Chess forum by Grandmasters

After watching "crush the philidor defense by GM Avetik

I Decided to play a kinda set out in an online friendly tournament.  in this game my opponent didn't play the usual mainline but it'd transpose to kind of philidor set-up for me and I think I countered it well... 

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Hi Henry, could you please make your post readable. Either post a link to the game or add pgn attachment.

Dear Henry, I edited your post and added the pgn of the game. Next time please add directly the pgn file to the post by pressing the button "Add New File" when you are editing your post, this way everyone can go trough the moves easily.

Grand Prix 2...d6 lines - Giri's Chessable course on the Sicilian

Guys, Giri is suggesting a very good line against our Grand Prix repertoire 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3. f4 Nc6 4.Nf3 g6  5.Bc4 Bg7 6.0-0 e6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nb5 a6 9.Nbxd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 Nf6 11.f5 gxf5 12.exf5 e5

Even after playing around with a strong chess engine, I can find nothing better than equality.  Any ideas?

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This was discussed here: https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-members/anti-sicilian-2282 

Great - many thanks. I agree GM Gabuzyan’s comment but now it is in Giri’s course it will get a bit less rare!

NEW ARTICLE: A Complete Guide to Crush the Colorado Gambit

Hey Champions!
We have this topic in our blog: 

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Good work, I'll take a look shortly.

Again the question is what happens if the opponent plays f5 on the first move (The Fred), but then doesn't transpose with Nc6 Nf3?

I know there was some reluctance to record a course on that specifically, but maybe it should be covered in a sub-section, or at least some guidance on how to tackle it as many of the sane positions / ideas will be similar I guess.

And is it nothing to worry about - unfortunately it can be dangerous in blitz -  here is GM Gabuzyan losing to a 2266 (although a blunder): https://lichess.org/GuEGM9YQ

In the video course final annotated game you skip the final moves of the game.

Early 6.Nb3 in accelerated Dragon.

Dear GM Avetik,

I just played a Classical game with black that went 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Nb3

I don't think this early move is covered so early in the course. The game went 6...Nf6 7.Be2 0-0 8.0-0 d6 9.Re1 Be6 10.Bf1 Rc8 11.Bg5.

What do you suggest against 6.Nb3. And if what I played is correct how should we tackle 11.Bg5?

thanks,

Duncan

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Hi Duncan,

I think 6.Be3 is the critical move. 6.Nb3 does not seem too disturbing. I think 6...d6 7...Nf6 and 8...0-0 and black is fine. Why does 11.Bg5 bothers you?

Anyway, let's see what GM Avetik proposes

Duncan, after 6.Nb3 Bc3 is very interesting. 
7.bc Nf6 8.Bd3 0-0 9. 0-0 9...Qc7!? or 9...b6 rare moves. 
The positions are very interesting. 

More you'll found in the upcoming re-recorded course Acc. Dragon. 

Question playing Sicilian

I can't seem to find it, but is this covered in our videos? Sorry if this has been asked before! 

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Qd4 Nf6 7. e5 Nd5 and then white either plays c4, Nc3, e6 it seems like.  

-Matt

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Hi Matt

Here you can find some information

https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-members/sicilian-defence-accelerated-dragon

Gabuzyan vs Naroditsky and Jorden van Foreest.

IMPRESSIVE stream today in TWICH with Gabuzyan beating these 2 very STRONG GMS, while talking, explaining and trying new things!!! WTF!!!

Check it out from the min 01:06:44

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1020936021

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Great work Gabuzyan! :-)

Doubts and Clarifications

How do we know where to develop our knights in english opening whether Nf6 or Ne7.. Becoz GM Gabuzyan says its wrong to play Nf6 but the same arises when we play dragon opening.. Pls help me.. And there r some correction for English Opening Course... Also could u suggest me a move order if there is a delay in development of the bishop for thr tromposky

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i think you are pro member. so for better answer post the question in pro member channel

Best way to prepare for a tournament within a short period

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4 days and low (sub 1500?) rating. Forget repertoire, or at least anything significantly new in that area.

Make sure you learn basic pawn endings, basic rook endings, practise check mating patterns, tactics, the openings you know: check you can still get to a middlegame in the main lines (i.e. avoid the traps) and have some idea of what to do (a few model games).

That's probably it. You'll win games based on outplaying and at the level you are describing, it'll be tactical and following the basics to get a good position will give you a chance. Where you lose it'll be more likely a trap or missing tactics.

Chessmood repertoire takes months to work through properly even if you are full time.

Doubts in Jobava line for black 7.Qd2!? lecture 36

Hello,

Wondered how to play against Jobava for black as I sometimes try it as white and really have my doubts about this line, imo it's just better for white. Can GMs prove me wrong? :)

EDIT: seems, this has been asked in other thread already, my bad 

https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-members/london-system-5h4-h5-6nf3-bg4-7qd2

but still need confirmation what is the best plan for black, maybe advanced video explaining it should be made?

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Hi Paulius

Avetik had this position before, and the below game was played

[White "bangchess21"][Black "Avetik_ChessMood"][Result "0-1"][WhiteElo "2710"][BlackElo "2804"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 Bg7 5. h4 h5 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Qd2 Bxf3 8. gxf3 e6 9. e4 c6 10. Bg5 Qa5 11. O-O-O Nbd7 12. Kb1 b5 13. Nxd5 Qxd2 14. Nxf6+ Bxf6 15. Rxd2 Bxg5 16. hxg5 f6 17. gxf6 Nxf6 18. Bh3 Ke7 19. c4 b4 20. Rg1 Rhg8 21. d5 cxd5 22. exd5 exd5 23. Re1+ Kf8 24. cxd5 Rd8 25. d6 Rg7 26. Re6 Ne8 27. Rd4 a5 28. Rf4+ Rf7 29. Rd4 Rxf3 30. d7 Ng7 31. Rc6 Rxh3 32. Rc8 Ne6 33. Re4 Kf7 34. Rxe6 Rxd7 35. Rcc6 Rd2 36. Rf6+ Ke7 37. Rxg6 Rh1+ 38. Rc1 Rxc1+ 39. Kxc1 Rxf2 40. Rg5 h4 41. Rh5 Rh2 42. Rxa5 Kf6 43. Rb5 h3 44. Rxb4 Rg2 45. Rh4 h2 46. a4 Ke5 47. a5 Kd5 48. b4 Rg1+ 49. Kb2 h1=Q 50. Rxh1 Rxh1 51. Kb3 Kc6 52. Kc4 Rh4+ 53. Kc3 Kb5 54. a6 Kxa6 55. Kb3 Kb5 56. Kc3 Rc4+ 57. Kd3 Kxb4 58. Ke3 Kc5 59. Kd3 Kd5 60. Ke2 Rd4 61. Ke3 Ke5 62. Kf3 Re4 63. Kf2 Kf4 64. Kg2 Re2+ 65. Kf1 Kf3 66. Kg1 Re1+ 67. Kh2 Rd1 68. Kh3 Rh1# {Avetik_ChessMood won by checkmate} 0-1

@Paulius_Juknis

Hi Paulius,

I share your reservations about this line and the theory is still developing, but when last I checked my files I concluded that Black's best piece placement was to put the Knight on c6 and regroup it to e7 if necessary, this seems the most harmonious and reliable setup to me if you choose to enter this 5...h5, 6...Bg4 line as Black. Let me know what you think: 

NEW ARTICLE: How to Inspire Your Chess Student

Hey Champions!
We have this topic in our blog: 

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A very good article again coach & congratulations to you and your student Prin.

As you say, this does not work for everyone and certainly not for me, as from my experience here, I know I get little support for beating much higher rated opponents than myself (which I have done quite a few times) on this site.

At first, this demotivated me (natural I think), but I decided to rise to the challenge and try & make it motivate & inspire me and now I am working on that! Let us see where that gets me and then we can discuss the neuroscience of it later! Right Mood, Right Move COGRO! 

The most instructive moments of the streams

Hey, champions! 
As you know, we do (or at least try to do :D ) our best to help you with your growth. 

To help you memorize variations and more importantly understand them better, in the last months we did a huge job :) 

We downloaded all the streams, checked the games, and managed to cut the instructive games. 
Then we'll add them to the courses in separate sections. 

So after watching for example the Scotch Game course, you can watch a few hours of streams, and see all the variations in practice. 

Hopefully, it will help you very much.  
If you have any feedback or idea, you're welcome :) 


With love,
ChessMood team 

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Thanks for all the work you do!

This is going to be superb idea coach

IoI... that's great! Thank you very much! 

Looking forward to this. Will be a great help. Thank you!

Wow, that's amazing! Good call!

Fantastic idea, sure would help in cementing key ideas.

awesome~~~

Moodcoins

Hello, I am wondering how to use my collected moodcoins ($19) to buy a cup.

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Hello Marcel,

It is possible to exchange moodcoins for courses, not for buying merchandising from the shop. Once you collect enough moodcoins you can have courses in exchange, this way we provide a chance to get access to our contents to everyone genuinely interested in learning from Chessmood regardless of their income. 

Themes for openings

An idea about themes just got in my mind. I thought it will be so fun if you cover themes which comes in CM openings, For example maneuvers such as QB6-Rfc8- Qd8. in maroczy, f4 f5 attack in grand prix, e6 then e5 in grand prix by white. Something like this. Also an idea such as Bb2 Ba3 Bc5 in maroczy.

Like this f you also make some videos of common themes in cm lines then may be it will be useful for everyone.

You can do it apart from model games sections. You can call it may be typical themes sections. It can be endgames or middlegame themes or openings themes

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Time management Training?

Hi, like chessmood provides all types of playing tournament but can you guys also provide the time related events . I mean events like white have 5 mins to win and black have 6 mins to draw. Time pressure training we will do in them,. This kind of events will teach us how to handle real life time pressure and how to find good moves under time pressure

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I think it is not possible to set tournaments like that on chess.com and lichess.

better would be to work with a partner

Hello Abhi,

This may be reasonable, but for players who want to have training like this. You can try to find a sparring partner willing to practice in time trouble conditions.

Personally, I don't think the format you suggest sounds very common from a black perspective to make a draw. It reminds some reversed armageddon rules :)

Pessimist, Optimist, and Chess Journey

 There’s no difference between a pessimist who says, “Oh, it’s hopeless, so don’t bother doing anything,” and an optimist who says, “Don’t bother doing anything, it’s going to turn out fine anyway.” Either way, nothing happens. —Yvon Chouinard

 I have two questions for you :)
 1. Are you a pessimist or an optimist?
 2. Are you in control of your chess journey?

 Looking forward to seeing your honest answers :)

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1. Have always been a lazy optimist

2. Currently I think I am in charge of my chess journey. Mostly thanks to ChessMood’s advice to plan the journey.

On Calculation vs Intuition

I have just watched Classical Attacking Game #4 (Knorre vs Chigorin)

My question is: 

Do you think Chigorin calculated until the end all the variations that GM Avetiks shows us or do you think that he calculated just the most important ones and he trusted in his intuition?

In these attacking games with early sacrifices I always wonder how much is calculation and how much is intuition based on experience and acquired patterns

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I feel like they do not calculate everything. I feel that they calculate at certain level let's say 20 ply or 25 ply then they try to judge that position and due to their chess knowledge, intuition (developed by a lot study of patterns and classics) and playing experience they are able to judge the resulting positions well and they go for sac.

Sergio, no way he calculated all. 
Mostly such sacrifices are based on intuition. 
How to develop intuition, we'll have a separate article, but in a few words, just analyze a lot. 
With becoming a better chess player, your intuition also improves. 

How do you think at chess?

In the book 'How to think at chess'. It's suggested one way of training is to look through positions and record your thinking out loud.

I'm wondering if this could be an interesting exercise to try in a group to compare how different players approach games or positions; the aim being to identify improvements or blind spots in the thinking process.

Anyone interested in giving that a go?

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Sure, I will be interested

Me ready.

See the video in the classical games post a few hours ago. I think choosing some games and recording thinking there to compare results as a group is an interesting approach.

I just need some spare time.

I'm also interested in this.

Classical games

Sir can you recommend any method (apart from replay training ) to study classical games so that we can remember it for a long time 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5Tw1iNDfas

This can help you a lot! Check it out!

Good way to work through games.

The next question is should you take notes / diagrams to return to, or just keep going through games.

Possibly could do with an article on discovering why your moves were weaker (I work with an engine if there wasn't analysis to flick between my and the computer's lines until I understand the difference). This also is for analysing own games - such as in my post Why do we lose.

Also I think there may be benefit in recording (using free sound capture software) your thinking out loud so that you can better understand how you came to a conclusion and what you missed. As mentioned this could be interesting to compare between players to learn how others think to see your own blindspots. Perhaps this video's method is the way to carry that out.

Qb6 d3 French

E4 E6 ; D4 D5 : Bd3 d/e  ; Bx e4 Nf6 : Bf3 C5 : NE2 Nc6 ; BE3  QB6 ( ! ?) 

Classic French move Qb6 but what is suggested here now ?

p/s No idea why type-face is so small !!  

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Yep, been having some games online when black does play Qb6

Some investigations from my pgn

Hello Keven,

As others mentioned I recommend 8.Nbc3. Taking on b2 is bad, we can simply play Rb1 followed by the castle. Whites compensation will be more than enough, much ahead in development only for a pawn.  Otherwise if black doesn't take on b2 Qb6 becomes bit useless.

Question about the Sicilian Defense course

In the attached position

(after 1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 g6
5. Nc3 Bg7
6. Be3 Nf6
7. Bc4 O-O
8. Bb3 Re8
9. Nxc6 dxc6
10. f3 Qc7
11. O-O)

The suggestion is Nh5, but I don't understand why is that.. won't we need to go back after 12. f4? This position is not clear for me at all to be honest.

Thanks!
Regards,
Hugo

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Hello Hugo,

I checked the position you are saying, f4 is not a big issue, but if you want to avoid it you can play with b5 instead of Nh5 trying to obtain a space on Queenside!