Chess forum by Grandmasters

How to analyze our lost games?

Hello sir, is there any particular technique of analyzing our own otb losses? I want to find more weaknesses in my play

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It is recommended to annalyze the game on a board without help of a computer and try to find what went wrong.  First general concepts: you lacked space? your position was cramped? You were too passive? You were too agressive? Exchanges favoured your opponent? You reached an disadvantageous ending? You had advantage but were not able to materialize it and ended up losing? you missed an important combination? Time Trouble?  You could not find a plan? etc

Then analyze move by move, study posible variations, analyze what you did not see during the game and try to find out why. 

Last of all, analyze the game with the help of an engine.

Of course, having a coach analyze some of your games would be of great help ;-)

Endgame Challenge (1)

In one of my games the following endgame position appeared. I am not disclosing if I am Black or White or who won the game.

I would like to know, who do you think has more chances to win and which side would you feel more confortable to play (Black or White).

White have first move.

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There is a problem with sharing pictures....Don't forget to post it later :)

On the one hand, black has a bishop against a knight, which can be a significant advantage in the open board, but we should also take into account that white is a pawn up. Also, white can centralise his king faster than black because there is the pawn on f6, if we follow the king of the hill variant method (one should bring his king in the 4 central sqares to win).

Well,  Bishops are my favourite pieces (I don't like endgames that much, I love to attack with my queen, but I have no fear of endgames, even of complicated ones). As for my analysis, the position is almost equal, and if we let engines run for long they will mostly evaluate variations from +0.2 to -0.2 which can't be significant edges.

But I would feel more comfortable with the black pieces, also black's kingside oawn structure is familiar to me because against 1. d4 I have: 1st option King's Indian defence, 2nd option Benko Gambit, 3rd Modern Benoni, where I have a fianchettoed Bishop on the kingside, which can lead to the preservation of the three kingside pawns. 

What do you think? I can't say who is more likely to win. Maybe 85% draw, 8% white wins, 7% black wins in my level (1750-1950 online chess). I hope I tried to explain and evaluate the position correctly. 

I would prefer to play for black, first reason is: the position is open and we have a bishop, second reason is: the game goes on both sides, which means the bishop should be better than night, but in general I think the assessment should be almost equal.

Also recently we got a very nice course about bishops, if you didn't watch it yet, here is the link: https://chessmood.com/course/Bishop-Pair-power 

So hard to answer what side should I prefer, but I don't think why I would feel comfortable to play with white. @WIM_Susanna_Gaboyan sorry :D  

Thank you all three for the comments.

First, the position is about equal.

However my feeling was that even though pawns are on both sides of the board and the position is rather open and the Bishop is supposed to be better than the Knight --> it is only White who can play for the win. Black Bishop doesn't have very good targets to attack and can not restrict the movement of the Knight. 

Before entering this ending as White I made sure that Queens were exchanged, because if we add the Queens to the board, I believe Black is better.

In the game Black made a few inaccuracies (in the sense how to play this ending best for Black) in the couple of next moves and their position become difficult to defend. 

Finally, he was faced with a position that only accurate moved could save him, and I was able to play around until my opponent made a mistake and finally I won with White.

I will post the moves soon, but before that perhaps you would like to think about what are the best strategies for Black and for White. Playing on which side of the board? Pushing pawns, yes or no? How to position the King? etc.

Despite being an equal position and my love for bishops, in this case I would be more comfortable with white. The reason is the Pawn majority in the queenside 2 vs 1, that is faster than 3 vs 2 and the white passed Pawn. My strategy would be taking king and Knight to the center and advance the passed Pawn. Force black to blockade it and then switch to the kingside trying first to exchange the Knight. Easier said than done

So the best plan for Black was to prevent  advancement of white pawns on the queenside by ...a5 and to start pushing their pawns on the kingside with ...f5. Failing to do so players have reached a position that is quite more favorable for White than the intial one.

It is still a draw but now Black need to be careful, which is not so easy when playing the real game.

35.Ke2 Kf7 36.Kd3 Ke6 37.b4 h5 38. c4 g5 39.h3 Bf2 40.g4 hxg4 41.hxg4 Bg3 42.Ke4 Bf4 43. Nd4+ Kd7

In the continuation we will see that even though a Bishop is long range minor piece, its line of action is rather restricted. 

Unbalanced materials

Wat material do you prefer to play, when the position is equal?

1) a. Queen pawn vs b. two rooks

2) a. Queen vs b. three pieces

3) a. Queen two pawns vs b. Rook two pieces

4) a. Rook and pawn vs b. Bishop knight

5) a. Rook vs b. Knight/Bishop and two pawns

6) a. Knight/Bishop vs b. three pawns

if you have more options please add in the comments :)

I'll reply first: 

1) a 2) a 3) b 4) b 5) b 6) a

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It is difficult because it depends heavily on the position, king safety, pawn structure and coordination of the pieces. Knights like broken pawn structures, Queens like unsafe kings and uncoordinated pieces, etc

As a general response:

1) a 2) b 3) b 4) b 5) b 6) a

It seems the same as Susik except for question 2 where I usually prefer 3 pieces intead of a Queen. (asuming my king is relatively safe and not very easy to check, my pawn structure is not very broken and my pieces are somewhat coordinated)

1)a 2)a 3)a (I always prefer the queen, I even didn't read 2 and 3 questions :D ) 4)b 5)b 6) a

Are you professional?

Do you play or train chess as a professional or it's just one of your favorite hobbies? 

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Perhaps it used to be a hobby but once I faced that stupid ...e5 move in the Exchange Caro-Kann in a Classical game (and lost, partly because I didn't know the theory because the advanced section wasn't recommended for me) I decided to consider myself a professional and dive right in. So yes. I am a professional =) Are you?

Hell no.  It’s a hobby.  And you can tell from how badly I play. 

I would like it to be my profession..! but not, I have another career so I just try to play and train as much as possible to reach my goal...

Just an amateur who loves Chess

Are you all Pro members?

Perhaps another nuance to this conversation is which country are you from.

If you want to be a professional in the UK say, it's almost forget about it, unless you have some other source of income/wealth. You probably can get by on about £15,000 a year, though it wouldn't be a great existence (although what many people have to do with). In London you're talking a fair bit more than that is also where much of the top chess action is / nearby outside of the other two main tournaments (the British and Hastings - and maybe also count the 4NCL) so that makes it harder for professionals.

First prize for the British (assuming you do win it and outright against a strong GM field) was £5000 in 2019, £10,000 before that. Hastings prize money isn't that great either. Until you're titled those are expensive tournaments to enter. There are a couple of GMs (Hebden and Arkell) who go round the local tournaments (often agreeing not to turn up at the same tournament to avoid prize funds splitting). This usually (though not always due to an IM or a strong junior turning up) earns anything between £250 and £500 say for a weekend's work. They are often reliant on offers of accommodation and sometimes travel.

Perhaps the top 5 or so UK GMs might make money from the international circuit (such as Adams, and Short), but it's really only the top 10-20 in the World that make any serious money.

The rest are reliant on coaching, writing books (not easy to earn a living if you want to put out quality over quantity), appearance fees and 'second' jobs (finance for example). As well as if you don't get accommodation and travel added that's got to come out of your pocket - at least that can be offset against tax if it's a business expense.

Being a professional unless you have the talent to get near the top isn't an easy life in expensive countries. Those that have potential will probably look towards finance and IT for a career rather than continue with chess.

The current top tournament has a $1.5m prize. That sort of money has to filter down a lot further for chess to be a viable profession for many.

Personal Trainer

Do you have a coach? If no, would you like to have it?

How do you think does ChessMood able to replace any coach? :)

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Looool, I swear I wanted to give this question :D

I do not have a coach, but If you are serious about improving and are really committed and you can afford it, having a good coach is the way to go.

I think Chessmood is the next best thing, and it is compatible with having a coach! 

Currently I do not have a coach in chess. Since I am very new here I would like to take a year with the repertoire, puzzles and play. After that I really would like to meet regularly with a coach. How often to meet a coach is mire about the financing. I do think it would be best with a coach from CM.

I am used to have a coach or mentor in golf, drawing and painting. It helps you to work on the right stuff and it speeds up the learning process. It also streches your comfort-zone which is important when trying to improve.

Nice things about having a coach

- you can always ask a question and get an opinion from a more experienced player, unlike e.g. the chess.com forum, where only my easier questions were answered 

- they demonstrate critical moves even during training, helps prevent bad habits like 'hope chess'

- (as the guy above wrote) you get out of your comfort zone, it is also refreshing doing new things

The main issue is the cost to hire one, but unless they are strong GMs, I think you can get more affordable price. If you've never had one, it looks worth at least a try.

No as of now

Earlier I used to take group training from an IM

In my opinion, coaching is very crucial for faster growth

Lifestyle and chess

Do you think your general life character affects in your playing style? Have you tried to somehow change both of them?

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it affects I think like 101%

Absolutely! I think your first playing style is very related to your personality. I say first because chess players evolve to become a more all-round player

That's true! Even the opening choice reflects our personality. Some people are truth seekers: they search perfection. Ruy Lopez, Queen's Gambit declined ... , and at high level chess; Najdorf and Grunfeld  attracts them. Some players want to win at any price: it doesn't matter how! they use drugs, they memorize tricky opening traps, applied psychology and self hypnosis... are their center of interest. They have weak personalities and they are empty inside... : different tricky gambits including Benko gambit, Modern defence, and Morra gambit  attracts them. 

Karpov, Fischer, and Capablanca belong to the first category

Streaming soon

Hey guys,

I am very happy to let you know that I am going to start streaming very soon. I will be very glad to see you there and if you want to support me you can follow my channel, every follow will be more than appreciated. :) https://www.twitch.tv/susikgaboyan 

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Wow Susanna!!

Wishing you good luck

Go Susik! I wish you the best! 

@Devansh_Shah @Sergio_Carrera thank you soo much !! :)

We are waitinggg

Tilt in chess

Dear Pro members,

Last night was having a session and blundered several games in a row. Probably decided good enough for now and let's stop. 

I am curious how are you fighting tilt in chess while you are having a bad session. What are your action?

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I'm not a chess PRO like you so I don't know how useful my answer will be, because I can take breaks and maybe you can't :-D, but I was facing the same situation at the start of the week, and it was made worst by the fact that last week I had almost no time for chess so I feel a bit rusty.. I decided to stop playing that day, rest, next day do extra time with tactics and then go back. I think that "wake me up" and also boost my confidence.

Yes, it's a pretty tough decision to stop, but that's the only way.

Could be burn-out?

As well as walk-away advice (regain quality over quantity), and taking a day or two off, consider the body too:
. Are you sitting down for too long?
. Are you sleeping normally (and enough) or waking up after a few hours, or feeling tired after a night's sleep?
. Are you getting physical exercise? (10 hours mostly sitting I need 40 mins exercise else I wake up after 4 hours) - a number of famous players of the past were also into sports

. Are you eating healthily?

. Is there other stress in your life (well other than us ChessMooders ;) )? If so how are you dealing with it?


Also are you getting fed-up of chess (perhaps subconsciously) and it's becoming a chore as can any hobby that becomes professional - perhaps break for a little bit and do something physical (whatever your covid restrictions allow), or something else so you feel like you want to do it again. Also when it goes badly, can you recover by doing something else you enjoy (e.g. Taimanov mentioned at least he had his music when brutally bashed by Fischer).


And we all have off days for various reasons, even due to statistics.

If it is early in the session ( I.e., first 2-3 blitz games) I’ll play a few more games to try to turn it around, to see if I can play better.  If I have played for awhile, then I’ll stop because it’s just one of those days.

@GM_Hovhannes_Gabuzyan, I think it is very humble from your side. I am just an amateur with little experience in Chess but what I try to do is finding out and analysing the root cause, the deep reason behind, not the one in  the surface. Once you really know the root cause, you come up with an action plan and come back!

A famous technnique for Root Cause Analysis is the 5 Whys Technnique. For example:

1.- Why did I lose several games in a row?

Because I blundered in equal  positions

2.- Why did I blundered in equal positions?

Because I was low in time

3.- Why was I low in time?

Because I had spent too much time in non-critical positions

4.- Why had I spent too much time in non-critical positions?

Because I had closed positions and I did not come up with a plan

5.- Why didn't I come up with a plan?

Because I was not familiar with the structure and the typical middle game plans.

So in this case the action plan would be to study typical plans in closed structures of my opening repertoire

This is just a trivial example. There could be just 3 or 4 Whys, but it is better if you get to 5 or more.

In your case, the reason could be that you were tired, that you did not have enough motivation, that you were not focused enough, that you had other worries outside of Chess, etc

But whatever the reason is, in your case, maybe the 5 Whys technique could help you find out the root cause and an action plan

I have a very funny technique of dealing this, I am not sure if it works for everyone or not, but it works well for me. After not playing for a period of time, I change the colour of the board and think that there's no one here who can beat me in this board!

Missing anti-sicilian lines

Fair that there is work in progress here and now rush for it, but just trying to catalogue what's missing:

Main one is the ChessMood vs ChessMood fight with 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 - playing against your own line (which obviously must happen no matter what you play) is one of the hardest things. If the line is sound from both sides it ends in a draw or certainly at a position where there are chances for both sides and the better player tends to win. Will be interesting seeing what is come up with there and no doubt it'll drive both courses forward.

GP f4 lines are covered, maybe there is room for comment on passive lines, Be2 I've seen before for example but there are still tricks against the unprepared.

I'm assuming the St George/Basman system c3 + Be2 and other lines such as h3 that sacrifice the e-pawn for piece win tricks in the d6 lines are not relevant with Nc6 since d5 + Qa4 doesn't win anything as there is no check.

The Kopec System may still be relevant with the idea of Nf3 c3 Bd3 and Bc2

Odd moves and waiting moves: 2. a3 had a book written on it I believe, so might be worth putting  'silly' moves like this to bed in deviations - sure you can play anything really, but what to do when the opponent just waits for you to commit is useful (perhaps more than specific lines which get forgotten) - for example I assume 2. h4 as daft as it is probably is looking for a quick knock out kingside attack or to scare Black into not castling and has been played a few times. To be fair I've not been through the deviations section yet.

[Edit now available] Weird Bc4 systems got mentioned a bit in the GP and it was mentioned there is some work in progress on this. I've had a hard time against this move from weaker players (250 points weaker) so maybe could do with a little more focus.

Move order tricks with 2/3 Ne2 might be worth something on it - White waits for Black before deciding whether to play d4 or g3.

d3 without g3?

The g3 section I also believe will be rerecorded (if I understood right) now that 2... Nc6 rather than 2... d6 is the ChessMood moves.

Plus there is the need for some more model games given the frequency of getting one or more of these lines.

Looking forward to the additions.

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Against our ChessMood Sicilian line GM Pentala Harikrishna in his new Chessable Course gives:

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4 4.Nf3 a6 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.0-0 e6 7.b3 d6 8.Bb2 Nf6 9.Re1 g6 Intending 10.Nd5 [10.e5 dxe5 11.Nxe5 Nxe5 12.Rxe5 Bg7!=] 10...Bg7 11.Nxf6+ Bxf6 12.e5 dxe5 13.Nxe5 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Bxe5 15.Rxe5 Qd4=

The sideline 2.a3 intending some sort of delayed Wing Gambit is well met by 2...g6 which coincidentally fits perfectly into Acc Dragon Repertoire.

The Kopec System is pretty lame against 2...Nc6, a sample line could be 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Bd3 d5! and Black is already maybe slightly better. 

There are no move-order tricks for the Acc Drag player after 1.e4 c5 2.Ne2 Nc6 it will either be a Closed Sicilian with g3 which has never been theoretically challenging or an Open Sicilian which has already been covered.

Hi David and Kevin,

Yes,  I think that some lines should be recorded for the sake of completeness, but in the webinars and streamings, the lines with Bc4 were very well analyzed. I am attaching here these early Bc4 lines that I wrote from an Avetik webinar.

I hope that this will be useful to everyone that did not watch the webinar or make a file of the streaming.

In the webinar Avetik says regarding this variations: This is not the italian, we have e6 available! This sentence stuck with me, I always get better positions against any earlier Bc4.

I honestly think that this is all the lines that I ever looked at and the only sentence that I ever needed, well that is not true I also to remember Nf6 (We are not afraid of e5 says Avetik) and take on e4 when d3 is not played when d5 gives a pawn fork.

I am also adding one line from another Webinar with and early Nc6 capture and Qd5 that has been very useful. This line was also explained by Avetik and the comments are his words.

Question in Scotch Game

I have a question from the Scotch game. This line was played against me last week in Bundesliga. My opponent was IM.

8...Qe6 was played against 7.h4. I played 9.g3 Nb4 10.c4 (as it was shown in the course). My opponent played 10...Qg6 and I didn't understand how to continue? 

Replies

Did you play 11. Kd1?

This was shown against Qf5, and it should be the same against Qg6, I guess.

But complicated lines to play. 

8. h4 Qe6 9. g3 Nb4 10. c4 Qg6 11. Kd1 c5 12. Bg2 Rb8 13. Nc3 Be7 14. Bf4 0-0 15. Be4 I would recommend.

Trying to analize a game against the sicilian

Hello people!

Hope you are all doing great! I have a question about the attached game, it  was not a great game and I was sort of panicking because the lack of increment, I know you guys all play rapid games but I mostly play classic so 10+0 was hell for me! :-D

Anyway, I have a very specific question for you: I tried following the anti Sicilian approach but I couldn't make it fully work, I feel lost after 7. ... e6 and I didn't understood why. Fair warning: I didn't watch the whole course, I'm watching bits of every opening course when I find the opening on the wild, I feel like that works best for me because I can focus on things I actually play instead of having all this lines in my head that I cannot really apply at my low level. That means maybe my question is clearly answer later in the course or in another anti Sicilian course and I don't know it, sorry if that's the case.

Well, after analyzing the game I think the key here and what was throwing me out of balance is my opponent never played g6, and maybe he was not intended to play it at all!. I found out there is a video about a similar line in the course (section 3.24) but it's not *exactly* like that, because I already move my bishop.

Anyway, I guess I'll like any comment about the opening, but I'll throw some questions as well:

1) Do any of the anti Sicilian courses cover this topic in more detail? Maybe I'm looking at the wrong one.
2) Should I go for 5. Bc4 directly against this line?
3) Do you have any suggestions about how to play against this line?

Thanks!
Regards,
Hugo

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Hello Hugo

You can find this line in the Minor Lines Section, video 23 - a simul game.

4. -Nf6 is a bit inaccurate. White goes 5. Bb5 - Bd7 6. e5 - dxe5 7. fxe5 -Ng4 8. Qe2

Didn't you have a pretty good game until 15. . . Qd6?? or am I missing something?

Draw offer

Do you offer a draw in such positions when it's equal but it's playable? 

Replies

Depends, what have you got to gain by a draw?

Best place is when you're slightly better but unclear as to how to win easily. Worst place (other than when lost) is when you've at best got a draw.

Players who offer draws without fighting it out (in normal circumstances) are the ones who will struggle in real life also

Here's how, when there are competitors who are equal to your level,that person will give up easily 

The person will never be persistent

The person will fear risking it out and fear of losing

The player will lack good technique

And as a result, they get outplayed by opponents

In short, NEVER EVER TAKE DRAWS

I don't know, if it's good or bad, but I think I never offer a draw :D

Theme tournaments

Suggesting again...

Wouldn't it make sense/less organisation work (if the plan is to have one 'every' week) to either add them to the schedule on the Friday the week before, or even easier, to put them all in (or announce the running order on the forum) for the coming month (perhaps skipping the holiday period)? If they have to be cancelled (or the Friday corrections moved) then so be it, but then at least as a participant you know what you've got to study/revise by when. Wednesday (as we are now without the announcement) is a little late when you've got to factor work in as well.

The events are a big value add to the courses, and a differentiator from other sites. Increased notice to prepare will also help boost the numbers playing and more activity will encourage more to subscribe and keep up subscriptions.

Replies

Another suggestion would be to have them every 2 weeks to give plenty of time for learning. The interleaving week could be a 'random' guest tournament such as odds, from certain interesting positions, non-chessmood openings and so on which wouldn't also require a Friday session that week (and also gives a slot should one be postponed).

Besides, I suggest adding daily tournament on chess.com so members with different schedule all can attend. 

Grand Prix theme tournament - Sat 12th Dec

Seen this is now up, so notifying here as there hasn't been an announcement yet.

Start position is from the Anti-Sicilian Nc3 for White course part 1 (but there may be some transpositions to the other parts, I can't remember) - after moves in repertoire 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. f4 or 1. e4 d6 2. Nc3 c5 3. f4

Note for new pro-members, request to get added to the ChessMood team before Saturday as there may not be someone to approve you on the day.

See you Saturday.

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Support

I am a new Promember and would like to download the PGN file for the Benkö Gambit. All the time I only get transferred to the top of Benkö Gambit. No download.

Does anyone know where I could get support to resolve the problem?

Thank you in advance!

Göran

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Seems everyone has the same problem....I talked to the administration and they said we should wait a little bit 

True, few days ago I downloaded some pgn-s from here, I also talked the problem isn't from chessmood, we hope that the problem will be fixed as soon as possible.

Problem has fixed, try again :) 

PGN File Download

HI

I´m a pro member and i can´t download the pgn files of the courses...I tried several browsers...it just didn´t work...

any help?

with regards,

Florian Wenz

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ya I am also facing this same problem

Why? :/  I can download all PGNs

I became pro within this day do there are some restrictions for the first day?

Hi, Try PM to @Karina_Avagyan_. I think she is the one who can help you

1) Yes, downloading PGNs doesn't seem to work. It just refreshes the page. It's worked in the past.

2) I'm not able to add files to posts, not sure if the two are related.

The problem has already fixed, you can download them now :) 

Questions from Crushing d4 Sidelines

Section 1 - Trompowsky Attack, '5. Trying to play against our plans':

In 0:03, what if White tries to prevent ...f5 with e4 (instead of with Qc2)?

In 2:49, what if White responds to ...b4 with Na4 (instead of with Ne2), preventing our ...c5?

Thank you!

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1)      I think c4 is not a good move, it loses a tempo, as e3 was played first, but even more importantly it weakens the white pawn center and Black can later crush this center with a well timed c5

2)      Na4? instead of Ne2 is a mistake, the N on a4 is misplaced here on the rim and cannot really get back into the game. After cxd5!, Bxd5, Nxd5, Rxd5, Bb7 (hitting the rook) and then Rfc8 (hitting the queen) the N on a4 has no moves at all!

1.e4 is weakening of d4 pawn, white never play e4 in such positions....

2.After Na4 we can take on d5 and there isn't Nf4 move in case of Na4. If 16.Bd5 Nd5 17.Rd5 Bb7 black has an advantage. 

studying chess books

sir is there any particular technique that you recommend for studying chess books

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Hi, a game that I find interesting I would copy with comments into one of my chessbase  databases. Same for tactics, strategic and endgame exercises.

I remember more when I write it down. It a bit slow but sometimes less is more.

Hey! 
You should check out this one! 
https://youtu.be/N5Tw1iNDfas 

The great Hungarian-American mathematician Paul Halmos had a recommendation for how to study math books: with a pen and paper, but preferably you'd throw the book away at some point and explore on your own.

For chess, maybe this means that you study it with a board, making the moves, guessing the winner's moves, trying to understand why they make the moves they do.

Moodcoins

Dear Gm Avetik Sir

Being a pro member, the mood coins are of no use as all features are unlocked

And you cannot buy courses which are meant for pro members even if you don't have pro membership

And I have completed almost all the courses of openings part

Then what to do these mood coins

If I continue pro membership, how will it benefit me

This is my humble suggestion that can we buy pro membership with mood coins please?

Hoping for a positive reply

Replies

I too have a question...

The courses which are now ONLY FOR PRO will we be able to buy them with MoodCoin later? or will they be only for PRO?

Dear Sir

Could you clarify how moodcoins will be useful for pro members ?

We love your content and it has made significant progress in my games but since I have completed most of the opening courses

I still cannot buy pro courses even if I wish to as they are not purchasable for non pro members

Can we get something out of the moodcoins please,?

I think maybe 50,000 for a piece of chessmood merch

New Course - "The Power of the Bishop Pair"

Hey Champions,

We've uploaded one more course in the "Middlegame mastery section" - "The power of bishop pair."  The two sections are ready and uploaded, the rest are coming very soon.​​

https://chessmood.com/course/bishop-pair-power 

If you have any questions or comments about this course, write them here 

With love,

ChessMood Team

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This course was really good