Chess forum by Grandmasters

Nice tactic

Hi! Wanted to share a chess position played long time ago by our current president of Lithuania.

Not so hard, it's white to move, is it possible to survive?

Here's the facebook post, as source

https://www.facebook.com/gitanas.nauseda/posts/328430007501284

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Your president plays chess? Cool!

Not to get too political, I don't think our Prime Minister does, but there again tying his shoelaces on his own might be too difficult.

How to Follow Modern Events

I was thinking about what is the more effective way to follow modern games. I was reading an article of Ding in which he said after breakfast he likes to follow latest games on chessabase to see if there is any new idea or interesting positions. I like that but I wanna know what is the most effective way to follow latest games . 

From latest ongoing games we find many things like:

1, Trending lines and new ideas in various openings.

2. Many cool middlegames concepts 

3. After sometimes instructive endgames.

So, it takes a lot time to follow games as I am an intermediate player not a master.  Games are also more than 50 everyday.  I also heard once that Tal was following more than 100 games in a day. I forgot where I read but I read it. 

My current request is to make an article about it or give nice detailed idea about " How to follow Modern on going Tournaments"

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Depending on whether you want to follow them live or you are more interested in places where you can get the best post game analysis.

How to get the most out of games whether they are the latest or in a book/course is a wider topic with overlaps and could do with an article.

It's easy to play through or concentrate so much on making the moves / reading the commentary that you don't get so much from it. Trying to play guess the move (a standard suggestion) usually takes too much time.

One thing I did read was from a player that just looks to the positions that are commented or having analysis as the interesting bits.

A trick I do is find a position in the game I do understand and work backwards with an engine to understand a more complicated position earlier.

Najdorf

Dear friends, as an alternative to the course "Accelerated dragon", we decided to offer you "Najdorf Variation", which will explain to you one of the best experts of Najdorf in the world!

https://chessmood.com/course/2-sicilian-defense-najdorf-variation

Are you not gonna update this course coach? 

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Oh, what is this? I cannot find this course in the courses' section nor can I remember seeing it there (I joint last October). How was this course/fragment communicated?

This course was removed from the repertoire because the Najdorf it is such a big opening that it will make it very difficult to keep it up with. We decided that the Accelerated Dragon is the best weapon for our purpose and for not confusing our promembers, we just focused on the Accelerated Dragon. We still believe that we are doing the right thing and there are no plans in the immediate future to continue with this course. This is why it was removed from the courses page.

But as far as i know najdorf was essential 

we were playing 2.Nc3 d6 so after 3.Nf3 we cannot bring acc dragon

Hello GM Gabuzyan Sir, I think it was better to omit Najdorf, but can you tell what you would recommend against 6.Bg5? I am confident with other lines except for Bg5 but struggle with Bg5 because of draws

Doubt in game no.15 { Rubinstein-Duras} commented classical games

Instead of the move Qf1 is it possible to play Nb2 also with same idea ?

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I studied this game for a while and black's real mistake was 15...Ne7? after that he is under real pressure where white is almost winning already.  15...Nb8 is much better and even 15...Nd4 is better than Ne7 although white is a bit better here too.

By the time we get to the move 27. Qf1, white is already winning and there are already many moves that win because after exchanges on b3 the d6 pawn also drops off in a lot of lines.  White has a large static advantage which means he can play slowly, improve his position in several ways and not lose his winning chances.  Black can't do much about it.  So Nb2, Bf2, Bg1, Bd2 are all winning along with several other moves.

This doesn't detract from the beauty and simplicity of Rubinstein's Qf1 though.  It is still a pretty and elegant way to play it.

Nb2 is not the same idea as Rubinstein has with Qf1.  The point of Rubinstein's plan was that the N will live on d2 defending b3 securely after the Q exchange with always a threat of Nc4-Nd6 at a suitable moment.  With Nb2 the N would be on d3 and to defend the b3 pawn from c1 doesn't look optimal.  So obviously better is to play b4 (still completely winning) so the N defends it one square further on but I think that although it is still winning there are better ways and the N is better on the d2-c4 squares either defending b3 or threatening to win the d6 pawn.

Scotch ..4Qf6 5.Nf3 vs Nb5

Scotch where B plays 4.Qf6

The course reccomends 5.Nf3.

My question  is why not 5.Nb5?

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Well, that's a different variation, completely playable and well known for the Qf6 player. Nf3 is newer and we believe that it is a very good move too.

Benko Move Order

So... I finally decided to bite the bullet and try to make ChessMood openings my repertoire against 1d4/c4 etc, but I'm having some issues with the Benko. Firstly, I gather from some books (e.g. Neil McDonald's 'The Benko Gambit Revealed') that the best move order is supposed to be 5 ...g6 after 5 axb6, and only after 6 Nc3 Bxa6. The idea is that retaining the option of ...Nxa6 dissuades White from posting his Bishop on b2, but the CM course goes 5 ...Bxa6 straight away. I'm sure most players at club level will just play 6 Nc3 anyway and transpose, but supposedly it's an inaccuracy.

Also, after 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5 4 cxb5 a6 5 bxa6 Bxa6 6 Nc3 d6 7 g3 g6 8 Bg2 Bg7 9 Nf3 0-0 10 0-0 Nbd7 11 Qc2 Qa5 the course says that 12 b3 is impossible because of 12 ...Nxd5, but in fact after 12 b3 Nxd5 13 Nxd5 Bxa1 14 Bd2, Black is in big trouble; I don't see a better reply than 14 ... Qd8 and after 15 Rxa1, white just has two pieces against a Rook.

I'm creating a file in my Opening Trainer app as I watch the videos, but I'm not sure what to put in here.

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EDIT: The first move order issue seems to be addressed in the Advanced section titled 'The Modern Benko Gambit'. Should've known Coach Avetik would mention it at some stage!

I agree that after 11. b3 11. ... Nxd5 would not be good for black (however, it seems that I do not have this in my notes. So maybe I missed it when watching the videos. Or it is not a line from the video).

I watched Daily Lesson with a GM #307 and I got the same theme tactic :)

Link to lesson (Removing upcoming defender): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylH-FkKUPh4

The tactic I got: https://lichess.org/training/HZn6W

A big note of appreciation and thank you for Chessmood for uploading these instructional daily lesson with GM (not just for this one tactic but for improving my play! :D)

I solved this tactic, but feel free to leave your answers in the comments!

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Our team is very happy to hear that. Keep on learning, keep on winning!

Discussion of Daily Puzzle Nov 15

The answer is Nh5, with a nice rook check to follow. The idea seems to be to reach a R+2p vs  N+p endgame. 

But what if we start with the rook check then play Nh5? Black has several options such as letting White queen and winning the rook, but it seems to me White still has an advantage after queening and capturing the g pawn - reaching a Q+N+2p vs. Q+N endgame.

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Starting with a rook check is a mistake! W does not win any more as Black now can play 1...Kc5=.
Also, 1...Ke7 2.Nh5 would not win for White either, as due to the black King move Black can now play 2...Qb8!=

Mistakes in the Chessmood videos (that help us)

Hello guys - I thought it will be interesting if everytime we feel that we spot a mistake in the videos we post it here. 

This is not with bad intentions! I understand that it is normal that after recording so many hours there can be minor errors in tactical shoots or calculation or simply something that the person recording the video may have missed.

I think this may be useful for 3 reasons:

1- maybe not too strong players may see that there is a 'potential error' and believe that it is not a real error it is only that they are not too strong. OR, it can be that we find something that we think is an error and in reality it is not. So, it opens some debate and room for helping each other.

2- will put us into 'active mood'. This is help us to not watch videos only passively, but being attentive to try to discover some errors, hence keeping us engaged. 

3- FInally, although is not the intention. May help to the Chessmood team in case that they want to make some corrections. 

Here is an example: 

BEnko Gambit video 10 (07:57)
 
Actually, Nd1 + is impossible due to Rxd1 ;) So better to finde something else in casae of Rc2!

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Btw! I am not saying that the idea does not work I am just saying that maybe they skipped a moved in the exectution ;)

Hey Pablo! 
Thanks. 

I've in my to-do list a separate list fixing/changing some videos of the courses. 

We just didn't change this one, which was posted  earlier, as we're re-recording all the Benko. 

But overall I love this threat and would appreciate if everyone post here mistakes they see. 
Mistake - I don't mean that Stockfish 10 say another move, stockfish 11 - another :) 
But some obvious blunders :) 

Commented Classical Games - Game 56 (Larsen - Spassky): it is not really a tactical mistake, but a visual glitch in the video:  White's d2 pawn becomes invisible from ~5min to ~10min, which makes it a little bit harder to understand the tactics.

Good Morning to you all.

While creating my own pgn-file (running shredder13 analysis modus in the background) to engine gave an nice tactic that seems to improves the line in 

Benko Gamit, Video 10, 4:56

Instead of 20. ... Qb1 (protecting the pawn on g6) 20. ... Rxf2+ seems to be much stronger. So one might re-consider taking the exchange with 19. ... Qxa1 instead of the repertoire move 19. ... exf4.

Hi Pablo. I just entered this position into my pgn-file and agree that the fork on d1 does not work. But setting a fork is the right idea: 22. ... Rxf4 23. gxf4 Nxf4+ with 24. ... Nxe6 -/+

Hello - I see this post was not so popular. In any case, I have found another little error in the Scandinavian course. Section 5 3... Nf6, video 26. 6... Qf5. 

Here Nb4 is not possible because of Qa4+ and black loses a piece. I imagine most players would spot this but it will be a pity to automatically play 0-0 and lose the chance to win the knight. 

I think I found a mistake in Petroff course lecture 66, after 15...Bxf3, coach says we cannot play 16. Qxh6 cause of 16...Bxd5, but we can cause line follows 17. Bh7+ Kh8 18.Bf5+! (covering escape sq d7) Kg8 19. Qh7+ Kf8 20. Qh8+ Ke7 21. Re1+ Be6 and 22. Rxe6! fxe6 23. Qg7 mate

Seems like a mistake in the Anti Sicilian Part 1 Course. Video No. 14 8...e6. In the below position coach suggested for Black b6. But, why not d5 and d4. When checking with the engine, Black is better. And, it I also think so. So, I think instead of the move 10.Be3, the move recommended, I think Bb5 first would be interesting. Avetik sir and others, What do you think?

Just trying to find all the posts relateds and put them under the same post for reference, that way I will be able to organize exactly what has been fixed and what needs to be fixed.

If you happen to know some miss please reply to the original post of this thread for the moment, then I will arrange it.

https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-members/anti-sicilian-part-3-2816

how to access complete pgn file (Scotch) ?

For the Scotch course why can I only see 1 pgn file that is no way near complete ... it references the videos but I want the whole pgn including all the lines ?

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Use your brain that's why they are not complete

https://chessmood.com/blog/the-most-effective-way-to-create-chess-pgn-files

Also likely helps stop people just copying courses as well.

The pgn files are not af full draftback of the whole course. They contain the important lines. ChessMood's idea is to make the promembers work with the openings. If we provide a full pgn, many people will sit back and watch, and not work. You should update your own pgn after watching the course or by sections.  After that you should keeping updating your pgn, when you play a game, get an idea, see a position not mentioned, watching the streams, etc. Also please refer to the link kindly provided by Jamie where everything is explained in detail...

I am sure you will have a happy learning, and in you case, being such a Hard Worker, it should be much easier ;-)

Dear Ding, 
I would love to provide full PGNs, but Wang Hao asked me not to :D 

The final endgame position in the puzzle rush stream

Kc2 Pc3 Bg7
nc7 pb5 pe4 kc4

Black plays e3 and mates in 20 according to the tablebase.

Nd5 draws as White plays the king in front of the pawn and winning the c pawn in return isn't enough since the king aims to get in front of the b-pawn and the bishop attacks the b-pawn from the rear or the knight if the black king tries to step in front.

More an endgame study than a tactical puzzle.

Lomonosov Tablebases app can be downloaded for Android phones from the play store and is free.

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Any tips for making pgn files?

So I have been entering all the moves of all of the openings in my own chessable course. It has been a lot. I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how they make there files. Do you only enter in moves from a few sections of the video? Or every variation from the videos. Is there a better way of doing what I am doing? I  wish I had full pgns of the video moves I think I remember them saying you learn better if you make your own files.

Appreciate any answers. 

Thanks

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Hi @Chiller_4530

Please refer to the following article to understand how to best work with the pgns and the videos:

https://chessmood.com/blog/the-most-effective-way-to-create-chess-pgn-files

Hi Chiller 4530,

I recommend you do the following for the overall database containing your files in ChessBase.

1. Create a new database for your repertoire.  

2. For each line create a game in the database and when you save it put in the main variation in the White name and the Sub variation in the Black name.

3.  Add lots of empty games and save -------- in both white and black names.  You can drag and drop the order of the games and then use the Fix Sort order function so that your variations are neatly spaced out to make it more readable.  It just makes your database more pleasing to the eye and easier to organise.  See screenshot.

4. If there are any model games add these underneath within the section so that you can annotate these and understand the positions.

5. Remove the columns you're not interested in.   So White, Black, Medals and Notation are all you want to see. 

In this way you can make the files as numerous as you like or include all the info in 1 pgn file. You can do this to personal taste but you can include everything you need for the opening together in the same section of the file.

  I tend to split it to make the files a little more readable as there will be less indentation of variations.

So what to do within the files themselves?

1. Input all the moves from the videos.

2. At critical moments Avetik or Gabuzyan always explain some ideas.  At these points Use the text after move function to put that in your own words so that when you read through the file you don't just see variations but also see some word explanation. 

 It's much easier to remember lines when you understand them more and the reasons behind moves.

3. At the end of every line use the Insert Diagram function and also use the Text after move to create a short things to do list so you have an idea of the plans of both sides - in words and not just variations.  

After all the whole point of the opening is to get you into a position where you can play a nice middlegame and so it is critical you understand the plans from the positions at the end of the lines. 

Sometimes it is not necessary because it's just a clear win but definitely do it on every position where the advantage is only clear, slight or the position is equal so that you can play it well. 

If you add the plans of both sides to this it will help you spot when your opponent is doing something odd and give you a sense of when you should be looking for just punishment.

4. When you finish then search the megabase or correspondence databases if you have them and search for positions with similar structures.  You are unlikely to find the exact positions very often because of the number of novelties in the courses.

But if you get positions with similar pawn structures you can definitely find other plans being used by GMs, what pieces they are tending to exchange etc.  It can give you a number of ideas and pointers to steer you in the right direction.

5. Use the Set Medal feature to indicate to yourself how well you've learned the variation, understood the ideas from the videos etc.  This means you then have a colour code in the database to quickly see what you need to look at.  Or what the next step is in your work on the file.  For example, red could mean you still need to input all the variations and from the videos, yellow could mean you need to work on the positions at the end of the lines so you know all the plans and green could mean you've done all that and now just have to remember it :-)

6. And lastly, remember the file is never finished.  At several points you will think "What if they play this?".  In that case, analyse the position and put in your analysis.  Then trim your analysis to just the critical variations so the file doesn't get too huge.  Also you will come across lines in other courses and books and you will need to highlight these and know the antidote as they will become more likely to occur in your games.  

Another tip is I always put my own analysis in a different colour so I can spot it easily.

And the last tip is that you can have 2 versions of a file.  1 for your work and understanding and a brief summary one for when you need to very quickly go over the file before a tournament game and it only contains enough info to refresh your memory.  I put these in a separate database.

I hope that helps.  It can be a lot of work but it is enjoyable and you just have to do a little bit every day.  Then when you look back after 100 days you can see you've come a long way and hopefully you will understand a lot more of your repertoire.  

Cheers and Good luck!

Must Read! "Improvement and comfort zone"

Hey Champions! 
This gonna be a long post, but very important!

Are you learning the courses now? Are you going to learn or you have finished already? 
In all cases, you may have problems AT FIRST. 

MAY HAVE 

The thing is when you learn these courses, you learn lots of new stuff, very often you learn some openings that you have never played, you are getting out of COMFORT ZONE.
But we grow only when we are uncomfort.  

At first, you may have problems. Don't stop. 

One of my students was playing 1.Nf3,g3... all his life. We switched to e4 and to aggressive chess! 
He dropped his online rating from 2300 to 2200. 
We knew that it would happen, and guess what? After a few weeks, he got 2300 back, and then 2400 and after a month 2500 !!! 

I warn you, it may happen. Don't worry and don't come back to your old openings, thinking that it's not working. Play them a lot. After you get in comfort with your new weapons, you will start to crush everyone! 

@Jay Garrison, tell your story. The same happened to you, right? 

This may happen to anyone of us.

Don't afraid guys, please. The downswing will be just temporary and then it will be a big upswing. 

Victor Korchnoi said - "The fastest way to grow in chess is to learn new openings." 
You learn new openings, you see lots of new ideas, you get out of comfort zone, you implement those ideas, they become yours... And WooW!!! Now you are much stronger than before. 

I am not going to teach you easy openings, traps, that will give you good results at first, but what then? 

So, please, please, please, don't afraid of getting out of comfort Zone. Your results may become worse. But it will be just at first and will be very temporary. After that, its gonna be explosive growth. 

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Thanks. I am moving up in Blitz and daily games. Honestly this forum is sufficient to reach up to GM level.

Hello ChessMood Family!

Coach GM Avetik speaks the truth! We learn the most when we stretch out of our comfort zones! Let me tell you what I have experienced in the last 3 months.

When I joined ChessMood, I hadn't played any chess in over a year. I was discouraged and frustrated because I had been stuck around the same rating level (1600 online blitz and 1700 over the board) for over 5 years. I have a library of over 100 chess books, of which I had read all of them. And was making very little, if any, progress.

After a year of not playing, I got an invite to join the ChessMood Facebook page, and while I wasn't playing, I still love the game and tried to stay current in chess events, so I joined the group. After a few months of just reading the posts from time to time, Coach and I started talking about his approach to teaching, and I decided to give it one last chance to improve my game.

I joined the Pro Membership about 3 months ago. I looked at the repertoire and was a little overwhelmed, since I hadn't played any of the recommended openings in over 25 years of competitive chess. But coach told me before I joined, if I follow what he teaches, then I will grow as a chess player, so with out hesitation, I changed my entire repertoire.

And for a month it was a disaster to my ratings... I dropped in online rating to around 1500 and my over the board rating fell by 75 points in 2 tournaments. I will admit I was a little crushed. But coach Avetik reminded me I was learning something new and to keep the right mood, that the results would come!

And come they have! Over the next 6 weeks, my successes were numerous. (You can check out my FaceBook blog for a full account @thechessambassador) My online rating shot up to over 1800, that is 300 rating points from where I had dropped to, in 6 weeks! I still make very obvious mistakes (obvious to coach any way hehe) but I am making much fewer. And my over the board results you ask? Well, I played 4 tournaments in that time span and my record for the 16 games - +10 =2 -4 with 3 of the 4 loses to FIDE Masters rated near 2400 elo. 3 of my Victories were to players over 2000 elo. My rating shot up in 6 weeks to over 1800! 

Now let me ask all of you a question. Did you come to ChessMood to get better at chess? If no, that is ok, you have found one of the best and most supportive chess communities ever assembled. But if you have come to improve, you have to ask yourself, can Coach GM Avetik help you? Do you BELIEVE he can help you? If that answer is yes, then you are in the right place! Listen to EVERYTHING he is telling you to do! Sell the farm so to speak! Get out of the comfort zone of the openings you already know (And got you were you are in your game today) and replace them with ChessMood openings! What have you got to lose? A few rating points? No big deal. If you find you can not adjust, you can always go back to your old repertoire! 

What ever you decide to do, I wish you luck on your journey, and I am happy to call you family, as every one here at ChessMood is my Brothers and Sisters!

Right Mood - Right Move!

Jay

Curiously, have you ever had a student who made a big leap switching from aggressive to more positional and strategic openings? hehe I imagine this would be more a long-term improvement in results and not so immediate.

Hello! I am Thanadon. My current FIDE is 2240. I work with my coach GM Avetik as well as learning from ChessMood videos. Here I want to share some of my experience.

I am a person who watch chess videos a lot. I see a lot of videos in all the famous sites. I can tell you that ChessMood video course material are very high quality. All the moves provide are real. Not just random playable lines but they try to provide the lines that give you most chance.

I have been follow the ChessMood repertoire and implement it on online and OTB games. I find that in the beginning, it was not comfortable to play new things. Then after practicing for a while, I start to feel my aggressive chess is improve. For instance, I have a good chance to crush 2400-2500 online player now. For my OTB result, I just got +40 rapid elo in by the time I am writing this :)

I believe one of the best way to improve your chess is to learn aggressive openings and get out of your comfort zone. So for a good start for you guys, simply follow ChessMood videos as well as live streams and daily commented games. You will feel the improvement and you won't regret it. 

Good Luck.

Very inspirational and chessmood videos are awesome, I increased my knowledge a lot!

But what if the problem of my OTB rating getting lower persists? This is certainly nothing to do with studying, but some other aspects I'm trying to find.

The thing is my OTB rating has dropped from 2260 to 2150 over 3 years and rapid and blitz from around 2200 to barely 2000 at risk of dropping even further in the upcoming tournaments. My collegues are telling me it's not about the rating, but it is!

I'm really frustrated, what am I doing wrong. Please GM Avetik any advice? Thank you.

Chessmood online tournaments

    Chessmood online tournaments. Does anyone know when new tournaments with prized are going to be organised?

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Highly recommended: Daily Lesson with a Grandmaster

I love “Daily Lesson with a Grandmaster” (DLWAGM) on YouTube. I watched all 302 episodes and I gave 302 “likes”.

The lessons are a nice mix of strategy, tactics, and endgames. It’s perfect for players in the 1600 to 2200 FIDE range, but weaker and stronger players will also find value in the lessons. What makes this series unique is the narrow focus of each lesson. Example: while classical textbooks will have a chapter about “material imbalance”, DLWAGM has episodes about the exchange sacrifice:

- On a key square (#165)
- Rxc3 (#266 and #267)
- Rxe6 (#268)
- Rxf6 or Rxf3 (#269)
- For the fianchetto bishop (#297)
- After Bh6, Bh8 and Bxf8 (#300)

I am really surprised that DLWAGM does not get more views, but one thing is sure, it’s not because of a lack of quality. Vincent Van Gogh did not get much recognition during his lifetime either, and he is now universally celebrated. I am confident that GM Gabuzyan, GM Grigoryan, and GM Hellsten will get more kudos soon, at least before they pass away, and they totally deserve it! Thank you :)

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Success in numbers of views, likes, money, recognition isn't strongly related to quality.

For example, I suspect if they got a pretty girl (ideally single) to present the videos, the views would go up ten fold, if not a hundred fold, even if she had no creative input at all. Someone famous also would generate a lot of hits. Also adding personality and human elements rather than here is the chess would also increase viewing.

Second if the videos were dumbed down to the 800-1200 level and were longer, and you could just passively watch, and a fan club was built via streaming, they'd get more views.

Finally removing the need to think, and just making them passive and more entertaining would probably retain more of the audience.

None of which would be valuable in terms of chess, but that's how the masses are, they want entertainment, celebrity and to consume most of the time. Hard work is something you are forced to do to survive. It's also why the 'masses' aren't successful in general (and sadly many resentful of those that are).

I'm not sure the (slightly morbid) comparison to art is a correct one, but it won't get the recognition it deserves indeed. That said I don't think the point is tapping the mass market but providing resources to those who want to put in the effort.

Hi guys,

being one of the first regulars with the daily lessons I like to share my thoughts on this topic:

The lessons are great. I typically watch during lunch break at work. And of course I always "like" the lesson and write down my solution in the comments. And sometimes I comment on what others wrote (and/or receive their comments). In the beginning, I also wrote short reviews in the comments, and the ChessMood team gave feedback in the comments, too. Now it looks like the feedback is mainly given through the monthly solution (however there was a short comment to Eric's comment some days ago that made me think - ah, the ChessMood team is still following the comments on the daily lessons).

I felt that this was/is something that could bring together ChessMood Members like the closed tournaments or the streams while which one can interact through the comments. 

I was also concerned about the very low number of likes/number of views. Especially because those videos are free and are directed to the general public. I have shared some first ideas on how to attract more potential future PRO Members with the ChessMood team. From my point of view, there is a lot of room for improvement (with no harm to the very high quality of the videos). At the same time, I frequently praise the lessons in both the forum and Facebook group to get more PRO members involved.

Maybe the daily lesson could be more attractive to PRO members if they were linked to the main videos/courses/articles in the blog. Or sorting them by principal topics at the YouTube site might also help to find the right lessons that would perfectly fit the course on is watching (or even an old school excel sheet).

Going a bit beyond the daily lessons, I think it would make a lot of sense if ChessMood regularly polls what PRO members think about certain features and shares their ideas on how to develop ChessMood further.  Some weeks/months ago there was some kind of interaction of this kind in the forum with @Chessmood_Odysseus. 

Just adding here in the forum what I just commented to the video with the answers for October:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJeQVhzFjY4&t=1174s

I like this concept very much: First, solving a position and writing down the solution in the comments. Then, after some time, revisiting the position through the monthly answers. Here I try to remember what my solution was. Then I open the old video with my comment and finally watch the solution. And - this just comes to my mind, I could add those lessons I did not solve correctly to a private playlist. PS. Another element of making the best use of the Daily lessons is that I not only write the number of the lessons in my weekly schedule of tasks but also write down the topic. By doing so, I can try to remember the ideas/concepts of the lessons watched sometime later. Again - GREAT CONTENT, Thanks a lot.

Is there anything in the courses yet about Benko Gambit sidelines?

Maybe I just missed where the section on Benko Gambit sidelines is. Like for example if they don't push on d5. Or take on B5 after they pushed.  I was just wondering if I am not seeing this section or it doesn't exist yet. 

Thanks for your answers.

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The winners of October, 2021

Hello ChessMood family!

Thanks for sharing your games. You all have been playing some really strong chess, and we’re happy to see that! 

Here’s the prizes list for October month’s contest -

The first prize goes to Huynh Hoang for this near-perfect game, with a nice finish.
https://lichess.org/YPEeT3g7

Valerio Carnicelli takes the second prize for this mind-blowing attacking game. (28.Rd7!)
https://www.chess.com/game/live/29142606935

Ayush Shirodkar takes the third prize for the nice forcing finish in the end.
https://lichess.org/LmR5FtpD/white#20

The fourth prize goes to Vladimir Bugayev for this miniature in Anti-Sicilian. https://lichess.org/wRgAWYNp#33

And the 5th prize goes to Avinash 004, showing how to attack in opposite side castling positions.
https://lichess.org/hqtEQGgN/white

Congratulations to all of you, and thanks once again for sharing your games! 

See you soon in next month’s contest.
Till then, keep the mood and keep crushing!

Replies

Thank you so much Sir!

The best games of October, 2021, and the prizes

Hello ChessMood family, hello champions and future champions! 
Welcome to the "Best games of October 2021" 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 September:

Le Minh Hoang Huynh
Yuma Okabe
Aayush Shirodkar
Bugayev Vladimir
Ilja Haitin

Replies

Nice Knight Sac!

https://lichess.org/LmR5FtpD/white

https://lichess.org/AhVGjaN2aJ8E

Sac win!

I beat an FM who tried using the Alapin :) I was playing Black.

https://lichess.org/yAX5jv9U/white#23

https://lichess.org/hqtEQGgN/white#47 Attack

https://lichess.org/jNpsNlPj/black#70 King activation in endgame

https://lichess.org/oYAiOQu6/black#32 Typical Rb2 Dragon Sacrifice

very positional good game!

https://lichess.org/TeMDo8xA

logical game!

https://lichess.org/hRjnyCFD/black#45

tactical game!

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/27063672095?tab=analysis

Mate in the end looks beautiful 

https://lichess.org/CXqChk17/white#72

Scotch thematic pawn storm

https://lichess.org/gzPNl5Fc/white#71

https://www.chess.com/game/live/27082858107

Scotch Game. I was white. https://www.chess.com/live#a=166328

4 Knights game, nice strategic attack https://www.chess.com/live#g=27106834763 

Failed maroczy (CM rep) https://www.chess.com/live#g=27277846947 

nice queen hunt, interesting unpinning Qf8 idea https://lichess.org/m7udEQHY9QWn 

bishop opening against not concentrated FM https://www.chess.com/game/live/29179775495

another sleepy FM this time me in modern https://www.chess.com/game/live/29180497685 

nice attack in Carlsen sicilian var https://www.chess.com/game/live/29181084789 

https://lichess.org/D4UgGd4k#39 I am White in this game. [SidharthSree]
https://lichess.org/qoVeMI5a/black I am Black in this game. [SidharthSree]

https://lichess.org/iHUEC9RMXxE8 

This weekend I scored the fastest win over GM in classical chess in my life so far! (Swedish club championship 2021)

Antisicilian attack

https://lichess.org/xUUq9lh2/white#55

full slp

https://lichess.org/qpRJjDkE2zkG

Quick Win!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/27328223825

Benko against 2500 FM full of mistakes, but the end looks cool 

https://lichess.org/EwwYI0ZI/black#1

https://www.chess.com/game/live/27592217381

Beautiful mate!

https://lichess.org/MQPb9rRR/black

CM Scotch against 2500

https://lichess.org/yEnrFCu2INGZ

Quick Antisicilian attack

https://lichess.org/owzDjMhB/white#0

Using the French Chess Mood idea of b5 followed by a4 and Na3 in the following game

https://lichess.org/Ejbo3mTthN3L

Using the Benko Gambit ideas from the Chess Mood course to destroy the centre and dominate the light squares

https://lichess.org/fLNtyOIbJi9q

Using the Scotch Endgame idea from the Chess Mood course where you liquidate into a pawn ending using a Kingside pawn majority, whilst Black's Queenside pawn majority is neutralized by a4 and c4

https://lichess.org/e6ulG38ZbZWB

Squeezing in Antisicilian

https://lichess.org/BvxYUXhk/white#51

Following the strategy given in the Colorado Gambit course.  A couple of inaccuracies but nothing too serious.  
https://lichess.org/tRAVFrvs0SnV

Lots happening all at once...

CM English for black in action

https://lichess.org/cqJ7RlOtgHek

time out,but very beautiful attack!!

https://lichess.org/fjYrmOQu/white#37

perfect game!!

https://lichess.org/mkgbkAJ4/white#14

Total domination on board.

https://lichess.org/pSYBR6VROOGX

Knight sacrifice for attack

https://lichess.org/wRgAWYNpE3VW

A very nice positional game: https://lichess.org/p9iu1Hdq6sYz
A very nice attacking game: https://lichess.org/gMVdPo2A/white#103

SidharthSree is my username in both games.

3 min Blitz game.  After taking a little break from chess, I came back to chessmood to study the Scotch and Caro Kann.  

https://www.chess.com/game/live/27895762009

Funny slp game

https://lichess.org/ZTT12XKvPQPo

Hello everyone,

I played an unbelievable blitz game and I won from a drawish position

   https://lichess.org/Ma1MrkL0p1qN 

The power of CM opening

https://lichess.org/nL3D18zLuD0E

Trojan horse attack

https://lichess.org/VlXM1smyOFC2

This is got a little of everything

King murch!!

https://lichess.org/uLpT04D2/white#66

Typical antisicilian attack

https://lichess.org/9xWhYbAempJV

Scotch attack

https://lichess.org/EhHan6ZZ/white#59

positional perfect game!

Nice attack in the Scotch Game.

pieces are working!!

https://lichess.org/ONzw6aHX/white#0

Exchange sacrifice!

https://lichess.org/88ip9eJw/black

A nice win 

https://lichess.org/NU7d1vS7oOCE

https://www.chess.com/game/live/28318234123

https://lichess.org/OsTNJADo/white#51

I've been in a massive slump for the past month or so, so i haven't been playing much, but did manage this one just now

https://lichess.org/RI5tPbLyQSgS

Decisive attack with black in the Rossolimo. 

super sacrifice!!

https://lichess.org/fVkyeAY4/white

All pieces are working!

https://lichess.org/nMcF3usV/black#43

Monsters bishops

https://lichess.org/WS6jSjJ1B5E8

Inspired from the plan which I mentioned downwards with the pic. I tried this same plan with reverse colour.

https://lichess.org/HP2dxsadiBgw

The Dvoretsky-Tukmakov Plan

In one of his Chess24 lectures, Jan Gustafsson recalls a training session of the German national team, in which Mark Dvoretsky asked the players to find "the only way for White to play for an advantage" in the following position (or something similar, as Gustafsson couldn't be sure of the exact placement of the pieces). After much consideration and deliberation, none of the players found Dvoretsky's solution, which was:

          Intending to carry out a minority attack with Rb1 (or even QbI) and b2-b4. I searched through Dvoretsky's books but was unable to find anything similar to this position, so I can only guess where he found that particular idea.

https://lichess.org/7dI8XL5p/white#0 A knight sac then my other knight comes back and i win 

A wonderful game My id is MadrasMagician

Attacking game against a GM

https://www.chess.com/game/live/29008265937

move 28

https://www.chess.com/game/live/29142606935

Positional win over GM Dennis Wagner in g3 Maroczy from Titled Tuesday.

Perfect game!

https://lichess.org/RNedZUSQ/white#24

https://lichess.org/7QhZE4A7

CM Antisicilian against2500 FM from last Titled Tuesday

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/29011241741?tab=review

Benko against WGM

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/29010635221

CM Antisicilian trap works against 2400+ IM in Titled Tuesday

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/29008266249

Positional Pawn sacrifice!

https://lichess.org/tXfT0A3U/black#44

https://lichess.org/cVmBY6S2/white#0 A nice knight sacrifice to win the game 

I am white here

https://lichess.org/JDSrvd5n/black#0 

A nice exchange sacrifice to win the game

I am black here

Perfect!!

https://lichess.org/hOGHwYVv/white#49

Rook lift!

https://lichess.org/oBnroRVD/white#44

https://lichess.org/h63cL7w5/

Question in Alekhine

I am playing a match tomorrow against a opponent who always goes.  1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 dxe5. Any Ideas for me? I can't find it in the course.

A quick help would be super!

Replies

In this position I like to follow Negi's advice since we don't have yet this line in the Chessmood repertoire.

After dxe5, we recapture with the knight and there are several variations than can follow up, ...g6 being the most popular one. Against ..g6 he proposes Bc4. And this is the explanation copied from the book for you, if you follow the plan, you will get a good middlegame:

This is an interesting variation. It is tempting to dismiss Black'€™s position as passive and €œsimply worse€, but the plans aren'€™t completely trivial for White, and Black'€™s position remains extremely solid. This line has been surprisingly popular in engine and correspondence games; the main explanation seems to be that even though the engines generally assess the position as slightly better for White, they seem to underestimate how solid Black is  and often, the engine'€™s overenthusiastic suggestions lead to weakening moves such as c2-c4, and/or exchanging pieces and as long as Black can maintain his solidity, such occurrences should only make his life easier. Instead, White has to adopt a more patient strategy, which essentially involves restraining pawn breaks such as ...c5 and ...e5, while refusing to create any weaknesses (as would occur after c2-c4, for instance) and avoiding minor-piece exchanges, unless Black wants to trade his lightsquared bishop for a knight. While there are some concrete lines that are important, I will generally put more of an emphasis on ideas and plans. Black has many different options and move orders, but the ideas and general evaluation should stay consistent throughout. Some of the main ideas to keep in mind are: 1) Avoid advancing a pawn to c4. I think it is possible to do so in many situations, and the computer often recommends it  but as a rule of thumb, I would avoid it unless it offers a tangible benefit. Because Black'€™s position is so solid, it doesn'€™t help White to be too aggressive. Instead, we should look to restrict Black'€™s play and slowly improve our position. Once the pawn arrives on c4, Black has some targets too, and I don'€™t like that commitment. 2) Initially we will develop the bishop to c4, putting pressure on the d5-knight in order to prevent an early ...c5. However, once White has developed and castled, the ...c5 plan is less bothersome, so usually I prefer to bring the bishop back to f1 (after Re1). Obviously Bb3 is a reasonable option too, but it gives Black a number of options to harass the light-squared bishop – including not only ...a5-a4, but also ...Be6 followed by ...Nc7, offering an exchange. If we allow the lightsquared bishops to be exchanged, it clearly contradicts the strategy mentioned above, involving the avoidance of unnecessary exchanges. 3) Often, Black might just wait around for White to do something. After developing with Bc4, 0-0, c2-c3, Re1, Bf1, Nbd2 and deploying the knight to somewhere like b3, c4 or e4, what is White supposed to do next? One useful idea seems to be Bg5. The bishop is quite annoying for Black on that square, as ...h6 weakens Black'€™s kingside, and otherwise White has ideas like Qd2 and Bh6, or Bh4-g3  (to prevent ...e5 for instance), or even a pawn advance with h4-h5, depending on the situation. Let me clarify that even though exchanges tend to make Black'€™s life easier, an exception can be made for exchanging the dark-squared bishops, as it creates clear weaknesses on Black'€™s kingside.

By the way if you know if your opponent will play g6, or c6 or whatever, let me know... Maybe I can help on time

@flo_flo

Have you asked the team when the course will be updated? 

I had the same problem but I tried to solve it watching some game about Carlsen and other GM (lichess database). 

Look some idea and follow them implementing your PNG file!For example, I like after -third common response-5...Nd7 6 Nf3 (keeping the N and taking space with c4). 

Video Deflection square defender

Video Deflection square defender. 

Hi! 

In video with deflection you said you win the Queen better you mate him about 2 min 20 sec. 

Anyway good videos. Best regards Erik

Replies

Yes, this is true, still a Queen down is also a good advantage :-) It can be also a technique to check your attention used by Avetik too... We'll have to ask, in any case, thanks for informing us...