Chess forum by Grandmasters

Tripling Best Pactice Question

Why is tripling in the order (Rook - Queen - Rook) the preferred method? R Q R Thanks in advance!

Replies

The best is to have the queen behind both rooks. This is called "Alekhine's Gun", and you can find the classical game Winter - Alekhine, 1936 ?

Anti-sicilian part 3 dxe4 Nc6 a6 - video 7

Note there is a small inaccuracy here. 9... Bxe4 is not the only move to save things. After 9... Nf6 10. Neg5 if Black doesn't play the losing h6, and instead plays Bxf3 11. Nxf3 Qd5 12. fxe6 Bd6 - it's also 'level' though practically it's interesting. However it would be harder to see as well as parting with the B for N and Qd5 there is a further pawn sacrifice. Though I think 9... Bxe4 going to be much more likely for those who know what they are doing, and assume those rated 1900+ that play this line in long play might well know the trap at least. Am curious still what the intended material for the advanced section that didn't materialise was going to say about the position with or instead of 12. d4 in this line.

Replies

Moodcoins

Just wondering, can moodcoins buy anything? And, if so, how?

Replies

You can buy lifetime access to courses using moodcoins (or real money). Click on the orange "Get lifetime access" link for each course. The attached screenshot is from the Tactics Ninja course.

Hans Niemann: Cheating

Did Hans Niemann cheat vs Magnus Carlsen? Why does Magnus Carlsen think that Hans Niemann is cheating? If Hans did cheat, how?

Replies

I don't think he cheated vs Magnus. The whole thing seems ridiculous.

?We do not know what happened but I found this thread on reddit that follows the latest developments if somenone is interested. Still maybe it would be better spending your time improving your game rather than reading gossips but nevertheless, here it is> ?

https://www.reddit.com/r/chess/comments/x7igg5/megathread_hans_niemann_allegations/

Now with Aronian saying "Hans play a strange move,its a strange game" may spice up the whole situation!

Could i skip scotch games?

I ever use scotch games before meet chess mood but uncomfortable and low performance on the games. Should i try again and analysis? I feel uncomfortable and happy about position all the time

Replies

I use the scotch game to reach from 1800 to 2200 elo in lichess so it is not a bad opening ? You need to make sure what happen to your games by analyzing them (lichess.org is always free for unlimited game analysis).A good opening is not enough to take you to a higher rating,you need to improve your middlegame by solving puzzles and study some endgames.Remember that low performances in your games does not always mean that there are problems with your opening ? All the best!

Model Classical Dutch Game

I've not looked at the Chessmood repertoire to see what the move order is in our lines, but just seen this demonstration of the classical Dutch in a Ginger GM speed run (1st game of the video) and it is a great illustration of Black's plan. No doubt something similar could happen from our English repertoire (or even in reverse Grand Prix as well). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Xdg7yEUuG0

Replies

All online chess account exposed

I have several chess accounts on several platforms,and sadly all of them are known by my opponents(even though I never use my real name).I am scared that they will make full opening preparation against me and so what should I do?Deleting my accounts or any other ideas?

Replies

What is your rating? In general, I think you should not be afraid of opponent's preparation if you are below 2000. If you know well your lines from Chessmood, they will not surprise you (: But there are two solutions: 1) You can close your accounts and make a new one (but you should be sure they will not be able to access your games even if you closed your accounts) 2) You can make a new one where you practice your openings and start playing new openings with your others accounts. Like that, they can think you play new openings and prepare against them while you are just tricking them. Avetik also recommends to play 9 games/day with your "main account". So you can use your others accounts to play more games or when you are tired etc.. ?

@Iz a78 How would your opponents know all your accounts? That seems highly unlikely.

Troll them and play 1.c3 with White :D If 1...e5 you play 2.c4 and you got Sicilian with colors reversed and after 1...d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 you're going into Benko Gambit :D

Scotch -8.h4

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.h4 Qb4 9.Nd2 Be7 10.c4 Ba6 11.Qe4 Nb6 12.a3 Qa5 13 Rb1 0-0 14.Bd3 g6 15.b4 Bxb4 16.axb4 Qa2 17.Rb2 Qa1 18.0-0 Rfe8 19.Nb3 Qa3 20.Rb1 Qxb4 21.h5 d5 22.Qg4 Rxe5 23.hxg6 hxg6 24.Bxg6 Qxc4 25.Be4 Kf8 26.Ba3 Ke8 27.Qg8 Kd7 28.Qxf7 Kc8 29.Qf8 1-0 Played in a tournament 90 min 40 moves, 30 min for the rest and 30 sec from start. Offline. Denmark. I was trying out Avetiks idea 8.h4 - today it went well.

Replies

Nice game Erik!?

Next time please post it in one of the following threads accordingly, these are the threads to post our best games so everyone can learn from them and not have hundreds of individual posts.

Thanks!

https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/the-best-games-of-september-2022-and-the-prizes

https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/model-games-with-chessmood-openings-1513

recommended opening vs 1.Nf3 (2. g3, 3.Bg2...)

What is the recommended chessmood opening vs 1.Nf3. I understand that it can transpose to many different openings later on, so I guess we start with 1. .. Nf6 and if they continue with g3/Bg2 etc. J.

Replies

I just copycat :)

https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-channel/1-nf3

1...Nf6 or 1...c5 would make the most sense.

I play 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 and I will transpose to a Fianchetto Grunfeld most of the times, but one where White has lost his critical options of cxd5 because I basically go dxc4 whenever I can. Im not sure how consistent that would be for a Benko player though

If speaking about Blackmood we are going to choose the 1…e6 or if about the main repertoire we are choosing c5 setups with different transpositions.

Where are the course PGNs?

I'm an essential - not pro - member. I'd like to download course PGNs, especially the ones for the new Endgames Roadmap course. But I can't seem to find them anywhere. Can someone point me in the right direction?

Replies

Hey, Not all the Chessmood courses have PGN. Usually, they provide PGNs for openings. They give the main lines and you have to complete them once you watched the full course to see if you memorized/understood everything correctly ?.

We provide the course pgns normally when all the course is finished and all the sections have been uploaded, never in between. Although it is true that not all courses have pgns, some have the quizz only. ?

Promotion idea

Why not offer say a few 6 month memberships as prizes to tournaments. In return ask they announce the prize at least once, add on the entry form if not too late and/or on the online entry for prizes / sponsors / prize donations, and ideally will leave a number of flyers with the other upcoming tournament info if you mail them. The prize could be a grading, junior or rated section prize where it's more likely to benefit to an improver. The idea targets would be large national tournaments that don't already have a 'competing' sponsor such as Chessable. For example Hastings: https://hastingschess.com/

Replies

Not a bad idea. It would take some time and involvement in local tourneys though.

The first order of business is survival. Everything else is in essence secondary, if the business is not making a profit and/or the cash burn is an issue against agreed drawing facilities. However, for a niche hobbyist education business like Chess Mood, the input costs are likely to be low and the operating costs not high. So the strategic imperative revolves around how best to grow the revenue without a parallel increase in operating costs ? That leads to two potential business models or at least two marketing strategies. Namely --either focus on growing the customer base through cost effective engagement with the defined target market or segmenting the product offering and charging different prices for different levels of membership ( say Bronze <> Sliver <> Gold ). These are not mutually exclusive. Yet making the primary focus (and workload) on increasing and enhancing the existing product offering at the same price point IMO only works medium term if 1) you already have a very profitable business where customer retention is therefore key 2) all these incremental product benefits you are organising, enable you to develop a more successful promotional campaign and grow the customer base more effectively &/or charge more in the future. Within the promotional mix your idea David seems to have merit and is worth exploring. My son tells me that even some savvy IM's are making six figures ( $$$$$$) per year from Chess on Twitch. Maybe a Twitch profile with some feedback loop to the Chess Mood website is another idea. Or maybe that is just a time sink that deviates from what Chess Mood have as their mission. But it is easy to spend other peoples time for them !! So presumably the CM leadership will be working through how they want to proceed.

Question on Closed Sicilian (Nc3 and g3)

Hi all, I recently played a rapid game with an WFM in the Closed Sicilian: 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.h3 e5 7.Nge2 Nge7 8.Be3 Be6 9.Qd2 O-O 10.Bh6 f5 Then I faced a fast kingside attack. White exchanged the dark-squared bishops, castled long and pushed h4-h5-hxg6 and doubled rooks on the h-file. I played Rf7 to defend h7, later White made a mistake and in the end the game was drawn. Here's what I understand from comparing it to the course Sicilian Sidelines (Nc3 g3) No.9 (6.Be3). 1) I should have castled long or just play Kd7. I think my opponent was waiting for me to castle short first before launching the attack. 2) 6...e5 was wrong because White hasn't committed the knight yet and can play Nf3, although Ne2 was played in the game. If White plays f4 and keeps delaying moving the Ng1, Black should play e6 to make f5 hard to achieve. 3) 10...f5 was inaccurate, Qd7 was better not committing the king yet. Is this a fair understanding of what Black should do in such positions? Thanks, Alex

Replies

Hi Alex, 

Not really Kd7, the center is not very closed and the king can be dangered, you did play well with e5, if you check out the course you will see there are very similar positions, I would recommend thinking about Nd4 to attacking on c2 and trying to distract the queen with that threats.

good luck!

Chess Books Reading Partner

Hi guys, I hope you all are wonderful. I am seeking chess training partners to read some books which I mentioned downwards. Interested players can comment or share it with other strong players so I will get serious teammate for study. Thanks. Books list: 1. Improve your Practical Play in the Middlegame by Alexey Dreev 2. Middlegames Dynamic and Subjective Features by M. Euwe & H. Kramer 3. Aagard Strategic Play. 4. Yusupov Series. 5. The Complete Manual of Positional Chess Vol-1&2 by Konstantin Sakaev & Konstantin Landa Note: Books are gonna be complex so I suggest players who are online 2200+ or FIDE 1500 or USCF 1500+ are welcome to join. In short only serious players can join the study with me. All study we can do using three platforms Skype, Google Meet, Zoom. Note: You guys can also suggest any good book too for reading. I do respect my teammate's opinions about books or courses. Thanks for reading my post. I hope to get some serious teammates.

Replies

Maroczy bind

http://view.chessbase.com/cbreader/2022/9/6/Game1776097625.html My computer is giving almost +1 in that line of the ACCELERATED DRAGON . i dont know where i could improve. Let me know if u have an idea. tx guys :)

Replies

Black has an advantage in that position.

Hello Jonathan,

I am a bit surprised as playing for a long while that positions I always feel comfortable. As you might know in our courses the goal is to provide practically playable positions, where we explain the middlegame ideas and don't try to depend only on the engines as everyone can do. 

Secondly in the variation, you mentioned you missed the opportunity to transpose to the modern maroczy which is my personal preference. Either way both positions are Maroczy transpositions, and I recommend you to check that courses as well.

All the Best.

French Attack --- c4 ?!

Hi All -- As a long time French player I've morphed to the 'French Attack' lines. Most are fine but Bb5 against the knight on c6 can be troublesome in the Exchange Variation. However, a few players have played the Advanced with c4 and I've struggled, so would appreciate some ideas from the group. White seems to have all the play. e4 e6 : d4 d5 : e5 Bd7 : Nf3 a6 : c4 dxc4 : Bxc4 Bc6 : Nc3 Nd7 (?) : d5. Seems e6xd5 is forced then Nxd5 and it is difficult to unwind and develop. Recommendations welcome !!

Replies

It seems like after 8. d5 exd5 9. Nxd5 the absolutely best move for black is 9...b5 according to the engine. White will respond either by retreating (10. Bb3 or 10. Be2), by attacking the queen (10. Bg5), or by attacking the c6 bishop (10. Nd4). Black's response will obviously depend on what white does there, and this has never been played in the lichess database so no idea which is more likely. White could also recapture with the bishop instead of knight, so a possible line would look like: 9. Bxd5 Bxd5 10. Qxd5 Ne7 11. Qc4 Nb6 12. Qe2 If you don't like 6...Bc6, there's always 6...Bb5 which the engine seems to prefer. I'm looking forward to the main French Attack course just for questions like this... there are a lot of unexplored sidelines.

Yep! After 9…b5 you can go, and if 10.Bb3 Nc5. 
The problem of 9…b5 is 10.Bg5 Ne7 11.Nd4!! , which seems cheating. 
Or you play against a Grandmaster. The course is for below 2,000 players. 

Alternative of 7…Nd7 is 7…Ne7, and if you're opponent is a cheater, it's the only time when you'll get problems after 8.Ng5 with some engine style sacrifices :) 

Question on a position of the Attack like a viking course

Hi everyone! In the position below from the section "Expose the weak king", I considered a different order of pawn breaks, with the line going b4 cxb4 d4 exd4 and finally f4. In the video instead, we go f4 right away and only later b4 and d4. It's not clear to me what are the drawbacks of starting with b4, if any. Any input would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Replies

Mistake (Rock 'n' Rolling with Black)

Hello ? Just to let you know that in Rock 'n' Rolling with Black -> 1.Accelerated Dragon -> Game 6 and Game 8 are the same. Sorry for the post but I can't comment in the Mistakes in the Chessmood videos because I am Essential member ^^

Replies

Thanks Akiba?, dully noted and informed the tech team.

I will delete this tread in a couple of days.?

Best way to handle the Grob (1.g4)?

Hello friends, I recently faced the Grob (1.g4), I didn't really have anything prepared so replied with 1...e6 and just tried to play solid opening principles. What ensued was a lot of chaos. My question is what is the best Chessmood answer to 1.g4 and is there a way to keep our same 1...e6 first move and play a familiar Blackmood setup? Thanks for any replies and thoughts. Happy Chess to you! Leslie

Replies

1...d5 is definitely the strongest move and gives black a clear advantage. You're immediately attacking the g4 pawn so already have the initiative and an advantage in the centre. White's idea is to sacrifice g4 and try to get into b7 by playing a quick c4 and Qb3, but it is simply good for black to sacrifice the b7 pawn and focus on quick development.

Dear Leslie,

1.g4 is very unhealthy and choosing central e5 or d5 moves will be the bet choice.
 

Sokolsky/Polish Opening ?

Hi-- what do you guys play against 1) b4 ? My default is e5 then take b4 if allowed then just get my pieces out. Is there a more Chess Mood thematic approach ?

Replies

That's a great approach. So simple, and very sound.

Hi Keven,

1.b4 is not a sound move, you can play healthy central choice, your suggestion can be correct as well.

Good luck!

New success story: Vishnu Warrier: The champion nobody saw coming

Hello champions!

A few months ago, one of our ChessMood students participated in a tournament. His seeding was so low that he had little to no chances of winning. It was easy to write him off.
 

But he surprised everyone by becoming the tournament champion. 

What’s even more astonishing is that he did this while working a day job and taking care of his young family.
 

How did he pull off such an impressive feat?

He shares everything in today’s article, including:

✔️His journey of winning the tournament where he had little to no chances.

✔️The productivity hacks he used to make the most out of training.

✔️His ‘why’ behind improving his chess.

✔️The strategy he used to get out of losing positions in the tournament. 

…and much more!
 

Read the complete story here?

https://chessmood.com/feedback/vishnu-warrier

Enjoy❤️

Replies

Excellent and inspiring story, well done Vishnu!

can u share ur games

Great Job Vishnu! Congratulations ?????? 2 requests if possible 1 could you share your excel tracker? 2 let me know please when your book will be released