Chess forum by Grandmasters

The Wolf of Chess Street, Sec. 6, Episode 6

Here is the full game Lasker - NN 1900 for those who are interested. It's all the more impressive as it was a Simul  game, and Lasker's play was incredibly accurate against a decent amateur player.

[Event "Lasker Emanuel sim tour"]
[Site "Great Britain"]
[Date "1900.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lasker, Emanuel"]
[Black "NN"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C14"]
[Annotator "Jim"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "1900.??.??"]
[EventType "simul"]
[EventRounds "1"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 1999"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1998.11.10"]
[SourceVersion "1"]
[SourceVersionDate "1998.11.10"]
[SourceQuality "1"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. Nb5 Nb6 8.
c3 a6 9. Na3 c5 10. f4 Nc6 11. Nf3 Nd7 12. Qd2 b5 13. Nc2 c4 14. Ne3 f6 15. Be2
O-O 16. O-O Nb6 17. b3 Na5 18. Rab1 f5 19. Kh1 Bd7 20. g4 fxg4 21. Nxg4 Be8 22.
b4 Nb7 23. Rg1 Bg6 24. Rbf1 Kh8 25. Rg3 Nd8 26. Bd1 $1 {Preparing to trade of
Black's best defender. You see the same plan in Nepo-Vacher Lagrave game.} (26.
Rh3 Bf5) 26... Nf7 27. Bc2 Bxc2 28. Qxc2 Rg8 29. Rh3 g6 30. Nf6 Rg7 31. Rg1 (
31. Qxg6 Nxe5 32. Nxe5 Rxg6 (32... Rf8) 33. Nxg6+ Kg7) 31... Nd7 32. Qxg6 Nfxe5
33. Rxh7+ Rxh7 34. Qg8+ Rxg8 35. Rxg8# 1-0

Replies

My chess improvement journey: week 6

It has been a while since I posted the last one, but here me are again! First of all, I want to thank every one for the support you gave me on my last post. This community is amazing! Anyway, let's jump right into what has been done this week.

First thing first, I started off by reorganizing my chess training plan. I've included a little bit more of study, and improved my tactical training method. I found a very dated book, which I'm using to improve my thinking system, and I have to say so far is great! I'm understanding all the concepts, and even though the part I'm interested in is in the last chapter, I'm enjoying even the other parts (which are helping me anyway). 

Playing has gone ok, I managed to reach 1367 rapid, but now I care less ;)

One last thing, my chess club is growing. we had 8 people yesterday playing, and soon will hold a chess day so everyone can enjoy a serene moments of chess or get into the game if not to yet.

Thank you for having gone so far in the reading, hope you'll have a nice day, see you next week!

Replies

but now I care less ;)

^

^

^

I think that this is a huge step forward.  If we become too obsessed with a particular score I think it can weaken our focus and spoil our enjoyment of the game. (it's OK to have targets for our improvement but we shouldn't be slaves to them).

What is the book that you are reading?

My favourite GM Avetik's quote

“Call arbiter!"

everytime he gives the solution to some exercize, i am like “is he going to do it this time?"

Replies

I like: “Please pause the video and think.”  

I use that advice while playing sometimes.

(It even works when i’m speaking with my wife! :)

OK, one more … and a challenge.

1) I also like:

“Your chess rating is the shadow of your level in chess.”

It’s not GM Avetik's quote exactly (I believe it was his father's) but it is very appropriate.

2) A challenge: I think there a bunch of pretty good quotes lurking around here.  I’d like to see one of your favourites.

:)

Colorado / Latvian Gambits

Hi all

Why is it not wise to have White Queen on h8 in the Colorado Gambit but White Queen on h8 is active in the Latvian Gambit?

May Your Chessmood Always be Happy

Steve

Replies

Dear Steve, 


Can you put positions from both openings you are asking, as the question feels little unclear for me to answer.

Thank you!

French advance exchange dark square bishop for Knight

Hi all 

I played the French Advance and my plan was to exhange my light-square Bishop. On my third move I played …a6 and White fourth move was Nc3. My plan was to pin the knight then play …Bb5. White played Bd2, which I expected so I exchange my dark square Bishop for the knight. Next I exchange the light squares Bishops. Was this a wise plan? 
To my chargin I realize my weak dark squares on d6 and c5

Replies

Steve, hi!

After 5.Nc3?! (now c3 is not possible) we should play the usual c5 with a good game, because c3 will not be possible to defend d4, and that is why we do not need to hurry. Then Nc6 to follow or take on d4 first. If White takes on c5 they will just develop our bishop… 

😄But you should not give away your best Bishop for White's bad bishop on d2, that's not a good trade! 😄 
 

Dear Steve, 

Changing your dark-squared Bishop wasn't the best idea as it was a good piece. When you pawns are on the Light squares, your Bishop feels happy on the dark ones. 

Black has different ideas here Nd7-Nb6 and developed on the Kingside as well.

Check the Blackmood openings, as GM Avetik offers a very exciting strategy for this situation, sometimes with some crazy attacks on the Kingside.

Larsen Opening b3

I have watched the suggestion in the video. GM Gabuzyan suggested Nf6 and play g6, said that if white take on f6, the dark square will be weak. My question is what is black idea after Bd3, c4 and 0-0-0? It seem that idea with f5 is a pawn sac, not sure is that really good for us to do so or there is another idea in this position. 

1. b3 c5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. Nf3 d6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Qa5+ 6. Qd2 Qxd2+ 7. Nxd2 Nxd4 8. Bxd4 Nf6 9. e4 g6 10. Bxf6 exf6 11. Bd3 *

Replies

1. Nf3 c5 2. b3 Nc6 3. Bb2 d6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Qa5+ 6. Qd2 Qxd2+ 7. Nxd2 Nf6
8. e3 Bd7 9. Be2 Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Bc6 11. O-O g6 (11... e5 12. Bb2 Be7 13. Nc4 O-O
14. Rfd1 Ne8) 12. Bxf6 exf6 13. c4 d5 14. Bf3 Rd8 15. Rfd1 Bb4 16. cxd5 Bxd5
17. Bxd5 Rxd5 18. Ne4 Rxd1+ 19. Rxd1 Ke7 20. Rd4 Rc8 21. g3 Bc3 22. Ra4 a6 23.
Nxc3 Rxc3 24. Rb4 b5 25. a4 Rc5 26. Kg2 f5 27. Rd4 Rc3 28. axb5 axb5 29. Rb4
Rc5 30. Kf3 Kd6 31. Rh4 Ke6 32. Rd4 Rd5 33. Rb4 Kd6 34. Ke2 Kc5 35. Rh4 h5 36.
b4+ Kd6 37. e4 Re5 38. Kd3 f6 39. exf5 Rxf5 40. Rd4+ Ke6 41. f4 g5 42. Ke4 gxf4
43. gxf4 h4 44. Rd6+ Kxd6 45. Kxf5 Ke7 46. Kg4 Ke6 47. Kxh4 Kd5 48. Kg4 Kc4 49.
h4 Kxb4 50. h5 Ka3 51. h6 b4 52. h7 b3 53. h8=Q b2 54. Qxf6 *

Gabuzyan will get back to you one of these days. I asked him to reply… 😁

Hey there,

After the 11.Bd3 Be6 12.0-0-0 0-0-0 and Black is also preparing the d5. On the other hand, the dark-squared bishop will be strong enough to compensate for the weakness of the pawn on d6.

Good luck!

Interactive lesson 1/27/2024

Hello everyone,

I just want to say how pleased I was with the intereactive lesson event on Saturday, January 27, 2024. When I looked up the event and what was going to be covered in Chessmood, I said this looks like a different kind of event than in the past and definite looks interesting! I got to attend! We covered positional weaknesses which included creating pawn structure weaknesses and weak squares. I was like these things keep happening in my games! I got to learn from these lessons today. GM Gazuyban kept the lessons very intereactive as we went through a lot of different examples! I really enjoyed this type of session. As a visual learner this was very great for me. I hope we have more of these on Chessmood! You guys are all such great coaches! Thanks for all you do! God bless you all! 

Replies

Thank you very much Henry! It is very good that you liked, we are very happy with such feedback! Keep studying and don't forget to apply Gabu's teaching into your games! 😅 May the Chesmood Force be with You!💪

Dear Henry, 

Thank you so much for your kind words, I am super happy to know you enjoyed the event!

Review of the last Interactive Lesson

Hello dear friends, 

Here is my review of the last interactive lesson about positional chess by coach GM Gabuzyan. Overall, it was a pleasant, instructive, and interesting webinar. Coach Gabuzyan always explains ideas well and can make complex topics look easy. 

This event is going well with the Racing from [rating] to [rating] as it asks us to be more concentrated, whereas Racing events are more entertaining and opening-focused. 

Here are some suggestions for the next ones (because I think we all want more of this format) : 

• Giving us a position to think about before the event can be exciting homework, so we already tried to think about the topic by ourselves and take the time we need because, during the event, it's hard to follow everyone's pace; some are quick, and some need more time.
• Giving us a few positions to solve after the event (like the quizzes after each video in the regular courses) might lead to a better understanding but can also help us return to the topic later. 
• Some of us might have found most positions a bit easy to solve, and I think this event would benefit from having a rating range so students of every level can have their event like in the Racing events.  

In the end, I liked this lesson and I would love to see more of it 

Replies

We are happy that you liked it! Thanks for your kind words and feedback, we'll talk about this with the team.😀

Hey there, 

Thank you so much for your Feedback. Will also think about the ideas.

Good luck!

PGN of Model Games

Hi guys,

I'm diving into the model games section and i'd like to know if there is some way to get the PGN of the games to review it on another support like lichess ?

Thanks a lot !

Replies

Hi Bastien,
The pgn's luckily have already been provided by the chessmood-team, please go to the very end and open “attachments” and you will find an option to download the pgn's  :-)

I think to remember that your original question was regarding pgn's for commented classical games ?! Did you change your question somewhat?
Anyway, my response was regarding pgn's for commented classical games - maybe some misunderstanding ?!

I didn't see pgn files in the Whitemood Model Games as well. 

However, there is a very nice extension called “Chessvision.ai” ( https://chessvision.ai ). You can use it to scan your current page and it will recognise the chessboard. There is also an option to open the position on a new tab with the lichess/chess.com analysis board. 

I hope this helps you!

New article - 10 Must-Read Non-Chess Books Every Chess Player Should Explore

It's great to add to your knowledge of chess. But don't underestimate the power of a great mindset! 

1 impactful mindset book can have a 10x bigger impact on your chess than 10 chess books combined. It can show you: 

- How to perform at your peak?

- Set the right goals and be objective

- How to find motivation to fuel your dreams?

- How to stay focused when you're constantly bombarded with information and so much more. 

Today, we're sharing 10 non-chess books to help you win your chess and life games!

Discover them here: 

https://chessmood.com/blog/best-non-chess-books

And what are your best non-chess reads that have impacted your game? Share them with us under this thread. 

Replies

I am not sure it's in the same category as the books mentioned in the blog post.

Did you read “Chess Improvement - It's all in the mindset” from Barry Hymer and Peter Wells.

Hi Avetik,
Good List!  There's a few on there I haven't read yet so will do so soon.

Did you know we are only 10% human?  Each of us has trillions of microbes living in the gut that produce things like Serotonin for good mood and many many other things.

For the last 3 months my main topic of reading has been about the Gut Microbiome and how it affects our, health and happiness to an amazing extent.  It's absolutely fascinating stuff and after embracing it I have noticed many good things about my health and from a chess point of view one of them is improved mental clarity and less brain fog.  We are touching on the healthcare of the future here. One book that can help sort your microbiome out is Super Gut but there are many others when you dive into the topic.

Super Gut by Dr William Davis is one I think you might be adding to your list one day.

All the best

Adam

 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Super-Gut-Four-Week-Reprogram-Microbiome/dp/1399701819/ref=sr_1_1?adgrpid=1173179829153601&hvadid=73323987886120&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=4960&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-73323898312047%3Aloc-188&hydadcr=3222_2381487&keywords=supergut&qid=1693333669&sr=8-1

Avetik,

At age 60, my biggest goals, other than family, are health and longevity, and in that I'm extremely well read. What I would add is, especially with health, it's important to check your information with major research scientists specialized in the area in question. Google to see if scientists in the area at Harvard, Oxford, etc. agree. It's very easy to terribly misinterpret scientific research and statistical analysis if you don't have the PhD training, and specialization in the area in question. It's far more complex than most people realize.

That said, if you haven't already, I'd look into fasting. There are many potential benefits, but a big one for me, and many people, is that it makes it far easier and more pleasant to stay lean, and I find a boost in productivity. A recent book by a major scientist in this area is, “The Intermittent Fasting Revolution: The Science of Optimizing Health and Enhancing Performance”.

A great book on learning by top cognitive scientists is, “Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning”.

I wish you the very best! 

P.S. Hope your back is fully recovered from your skiing accident; otherwise, I can recommend some things that make my back 100% even in my old age.

Great list of books! Some I have read, others now on my list. Thanks!   

Perhaps we need your 10 must read chess books too!

Hi all, 

just in case I started during my cross country skiing vacation (2 weeks in Austria and the Dolomites) with nice cosy apartments with local small mountain farmers and popular competitions each weekend ..

but well the first week without almost any snow and event canceled. Anyway having a good time and time for reading (so far ⅓ of the limitless book by Jim Kwok)  .. and well less time for learning chess.  So here is my point/comment question.   First I find/found these general methods of learning (and teaching) always very interesting and useful. However, perhaps there is some exaggeration and something more that troubles me about the judgements and the elitism idea.   But this aside.  I read a book several years ago (and started reading it again now in parallel with limitless) 

I can highly recommend it, and well perhaps you have some thoughts about how this influences chess learning curves and so on. As well as “fears” of making certain moves under stress etc etc.   Looking forward to read your thoughts about this. Greeting Michael  

Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious (English Edition) Kindle Edition

English edition by Timothy D. Wilson (Autor) Format: Kindle Edition

See all formats and editions

"Know thyself," a precept as old as Socrates, is still good advice. But is introspection the best path to self-knowledge? What are we trying to discover, anyway? In an eye-opening tour of the unconscious, as contemporary psychological science has redefined it, Timothy D. Wilson introduces us to a hidden mental world of judgments, feelings, and motives that introspection may never show us.

This is not your psychoanalyst's unconscious. The adaptive unconscious that empirical psychology has revealed, and that Wilson describes, is much more than a repository of primitive drives and conflict-ridden memories. It is a set of pervasive, sophisticated mental processes that size up our worlds, set goals, and initiate action, all while we are consciously thinking about        

Help with black winning percentage

Hey Chessmood family, 

I was looking at my stats analysis, and I noticed my win rate with black pieces is a lot lower than white. Do you guys have a recommended study plan to improve this ratio?

Thanks in advance!

Replies

Hi Kyle,

A couple of things:

1. I think it's normal for the black win ratio to be less than white because of white's advantage in playing first.
2. That's a very small sample size in the scheme of things.

If you'd like to strengthen your game when starting as black have you looked at the BlackMood Openings course?

https://chessmood.com/course/blackmood-openings

rating booster (tactic ninja) or simplified chessmood openings?

Dear Coach,

I just subscribed to Chessmood yesterday. very excited about it. My kids' USCF ratings are 1000-1400. They are 7-11 years old. Which lesson should they start with, rating booster (tactic ninja) or simplified chessmood openings? Thanks  a lot!

Tony

Replies

Hi Tony (and kids!),
Welcome to the family!!!!

All is explained in the study plan, stick to it and the results will show, specially with kids.
https://chessmood.com/chess-study-plans/for-intermediate-players
Remember to do max one section per day of Tactics ninja. When you finish go to the next course… 
I also recommend doing one daily lesson per day. 
Father's recommendation: When the kid is tired and loses focus, just change activity, don't force them to continue, chess should be a game to enjoy when they want, not when you want (hopefully my message gets through… )… 
You can also start to watch and play together the chessmood openings, when you see a new move, you make them check the video and see the explanation for the next time. Every game played is an opportunity to grow and discover a new plan… (Fix)…
Good luck and happy learning!!! 😅

Studying classical games - thought process

I have a question related to one of these phantastic games (great job u have done!).

It is game 16: Johner-Nimzowitsch. I "know" hat Nimzowitsch is said, that he was ahead of his time with his hyper modern chess school. But how does your chess brain work to move the queen first in front of your bishop and later to h7 finally? When styudying Alekhines games we learn (or I think that I have observed) that the queen, as being the strongest attacker, needs to be positioned actively and next to the enemies king.

Anyway, this scenario is appearing in my chess dreams where the black lady appears and whispers to me: Come on, honey, let's move to h7! And I wake up with sweat and cry: no, please, not to h7! Why should we go there? But the lady just smiles and does not answer my question …

Replies

Anti-Sicilian Part 2 (2...Cc6) with ...g6

Hello Chessmood family, I'm keen to see games covering the capture with the b pawn i.e. e4 c5 Nc3 Nc6 Bb5 g6 Bxc6 bxc6?! with the possible continuation f4 Bg7 Nf3 Rb8 d3 d6 O-O e6 with the idea of Ne7 and O-O for Black. Are there any model games in this line? In the courses I've found plenty of model games with the dxc6 capture only. Thanks!

Replies

There are many games played in the streams with similar structures, we will target the c4 pawn and also the a7 pawn can be a big weakness at the end. You can play b3, to stop c4 and play c4 when you can to fix c5 forever… You should not be affraid of this variation that gives you all the center, d6 and e6, still maybe in the best games from the streams we don't have them.

Check the Rock and Rolling with white section 4, Antisician Part 2. Plenty of games with similar variations, but Rb8 so soon is not normal.😀

https://chessmood.com/course/rock-n-rolling-with-white

Starter Course - WhiteMood Openings Question

The 5th position on the quiz associated with Model game 1. Typical attack on the kingisde has me stumped.  I think the position shows up in the video at about 5:00.  I can’t figure out Blacks move.  Arrrgghhh!!

Replies

This one seems to be broken. We should be playing the White pieces. And white is in a winning position. I also notice that the “hint" button doesn't do anything.

Looks like this has become a very challenging problem, because Black doesn't have any good moves in this position!

positional chess and middlegame roadmap

Dear Coach, I am thinking about subscribing to chessmood. I have heard of a lot of great things about chessmood. When will the “positional chess” and “middlegame roadmap” courses be posted on the website? And when will the advanced French and Dutch opening courses be posted on the website?  Thanks a lot,

Tony

Replies

Dear Tony,

Thanks for your interest but we never provide any release date. We take a lot of time in selecting the best examples and this course is going to be very important. We always try to do our best and we expect to publish it this year, but we cannot say the date.All the courses that you mentioned should be released this year.
 

😄Also in the Classical Commented Games and the Daily lessons there are many, many positional tips and tactics explained all the time, check them out too. 💪
May the Chessmood Force be with You!😁

Which is better?

is blitz or rapid better (i play rapid only)

Replies

Is football or cricket better?

Is rock music or rap music better?

Is a Chinese takeaway or Fish & Chips better?

That is to say, it's all a matter of personal preference.  Play what you enjoy playing.

Unless, of course, you mean which is better for your chess development.  In that case, I think the general consensus is that Rapid is preferable because it gives you more time to think about your moves.

There is an article in the Blog section of ChessMood where they discuss time controls:

https://chessmood.com/blog/what-chess-time-control-to-choose

I go with their suggestion of playing 5+3 as “a time control between blitz and rapid.” 

It’s a good read.

benoni gambit declined: 3. Nf3: what to play ?

Dear GM Gabuzyan, Dear CM team what to play after black reject the benko gambit by playing 3. Nf3 (transposing in an english) ? 

I Had a very bad game not knowing how to answer : https://lichess.org/1hICSlbo/black

Replies

Hi Marius

This is Maroczy Bind course, Section 2, Maroczy with g3. The move is 8-, Qa5 in stead of your 8-,e5.

2 Questions in Caro kann

In the main lines, 12.Ne7 line after Ne5 Bf5 Bxf5 Nxf5 g4 Ne7 f4 what if black plays b5❓

And in the 7.Qb6 line after Qxb6 axb6 h3 Bh5 Na3 e6 Nb5 Kd7, here can you help me how to proceed in this position ❓🤔

Replies

Can somebody help me?

Queen sacrifice

Hi all,

Just wanted to share that I had my first (deliberate!) queen sacrifice.  It's a weird feeling - but I'm sure that it was the right move.  Was I correct?

(No laughing at the inability to get a quick checkmate afterwards!  Clearly, once I've finished working on tactics I need to start working on checkmating!)

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/100870930817?tab=analysis&move=60

Replies

Can you please say what move? I dont see any queen sacrifices in the game you provided.