Chess forum by Grandmasters

Caro-Kann 5... e5 9... Kxd7 missing

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c4 e5 6. dxe5 Nxe5 7. Qe2 Qe7 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. Bxd7

Unfortunately Kxd7 has been overlooked here and needs considering as I found out. The idea is that Re8 is coming, and yes the d-pawn is a long term liability, but before the middlegame, the Gods placed getting whacked around in an opening by a caveman where you can't castle.

After 10. Qb5+, both Kc7 and Kc8 have been played, both scoring Black wins for 2200 players (lichess' db for what it's worth) and the White king position comes under attack; Chessbase has 11  games with 2 White wins, 2 losses and the rest draws.

I'll need to look a bit deeper at these lines with the engine, but it may be that although long term White has a big plus, practically, particularly in blitz with a seasoned caveman on the other side, this is around equal chances for the club player at least looking at the defence the computer put up (stronger players might be able to tactically survive over the board) - and as a White player do you really want to have to study this rare line in depth and remember all the ways Black can annoy you.

Perhaps for practicality purposes, 8. Be3 should be considered giving a bishop for a knight, but black still has an isolated pawn which knights will be happy to blockade if given the chance: 11 White wins, 1 loss (lichess), 4 wins, 1 loss (and that was loss was unrated players) Chessbase.

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Sample harassments:

10. Nd2 Re8 - Black is better

10. Qb5+ Kc8 11.Be3 Ng4/c4 - Black gets rid of his isolated pawn, and gets two bishops. The only problem is the Kc8 which gives White a minute plus.

10. Qb5+ Kc8 11. Ne2 Nf6 12. O-O a6 13. Qb3 Nf3+ -  White has a minute plus

10. Qb5+ Kc7 11. Bf4 g5 12. Bg3 f5

10. Qb5+ Kc7 11. Be3 Nc4 - Black is winning

10. Qb5+ Kc7 11. Ne2 a6 (intending Nd3+) 12. Qa5+ b6 13. Qxd5 Rd8 - equal

10. Be3 Nc4 - Black is better

Am about to run out of time to look further right now, but a sample line for investigation is:

8. Be3 Nxd3 (not the only try) 9. Qxd3 Qc7 (clearing the e7 square and considering action against h2) 10. Nd2 (to allow a retreat to c4 by the Q after Qxd5) Bd6 11. Qxd5 (else Ne7) Ne7 12. Qc4 (Qd3 invites Bf5) or 11... Nf6 12. Qc4

I do not see anything good for Black after having the King in the center on move 10. I played this once on the board with Kxd7, the game went 10.Qb5+ and Nc6+, Be3, Kc7 and I took on d5. Later Re8, Qc4 and I had a good position with a black king stranded in the center while all the kingside did not develop yet...  The Queen on e7 is blocking the bishop too, Nf3, castle and the position is very good in the long term. It is nothing to worry about, it surprised me when the Black opponent played Kxd7, and I thought ok, king in the middle, let's show the king who's boss!!

I'd really like the CM team's input on this one, not just about the Kxd7 option but in general.... It seems that 5.. e5 isn't so dubious at all. In fact, it seems to equalize. Yes, black has an isolated pawn, but it's one single weakness and otherwise it's not that white has any initiative here.

You can also play 7.Nf3 instead of 7.Qe2, imo it gives good play vs IQP, for example 7..Nxd3 8.Qxd3 Nf6 9.0-0 Be7 10.Bg5 0-0 11.Nbd2, I would play this position, esp having watched some Karpov games against isolani already :)

May 17th 2021 (Daily Study Updates)

Soon will start updating my new and daily chess self study updates. 

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Here is my old daily updates.

https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/daily-study-updates

Tomorrow will updates what I studied in last 2 days.

Working on my secret opening weapons. Now updating the pgn files which I created in past and I am also working on endgames books. Soon updates more.

Missing PGN's

I don't see PGN for English course.  Thank you.

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Dear Anthony,

The pgns to fill out the lines are normally available once the course is complete. This course is not yet finished, we will upload more lines soon. Stay tuned... 

Pro-Membership using moodcoins

Sir is it still possible to get a pro-membership through mood coins?

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No.It is no longer possible to do so but you can try becoming an affiliate partner of chessmood

Dear J.Pragkya,

Becoming a promember by exchanging moodcoins it is not possible, you can exchange the moodcoins for courses only.

Is there more info about the Beat the Abracadrabra book

Hello do you have more info about the Abracadrabra book.

And what is the difference with the TP sections about this subject

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Hello dear Franck,

The book is going very well, the last that I know of is that they were choosing the cover, which is pretty difficult to do.... But I will ask Avetik to tell you something more. ;-)

It'll be published this year, and can't reveal the details :) 

Cheers,
Avetik 

Killed in the kingside in the Classical Maroczy

Hello!

I have recently played an online game in a friendly tournament where I have been surprised by the following move order in the Classical Maroczy:

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 d6 8.Be2 O-O 9.f3! Bd7 10.Qd2 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 a5 12.h4!

It is true that I am no master of defence, but I found this extremely unpleasant and did not now at all how to react. Then I checked the database and found that White scores an astonishing 81% in 21 games, the highest-level game being Asis Gargatagli, H. (2515) - Suarez Uriel, A. (2391), 1-0 (31), ESP-ch 2018.

My game from here on was totally one-sided:

12...h5 (probably a mistake, collaborative with the attack) 13.g4 hxg4 14.h5 gxh5 15.fxg4 e5 16.Be3 Bxg4 17.O-O-O Bxe2 18.Qxe2 Ng4 19.Rxh5 Nxe3 20.Qxe3 Rc8 21.Rg1 Qf6 22.Nd5 Rxc4+ 23.Kb1 Qe6 24.Ne7+ Qxe7 25.Rxg7+ Kxg7 26.Qh6+ Kg8 27.Qh8#

Is this form of play covered either in the course or in the webinars? What would be recommended to defend against this violent attack in the Classical Maroczy?

Thanks!

Alejandro

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On move 9.f3 you have transposed totally to a line analized in the Modern Maroczy bind, which I recommend wholehearthly to every advanced player. I love playing the Modern Maroczy and so will you I believe Alex.

As for this move order, you have reached a kind of normal Maroczy bind but with some differences explained in the video 49. But here f3 is played instead of castling, changing the position of the normal one because they play f4 normally... Here we have 2 options Bd7 and Nxd4, but I will ask the team because the Qd2 move and h4 idea is not present in the video. In the meanwhile for the rest of us, please take a look at https://chessmood.com/course/modern-maroczy-bind/episode/522 and see if anyone has a good idea about this.

Hey Alex! 
I think Modern Maroczy Bind is better. 
But for understanding it deeper, you need to understand the classical Maroczy Bind first. 

Coming to your question 9.f3 allows you to play 9...Nd4 10.Bd4 a5! 

Now you shouldn't worry about f4,e5, which you would have, if they played 9.0-0 

Now after 10...a5 you want to play a4,Qa5,Be6, Rc8... (Not always Bd7 ) 
This way you would get counterplay faster. 

Cheers,
Avetik 

Finally OTB tourney

hello chess friends
finally otb tournament in 4 months
how to prepare?
of course tactics....
what about the rest? have no opening repertoire , middle game and endgame knowledge kind of poor 
Rating USCF 1318 chess. com around 1700
plan is to get these 7 games in tournament conditions then  will find a coach
thanks for advice
Wilson

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I think it would be very useful for you to read the book of Jeremy Silman-'  Reasses your chess'.

It will help you find clear plans in the positions which arise in  your games

Pirc 4..a6 with b5 Sielecki chessable idea, best way for white?

Hello,

There is new chessable course Lifetime repertoires - Pirc by Sielecki and he suggests to play this way against CM preparation in pirc: 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Bf4 a6!? with next b5 and not developing Bg7 as not to lose tempo. I think it's not covered, saw 4..c6 with similar b5 idea to which we play e5.

I did my little investigation and found that maybe immediate 5.e5 gives white some small edge, the line goes 5..Nh5 6.Be3 dxe5 7.dxe5 Qxd1 8.Rxd1 Be6 9.Nd5 getting 2 bishops 9..Bxd5 the game could continue 10.Rxd5 e6 11.Rd1 Nd7 intending Bc5 12.g4 Ng7 13.Bg2 c6 14.h4 Nd5 15.Nh3 with small edge for white imo.

So, please give suggestions about this 4...a6. Txs 

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Sielecki, the infamous IM that runs away when playing Gabuzyan online... I do not recall which Bundesliga streaming was, about one month ago I believe and every time that he got paired with Gabuzyan, Sielecki just cancelled the game to get a new pairing! He did that 3 times during the streaming, this way Sielecki elo did not change. Even Gabuzyan got a warning for an unfair practice while it was Sielecki the one that was cancelling the game every time.

In all my years playing online I never saw such a thing, such cowardice. If you get paired with a GM you get happy, you play your best, you dont run like a chicken! Plus if you are a famous autor of opening books you should test your lines with the best... Anyways, I will never brother to check anything done by a chicken, I will just think like a lion on the board.

By the way in Sielecky suggestion, where does Black and White castle? You should put all the line and see where and if it can transpose to our repertoire exchanging the move order...

2 Solutions to May 30 Daily Puzzle

After Nf4+ Ke4, I played Ne2 it said it was wrong. I was surprised, looked again and was even more convinced it was correct. Apparently there is another move that wins... sigh

What can you do

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Yeah Nf4-Ne2 with forks everywhere and the pawn queen's  was the first win I saw as well and got it 'wrong'  apparently the author only considered Nh5 to be the solution. Funny thing is I have a deja vu feeling like I got this 'wrong' before with the very same Ne2, so somehow Nh5 seems to be a blind spot for me. :-)

Early e5 in Caro

Not a game-changer but would appreciate some views on the best approach.

e4 c6 : d4 d5 : e/d c/d : Bd3 Nc6 : c3 e5 ?! . Obviously you have to take the e5 pawn ( d/e Nxe5 ) but I was unsure whether to play Bb5+ and then Qxd5 as my opponent got a lot of play for his pawn . This is what I did but not sure if this was best and didn't like the resultant style of play. 

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After Nxe5 Qe2! is the move to remember. Against IQP is very good to change Queens. If ...Qe7 Bb5 and I am sure that this should be in the course. I will check it out and try to find the chapter. I did not make up this move in the pgn myself I believe.
Ok, I am editing this post to add the link to the video in the course. Now you have the complete explanation by our Sensei Avetik himself!

https://chessmood.com/course/caro-kann-defence/episode/161

Some opening course suggestions in the future

Hi,

Are there any plans in the future to make some of these courses

for white

1.e4 vs minor lines like 1...b6, 1..a6

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Qe7 - could be in philidor section, weird move, but playable game, with h6, c6, d6 kinda bad philidor but playable even some GMs go for this

1.e4 c6 2.d4 Na6!? - interesting no theory system, anyone know this, saw GM playing as black in OTB

for black

vs minor/rare white moves like 1.b3, 1.b4, 1.Nc3, 1.e3 and such

What do you guys think? Maybe add some that's on your mind.

Txs and great courses, learning a lot :)

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Dear Paulius,

 Thanks for your posts and being always so helpful! :-)The courses are getting updated and improved regularly and new courses and variations are being added. There are many, many hours of unseen work behind the lines of our courses. If you had seen Chessmood since the beginning you would have seen how much the site has grown, and we will make it grow much more altogether.

 That said, with our GMs team we work in the material for a very long time, we do not rush before publishing the new material. We value quality over quantity, that has been stated several times in seminars, streams, posts, etc.

 Take as an example the latest Gambits refutations courses, I am sure that they will last a life time, very detailed an easy to grasp but we spent many hours trying to work out the best practical refutation.

 Also, this cannot be the Bible of openings, we cannot cover every possible variation, there is no such thing in chess, we have to be practical and apply common sense and also Pareto's rule as much as possible. (An article will be published soon regarding this)

 It is much better to study 1 hour of any of our courses on the middlegame (I am a big fan of Hellsten’s defense course, Happy pieces by Avetik and the Bishop pair by Gabuzyan, or any Classical games course by Avetik and I recommend you and all our promembers to watch them again and again...) than to spend 2 hour preparing for the move 1…a6 for White. Do not get me wrong, I am not meaning this in a bad way, we have to be practical with our time.

 Be practical always. As for the courses that you wrote, we will make a course on 1…b6 or how to play against 1.b3, 1.b4 and all the minor lines that can add value and are worth studying. We are on it, we are here for all of you and we will COGRO together! ;-)

Hi fellow Quarantine Liga warrior,

I also think that not every possible variation has to be covered, as we are meant to eventually "graduate" from CM courses, if I understood COGRO correctly. What the courses here offer is not the only definitive way to play, but a good start into an opening that quickly familiarizes you with the nuances, instead of you having to spend maybe multiple months going through the mainlines with unsecured guidance. 

P.S. I am playing a GM invitational (2436 avg) at the moment, so sadly I have to miss Sunday. Good luck all!

Applying what we have learnt

Hi coach,

I am currently going through the Arthur Yusupov series (Just finished the second book) but I feel that I am not able to apply whatever I have learnt in the games I play maybe because the series focuses on individual aspects in each chapter.

Is there anything I can do for this?

Thanks in advance.

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Classical Commented Game with Woodpecker Method

https://chessmood.com/course/chess-classical-games/episode/1680

Coach said in this video that we should see only one Classical Commented Game a day but as I am a Pro Member from past one year so I saw all 100 games in last one year 2 times.  So, is it not good for me to apply the Woodpecker Method on this Classical Commented Course? Like seeing 7 times whole commented video course in next 3 months?

Woodpecker method is a reputed method to grasp patterns on tactics as well as tactics so I thought to apply it in classical commented games.

What you think guys?

Here is the schedule:

Total duration is 26 hours.

First cycle:

One month duration 26 total hours.

Second Cycle:

Duration 15 days almost 2 hours a day video viewing)

Third Cycle:

Duration 7.5 days ( Almost 3.5 hrs a day video seeing)

Fourth Cycle:

Duration 4 days  ( seeing 6.5 hours a day) 

Fifth Cycle: 

Duration 2 days  Only pgn reviewing.

Sixth Cycle:

Duration 1 day and only pgn reviewing

Seventh Cycle: 

Half Day whole 100 games pgn reviewing 

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Even we can complete it in 2 months. Whole Pattern Based Classical Commented Games

Cool idea! We can remember the patterns well.

Hi Abhi, I am familiar with the Woodpecker Method (I ran all 7 iterations with the easy exercises). 

But to apply this learning concept to the classical games would first mean to define what the patterns are you are about to internalize with the Woodpecker Method. Just doing this could be something really useful. But I think what you would need is some kind of framework for evaluating positions (e. g. "Find the right plan with Anatoly Karpov" by Karpov/Mazukevich). Your task would be to relate the game/critical position to your concept for evaluating positions.

And having done that - what do you want to internalize? The sequence of the moves from the  game? Or a more verbal description of the plan?

Or do you just want to memorize the games?

Looking forward to hearing who you proceed.

Nils

mistake in Benko course

    I was making my pgn file for the Benko course (which I would 1000% recommend) when after the following line, (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 Bxa6 6.Nc3 d6 7.e4 Bxf1 8.Kxf1 g6 9.g3 Bg7 10.Kg2 0-0 11.Nf3 Nbd7 12.Rel Qa5 13. e5 Ng4 14.e6 fxe6 15.Rxe6 Bxc3 16.bxc3 Qxc3 17. Bf4 Nde5 18.Rc1 Qxf3+ 19.Qxf3 Nxf3 20.Kxf3 Ne5 21.Kg2 Nd3 22.Rc2.) Here Mr. Avetik says that 22.Rc2 is a blunder because of 22...Ne1+"forking the rook" the thing is, white just smiles and takes 23. Rxe1, and is a full piece up.  However, not to worry, as 22...Rxf4! is winning; 23.gxf4 Nxf4+ 24. Kf3 Nxe6 25. dxe6 and 25...Ra4 black is winning.  Just thought I'd let people know, Thanks!

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Thanks Brody for reporting it! By the way, do you know the exact video?

Scotch

Hey I have a question: 

I finished the course about scotch 2 months ago and I have good results except at the variation with 4...Nf6. I dont feel pleasent with the occuring positions and so I get bad results in this line. What should I do about it ?

Thanks to everyone who helps !????

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Tips, that help me:

1. make your pgn as you're watching the course, depending on your level you may not wanna go deep, just write ideas in comments, it sticks better if you forget some lines

2. play online (or even better get a sparring partner) and after every game or session, check what you did wrong or even rewatch some parts so you better remember the ideas.

3. if opponent played smth unexpected not covered then edit your pgn and try to find solution/plan with engine or ask in forum, this really helps building up your practice in the opening

4.play OTB games with selected opening if possible and analyse the games

Practice makes perfect as they say, I know it's hard to remember so many lines (I have not so good memory), but when you play a lot, the ideas start to stick and even if you forget something you know basic ideas and middlegame plan after the opening. Hope that helps

@Noah_G

Could you be a bit more specific about what you don't like about the resulting positions after:

 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nxc6 bc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.h4!?

That would be really useful in helping us help you.

Thanks.

No recordings yet from two Bundesliga streams ?

For now it is not possible to see the recordings from streams 06 may and 20 may?

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Hello Mogens,

On the 5th there was no Bundesliga streaming, sometimes our resident GMs cannot play.

As for the 20th of May I do not know why it is not posted yet. I will thell the team to do it. In the meanwhile I am posting the link below for the streaming:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0CrFIHPreQ

Found the lost one! Thanks Mogens and sorry for not being able to locate it earlier! Now when I found it remembered watching this streaming myself live!!

https://youtu.be/QbS70bkYsQs

I hope that you enjoy it!

Anti-sicilian Nc3 with d6 8... Nd4 10... Ng4 video 8

It seems the demise of this variation (changing the theory) is a little premature.

After 8... Nd4 9. Nxd4 cxd4 10. Nb5 Ng4 (video 8) is marked as ?

After 11. h3, 11... a6! is not considered. Now it's not so clear and it could be that Black is slightly better but it's close to equal.

After 12. Na3, my opponent played the bad Ne3 (this is probably the move that deserves the ?), but Nf6 instead is quite unclear and the engine just isn't sure.

If instead 12. Nxd6, Qxd6 (now possible as no Bd7 blocking as in other lines that were considered) 13. hxg4 Bxg4 and again the engine seems unsure giving White advantage one moment and Black (or equality) the next.

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OPENING FOR BLACK

Hi GM AVETIK, can u please tell me our chess mood repertoire against white when he plays d4,nf3,g3,bg2 and 0-0 avoiding c4 and thus avoiding benko

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It's probably going to be 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 c5 from memory this was the course of Mikhalevski vs Avetik (2020) which ended in a quick draw. However there is a Chessable Course by IM Christoph Sielecki (Keep it Simple 1.d4) where he suggests 5.dxc5!? and shows that this move contains more poison than one may think. Since I'm primarily a King's Indian player I have more options against this line, but I've noticed that many players use this move-order intending a double fianchetto setup which has become trendy following Kramnik's successful adoption of it in a few games.

While you are waiting for a ChessMood course covering this side-line I would suggest that you check a database for ideas, find a role model and check his repertoire. Sometimes it is more beneficial to learn how to fish than to  ask for one.

Good luck my friend.

Image Files not Showing in Forum

I would like to bring to the attention of the technical team that uploaded image files such as .jpeg and .png are not showing up in forum posts.

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is it possible to send me one or 2 files which you could not upload in forum ? I have tried several times with 4 different format and they are all working , so trying to see when exactly it breaks .

you can email me  bhabatosh@gmail.com

Doubt and Clarifications Important Message

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Its the Sicilian Dragon I meant. 

Hello Nair,

In English, we go Knight to e7 since we are playing with e5. In Acc dragon we go Knight to f6 as if we move a pawn to e6 the d6 pawn will start hanging. In reality, there is no clear way to decide and each time it depends on the position.