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Chess forum by Grandmasters
Chess.com - Fair play violations
Hi all,
I've now had two of these messages in the last couple of days. Am I just unlucky or is this sort of thing widespread?
“We have detected that one or more of your recent opponents has violated our Fair Play Policy. As compensation for potentially unfair rating losses, we adjusted your following ratings:”
Replies
That means that one or more of your opponents has used an engine to make the best moves. This is considered “cheating” and not allowed on any chess site.
Some people consider cheating as a big problem, especially in events with prizes.
There is a very small amount of players that cheat on chess.com, but luckily it is getting detected. Don’t worry too much about it, it doesn’t happen often. 😅
I also get these messages sometimes, but not very often. You will get more of these messages if you play more (You will play against more opponents, and therefore also more cheaters).
I have had more than two of these messages for daily games
Happened to me a few days ago.
The real kicker?
I BLUNDERED MY QUEEN and this guy still resorted to cheating.
about missing check and captures in the next move
In almost every game that I do not win in blitz at time control of 5+3 there is at least one capture or one check in the next move that I simply miss.
There are other tactical blunders like missing an imprtant threat that is not a capture or check but I think that I can increase my rating from almost 2100 at blitz to 2300 if I am able to prevent only this type of blunder.
Note that by missing I do not mean not evaluating correctly the capture or the check but simply not consideing it and I also do not mean missing some capture or check that is not the next move of me or the next move of the opponent after the move that I play.
I wonder if people can give good suggestions how to prevent only this type of blunders at 5+3 time control(they usually do not happen to me at long time control).
For the record here is one of my games when my opponent lost without this type of blunder.
https://lichess.org/D7rJVvjDrwks
18.Ne2 was the worst possible move and the only move that lose by mate in 2 but at least my opponent did not miss a check or a capture in the next move.
Replies
How to make the process of learning opening enjoyable and efficient
Dear Chessmood,
As all of us know that as we progress to become stronger players we must learn new opening to get a grasp of new positions and to have a back to surprise your opponent. But the issue which I think I feel is that I do not enjoy learning openings especially the ones which have concrete theory.
So can anyone pls recommend a way to make the opening learning process fun to learn as well as maintaining the efficiency of remembering them.
Thanks in Advance!
Replies
You do not have to learn that many openings. Until you are playing at a very high level, the risk of running into targeted preparations is very low, so you can just learn one opening repertoire for white and one for black, then add stuff to your PGN files as you run into it.
Hi Pranav,
The process of learning the openings is different at the different levels.
As Neo mentioned it's not needed to dive super deep around U2000 level, as most of the knowledge will never appear on the board.
However at a higher levels the process is by learning the theory - creating PGNs - playing practical games - revising and fixing opening mistakes and again the same circle, unless you feel really comfortable in that lines.
Good luck!
Grand Prix, A6, e6, Nc6 setup.
Hello, recently Ive been facing this variation online and OTB:
1.e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. F4 A6 4. Nf3 Nc6
In this variation or a transpotion.
How do I face this? It seems to me that Black gets a very good position, usually following up with d5.
Thanks is advance!
Replies
It's in the advanced section of the main course. We go for a set-up of g3 Bg2 Nh3
Good question. I think that A4 (after A6) is the only move that gives white a chance to fight for an advantage, except for the line that David Flynn mentions.
How Good Is Daily Chess (on chess.com) for Chess Improvement?
Hi everyone! I am just wondering, how useful is Daily chess on chess.com for chess improvement, and what is the best way to go about using it?
Replies
In general I think you're better off simply playing realtime games online. You will develop more practical skills that way. And you will maximise your learning if you analyse your games, initially without an engine and writing down your thoughts and questions, then checking with an engine.
I played a bunch of Daily Chess when I was first getting back into it. It was useful for doing opening research, and getting inspired about chess again but I don't think it was that helpful for my level of play in normal chess. But I was moving the pieces around on the analysis board when analysing, keeping notes on every game, and sometimes spending multiple hours on a single position! If I wanted to prioritise helping my overall game I would have limited my thinking time to say 5 minutes (or 10 at most) per position, and not moved the pieces around at all. My results would have been a little worse, but it forces you to exercise visualisation and practical decision making skills.
Accelerated Dragon
In the sicilian accelerated after e4 c5 nf3 nc6 d4 cxd4 nxd4 g6 nc3 bg7 be3 nf6 bc4 0-0 0-0 nxe4 line what if white takes bxf7 the computer shows its equal i dont know how to take advantage
Replies
After 7.Bc4, O-O it is not a good move for White to play 8.O-O?!, as it allows Black to play 8…Nxe4! with easy equality – Black is not better, but isn’t it already a great achievement for Black to fully equalize after only 8 moves?!!
After 9.Bxf7+ a good equalizing line for Black is 9…Rxf7, 10.Nxe4, Bxd4!, 11.Bxd4, d5!=
defence against wrong alternatives in mating matador
https://chessmood.com/quiz/mating-matador#228
I initially went wrong in this puzzle by Qd1+ when my plan was Qd1+ Ka2 Bg3
I thought there is no difference between Bg3 Qxg3 Qd1+ and Qd1+ Ka2 Bg3 but
before claiming another mistake I decided to check with an engine that I do not miss something and it seems that I missed a good move of white after Qd1+ Ka2 Bg3(probably not saving move but the win for black is clearly not trivial to find and is less convincing)
I feel that for a full credit the solver should also explain why Qd1+ Ka2 Bg3 is worse.
Replies
Dutch attack vs London System
Hello,
There is something I do not understand in one set of dutch attack againts London System: the line with
1. d4 e6 2. Bf4 f5 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nf3 b6 5. Be2 Bb7 6. O-O Be7 7. c3 O-O 8. Nbd2
In this position should not we play with black Ke4? If we do that, would not be the knight trapped by the white knight in d3? In this case we do not control anymore the g5 square and it is not possible to push d3.
For white having a knight in d3 , iscthe basic of London system. So I do not understand, this black mood setup against London system. Does anyone have any idea?
Regards
Replies
Correcting your post in bold a bit to what I think you mean:
1. d4 e6 2. Bf4 f5 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nf3 b6 5. Be2 Bb7 6. O-O Be7 7. c3 O-O 8. Nbd2
In this position should not we play with black Ne4? If we do that, would not be the knight taken by the white knight on d2? In this case we do not control anymore the g5 square and it is not possible to push g5.
Well Qd8 and Be7 do line up to cover g5, so that's 2 defenders for two attackers, if white were to play h4 (maybe after g3) we can still add a third defender with Rg8 after playing Kh8.
Online training vs OTB training ?
Objectively speaking, is it better to solve online puzzles or should I set them up on the board?. I mean, we can save so much time with those “plug and play excercices but I'm curious if there's a serious study related to it
Replies
I doubt there is a serious study. I think a mixture is good. You can do more puzzles online but IMO it's worthwhile solving some harder puzzles on a physical board because it also keeps your 3-dimensional board vision in shape. Also I find it is easier to be disciplined when solving on a physical board. Less temptation to just try a move to see if it works. I will write down my solution and check it against the answer.
See to be in touch with the board irl is very important mainly because all the imp tournaments are being conducted irl rather than online,so if ur very much used to the online board,playing irl could be a bit difficult specially when ur looking for improvement (game wise or/and rating wise).
On the other hand,doing every single task with a physical board is quite tiring and very much time consuming…doing chess online has a very strong + point that is saves a looooot of time.
so in the end it really depends on various factors such as ur strength,ur flexibility with the board (how much “used to” ur brain is to the board),what are the tasks u feel like should be done online or to have a physical board set up etc etc. It is for u to decide :)
All the Best!
Does playing against weaker opponents harm your chess improvement?
Hi everyone!
Here I would like to ask a question that I have been wondering about for a long time: What effect does playing lots of games against weaker opponents have on your chess improvement (assuming you analyse your games)? Can it help you improve? Is it not harmful but also not beneficial? Is it actively harmful to your chess improvement and can it weaken your chess and make you a worse player? Or is it dependant on your rating/your opponents rating?
In my case, on both chess.com and lichess, my blitz rating is many hundreds of points lower than my rapid rating, because I haven't played much blitz recently (mostly I have been playing rapid), and because I had some bad periods of tilt in the past. I'm rated 1500 chess.com rapid and 1700 chess.com blitz, and 1800 lichess rapid and ~1300 lichess blitz. If I played loads of games against much weaker opponents in blitz to raise my rating to where it should be, what would be the effect on my general chess improvement? (I will analyse my games and practice my openings)
I would really appreciate help and thoughts on this question, especially from chessmood coaches and especially GM Avetik, who is probably my favourite chess player in the world.
One last thing: I am writing this with less than 15 minutes left in 2023, so Happy New Year! 😃
Replies
Perhaps there's a mistake in your post . You said your blitz rating is lower than rapid, then said you're 1500 chess.com rapid and 1700 blitz? I'll assume you mean 1700 rapid and 1500 blitz. I think at that level it's normal for blitz to be a bit lower. According to https://chessgoals.com/rating-comparison/#chesscomotb a 1700 rapid is typically about 1600 blitz, but of course it'll vary between individuals.
In lichess your rating discrepency is bigger so it looks like you have some catching up to do there.
In any case, you should just play some games in “the pool” and you should encounter a variety of different strength opponents. It won't take long for your rating to get close to its correct level. Even if you get some easy opponents to start with, I don't think this will hurt your improvement.
I would play a variety of opponents, but try to get more stronger than weaker. After all you're learning from the opponent as well so seeing how stronger players play is important. If you only play weaker opposition you might find that you tend to over-attack because opponents can't stop it, where as a strong player can put up a defence or counter. That said you still need to punish mistakes and that's what weaker opponents are for.
Of course ratings aren't always a great indicator of strength +- a couple of hundred points.
There's always a limit you shouldn't cross and you'll be fine :) Let's look at the positive aspects of it :
- It increases your confidence (assuming one wins most of his games against lowers).
- You start trusting your abilities as a good chess player.
- Your rating increases!
- Because of all the positive effects you now like chess more and have a positive approach towards it which is very essential!
BUT THERE IS A CATCH! You shouldn't play tooooo manyyyyy games or you'll never really learn how to face higher rated opponents! Also if you don't keep your thoughts in check, winning too much might result in over-confidence….Not to mention if you cross the limit and play more games than needed it will result in your rating increasing way more than your playing strength….
[ Let's be honest,what's the fun in winning easily anyway :P ]
Conclusion : A limited no. of games against lower rated opponents doesn't hurt and is actually quite essential in chess improvement :)
Query on Effectively improving from Chessmood Middlegame Mastery Courses
How to properly maximize the gains from the course the wolf of the chess street ?I am solving the quizzes but can't apply it in practical games .And how many sections can I watch per day?
Replies
To maximize the gains:-
- Try to watch one section at a time this way you can grasp the concepts better.
- After watching each video if you made wrong in finding the move then you can put the same position in chessbase or lichess and check with an engine or training partner or coach which would be better
- Then you can after finishing the section you can try writing the things you learned in a word file. The benefits are mentioned here https://chessmood.com/blog/bold-unbold-technique
- Then after Finishing the course continue with other course but try to keep a remainder after one month to solve "The Test" and see if you can do it properly
All takes time my friend but this is a good way to maximize the gains. I practical games you will often get position to trades so when checking try to see if you did the right trades.
Hope this helped!
- Then after Finishing the course continue with other course but try to keep a remainder after one month to solve "The Test" and see if you can do it properly
thank you chessmood
I really want to thank chessmood for the gift sub that they gave me, I learnt such very important information and techniques, I congratulate you for the simple way that the information is giving in every course, and it really affected on my rating and my way of playing, again thank you very much
(I know that my English is really bad but I hope that you got the idea)
Replies
Well said! It was a very generous gift and a fantastic resource for those of us just starting out and who can't yet justify the cost of a subscription.
And your English isn't really bad. It's very good! 😎
Samesies I used my gift sub to take Tactic Ninja and although I rushed it a bit and skipped some puzzles it was SO valuable. Won a bunch of blitz arenas on Lichess with it!
My chess improvement journey: week 3
Hello everybody!
Week 3 of my improvement journey has gone. This week was productive and rewarding. Let's see what I've accomplished.
First thing first, I got some cool resources to study tactical patterns. Since I'm not a premium member and can't afford to be, I had to opt for something similar to tactic ninja, and I've found some resources which I'm using and I found them very helpful.
Analyzing my games, I found my most common blunders are hanging pieces and missing forks. As I've said, I'm working on forks, for the hanging pieces part instead I managed to reduce them by reminding myself with a sticky note to check if every piece is defended after my move. It's still in progress, but it's slowly working out.
Last, Wednesday I took part to my first otb tournament! It was not an official one, just one created by my local chess club to celebrate holidays. We were 6 participants, playing rapid 15+0. In particularly there were 2 stronger players I feared the most. But, to my surprise, I was able to beat one of them in a pawn endgame and the other one down a quality in an endgame. I concluded the tournament with a perfect 5/5 and won! That was amazing, because I start to see that my training is paying off.
Next week I might hit 1400 on chess.com rapid, so stay tuned for the first new year update! Happy new year everyone!
Replies
Awesome job with the OTB tournament! Well done!
Seems as though that training is paying off. What sort of resources are you using? Articles, videos, quizzes?
Keep going with the updates - I enjoy reading them and I'm sure that others do too.
French Exchange - White plays Nc3 instead of c3
Hi all - wishing you a very Merry Christmas! And may 2024 bring a brilliant Mood for all members :-)
I had a question on the French Exchange. I don't think I can find any guidance in the courses for responding to White playing Nc3 instead of c3. For example, 1.e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nc3
I see this Nc3 move quite a lot at my level. At the moment I am playing Bb4 to pin it, which also helps get my Knight to e7 in line with the kingside attack plans. Then I try to use the same attacking plans as in the course, trying to exchange the light bishop/ provoke h3/ queenside castle, etc. If my Bb4 gets kicked (e.g. a3), I try to save it by bringing it back to d6 (because we should be keeping the dark bishops and losing the light ones, and it has already done a useful job of letting out Ng8-Ne7). But this feels like a loss of tempo, especially as White will want that queenside pawn storm anyway probably.
Is any of this sensible? Or should we try completely different plans after White plays Nc3 instead of c3?
Thank you !
Replies
I have the same issue. I have tried to play our normal setup, but with Nf6 instead of Ne7, and ideas with Bb4. It is not very nice to not have any prep after move 4 in a relatively common line at my level. Any advice?
speedy chess mouse
hello guys
I am looking for a good speedy mouse for chess because I play a lot of bullet
Replies
I tried a view wireless gaming mice, but in the end I preferred a wired mouse. A basic logitech M90 is what I settled on.
Other things are very important too, like internet connection speed and ping time to the chess server, wired connection to your router, minimising what other software is running on your computer while you're playing, etc.
a3 in the sicilian
[Event "Groningen chess festival: Prayan Sai Kumar-Ruurd Kunnen"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/study/QEIJXBlB/DtjYJiYh"]
[Result "*"]
[UTCDate "2023.12.24"]
[UTCTime "18:34:56"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "B23"]
[Opening "Sicilian Defense: Closed"]
[Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/Moluk"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. a4 Nc6 4. Bc4 e6 5. d3 Nf6 6. f4 d5 7. Ba2 dxe4 8. dxe4 Qxd1+ 9. Kxd1 Ng4 10. Nh3 Be7 11. Ne2 Bd7 12. Ke1 Nd4 13. Nxd4 cxd4 14. Bc4 Rc8 15. Bd3 e5 16. Ke2 O-O 17. Ng1 f6 18. Nf3 Bd6 19. f5 b5 20. a5 Nh6 21. h3 { [%csl Gc1,Gh6] } (21. Bxh6 gxh6 { [%cal Gh6g5,Gf6g5] }) 21... Nf7 22. g4 h6 23. h4 Rfe8 24. Bd2 Kf8 25. Rag1 Ke7 26. g5 hxg5 27. hxg5 Rh8 28. gxf6+ gxf6 29. Nh4 Kd8 30. Ng6 Rxh1 31. Rxh1 Kc7 32. Rh7 Nd8 { [%csl Ge3,Gf4,Gg5][%cal Gd8c6,Gh7f7,Gf7f6,Gd2e3,Gd2f4,Gd2g5] } 33. Be1 Nc6 34. Rf7 Rg8 35. Rxf6 Ne7 36. Nxe7 (36. Rxd6 Kxd6 37. Bb4+ Kc7 38. Bxe7) 36... Bxe7 37. Rxa6 Kb7 38. Rb6+ Kc7 39. Bxb5 Rg2+ 40. Kd3 Bc5 41. Bxd7 Bxb6 42. axb6+ Kxd7 43. Bb4 { [%csl Gf5] } *
Hi I played a game in groningen chess festival and someone played a3 can you please suggest a line or what I have to learn theory of a6
Replies
How to play as White in the Sicilian after 2…a6 is covered in the following video:
Once again finding the passion
Hello Chess Lovers!
I found ChessMood a month ago and really liked what I was seeing. Not just good information about Chess, but also lots of tips on how to happy in all aspects of our lives.
I thought hard about becoming a PRO Member. Or choosing the Essential membership. Both are an investment, not only of money, but also time and effort. Finally, I decided to go PRO. Why? There were lots of factors. One of the major ones was how committed I was going to be. “If I'm going to pay the money, then I have to work hard to get my money's worth!” I knew about the benefits of PRO membership, but honestly I didn't really expect to get that much from those extra benefits (boy, was I wrong! Back to this in a minute). But I knew that if I made the investment, I would be motivated to work at it. So, I took the plunge last week.
I scheduled the 1-1 Bonus call with a GM. Truthfully, I didn't really think this was going to special. But, I was astonished. When the call started there was GM Gabuzyan, greeting me and putting me completely at ease. I had answered a written questionnaire before so that he had some background information about me. He didn't waste any time, and began to explore with me the psychological and attitude problems that I had that were keeping me from being more successful.
It was a delightful conversation! He easily pointed out things that I could do to improve that are about the mindset I have. I will always remember one of the questions that he asked me: “Why do you play chess?” I'm not and never will be a professional chess player. So I play for fun. Suddenly, things clicked in my mind – rather than being negative with every loss or blunder, why don't I enjoy the experience??
I re-dedicated myself to finding the passion for Chess that I've had for a lifetime (I'm 66 for those who are keeping score :D). Now, I'm focusing on finding the joy. I still plan to work hard to improve, but this one conversation was worth the entire cost of membership.
Today, I was riding a 9 game winning streak on Lichess. I found that I was playing more under control, enjoying the moment. I've even been find some tactics in the game that I wouldn't have if I hadn't gone through the Chess Ninja course (thanks Avo! Just want you know that you and your team are having a positive impact on people.) So, a few hours ago I wanted to play another game and go for 10 wins in a row.
The game started off well. In the opening I slipped a little on an early move, but then quickly found a transposition into familiar territory. Then my opponent played a suspicious move and I had a clear advantage. Things were going well, and then I looked at the board in horror and saw that I had blundered horribly. My opponent had a mate in 1!!! I waited for the end to come, and was almost laughing at the situation. And then … my opponent missed the win, and I was back in the hunt. I finally won, proving again the old adage: “The winner is the player who blunders next to last”.
Before, I would have celebrated and gone quickly on. But now, I know to examine the situation and try to figure out what made me miss an obvious move, so that I will be less likely to repeat this.
Anyway, I can't say enough good things about this happy adventure of ChessMood. Thanks to Avo and the entire team for creating this wonderful place to enjoy!
Cheers,
Jeff
Replies
Thank you Jeff!!! That's a very nice post to read! We love feedback, but when we read posts like yours we feel more motivated than ever to continue doing our best!
Keep on working and enjoying, that's the secret!!! 😀
What a great post, Jeff. It's always good to read about such positive experiences.
I play chess for fun, too. However, I still want to win! And the information that Avo and the ChessMood team produce is just first class.
Wow, wow, wow!
What a post!!!
Just screenshotted it and saved it in my files. You know why right?
https://chessmood.com/blog/thank-you
"Why do you play chess?" Is indeed a fantastic question. I should buy today something for Gabu :)
Thanks for all kind words and welcome to ChessMood family!
Looking forward to seeing you on the 26th, at Christmas Meetup.
With love,
Avo
Dear Jeff!
Thanks so much for the kind words to our team, and I appreciate so much your feedback on our 1-1 call!
I hope that helps, and that you reach your goals with Chessmood!
Good luck and Happy New Year!
When can I start playing the Accelerated dragon?
Hi, new member here. I have really been enjoying WhiteMood openings and the Dutch attack, but the French attack does not seem to be working that well for me. I am getting good results and winning 61% of my games in the French, but I just don't like the positions I am getting, as I have trouble getting attacks like in the Scotch and the Dutch. I am rated 1492 in chess.com rapid. When can I start playing the Accelerated dragon? I don't mind learning some theory.
Replies
You can start the accelerated dragon whenever you want. But it would even better to try and understand the structures of the French Attack to improve more. For detailed information refer the following blog👇
New article: SLP Method - How to save lost chess positions?
What do you think it takes to save lost positions?
Of course, having a deeply-ingrained fighter attitude helps. But saving a lost position (SLP) is also a skill anyone can learn.
We've launched a mini-guide on using this topic where GM Avetik talks about:
✅ The 11 strategies to save lost positions
✅ Why following normal rules in a lost position doesn’t work
✅ Why playing the engine’s best moves in a losing position might be a bad strategy
✅ The golden question you should ask before resigning
✅ How to train and improve your SLP skills, and much more!
Read it here👇
https://chessmood.com/blog/slp-method-how-to-save-lost-positions
And you can share your thoughts and ideas under this forum thread.
Replies
this game - https://lichess.org/O8VDCbNmudWp
[Event "samo1979 vs. Iskandar47"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2023-12-23"]
[White "samo1979"]
[Black "Iskandar47"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1384"]
[BlackElo "1490"]
[TimeControl "600+5"]
[Termination "Iskandar47 won by checkmate"]
1. e4 c5 2. b3 Nc6 3. Bb2 e5 4. Nf3 g6 5. Be2 Bg7 6. O-O Nge7 7. Bc4 h6 8. Nc3
a6 9. Nd5 b5 10. Be2 d6 11. c3 O-O 12. d4 Be6 13. Nxe7+ Qxe7 14. d5 Bxd5 15.
exd5 Nb8 16. c4 b4 17. Nd2 Nd7 18. Ne4 f5 19. Nd2 g5 20. Bh5 Nf6 21. Bf3 g4 22.
Be2 Kh8 23. a3 a5 24. axb4 cxb4 25. Ra4 h5 26. Qa1 f4 27. Qb1 Qf7 28. Bd3 Bh6
29. Rd1 Qg7 30. Ne4 Nxe4 31. Bxe4 g3 32. h3 gxf2+ 33. Kxf2 Qg3+ 34. Kg1 f3 35.
Rd3 Qxg2# 0-1
Playing partners
Hi guys! I am looking for some good partners to improve my chess skills in online games on lichess.org and chess.com . My ratings vary from time controls, but they are round 1650. My lichess profile: giorgoskehagias509 and my chess.com profile: Giorgos_Kechagias. You can also contact me in my gmail: [email protected] Finally, I am located in GMT+2 zone Greece. I can play in any time controls but I prefer 5+3, 8+1, and 10+0, in order to stay focused. See you soon guys ;)
Replies
Hello
My name is Remy, and I'm looking for partners
1700 on lichess
1350 on chess.com
I am in france
Hello,
If you are looking for a training partner there is already a pinned topic on the forum in wich it is recommended to look for one.
Link here: https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/studysparring-partner-1362
