French Bd3 3..dxe4 with Nd5 line question and others

Good day!

Learning this amazing Bd3 vs french course and I have a question about section 3 (dxe4) 13 video Nd5.

Though this line with Qxg2 seems dodgy for black to say the least still after entering into my rep pgn and checking with engine, black has this strange 12...f6 move and gets some compensation with very messy position.

Any advise what to do with white? Txs.

Replies

Also while watching 3...Nc6 another question, what if after 4.c3 black takes dxe4 and 5.Bxe4 Nf6 like a delayed dxe4, what then for white? Engine shows something like  6.Bg5, but I'm not convinced and definitely dont want to take 6.Bxc6

HI Paulius!

12...f6 is a messy option for black, which will almost never be faced and is super complex. In real no much to be worried about. Before taking on a8 I liked playing d5 for white giving pawn away in that redaction and only then go after a8 rook.

Scandinavian Defence 2...Nf6 line

Hi ChessMood Family,

I recently faced 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.4.Bc4 b5 5.Bb3 Bg4!? This continuation is not analysed in the courses, and when I checked my database after the game it showed the line to be very playable and scores fairly well for Black. So my question is what is the most promising way forward for White 6.f3, 6.Ne2 or 6.Nf3. 

Replies

Hi Kevin, I realized this move order also, when I prepared for a game in our club championship.

The course covers 4. ... Bg4 5. f3 Bc8 6. Nc3. When b7-b5 is included (4. ... b5 5. Bb3 Bg4 6. f3 Bc8), I was not so sure whether 7. Nc3 is good or not because Black might attack the knight with b5-b4. In the game Sveshnikov-Bogdan, 1994, Black did not attack the knight on c3. But this happened in later games quite often. And this attack on the knight also happens in the line 7. Qe2 a6 8. Nc3 b4 9. Ne4 Nxd5.

I guess, I would have played like in the game Van Kampen-Yam, 2013 waiting with Nb1-c3 until Black has taken on d5:

7. d4 Nxd5 8. Ne2 e6 9. Nbc3 a6 10. a4 b4 11. Nxd5

I asked Avetik to take a look at this post. We are on it.

Hey-hey! 
Sorry for the late reply. 
Just recorded it. 
Will be edited and added today. Check out section 9, it'll be video 53 - b5 with Bg4. 

Kushal, it was covered. 
4.Na3! 
I also answered your question about 3...Qd8 in another post. 
Please ask your questions in one post. 

Defense against d4+f4 Stonewall Attack Course please!

This line is rare but it would be good to see a course on the ideas of fighting against it as black.  Thank you!

Replies

Have a look here: https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-members/in-the-opening

Thanks Kevin.  That's a nice game.  I would like if they also added a course on it w/ some more explanation & sample games.  Cheers.

Sicilian sidelines grand prix with 5.Bb5 part 7 improvement for black

Hi guys,

been watching Sicilian sidelines and in my pgn found possible improvement for black in this line. Credit goes to IM Sielecki in his chessable sicilian course if I'm not mistaken

Replies

Yes I like Bb5 but I think the best move is 5. Bc4. The top moves are like this : 5.Bc4 d6 6.d3 e6 7. Bb3 and the position is equal but I rather play black. Also after 5. Bb5 Nd4 the best move for white is 0-0, according to stockfish 12 and Komodo 13!!! . Nice analyze from your lessons !

The best games of April 2021 and the prizes

Replies

 Sicilian Defense

https://lichess.org/OCLdwe6Z/white#0

Queen's Pawn Game: Symmetrical Variation

https://lichess.org/vEx9J3c3/black#0

Attack Attack and Attack

A game without a mistake or blunder.

An attacking game in berserk mode in 3+0

Winning against 2340 rated opponent.

One of the best move I have ever played.

23 ... Rxg2

https://lichess.org/JTLInLWK/white

French Bd3 Nc6 pawn trap on d4

Mate with Bishop and Knight vs Rook and two passed pawns.

Positional play in Italian Str. Training.

https://lichess.org/sp9mYlM3nCCJ

https://lichess.org/QqfGD5pc/white#49

Cool Knights!

Scotch Game

https://lichess.org/WWA7cNzR36tK

Sicilian Defence

https://lichess.org/YrMaoXeY/black#0

Sicilian Defence

https://lichess.org/ZssPZGFW/white#0

Tactics in Bullet

Again Tactics in Bullet

Found 24 ... Qc2 !! in Bullet.

A win over 2400 with GP

https://lichess.org/tuexbf22sZS2

My best SLP ever against 2500+ titled player

https://lichess.org/aY3r10fJbzvu

No blunders, no mistakes, no inaccuracies, 7 average centipawn loss, I might get banned :)

2 pieces sacrificed for the initiative 

https://www.chess.com/a/2JH4nuUD4Knk6

17 move grand prix win

https://lichess.org/Lrar0n3ZlvfK

SLP against 2400

https://lichess.org/XLdxLybGWZGq

Beating the Scandinavian ...Nf6

Black mixes up two plans?!

ThoNoJu vs Henkyhenk: B01 Scandinavian Defense: Modern Variation • lichess.org

Saving a lost position and winning against 2120 rated opponent. 

Saving a lost position and winning against a 2150 rated opponent. 

https://lichess.org/a0AbWTVQlSfE 

https://lichess.org/Dtr8yGuhtQTp 

May the Pasini be always with you :) (Unfortunately due to possibly the website outages, uploading a PGN file appears to be too bugged to do so at the moment.)

[Event "Live Chess"]

[Site "Chess.com"]

[Date "2021.04.08"]

[Round "?"]

[White ""]

[Black ""]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "B06"]

[WhiteElo ""]

[BlackElo ""]

[TimeControl "180"]

[EndTime "10:34:54 PDT"]

[Termination "White won by resignation"]

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 a6 4. Be3 d6 5. g4 b5 6. Bg2 Bb7 7. h4 h6 8. g5 hxg5

9. h5 gxh5 10. Rxh5 Nd7 11. Rxh8 Bxh8 12. Qh5 Bg7 13. Bxg5 c5 14. e5 dxe5 15.

Bxb7 cxd4 16. Bd5 1-0

https://lichess.org/cFlrYVHm 

Beautiful king hunt leading to checkmate

https://lichess.org/p1BPQVvToKEj 

AntiSicilian quick win against 2450

French squeeze 

Caro attack

Blundered the bishop with later rook sacrifice

SLP after blundering the whole rook

French Defense squeeze.

Win with Scandi

https://lichess.org/8rErmdsrhgPC

Without Moving My King

https://lichess.org/Yy0st2IB

Modern defence, strong attack after bad start

https://lichess.org/8brsFlvDCoUn

Positional play training so no openings stuffs

https://lichess.org/lFUNZqDPyNvH

https://lichess.org/DMIL2mt29tLM

a fine win in Benko with black : 

https://lichess.org/8LzuZYcolsGs

https://lichess.org/VPRUp363xnJB 

And SLP in the old sicilian where I saved a position my opponent had +4.7 engine edge. 3 forks to win.

What about a mix of the Taimanov variation with chessmood openings? My mixes of the sicilian variation when I am on the black side have given me about 50 rating points. 

https://lichess.org/akdCfNOe/white

Fighting Benko against 2400 strong opponent

Trompowsky for black

Latvian gambit, of course forgot the refutation, just tried to play with normal moves ;))

 Alekhine Defense

https://lichess.org/Mw44nsEu/white#0

A perfect game

<iframe src="https://lichess.org/embed/0Pe3jF2K?theme=auto&bg=auto" width=600 height=397 frameborder=0></iframe>

https://lichess.org/akdCfNOe/white

Bf4 versus the Pirc

https://lichess.org/yF09FVFmWYdg 

Caro attack

https://lichess.org/4pCsipMz92vi

Cute mate

https://lichess.org/5uzb5ouJHAfX

Crazy

Crazy AntiSicilian from todays Bundesliga

Sicilian Defense

https://lichess.org/Xk8Gxfuj/black#0

Sicilian Defense

https://lichess.org/IwWQK4Sq/white#0

Sicilian Defense

https://lichess.org/e6A2tjCk/white#0

I knew ideas and forgot line of caro still was able to won against 2500+

https://lichess.org/MwVn4SQcxXbH

https://lichess.org/akdCfNOe/white

So do men play against carokann... ;D.  https://lichess.org/AhxGThy8

Typical exchange sacrifice on c3.

Positional squeezing in AntiSicilian with exchange sacrifice

A good match:

https://lichess.org/WZF6m6SjTzaX

An interesting match:

https://chess24.com/en/game/AyrHMg9zQHePWfVzXdBNSQ

Scotch against 2400

Scotch attack against Qh4, missed checkmate in one move though :))

https://lichess.org/DhqE5QqK6AuG

I won by mounting pressure on my opponent until he cracked!!! I also Sacced TWICE!!!

Sicilian Defense

https://lichess.org/s8OutgOn/black#0

 Russian Game

https://lichess.org/tZE2JC4k/white#0

 Caro-Kann Defense

https://lichess.org/3DP0k9Vn/white#0

Power of Space

https://lichess.org/i2dqZyqAuMHQ

Power of minority attack

https://lichess.org/zV23aC1jNHA7

Power of initiative

https://lichess.org/xNeWL9Y7hUDk

Good french against 2400, ending was bad but managed to win in time trouble

Countering the Scotch ...Qf6

Beating the Alekhine ...Bg4

Beating a weird delayed ...Qd6 Scandinavian

Carlsbad Nd6

https://lichess.org/1Blxn9xDqyLd

Positional play in double fianchetto

https://lichess.org/UxrEJj7HBliQ

Testing double financhetto

https://lichess.org/76xVrx4QMCPD

Attack in stonewall str.

https://lichess.org/0uQwN2z5O0mh

Positional play 

https://lichess.org/7Sv1PlGiLTgF

Caro str. win

https://lichess.org/nvo9z3NmmUHz

SLP str.

https://lichess.org/k9nywvmqKpHZ

https://lichess.org/sYGBw4gg 

Testing positional play

https://lichess.org/5vgXvxgdKBxV

English opening play!

https://lichess.org/vPR5dljs#65

Grand Prix is fun but I am sad that I mixed up lines I think in game

https://lichess.org/WXogWs9D3d7S

Testing positional play 

https://lichess.org/L1ge3gvozAKE

Short kings gambit game

https://lichess.org/study/3dJhG6Ay

Again handled 2400 well positionally

https://lichess.org/89sCE4VlqQJT

A Qb4 Chessmood surprise in the Nc6 Sicilian

Fun finish to this one!

Rubinstein str. training 

https://lichess.org/yefg28hw/black#62

Testing positional play

https://lichess.org/67jrIcPElHSK

Catalan pawn str. play

https://lichess.org/aBOIZk6UsAAF

Minority attack!

https://lichess.org/ZXIwm2imZYCv

Power of Space

https://lichess.org/X3PqllRefo0K

Caro crushing win

https://lichess.org/gAFFfcP1ARiM

This game made my day. This game gave me valuable point to reach 2299! My best rating ever and funny thing is that Grand Prix was my first cm opening which I studied. My feeling of this opening is amazing!. My opponent felt like hell during this game facing Rxf6 then facing Bg5 then Bb8!!. I dont know what engine may say but it's one of my best games of my life. Crushing an almost 2400 in style. All credit goes to cm Grand Prix and presentation of coach @GM_Avetik_Grigoryan .My feeling of Grand Prix is superb !!!

https://lichess.org/AEBO7hKdDmzP

Take a look at pawn storming!

https://lichess.org/YNrOyCrz/black#14

Testing my positional play

https://lichess.org/oaqeKx3wH9HS

18 move english win

https://lichess.org/UJuKuVvz4ZQt

Learnt this c5 move against catalan from live commentary and tried to apply it in practice

https://lichess.org/DWtegeuV/black#34

Power of bishop pair

https://lichess.org/zHk45lY4/black#54

attacks in pirc with Bf4-Qd2

https://www.chess.com/game/live/8444585457 

https://www.chess.com/game/live/12075220253

https://lichess.org/vSfsATpQaZLW 
 

Attack!!

https://lichess.org/H0tibkn3

btw i am white in the game(EighthAccount)

Chess is fun

Achieved highest elo in my life on my second account 2300+ using cm line. This was my last game French Bd3

https://lichess.org/fHt9I2YdX1bL

https://lichess.org/heCudvmn/black

Caro-Kann Defense

https://lichess.org/x360f66W/white#0

Test my catalan str. feeling

https://www.chess.com/game/live/13359233333

Good Game!

Tried to follow chessmood opening & win the match.

https://chess24.com/en/game/94Zoy9n8QNuA9-MBSR8Zvw

Good win.

https://www.chess.com/game/live/12583130567

I’ve begun transitioning from 5 minutes to 10, as I find I need the longer time to really think through the positions.  As a result, my rating in the longer games has gotten over 2300.  

https://lichess.org/ihLewUnI/white

Stafford Gambit

I usually use a system with 6.Se3, but now I've tried the Avetic weapon.

https://lichess.org/QrE3KWOu#7

Hey, champions! 
Thanks for all your posted games. 

The 1st place goes to Claudio Thoux for his crazy attack! 
https://www.chess.com/a/2JH4nuUD4Knk6 

The 2nd place goes to Vladimir Bugaev for killing with Grand-Prix attack 
(The game you can find on the 2nd page)  

The 3rd place goes to Tiraturyan David for his nice tactic. 
https://lichess.org/2oGKGXry#32 

The 4th place goes to Abhi Yadav, for his very deep positional game. 
https://lichess.org/aBOIZk6U#40 
Abhi played another cool attacking game. Here is the link:  
https://lichess.org/AEBO7hKd#31   

The 5th place goes to Paulius Juknis for crushing the Pirc defense.
https://www.chess.com/game/live/8444585457 

Thanks for your participation. 
Keep the growth. 

Right Mood - Right Move! 
See you in May. 

Why are you losing?

One thing that is mentioned in Wetzell's "Master at Any Age" is 'getting the best bang for you buck'. That is older players may not have the luxury of being able to spend time everywhere, nor may an experienced player need to. There are usually one or two areas that are causing the most points/games/problems in someone's game and time spent there is going to pay more than on other areas (It's perhaps not so simple as that as sometimes you need to build foundations for later too).

Here's an idea. Go through your last 20-30 standard length games. If you don't have a lot of time, use auto-analysis on lichess or chess.com. For each game irrespective of the result, try to find 3 errors (I also note the move number and url). Move the pieces if necessary to try to understand why the computer marked it as an inferior move. Note the errors, and also if you were in time trouble (difficult to define since go for long enough and time will usually become a problem, but worth noting if the game finished with less than 5 minutes, and your opponent had significantly more time - or if one of your chosen errors happened in low time).

The aim is to look for patterns. I seem to be quite often opening up lines for the opponent's pieces. I also get into time trouble a lot (45 or 60 minutes even with 15 or 5 seconds increment is not a lot for me, so much of this will be less of a problem when going back to over the board chess).

Here's my last 10.

Replies

Sorry if you need to 'go to specsavers' to read the above post - the editor decided that the whole post should be in a small font.

IoI... great job! 

Twitch chess Chess Mood course streaming

Hi all

I just finished watching GM Hohvannes Gabuzyhan webinar on Modern Maroczy a few moments ago, which was great (as all Hohvannes webinars) and after this, I went to Twitch chess and to follow some chess streams, where I am seeing a streamer (ChessLifestyle) streaming "Chessable + Chessmood" training and Rook vs Pawn course (by GM H Gabuzyhan). Is this all good & acceptable to ChessMood? Are some ChessMood courses public and available to stream? Are there Chessable & ChessMood courses and these are streamable? What is the Chess Mood policy on any & all of this? (btw I posted on the same issue on the Chess Mood Facebbok group too).

NB Apologies..I tried to upload a screenshot but without success..yet..I will try again!

Replies

wow!! I am sure that is not acceptable! 

I'd use the contact us link, you'll get a response faster.

Hey champions! 
Thanks for informing :) 
These are good guys and are our affiliate partners. 

This way they want to introduce others to ChessMood. 
They will not stream all our videos :) No worries :) 

Who is the strongest Chessmood student?

I was just curious and wondering who is the strongest OTB member of Chessmood (without of course taking into account Avetik et al.)... 

I have seen a couple of players over 2200 fide, I wonder if we have an IM or FM between us??? 

Replies

We have GMs over 2600+ too

Ha, ha, ha... !!

That's a nice question, but I do not think that it will be answered. There are GMs, IMs., WGM, WIM, FM, CM and all kind of FIDE titles between our PRO Members.

 Saying their name publicly would mean an automatic advantage for their rivals. If the rival knows that you are going to play the line of our repertoire, then he could become a PRO Member or buy the course and prepare for that line specifically. (Note that they will not easily succeed though...)

 We have a blog post for our PRO members to do their introduction to the rest of the family, voluntarily, but many PRO Members did not do it. My guess is that many are trying to avoid this or there can be thousands of reasons for not doing it... Whatever it is, we love you all anyway!!! ;-)

 These are my four cents on this, and if you want to freely introduce yourselves to the rest of the pro members:
https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-members/chessmood-pro-members

Look here "A super game by our first Grandmaster PRO Member! Sargsayn S. - Kislinsky A."

https://chessmood.com/course/modern-maroczy-bind/episode/475

The 3 Rules....

Hola,

In an article of the blog GM Avetik recommends to follow the 3 rules before asking  for recommendation(s) to make progress. So let's go :

1.I'm an adult player (best french Elo 2100) fallen back to 1885 FIDE. My goal : to climb (if realistic to 2200.)

2.I've the chance to enjoy much time and can work on my chess at least 4h / day.

3.My weakest point is probably the opening (I now study intensively the ChessMood Repertoire but before I just browsed some opening books before an important game ?!). Contrary to most chess players I dislike opening study and like much more endgame or middle game study.

My question is :

1.How to organize my chess study time,

2.Which books or sources (aside ChessMood naturally !) could be recommended to attain my goal ?

Many thanks,

Jean-Marie

Replies

Could be interesting to try the exercise I mention in Why do we lose to make sure it's really the opening that is responsible for your problems so you can allot time and focus effectively.

Question about a position in anti Sicilian part 1

Hello,  

I have started to study this course above and have  played the opening with good result.  Thank for this valuable course!   

I have a question I would like to raise and I hope to get an answer.   What is the best plan for white  after those moves below. 

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3.  f4 g6 4.  Nf3 Bg7 5.  Bc4 Nc6 6. 0-0  Nf6  7. d3 0-0 8. Qe1 Bg4 9. f5 gxf5 10.  Qh4 Bxf3  11, Rxf3 

My question here is how to continue after 11. - Ne5...  It seems to me black and defend well  by Ng6 after Rh3..  

Thanks in advance for your feedback.  

Replies

Do you guys see the picture? Because in my computer I cannot... Do you see it yourself Susanna?

This one has been asked a few times. If you search the forum you'll find something on it. Given it's a frequently asked question, perhaps something needs adding to the course.

Hi again Susanna,

Your position was analyzed here previously:

Check this thread

https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-members/nc3-sicilian-against-2-d6-the-8-bg4-variation-with-10-ne5

Hey Susanna! 
Thanks for your kind words. I'm glad you like the videos!  
9...gf5 is an engine move (not practical for human, as it weakens the king very much) 

Anyway after 10.Qh4 Bf3 11.Rf3 Ne5 12.Rf5 e6 White has 3 options:
1 - 13.Rf1 with a strong initiative 
2 - 13.Rg5!? 
3- And 13.Re5!? de5 14.Bg5!  

A. Wotawa's Studies....

Hi,

I like very much the studies composed by A. Wotawa and have tried in vain to find a book about this endgame composer. Can anybody of the "ChessMood Team" tell me if such a book does exist as Wotawa's studies are very often the "Puzzle of the Day" on the site ?

Many Thanks.

Replies

Hey! 
I had a very big database with of studies, which I can't find now :) 
Overall I've solved around 10.000 such studies, and then created a file of the best ones. Around 1000 :) 
From there comes the daily puzzles :) 

I think Dvorecky had a section about Wotawa's studies, but can't remember in which book :) 

Nimzowitsch...

I would like to know your opinion about his "Chess Praxis". (Not "My System" of course.) Do you think that it's a collection of games worthy of study to day or chess material completely outdated ?

Thanks.

Replies

No idea I never read it, sorry.

I haven't read it too... 
But overall, it would be a good idea, to write more about yourself. 
What's your level, how much time can you spend on chess, etc... 
Then it would be easier to say is it worth reading it, or there are better options. 
Have you read this article? 
https://chessmood.com/blog/which-chess-openings-books-courses-to-learn  

Sethuraman lifetime repertoire

Hey Chessmood family,

GM Sethuraman has just released part 1 of his 1e4 lifetime repertoire on Chessable. Apparently he also advocates 8.h4 in the Scotch. I will have to dig some more to compare the lines in this and other openings...

Replies

Everyone is playing lately 8.h4... GingerGM with IM Robert Ris repertoire, now Sethuraman with Chessable... Maybe it is not such a bad choice after all, don't you think? Gabuzyan has been proving this line value for a couple of years now in the streams, with mythical clashes with Eljanov... We knew that we were into something good! Hopefully you will all feel the same...

It's Happened !

Somebody finally played 4:Qh4 against my Scotch . I played 5:Nb5 he replied Qxe4 + . I followed the standard advice with Be2 he chose Kd8 and I castled. So far so good feeling confident! But he then played 7: a6 attacking my knight on b5. Tricky I don't recall seeing this on the videos ! The dilemma is whether to play Bd3 attacking his Queen or Nc3 but which one ? . Alternatively to try to force his Queen off the fourth rank to get the b5 Knight back to d4 (  eg. N(1) c3 then g3 and if necessary a3 ).It was a 5 min +15 game and I wasted too much time thinking about all this. What does the coach or members think is best after a6. In retrospect it seems such a natural move. 

Replies

The ChessMood repertoire is 5.Nc3, not 5.Nb5.

Question about maroczy bind

Hello,

Played a game in maroczy bind last year and knew 15..Be5 with e6 idea from other sources, but don't know if smth like this is recommended in your maroczy courses, cause in the game white was super solid and imo had an edge after the opening. Will try to watch the courses (can see you even have 2 on maroczy), but can you suggest some impro based on this game? Txs and cheers

Replies

Dear Paulius,

As a personal note, I recommend you to watch both courses on the Maroczy, but my favorite by far is the Modern Maroczy, after watching and understanding  the course it it will be like getting into the jungle knowingly because you feel like Tarzan... ;-)

Hey Paulius!

As already recommended you can watch the courses and will see our Ideas, regarding this game as you have mentioned in the analysis I believe 23...f5 was wrong, as it weakened black's position a lot.

I do like 23...h5 as mentioned again, trying to keep the pawn structure, looking for h4!

An interesting game though with f6-g5!

less Preferred Line

Champions!

I have got a question in my mind. As we are all playing e4 for white, which reply or variation are you less excited to see?

Replies

I don't like to see e5 on board and I love to see c5. It's almost 1-0 when i face c5! Grand Prix and Alapin rocks.

The one that I don't like is the Scandinavian, I am having bad results altough in the opening I am usually better :-) And the one that I am excited to play against is the Caro Kann!

Same for me, I don't like the Scandinavian but I love to play against the Caro-Kann.

Petroff defence ...i hate it now ...must learn how to play against it, if failed to do it then I will learn how to play for Black and change my repertoire

I have been having trouble against the French after they exchange on e4. (I still win easily against the Nf6 lines, even when they avoid the Kevin Hall Trap hehe)

I love to see the Scandi. I have a crazy good score vs it. 

Sicilian Nc3 with B Bg4

Sicilian NC3

E4 c5

Nc3 d6

F4 Nc6

Nf3 Bg4

I've been studying the Nc3 Sicilian with B playing d6 on move 2.  My question is what seems an obvious Black  fourth move Bg4. I do not see this covered in the courses so wondering if it can be refuted? It looks like Bb5 may be a good reply.

Thank You

Replies

Hi Richard

You are right, 5.Bb5

Video 24 in the course (Minor Lines)

Dear sirs

Dear sirs, why do I not get any of these little coins for successful solving the Daily puzzle? Do I just have too many already? :)))

Replies

Dear Martin,

This is the first message that we have regarding this issue. I will inform the technical team. If someone else is experiencing the same problem please let us know too! Thanks!!!

Dear Martin,

To get moodcoins you have to solve the puzzles, I checked your profile and I could not see any of the usual messages in the logs after you successfully complete a puzzle. Are you solving the puzzles correctly?

That said Edo Tokyo's logs show perfectly that he solved the puzzle correctly the first time and therefore received the moodcoins automatically. (Thanks a lot Edo for your help!)

This is getting weird, if someone else can verify if they get the coins, it will be deeply appreciated. Today's puzzle is not so difficult... ;-)

Finally OTB tourney

hello chess friends
finally otb tournament in 4 months
how to prepare?
of course tactics....
what about the rest? have no opening repertoire , middle game and endgame knowledge kind of poor 
Rating USCF 1318 chess. com around 1700
plan is to get these 7 games in tournament conditions then  will find a coach
thanks for advice
Wilson

Replies

I think you should learn the ChessMood Reportoire. For Middlegames, I am not the best person to ask. Endgames - I would suggest Jesus De La Villa's 100 Endgames You Must Know. I would recommend learning Silman's Complete Endgame Course first and then the 100 Endgames.

I think the answer is to have some sort of plan that you track, and some kind of goal. 4 months isn't a lot of time, but with regular study of the right things you might be able to do much in that time.

I'm all for lofty goals, "I'm going to win the open section outright(!)" but I would have a realistic goal and a stretch goal. The realistic goal will be better than you can do right now, the stretch goal would be, if would be even better if...

In coming to a goal, you've also got to remember that other players will have been studying and improving, as well as some stronger (on paper) players will not have been playing much. Thus not to beat yourself up too much if a 'weaker' player puts up a good fight, or if you get some higher player's scalp, it doesn't mean you're suddenly Magnus ;)

The questions you want to ask is:
  . What do I realistically think my rating should be (P.s. almost every player at some point thinks they are underrated :)?
  . What section do I want to be in? (Could I handle getting a hard lesson every game, or do I need to be beating most of the field to feel happy)
  . How much time could I spend _every_ day up to the tournament?
  . What are my strengths and weaknesses?
  . Whether I'm going to try to get a coach before the tournament, perhaps to consult every few weeks to help keep the plan on track?

  The other questions to ask are about your own games at roughly the time control of the tournament:
  . Do I still often blunder pieces and pawns without being in extreme time trouble?
  . Do I get a playable middlegame position most of the time (ignoring the times where your opponent knew a trap you didn't)?
  . Do I spot tactics (2 or 3 forced moves) both that I can play, and are played against me?
  . Do I always get the right result in K+P vs K, K + B + P vs K, and know the fundamental positions (e.g. Lucena, Philidor, Vancura) in K + R + P vs K + R?
  . Do I struggle to play with or against the knight (more tactically [forks] than positionally)?
  . Do I have some kind of strategy (that is kept to) for what to do when it's my move, and when it's my opponent's move (ensuring to check what the opponent is trying to do, blunder checks, dream positions, looking for forcing moves [checks, captures, threats]?
 . Do I try to set problems for my opponents constantly, do I try to punish bad moves - irrespective of opponent's rating?

So some suggestions:

At rating 1300, enter the under 1700 section (or whatever section is less than that rating, but at least 200 points above yours).
Goal: To score > 50%, beat most players under 1500
Stretch goal: To finish in the top 8 (of say 30 players)
Time spent: 1-2 hours each day, 4 hours each weekend day split into 2-3 sessions (please balance this with school/college work if young)

The top seeds at around 1700 may be playing at the 1900 level, but I think it's reasonable to get from 1350 to 1600 at least in 4 months if enough study and the correct study is put in.

Things to work on:
. Tactics - ensure you can recognise all tactic types, all knight forking shapes, you can calculate mate in 5 moves (if few sidelines), you spot most obvious tactics in 2 or 3 forcing moves. A server like chess tempo, own experiments, books like art of the checkmate, chess combinations for juniors.
. Endgames - Silman's endgame course for example, or the easier chapters in 100 endgames you must know (especially simple pawn, rook endgames in standard positions, B + P with right and wrong rook queening square)
. Opening - Study the scotch course here (don't worry so much knowing the tricky h4 lines) - get a feel for opposite castling and the kingside attack; study the sicilian - at least the d6 (kingside caveman attack), Nc6 and g6 courses, but have a little familiarity with e6 and a6; study the anti-sicilian course; study the philidor course; study the London system course; know the basics of the petroff course; study all the abracadabra gambit courses. For the others d6 and g6 you'll play the GP system, scandinavian and caro have a look at the summary sections. Maroczy structures swap pieces, try to leave White with the bad light squared bishop. That's more than enough for 4 months, just try to play chess if the opponent plays something else. Try not to know or learn everything, but to get a feel for how to play the positions and have the ideas in mind.
. Middlegame - look at the 2 bishops course, and happy pieces. Try not to spend too much time into the details but get a feel for good and bad pieces and how to use them.
. Practical play - play a 1 hour game (30 mins each) every 2 or 3 days and try to analyse it after before going to the computer. Try to get a feel of where the critical points where and where tactics were missed. Also note when your thinking was faulty or you forgot your thinking structure, such as checking what the opponent was trying to do, or making blunder checks.

Keep notes on what you learn and your progress. Also use notes on openings if you get 20 mins or more before a round, try to find what your opponent plays - e.g. chessbase online - I think chessdb is now dead. Consult your notes before the game to refresh your mind of the ideas.

And good luck, it's not the performance in one tournament, it's the bigger picture of becoming a better player.

Request for a "Watched Video" function

Hello ChessMood team, 

What a great product, I am here every day learning and improving.

I have a request please, when a video is watched can you make it possible to show the video as already having been learned? I would like to be able to see what new or what updated videos have been added to a section or be able to clearly track what training I have left.

For example, today I received an email with this message, "We've uploaded one more section in the course "Happy Pieces"." How can users distinguish which is the new video from the list? Ideally there would be a function where a watch video automatically changes its status or we can manually change the status to show that it has been watched/learned. Additionally perhaps new videos can have a time/date stamp on them showing when they were posted.

Thank you very much for an outstanding product, you guys are great!

Leslie Smith 

Replies

It seems a great idea to me! Currently, I keep my progress in an excel file

Hi @Leslie_Smith! I thought that I already replied to you but I must have dreamt it! We took note of your suggestion and we will take it into consideration. Thank you very much for your feedback!

Best regards and keep learning and improving!!!