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Chess forum by Grandmasters
Using Hiarcs Chess Explorer Pro - ChessMood Racer
Hi Chess Mood Community, I wanted to share some recent experiences that I had to using Hiarcs to create and update my PGN for Black/White Mood openings. I know many use ChessBase but hopefully this will help MacOS users. If you download the All ChessMood Racer Games PGN from the forum and open it in Hiarcs Chess Explorer Pro and then load your game that you want to analyze then you are able to open the tree explorer window and switch the database to the Racer games (see attached photo). By doing this, you are able to go through each move of your game and compare it to the moves that were streamed. It's a really quick and easy way to see where you went out of book. You can also do this method with the PGNs from the actual opening courses. This may be already known to the community but I didn't see it in the forum and I wanted to share. Thanks and good luck working on your PGNs.? https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-channel/summary-of-racing-from-1200-to-2200 https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-channel/summary-of-racing-from-2200-2800
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I use Hiarcs Chess Explorer Pro as well, and I love it. I do own ChessBase 16, which I run in a VM on my iMac, but Hiarcs Chess Explorer Pro has drastically fewer bugs and much faster searches if you convert your database to the HCE format. You can also run searches on previous search results. It's very powerful.
Idea for chess book recommendations
Hi chess friends, So I've seen dozens of chess book lists wherein chess masters recommend classics like the Life and Games of Mikhail Tal or My Great Predecessors. And then I heard about another chess video site whose GM coaches assign the same books to everyone in a given rating category. So all players in the 1600-1800 group are told to read through 2 or 3 specific game collections, while players in the 1800-2000 range have different books assigned to them. Could the GMs at ChessMood perhaps simply offer a list of recommended books broken down by elo range? I googled this before asking, and I noticed that there was a ChessMood page entitled "we recommend" or something like that. However, the link for that page is now dead. Thanks for your help!
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Yes, you are right. We had one page where we recommended some books, but since the update on the website, we removed it. Now we're working on a similar page, where people will be able to find our recommendations. Based on level and based on the topic. Stay tuned! ?
By the way, since you started this topic, what is your elo range right now, maybe I can give you some recommendation… ?
If you're looking for a book, then I can highly recommend Simple Chess by GM Michael Stean. It's written as a strategy book, but can also be enjoyed as a game collection. Stean is an excellent writer and annotates instructive games by the likes of Fischer, Botvinnik, Karpov, Petrosian etc. Although the book is sometimes viewed as a beginner book, it contains lots of profound wisdom that is applicable at much higher levels. If you manage to fully absorb everything in this book then you will for sure become a stronger player. And amazingly it is only $10 on Amazon. Probably the best value chess book out there. A gem.
buffering
why today courses are buffering a lot when my internet is good
Replies
The issue is a result of the most recent Chrome update. Some of the users fail to load some videos.
We've contacted the support center of the video hosting service provider, and it turned out that the issue is on their side. So now they're working to resolve it.
Thanks to all for your patience and understanding, we hope that it will be solved very ?soon.
By the way if you try with another browser for the time being it will problably solve the issue. I always use Firefox.
OTB classical tournament in Lithuania - my games
Hi chessmooders, For a week I'm participating in the OTB tournament in my country. Trying to improve as a player and use the gained chessmood knowledge. Here I'll post the games I played: Round 1 vs GM - chessmood caro line with Avetik's maneuver Na3-c2-e1-d3 Need opinion of how to improve that variation the way this game went https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/5DZYYrEA4E
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I let Stockfish search fairly deeply (depth 48) on the position after black's move 19. I can post some lines, but will wait in case people want to post their own analysis.
Had 2 double round days so now I'm back with my game recaps. So far tournament didnt go so well, but I'm keeping the mood, fighting and sharing the games either way with you guys. Here's the game of the round 2 - interesting concept how to use compensation with 2 bishops, which I didnt manage to do unfortunately ? https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/2ZYuxJ7X1Y
Round 4 was an endgame knightmare for me (literally ?) but very instructive moment how not to play https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/3Sk9Nroezz
Finally bounced back in round 5 and scored in the dutch my first tournament win https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/2WENzGAXB4
From the round 1 game, Stockfish likes 20.g4 with a 0.68 score at depth 48. 20.f3 gets a zero score at the same depth. g4 looks a bit risky but makes some sense because their active bishop is driven back and our bishop gets a nice square on g2. 20.g4 Bc8 21.Rc1 (21.Bg2 exd4 22.cxd4 Bh6 is a bit annoying) b5 22.Bg2 is the main line. At least white has all pieces in play there. A sample line that shows white's resources is 20.g4 Bc8 21.Rc1 Qb6 (looks kind of tempting) 22.Bg2 exd4 23.cxd4 Qxd4 (Btw, I love how the d3 knight defends f2 here.) 24.Bc7 Rd7 25.Qb3 and black is in trouble with Bb6 threatened. 25...f5 is forced and engine shows +2.
In round 6 I won with caro exchange chessmood Bd3 line, though instructive moment with g5 push which I didnt make (for some reason ?) https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/2pgeDmyCkn the photo is from round 8 :D game coming up
Game 7 was a crazy one in the rare dutch setup for white, instructive mistakes were made by both sides, unfortunately I made the last bad decision which cost the game. Still I learned much how not to play these types of positions (I hope ?) https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/2LC69qCLTp
Round 8, used chessmood Grand Prix to good effect to score a cool win https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/515f7B3iw8
And the final round 9 game, which I'm not proud of, but there are instructive moments how even Latvian champion GM can go wrong in the opening and how to seize those critical moments https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/3dxpmfh3aN That was the end of this tough master tournament, scored 4/9 dropped 4 elo points, despite my intense training it didnt go well. I'm sure will do better in the next classical OTB in Riga in August Gained insight what I need to work on: - calculation, candidate move selection (calculation workbooks) - bishop pair in the middlegame/endgame utilization and play for compensation (game 2) - B vs N endgame - when the N is better, when B dominates refresh the knowledge (game 4) - openings I think I'm doing ok, just maybe analyse some lines from the games for the future Please friends, advise what you think my weaknesses are from these games and what I should work on. I'll continue playing and improving with chessmood, COGRO! ?
I was the guest on a podcast!
Hello ChessMood fam! Today's release of the Chess Journeys Podcast features me as the guest! I had a lot of fun speaking with Dr. Scull as we covered my chess journey. here is the link to the episode (47): https://open.spotify.com/episode/2xarC48yvYXfc4ulVVyi40?si=7CZ9cIn3RYu8QCmk-Wq1KQ Please share support for the podcast and have a listen, and let me know what you think!
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Hi Jay I'll be listening to that! I quite enjoy Chess Journeys - it's good to hear other people suffering the plateaus and trials of the game we love! Thanks for the notification!
Hi Jay I just wanted to say I really enjoyed your episode, and based on your appearance I have joined Chessmood today. I'm looking forward to getting stuck in and finally learning a proper opening rep instead of knowing about 4 moves and just following principles. I look forward to hearing you appear in a follow up episode in a year to see how you're journey is continuing. All the best :)
Great stuff Jay. I even listened to it twice :-) You have certainly set yourself an incredibly tough goal. I hope you celebrate some of the milestones along the way. Even USCF Expert, which hopefully isn't too far away, is a level that relatively few chess players ever attain.
The best games of June, 2022, and the prizes
Hello ChessMood family, hello champions and future champions!
Welcome to the "Best games of June, 2022" competition.
Under this post, we invite you to post the best games that you will play this month.
The Prize fund is 350K MoodCoins which is equal to 350$.
The 1st prize - 150K
The 2nd prize - 100K
The 3rd prize- 50K
The 4th prize- 30k
The 5th prize- 20k
Good luck with your games and keep the Right Mood!
#ChessMood
#Right Mood - Right Move
P. S.
Here are the winners of May, 2022:
Lebuta Dampty
Regis H
Mik B
Paulius Juknis
Aayush Shirodkar
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My collection of good june games outplaying the french https://www.chess.com/game/live/47923280655 https://www.chess.com/game/live/48016230623 vs caro https://www.chess.com/game/live/48872969143 battles in the scotch https://www.chess.com/game/live/48691786059 Grand Prix fun https://www.chess.com/game/live/48787241339 https://www.chess.com/game/live/49476611225 https://www.chess.com/game/live/49649973205 (Rxd6 exchange sac) https://www.chess.com/game/live/49734540511 (quick cute KO) fighting vs english/strange g3 sicilians with botvinnik setup https://www.chess.com/game/live/48016769173 and trapping queens in botvinnik setup https://www.chess.com/game/live/48693048597 vs modern https://www.chess.com/game/live/48782435287 https://www.chess.com/game/live/49221040469 adventures in acc dragon https://www.chess.com/game/live/48788964109 using 2 bishops https://www.chess.com/game/live/48090529337 strange benko https://www.chess.com/game/live/48091194649 strange Alekhine game https://www.chess.com/game/live/48268816651 vs Rossolimo https://www.chess.com/game/live/48270565801 Chigorin attack! https://www.chess.com/game/live/48271178579 insane Rxh5 https://www.chess.com/game/live/48696003649
Kingside attack against Philidor https://www.chess.com/live/game/47926817053
https://www.chess.com/game/live/42211262479
https://www.chess.com/game/live/47898586641
Quick win in Scotch
Another quick queen trapping in black english
Mating the black king on the f3 square https://www.chess.com/live/game/48109823173
My new favourite French Attack Bd7 .. open g and h files with mate on h1 https://www.chess.com/live/game/47863858987 Scotch Attack 4..Nf6 line.. punish slow play with nice tactic to finish https://www.chess.com/game/live/48148164847 Scotch Attack 4..Nxd4 line ... follow course ideas with solid, active piece play https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/47864409159
A nice win in scotch. https://new.chess24.com/game?id=215de8e17020
Lost a pawn due to premove :-/ And missed a couple of mates in the zeitnot but the double sac in b5 and d7 was satisfying! https://www.chess.com/live/game/48182347285
French attack against g3 system https://www.chess.com/live/game/48263336271
Nice Game https://www.chess.com/game/live/48191430143
Positional squeeze in CM Antisicilian
Attack in CM Antisicilian
Cool Game with Brilliancy https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/3A2DF6YfVY
Attack in CM Caro
The End position is just Beautiful https://www.chess.com/game/live/48276526259
A nice win in Scotch game rapid arena https://lichess.org/yL1hc6JypZyi
https://lichess.org/wN7TTQkQ#40 A nice bishop sacrifice
https://lichess.org/eEwSGcRrG5hZ Complete domination and finishing off with 26.Rf7!
https://lichess.org/pOUfF7I6j3mC
Happy pieces https://www.chess.com/live/game/48504023113
King in the center https://www.chess.com/live/game/48505743039
Caro-Kann .. follow course setup .. punish opponent blunders! https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/48488997513
French, keeping the initiative https://www.chess.com/live/game/48541764289
BlackMood French vs Tarrasch https://lichess.org/v8vxJo11/black#0
https://lichess.org/fF8wnkCo/white 22.Nf6! 15.Bh7! Tactic Ninja Op??
https://www.chess.com/game/live/48874259119 Some nasty tactics Again Tactic Ninja op #RIGHTMOODRIGHTMOVE??
https://www.chess.com/game/live/48928155363 A crushing attack
Played in scotch game rapid arena & Win a nice game https://lichess.org/iHQmQ8bQLvXU https://lichess.org/3suNToPwPnTy https://lichess.org/ZjXxhkOHzm8y https://lichess.org/GqY1NvLxJ29D
One of my best games in the Benko Gambit. I am especially proud of the Be4 move! 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nf3 Bxa6 7. g3 Bg7 8. Bg2 d6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Re1 Qa5 12. e4 Rfb8 13. Rb1 Ng4 14. Bd2 Bd3 15. Rc1 Rxb2 16. h3 Nge5 17. Nxe5 Nxe5 18. f4 Nc4 19. Nb1 Nxd2 20. Nxd2 Rxd2 21. Qf3 Bd4+ 22. Kh1 Qxa2 23. e5 Ra3 24. exd6 exd6 25. g4 Be4 0-1 https://www.chess.com/game/live/49103945621
Hello everyone) I want to show you my game. It was really fun and I hope you will enjoy.. It was a painful mouse slip (7..kf8) after wich I wanted to resign, but decided to play and create some problems to my opponent) He didn't solve them. [Event "Rated Rapid game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/SIHcuD2p"] [Date "2022.06.16"] [White "BudSpenser"] [Black "Alex_Terzi"] [Result "0-1"] [UTCDate "2022.06.16"] [UTCTime "10:01:08"] [WhiteElo "2542"] [BlackElo "2543"] [WhiteRatingDiff "-14"] [BlackRatingDiff "+99"] [BlackTitle "FM"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "300+5"] [ECO "A31"] [Opening "English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Anti-Benoni Variation"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "lichess.org"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nf3 { A31 English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Anti-Benoni Variation } cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 g6 6. g3 Bg7 7. Bg2 Kf8 8. O-O h5 9. h3 h4 10. g4 Qa5 11. Nb3 Qc7 12. c5 b6 13. cxb6 axb6 14. Be3 Bb7 15. Rc1 Rc8 16. Na4 Qb8 17. Nxb6 Rd8 18. Na4 Ne5 19. Bxb7 Nexg4 20. hxg4 Nxg4 21. Re1 Qh2+ 22. Kf1 Rh5 23. Qd2 Rg5 { White resigns. } 0-1
Hi! I want to show you the game I played today. I played white, and my username is - aksrihari My opponent won my queen by doing a discover check (...38. Qd5 f4+) after which I was losing. But in the end, I was able to win the queen back and eventually some how win the game. https://lichess.org/rDL5hedw Thanks!
https://lichess.org/BCPFkFN4/black Champagne Chess !! 19 Nf6+!! cannot be taken as mate in 2. 20 Ng5+!! If 20 Nxg8 Qxc5. If 20 ....Kxg7 21 Rd7!! threatening mate in 2 as the bishop is immune due to a knight fork and 21...Kxf6 22 Bxe7+ Kg7 23 Bf6+! Kf8 24 Ne6+ Ke8 25 Re7++ Vukovic mate. 21 Be7+!! If 21...Kxg7 22 Rd7!!! ?
https://lichess.org/fUzl2tWy/black#0 My bishop was trapped and was extremely vulnerable without protection somehow I managed to defend it.
First game as black playing advance French after seeing all the videos and following GM Avetik suggested line. At the end mate with promoting a pawn, but missed before a mate in 3 idea. 1.e4 {3:01} e6 {3:00} 2.d4 {2:57} d5 {3:01} 3.e5 {2:58} Bd7 {3:02} 4.c3 {2:58} a6 {3:01} 5.Nf3 {2:59} Bb5 {3:02} 6.Bxb5+ {2:49} axb5 {3:03} 7.O-O {2:50} c6 {3:04} 8.Nbd2 {2:48} Nd7 {3:00} 9.Nb3 {2:42} Nb6 {3:00} 10.Na5 {2:40} Rxa5 {2:56} 11.Qb3 {2:34} Ne7 {2:39} 12.Qb4 {2:32} Ra8 {2:24} 13.Qc5 {2:29} Nf5 {2:21} 14.Bg5 {2:12} Bxc5 {2:14} 15.Bxd8 {2:12} Kxd8 {2:14} 16.Ng5 {2:12} Kd7 {2:00} 17.Nxf7 {2:12} Rhf8 {2:01} 18.Ng5 {2:12} h6 {2:01} 19.Nh7 {2:12} Rh8 {1:57} 20.g4 {2:04} Nh4 {1:54} 21.Nf6+ {1:52} gxf6 {1:54} 22.exf6 {1:53} Rhf8 {1:55} 23.g5 {1:50} hxg5 {1:55} 24.f4 {1:49} g4 {1:50} 25.Rae1 {1:36} Rxf6 {1:48} 26.Re5 {1:30} Nf5 {1:41} 27.Kg2 {1:23} Nc4 {1:36} 28.Re2 {1:17} Rh8 {1:29} 29.Rh1 {1:03} Nce3+ {1:21} 30.Kf2 {0:59} Nc4 {1:10} 31.dxc5 {1:00} Rh3 {0:51} 32.b3 {0:54} Na5 {0:43} 33.b4 {0:52} Nc4 {0:40} 34.a4 {0:51} bxa4 {0:39} 35.Ra2 {0:48} Rxc3 {0:39} 36.Rxa4 {0:45} Rc2+ {0:32} 37.Kg1 {0:40} Rc1+ {0:30} 38.Kg2 {0:40} Nce3+ {0:30} 39.Kf2 {0:39} Rxh1 {0:30} 40.Ra7 {0:38} Kc7 {0:31} 41.Ra5 {0:33} Rxh2+ {0:30} 42.Ke1 {0:32} g3 {0:30} 43.b5 {0:27} g2 {0:28} 44.bxc6 {0:25} g1=Q# {0:29}
Here is one of my wins from the 2022 National Open in Vegas last weekend! This was a fun one!
Happy pieces (especially my white square bishop) and a nice mate to finish (missed it once though) https://www.chess.com/live/game/49369761507
Nice finish ! https://www.chess.com/live/game/49405212743
Punishing the owen https://www.chess.com/live/game/49464550703
Nice attacking game https://lichess.org/Yr0E55m3/white#59
Harmonious pieces in the Italian https://lichess.org/iiCkraDQ/black#35
Smooth game https://lichess.org/JVRpcFn5/black#15
Legal's mate in the grand prix
https://lichess.org/zbYocQROqZT4 ChessMood Scotch opening with a nice tactic that wins a piece. No mistakes per the engine. Enjoy, thanks, Leslie
Attacking the king in the centre https://lichess.org/GdGH4SLC/white#36
Here is an example of a Grand Prix attack as per Avetik's course . I recently started incorporating it in my games and it works great! https://www.chess.com/game/live/49897768019
I played this game shortly after going through Classical Attacking Game #7 (Vigilyanski-Chigorin "Everything for the Bishops"), inspiring 23.d5!? instead of the simple 23.Bc6. https://www.chess.com/game/live/49783160705 A Scotch where black forgot to play Qe7. There was a bit of an oopsie (black missed 18...Qh4), but after that black's kingside disintegrated under the pressure. https://www.chess.com/game/live/49588195263
https://www.chess.com/game/live/50077213541 French attack in exchange variation... race of attacking each other king.
Pawn sacs for activity in Sveshnikov. Some accurate moves to mop up. https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/50107159371
First time to post, friend told me it might be worth game of the month: https://lichess.org/kvsesJrw#0
Interesting game in the Catalan https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/50304576185
Active pieces in the Sicilian Alapin https://lichess.org/v7MvKq3s/white
Amazing game in the Sicilian Morra (I am Black) https://chessarena.com/v2/tournament_game/cbff60a6-f897-4632-bfc3-6db39723784f
Wow Nxd6 and Bxf5!
Champions!
Thank you for sharing your games! It was our pleasure to go through them. With every passing day, you all are becoming stronger and we are delighted to see that! Keep it up!
Moving on to the prizes for the best games of June 2022:
The first prize goes to Mike Waddington for the brilliant attacking finish without the Queen! The final combination with Bxe7+ was stunning!
https://lichess.org/BCPFkFN4/black
Buzzer grabs the second prize for the following game where Black builds a strong attacking initiative and wraps up with a nice combination.
https://chessarena.com/v2/tournament_game/cbff60a6-f897-4632-bfc3-6db39723784f
Paulius Juknis takes the third prize. It’s amazing how Black destroys White’s position on the Kingside in the English Opening with simple moves. Awesome game!
https://www.chess.com/game/live/48016769173
The 4th prize goes to Regis H for the following game in the Caro Kann Exchange variation. Patient for their attacking chance in the Caro Kann and a nice finish with a good old Smothered mate. Well done!
https://www.chess.com/game/live/49405212743
The 5th prize goes to Vedant Garg. The Greek gift sacrifice starting with 15.Bxh7+ was amazing. And 22.Nf6! – what a move! Great job!
https://lichess.org/fF8wnkCo/white#43
Congratulation, and thanks once again, everyone for sharing your games! Keep the right mood. Keep crushing.
Good luck for next month’s contest!
Any Ideas in the French attack after white plays 2 b3 bishop b2 Qe2 and long castles?
Or two g3? Any answers are greatly appreciated. I don't think we are supposed to take the sacrificed pawn in the b3 variation not sure though.
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Can you please provide the exact moves that you are asking for giving Black moves too?
Also what do you mean 2.g3? e4 e6 g3?
Thanks in advance!
Summary of Racing from 2200 - 2800
Hello, dear champions ? During today's webinar, we will summarize what we have seen during racing from 2200-2800. https://youtu.be/oGxCg5Dn2-4 We will see: 1. Most popular openings for that level 2. Interesting ideas in the middlegames which we are playing 3. Emotional accidents ? And many more! Below I am adding a link where you can download all the games of the streaming series. https://drive.google.com/file/d/17lhhIoHImqlj9RcDsRNY6A2m45aIVYmw/view?usp=sharing See you during the webinar! Let's learn some chess and have a good time together ??
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Trouble with videos hanging (pausing)?
Is anyone else having trouble with some of the videos spontaneously pausing while you're watching them? I don't know if this is called "hanging" or "buffering" or what, but it's been happening to me a lot the past few days. In particular, in the Tactic Ninja course, Sections 25 through 28. After waiting a little while, I close the course and reopen it. Sometimes that helps, sometimes it doesn't. Thanks for any help!
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No problems here.
I also had similar problems with other courses in the past few days
i've been having the same problem for a few days now. Gm Grigoryan responded to a similar complaint a couple of days ago. He said that he was aware of the pausing and that he had techs working to fix the problem. Hopefully they will fix it soon or a least update us on when they will correct the problem
Having the video pausing problems, very annoying.
It happened to me a couple of times today while watching one of the Classical Attacking Games. I suspect something is being bandwidth limited somewhere within the ChessMood stack. Anyway, it wasn't too bad: I just took note of where I was up to in the video, reloaded the page, and used the slider to go back to where I was up to in the video.
Sorry for the delay in the news update. I wanted to make sure that everything was clear.
The issue is a result of the most recent Chrome update. Some of the users fail to load some videos.
We've contacted the support center of the video hosting service provider, and it turned out that the issue is on their side. So now they're working to resolve it.
Thanks to all for your patience and understanding, we hope that it will be solved very ?soon.
By the way if you try with another browser for the time being it will problably solve the issue. I always use Firefox.
Question about Anti-Sicilian repertoire
Hi guys, I'm re-studying the Anti-Sicilian at the moment and I'm now on the line that goes: 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d5 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bc4 Nc6 6. 0-0 Nf6 7. d3 0-0 8. Qe1 e6 and now after 9. e5 Ne8 the course recommends 10. Be3 but never mentions what, to me, seems like the most obvious reply: 10. ...d5. OK, now 11. Bxc5 is possible, but after 11. dxc4 isn't Black getting both of our Bishops for the Rook? Nick
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Oh, hang on, this is dealt with in the Advanced Section. I thought, "I'm sure the move was Bb5 here..." Now I remember why!
Doubt in BlackMood openings-French Attack
Hello everyone, After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nc6 4.Bb5 it was recommended to go here 4...dxe4. But now what if they play here 5.Bxc6+ instead of Nxe4
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Just recapture and be happy that white gave you the bishop pair advantage. You might be concerned about the black pawn structure but the dynamic aspects of the position give black full compensation. This line was discussed previously here: https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-channel/french-attack-a-few-issues
King's Indian Attack with Black
The King's Indian Attack is relatively popular at all levels. Are we going to see a video on this opening? In the meantime, what is the recommended response? The Botvinnik setup comes to mind since we use it against the English with g3, and in some variations of the Closed Sicilian. According to the database, it enjoys a good reputation at the highest level. One of the main lines could be: 1. Nf3 c5 2. g3 Nc6 3 .Bg2 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. d3 e5 6. e4 Nge7 7. c3 O-O 8. a3 d6 9. b4 a6 10. Nbd2 h6 11. Rb1 Be6 WDYT?
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I think that the Botvinnik English as in Gabuzyan's course is the easiest way. I do not see any problem in playing the first 6 moves as you played. I asked him to check this, but I played this line several times and I never thought that it was a problematic line for Black, our usual setup works perfectly. ?
Hello Francois, Even though I also like Kings Indian a lot I believe in the near future we are not going to cover that opening. The reason is we have now solid openings for different levels and our priority is to work on a lot of middlegame courses, helping to improve chess understanding and become better at this game! About the sequence you mentioned, if white goes with c4 that positions you can find in the English course as black, and as well in the case of e4 setups in the Sicilian Sidelines course with 2.Nc3 - 3.g3 we cover that kind of structures as well. Good luck!
Problem with courses
I'm trying to watch the blackmood videos (Dutch vs London) and it's not loading. I just get the circle of doom rotating and the video not loading. Is this a problem from my side or from Chessmood?
Replies
No, no. It's our fault. Our developers are working on it.
Sorry about it.
Sorry for the delay in the news update. I wanted to make sure that everything was clear.
The issue is a result of the most recent Chrome update. Some of the users fail to load some videos.
We've contacted the support center of the video hosting service provider, and it turned out that the issue is on their side. So now they're working to resolve it.
Thanks to all for your patience and understanding, we hope that it will be solved very ?soon.
By the way if you try with another browser for the time being it will problably solve the issue. I always use Firefox.
Quiz position with multiple solutions
I did a run through some of the Tactic Ninja quiz today. Great fun. Here is a look at one position I ran into that had multiple winning moves. Attached is a screenshot of position 50, plus a screenshot of Stockfish analysis of all moves. Bxf7+ is the solution in the quiz - nice. Nh4 was the move that jumped out at me and it seemed to lead to a clearly winning position without much fuss, so that was my solution. O-O seems like more of an "engine sees all" type move :-) In any case, maybe there are just too many strong moves here for it to be a good puzzle. For some other puzzles, I think it can be good to allow more than one possible solution.
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I still dream of a puzzle-checker that would consider a solution valid if the eval on every move doesn't fall below a threshold (maybe 75% of the initial "totally winning" eval?). That would allow for multiple winning solutions, and not just the one the author envisioned.
Here's another one. This time the branching is the end of the solution. Rdxd1# is accepted but Rcxd1# is rejected. Clearly either move should be accepted as correct. Cool puzzle btw.
Maybe Nh4 wins, but you can't argue Bxf7 is practically the easiest won. Which you would even spot in a bulletgame around 1 second (at least that would be the final Goal :)) Btw: nice calculated
I completed the Tactics Ninja quiz and did not not encounter any other problematic positions. Definitely a great quiz with many interesting and thematic positions! Some quite tricky ones too. Well worth doing. I'm now working through the Mating Matador quiz. This is also a lot of fun. So far, I have only encountered one position that I think needs tweaking. In position 44 (see attachment) the solution that is accepted by the quiz is: 1...Nc3 2.Qc2 Ne2+ 3.Kh1 Qxf3 4.Bxf3 Bxf3# Unfortunately that solution is not sound because white as 4.Qc7+ Kh8 5.Qxb7! which turns the tables. Black needed to play 3...Bxf3 with an easily winning position. This is of course not a criticism of the quiz. Just some feedback in the hope that these minor blemishes will be fixed so that future versions are even better.
Here's another Matador position where the quiz solution contains an error. The quiz accepts the following line: 1.Qf3! Bxf3 2.Re8+ Qxe8 3.Bxf3+ Kb8 4.d7+ But there is a hole and black is winning after 2...Kb7. Fortunately it's just a small move order issue and the correct solution is: 1.Qf3 Bxf3 2.Bxf3+ (the Quiz currently rejects this) Kb8 3.Re8+ Qxe8 4.d7+
Peter M, we want to help everyone to improve tactics and to become good practical players. In this case, you should look for and see Bf7 since it is a check, and after seeing it, you'll do that one 100% of the times.
If you didn't see it, then maybe we are not explaining the concepts well enough and we will try to improve and learn from it. ?But in this case, we don't care that the engine says +8 after 0-0 or Nh4 since we are solving tactics and looking for tactical solutions, not long time plans. ?
We will work on fixing the rest of the puzzles of this thread though and we appreciate very much your input!
Thank you very much!?
One more from the Matador course is position #196. The solution starts: 1.Bd4 cxd4 2.Qxh6+ gxh6 3.Nxf6+ Kh8 But then the quiz only accepts the move 4.Rg8+ which is a blunder because of Nxg8. The correct move, which is not accepted by the quiz, is 4.Rdg3 which forces mate.
Another one: TacticNinja #356/777: in this position only (the more spectacular) Qe4+ is accepted, but also the less flashy Bxd5+ results in mate in 2. It's strange that I don't see anyone else reporting this. It would even be better to change the position a slightly bit: move the white Queen to a5 instead of a1, then Qe4+ would be necessary to find (and put a white pawn on b6 to prevent the alternative 1.. b6 good move from Black). New starting FEN code (before 1. Qa5) would be: 6k1/1p3ppq/1Pb4p/3B4/2P1n3/2Q3P1/4r2P/4R1BK w - - 0 1
Here's another little issue with the mating matador quiz number 51. After the correct move Qxg2+, Kxg2 only the follow-up Nd4 (attacking the Q and threatening #) is accepted, but Nb4 (also attacking the Q and threatening #) is rejected. Clearly either 2nd move by Black should be accepted as correct. BTW - this course and quiz is great, just as tactics ninja!
Cannot find Main Course On Grand Prix
Hi all, Does anyone know which course covers the Grand Prix system after Qe1? It is covered in the Whitemood Openings, Sicilian Course , Section 9 where Avetik talks about covering additional moves (in the main course) after Qe1. Thanks in advance! https://chessmood.com/course/whitemood-openings/episode/3756
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Anti-Sicilian Part 1
Accelerated Dragon c3 ?
Hi --- just started with the Sicilian to freshen up my game, as I like the Benko etc and my original French isn't really in the same style. Quick question :--- Ok I got a decent game but I have not seen so far any video on what happens if White reinforces the knight on d4 with c3. For instance :-- e4 c5 : Nf3 Nc6 : d4 c/d : Nxd4 g6 : c3 -- though it could go Be3 then after my Bg7 c3. I've had both. Not much of a sample frame but has happened twice in six games.
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Hi Keven!!!
?Putting the pawn on c3 is taking the natural square from the knight and it is kind of passive if you don't take on d4, which is White's hope I think. Just simple healthy development with Nf6 and White has to reinforce the e4 pawn.
The e4 pawn can be covered with the Knight on d2, but it will be blocking the Bishop and Queen, not the ideal square. Defending the pawn with f3 will allow us to castle and play ... d5.
The best move for White is Bd3, and we continue with our plan Bg7 7.0-0 0-0 and castling for both sides. After our king is safe, just go d5, for exemple if Be3 d5. Whenever you can play ... d5, Black should be equal. I guess that the c3-pawn is not the best placed piece. ? Hope this helps, just don't take on d4 and play the normal usual moves! I am attaching one picture for easier understanding.?
Anyone else have problems downloading the whitemood PGN's
The blackmood pgns downloaded fine but I am receiving an error message downloading the whitemood pgns. Any help would be appreciated.
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I just tried it and it works perfectly. Maybe try with another browser but I tried it with 2 computers with no problem whatsoever.?
Quizzes
I really like the quizzes that accompany the courses, but could I suggest a technical improvement? I would like to be able to skip to a different diagram without having to click through every diagram from the start. This is especially important for large quizzes, like the 777 tactics diagrams.
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Thanks Dennis, yes, this is indeed one of the areas that we will update in order to have better quizzes. Thanks for your suggestion?
The quizzes are definitely cool. And it's great to see they are being improved. Has the scoring been fixed? When I went through some quizzes a while ago, it only showed how many puzzles you had completed. More useful would be showing how many puzzles you got correct on the first attempt. Then you can see if you improve when you do the quiz a second time etc. For example I attached the screenshot from the Tactics Ninja quiz which I completed a month or two ago. I can assure you I did not get 776 puzzles correct on my first attempt! I simply completed 776 puzzles (I must have skipped one), some of which required several attempts to get correct. Another improvement for the quizzes would be to provide some information with each puzzle. For example for the Classic Games quiz, it should tell you which game each puzzle is from. For Tactics Ninja, it could tell you tell you the relevant section(s) of the course for that puzzle. Also, it would be nice if there was some sound when making a move in the quiz.
Anti-Sicilian: 5...e6
Had a game that started like this: 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. f4 Nc6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bc4 e6 No g6 or Bg7 as is covered in the course. I can't seem to find this line in the course. I continued 6. d3 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Qe1, which the engine doesn't seem to like so much. What's the recommended line here?
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The move 4…Nf6 is a small inaccuracy. Bb5 is the recommendation. Remember that with the positions with e6 and Nf6 we play the e5 break very often, but this is not the case. Bb5 goes first. Please check it out:
https://chessmood.com/course/sicilian-defence-part-1/episode/778
Summary of racing from 1200 to 2200
Hey, champions! ?
During today's webinar, we'll summarize what we’ve seen during racing from 1200-2200.
https://chessmood.com/event/racing-from-1200-2200-webinar
We'll see:
1. What are the most common openings and variations you'll face by playing ChessMood Simplified Openings
2. What are the most common opening mistakes on this level
3. How do our ChessMood openings perform against this level
And much more…
Below I'm adding a link, where you can download all the games of the streaming series.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qH56rJT1G6Gt9Iv1DeSa30GY7P4jt6J8/view?usp=sharing
See you during the webinar!
It's gonna be a very interactive one, so prepare your questions ?
