Chess forum by Grandmasters

marking the watched events

😀

Hey

is it possible to add a feature to the recorded events videos just like the courses in which it marks the ones you watched and resume the ones you havent finished?

for me, I have been away from chess for 2 months almost and I want to see all the missed events but cant rememer which ones I watched and which I havent.

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Dear Zaid,

Thanks for your suggestion, we might consider adding this kind of feature if get the request from many other students as well.

Hope to see you more often during the streams in live mode :-)
Good luck!

Fixmood

hi Chessmood team,

I just had a quick look at Fixmood and went throgh some of my games-wow this is a game changer!

It's looking great-really looking forward to the finished product!

Love it!

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I like it also , I can t wait for the other features to be add. 

Hey guys,

Thanks for your kind words!
Happy to hear you are enjoying it, and it makes your training more effective.

Good luck :-)

I thought there was a problem with the game selection as it was not showing all of them . They all appeared after selecting the option « both »  ( out of book ) . so Every time it’s my opponent who get out of book first , I was not  seeing those games as the filter was set on « you » ( me ) . 

Questikn about today puzzle

In today puzzle 24 sept, why I cann't make a queen instead a bishop in a8 ?

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Just a small request - please don't post spoilers! Some of us haven't had a chance to see this puzzle yet (it's still Sept 23 here!). But not having seen the puzzle, there is only one explanation for what you describe. Think about it, and if you don't figure it out we'll talk again in another 24 hours or so :D

I'm replying with no spoilers.

When I was solving it, I thought about the right solution but when I made the moves I recognized an other move (what you asked why you can't do) and without thinking I changed my mind and did it. And the page appeared saying I made a mistake. There was only one explanation, which I should have thought about, and then I looked again at the board and confirmed that indeed, I made a mistake.

If you are waiting for an instant answer (e.g. because our opponent's rook can go j9 and give a fork), it won't do you any good. The best you can achieve here is that someone points you to a direction (or to a method) so that you can solve it yourself. If that's what you're asking, next time please give us some detail about how you tried to answer your question, what made you be still in doubt, etc, because the more general you ask, the more general answer you will get. (General answer here is that because one option is a good move and it's the solution, the other is a blunder and therefore not the solution.)

And Jeff is right, please pay attention to the fact that it's still a live puzzle, so no spoilers. 

So, what I'd recommend in situations like this: if there are two similar options, look at the difference between them. What makes one move good and another bad (in general)? What is the ultimate goal of a chess game? What are you trying to achieve in this very puzzle? If you aim for a win, how can it be achieved, how can you opponent defend against it? If you aim for a draw, how can you secure it and how can your opponent attempt to win?
 

If you looked at it and asked yourself these questions (asking good questions is hard, I know) and still can't answer the main question (why one move is good, the other is bad), it might be good if you do something else for a while (go to a class, work, go for a run, sleep, depending on your lifestyle), then come back later. Our brains are excellently assembled, we can think about a problem when we do something completely different. And if you're still really stuck, ask for help with a concrete question, not a general one.

Proud of myself for not getting greedy.

I was playing a daily game recently…and I felt very tempted to take the h8 rook oh move 14 and then reroute around and go back for the other one.

I didn't…because I could see it was much more valuable to take out the d8 rook instead. This performs a kind of positional annihilation almost; that rook is the main thing keeping me from doing much to attack without wasting tempos. If I move my bishop I lose my queen and if I move my queen I have to be very careful to do it without blundering the bishop. 

I often used to make the mistake of grabbing material just to grab material and I'm proud of myself for not doing that this time around.

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/daily/705400549?tab=review&move=24

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well played. The rook on d8 was the most active of both rooks and it was better to take it. Besides, it was impossible for the king to take it back without walking into the discovery (and he did, and he lost). 

Stupidest knight blunder imaginable but I won. SLP skills ftw

https://www.chess.com/game/live/120794409071

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SLP indeed! You didn't give up and found opportunities for your opponent to mess up. Well done!

Why have I suddenly lost 50 IQ points

I want to play some rapid but every time I try to warm up by doing puzzles I blunder the most basic things like not seeing that I'm supposed to move a hanging queen.

Why have I gone from being an intelligent human to a nose picking mountain troll who speaks in one syllable grunts

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We all Do during puzzles!

The problem is when we are warming up, with easier puzzles especially, we expect to complete it with our eyes closed and then we behave like that. So we miss simple things.

During our warm ups, we need to concentrate as if we are already playing our game!

The best way (for me) to activate this instincts is to simply play like a 2+1 game and then warm up.

For longer time control sessions, just play a slighlty longer warm up game (3+2).

You just want to get into playing mode.

Hope this helps!

Try doing a short sprint after taking the marathon. You can't realistically expect to be fast.

You mentioned your bishop-knight mate-session, it was like a marathon for your brain.

Sleeping and phisical activities (e.g. running) can help your neurons regenerate.

As for puzzles, I usually see a pattern because I know there must be a pattern (hey, it's a puzzle!), so I tend to do sacrifice more often than in a real game, but a hanging queen is not a pattern to me (it's too obvious), so I can't find it…

So puzzle-rush is not for me, because it tricks my mind not to play chess but chess-with-only-special-stuff.

Anyway, solving puzzles before playing real games have the exact purpose that you rather lose a queen in a puzzle than during a real match.

Beginner Bewildered By Blunders

Don't you just love some alliteration? 😉

Anyway, on to the question.

I appreciate that, as a beginner, I will make more blunders than a more experienced player.  I also appreciate, therefore, that reducing the number (and severity!) of my blunders is a great way to improve my chess.

My problem is that I can have a great run of no-blunder games (according to the review anyway - although some of the misses seem pretty awful to me!) and then, all of a sudden, I'll have a game or two where it's as if I've saved-up all of my blunders and I'm now cashing them in!!

So, my question is, what approach do you use to ensure that you don't blunder?  Do you have a mental checklist (or even a written one) that you run through before every move?  What do you do to ensure that you retain concentration in the endgame?  I suspect that for experienced players it almost becomes second nature so if that is you please cast your mind back to when you were a beginner.

 Please note that I have been through the ChessMood BlunderProof course (https://chessmood.com/course/blunderproof ) and watched various YouTube videos on the topic.  I understand what I should, and should not, be doing - I just seem to get caught in the moment sometimes and make a move without taking the required amount of time for full consideration 

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Dont worry!

I atleast still make a ridiculously large amount of blunders in my games, and am trying to work on it.

One thing that has majorly helped is working on puzzles where I have to see what the opponent is threatening (Dvoretsky's book was a big help here).

You can try this yourself by going to chesscom > Puzzles > Custon Themes > and selecting defense. Usually they are quite tricky and you have to see what your opponent is planning.

Additionally, in a longer game (classical) I simply mentally write down my move, and then start looking for tactics that my opponents have. If I am confident, then I play my move.

Hope this helps!

When I get an incurable blunderitis attack like you just described it's usually because I overdid something and am mentally tired. Did you play too many long tiring games back to back lately? Do you maybe need a break?

Training position from Tactic Ninja

I'm doing all the trainings.

In the section about Deflection, i was doing the “Deflecting the square defender” training (not the quiz, the training!)

In the third position i noticed that there are two possible deflecting possibilities that wins the same amount of material (a queen for a rook and a knight) but one solution is right, the other is wrong.

The engine also evaluates the right solution as better than the wrong solution, but i don't see why.

The right solution is to play 1.Ra8+ deflecting the bishop from defending the knight fork on g6.

The wrong solution is to play 1.Ng6+ deflecting the bishop from defending the back rank and forcing black to block the 2.Ra8+ check with the queen.

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Hi Massimo, 

Thank you for your message! 

You're absolutely right—at first glance, both moves seem to achieve the same result, as both would lead to winning the Queen. However, the engine prefers the 1. Ra8+ move because it keeps the black bishop on a8 rather than g6, which gives Black fewer chances to hold the position.

We've made an adjustment to the position to ensure there's only one clear solution now. Thanks for bringing this to our attention😊

If you have any more questions or feedback, feel free to reach out.

Next chapters of The Rise of Champions?

Hey, guys! When can we expect the next chapters of The Rise of Champions course? I can't wait for them already. 😅

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French exchange after 5. Nc3

Hello, I'm following the black mood opening course french defense, aggressive setup against ed5 (exchange variation). I think 1 variation is not covered, what to do after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Nc3? As this knight attacks our d5 pawn, we can not play Bd6 because our queen will not defend our d5 pawn anymore. We can not play directly Ke7 because we need to develop our f8 bishop before... What to do? It looks like we must abandon our aggressive setup...

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I've been running into this variation a LOT in my blitz games as of late. The last 7 exchange French's I've played have all had this move order and I too wish to know how to combat it. Following this thread for sure, hopefully we can get a solid answer! If I find anything, I'll also post here.

Hi Luc and Jules… Hapy New Year to you!

Luc, don't be so pessimistic! 😅 We would never recommend a line in the French that must be abandoned on the move 5! 😄

This is a first practical repertoire and as such we cannot include all the replies to every move, that's why there is a forum and webinars and streams too.😃 
We do not recommend the move move 4...Bd6 for Black because it reduces somehow our possibilities, we will not be able to develop the bishop to b4 in some variations as in this case.

Therefore against 5.Nc3 we should go Bb4 pinning the knight. This will allow our knight to go to e7 and follow more or less our usual plan.💪 
 

i rekomen you to play afer e4 e6 d4 d5 ed5 ed5 nc3 c6 and the new plan bd6 nf6 (if you got chek ne7) 0:0 bf5 ngd7 re8 ne4 ndf6 and rewaly akive poitzion and hard to play for white

Thank you for raising this, Luc. I came looking through the forums for advice on this variation because I am also seeing it a lot at my level (1400-1500 rapid on chess.com). Nc3 from White as early as move 4, after the exchange on d5, is by far the most common continuation I am facing, and I do think it is an omission that it is not even briefly touched upon in the course. 

1. e4, e6
2. d4, d5
3. exd5, exd5
4. Nc3…

The problem is that this seems to throw a spanner in the works immediately and makes it difficult for us to reach our desired setup. Since Bd6 is not an option now, Bb4 seems the best square for our dark squared Bishop. Be7 feels passive and doesn't allow us to play Nge7. 

However, the move Bb4 has three major drawbacks I have found. Firstly, the b4 square is no longer available to our c6 Knight, so we cannot play Nb4 in response to opponent's Bd3. This makes White's development very easy for them. Secondly, our control over e5 is weakened and White can maybe exploit this by sticking a Knight there later on. Finally, we are in danger of losing the Bishop after White kicks it with a3, forcing the exchange and giving White the Bishop pair advantage. Moreover, White doesn't have to rush the move a3 out. For instance, they can wait until it looks like we're committing to castling long, then play a3 and open up the b file for an attack.

For example:

4. Nc3, Nc6

5. Nf3, Bb4

6. Bd3…

…and we cannot play Nb4 as we might have liked to attack the Bishop on d3…

6. … Nge7

7. 0-0, Bg4

8. h3, Bf5

9. Bxf5, Nxf5

10. Re1+ …

…now look what happens if we continue as per the course recommended moves …

10. Re1+, Nce7

11. Qe2, Qd7

12. Ne5 …

Ouch! We are already paying for not having control of e5.

Ok, so what if we don't play Bf5, but go with something like Bh5 instead?

8. h3, Bh5

9. a3, Bxc3

10. bxc3, Qd7

11. a4, 0-0-0

12. Re1, f6

13. Ba3…

It is difficult to see a good plan for Black here, whereas White has the Bishop pair, the semi-open b file, and is having all the fun. Engine analysis suggests our best move is something prophylactic like a6 (to deny b5 from the Bishop). If we play the more aggressive g5 now, continuing with the plan suggested in the course, then White has a range of good options to punish us like a5, Bb5 or even the tactical shot Ne5! 

I've done quite a bit of analysis on this and I think White has the favourable position. Furthermore, I don't think it is the case that they have to play particularly well to get there. These are fairly logical moves for the most part that intermediate rated players can find.

So, what to do about Nc3? 

I honestly don't know. I've looked at playing Be7 and going for a different setup with short castling, but it feels boring and passive. The best I can come up with at the moment is to get to this kind of position and make sure I remember not to try something like g4 prematurely, but rather play defensive and solid for a few moves, and keep an eye on the b5 square for White's Bishop. It's not like we're losing. It's just that I would prefer White's position.

Does anyone have any thoughts or alternative ideas?

Request to provide the "RACING FROM 2000 TO 2700 " STREAM LINK IN THE PRO MEMBERS FORUM

Hello I just became a pro member yesterday .can I get the live events of “RACING FROM 2000 TO 2700” PART 1 TO 12.If someone can provide me.with the links it will be really helpful.or at least tell me.where I can get the links .

Replies

You can find the links on the Events page but here they are anyway.

https://chessmood.com/event/racing-from-2000-2700

https://chessmood.com/event/racing-from-2000-2700-2

https://chessmood.com/event/racing-from-2000-2700-3

https://chessmood.com/event/racing-from-2000-2700-4

https://chessmood.com/event/racing-from-2000-2700-5

https://chessmood.com/event/racing-from-2000-2700-6

https://chessmood.com/event/racing-from-2000-2700-7

https://chessmood.com/event/racing-from-2000-2700-8

https://chessmood.com/event/racing-from-2000-2700-9

https://chessmood.com/event/racing-from-2000-2700-10

https://chessmood.com/event/racing-from-2000-2700-11

https://chessmood.com/event/racing-from-2000-2700-12

https://chessmood.com/events

In this page you can find all the previous events, just scroll down to the bottom to access older pages filled with the past events.😀

Francesco, please use the  
https://chessmood.com/contact

page for this kind of private questions regarding payments and such.

If you prefer, you can also send an email to [email protected]

and explain your case. (Just copying the above text will be enough.) 
Thanks!

If you're thinking of changing your payment method before your subscription renews, I’d recommend using https://linkpay.io/—it’s a reliable and secure way to manage your payments. I’ve personally used Linkpay, and it has been great for handling various transactions smoothly. As for your subscription, you might want to reach out to Chessmood’s support team directly to confirm whether switching cards would affect your current pricing, just to be sure!

Is the benko gambit refuted

Is the Benko gambit playable in classical tournaments? It looks like white gets a clear advantage. I could like to have your thoughts on this

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If White plays super precisely then he will not get more than an advantage of +1

Alternative in the Annihilation chapter

Hi friends, 

Avo gave this example see picture where Black plays dxe6 next White mates with Qg7#. My question, what if Black plays Qxf6 next White Nxe8 (white material up) Qe6 and we get a mate in 3 with with white RxQ and Nf6#. So it would be a mate but in more moves. 

Let me know if Qxf6 is a possible sequence of moves. 

Thank you very much

Joachim

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Grand Prix vs Pirc

I had some doubt about the position which arises after

1.e4 d6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 g6 4.Bc4

I checked with the engine, and the best moves for black are covered in the course, or in the sicilian course in case black plays c5.

However there is 4…Bg4 move that despite being slightly inferior looks quite tricky to me and i think it deserves a mention because it's a very natural move for black and white needs to play accurately.

White should block with Nf3 and after 5…Nc6 black is threatening to put pressure on the pinned knight on f3.

If we don't want to move again our light square bishop (to block the pin or pin the knight on c3), there is h3 option, but after 6…Bxf3 7.Qxf3 Nd4 the engine gives 8.Qd3 ad the only move to keep advantage, this position is weird due to the position of the queen that blocks the d pawn so i think white should be prepared for it.

There is also 6.d4 Bxf4 7.gxf3 which looks good but sharp, white should prepare how to handle this position

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Hello!

I did some analysing, and trying to keep with the spirit of the position.

It seems that we will always have to exchange 2 minor pieces, and thus it will be hard to follow our normal plans.

In this case, if you face this in blitz, I recommend playing d4 Bf3, gf3.

In classical, the above mentioned line is also very good, although playing Bb5 (Instead of d4) there may be less weakening.

Guidance Needed for Preparing My Daughter for National Chess Tournament

I am looking for advice on how to structure the preparation for my 7-year-old daughter, Purvi Gupta, who will be participating in the upcoming national chess tournament. She has already played in the national under-7 category and scored 5 out of 9 rounds, and I believe this is largely thanks to ChessMood's training resources!

Currently, we are following a routine where she spends 20 minutes each on the following topics daily:

1. Endgame
2. Tactics Ninja
3. Whitemood Openings
4. Blackmood Openings

There are so many great videos and courses available on ChessMood, and I'm wondering if this approach is correct or if we should focus on one topic more intensively before moving to the next. Should we complete one video or course series entirely before starting another, or is it better to continue with a mix of topics?

Any guidance or suggestions on how to optimize her preparation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help!

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Hi Ankit,

I don’t have the experience to be able to answer your question but, while you wait for an answer from somebody else, have you read the various blog posts on the subject of Tournament Preparation?

https://chessmood.com/blog/category/tournament-preparation

Suggest to study calculation part,(chessmood  helpful to calculate fast, try to make position and calculate… . My daughter plan to play national under 11…