French Attack

I suggest adding a "take test" option for the Whitemood opening in the French Attack. It would be beneficial for practicing the French Attack with white pieces. Thank you for considering this suggestion.

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The French Defense for White already has a “take test” option, is this what you are saying?
https://chessmood.com/course/french-defence

Why don't we play the hyperaccelerated dragon?

Why do we play 2… Nc6 instead of 2… g6 in the sicilian? We are allowing a Rossolimo, which means more studying for us. Why don't we play 2… g6 and avoid that? I assume there is a reason, because your opening courses have been really good, I'm just eager to know it.

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Hi Neo,

Yes, you are right, we could do that. But we don't focus on playing tricky lines or fast recipes for winning. We want you to develop, to grow as players and Rossolimo is a great battlefield to be tested in. Also the 2..g6 has some very good lines as White along with the initiative, and it is not our cup of tea once you play against a prepared opponent. 
But the main reason is to play a very sound opening that allows you to grow as a player.😃

Anyone else notice?

When white plays d4 and we play e6 they always switch and play e4. I guess Nobody wants to play against the Dutch.

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“Always” is really an exaggeration.

Usually, only 10% plays that. 

NEW ARTICLE: A Secret Weapon for Handling Tough Positions and Bad Moods

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Thanks 

Awesome!

That's a very nice story, thank you for that!

wow .. thanks

Well I have a story also. It goes like this: When I was playing against one of my friends (Alexander Soll) rated 1,800 I was in a bad position but then I remember your story about how if you smile and straiten your back it would improve your mood and therefor improve your chess game. So I tried it out and .... It worked my situation improved drastically even though I was low on time. I still managed to find the right move to escape a check so I wouldn't lose time. This saved me the game. Thanks again for the advice Best of Wishes Mikeythehuggable

And after a few years we saw a GM named Kazbek Primbetov......😱

I am very grateful for your articles and your course content. I myself am coming to ChessMood because of a good friend who had many amazing things to say about your approach to teaching and developing a positive mindset! Recently I had a very frustrating moment in my chess life and realized I needed something different. The moment I saw Avetik and watched the opening course, I knew that ChessMood was the way to go if I truly wanted to improve myself AND my chess. Thank you so much for all you do.

I personally find that smiling on purpose makes me feel very disoriented and hazy. I've tried it a few times as an experiment and I find my brain just goes blank. I think it's the mismatch; your brain knows you're doing it for no reason and gets confused.

Puzzled by Stockfish recommendations

Hi all,

While reviewing a game today there were a couple of instances where I didn't understand why the suggested move from Stockfish was better than the move that I had made.  I'd welcome your thoughts 👍

First instance:

There was a fairly typical scenario with black (me) having pawns on h7, g7, and f7 and the white queen threatening the g7 pawn.  I played g6, thinking that the h & f pawns defend the g pawn.  Stockfish prefers casting.  

I can see that with casting my king defends the g7 pawn but I'm sure that I read/watched/heard some advice saying that it was a bad move to castle into an area where the opponent was already attacking.

What would you do here and why?

Board layout: https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/106314479371?tab=analysis&move=25

Second instance:

Embracing some of the learning from Tactics Ninja I managed to make a discovered attack / double attack combination!  Yay for me!  (Note that the attack by the pawn on the knight was just a bonus - I fully expected white's queen to capture the pawn)

Whilst I didn't expect white's Nc4 move I can see what he was thinking - removes the knight from the attack and also threatens my bishop on a3.  I proceed with my intended Bxh1 capture of the rook.  However, Stockfish prefers Qd3 - forking the knight on c4 and the rook on b1 ("You overlooked a better way to win a rook.").

Surely if white Nxa3 then he captures the aforementioned bishop and also protects the rook on b1, so the fork misses both targets. 

Is it that the fork isn't the real issue and that the real advantage is that this speeds up the checkmate moves that I made on my next turn?

Board: https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/106314479371?tab=analysis&move=39

Thanks for any feedback.

Replies

Hello!

For the first one, the reason castling is better is that the queen cannot do so much by herself. And with castling, you protect the square, and don’t create any weaknesses.

This one is amazing! The reason Qd3 is better is because of an insane tactic.

1… Qd3 2. Rd1 (Most natural to me.) 2… Qxc3+3. Ke2 Qc2+ 4. Kxe3 (After here I missed the amazing tactic.) 4… Rxb3+!! 5. cxb3 Bc1+!! ( the idea is to deflect the rook from the defence of the d3 square.) 6. Rxc1 Qxb3+ and Black takes the queen next move.

This is a very complex and insane tactic (report anyone who find this in less than 3 minutes ;) ) this is needlessly complicated. The route you chose was simple, and definitely good enough.

The only reason Qd3 was better was because of this tactic, as otherwise White would get a piece for the rook. 
In this case, if this tactic didn’t exist (The Qh3 was defended) your move is better.

If you have any question let me know!

Hi, just wanted to add a couple additional thoughts, but take them with a grain of salt as I am no expert!

For your first example, it seems to me an additional thing to consider is where you eventually want your king. Given your pawn structure at the time it seems like you would eventually want to castle king side. The pawns on the queen side wouldn't offer much protection. Maybe d7 would be an option? But the bishop there complicates that. Leaving the king where it is seems like it would leave it unnecessarily exposed. So if king side castle is the best option, moving that g7 pawn has the disadvantage of weakening the king if you eventually do castle there. And castling immediately saves a turn in having to do it later.

For the second position, beyond the tactic described in the other response, it's worth noting that after Qd3 another reason white can't just capture the bishop with Nxa3 is that then you could just proceed to mate the opponent in exactly the way you ended up mating them. The knight on c4 is protecting the d2 square that you eventually used when mating the opponent. So the move Nxa3 after Qd3 is the same blunder that they made in the actual game that allowed you to complete the checkmate. But please note that in an actual game I'm sure I also would have just done Bxh1!

WhiteMood Openings / petroff defense

Dear chess coach, i recently played a correspondence game in the petroff defense 4.Nxf7, which just end up in a draw, but with some luck. do you really advise this gambit (4.Nxf7) for standard game (maybe not correspondence but OTB) under 2000 elo fide ? by the way here was the game 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nxf7 Kxf7 5. d4 c5 6. Bc4+ d5 7. exd5 Bd6 8. O-O cxd4 9. Qxd4 Re8 10. Nc3 Nbd7 11. Nb5 Nb6 12. Bb3 Re4 13. Qd3 Bf5 14. Nxd6+ Qxd6 15. Qf3 Bg6 16. c4 Nxc4 17. Bg5 Ne5 18. Qc3 Kf8 19. Rae1 Nxd5 20. Qa5 Nf6 21. Rxe4 Nxe4 22. Be3 b6 23. Qa4 Nc5 24. Qb4 a5 25. Qf4+ Qf6 26. Bxc5+ bxc5 27. Qe3 Nd3 28. Bc4 Qf5 29. b3 Re8 30. Qd2 Qf4 31. Qxa5 Qd4 32. Qc7 Qe5 33. Qd7 Qe7 34. Qd5 Qf7 35. Qd6+ Qe7 36. Qd5 Qf7 37. Qd6+ 1/2-1/2

Replies

Well against the Petroff, we offer the course from the main repertoire targeted to players from 1800 to GM level. 

https://chessmood.com/course/petroff-defense
That said, the Whitemood openings are a fast road to get a complete, easy to understand and to remember FIRST repertoire and it can be played until 2000 perfectly. I used the Nxf7 many times in rapid, blitz, OTB, against strong oposition. It is also good for beginners to play a pawn down and try to build the attacking attitude needed in chess. Some friends of mine spent all their life playing this Nxf7 and believe me, they are vicious attackers!
That said, you played this game in a correspondence game and in correspondence people can check their engines and it is not the best idea to sacrifice a knight for 2 pawns at the beginning against an engine. Regarding correspondence, we are not fans of correspondence play because the engines do the work instead of the player. 

If you have the time and will to do the required work, by all means use the main line of our main repertoire. 
I hope this helps, by the way what is your elo? ?

For what my experience is worth, I beat a 1700-FIDE (before the rating revamp) player in the cochrane gambit in classical OTB chess and had a winning position on move 8, so it works surprisingly well!

English course, Bisguier - Karpov, comment to move 26. Rd2

I would like to ask a question with respect to the comment on the game Bisguier - Karpov. The comments are makeing things much clearer. However there is a moment I do not "understand".

It happens after move 24. by White which is Bc1. Here Black moves back with the bishop to c4. 24….Bc4 (instead of exchanging the white squared bishop - which is a strategical objective when playing against this IQP but does not exploit the concrete position). It follows 25. Rc2 an Ba6.

Here the comment says: White cannot defend the d4 pawn…if 26. Rd2 it follows 26….RxN, which leaves the rook on d2 undefended. However after 27. QxR QxR it follows QxR (d5) because the rook is unprotected after the queen leaves a5 and this position seems unclear, e.g. Qe1+ leads to an equal position (Stockfish).

Therefore it is recommended to play - after 26. Rd2 - Nxd4 (instead of RxN).

Please feel free to comment / correct my ideas. 

(If i'm wrong I will be happy to do some 50 squats with pleasure.)

Kind Regards, Kurt

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Dear Kurt,

 there is no Bc1 move in that position, 24th move of White is Bc1. Please, when asking the questions write the squares carefully so it's easier to understand the Question 🙂 I was struggling for a few minutes, to find 24.Bc1

Dear Kurt, in the given position you are right, the Rook on d5 is hanging. So that position is just bad for whites in general, but doesn't lose in a concrete way, thanks for being careful!

good luck!
 

MoodCoins

Hello Guys..

Do any of you know how to purchase courses with MoodCoins? Can the purchase only be completed if we are PRO or ESSENTIAL members? Or can we do this even we only have a free account?
Thanks..

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Anyone can buy courses with moodcoins! 
To buy courses, pick your course and select “Or get lifetime access” then click “Buy the course” and in “Choose your payment method” the last option will be to buy with moodcoins. Select that.

$1 = 1,000 moodcoins. Select courses like the SLP course cannot be bought with moodcoins.
for more info: https://chessmood.com/moodcoin

Homework

Hi, 

In the opening courses, Avetik reffers to homework, but I could not find it. I searched in the forum but only in pro members responses, so where can I find them?

Replies

It’s in the pgn files. That is the homework. The section is called “PGN files” or something similar. However, some courses like the Czech Pirc don’t have it yet.

New podcast with Amy Morin: Mentally Strong Chess Players Don't Do This

Best-selling author and renowned psychotherapist Amy Morin, known for her book “13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do,” joins GM Avetik on the ChessMood podcast! 

They discuss the list of things mentally strong chess players don’t do, how to recover from painful defeats, and how players can build mental strength. 

Choose your plaform to tune in👇

Youtube: https://youtu.be/sUKop-zc8RA?si=ehHaZRFDdVblQq83

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/chessmood-podcast/id1685445424?i=1000648915643

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0VhlqRCmtWbWHlGoMDM0qt?si=747ec653bed64d8d

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you are the best sir

you gave me courses and certificates and thank you for giving this all 😊😊😊😊😊.

My 1 question

Can anybody tell me what is the steinitz basic rule mentioned in the 3rd game of 100 strategical masterpieces at around 6min50secs..i was not able to hear it properly

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“Never advance your pawns without any real need."

 “The Modern Chess Instructor”  is Steinitz’s book, Lasker spends some time on Steinitz in “Lasker’s Manual of Chess."

I thought I had a bullet list of his principles somewhere, but, as usual, I can’t seem to find it.      :/

Tactics Ninja 777 Test Positions

This has probably been asked and answered many times before but I cannot find it anywhere…

Are the Tactics Ninja 777 Test Positions the same as all of the Quiz positions from the course, or is it a new set of positions?

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 they are a new set of position

I need an advice :) Should we hire her? :)

In ChessMood all our new employees should also pass a test - survive 15 moves against Grandmaster ?

Lily survived 12 moves, shall we do an exception for her? ?

Replies

That's a very open question. I think that would depend on the way she played. Did she show initiative? Did she dare take a risk? Was she inventive or passive? Sometimes you can read someones character a little from the way he/she plays.

Maybe you publish the game, so members can judge for themselves.

Giving another chance is appreciated....as we all make mistake....so let her try again...and see if she could survive....?

Did she show the right mood while playing? Did she keep the right mood while losing? If she did then make the exception! 

However, if she threw the king at you when she lost, what would she do if you didnt hire her? Better think long and hard about this :)

You should have let her play white

I think we should

everyone deserves a second chance :)

Maybe another try for her! If she played genuinely badly then no but if she blundered something in an equal position then yes.

Does it mean that anyone that survives 15 moves against a GM is hired?😂 Are there tryouts

maybe yes if she mostly made good moves

🤣Well, Lily is the best! We were very lucky to be able to work together! Thanks God that Avetik did not follow our hiring policy in this case!!! 😅

Yes

if this is real it's actually a stupid and also mean test. ok, i get if you like everyone to be at least that litte bit into chess to survive till middlegame  but debating that here looks like putting at some kind of job pillory in the community. 

maybe i'm just slow on uptaking some banter or whatever joke. point it out to me and my moral pointer finger :x 

Lily's great lol. Very warm and positive person. Good thing you hired her.

Sure you should do it

Yes

how can you spend mood coins? I don't see a way that you can buy the course using moodcoins on any of the courses

Title

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Hi there,

Try this:

1. Go to the Courses page and pick your course
2. Select the option “Or get lifetime access”
3. Select the option “Buy the course”
4. In the right-hand section titled “Choose your payment method” the last option will be MoodCoin.

Remember that $1 = 1,000 MoodCoin.  So, if the course costs $300 that is 300,000 MoodCoin.

Need to earn some more?  Details are here: https://chessmood.com/moodcoin

HELP ME

How to checkmate the black king with only one move

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d5xe6 ep

2ways

1. 1-Rxf7 Kh8 2-Qf6 Bg7 3- QxBg7#
2.  1-Nh5 Kh8 2- Qf6 Bg7 3 - QxBg7#

Dxe6 en passant and their f pawn is pinned so they cant play f6

the answer is dxe6#

I think the answer is 1. Rff7+ Kh8 2. Rh7#

All the best, Kingston.

1.dxe6# 

Cool and Tricky one!

It took me a few minutes to see en passant. En Passant Checkmate!!! 😎

dxe6# en passant checkmate 

Black against 1e4 e6 2Nf3 ?

Hello, 

where do I find information about this opening 1e4 e6 2Nf3 in the openings for the beginners (BlackMoodOpenings)

And also I do not know, how to go on with 1d4 e6 2Nf3

Thank you for your support.

Joachim

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We go d5, and after exd5, we do the exchange setup, while with e5, we go c5 immediately, then pressure d4 square with nc6, qb6, ne7-nf5 (side note, this occurs after 4.c3, trying to go 5. d4), if they go immediately with 4. d4, we take then pressure e5 pawn with nc6 and qc7.

Question about daily routine

First sorry my english

Im about to subscribe to chessmood after finishing marvelous opening principles course.

My question is if I need any other resource than chessmood. The ninja tactic course is what i should consider my daily tactic training? 

I have 2:30 hours per day and my fide 1574 (with the march improvment so probably is 1300 (?)) and I would love some advice about my daily routine.

So maybe 1 hour ninja tactic, 30 minutes openings, 30 minutes another course and 2 games 10+5? Or les study and more play? Im very confused about effiency in the study time.

Thank u

Replies

Hola Guillermo!
Que tal? 
The first thing that you should do is to read the study plan above or click in this link: https://chessmood.com/chess-study-plans/for-advanced-players
Follow the training program by Avetik, you should spend your time this way more or less:

Study - 45% 
Practice - 45% 
Fix - 10%
In your plan above, you study too much. Adjust the time accordingly! The most important is the Fix! It's the point that makes the difference and everybody forgets it… 
Check the plan and let us know if there is anything that you do not understand!
😀And BIENVENIDO a la familia! 💪

How to remeber all that preparation

Hi, I know that “understanding” is the key to “learning”. Yet, even if I understand what I am doing, it is difficult to find all the key moves in every line if you do not have a good memory. How do you manage to memorise enough to help your understanding? Btw, my ELO rating is 1900.

Replies

I am assuming you have read these two articles, right?

https://chessmood.com/blog/how-to-memorize-chess-openings-variations

https://chessmood.com/blog/how-grandmasters-memorize-opening-variations

Here is my additional steps to memorize it further.

First, make your pgn file (or get one from the attachments section) and put all the moves you remember.

Second, play more blitz! Should not matter when you win/lose, you should only look for the mistakes and correct them.

Third is to watch model games! Here, you would see how they play the opening part, but also the middlegame plans and structures that come from these positions

(https://chessmood.com/course/rock-n-rolling-with-white)

(https://chessmood.com/course/rock-n-rolling-with-black)

Additionally, Chesstempo has an opening trainer, which simulates an opponent, but you need to paste your repetoire first.

Just play. Play and you will learn it. It may seem hard or obscure, but I have over 30 full files that I have nearly memorized. Just play and correct your mistakes.

I also suffered from this thing

Then I watched out some Chess videos and figured out

(I am 2000 elo btw)

PRACTICE & VISUALIZE!!

play the lines that you have learned on an analysis board in chess.com or lichess if you get stuck go and try to learn the moves again and repeat it until you make all moves correctly 3 times in a row

Take rests between these or you will end up getting bored or losing concentration

after all this play a game with someone who knows the opening

You should also visualize the moves in your mind

like if he plays this i will play this

I finally learned to checkmate with two bishops!

Please be proud of me. I always struggled with this.

Replies

Good job! It is instructive to see how they work together.

You can also apply that in the middlegame :)

Youtuber who is using your content

I found a guy using your content for youtube. He created a playlist on Attack and it was full of your examples and your principles. And he said, "This is how I got to 2000 with Attacking Chess". He is 2200-2400 lichess but he said like this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJu2ao6ibpc&list=PLf5T-au8Lb22dU-pwt1_OoYOhI3SUvtMU This is the playlist. He has now also started a series on planning. And that's also your content. (Fearless Warrior & 7 Q Courses). He also took the classical games content.

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