Chess forum by Grandmasters

Thank you!

Thanks to all the Grandmasters and especially GM Avetik, who did an incredibly generous and selfless thing yesterday... opening and unlocking All courses. * I told over a dozen chess players - ranging from beginners to National Masters about this promotion. Everyone who visited ChessMood yesterday got a glimpse of the outstanding level of chess Instruction. This should translate into chess players signing up and joining one of the member options. I hope that GM Avetik had a wonderful and happy birthday!

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Thanks Dan, we appreciate your kind words!😀

Must-Know Endgame Theory U2000

Hi, I just looked at the "Must-know Endgame Theory U2000" course, which is currently unlocked. In Section 4 - Rook vs Pawn, Episode 4 - How to use the Rook, GM Gabuzyan shows how to stop the black pawn with the white rook from behind. However, it seems to me that in the sequence of moves, Black's king could step in front of his pawn instead of moving beside it as shown in the video. If Black does not go ...f3 with their pawn, but instead goes ...Kf3, how would White win then? Thanks for your answer.

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Yes, Kf3 looks like an example of shouldering by black and secures the draw. It seems the example should be fixed.

Yes, there may be some mistake here and there😅, we are all human, thanks for reporting it. We will update it when possible.😀

Hi Peter, 

Thanks for the note. Instead of of Rf8 immediately should have started with White King's march closer to the pawn.
Will fix this inaccuracy!

e4 vs d4 - classic discussion!

Hi ChessMood family, So we know the CM repertoire is around e4 for white, and as GM Avetik says, it's for better chess growth (reaching GM faster). I'm curious what is the ChessMood reason for why d4 is used so much in top level tournaments? Thanks in advance for the answers!

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I feel that playing e4 or d4 depends on the style of the player. If a GM has attacking style, he/she may play e4. And if a GM has positional style, he/she may play d4.

Hello Kyle, this is an often question on e4-d4 dilemma. It not only depends on the style of a player, but also on on his level. Most players under 1500 often watch streams ore some courses online and they feel that the one option is "the best". On the other hand, you need to get used to a plethora of positions to get better in your opening play to get to a higher level. I play for exampe 80% of times e4, but against certain opponents on practice games I also play d4, c4, or even Nf3 as a first move. In that way I reached 1800+ rating on chess.com and 2000+ on lichess.org. On the presence of d4 in high rated tournaments, I wanted to mention that top players nowadays aren't just "positional", or "attacking". They are kind of universal. Look at Carlsen's game for example. Chess is a multidimensional game; it needs different appproaches on each topic. What do you think?

At the top level I suspect the Berlin Defence is the main reason 1.e4 isn't played more often.

1.d4 is a classic chess opening, offering a large range of excellent openings (eg Queen's Gambits, Indian defences etc etc) with great play available for both sides, so it is a hugely popular opening (quite rightly imho), very suitable for high level play, but also playable at all levels. It is slower and less immediately attacking than 1.e4 if you want to compare it against other opening moves and it comes down to personal preference as to what suits your style, if you wish to take one as a favourite for you or not (eg GM Bobby Fischer "1.e4-best by test!"). Many players today are pretty much universal & are happy to play all openings. If you have time to learn that much, good luck to you! NB "it ain't just what you play as an opening, but it is also the way that you play it, that gets results!" Enjoy ;-)

Opinion on e4: 1) If you choose Ruy Lopez, then you can get Berlin defense 2) In general e4 are more forcing, there are a lot of precise moves to be made. For instance, sicilian can be very agressive and both sides should make a lot of precise moves Not sure, maybe for this reason GMs often choose to play not-e4, to get more positional type chess where you can try to overplay your opponent and not his memory.

PRO membership

I just finished watching the video discussing the results of the survey that was emailed out. In it it was discussed that you may not need the PRO membership if you don't use the features included. So I went and looked at the PRO features. One is a personalized study plan. What is that? How is it done? Allen

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You book your 1:1 call with a GM and in it they give you suggestions on what to study. I think it's available to anyone with *annual* PRO membership.

Could someone please post the video link? I didn't get it, perhaps because I unsubscribed from the mailing list.

To be honest I do not see yet much benefit of having PRO. I had 1 to 1 call, but in general I could live without it. Otherwise I am using only "watch courses" from chessmood.

Section 4 - Forks

I just finished section 4 - forks of the tactical ninja course. Did my previous mentors teach me wrong? For me the fork with bishop, rook and queen are double attacks and not forks. Or did I miss a vital point in the explanation?

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I think the ChessMood definition is fairly widely accepted. That is, you can fork with any piece. All forks are also double attacks of course, but not all double attacks are forks.

Chessmood recomendation against Phillidor with 3 f5

Hi! What is the chessmood recomendation against Phillidor with 3 f5? 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 f5 I face that move sometimes in blitz and I guess it is more like a surprise than a good variation when they weak there kingsposition. They seems to be afraid to play Latvian gambit 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 f5 cause of 3 Nxe5 and play this instead cause d6 protect e5. How ever it is always good to have a easy line against it and save time on clock.

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The ChessMood recommendation is 4.Bc4! See https://chessmood.com/course/philidor-defense/episode/1180

help finding a lesson

I watched a lesson where after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f6 then 3. Nxe5 is done. I can't find that now. Where in the lessons is it located? Thank you Allen

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It's covered in opening principals video 27.

Stats

I am 4 months into my membership and I am seeing good improvements in my game. I have always struggled with playing black so I have been spending a lot of time in the Blackmood opening section. Well, now I am winning significantly more black games than white. Time to spend more with Whitemood openings 👍 Allen

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That's very nice to hear! Keep on working and keep on improving!!!! 😀

I feel the same! I always struggled with the black pieces but thanks to the blackmood simplified openings, I've been scoring some nice points! Glad to hear of your success, keep up the good work!

Scotch Game 4. ... Bc5 against 6. ... a5

I was wondering if any one has faced 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 ed 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nb3 Bb6 6. Nc3 a5 as per my game below? https://lichess.org/BLpx5cL1/white#38 Any suggestions on where I could have improved or plan against this early a5 would be appreciated

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You played the opening well - even if the computer says you could have played Nd5 instead of Qe2. In my eyes, the problem comes from 12. Bc4. You develop a piece and follow the opening principles. But here, we have a position with opposite-side castling. Usually, playing with pawns is the right choice. So I would recommend 12. f3 instead, followed by pushing the h- and g- pawns. Taking on d5 (16.Nxd5) is not a mistake. But blockading the weakness instead of taking it is interesting. Like that, the opponent keeps his attention on his weakness and is not free from it. So you can work on the creation of a second weakness/front. After that, you lost control of the game because you allowed counterplay to your opponent. It's a difficult skill to work on, but it will reward you a lot! But I think you played the opening very well. 👍

Enough is enough...My blitz war against dirty flaggers begins

I mainly play 5-0 blitz & get a little irritated at the large number of games I lose on time to dirty flaggesrs, especially when I am trying new ideas/moves & yet very often have the winning advantage in the game, but get dirty flagged. So, enough is enough, as, I am no longer prepared to accept this & I will play faster to stop this, come what may. Very often the experienced dirty flaggers just make nonsense moves to avoid losing on time & to increase the chances that I will be taken by surprise & move too slow & lose when with the better position. I start with a win as Black against a dirty flagger playing the accelerated London as White. So I get double joy, at beating both the London & a dirty flagging London opening player! Happy chess everyone, especially, happy wins against dirty flaggers (whether you are a dirty flagger or not. Actually it is a blitz tactic to be such player to win at all costs...all depends on your conscience & at Chess Mood we play, "Right Mood, Right Move" which helps blow aside dirty flaggers! ;-)

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Go get them Richard!!!! 😁

Although you can also play with some increment to avoid being flagged… 😅 Just a suggestion… 

Hi if I may so, I think many are playing blitz with no increment not to "improve" but just for fun and/or to win. The point is: Flagging is part of their game. When I play 5+0 or especially 3+0 I get flagged all the time and of course the worst feeling is if I had a completely winning position. Now I very much prefer 3+2 or 5+5, we can practice our openings with more time to think in the middlegame playing better moves and less mouseslips and blunders. And I make sure to always analyze my games after that.

I've tried this approach. I think the points are: . Blitz mostly tests intuition. If you're running out of time either you're trying to calculate too often, too slow at it, and/or your intuition isn't up to scratch for such fast games. That said you can export your games and look at your time usage. Were these tough positions because you were losing, or could you have switched to intuition, or just played any healthy/sane move? . Blitz is often fun, and fills odd moments. For every annoying person that flagged me, either I was winning which is a good sign anyway, or I've flagged a number of people in positions I wasn't myself. I also use my phone which isn't fast at inputing moves. This is why I don't like chess skill on here to be equated to chess.com blitz (though I understand why). . Blitz is great to test opening memory / middlegame transposition and endgame technique especially theoretical positions or nearing them. It's a shame bullet isn't played with healthy openings else I'd get a lot more practice. . Some openings are better suited to blitz because they are hard to break down or tricky. The London is one of those, as is hippo structures. If you don't know enough, trying to do it over the board at 5 0 is hard work, and this is one reason opponents play them. Same for abracadabra gambits. Most of them wouldn't try the same stuff in a longplay game. . In the end does blitz matter so much to you? I'm more interesting in my longplay FIDE games.

Thanks all for all your great comments. I really like blitz chess over long time control chess. To be frank, I find long control chess boring & correspondence/daily chess, simply what??! I do not understand that to be chess, but perfectly accept it suits some players. Loads of people do not share my like of blitz (& I prefer no increment). I think blitz is a great test of anyone's chess playing ability, where speed & accuracy are key factors to wins (along with chess understanding. This is a hard test to master but can be very rewarding when you get those wins in new openings & with new moves & ideas).. As I say, usually I play too slow in unfamiliar positions & when trying new moves & ideas & I take too long to figure out the required moves & those that simply play fast get an edge over me- BUT NO MORE! I'm fairly confident that over the last few years I have spent too much time studying chess (as I like to learn as much about chess as I can) & not enough time playing games. So, this year I am trying to play more daily blitz games & put the dirty flaggers in their place (I know we all agree that being in winning positions in blitz & losing on time is frustrating, no matter how much positivity we can give those games & even these are valuable to some extent, but if I want to play blitz I have to try & master blitz & play fast too! Hopefully accurately also!). Let's enjoy all our chess as we want, as we are all different, but we all want to win (it is the aim/point of the game after all, but if you are happy not to win, then do so & let no one stop you. Except, ChessMood is here for us to learn to win more, so let's do it! ) ;-)

Chess Peace

Can we have a clearer view of the "Chess Peace" image that shows up in many of your videos?

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Chess Peace: Cartoons by Tony Sullivan 👌

https://www.chessforstudents.com/chess-peace-cartoons/ 

Check this out and you will find many….😀

In fact, the one in the picture is this one>

https://www.chessforstudents.com/chess-peace-by-tony-sullivan-published-on-sale-now/

New course: Attack like a Viking!

Champions,

Get ready to raid!?

Our course ‘Attack like a Viking is out!’

With GM Gabuzyan, you’ll set out on an adventure where you’ll learn about attacking in chess – from scouting the conditions before raiding to building your forces to finishing off the game!

Go raid the link below ?
https://chessmood.com/course/attack-like-viking

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Great! Have to check it out, cause I'm watching way too much olympiad atm ? EDIT: started watching it and found this hilarious moment

I just found this course and I'm working my way through it; I think it's excellent. How will the forthcoming Attack course - I think it's scheduled to be released at the end of the month - be different from this Like a Viking course?

Hi GM Gabuzyan, thank you for this really good course. one question on section 7. point 9 : is the move Ba3 here or earlier also a good alternative ? just to bring it in the center at least ?

I wanted to buy this course with my moodcoins but I don't see an option here of get lifetime access is it a PRO only course? Appreciate the response as always ?

Hi, Had troubles with this position and could not find what was wrong with my move. Turns out that the move I wanted to play was the top engine move, the solution's move was #3. (SF14) In addition, the final move in the "solution" was not in the top 5 engine moves so had problems finding it as well.

PGN files

How do I open the PGN files? Allen

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Chessbase is the main one in use, but isn't cheap. Chessbase reader is free, but you can't use many database functions. If you don't have Chessbase SCID is free.

- Chessbase ($$$) and Chessbase Reader (free) - Hiarcs Chess Explorer ($$) - There are also a number of mobile apps that do a good job, like 'Chess PGN Master' or 'Acid Ape Chess' - I also know that online sites like ChessTempo, Lichess, and Chess.com allow you to upload PGN files for evaluation and viewing. But as David already mentioned, one of the benefits of a PGN is to build your own database of games. So if taking chess study to the next level is one of your goals, don't just look for a PGN "viewer" (of which there are many).. but find something that imports the PGN files into a database for maximum analysis and usage.

Hiarcs is great if you have a Mac. It's what I use. For Windows, another free option that I've heard good things about is Tarrasch (http://www.triplehappy.com/). The advantage over Chessbase Reader is that it can be used to create/edit PGN files. The advantage over SCID is simplicity.

Hi Allen!
Most of us who study chess non stop use Chessbase and you have the free version Chessabase Reader but it does not allow to do all that you need.

In Lichess you can create studies, which is a good option too.

There are some pgn editors like:

https://chesstool-pgn.software.informer.com/

 which are free too, of course the functions are not the same but you can give it a try…

French exchange - preventing Nb5

Hello and apologies if this has been answered before. I had a game last night that went: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.h3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd6 6.Nc3 In this position, is it wise to play 6...a6 to prevent Nb5? This way of thinking seems to lose a pawn but I also don't know if I need to play Bb4, moving the Bishop twice. I played Nge7 as planned and my opponent never played Nb5, but it's been driving me crazy since I noticed it in my analysis. Thanks and once again, apologies if this has been answered.

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Hi Jules!

No need to play a6 at all. Let them come and take the bishop, Nc3, Nb5, Nxd6 to develop our Queen to d6. 3 White moves to develop our Queen it is a very good deal, one piece more developped on our side. If Nb5, I would just castle short and that's it, count how many pieces we have developped and how many has White if they go into this wild Bishop chase… This is a basic concept of the opening, develop as fast as possible and here White would be helping us. 

Today's Puzzle - Jan 29th

I have to admit that I didn't see where today's puzzle was going right off the bat, I just played (what I thought was) the best positional move... then a beautiful mate occurred. This was a pretty puzzle. Thanks for an excellent "birthday" puzzle.

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Survey

Hi All, I understand that there was a survey put out by Avetik. I'm watching the video but would also like to add an opinion to the survey. Anyone know where I could find it? Thanks

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Hi here's the link, from my email. It looks like the survey is still open! https://forms.gle/8xKBwnJc4YuFmB837 It was first announced in ChessMood's mailing list. If your email isn't in the mailing list yet best to join now this is another avenue for getting all the latest news and events. Best rgds, Alex

Bug in Daily Puzzle screen?

Hi Chessmood family, for the last two days I've solved the daily puzzle on the first try but didn't get the moodcoins. I just got the message "You are in a Right Mood today!" but no coins. I waited a day to try again to be sure. Anyone else have this issue? Thanks, Alex

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I did today's puzzle (this one: https://chessmood.com/daily-puzzle/05.03.2022) and didn't get any Moodcoins. Perhaps they are changing things around, or perhaps it's a bug. I'm not too worried either way, but then being new I don't really know what these coins are good for anyway :-) Btw, I thought it was a great puzzle! Well worth the effort to solve.

Thanks, this bug has been reported.

I think that this bug has been solved, can anyone kindly confirm that you are getting the moodcoins now?

I solved today's puzzle on the first attempt but did not receive any MoodCoins. I wonder why not. I solved it from my Android phone. Tomorrow I will solve from my laptop to see if that makes any difference.

I solved today's puzzle but did not receive moodcoins. Yesterday I also saw that the puzzle being displayed to me had flipped back to the prior day's puzzle for a while. That coincided with my timezone, as displayed on the events page, being completely wrong. I also noticed that my timezone was completely wrong when I solved today's puzzle.

This bug is back for me.

I got 'Congratulations. You are wrong!' today. I guess it's got a sarcastic side.

This morning's event

Is today's 1 on 1 event done, or were there technical difficulties?

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happy birthday

happy birthday

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avetik wish you a beautifull year ahead 😊

Modern Maroczy against f4

I played a game as Black against the Modern Maroczy where White played 12. f4 rather than f3 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 d6 7. Be2 Nxd4 8. Qxd4 Bg7 9. Be3 O-O 10. Qd2 a5 11. O-O a4 12. f4 I was wondering what Black's plan is now? Does this now allow Ng4 ideas or to continue with Qa5?

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