Chess forum by Grandmasters

Caro Kann, whitemood repertoire how to create an attack with white ?

I played this OTB game yesterday and I was not able to buil up an attack on either kingside or queeside, what I've I missed ?

Who can give an advice ? As the position will occur again your comments will be very useful. Thnkas in advance for your help

Replies

do you have the pgn of the game?

Dear Carlo,

Indeed, the information is needed; if you can post a picture of the positions, I can see and provide recommendations.
 

As well, we have lots of model games here https://chessmood.com/course/whitemood-openings-model-games/episode/6404

This is the place where we add our best games, and that experience can help you a lot as well :-)

Good luck, hope you will master and enjoy the Caro Kann opening :-) 

what opening should i play

“Hi, I’m trying to choose a main defense vs d4.

I’ve played d5 setups (sometimes Triangle), but I often get passive positions and a bad light-square bishop. I know about breaks like …c5 or …e5, but I struggle with the timing in real games.

I’m also considering the Benko Gambit, but I’m not very comfortable with gambits.

Should I stick with d5 and improve, or switch to something like the Benko? I just want something reliable for tournament games.”

Replies

Well, I love Benko a lot, but!
Opening should be something you enjoy - you like what you get, so I would advise making a choice based on your feelings :-)
I play Benko, as I smile everytime I get it :-)

Why don't you try benoni defense or kings Indian defense or semi slav.

Yes, that'll be good, if you find it too advanced, chessmood dutch is always an option.

Sneaky move in the Alapin 4.Qc2

Hi all I faced this move 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Qc2 which defends the e4 pawn.

I played 4….e5 and opponent immediately played 5.Bb5.

Later he will play d2-d4 and if I exchange the c and e pawns I'll end up with a backward and isolated d-pawn.

If we play 4…d6 then White can play d2-d4 with a strong center since it's defended by the c3 pawn.

Now I know against 4.Qc2 Black should have many choices e5, e6, d6, a6, g6. What can you recommend for us to play following the Chessmood style?

Thanks very much,

Alex

Replies

Interesting Question!
I have never faced it :-)

So many moves are fine for Black.
I liked the most e6, followed by d5.
But it's also possible e5-Bb5-Bd6.
It's also possible to play with g6.

Thanks for the interesting question, it was fun to check it :-)
Let me know which move you liked the most :-) 

openings against d4

😆hello guys and grandmasters, i am struggling against d4 as a 2000 rated player, i play jobava londan and french as black but dont like dutch , kid

Replies

How about Benko?

That's what we advise at 2000 or above level, and it's my most favorite opening :-)

Then why don't you play semi - slav defense it is very solid.

1..Nc6 2..d6 3..Bg4 question

hi all!

Just wondering what the recommendation is after 1 e4 Nc6 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 Bg4 (most popular on Lichess).

Do we try and transpose with 4 Be3 or perhaps 4 Nc3 or perhaps 4 h3 or maybe keep it safe with 4 Be2 or do we try and punish them with the interesting 4 d5!? 

If they go 4..Nb8 we have a good centre but if they go 4..Ne5 (also the most popular) we have the option 5 Nxe5!? it gets very tactical with white potentially sacraficing his queen-see my little study below. 

thanks

Replies

Dear Paul,

I checked the position, and the line with 4.d5 as you posted here leads to an outstanding advantage for White, above +1 - which is super decent.

Great job in analyzing!
Hope you have a wonderful day :-)

White mood french defense 7. Be3 e5

Today in my OTB game I played with the white pieces, and the opening was a franch defense and my opponent played  7. … e5 after my 7. Be3.

How to handle this ? I put the game below,  so someone can give advices end improvements for white to handle this move.

Thanks

---------------------------------

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "ProMember, Carlo"]
[Black "na, na"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Carlo"]
[ECO "C01"]
[WhiteFideId "-1"]
[BlackFideId "-1"]
[PlyCount "38"]
[GameId "2298096329667798"]
[EventDate "2026.04.12"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[SourceVersionDate "2026.04.12"]

{[%evp 0,35,17,22,28,29,21,0,0,-6,-10,-10,32767,32767,0,-12,30,32767,32767,32767,6,35,36,-20,-35,-44,14,-35,-27,-21,-12,-30,-24,-52,32767,-64,-50,-61]} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Bd3 dxe4 4. Bxe4 Nf6 5. Bf3 c5 6. Ne2 Nc6 7. Be3 e5 8. Bxc6+ bxc6 9. dxe5 Qxd1+ 10. Kxd1 Ng4 11. Kd2 Ba6 12. Nbc3 Nxe5 13. Bf4 O-O-O+ 14. Kc1 Ng6 15. Be3 Be7 16. Ng3 Rhe8 17. Nf5 Bf8 18. b3 Ne5 19. Kb2 f6 1/2-1/2

Replies

Dear Carlo,

After 10…Ng4 11.Nd2 is the right continuation, we bring the Knight out; sometimes it goes to f3, sometimes to other squares - it depends a lot on how Black will continue, the position is not very concrete; however, if you want to see more, I advise working a little with the engine.

11.Nd2 is the answer!

Dear Carlo,

I didn't get whether you are asking a question or if it is a statement :-)
Could you please clarify :-))))))))

hahahah - cool than :-)))

Why is this a mistake?

I just finished playing a game, and I am not sure why one of the moves I made was a mistake

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/167477666574/analysis?move=24
After analysing the game, I saw that 24. Bxf6 was a mistake. I found that quite strange as I had watched the first few sections of the piece trading course, and I asked why before I traded. Basically, my logic for trading was that it weakened the pawn structure around the black king, but apparently, that turned out to be a mistake

Can someone explain why?

Replies

The thing is, despite the fact of weakening the King, White gives up a dark squares Bishop, and also doesn't have ready resources on the King's side for a quick attack.

Also, the pawn on e6 is next to the doubled pawns, and they are gaining flexibility with a f5 move in the future.

3D Chessboard

😊

Personally, I think it would be great if Chessmood had a 3D chessboard setting similar to Chess.com's. I hope Chessmood will include a 3D chessboard setting in a future update. 

Replies

Hey there,

Thanks a lot for your interesting suggestion, we might have many different novelties in the future :-)

Can black survive?

Black to move...

Replies

If Qf2 I don't see anything, but I may be wrong

PGN for Benko Gambit

Hey there :)
Is it just me or PGN file for Benko Gambit doesn't open? At least I cannot add it in Lichess study, which I use for opening prep.

Replies

Hey Anastasiia,

Can you please describe your issue a little more in detail, so we can try to advise you :-)

1900-2000 rated player stuck

Hi, I'm a new member and I'm hoping to improve. I reached 2065 a month ago after improving fast after 3 months on chess.com from 1600 but since I'm self taught it feels like I don't have the right foundation. So far I've watched tactics ninja and loved how it simplifies the fundamentals. I'm so excited 😊. 

Replies

Hey there,

Did you check the study plans ?
https://chessmood.com/chess-study-plans 

silent strategy

why can i not buy silent strategy?

Replies

Hi Leo! the course was completed just recently, and we forgot to display the price. Now, with your reminder, we just did. So, please try again 🙂 

Advanced blackmood repertoire for intermediate players

Hi everyone,

I’d really love to see live streams on the advanced Black repertoire for intermediate players, especially those rated around 1600–2000.

This would be super useful for players who are trying to switch from openings like the French or the Dutch to the ones like the Accelerated Dragon and the Benko Gambit. I would also love to see more games on how to beat those annoying London players 😜 on the intermediate level.

I think a lot of improving players would benefit from this. 

Thanks!

Replies

Hey there,

These are the advanced webinars on those topics made by GM Avetik

https://chessmood.com/event/french-attack-advanced

https://chessmood.com/event/dutch-attack-advanced

I believe this would help.
U2000 level, our repertoire stands quite well out of my streaming experience :-)

Scandinavian. 2... Qxd5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.d4 g6

I have just had a game in this variation against a high rated (2716) online player and I have noticed that some strong grandmasters played it too.

In my game I lost due to the weakness of the center pawns.

[Event "casual blitz game"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2526"]
[BlackElo "2716"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. d4 g6 5. c4 Qd8 6. Bg5 Bg7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Qd2 Bg4 9. Be2 Nc6 10. O-O-O Nd7 11. Nd5 Nb6 and so on.

This plan is not mentioned in the Chessmood course, so I wonder if I just missed it or any regular plan better than what I did might be ok.

P.S. After a closer look at the game I see that I missed a big tactic there.

Replies

Hey Alexander,

In the game, Bg5 is a mistake.
I checked the position, and there are options with Be2 and 0-0, or playing with h3.
Position can develop differently based on what Black does. My advise would be to follow the games of strong players through the database.
As with the rating of 2500+, you will understand the middlegame ideas much better.

Strategic Masterpieces (Game 29)

In Game 29 of the 100 Strategic Masterpieces course (must-know classical games), there was the following position below

In the game it was played Bxd7 followed by dxc5 to create an isolated pawn on d5. I understand the logic

My question is, what is the difference between the above line, and playing dxc5 first, with the idea that if Nxc5 Black has an isolated pawn, and if bxc5, then Bxd7 and Black has weak hanging pawns?

Replies

Hi Teddi,

The difference is if bxc5 right away, then Black can try Nxc5 - followed by Nce4, which can be a little unpleasant.
In other words, the a4 Bishop doesn't do much, so we trade it off.

extraordinary talent or mediocrity?

I have a question. I play chess more seriously, meaning I already knew the rules and simply started learning and playing in July 2025. In less than a year, I caught up with a guy my age who had been playing chess for 10 years and always teased me about him being better back then. Does everyone who's better these days make this kind of progress or something like that, or is it a rarity? I'm asking out of curiosity.

Replies

I think it depends on the level you've reached and the games you've played. I don't know if it's a rarity, what I do know though is that the more games you play over time, the more your true strength will reflect. Just make sure you're setting your foundation right.

Beginner aiming for 1000 Elo

Hi all,

I've just started my chess journey (I was taught how the pieces move, but no tactics, many years ago) in the last couple of weeks.  In terms of progressing my chess learning, I thought that I would set myself a target of 1000 Elo (or whatever the equivalent is on Chess.com where I'm playing).  

Is that reasonable for a beginner?

What sort of time period should I target for reaching this target?  (I'm employed so it's a case of study/play/review in my spare time).

PS: I know that in Avi's ‘Improvement roadmap’ article he suggests a split of Study 25%, Practice 65%, and Fix 10%.  At the moment, as I know nothing about tactics, my split is probably more like 65%, 25%, and 10%.  Is that OK until I've learned some basics?

Replies

For the improvement plan, stick to the study plan. You should be playing most of the time, to lose the first 100 games as fast as possible. You need to try and make connections in your brain. As for tactics, 25-30% of the time is a reasonable goal. You don't want to overdue it though.

I don't know how much time for your goal, I got to 1000 really fast, it wasn't hard for me, and that was like 2 years ago. My tips is to simply play as much as you can and analyze. Tactics are good too as most of your games will be decided by them. Good Luck! Let me know how it goes. Hope this helps.

Keep getting your mind stronger, and work on puzzles.

play more games, anillize your games to learn more.

Try to find out what your opponent's threats and intentions are before you make your moves, solve puzzles and review your games. And learn important endgames (K vs KP, Lucena etc). Play with longer timecontrols.

Then you stop hanging your pieces you will get to 1000+ in no time.

Do puzzles daily. This will help with your tactical vision.

Czech Pirc

Please add the Advanced section of Czech pirc as c5 looks very tough move. Thanks you.

Replies

Dear friend,

We might have more updates in the opening courses, in a meanwhile if you can post an exact position or move sequence I will try to help :-)

New Success Story: From Lost Momentum to National Champion: Zoubaier's Comeback Story

No coach. 10 years of struggle. And still, he came back as National Champion. 🏆

Huge congratulations to our student, FM Zoubaier Amdouni🎉

A story of quiet resilience and a comeback no one saw coming. Here’s how he did it 👇
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Replies

Wow, bravo!

Yes sir!!!

Inspiring, amazing work, wish you a bright future.

Awesome. Great to see the ChessMood repertoire in action OTB.

small centre/passive

how to play really really agressivly in gambit style against passive defenses like e4 e6 d4 c6 it's really anoying and black has plan of d5 how to crush it hardly

Replies