Chess forum by Grandmasters

Quiz position with multiple solutions

I did a run through some of the Tactic Ninja quiz today. Great fun. Here is a look at one position I ran into that had multiple winning moves. Attached is a screenshot of position 50, plus a screenshot of Stockfish analysis of all moves. Bxf7+ is the solution in the quiz - nice. Nh4 was the move that jumped out at me and it seemed to lead to a clearly winning position without much fuss, so that was my solution. O-O seems like more of an "engine sees all" type move :-) In any case, maybe there are just too many strong moves here for it to be a good puzzle. For some other puzzles, I think it can be good to allow more than one possible solution.

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I still dream of a puzzle-checker that would consider a solution valid if the eval on every move doesn't fall below a threshold (maybe 75% of the initial "totally winning" eval?). That would allow for multiple winning solutions, and not just the one the author envisioned.

Here's another one. This time the branching is the end of the solution. Rdxd1# is accepted but Rcxd1# is rejected. Clearly either move should be accepted as correct. Cool puzzle btw.

Maybe Nh4 wins, but you can't argue Bxf7 is practically the easiest won. Which you would even spot in a bulletgame around 1 second (at least that would be the final Goal :)) Btw: nice calculated

I completed the Tactics Ninja quiz and did not not encounter any other problematic positions. Definitely a great quiz with many interesting and thematic positions! Some quite tricky ones too. Well worth doing. I'm now working through the Mating Matador quiz. This is also a lot of fun. So far, I have only encountered one position that I think needs tweaking. In position 44 (see attachment) the solution that is accepted by the quiz is: 1...Nc3 2.Qc2 Ne2+ 3.Kh1 Qxf3 4.Bxf3 Bxf3# Unfortunately that solution is not sound because white as 4.Qc7+ Kh8 5.Qxb7! which turns the tables. Black needed to play 3...Bxf3 with an easily winning position. This is of course not a criticism of the quiz. Just some feedback in the hope that these minor blemishes will be fixed so that future versions are even better.

Here's another Matador position where the quiz solution contains an error. The quiz accepts the following line: 1.Qf3! Bxf3 2.Re8+ Qxe8 3.Bxf3+ Kb8 4.d7+ But there is a hole and black is winning after 2...Kb7. Fortunately it's just a small move order issue and the correct solution is: 1.Qf3 Bxf3 2.Bxf3+ (the Quiz currently rejects this) Kb8 3.Re8+ Qxe8 4.d7+

Peter M, we want to help everyone to improve tactics and to become good practical players. In this case, you should look for and see Bf7 since it is a check, and after seeing it, you'll do that one 100% of the times.
If you didn't see it, then maybe we are not explaining the concepts well enough and we will try to improve and learn from it. ?But in this case, we don't care that the engine says +8 after 0-0 or Nh4 since we are solving tactics and looking for tactical solutions, not long time plans. ? 
We will work on fixing the rest of the puzzles of this thread though and we appreciate very much your input!
Thank you very much!?

One more from the Matador course is position #196. The solution starts: 1.Bd4 cxd4 2.Qxh6+ gxh6 3.Nxf6+ Kh8 But then the quiz only accepts the move 4.Rg8+ which is a blunder because of Nxg8. The correct move, which is not accepted by the quiz, is 4.Rdg3 which forces mate.

Another one: TacticNinja #356/777: in this position only (the more spectacular) Qe4+ is accepted, but also the less flashy Bxd5+ results in mate in 2. It's strange that I don't see anyone else reporting this. It would even be better to change the position a slightly bit: move the white Queen to a5 instead of a1, then Qe4+ would be necessary to find (and put a white pawn on b6 to prevent the alternative 1.. b6 good move from Black). New starting FEN code (before 1. Qa5) would be: 6k1/1p3ppq/1Pb4p/3B4/2P1n3/2Q3P1/4r2P/4R1BK w - - 0 1

Here's another little issue with the mating matador quiz number 51. After the correct move Qxg2+, Kxg2 only the follow-up Nd4 (attacking the Q and threatening #) is accepted, but Nb4 (also attacking the Q and threatening #) is rejected. Clearly either 2nd move by Black should be accepted as correct. BTW - this course and quiz is great, just as tactics ninja!

Cannot find Main Course On Grand Prix

Hi all, Does anyone know which course covers the Grand Prix system after Qe1? It is covered in the Whitemood Openings, Sicilian Course , Section 9 where Avetik talks about covering additional moves (in the main course) after Qe1. Thanks in advance! https://chessmood.com/course/whitemood-openings/episode/3756

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Anti-Sicilian Part 1

Accelerated Dragon c3 ?

Hi --- just started with the Sicilian to freshen up my game, as I like the Benko etc and my original French isn't really in the same style. Quick question :--- Ok I got a decent game but I have not seen so far any video on what happens if White reinforces the knight on d4 with c3. For instance :-- e4 c5 : Nf3 Nc6 : d4 c/d : Nxd4 g6 : c3 -- though it could go Be3 then after my Bg7 c3. I've had both. Not much of a sample frame but has happened twice in six games.

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Hi Keven!!! 
?Putting the pawn on c3 is taking the natural square from the knight and it is kind of passive if you don't take on d4, which is White's hope I think. Just simple healthy development with Nf6 and White has to reinforce the e4 pawn.  
The e4 pawn can be covered with the Knight on d2, but it will be blocking the Bishop and Queen, not the ideal square. Defending the pawn with f3 will allow us to castle and play ... d5. 
The best move for White is Bd3, and we continue with our plan Bg7 7.0-0 0-0 and castling for both sides. After our king is safe, just go d5, for exemple if Be3 d5. Whenever you can play ... d5, Black should be equal. I guess that the c3-pawn is not the best placed piece. ? Hope this helps, just don't take on d4 and play the normal usual moves! I am attaching one picture for easier understanding.?
 

Anyone else have problems downloading the whitemood PGN's

The blackmood pgns downloaded fine but I am receiving an error message downloading the whitemood pgns. Any help would be appreciated.

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I just tried it and it works perfectly. Maybe try with another browser but I tried it with 2 computers with no problem whatsoever.?

Quizzes

I really like the quizzes that accompany the courses, but could I suggest a technical improvement? I would like to be able to skip to a different diagram without having to click through every diagram from the start. This is especially important for large quizzes, like the 777 tactics diagrams.

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Thanks Dennis, yes, this is indeed one of the areas that we will update in order to have better quizzes. Thanks for your suggestion?

The quizzes are definitely cool. And it's great to see they are being improved. Has the scoring been fixed? When I went through some quizzes a while ago, it only showed how many puzzles you had completed. More useful would be showing how many puzzles you got correct on the first attempt. Then you can see if you improve when you do the quiz a second time etc. For example I attached the screenshot from the Tactics Ninja quiz which I completed a month or two ago. I can assure you I did not get 776 puzzles correct on my first attempt! I simply completed 776 puzzles (I must have skipped one), some of which required several attempts to get correct. Another improvement for the quizzes would be to provide some information with each puzzle. For example for the Classic Games quiz, it should tell you which game each puzzle is from. For Tactics Ninja, it could tell you tell you the relevant section(s) of the course for that puzzle. Also, it would be nice if there was some sound when making a move in the quiz.

Anti-Sicilian: 5...e6

Had a game that started like this: 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. f4 Nc6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bc4 e6 No g6 or Bg7 as is covered in the course. I can't seem to find this line in the course. I continued 6. d3 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Qe1, which the engine doesn't seem to like so much. What's the recommended line here?

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The move 4…Nf6 is a small inaccuracy. Bb5 is the recommendation. Remember that with the positions with e6 and Nf6 we play the e5 break very often, but this is not the case. Bb5 goes first. Please check it out: 

https://chessmood.com/course/sicilian-defence-part-1/episode/778

Summary of racing from 1200 to 2200

Hey, champions! ?
During today's webinar, we'll summarize what we’ve seen during racing from 1200-2200. 
https://chessmood.com/event/racing-from-1200-2200-webinar 

We'll see:
1. What are the most common openings and variations you'll face by playing ChessMood Simplified Openings
2. What are the most common opening mistakes on this level
3. How do our ChessMood openings perform against this level
And much more… 

Below I'm adding a link, where you can download all the games of the streaming series. 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qH56rJT1G6Gt9Iv1DeSa30GY7P4jt6J8/view?usp=sharing

See you during the webinar! 
It's gonna be a very interactive one, so prepare your questions ?

 

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Daiy Chessmood lesson missing?

I am going through the Daily Chessmood Lessons with a Grandmaster and cannot find lesson #250 no matter how I try to search for it on you tube. 251, 252 and higher are there...This might be one for Gabuzyan Thanks in advance Ovi

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Hi Ovi Try this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WlPjjrTC3M

Anti Sicilian with 2.Sc3

Dear chessfriends I d like to know which continuation is the best for Black against 2.Sc3. Is it 2.a6, e6, g6, d6 or Sc6? In others words against which variations you encounter the most problems as whithe? Thanks for your response

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The recommended ChessMood move is 2.. Nc6. You should check out the "Countering all the Sicilian sidelines" course at https://chessmood.com/course/crushing-all-the-sidelines-of-sicilian Section 3-4-5; especially in Section 5 you can find what happens when a White ChessMood player plays against a Black ChessMood player.

Alekhine video 46. 5...g6

What if Black plays 10...Be6 after 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 dxe5 5.Nxe5 g6 6.c4 Nb6 7.Nc3 Bg7 8.Be3 c5 9.Be2 0-0 10.0-0

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I wondered the same and came up with 10... Be6 11. dxc5 Qxd1 12. Rfxd1 Bxe5 13. cxb6 with Stockfish.

Hello Thomas, My opinion is that after 11.d5 in the further lines with bishop pair white will have very nice practical advantage and good chances. Good luck!

Success with Rossolimo 9. Be3 Line

Recently had a game that used the Rossolimo Attack. I've been going through the course to try to learn this opening as it's come up a few times. After 4. O-O Bg7 5. c3, white played 9. Be3, which isn't covered in the course. I saw it discussed on the forum a few times but wasn't entirely sure how to proceed. I thought i'd share my game because I won against that line (was very surprised, it was a much stronger opponent). The course was invaluable in helping me to get a workable position. But I thought it might also be helpful to share since there's not much discussion of 9. Be3.

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Hi, just transpose to the course with 9…Qb6, see the thread mentioned by Brody.?

BlackMood - French - 2. Bc4

Does anyone have any experience with this using the Blackmood opening? 1. e4 e6 2. Bc4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 Do I have the right idea with 2...d5? Do we still want to trade the French bishop? Thanks all!? BTW - If its in the course, I couldn't find it but apologies if it is and if someone can link to it that would be awesome! Thanks.

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2.Bc4 is a mistake because you get to play d5 with tempo. White has basically given away the advantage of the first move. You played it correctly. Just keep developing naturally. Later it might be good to swap light squared bishops but I wouldn't stress about it too much initially because your bishop isn't stuck behind your pawn chain like in the advance variation.

Alekhine opening 4...Nb6 move order

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 Nb6!? had this played against me online and didnt know how to proceed. Looks like interesting prophylaxis move intending to transpose to exd6 lines maybe and it avoids some chessmood lines for example if now 5.Be2 black might go g6 or smth. How to play against this, keeping in chessmood repertoire? Txs

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Seems like the line recommended by the computer, 5.a4 a5 6.Nc3, is simple and good. It's to our advantage that we didn't have to play c4 to drive the knight from d5. White's c4-pawn is a bit loose in normal Alekhine lines, meaning we must spend time to defend it. Also, in this variation we have the possibility of getting an outpost on b5 after exd6 cxd6 while black can't get an outpost on b4 because we can still play c3. Additionally, Bg4 seems to be worse now. We can kick it immediately with h3 because after Bxf3 Qxf3 the b7 pawn is hanging and if white defends it we can play the thematic sacrifice e6.

Black has a terrible position after 5.a4 a5 6.Nc3 as suggested by Peter M. This line from Sethuraman's Chessable course (Lifetime Repertoires: Sethuraman's 1. e4 - Part 1) illustrates Black's problems: 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 Nb6 5.a4 a5 6.Nc3 g6 7.exd6 cxd6 8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.h4 h5 10.Bg5 Bg7 11.O-O

Hi Paulius, In your question out of the first 4 moves black makes 3 with the knight. Instead, white develops and gains a good center. I don't think Nb6 deserves a lot of attention and you can continue the healthy development of your pieces. And in a concrete sense 5.a4 looked interesting to me, though that's only my opinion and several moves are great for sure.

3.Bd3 French Nf6 variation

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Hi, checked my pgn and from online play have some analysis for you how to continue after Be7 and common move against me f6. Hope that helps

French Attack Wing Gambit

Hello friends, I recently faced the Wing Gambit against the French in one of my recent online games. I was playing as a guest (not logged in) so I do not have the whole game PGN. I took the pawn and White was able to build a nice center with c3 later and I struggled and lost. But my question is - can one of the GMs please recommend some good continuations/plans for Black in this position after 1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e5 c5 4. b4 Or is there some clever move-order you would recommend to not have to face this at all? Any suggestions would be very helpful. Thank you

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Hi Ghosh, I really think accepting the pawn can be fine and playable. However, if we play 3...Bd7, b4 move becomes pointless and we will take it with the bishop. Otherwise after 4.d4 with 4...a6 we will transpose to the French attack. Good luck!

1. e4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. Bc4 c5 4. h4 Nc6 now what?

In Chicago Open my game started like this 1. e4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. Bc4 c5 4. h4 Nc6 5. h5 e6 6. d3 Nge7 7. h6 Bxc3 8. bxc3 d5 9. exd5 exd5 10. Bb5 and I was not able to fight for an advantage. The game Praggnanandhaa - Artemiev went this way (I was not aware about this while playing my game). Do you have any suggestions on how to improve this line or is this fine for White? Perhaps 9. Bb3. I was thinking about this during the game but didn't think my light square Bishop had any future. Hence I did not go for this. My game: 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 g6 3. Bc4 Bg7 4. h4 Nc6 5. h5 e6 6. d3 Nge7 7. h6 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 d5 9. exd5 exd5 10. Bb5 O-O 11. Bxc6 Nxc6 12. Qf3 Re8+ 13. Kf1 Ne5 14. Qg3 f6 15. Ne2?! Qe7 16. Bf4 Bf5 17. Re1 Qd7 18. Be3 Qa4 19. Qh4 Ng4 20. Bxc5 Qxc2 21. Rh3 Rxe2 22. Rxe2 Qd1+ 23. Re1 Bxd3+ 24. Rxd3 Qxd3+ 25. Kg1 Qxc3 26. Rd1 Qxc5 27. Qxg4 Qd6 28. Rc1 Rd8 29. Rc8 Kf7 30. g3 Qd7 31. Qxd7+ Rxd7 32. Rh8 Ke6 33. Kf1 d4 34. Ke2 d3+ 35. Kd2 b6 36. g4 g5 37. Re8+? Re7? 38. Rh8 f5 39. Rg8 fxg4 40. Rxg5 Kf6 41. Rxg4 Re2+ 42. Kxd3 Rxf2 43. a4 Rh2 44. Rg7 Rxh6 45. Rxa7 Ke5 46. Kc4 1/2-1/2 [Event "Titled Arena Mar 6th"] [Site "Lichess.org INT"] [Date "2021.03.06"] [Round "?"] [White "Praggnanandhaa, Rameshbabu"] [Black "Artemiev, Vladislav"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B06"] [WhiteElo "2608"] [BlackElo "2709"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2021.03.06"] [EventType "swiss (blitz)"] [EventRounds "51"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceTitle "EXT 2022"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2021.10.06"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2021.10.06"] [SourceQuality "1"] 1. e4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. h4 c5 4. h5 Nc6 5. Bc4 e6 6. d3 Nge7 7. h6 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 d5 9. exd5 exd5 10. Bb5 Qd6 11. Qf3 Bd7 12. Bf4 Qf6 13. Ne2 O-O-O 14. Qg3 Nf5 15. Qg5 Qe6 16. Kd2 f6 17. Qg4 Ne5 18. Bxe5 fxe5 19. Rab1 Rhf8 20. Qa4 Kb8 21.Rb2 Nd6 22. Bxd7 Rxd7 23. f3 e4 24. Re1 exf3 25. gxf3 Rxf3 26. Nd4 Rf2+ 27. Kd1 Qg4+ 28. Re2 Rf1+ 0-1

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I took a look at your game, and I do not see the benefit of playing 7.h6. In my opinion, I would just develop with Bd2, or even better playing Bb3 with prophilaxis against d5, I would also consider capturing on g6, but I do not see the value of h6. 

We must keep the opponent guessing. Avetik calls this the door concept, and the only ones who have the key is us, we can open or close it at any time. There is no need to hurry with h6 or hxg6 I believe altough hxg6 is also to my liking.

Yes, I would do that Bb3, then hxg6, after exchanges in the King side, our Queen can go to g4 and create some problems since Black has the pawns on the light squares and our Queen on g4 will be very active and can attack on the KS. 
A possible line would be: 7. Bb3 d5 8. hxg6 hxg6 9. Rxh8+ Bxh8 10. Qg4 

Dear Vishnu, I can see the white's position and in my opinion, it's practical and playable. I would like to remind GM Avetik's post about what kind of questions are we ready to discuss in a forum https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-channel/forum-new-policies. If you are willing to get a minimal advantage in the longest variations which happen in games of super GMs I will encourage you to self-work with the machine on that line. The reason why we aren't diving that deep is it will probably not be used under even 2600 online ratings and it's out of the interests of 99.9% of our community. Good luck and hope to see you winning more and more tournaments Champion!

I did not look at this line, mostly because I don't play 2.Nc3 vs Pirc/Modern. I just wanted to say that the other line given vs the Pirc/Modern, with 2.d4, is extremely well thought out. One of my favorite ChessMood opening courses.

Against French 1 e4 e6 2 d4 c5

What do you like to play most against blacks 1 e4 e6 2 d4 c5 I played 3 d5 to take space and it often transpose in to a Benoni not in our repertoire. So i want to play in style on chessmood or what you recomends! 1 e4 e6 2 d4 c5 3 Nf3 it transpose a open Sicilian. or should i try 3 c3 for a French is it possible to transpose to Ld3 French or should be prepared for something else?

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Hi Erik, this has been asked before in the following thread> https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-channel/hwo-to-play-against-1e4-e6-2d4-c5-2195

There is a very good answer by Kevin D (as always), and you can check it out. Avetik's answer is to go d5 and we get a bad Benoni for Black. 

I also want to show you how to search in the forum, because it is very useful and it can save some time… Just in case and only for educational purposes, I am attaching an screenshot of the search that I performed. Please be aware that the Forum Search Button and the Search Button on top are different… ?

French Tarrasch 3..Nc6 mainline

Hi Team, i just had an horrible experience in this line vs an IM online. I had no clue how to face the plans of white. Can you help here? Thank you for your help. Fred https://lichess.org/7xLLFwY1 (Sorry dont know how to get the game inside this chat)

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Personally I wouldn't be using the starter openings with a > 2000 rating. I don't think they're accurate enough, simply because they're largely geared towards beginners and ease of memorization. Maybe once the main courses come out. But with your game, after 6. Nb3, the engine suggests 6...Be7 followed by a5, trying for a4 and attacking the knight on b3. But the major blunder was on move 10 (10...c5) when you failed to defend the e6 pawn and got into a good bit of trouble after that.

Try to test your new openings against players of your own level or a bit higher or lower and that way you will get a better sense of their effectiveness. To compete successfully against FM, IM and GM level will require more than just opening knowledge. 8-)

Hello Fred, I have seen the game. What I would say is that the BlackMood course is designated for the level below 2000 online level. Of course, a french is a great opening but if you want to play it vs GMs, IMs, or world champions (haha ? ) you will need to work and investigate it deeper. Good luck!

Where did I make a mistake ?

I have just recently finished the Dutch Attack course and have started practicing it. Below I have attached one of my recent games. Can someone please tell me where exactly I went wrong in the opening because I feel my Bishop was misplaced in the opening itself.

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Just quickly scanning the game, without using an engine, I'd say 9...Ba6 looks suspicious. To me a more natural move is 9...Bb7. It avoids problems on the long diagonal and you can consider completing your development with d6 and Nbd7 with a nice solid structure.

@Jayaram I much prefer 3...Be7 instead of 3...Nf6.

Thoughts on Tactics Book

I've been seeing a new chess coach. He recommended to me the book, "Everyone's First Chess Workbook" as he thinks the puzzles in that book would be helpful for me to work through. I've been also working through the Tactics Ninja course. My question is, how does this book compare to the course? Does the course pretty much cover what the book does, or more or less? If you've worked through this book, what was your opinion of it? I'm very new to chess BTW. Lichess classical rating of 1681 but I've only been playing seriously for about 3 months.

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Sounds like a sensible idea. The book is available on Chessable so you could do it through that platform if you prefer. I think Chessable is a good way to drill tactics and I use it for that regularly. You can actually access a chapter of the Workbook for free: https://www.chessable.com/everyone-s-first-chess-workbook-free-lesson/course/82717/ The puzzles are generally very easy, but that should absolutely not put you off. The point is to drill drill drill until the patterns become second nature. You need to get to the point where most solutions are jumping off the board at you, demanding to be played. Basic tactical speed and consistency is an essential building block. Update: I see that I didn't address your question about the Tactics Ninja course. Everyone's First Chess Workbook is definitely at an easier level than the Tactics Ninja course, with there being a lot of overlap in the subject matter. Where I see the Workbook fitting in is helping you drill the fundamentals. It will help you get more out of the Ninja course. BTW I haven't done the Ninja course but I have checked out some of the videos and completed the quiz. The videos are awesome but I think you'd find the overall Ninja quiz fairly challenging right now.