Chess forum by Grandmasters

Finding What can I achieve?

How to go about answering this question (#6 of 7Qs) didn't seem to be mentioned, although there was some mention of gaining small advantages often by pawn pushes.

Here's my thoughts on this:

. What comes to mind (perception, intuition, experience from play, watching games, classics and model games)?

. Fantasy position (reposition a few things on even better squares, then see if you can get there)

. If I had 2-3 moves in a row what would I play?

. Iterate through the possible moves, then trying to find a second move that achieves something (including moving a piece twice).

When playing several moves in a row, only consider opponent if forcing (recapture needed,  check response or threat response). Then check each final position Vs the original evaluation to see if any progress was made

Once an answer(s) to the question has/have been found, check opponent's possibilities to see if they can thwart the plan, or if their counterplan comes first (and does it need defence or prophylaxis first).

Thoughts?

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Yeah, that's a good question. At first glance it seems like the question is a little vague.  One idea I had is to separate the “achievements” into static and dynamic advantages.  Here is my classification of the examples:

Example 1: control a key square on the open file (dynamic advantage)

Example 2: create an outside passed pawn (static advantage)

Example 3: push opponent's knight to a passive square (dynamic advantage)

Example 4: create a weak pawn for opponent (static advantage)

Example 5: win bishop pair (static advantage)

Example 6. gain space on queenside (static advantage)

Example 7. gain space on kingside (static advantage)

I'm not sure if that's helpful to anyone but it definitely reflects some of my thinking about these positions.

I will say that I do very much like this course.  Although the problems aren't difficult I've found them to be very stimulating and enjoyable.  I don't tend to use an explicit list of questions when playing chess, but probably they are baked into my subconscious somehow.  Going through this course has definitely reenforced some stuff.

You forget guys, for what level is the course. 

Much better now.

Antisicilian part 2 - 3. ... Cd4 line with 4. ... a6

Hello dear ChessMood friends ! I have some interrogations regarding the following Antisicilian part 2 line : 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Nf3 a6 5. Bd3. I don't feel much comfortable with the Bd3 bishop in front of the d2 pawn and missing some clear development plan (or attacking plan). Except omission i'm not sure if this line is detailed in the course. Also i don't think that we have some model games. Could you pls kindly share your experience on this line, perhaps by providing your own games or any advices that may help. Thks a lot and keep the Good Mood !!   

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Hi, good morning. :)

I'll try to put here the main ideas and a few possible variants as well.

1. The idea is to avoid changing that powerful bishop, after  5. Bc4 b5 6. Bb3 (and “supporting” Black expansion and Queenside development). 
2.  Bd3 attacks b1-h7 diagonal and b2-b3, besides stopping c5-c4, allows Bb2 and the two bishops are going against the (more) possible Black castle Kingside.
3. Don't change the BQ Knight, unless it's extremely necessary (Close the center, for example).

   The game can continue with:

   a) 5. … g6

   And, if Black castles short, then h2-h4-h5 is a good way to use the bishop from d3.

   b) 5. … e6

   We can play 6. Bb2 or 6. 0-0 and Black will have problems to develop his kingside. When he plays Nf6, e5 will be a good answer. Other try could be d5, which is met changing, opening -e- file, then castling and putting a rook on e1.

   c) 5. … Nxf3+ 

   6. Qxf3 and we have another developed piece (3 against 0). It can go to g3 or h3 and it's ready to join the attack, without much effort.

   d) 5. … d6, threatening 6. … Bg4

   We can exchange knights and then c3 will let us get a semi-open -d- line, a weak pawn on d6 and a weak square on d5. As in the majority of cases in Sicilian Defense, d5 is a move that Black NEEDS to do.

   Additional, you don't like direct c3 idea, but b2-b3, followed by Bb2, then f4-f5 (with a previous 0-0-0) would be able to increase the pressure towards Black Kingside. 

   Well, I think these basic ideas will help you understand a bit more the plans for White.

   Wish you the best. ;)

   The 4. … a6 line is very well explained by coach Avetik in the advanced section ! 

Is puzzle rush good for my chess?

Hello, I wanted to know if the puzzle rush good or not ? what the chessmood family thinks ?

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I would definitely say it's good if used properly. I usually do one or two five minute puzzle rushes on chess.com before going to play on lichens or an OTB tournament. I just don't recommend doing it constantly, just do one before going to play some games. Hopes this helps.

I would say it helps in blitz games and sharpen the mind a bit. Very, very good for 1400 elo (approximately, not sure ) because you can meet there all basic  patterns, maybe all of patterns that exist and that are mentioned in Tactics Njnja and Matador courses.

However, for higher ratings these puzzles are too easy. And could become harmful. First, it is a bit addictive. Second, it takes time. Third, you should deffinately solve more difficult puzzles that will improve your calculation skills. Otherwise, your mind would be focused just on easy tricks.

I would say that Puzzle Rush can help you drill some fundamental tactical patterns because there is a lot of repetition of themes, particularly in the first 20 puzzles.  The issue is that the variety of themes is a bit limited.  You'll get very good at some things but some other patterns will hardly ever occur.  So it's useful to train on from time to time, but I wouldn't use it as my only tactics training.

The other use for Puzzle Rush is as a benchmark of your tactical skills and fast calculation.  Again, it's not perfect for this but it is a handy objective measure.  It's interesting and fun to compare your scores with friends, streamers, titled players etc.

French Attack

Where is the main section for French Attack located? I can’t find it

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Course Simplified chessmood opening, section black mood openings.

Best Regards

How do I get better?

I have this problem, which is that I see the correct move quickly (intuitively), but I find it difficult to calculate the moves. I don’t know, or I am being lazy, or my calculations are weak.
I wonder if anyone has encountered this problem and solved it?

Replies

Hi Khaled Sakr!

Your problem could be 
depending on many different factors, so to get a response that can really help you, you should probably provide more information about yourself (like your chess.com or lichess.org username), so maybe someone will check out your account and see why you got this problem. 

I hope this helps you! 😀😀😀

1. Tactics, Tactics, Tactics.
2. Play proper games!
3. Focus on simple openings.
4. Keep a mental checklist.
5. Always enter the middlegame with a plan.
6. Study the basic endgame setups.
7. Analyze all your games afterwards, especially your losses!
8. Study higher-level games.

Jobava Londona, early Qd2

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 Bg7 5.h4 h5 6.Qd2?!

What if white delays Nf3 and plays first Qd2, it prepares long castle and also Nf3 (so Bg4 is not pin any more).

Do we go with: 6… c6 or c5 or 0-0 (and if white continues long castl)

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Hello Ink,

In the mentioned position I would prefer to play either with c5 or first castling and then c5. In both scenarios, Black gets a good game in the center and Queenside.

Good luck 😉

Chess engine

When I prepare openings the engines always shows like this is wrong that is wrong and shows equality.what can I do

Replies

Hi chessisfun,😀

Welcome to the forum, regarding this post, 2 things to point out. 

1st. Please remove Chessmood from your name, otherwise it may be confusing for the rest of users since you are not from the Chessmood team.😅

2nd. Please explain yourself better in your post because as far as I can see it, it makes no sense. Yes, engines evaluate the position, this is their purpose. What do you mean by “what can you do?”.😊

Query about tactic ninja

Hello I would like to know why is there an option called lifetime access in the tactic ninja section.i mean I saw all the sections of the video are already unlocked .so what's the point of lifetime access .?or I am missing any details ?

Replies

Hi Ar, welcome to the family! 😁

Well, if you are a promember you have access to tactics ninja. I you are not, you don't. Some people may want to buy just the tactic ninja course, that is why we have this option, so anyone can buy this course and have access forever even if they are not a promember. 😊

OTB instead of Online

Hi Guys,

A new OTB season is starting very soon and I'm wondering if I can switch my online playing completely with OTB? I know I should at my level (1450 FIDE) play a lot and analyse my games, but truth to be told, I do not really like online chess. For example, I played around 40 rapid games on lichess with a new account (I made it for ChessMood), and I won a bit more than half. I reached a record rating as well, around 1950 lichess. 

My problem is, that out of that 20 games I won, my opponent hung the queen in 5! No crazy tactics either. I attacked the queen, they didn't move it, I took it, resigns. The last guy was almost 2100 on lichess. That just doesn't happen in OTB games, not even at my level. So I'm not sure how well does online playing translates to OTB. Also, online people play all kind of nonsense, that also doesn't happen OTB. In my experience OTB people doesn't dare risking their rating with that.

I'm also planning to start to play a fair number of OTB slow games. But I don't know. What do you guys think? Can I replace online chess with OTB and still progress? Or is it okay if I cut back on the online chess part? What do you think?

Replies

If for OTB you refer to slow games (for example FIDE format 90 minutes + 30s per move) I think it's a great thing. You can simulate the same conditions of an official tournament, train your thinking process, refine your calculation, etc. with the benefits of analyzing the game first with your opponent and then with home analysis. You could play at the same time rapid online games mainly to test your opening knowledge and your tactical ability. If instead for OTB you refer to rapid and blitz games, I think you will not find relevant benefits for your chess in comparison to online games, the only good thing will be to spend time with your friends and other people.

Hi Balázs,

I understand and agree with some statements - like online players tend to blunder more, or do some nonsense ideas or play, while over the board everything is more conservatives.

I think though completely cutting the online games will be a mistake, as how else are you going to practice what you learned. Imagine you just finished an opening and need to practice. You will need to play lot's of games to learn the typical ideas and middlegame plans which will be much easier and comfortable to do in online games. Or you jus finished course on SLP and want to play without a piece to test your knowledge. Same thing - online much easier and faster. 

To summarize - you can of course rely on OTB games and that can be your indicator of growth, but overall once you improve your chess level in both online and OTB your results will be better. And you will face online opponents doing less nonsense actions!

Good luck!

Congrats to Angelo who was captain in today event

he took all the good decisions while having so many différents advices from all the team . And together we won an incredible game with the french against GM Gabuzyan which is always very generous in his comments and have a perfect attitude in all events ! It s a privilege to have access to such a strong player . 

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Thank you very much Denis! I really appreciate your kind words and I also would like to thank all of you for proposing today very good ideas! I agree with you that, we are very lucky to participate in ChessMood events and play & comment together with -very strong- GM Gabu!!

How can I use moodcoins?

Hello, I am new to the site. Can please somebody tell me how can I use moodcoins? I can't find the way to buy courses with them!

Replies

Hello,

You can actually use moodcoins to purchase some specific courses. Just click on the course you want, click ‘’get a lifetime access'' (if you have the option, in some courses it's not availiable), then click “buy the course” and then choose moodcoins to buy it. You will need a lot of moodcoins as 1 dollars = 1k moodcoins but this is the way to do it.

Scandinavian 3...Nf6 line

After 1. e4 d5 2. ed5 Qd5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4. d4 Bf5 5.c4 Qd8 6. Qb3!  Nc6? 7.d5! Na5, GM Avetik recommended 8. Qa4+ and gave a few lines. However, doesn't 8. Qb5+ win immediately? As 8.Qb5+ c6 9.dxc6 threatens Qxf5 and cxb7+.

Replies

It is important to realize that 6…Nc6? and 7…Na5? are bad moves (as explained in the CM course), and White is clearly winning, either with the CM recommended move 8.Qa4+ or your suggested 8.Qb5+ (which indeed looks even a little stronger)

Time Pressure Blunders

Hello Chessmood Family,

I have just Finished the Blunderproof Course and noticed that they haven't mentioned about the blunders cased by time pressure. I am searching for it because my main blunders arise from time pressure and do not know how to fix it.

Can anyone give an advise as to how I can reduce these type of blunders.

Thank you!

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evans gambit

where can i find a cours about the evans gambit?

Replies

Hello Anis siad, 

There is no course for the Evans gambit on chessmood, because after 1.e4, chessmood recommends to play the French Attack with e6. So if you play what chessmood recommends, you will never get into a position where White can play the Evans gambit.

I hope this helps you,

Santo Bekking

KIA .v. Sicilian not French ?

I see the module on KIA .v. the French Attack. But I prefer our Sicilian lines. But there is only a module on the Closed Sicilian or 2) Be2 lines. Nothing on KIA which I get regularly. As we don't play the e6 Sicilian what is best ? 

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KIA vs the Sicilian tends to work best against the 2…e6 lines.  But ChessMood plays 2…Nc6 so black gets to play e5 in one jump and/or develop the queen's bishop outside the pawn chain.  Something like 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d3 Nf6 4.g3 d5 5.Nbd2 and black is spoilt for choice between e5 (reverse Maroczy), g6 (Grunfeld setup), or even Bg4 followed by e6.

Hi Keven,

You can build the setup we use against closed Sicilians with Nc3-g3. 

Like g6-bg7-d6-e5-c5-Ne7-Nc6: Note this was not the sequence of the moves, I was trying to draw the structure.

Good luck!