Open Files: How to Exploit them

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Thanks for Nice article. Material present in such  way that is  is easy to understand and enjoy a lot. 

An important question

Now a days we are living in modern world in which there are many commentaries, podcast of gms, youtube channels and a lot online companies like Chessmood. Do you guys think we should blindly trust what super gms recommend ?

Without even analyzing your level do you think it's good to listen what Fabi and Magnus said about books? 

I see so many people listens to podcast , commentaries and unknown gms and just blindly follow the path they shared. 

I think this is not good way to improve in chess. You should understand your level and then pick books or courses which suits your level. 

When I had one on one with Coach Avetik. He shared me so many valuable advice  which I am sharing in bottom.

1. For tactics he said use chesstempo but as I love books so I said I will go for books and he said okay.

2. For endgame he said that it's good to do simple books but not Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual and his reasoning was that you wont fully take advantage from the book. It's not like you cant understand concept but in case of solving you will miss so many hidden resources because it's designed for 2000+ elo players. I have a nice friend who is currently 2200 FIDE and he even told me same. He tried to solve this book with his teammate who is 2300 FIDE but both struggled even in pawn endgame. So now you can understand the level of the book. I also tried it once but I did failed to see so many hidden points.  So conclusion is that why choose a book if you cant fully see all the hidden resources .So I left that book and I am doing from simple ones and learning faster too.

3. For middlegames he suggested me to go through cm courses on middlegames and he suggested me not to pick Tal, Kasparov, Fischer in the beginning of my study because they will be more complex and I may miss critical things. So I followed his advice and now after one year now I think I am able to go to Fischer's games atleast. 

There are so many things he shared too in one on one. I followed all the things and I see difference in my game and level of understanding too.

So , guys share your opinions . Is it good to blindly listen what popular IM, GM said or listen to those who are successful and connected with you also. 

I learnt a cool thing in past from a book called " Copycat Marketing" In the book author said that if you want to become successful then just copy what the successful person did. With this you can easily stay away from the mistakes which he did in his journey you get success faster. I apply this idea in my work also and I feel difference. My teammate who is 2200 is so connected guy so whenever I listen to his advice I see difference in my play. 

Do you guys have teammate? 

Do you guys listens to podcasts and blindly trust them?

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I think those who are connected with us and are successful can share best advice to us than those IMs or GMs who never met you and knows nothing about u. I am not saying do not listen to gm's suggestions. Do listen them and share it with those people who are successful and around you so they can share right path to you.

I agree with what you say here, but not everyone will follow that advice. Sometimes (particularly the young) will want to do what they want to do. They more you try to change their mind the more determined it makes them, as frustrating to you as it might be. In the end if you offer advice (even the best in the World) you have leave it at that. Agreeing to disagree is all you can do. Let them learn by their own experience, and from mistakes along the way.

I've been in a position to help people many times throughout life and maybe make a big difference from the problems I've solved, but some people don't want advice (in fact many don't even want unsolicited advice when they talk about problems, just sympathy or to wallow with others of a like situation, but that's another story.)

Engine addicts

I met so many players who are engine addicts in openings and middlegames prep also . Sometimes they try to refute main lines and even though their refutations sucks but still they just say oh I refuted this bla bla bla. So, I thought to share you this amazing article and it will open your eyes. after you read this story.

https://en.chessbase.com/post/gukesh-wins-110th-hillerod-and-cannes-open-consecutively

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impressive quote from the article:

While Gukesh's performance and live rating of 2565 is impressive, what is even more jaw-dropping is the fact that the youngster says he has never used an engine for his preparation!

Building a strong chess foundation

Continuing a discussion about endgame studying from another channel...

I appreciate some younger players have a lot of time on their hands to put into their chess study, but what's the best way of getting to be a stronger player. Of course I can only give advice up to about the 2000 level because I've not travelled beyond, though I have a lot of understanding of learning mechanisms. Would be interesting to hear from the 2300+ players.

A common analogy of learning a skill is building a house. Let's say you have almost unlimited time and resources.. Most builders would clear the land, put in foundations, and build the structure from the ground up, only then adding in features like windows, doors and interiors. Would it be a wise move to plant part of the foundation, but then work on a single wall, get it to near finished before working on another? Or move from one wall to another, never finishing getting the basic structure up?

What I'm getting at is how your chess skill builds itself physically inside your head. Young players (probably) have a big advantage here as not so much is mapped out (more free space), and can spend lots of time really developing the area devoted to chess (like building a purpose built housing estate that functions as a whole and is well connected), where as adults who have less time and are already well developed can not make so much new development and it is spread out (they have to build the houses around what is already set there as well as compete with others putting up their houses). The memories and skills located close to one another will stimulate and work with each other, where as ones spread throughout will not as much. That's my theory at least.

On a practical level though, let's say you could know 100 (for arguments sake) chess things that are automatic and available to you when you play (going back to the analogy let's say that's the house estate site where you are locating houses that can accommodate 100). You'll use these things with almost perfect intuition and insight. Other stuff won't be so automatic, you'll need to think, and the chance of missing stuff/blundering is much greater. Now which 100 would you select? Would it be some interesting but probably not so practical endgame study, you might see something similar 1 in 500 games or less, or the real fundamentals that come up more frequently?

In other words I believe that spending lots of time on things that come up time and time again, or those that are foundations for the more complex will lead to greater improvements and most likely increase the ultimate ceiling rating than less important things (even spotting blunders very quickly or just taking full account of what changed due to the opponent's move almost every time without fail is worth so many points).

It was said once (and I did a crude survey that roughly agreed) that most players don't improve significantly after playing (seriously) for about 8 years. Maybe this is part of the reason.

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Very nice food for thought @David_Flynn. I would like to ask the opinion of some promembers. Particularly people more or around 40 years old that have improved their game and also I would like to know how much time do you spend on EFFICIENT chess training.

K40 factor

I am 16 years old right now,but i am worried about my k40,when does it get over,on my 18th birthday or the starting of the year,like cut off year

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Try not to think too much about rating or things that might influence your rating! Concentrate on getting and then following a good training plan, and you will see your rating increase as a result of this, in particular being 16 years old!

I think that you should ask your chess federation directly. Some countries apply different criterias... Check it out, most federations are quite email friendly...

London System Repertoire

Sir can u do a repertoire against the London system,so that we have more clarity 

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It's under https://chessmood.com/course/crushing-d4-sidelines

The chessmood recommendation is 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 g6 3.e3 Bg7 4.Nf3 d6 - you find details in the 8th video for Black "8. Crushing d4 Sidelines"

Sicilian Nc3

Hello, sorry to bother,

What you recomend against the line 1 e4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 Bb5 e6? I see that you said, 4 Bxc6 but after bxc6 5 d3 d5 6 f4 Nf6 and is not so clear, because black will try to play Ba6 and c4 in order destabilize the white pawn structure in the center.

In a game, i try 7 e5 Nd7 8 Nf3 Be7 9 0-0 0-0 10 Qe1, but i am not vey convinced. 

Can you give me some hint?

Best regards, 

José Padeiro

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I think Nc6 probably could do with a bit more coverage since it's the main variation, and d6 with all its branches isn't seen as often at the 2000 level as Nc6 and d6/e6/g6 without Nd4 or if Nd4 Nxb5 is seen much more often than Nxf3. Maybe a load of model games is the solution.

Let's see if this is the variation that you are refering to. I see that after Nf6 you play e5. We normally play Nf3 first in these positions. Then I believe that b3 is a key move that you missed in your line. We have to be careful with c4 but b3 is our saving move many times. Please check this out and if you have another move order, let's talk about it... :-)

5.d3 d5 6.f4 Nf6 7.Nf3 Be7 8.e5 Nd7 So far so good 9.0-0 Ba6 Trying to play c4. If they successfully succeed, we will be in trouble. We have to play b3. 10.b3 the key move. Now from this position: 0-0 or c4 .

If 10 ...0-0 11.Qd2! It looks very funny but it is a very strong and deep move. Really important move, we want to follow with Ba3 and Na4! 11...c4 12.dxc4 dxc4 13.Rd1! Showing how multifunctional was the Qd2 move, which in many lines will go to f2.

If 10...c4 11.dxc4 dxc4 12.Re1! cxb3 13.cxb3 Putting pressure on c6 later. axb3 is also ok.

I hope this helps a bit and that I understood your question correctly. In these lines I always rememer b3 and attack later on c5 but I try to create a distraction on the kingside waiting for the right moment to attack.

A Mistake In 'In Gabuzyan's Mind'

Hello everyone! In the position in the picture. Coach said the White knight is trapped but it is not trapped and it can go back to e4. This is from the variation 17.g4 in the game Kovalenko - Gabuzyan 0-1.

Regards,

Sidharth Sreekumar.

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So, I think instead of Qb6 it would be better to play f5 and then Qb6 so the knight is trapped.

In the same game I have another doubt. In the position below Coach said after 40...Nxc6 41.d7 Be7 42.Bxe4. White may have some drawing chances. In the game 40...Bd5 41.dxe7 Bxe7 42. Na5 Bb4 and the knight was trapped. I found out that in the 40...Nxc6 variation too Black can trap the knight after 41.d7 Be6 42.d8=Q+ Nxd8 43.Nxd8 Bd5! followed by Be7. Am I missing anything?

I just love the title of this post! In you read it fast you miss the first "In" LOL

Pfeiffer G v Smyslov V - Classical Endgames

Is it me or did Smyslov blunder in this endgame?

It appears to me that after 43. Ka1 the best move was 43...Nxc2+ with a completely winning endgame.

But instead, he played 43...Kf6 and white can just take the N on d4.  After 44.  Nxd4 I can't see anything for black and white looks like he has excellent chances to win this endgame a piece up.  44. Re1 played in the game doesn't present a challenge.

Is it possible that the notation in the game is wrong and that white actually played 43. Ka2.  This would make more sense because then Smylov would have had Nc3+ winning the Rook after Nxd4.
I think this is more likely than Smyslov simply blundering a piece.
What do you think?

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I checked this in the database and it appears that Smyslov played Kf6, allowing Nxd4 but we do not know the time left on the game, maybe Pfeiffer was struggling with the time or both of them... But yes it appears as a blunder, after all even World Champions blunder from time to time...

From Avetik regarding this>

Ah... N2a3 was played in the game, not N4a3 So the Nc2 should have been on c4 Sorry about that guys, will fix it soon.

Overlap between lessons here and youtube Daily Lesson with a Grandmaster?

Looks like there is a lot of overlap between these two learning resources. 

It would be a big help of time saving to list what's covered in youtube "Daily lesson with a GM", but not covered here. Thanks!

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It would be nice just to be able to access them from here, but evidently there is a problem linking the website courses list with Youtube

Another nice thing would be able to list them by topic category if you want to study the same area across multiple daily lesson. As the number gets large it gets unwieldy.

After solving some technical questions, we'll bring them to ChessMood and they'll be available only to PRO Members. 

Caro Kann course doubt

In the main section, after 7...Qb6 the course analyses quite deeply 8.h3 with Na3 following - white gets a good position after 10...e5.  But instead of 10...e5 it seems to me that Kd7 is absolutely fine, and a game I just played went this way with no advantage for white.  In the model games section, however, Coach says he prefers 8.Na3 to h3 so I am trying to decide whether I change my Chessable database line.  In that model game, though, Coach says that black cannot go 11...Na5 because of 12.b4, but I see nothing wrong with 12.b4 Nc4.  Also, in this line, instead of 10...Be7 it seems to me that 10...Bh5 is better.   What should be the ChessMood repertoire line be after 8...Qc6?

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Nigel, glad to see that you are active again in the forum, we were missing you lately... As for this variation, can you write exactly the lines that you are refering to? Because it seems to me that you are mixing a bit the moves... Thanks and looking forward to your reply... By the way @Nigel_Fleming did you win against Anand again, or it was just a one time thing?

Just for our newer members that may not have seen it> Nigel's post with his game against Anand with the Scotch: https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-members/simul-v-anand

Nigel I didn't understand well the question, the lines were mixed... 
After some experience with this variation, I highly recommend 8.Na3. 
There are model games added to the course. 

Alekhine 4...dxe5

Coach, any plans to expand the Alekhine course to cover 4...dxe5?   Hope so!  I have a friend who plays it against me and it is quite a tough line to crack!

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There is no large advantage to be had there for White in the 4...dxe5 line, it's very solid and you will need to practise how to play such typical structures more generally where you have a bit more space and slightly more active pieces. This is not so much of an Opening problem as a Middlegame one, indicating that some instructive Model games should go a long way. 

David Smerdon played a very important game in this line some years ago if I recall correctly which included a nice positional exchange sacrifice. The game was very instructive in showing White's dynamic potential when facing solid but passive opening systems of this type. Moreover the key tactical idea uncorked in that game along with the positional justification behind it, can also be applicable in some lines of the Scandinavian Defense as well, so a careful study of the strategic motifs used could prove invaluable later:      

Hey Nigel! 
Kevin is great as always :) 
We're going to upload how to play against 4...de5 and also 4...c6. 
It's gonna be very interesting suggestion :) 

vs caro g6 with Nh5!?

Hello, I have a question about this position, which recently got played against me. Txs for your insights!

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Hey Paulius! 
Have you checked the advanced sections? 
I highly recommend the idea with Nf3,Ne5!? It's very practical and very easy to play. 
After 7.Nf3 Nh5 I would just play Be3. Nh5 is not placed well. 

Questions not answered..

My questions arent been answered and i was not able to play the rook pawn tournament today.. I want my doubts to be answered.. Pls.. I am aspiring to be a good player.. Pls dont disapppoint me.. 

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There is some delay in getting questions answered, it's frustrating indeed, but there are no doubt good reasons. GM Avetik is busy recording videos and with the daily lessons, GM Gabuzyan has been playing quite a lot recently. It would be nice to have a better way of listing all the questions which require a GM answer that are still outstanding as having questions answered is a real plus. I have one outstanding as well myself.

In the meantime, if you have the setup, it can be worth trying to play through the lines you have questions on in chessbase, scid or similar and use the engine / database to try to find playable lines. It enhances questions (the GMs won't have to start from scratch) if you have some suggestions or ideas. It also means you can better converse when they do suggest something as you have some experience with the line in question already.

It was the postponed webinar (normally these are Friday) today (of which is there is another tomorrow). The actual tournament takes place on Saturday - this week it's N+Ps vs Ps and is worth playing in and instructive participating in the webinar (which follows the Friday after usually).

@Sreenath_Nair

You posted one question about a general question in the Benko that was answered by Gabuzyan 1 week ago, then you requested a video.

https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-members/doubts-regarding-benko-gambit

I replied to you too here in this post.

And 2 hours later you made this post where you ask that we answer your question. 2 hours later... Am I missing something? Can you point me out other posts that you made that need answer? Because I hope that we all can understand the need for some time after publishing a question.

We also want to create a sense of community and let other members answer too and therefore create some debate. This is the purpose of a forum, then of course a GM will give his opinion too (which it does not mean that can be always correct or the only option available)

We are collecting the questions and then we divide who answers them in our meetings or if there is something very urgent will be given proper priority. This is how we work and we are trying to do our best with the resources that we have, and even if you do not believe me, we are working very hard to make this site the best one for chess improvement. You will see it soon. 

Doubts regarding benko gambit

I have a doubt in the benko gambit.. In the session e4 we attack the e4 pawn with f5 pawn after exchanging queens. But no Gms recommended to support e4 pawn with f3.. What if white doesnt capture f5 wid e4 so that it doesnt isolate d5 pawn.. 

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What is happening in that case in endgames, usually black king is gonna get e5 square which also looks good. Instead of getting weakness on d4 white gets it on e4 so it's also not so good. Of course it depends on position end exceptions can happen.

@Sreenath_Nair

Want to know a clearcut black link for benko gambit if knight goes to

Want to know a clearcut black line for black in benko gambit if knight goes to Nh3 followed by Nf5. After fianchettoing.. His white bishop.. I happen to watch a video of damian lemos Gm.. BATTLING WITH THE BENKO

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Do you mean Nh3 then Nf4? Could you give an idea of the line in the video (without copying to much analysis - e.g. just a line or a sample game) which would help you get an answer.

Also I'd title it 'I'd like to know...' or 'Could you help me find...' or 'Is there...', etc - as it is now (I appreciate your first language isn't English) it sounds like you're offering the solution and it's a teaser.

@Sreenath_Nair

There are thousands of videos in youtube and internet but we cannot watch them all. Even if English is not our native language, as a chess players we communicate with chess variations. Please write exactly the variation that you are referring to and we will check it out. Thanks in advance!

Then we can all talk in the forum.

Creating PGN files is a HUGE time requirement

Dear Chessmood,

I very much enjoy your content. I have been working to create PGN files in chessable so that I can drill them, I have done this with all of the Scotch videos and most of the Sicilian videos but it is extremely time consuming. We each have only so much time we can devote to chess and it seems that spending time manipulating software is not the best use of chess time. It is also very difficult as the software has limits. I am spending hours upon hours wrestling with software and not actually learning chess. It is extremely frustrating.

Please tell me, step by step, how you recommend building chess PGNs. If this is the recommended way to learn what are the exact recommended steps that are not extremely time consuming and will facilitate the best learning. What software do you use and what is your study methodology with this software?

I have read your position that you do not want to hand over a PGN because the student may not watch the videos and they can learn more from building their own PGN. I very much disagree with this position, the videos are VERY educational and having them in conjunction with a PGN that can be clicked through does facilitate learning. However, I feel like I have wasted dozens of hours trying to build PGNs and I am probably not doing it right. Trying to learn openings this way is requiring much more time than perhaps you intended.

Thank you for your help,

Leslie

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You don't have to build the pgn all at once, it can be done bit by bit and updated at your own pace. To start with it is enough simply to list the main candidate moves shown in the videos in the pgn and work your way from there. The time investment is well worth it.

Hope that helps.

PostScript: What software are you currently using to create and view your pgns.

Hi Leslie, I think that Chessable interface is less than ideal for entering and keeping your pgn files. Normally we all work with Chessbase which is the standard between chessplayers, but it is an expensive software. I had been looking at free alternatives lately and I like the following software (opensource and free) which is called pgnchessbook. https://pgnchessbook.org/fileopen/
It has many cool features and I am sure that it is more than enough to insert the moves and maintain your repertoire up to date. And if you like to have your games on chessable, you can always import your pgns there. You can also check your games from chess.com or lichess directly on it.
Also I would recommend you to read again the post:
https://chessmood.com/blog/the-most-effective-way-to-create-chess-pgn-files

What I do is to watch the video first, take some notes of the main opponent moves and then I try to recreate the variations in the pgn. This is what you can find in the pgn provided in the courses, then from there you can build the rest after watching the videos, this is the idea, to fill the variations when you already know how to play, this way you will remember it much better. I hope that this helps, but we are here for you if you need us.

@Leslie_Smith

Following yesterday's conversation.

When you create a database in Chessbase it is automatically named "something".cbv This is your database in chessbase standard format. Then you have to change it to pgn which is the free and normal standard. You do not need to select the cbv, just select all the games that you need to convert to cbv by pressing the shift key and selecting. I hope that this makes sense.

We all own Chessbase, the normal software, not the web version. You do not need any extra database either.

https://shop.chessbase.com/es/products/chessbase_16_program_only

But if you are starting and do not want to spend the money, please do check and try the freeware software that I mentioned, there is no need to pay just to produce your pgns...

Enigmatic Chess Tactic: The Lifeline

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Thank you ChessMood for publishing this instructive article.

I enjoyed thoroughly the article. thanks to chessmood  

Is 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 line missing from our repertoire

I lost to this line all the time. Please help. Thanks!

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Hi Kevin,

Shouldn't you just go 3...c5 and transpose to maroczy with g3 after next cxd4 or to benko after 4.d5 b5?

Yes, as @Paulius_Juknis pointed out, check out the Maroczy Bind course, the section 2 https://chessmood.com/course/maroczy-bind/episode/736

Also it can transpose to some benko lines, but I believe the Maroczy and similar lines are the most probable ones.

@Paulius_Juknis

The move-order 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 c5 is trickier than you might expect at first sight. See the following discussion from a year ago for details:

https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-members/opening-for-black

Actually now might be a good time to drop sensei a friendly reminder to revisit this topic.

Yes, we'll play 3...c5! 
It's on our recording list. 

Thanks all,

I decided to transpose to KID classical or Financhetto after 1. d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6.

Which Player's games should I analyze in order to improve calculation

I want to improve my calculating skill which player's games should I look. Or are there any books where I can get games filled with chaos?

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Puzzle solving is best way to improve your calculation. If you are under 2000 fide then i suggest you to try woodpecker method. You can also work on Train your Brain with 1200 Chess Puzzles. Rest i can share if I know your real strength.