournament game played on Sunday 26Feb. French attack versus Tarrasch, my best game so far,

https://www.chess.com/game/live/70395408431 https://www.chess.com/game/live/71083386175 https://www.chess.com/game/live/70213416925 https://www.chess.com/game/live/70922104943

https://lichess.org/ysmjK4mvhjU0

https://lichess.org/i8GMMVpU6R6M

[Event "Waco February Swiss"] [Site "Holy Spirit Episcopal Church"] [Date "2023.02.25"] [Round "1"] [White "Atul Ajay Rao"] [Black "rkd1"] [Result "0-1"] [BlackElo "1271"] [WhiteElo "1139"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bd7 4. Nf3 a6 5. Bd3 Bb5 6. O-O Bxd3 7. Qxd3 c5 8. c3 Nc6 9. Be3 Qb6 10. b3 O-O-O 11. Nbd2 h6 12. dxc5 Bxc5 13. Bxc5 Qxc5 14. Rac1 Kb8 15. Nd4 Nxe5 16. Qg3 Qd6 17. Qxg7 Ne7 18. Rfe1 N7g6 19. f4 Nd3 20. Qxf7 Ngxf4 21. Nxe6 Qb6+ 22. Nd4 Rdf8 23. Qe7 Nh3+ 24. gxh3 Rhg8+ 25. Kh1 Nf2# 0-1

Misclicked, wanted to sac the queen on the last move ;)) https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/71382181201?tab=review

Winning with ChessMood openings: https://www.chess.com/live/game/70757087591 Note: after obtaining a won position I took the safest path which wasn't the fastest, but good enough!

https://lichess.org/gCeE6fbx#63 A nice win with CK: Exchange Variation

https://lichess.org/s2RJVuEWEqJQ

https://lichess.org/F1VBpVdp/black

In this game I actually blundered a pawn in the opening, but managed to damage my opponent's pawn structure, isolating and doubling them so that this extra pawn was super weak and a target the whole game. He was able to win another pawn, but I also managed a very nice "interference" tactic that allowed me to gain back both pawns and end the game in a draw. I think it's one of my best comebacks! https://www.chess.com/game/live/71256566795 This game I prepared well for my opponent's preferred opening, played 8 correct book moves (after only studying the opening for about 30 minutes before the game), he misplayed it, and while I didn't make the most crushing victory possible, I managed to hold a large lead throughout the whole rest of the game without giving it away, a big accomplishment for me! https://lichess.org/gdW6rpIN/black#0

Champions,

Thank you for sharing your games for this month. It was a real pleasure to go through all of them! Seeing your brilliant moves and creative strategies makes us so much happier. Keep it going!

Moving on to the prizes for February 2023… 

The 1st prize goes to Vladimir Bugayev for attacking a Viking-like attack on the White King. Very interesting maneuver with Rh6-Rg6-Rg4 and a great finish!

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/71382181201?tab=analysis

drak77 takes the 2nd prize for this attacking game, showing how to take the initiative when the opponent is behind in development. The moves 15.Nxf7, 18.Rae1 were really amazing! Well done! 

https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=Jr2qgh/NTGR0W4JV20PYHeHb1LJluE6Shsp7wm9UKm0gGNcRNp8rVjQPApgZvz9j

The 3rd prize goes to Francesco Brighenti. Nice attack starting with the bold …Rxg2! sac and a good finish. Well done!

https://lichess.org/OIxOQf7T/black#46

Michael Larsen takes the 4th prize. You showed how to punish the opponent for making a slightly weak move in the opening. And the best part was the finish with 19…a5!! and the final checkmate. Awesome game!

https://lichess.org/UOQ67kwC/black#42

The 5th prize goes to Yuma Okabe for the following positional squeeze. The game below shows exactly what happens when you’re a wolf on the chess street and know the power of the right exchanges! Well done!

https://lichess.org/toGbAJJE/black#84

Congratulations to all.

And thank you champions once again for sharing your games.

We look forward to seeing many more of your victories! 

Keep the Right Mood and the CoGro!

Accelerated Dragon 5.Nxc6

Hello everyone, I have been facing a problem in the accelerated dragon, people play Nxc6 right after g6, here is a sample of my problem: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nxc6 and then I am confused what to do, pleas help, thanks :)

Replies

Recapture with the b-pawn and be happy that your opponent has allowed you to strengthen your centre.

Often followed by the annoying c3 a move or two later which isn't covered anywhere though quite a common club reply. Seems to become a centre Vs qside game.

Small Update in Accelerated Dragon

Hi, I just like to share you a small update that I found on the opening Accelerated Dragon. A few years ago, One 2100+ Fide rated played Accelerated Dragon against me in the Classical OTB tournament. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O. At that time I didn't have any knowledge about this opening. So I felt comfortable with 8.f3 and I played it. After 8...Qb6 I took some time. I found Black's plan(9...Nxe4) after Bb3. After spending a few minutes, I found the interesting move 9.a3. Then my opponent thought that I didn't see Nxe4 and I am setting a trap for 9...Qxb2 with Na4 Queen Trap. But That's not true. He played 9...Nxe4. Then I immediately played move 10.Nd5. And Black will lose a piece in all the variations. After that game, I used this trap many times. I also won against one 1900 and one 2000 Fide rated players using this trap. Later, One day I showed this trap to my friend. He said f3 is a mistake, then how does your move a3 work here? Before that, I didn't know that f3 is a mistake. So I started to analyze with the help of an engine. Then I found the move 9...e6 which is not easy to find for dragon players. Because in most cases we won't play g6 and e6 which weakens dark squares. So this move is not easy to find. After 9...e6 Black's Nxe4 is unstoppable and also an advantage for Black. I saw the f3 variation in our course, that's why I wanted to share this update. I hope it will be somewhat useful. Thank you

Replies

Nice of you to share, Veera. I was aware of this 9.a3 tricky move only after watching Plichta chessable accelerated dragon course :) and I have in my pgn also e6! as the best response. Luckily nobody played 9.a3 against me yet! Also in the line with f3: 9.Bb3 Ng4 is the recommended CM line afaik, but I didn't like the endgame after 10.fxg4 Bxd4 11.Bxd4 Qxd4 12.Qxd4 Nxd4 13.Nd5 Nc6 and now 14.g5 I think white has small plus here. So after investigating now I like this one 9...Nxe4 10.Nd5! Qa5+ 11.c3 and now 11...Nf6! 12. Nxc6 dxc6 13.Nxe7+ (white wins back the pawn but now black is at least equal with good plan coming up) 13.. Kh8 14.Nxc8 Raxc8 15.0-0 c5! black's ideas include c4, Rfd8, Nd5, b5 and exchanging dark sq bishops is favourable. Imo this is much more fighting line for black. So the tricky f3 Qb6 line...

While we're at it, the course spends too much time on f3 Bc4 and no time on Qd2 d5 which is played a lot in various forms. Oh easy, it's just a dragon up a tempo. Just try winning it at the 2000 level without the right plan, not easy. There was some talk about redoing/updating the course a la Benko. What happened to this in the plan?

Double fail of shame

In an over the board game it was getting late... What did Black (~2070) to move play? What did I as White (low time) reply?

Replies

g5 aiming for a mating net with g4 looks interesting. But perhaps they played Rh1 and you didn't capture?!

You might appreciate this puzzle which I missed during a puzzle rush today: https://www.chess.com/puzzles/problem/733616/practice

Interesting rook endgame resource

Black (me) played Rh4 here and eventually got a draw (after Ke4). What did both sides miss?

Replies

Ke4 doesn't look very threatening. Surely Ra6-a7+ is the way to go.

So the engine suggested move was Rd6, the idea being that if Rh4 then Rd4 and now the threat is f5 Rxd4 f6+ going into a winning pawn ending (the check giving a free move in effect). The other idea which was useful in some variations was if the king gave up control of f6, then there were ideas of playing f5 and after gxf5 the White king now has a hidey hole on f6 and Black is in trouble.

Grandmaster's Mind

Love the idea. Are you taking requests? Here's mine anyway: - Jan Timman: super strong player from the Karpov/Kasparov generation. Acclaimed author, study composer, chess artist, and all around living legend. - Nils Grandelius: maybe the best presenter on Chessable. Very engaging and great at communicating what he feels about a position, particularly the practical aspects. - Arturs Neiksans: puts out excellent free content on YouTube. Also very engaging, with interesting positional insights. His style is perhaps a little different than some as he seems to be attracted to slower opening systems - Matthew Saddler: another one who puts out great free content on YouTube. Unique background with his groundbreaking, and continued, study of modern engine play. Would be interesting to see how he managed to apply it to his own chess.

Replies

Hi Peter,

Good requests for sure, just wanted to tell you regarding Matthew Saddler that his last Chessable course is exactly about this. Specially the latest one he explains how he managed to apply it to his games. Lots of personal insights, if you haven-t seen it yet, it is very interesting.

Ginger GM Simon Williams on the Dutch perhaps - even invite to help with the advanced repertoire?

Been looking at GM Ashley's Chessable course on geometry. He's an entertaining and clear presenter, so possibly some of his games or as he's not an active player, some of the games he's seen over the years would make a good addition.

Why are grandmasters better?

Listening to the (free) introduction of GM Kuljasevic's course on Grandmaster's thinking (https://thechessworld.com/supercharge/grandmasters-thinking/) - link will be active for the next 15 hours [not promoting it or making any claims to the quality, but the introduction is interesting]. He mentioned 5 things why he thinks GMs play better: 1. knowledge of opening / middlegame plans 2. tactics 3. _exchanges_ 4. time management 5. endgame knowledge Notice number 3. Those GMs live on Chess Street :)

Replies

French Attack question

In the French Attack variation with 3.e5, after I play .. Bd7 and White plays c4 and we exchange pawns on c4 and I play ..Bc6, I've had a couple of games recently where after I play ..Nd7, intending ..Nb6, White plays d5. The first time it happened I ended up getting mated with an eventual exf7#. The next time, I took the d-pawn and we exchanged pawns and bishops, leaving the White queen on d5, and I could figure out how to proceed (it was blitz). Any suggestions? Thanks!

Replies

Hello! I have one opponent who plays like this, let me cut my pgn analysis specifically on this line

Hi Randy,

Let me mention that this position is not dangerous. This shouldn't happen super-often however Nc5 move is possible after white Queen is on d5.
It's also optional to start with Ne7 instead of Nd7 and make d5 little harder. I have faced this ideas few time during the streaming events, and throughoutly explained while playing. We are planning to add the model games like that in very near future. So will be easier to see and play!
 

Good luck!

How to name the new Exchange Course

Dear ChessMood Family 🤩 

Most of our courses are named on your suggestions. 
Like: 
Tactic Ninja 
Mating Matador
BlunderProof 
Spartan Shield 
WhiteMood and BlackMood Openings, and others... 

The following week is coming a new course about exchanging the pieces. It's a big course with 20+ sections, which will teach you how to make decisions when it comes to trading pieces. 

How to name the course? 
Any ideas? 
 

Replies

Dear ChessMood Family, 1. Wise (Smart, Clever) Merchant (Trader) 2. Simplify Smart 3. Smart Simplifier Have a great day.

Exchange Mode ON 😀

Based on the film "trading places" how about "trading pieces"

1) To trade or not to trade? 2) Trade/exchange like Pro/GMs/Professionals 3) Favorable/smart trades 4) Wise/smart trades/exchanges 5) (Smart) Trading strategy 6) Good and Bad exchanges

Trading Wolf... because we have to be smart like a wolf in trading pieces

Trading Talisman

Sac Power Sacrifice for Positions Strategic Sacrificing Trading Pieces

The Titan Trader Correct Exchange Exchange par Excellence

The Merchant - Trading for Profit Arms Dealer The Bazaar

If there will be a course on the space advantage (probably a good idea), can I be the first to suggest the name 'Space: The final frontier'?

French advanced quesy

Hi all, I am looking for some advice:I am black, chessmood 1e4 e6 2d4 d5 3 e5 Bd7 4 Bd3 a6 5 Bc2. What should I do here? I am thinking he is planning a4 so I was considering. 5..a5. Any suggestions? Stick to .. c5 or ..a5 or something else? Thanks

Replies

5.Bc2 is not a legal move there. I guess you missed out a move or two?

I like a5, but both options are perfectly playable. With a5, your bishop on a6 will be very useful later. c5 is also a very good move with more usual themes. 

You can try both in your games, see what works best and then explain us how it went… Altough I doubt that you will face this variation a lot, I never did… 😀

Hi Paul,

I have faced this idea, and replied with a5- followed by Ba6 if a4. Bishop on b5 controls the important diagonal and Black can plan regular French style ideas like c5-Nc6-Qb6.

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