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I thought I had to play 13... Bb7 rather than put my knights on the c5 square that had been cleared,  which seemed to be in the and allowed Nc6 and Nxa5, but there are some really neat tactics I didn't see over the board:

13...Ndc5 14.Nc6 Qc7 15.Nxa5 (bah! you can have it) Bd7 16.Nd2 (er what? If 16.Nb3 Nxb3 17.Qxb3 Nc5 - oh that Ra1 is hanging) b3 17.Qb1 (Well isn't the pawn en[prise]? - nope 17.Ndxb3 Nb4 - the b4 square has just been cleared and the bishop is in trouble) Ba4 (shuts out the knight from defence) 18.Nc6 Bxc6 19.dxc6 Qxc6 20.Be2 Nb4 - Black is better.

Was thinking that the judging happens behind closed doors and often there is no learning between the game being uploaded and members analysing it themselves. It might be interesting to stream the judging process to get GMs comments on our (hopefully amazing) play. It's probably too much of a task to do the whole lot in a session (I imagine it gets spread over the month), maybe when there is a shortlist of 10 or so games to go through the 10, comment on them before choosing the final 5 winners. Although this would kind of turn it into the Chess-Factor, perhaps a live-stream would mean the audience also gets to vote (those that can't make it could watch the event up to a few days after and cast their vote by direct message to Chessmood). Then the winners get announced - perhaps we won't go as far to have them record an 'Oscar' speech thanking their agent, family, pets... Could be fun and instructive.

What do you think?

I'm getting the e3 variation more than anything! It's interesting to note that not always can we go for the Blumfeld-style e6 move as white can sort of move-order us out of this. I just got:

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 c5. 4. d5 b5 5. cxb5 a6 6. e3, after which black has already commited to a king's side fianchetto. All in all an interesting game, though with a few major mistakes (blitz game!), so I'm sharing it with the team.

What if Black goes for 9.c4 Ba6 10.g3 g6 11.h5 Bg7 12.f4 f6 13.hxg6 and now 13...fxe5!? instead of the video's 13...hxg6?

All of us know the rule of time: The player who runs out of time loses if the opponent has a chance of checkmating the player who runs out of time (even if theoretically). Otherwise, the match is claimed to be a draw.

However, consider this position (white to move). The only possible scenario is
1.   d4        b5
2.   d5        b4
3.   axb4   a3
4.   b5        a2
5.   b6        a1Q   (or a1R, a1B, a1N)
6.   b7#

It is noticed that none of the two players has any other options. Both players are forced to play the previous line.

One of the chess players in my country asked a question: If this position was in a real tournament and the WHITE player ran out of time before his/her sixth move, what is the decision of the judge?
Some chess coach insist that the white player should win!!!!
They claim that this would be one of the rarest moments that the player who runs out of time wins, as the opponent could do nothing to alter this result even if he/she had the authority to play with both the white and black pieces together.

I wish to know the opinion of everyone who read this especially the grandmasters moderators of this forum, in this critical situation.

Since I'm often looking to improve things and can come across quite critical, it's worth noting there is so much that's right though which often doesn't get said.

Just had a nice win against Bc4 (not perfect as I had a couple of low time based blunders) where normally I struggled against this system. Thanks GM Gabuzyan for the course and the follow up session!

This is something I need to do more of. I was watching one of the old streams in early 2019 about improvement suggestions for PRO members (hint would be nice to have another one of those events). I like the bit about 'become a wild animal' as soon as the opponent makes a mistake :) I guess better to be too aggressive and overdo it (and learn what can be done) than too timid and never try.

As this hasn't been announced yet and isn't a regular event.

There is a SLP (saving lost positions) stream on Tuesday 16th Feb at 3pm GMT. If you've watched old streams before (or been a member that long), a piece will be given away in a very obvious manner to a strong player and then will be systematically punished for having the audacity to take it. It also appears that hippo style positions get adopted (pawns to 3rd rank, Ns to second rank, with a fianchetto) so is also a lesson on the dangers playing against of such positions.

There was talk of a theme tournament on this basis at some point so would be good prep if that arises.

If you have any questions from courses, and you want to get the answers as soon as possible, please post your questions in the Channel only for PRO Members!

Happy New Year dear ChessMood family!

May all your goals be achieved and all your plans be fulfilled this year!

What challenges do you have on your way? 

Hello ChessMood family and Happy New Year! Wish you all the best!

"P.S. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the effectiveness of your time management last year? What changes are you going to make this year?"

What is your answer for this questions? :)

At this moment, it was said that 13.f4 will hang the e4 pawn. However, after Ne4 or Bg7 white again wins a piece with Qd4. 

Fortunately SF found this amusing tactic(move 16) after 13.... e5 14. fe (back away will cause white to lose e pawn for real) Ne4 15. Ne4 Be4 16. ed Bc2!? and white has trouble holding the bishop on d4.

Hi guys!

So I have been working on something for a while now, and it's not even remotely complete. However, I thought it was a good idea to use the PGN's as a homework assignment as suggested IN the PGN's. I have been doing this in a private lichess study. I have done enough work that I feel I can enlist some people who are hard working to help me complete it. I think I will accept maybe three or four people. The people that assist me with this can clone the study when it is done and even separate them into smaller studies if it makes it easier to digest. The point of this is to have a way for us to study together and get to know each other while assisting in getting us PGN's that can help us better understand the material presented.

I only want serious people who will help me edit this consistently at least weekly, recommended every other day, and preferably daily. I have done a lot of work so far, I completed the Alekhine one today because I noticed the Alekhine one didn't have a PGN. I also will see if I can do another one I find that may not have a PGN. This is full pro analysis so pro members only.

I may accept more than 3-4 if they really want in and convince me they will work on it often. I believe I am about 30% complete with the entire opening repertoire. A lot of it is entering moves and then double checking validity within completed moves by learning along with the videos. If you would like to you can contact me here. Tell me your lichess handle and expected activity. Please no trolling by coming in and messing up the PGN standard. I am merely putting in the suggested continuations with no analysis. I believe in the idea of this homework and will take it seriously. So trolling is immediate expelling. If you are inactive for more than a week I reserve the right to dismiss you. If no one accepts this, then it is like the chicken who baked a cake. I will eat it all.:-) I hope we work together on this soon.

Hello ChessMood family, I have a question. I have a record of losing many games with my queen against rook+minor piece and I have given below one of my favorite losses. But recently I tried to play the new variant named Automate in chess.com. It is simple to play (though I was two queen down in that game!) just setup up a position and an engine will play for both side. I ended up in a R+B+6P vs Q+7P position. I thought I will lose but then it started repeating moves and eventually drew. Is it really difficult to win? There are many examples where R+B orN vs Q wins.