Continue with Google
Continue with Twitter
Continue with Facebook
Chess forum by Grandmasters
pattern recognition in OTB
Yesterday, I played in OTB and it turned out, that I did not see a simple tactic. When I would face this tactic in training I would easily solve that without even thinking, but in OTB I stopped calculation too fast because I did not recognize the changes after an exchange.
Does this sound familiar? How can I solve this issue?
Replies
I can add the position if this will help to understand what I mean.
If I do too much chess on screen and neglect to play with pieces , it seem to affect me . I took the advice of Peter from discord and put some positions on a board occasionally and it helped me .
Ku rt, we don't know your level, nothing about you. Age, rating, number of hours that you play, that you train…
It is very difficult to tell you how can you solve this issue by telling us that you missed a simple tactic.
Everyone blunders, even Carlsen. 😅
Do you regularly (every day) solve tactics? Do you play OTB often? There are many things at work here…
In this exact question, you need to work more in calculation, and get used to not stop the variation so soon. This is the biggest mistake in calculation and GMs also fail in this. No need to worry about it, forgive yourself, learn the lesson, and move on.
The next game, try to calculate a bit longer and check all the options carefully. This is the only solution to this issue. 💪
Psst! there is a tactic in this position! Now will you see it? The question is what were you thinking about instead? Being single-tracked into strategic ideas is a common way to miss tactics. Were there any clues (indicators of danger/resources) that suggested spending some time looking for the tactic was worth it? What about the thinking process: checks, captures, threats?
PGN file for Classical Games
Hello, I just have a quick question about the Classical Games course,
On the 100 Classical Games course, I thought there was a PGN file where you could download the games onto ChessBase. Does anyone know what happened to this?
Thanks
Replies
We reorganized the game collections lately.😅 We will check this out. Thanks for letting us know!😄
Daily lessons with a Grandmaster
Replies
Thank you coach, for this series. It's wonderful and it takes just 1/2 hour to learn something important.
Wonderful series of instructional content!
Coach Avetik, it would be great if after a day or two you could somewhere provide the solutions to the daily tasks for us to think about at the end of each daily lesson
Great stuff. Short and sweet. And easy to do first thing in the morning or during lunch break.
Hi Avo,
congratulations on your crystal clear masterpiece in #1.
Just beautiful.
Gracias GM Avetik y staff de chessmood
my chess rating on chess.com has grown about 35 points in 3 months and continues to rise! I'm already going to reach 1200 firm rating and I have defeated opponents rated 1250 or higher. This is the pace of the game that I find most in line with me: 5+5. I play at a reasonable level, I can analyze later and I play more games per day = more learning! How I did it: reading and putting into practice a few excellent emails from GMAvetik: I warm up with 3 exercises of normal difficulty, I started always playing 1.e4 (much more fun, aggressive and instructive), and I try to play 3 or more games in a row (the last few, I'm at my peak of warm-up and concentration). I'm also slowly putting together the COGROW lists. Congratulations on the material and the good vibes!! Best regards, Federico (fehb at chess.com/lichess)
Replies
Muchas gracias amigo!
That's always good to hear! Keep on working! You can do it! Looking forward for the next update… Maybe after 100 points more? 😁
Orthoschnapp Gambit
I've faced this twice against my French Attack recently, with one win and one loss, although I survived the opening both times and both were long games. Is this covered in our courses? I've looked on the Internet and found various evaluations and approaches, but I'm curious about our GMs' and community's thoughts. What is the best way to play against it, consistent with our BlackMood lines?
Replies
I'd never heard of this gambit and I bet the ChessMood GMs haven't either. There is a very amusing comment on the standard chess.com page about the opening: “Just because someone blundered it doesn't mean you have to name an opening after them.” :-).
I faced this move twice in the past in an English pub with some beers in between, we talked about it with Gabu because we analyzed the games since it was new to us…
I played as in the game described as number 2 in the study below, considered mainline of this variation (we did not know it).
https://lichess.org/study/VTnoS0UT
I found the moves OTB and I got a position very similar to this mainline. Check the game 2 of the study (nothing else, do not lose time on time on this / it's not efective), take the pawn, trade pieces, remember …Nd7 to attack the Queen and you will be fine. If you need defensive skills check the course “Defend with honor” https://chessmood.com/course/chess-defense
Question in the Counter the Alekhine defense course
Hello,
First of all, I want to thank you for all the good materials and the quality of the course. I really enjoy learning from all the opening courses right now and in these last few days.
However, I have a question in the Alekhine Defense - Section - dxe5 - 5. Our 3 options after 5. Bf5.
I might be wrong but at the end of the video, (around 3:00) when Qxd4, we have a stronger move than Kxc2. I think we could simply play Bd3+ and Black need to give their queen if they do not want to be checkmated.
What is your toughts about this?
Thank you in advance for your answer,
Best regards,
Tarik
Replies
Yes, Bd3 is an stronger move but Kxc2 is also winning, also Bd2 is good. No need to remember all the moves though, if you get into this position, I'm sure that you will find some of these options… Spoiled for choice in this case…
Benko question 5.Nc3
Hi,
today I had this position in a league game.
Can somebody please help me finding a good setup as black.
To be honest, I had really no idea, what to do, which plans to follow and where my pieces want to go. I played 13..Ba6 and after 14.Ra2?? Sxe4 I had a winning position, but that's not relevant here.
I was also thinking about some.. e6, but after a possible dxe6 I wasn't sure if my d6 could become a problem.
I would be very happy about any help of anybody.
Thanks!
Replies
Maybe I was too focussed on not giving the “bad” knight a perspective.
Actually it is not bad, I think, and right now, I like 13..bxa4 e.p. and then just be happy with his
weak b2 pawn / my protected passer vs his isolated a3…
Hi Thomas,
I also like the idea of capturing and playing against b2 pawn - that would be Benko without pawn down position for Black and the Knight on b5 will never be supported by a4 pawn - which is the one of main ideas for white.
French Defense Pelikan Variation
I'd love to see this line covered in the Blackmood French Attack course, in the section Rare Systems. I came across it today for the first time, and it took me out of prep. 1 e4 e6 2 f4 d5 3 Nc3. On Chess365 Black seems to do best with 3…de, but there aren't many games. Would it be possible for the Chessmood team to look into this?
Replies
Hi Edmond,
After 3.Nc3 you can play with Nf6.
Now if they go e5 you can play Ng8 back and transpose to our French lines.
If they go on with 4.d3 that would be to passive and you can continue fighting for the center with c5-Nc6.
Good luck :-)
counter sicilian d3 KIA style with c3
It's mentioned in the counter sicilian videos (Be2 section) that d3 transposes to other lines mentioned. However there is a reasonably popular idea of playing c3 KIA style (for those who just play that against anything, and it doesn't allow the same response as 2. g3 as no d5). After 1. e4 c5 2. d3 Nc6 3. c3 straight away d5 is probably enough here, but after 1. e4 c5 2. d3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. c3 - this hasn't transposed to the closed lines directly due to no Nc3 (even though some plans may be similar) and now White is either going to go for KIA style development with Nd2 now or soon after, or aim to get d4 in now it's supported. e5 seems logical against this plan, though blocks in the g7 bishop for now, hoping for a backward d3 pawn as compensation.
So is this correct on what to play, and maybe a small video in either the closed or further elaborating in 2. d3?
Replies
Looks like it's now covered with 2. g3 in the closed section (the original minor moves video suggested the counter d5 so the KIA wasn't covered).
100 Strategic Games
Hi Chessmood Team!
While watching the course Classical commented games I had a specific doubt in one of the videos (One of the best courses of chess! Love the effort your team puts in for your improvement!)
https://chessmood.com/course/chess-classical-games/episode/6748
10:50 Here why not exd5 opening the b1-h7 diagonal for our a4 bishop so it can be happy
Thanks for the reply
Vedant
Replies
No reply?
Sorry for the delay, sometimes we cannot reply as fast as we would…
😅
In this case both captures are logical but cxd5 is a bit more precise because taking with the e pawn would weaken the square f5, and after Rf8, f5 could be a possible move in the future. Also we have our pawns in light squares, makes sense exchanging the Bishop, isn't it?😀 Still your idea is also very good and it makes sense, but having the center, exchanging the Bishop and a bit of the King Side under control seems more natural. I would say, the game move is number 1 and yours number 2, still both work.😀
How do I buy courses with Moodcoin?
I don't know if I need to get PRO to do this (I'm not a PRO member) or if I'm just stupid. Can someone tell me how to buy a course with Moodcoin?
Replies
Hello, when you click on some courses, some do not have the Lifetime buy feature (SLP course is one example of this.), on the others, to the right of the introduction video will be a little tab there. At the top should be a button to buy the course. Once in the payment page, click moodcoins as the payment method and if you have enough funds, you can buy it.
Hope this helps!
Opening on the flanks
Hi all,
Recently I've come across opponents who open with d4 or e4 (nothing unusual there) but their next moves are a3 and h3. This seems completely at odds with the idea of taking control of the centre. Is it just some sort of pre-emptive attempt at discouraging their opponents from moving their bishops to the b4 and g4 squares?
Replies
Hello!
A3 and h3 are usually a waste of time.
Chessmood made a video about “Senseless pawn moves” in the Openings Principles course :
https://chessmood.com/course/opening-principles/episode/3425 There is also a youtube video by Chessmood about the best setup if your opponent makes passive moves: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDeaXGraeNI This is usually either because they don't know what to do or they are trying to surprise you.
Unexpected Elo change at end of game
Hi all,
This didn't happen to me but to my opponent, I'm just curious as to why …
- We played a Rapid 30 game.
- My starting Elo was 857 and my opponent's was 799.
- The indicated result changes for me were: win +9, draw -1, and lose -11.
Sure enough, when I won, my rating moved to 866 as expected. However, my opponent's figure decreased by 118 leaving him on 681!!! Why would this be?
Replies
“win +9, draw -1. lose -11” is your rating change if you win/draw/lose, not the rating change of your opponent. If your opponent was a new player, his rating deviation will be more.
That's likely because your opponent is playing on a new account and hasn't played enough games yet to get a rating. Each time they win or lose, they gain or lose alot of points in their first few games.
Team Championship Help Required
Helllo Everyone
Dhansuh here
I recently participated in Karnataka State Dept. U -19 chess selection and scored 8.5/9 points,therefore winning the tournment
This tournament is held as a selection of players for the National level event called SGFI[ School games Federation of India] where Top 5 players selected from Each states would be participating in a Team Championship[4vs4, 1 reserve player]
As I won the tournament I am the CAPTAIN of the Karnataka Team which comprises of
FIDE 2021
FIDE 1936
FIDE 1647 [MYSELF]
FIDE 1480
FIDE 1276
The National tournament starts in a week or two I request your help on leading the team to its best on various factors like
Team bonding
Board order
Preparation and Training
Bringing the best out of ourselves
Playing in our best shape ever during the tournament
As some of us are studying in Colleges and returned to chess after 1 year break, we are bit rusty but the tournaments are held within in a month which is good for us since we are in playing form
Our team would be placed anywhere between 4th to 10th in Starting rank of the Nationals
As per the information I received from teammate who played for Karnataka team last year and secured 4th place
there were 6 rounds with time control of 60min+30 sec form move One Tournament would be held for 4 days with 1 rounds each on first and the last days and 2 rounds in other days
There would be 30+ teams participating in the tournament
It is likely going to take Place in Chennai,TamilNadu .The chess capital of India
As I have heard the players of Armenia team perform 100+ rating points when in a team tournament, I would like to know their secrets of their success In Team Events
Looking forward for the suggestions from our Coaches and fellow ChessMoodians
Thank you
Dhanush
Replies
Hi Dhanush,
I don't have the experience to be able to help with your queries but I just wanted to say ‘Well done’ on your recent success and ‘Good luck’ in the forthcoming tournament. 😀
Benko 5.Nc3
Hi,
I am learning this variation right now.
After 5…axb5 6.e4 b4 7.Nb5 d6 8.Bf4 g5!! 9.Bxg5 Nxe4 10.Bf4 Qa5 is introduced. I like it very much, like in general this kind of chess.
In the video it is said, that there is more about it left for Pro members.
I don't see any more content. Will it be dealt with in the updated course?
Or am I missing something?
Thank you.
Replies
Hi Thomas,
Yes, Gabu has been working on the update of the course for a long time (simultaneously with other courses) but I'm positive that everything will be dully covered. 😀
Chessmood board theme on chessbase
I noticed the chessmood has a unique board theme they always use. Does anyone know how to format it on chessbase? I couldn't find the blue color in chessbase
Replies
Hi Riptide,
This is an exclusive board design taylor made for us, you will not find anywere else. 😀There is no way to replicate it succesfully, because there are textures in the squares and it would not look nice if you try to copy it… Sorry…😅
Cheating OTB
🤔
Hi. Two weeks ago I've been cheated in an OTB tournament. I file the guy but like he continue in the tournament after stealling my rating points, it was me who withdraw from the tourney.
I think it would be a good topic for an article about “how to face cheating OTB”, because online most of us had cheating experiences but online everything is so superficial tyhat well, now we have V.Kramnik in chesscom posting a long thread of articles about cheating, where he proofs with stadistical data, that even strong GMs, +2600 and higher, they cheat online, at least when there is money (prizes) involved.
But my recent experience was in OTB, which frequency is much lower than online but much deeper since at the end you want to improve and understand better chess and there is no better platform for this than going OTB.
At the end as Grischuk stated in his stream, is not so about the rating or the money but the damage in your self-esteem, when a weaker player miniaturizes you and you are helpless. You begin to think that you yourself are the weaker player and doubts about your chess skills begin to assault you.
Replies
Kramnik didn't prove anything!
Hi dear friend, How did they cheat on you OTB in a tournament? I guess it was in Barcelona where you live… Can you explain how you reached this conclusion? Thanks!😀
Any time that you see someone with a smartphone, just go to the arbiter right away. Hopefully next time it will not happen… Be strong my friend!😀
Is Stockfish always right?
Hi all,
Is the suggested Stockfish move always the ‘best’ move? I don't doubt that it can consider far more possibilities (and far more quickly) than I can but it does leave me wondering sometimes even after I review the suggested lines.
For example, in the scenario pictured below Ng5 is flagged as a miss and dxe5 is suggested as the best move. I made my chosen move because I had identified a fork on e6 - pawn, queen, rook, and bishop. Was that really such a bad move? (Be gentle - I'm a beginner!)
Replies
Hello,
First of all, try reattaching the picture. Currently I cannot see it.
Stockfish dosent always pick the best moves, in some positions it can get tricked.
However, we are not looking for the best move, we look for the best PRACTICAL move.
A lot like during SLP, we give ourselves best practical chances.
Hope this helps!
Your pal, Armandas
Sorry, the link didn't appear to work. Trying again:
https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/93107572073?tab=review&move=24
Hi again!
Engines are not always right, but most of the time if you analyse your games, they are right. In the game you mentioned, dxe5 was a better move. If you don't know why the engine is right, you can ask someone.
However, there are some examples where Stockfish isn't right:
In a completely lost position, because if both players keep making the best moves, the winning player will just easily win. So sometimes you will need to make the best practical move, the move that gives you the most chance to win/draw. Examples of these moves are:
Setting up a trap.
Complicating the position by not exchanging pieces.
Attacking the king.
In a completely won position, because if your opponent has big chances to attack, simplifying the position would give you bigger chances to win. Stockfish is often easily able to defend, while humans are not. So if you are winning, stockfish sometimes suggests to complicate the position and get an even bigger advantage, while simplifying the position would increase your winning chances.
I found this nice article on this topic, so if you want to read more about it, you can do it here: https://chessmood.com/blog/why-you-should-not-trust-chess-engines-blindly 😃
I hope this helps you!
Have a look at the scale method course on the engine evaluation section.
New success story: The Anti-Arrogant ChessMoodian & His Journey to the Top 100 in the World
What does it take to reach the top 100 in chess?
While many have this "I know" mindset about chess improvement, one of the strongest ChessMoodians, GM SL Narayanan, reached the top 100 through hard work, investments, and an "I want to know" approach.
Discover:
- The early sacrifices GM Narayanan made for chess.
- His open-minded approach to learning.
- The ChessMood novelty that helped him qualify to the next round at the FIDE World Cup 2023.
- What helped him finish 3rd in such a strong field at the Qatar Masters 2023 and so much more.
Read his full story here⬇️
https://chessmood.com/success-stories/sl-narayanan
Replies
Well done SL!!!
I wish you more great successes I'm sure you can inspire a lot of young players and also many chessmoodian's, Thank you very much!
Best wishes for 2.700!!
Solution to test I found
Kg4 b3 (Qa8 Qd6+ and d8=Q)
Kf5 b2
Qf6+ Qf6
Kf6 b1=Q (Kg8 Qd8+ Kh7 Qb8)
d8#
I have a question: why not Qe8 immediately? Qa8+ Kg3 Qb8+ (Qa3+ Kg4 can't see anymore checks) Kg4 same, can't see anymore checks. What do I miss?
I was looking at the puzzle and 1st.thought is Kg2-h3! an exclam. So if it gives an exclam means something like is the only winning move so Kg3/Kf3 are not working. The reason seems to be that on Kg3 there is check on Qb8+ and Kf3 is another Qa8+, beside Qf8+. But with Kh3! you don't see any checks for black. So the plan of SL should be to go near his Queen with the King to support moving out Qd8 from her square and allow a promotion of the d7 pawn. So after Kh3 with the same idea the right square is Kg4, one step nearer his Queen and out of checks because from Kg4 you control h4-g5 squares so the bQueen continues incapable of doing any other thing than stay on d8 and blacks only plan is to push the b pawn and then calculate who promotes first but seeing the result of the game is d7 who does that. I am incapable of calculating all the variations, just some thoughts of the position and it's annotations.
Best regards and congratulations on your now and upcoming successes!
Looks like you found a good recipe for your chess improvement and Chessmood is the perfect ingredient!
Ovi Sacasan
What an amazing and inspiring story. Would be great to get a long video interview with him after he hits 2700! :) Seems like he's mastering the inner game and outer game + being great at his profession as well as being an amazing human being.
Thanks for the inspiring story!
Best wishes and goodluck to GM SL Naravanan for reaching his new goal of 2700+.
The best sentence in the whole article for me was: “You have no control over rating. But what you can control is the game and the moves”.
SL NARAYANAN ‘S STORY INSPIRING ME A LOT THANK U SL FOR SHARING THIS
7 Q Methods exaample 1
Hi coach
In ex 1 7q methode almost at the end of the video you say that the plan is to play on King side where we are stronger by playing g4 h4 g5 h5…but if we go g5 1st then Nh5 comes from black and we can't go h5 anymore, I can't see how to move away that knight. Wouldn't be better to go g4 h4 h5 h6? Thank you in advance
Replies
No answer?
Sorry Claudio, I completely missed your post.😅
Yes, you are right, Avetik just explained the typical moves but not in the best order possible. It should be as you suggest.
We are taking note of this. Thanks!!! 😃
