Chess forum by Grandmasters

Dutch and French Advanced Courses

Hi ChessMood team, 

I was wondering when the advanced french and dutch courses would be coming because I have reached the level where they are needed now. You guys have made lots of new courses recently (thanks) but I am a bit surprised to see that the advanced french and dutch haven't come out yet? 

Please let me know an approximate time by which they will arrive 

Thanks

Replies

??

Lichess is down / other platforms?

Hello community, which other chess online platforms do you use for playing? Thank you for your recommendations.

best

Joachim

Replies

Chess.com is also a great website!

It’s back! 😎

model games pgn

I have noticed that there is not a pgn file for the 2 model games courses. I think this would be a really helpful addition as we would be able to refer back to games to see middlegame plans and ideas when reviewing lines and analysing games. 

Replies

Dear Samuel,

Thanks for your suggestion. The thing is these courses are being updated all the time, and that's why we don't have the pgns yet. As also selection might be really large. However if you are seeing some games, where you would like to have the pgn, a good idea is to check that particular account games on chesscom which you can download.

Thank you!

I won with the acelerated dragon!!!!!!!

I won with 13. Rb8 N !!!!!!! 

Replies

Congratulations!

Keep crushing :-)

Chess gift suggestion need.

Replies

Every enthusiastic chess player I know loves to get another set! I'm a sucker for a quality wooden set of pieces. One of my sons gave a gift a year ago, a nice wood set with a nice folding wood board, together with a tote bag to carry it in. I love it!

Note that for the marble boards, they don't fold. That means that aren't very portable. That probably isn't an issue, because your daughter would probably use it at home, displayed in a prominent location.

I have no idea what prices for marble sets are reasonable, but a quality wood set with a board will cost more than the sets this company is offering.

Bottom line: getting her something that you think she would like is the most important factor. I'm also sure that she'll love whatever you give her!

Cheers,

Jeff

You could gift both chess set and a chess guide book. If you want to gift just one then gift  a chess set. I am sorry I am  unaware of the price of marble chess set. I personally prefer premium quality wooden chess set.

How to reassess your chess could be a nice book? It's not too hard, and a classic :)

How to go to streams

I want to go to the streams  Can you tell me the steps to go to Streams and the specific category

Replies

I'm assuming you want to go to the events, which is here: https://chessmood.com/events

You can scroll down to ‘completed events’, and then you can filter it by coach, type & rating (I put an image below).

Hope this helped ( •̀ ω •́ )✧

Recommend me a new opening for black?

I'd like to try some new openings. I've decided on the London and Catalan for white and I'd also like to try fianchetto openings sheerly because they look visually elegant. Can someone recommend me one for black? I'm not sure what I'm doing here.

Replies

If you like fianchettos systems, then the Kings Indian Defense is the way to go. You can learn the principles from Daniel Naroditsky's speed run videos. Traditionally the KID is only played after 1.d4, but it can realistically be adapted against any of White's openings.

You may also try a sicilian dragon

Literally just memorize this course. Starter Course - BlackMood Openings (chessmood.com)

Doubt in Accelerated Dragon

I was playing a blitz game on chess.com featuring the following order:

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.f3 0-0 8.Bc6 Qb6! (I remembered that if white plays f3 first then Bc4 so we go Qb6), 9.a3!? (A very normal move with idea if Qxb2, Na4 trapping queen) Nxe4!? (I played this move but realised it was a bad move as after 11.Nxc6 black loses) I also checked 9.Ng4 for black but it loses a pawn. Though I won the game, I don't know what to do after 9.a3.

Here's the game's link: https://www.chess.com/game/live/119522989317

Replies

Plichta's (crazy) line goes:

9.a3 e6! (threatening 10. ..Nxe4 since Nd5 is no longer possible)

10.Na4 (if 10.0-0 then 10. ..Nxe4!) Qa5

11.b4 Qe5!

12.0-0 Ng4!

13.fxg4 Qxe4!

14.Qf3 Qxe3!

15.Qxe3 Bxd4.

Happy remembering 😁

9…e6 seems like a good option because whenever white plays Qd2 with the idea to castle long, Nxe4 already becomes possible. If white tries Qd3, again trying to castle long, then black can play Ne5. So white is forced to castle short and black can then follow up with 10…d5

Hey Samuel, 

I have checked the position, and as mentioned below by Thomas e6 seems to be a good move. 
of course white has few options, but in each of the lines I find Black’s position quite attractive.

you can check some moves concerning you further with the engine, but for sure Black has decent practical chances.

Thank you for an interesting question 🙂

Any news on when blackmood VS English and knight f3 will be uploaded?

Great Course on the French and Dutch. I know there is a section already VS the catalan. The Sicilian defense was a bit much for me. I feel like I can handle the French and Dutch. Maybe I will try the Sicilian in the future. Thanks for your time.

Replies

Hi Chiller, Thanks for the kind words! Sections about English and 1.Nf3 will be published in a near future. I am excited to say the reason is that so many courses are under construction so it takes a little time. Let me tell you that we are going to keep the main setup which we learned in Dutch. Good luck!

Play 1-1 against a GM

Dear cm family, could you do it on lichess instead of chess.com?

Replies

Dear Marius,

Some players prefer chesscom, other lichess - we have been doing those events on chesscom for a very long while, and big majority of our students are used to it.

What is bothering you with chesscom, is there anything we can do for you to make your experience better?
Please let me know.

courses

Hi.

I wanted to ask how many sections in a course (let's say the Blunderproof) should I watch a day and should I do 2 different courses at the same day?

Replies

Hey There.

Eliya usually watching a section or 2 a day is fine. of course it depends on the size of the section as well. Watching 2 courses per day is doable, but don’t open to many courses at the same time 🙂 

Anti-Sicilian Part 2. 7... g5 instead of 7... d6

I have a question about a line/plan black often uses that I couldn't find in the videos. If someone already asked the question or there is a video I missed please delete this.
----------------
In the line discussed in this video 

https://chessmood.com/course/sicilian-defence-part-2/episode/342

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bd3 a6 6. O-O Nc6 7. b3
I often encounter 7 … g5 with future advances on the kingside instead of 7… d6 in the video. I think this changes the plans as compared to the video, so I wonder how white should play these positions?

Thank you for the ideas.

Replies

Yeah I also struggle against these variations but you could exchange the g7 bishop with the b2 bishop with Na4 and then later on play c3 d4

hey there,

here we play with ideas like bb2 and later trading the bishop on g7 with Na4. 
As well when black plays g4 we retreat Ne1 and play with f4.

of course ideas depend on opponent’s moves, but those are general ideas I always use here 🙂

How to analyze one's games?

Please I'd love to know if there is a video or an article that details how to analyze your own chess game…. What is the right way to analyze one's games? Most times I'm stuck on using an engine which I feel might not be the best approach always 

Replies

You might want to look at the following blog post:

https://chessmood.com/blog/analyze-blitz-chess-games

Hey guys.

Didi, thanks for providing the right link to Mike 🙂

What to do?

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. Be2 Nc6 5. h3 Bh5 6. d4 O-O-O 7. c4 Qd6 8. d5 Bxf3 9. Bxf3 Ne5 10. Nc3 What if he takes Nxc4 ? How to get advantage?

Replies

Hey there!

White can play with 0-0 and even though down a pawn, White gets a strong potential of attack on the Queenside!

attack and checkmate 🙂

Hi! We have covered that variation in our main repertoire :)

Here is the link: https://chessmood.com/course/10-crushing-the-scandinavian/episode/988

1.f4 Bird's Opening

I recently played a game where my opponent played 1.f4 and I didn't know how to respond properly. What is the ChessMood's repertoire against the unsound 1.f4, popular among club-level players?

Replies

https://chessmood.com/course/blackmood-openings/episode/6182

They recommend 1.f4 e6 2.Nf3 f5.

You mentioned you played the Sicilian.
In this case, you will face this move quite rarely.
Just a tip, don't think of it as unsound! It is completely fine, it just has some additional downsides.

Anyways, I play with c5 and play a dragon setup.

White usually will play for E4 too, which will be a transposition to the Grand Prix.

If White plays for E3, than you can continue the dragon, or play with d5 instead.

Deja vu daily puzzle

Today's puzzle already occurred less than a month ago: Daily Chess Puzzle (chessmood.com). May it's not too late to replace it. 

Replies

The daily puzzle feature has been going on for a few years already. From a collection of great studies only the best and interesting ones have been chosen, so you can imagine, that there is no unlimited number of puzzles available. 

Therefore, after a while (sometimes a few months and maybe sometimes already after a few weeks) puzzles are repeated, which I think is no problem, as it gives us the chance to repeat finding the correct solution or to re-produce the solution, in case we did not solve the puzzle previously.

How I came to play waaaay to much bullet and try to stop

Hi!

I'm new on chessmood. Probably like many others, I heard of it by watching Eric Rosen's videos, used the promotion to try some courses and work on my weaknesses (I focus on endgames and positional play). After my last tournament, I got motivated to work more and decided to take the essential plan to invest me even more. 
It's gonna be a long post, sorry for that, but I hope it will be a little bit entertaining. 

It's been a pattern that when I meet new chess players I tell the story of how I came to play thousands of bullet chess games (or more precisely, what I call “false bullet”, wich is 2+1 bullet). It usually make people smile, so I though I'd share it with the chessmood community. English is not my first language, so apologies if something is not well written. 

So, I've always been interrested in chess when I was a child. I got a little bit of coaching in elementary school without getting serious about it (my best friend was the one who was really good. I was at best second in school). There was no chess culture in my high school, so I forgot about it, just playing from time to time when I had the opportunity, always fascinated by how rich this game can be. As many of us, I got back into chess with the pandemics (but before the Queen's Gambit), first by watching videos on YouTube, then creating my account on chess.com. 

I was playing rapid chess, 10+0. I thought that blitz was insane and I would never have time to play good moves with less than 5 minutes on the clock. My rapid elo quickly grew to around 1300, showing that I had still something from my elementary school passion. But I was frustrated, because I was loosing on time a lot. 
Many people, when they struggle with flagging, choose to try a slower time control. But I did the exact opposite. In my mind, if I began to play slower time control, I would get use to playing slower and still loose on time. So I decided to play a few 5+0 blitz game to get use to play faster. That way, when going back to 10+0, I would play faster and loose on time less. 
It worked very well actually. It make me progress from around 1300 to around 1400-1500 elo in rapid. 
But there was a side effect: I came to find that blitz was really fun to play, and began to play more and more blitz, not only to play quicker in rapid, but play blitz for the sake of playing blitz. 
Except that I was a little bit frustrated: I was loosing a lot on time when playing 5+0 chess. So I decided that I needed to learn to play more quickly and practice with 3+2, sometime 3+0. 
From that point, you probably see it coming: it worked well, my time management in 5+0 got better, but I grew a taste for 3+2 blitz. But I got frustrated to loose a lot on time in 3+2 and decided at some point that I needed to learn to play faster and began to play 2+1 bullet. 

The accelerating process stopped at 2+1 bullet. Why? I'm not really sure, but I think that when it came to bullet (even “false bullet”), I was not really frustrated when I was loosing on time. And I think there is two reasons for that: 1) I absolutely don't care about loosing elo in bullet; 2) more importantly I think I just feel that in bullet, loosing on time is just part of the game. When playing slower time control, even blitz, I care that the game should be decided by the position more than by the time. In bullet, not so much… until recently, but I will come to that. 
With time, I not only came to play a lot more of quicker time controls, but also playing less of slower time control. One of the reason it that I was getting better. And the more I was getting better, the stronger were my opponents, and the more exhausting were my games, especially in rapid. I needed to much mental energy when playing rapid games that I stopped playing them after work, or if I felt a little tired in the weekend, I played bullet instead of blitz or rapid. Even when I get better in bullet, with stronger opponents, bullet rely more on pattern recognition and require less calculation, and require to focus a shorter period of time. So it's easy to choose it when I feel tired, wich is quite often (sadly). 
At the same time, I came to play more OTB. I found a club in my neighbourhood, when we thend to play 20-5 games, and began to play my first classical chess tournaments. I enjoy very much longer time control OTB. In a world where we are always multitasking, it's nice to take time to focus on one thing and one thing only for a long period of time. OTB chess motivate me more to develop a deeper understanding of the game. 
Lately, I noticed that I was getting more an more frustrated to loose on time when playing 2+1. But it is a different frustration then before. When loosing on time in rapid game, I was frustrated because I was not quick enough to win. When I'm loosing on time in 2+1 now, I'm frustrated because I find the position interresting and I want to take the time to study it more. 
That's why I need to get back to rapid chess. It's not easy, because I still find it exhausting. But it's fulfilling. And I will need it to practice a more positional play and my engames. I've set up a goal to play at least 15 rapid games every weeks, so I normalized them again. 

I hope that you enjoyed that little story about time controls :) 
 

Replies

Interesting read…

Just an idea, but if you aren't already, you might find it useful to play with an increment? I generally play 10+2 or 10+5 when it comes to rapid as it's a bit harder to run out of time.

Anyways, good luck!

I think that it is important to learn to play different time controls, but don't play blitz to get better at rapid. You should instead work on time management, play a longer time control, or at least play a time control with an increment. Since you have a passion for blitz too, you should probably try and alternate between the two formats. Besides, your English is marvelous!

what do I do next?

Hi all!

I'm an adult with a job, but I'm really trying to get better at this game. I got from around 700, when I started, to 1100 (rapid, chess.com) relatively quickly, with the rating booster courses. Then in the last year I've just gone from 1100 to 1200, and I'm a little of stuck there.
 

This is my account: https://www.chess.com/games/archive/beaics?gameOwner=other_game&gameType=live&gameTypeslive%5B%5D=rapid&timeSort=desc

I did tactic ninja, mating matador, fearless worrior, spartan shield, WWP pilot, scale method, 7Qs, end-game roadmap, and must-know endgame theory <2k. These should get me to 1500, somehow. I practice tactics daily on Aimchess (I quite like Aimchess, happy to discuss if yuo want). 

I'm trying to play more games a week, because I honestly didn't have time for more than 3 or 4 (playing with 15+10). I play against Fritz offline also sometimes, to have more time to think.

Would someone who's gone past 1200 have a little time to get a look at my games and suggest what I should go back to? I seem to mostly miss a tactic at a critical point, or just get too low on time and mess up, but you may have other ideas. I'm thinking of going over some of the courses mentioned above again, but where would you say it's my biggest weaknes? I'm not sure what to study (again) other than more puzzles.

Thanks!!!
 

Replies

I looked at some of your games and have some fairly clear ideas about your biggest weaknesses.  But before I go into that let me just say that you are playing a lot of good chess!  It's clear you've learnt your openings and generally your middlegame play looks quite decent.

OK, I looked at your 10 most recent losses.  I focus on your final mistake, give a description, then try to categorise the mistake.

1 vs Kevinfulignati,  stumbled into a knight fork in an equal position. [opponent's resource]

2. vs Younglx3, did not move in an equal position and lost on time.  I think this happened because you didn't see how to defend the mate threat.  Also you might have been panicking because black had suddenly created a scary attack which probably surprised you.  [sense of danger] [defensive move]

3. vs henil070608, allowed a move that both threatened checkmate and attacked your queen. I don't think this was a “sense of danger” issue because you clearly saw the g-file issues and tried to prevent it with Bg3 but it was the wrong way to defend.  [defensive move] [opponent's resource]

4. vs imeydan, allowed a back rank mating sequence.  It should have been obvious that moving your rook off the back rank was risky at best.  I guess you overlooked Qxd4 but note that Qf2 also forced mate.  [sense of danger][opponent's resource]

5. vs bharath_010, in this game you were just outplayed - it happens sometimes!  If anything I'd point the finger at 19…Bxc3 because it opens a file near your king which gives white attacking chances.  So this could be categorised as “sense of danger” but it wasn't a losing mistake by any stretch, so: [outplayed]

6. vs bahmate, allowed a skewer that won a rook when you had a winning position.  That one hurt! [opponent's resource]

7. vs MichaelWatt1, gave away a piece for no good reason.  I see this was your 3rd loss in a row, so I'll call it: [tilt]

8. vs AAA357_5, allowed a winning attack which won material. When you opponent played Rg1, lining up their rook with your king on the half-open file, you needed to start smelling trouble and take action accordingly.  [sense of danger]

9. vs xiximecabloodline1, allowed opponent to get a monster passed pawn on c2. [opponent's resource]

10. vs akiratybel, tried to force the pace in a drawn endgame when doing nothing was the best course.  [tricky endgame]

So I think your main weaknesses are closely related: not seeing opponent's (tactical) resources, and not enough sense of danger.

I have some specific ideas for how to improve these things which I'll add in another post.  In terms of ChessMood courses the two I'd suggest to go over again are: Fearless Warrior and Spartan Shield.

cheers,

Peter

FixMood

Looking at the calendar, we are running out of days left in August! Avetik, when you sent out a message saying “But FixMood is coming in August!”, did you mean August 2024, or August of some other year?  

Just joking!! It would be nice to see the debut of the new tools, but I'm patient.
Much love,

Jeff

Replies

Dear Jeff,

Augus7 2037!

Hahaha)) Joking as well. My friend will be a little difficult to mention the exact dates, please stay alert to the updates.

P.S. I guess you started attending the streams again, keep going!

Blitz Online

Hello, my name is Dariel. I am 18 years old and I am a chess player with an elo of 2245. Online chess is very important, it serves as training and increases our level. The elo is even used as a measure to know if we are improving or not. Less than a week ago I came third in the National Youth Championship in my country. There were 12 of us and we all had a similar elo between 2200 and 2400. The other players have from 2600 to 2900 in lichess and chess.com, whether in blitz or bullet. I am not a follower of bullet but I do not get good results online even in blitz. My normal elo is 2300, when I am good 2400 and when I am bad I can go down to 2200. It has been like this for a long time and I cannot change that. Even though I get good results against these players in classical games, I cannot match their results online. Due to my life circumstances I always have an intermittent connection which makes me lose many games but I don't take it as an excuse because others suffer from this illness too. Maybe I don't have the ability to play fast and well or... I don't know. What happens to me is that when I play blitz online I make absurd mistakes and I stay far below my level and my chess knowledge. I am writing to you because online blitz is a necessary tool to play and practice what I have learned. If you could help me with some advice or tool to change what happens, I would be very grateful. Greetings.

Replies

My online peak rating is far lower than your undesired range, but perhaps I can provide some perspective. 

Why do you want to be good at online blitz? Is your primary goal to be good at online blitz, or to become a better over the board chess player? I feel that most amateurs, including myself, are too addicted to blitz chess and it hinders our development as a player. You are on the opposite side of this spectrum, which perhaps isn't so bad.

How do you feel your time management is in online blitz? Are you consistently in a time scramble? If your internet is forcing serious concessions on the clock, perhaps increasing the time control would help.

Sorry for all of the rhetorical questions, but perhaps reevaluating your goals with online chess is necessary.

Congrats on the 3rd place finish! Hopefully you find the answers you're looking for, whether in my reply or elsewhere.

Hey,

interesting request. Not sure, but i’m thinking that:

https://chessmood.com/blog/detachment

might be worth reading again.

:)

Good luck in your quest.

Hello Dariel,

It’s clear that you are a talented chess player with impressive accomplishments, especially with your recent success at the National Youth Championship. It’s understandable that you’re frustrated with the disparity between your classical game performance and your online blitz results. Here are some suggestions that might help you improve your online blitz play:

Focus on Tactics Training: Blitz games often hinge on quick tactical calculations. Spend time daily on tactics puzzles to sharpen your pattern recognition. Websites like Lichess and Chess.com have excellent tactics trainers that adapt to your level, which can help improve your speed and accuracy under time pressure.

Simplify Openings: In blitz, it's crucial to save time in the opening phase. Stick to opening systems you’re extremely comfortable with, even if they’re not the most theoretically challenging. This allows you to conserve time and energy for the middle and endgame where many blitz games are decided.

Improve Time Management: One common issue in blitz is running out of time while searching for the "best" move. Practice moving more quickly, even if it means sometimes making less-than-perfect moves. Learn to trust your intuition, which you’ve developed through classical play.

Blitz-Specific Practice: Regularly play short time control games, but try not to get frustrated by losses. Treat these games as practice rather than as a measure of your actual strength. If possible, analyze your blitz games afterward to understand where and why you made mistakes.

Mindset Shift: Blitz is a different format and requires a slightly different mindset. https://gamer-choice.com/ It’s more about practical decisions than deep calculation. Accept that mistakes will happen, but the key is to make fewer or less critical mistakes than your opponent.

Internet Connection: If possible, try to play in a location with a stable internet connection, especially during important games. Lag or disconnections can be very discouraging, and minimizing this issue can help you focus more on your play.

Physical and Mental Conditioning: Like in classical chess, staying physically and mentally sharp is crucial. Ensure you are well-rested and in a good state of mind before playing online blitz, as fatigue can exacerbate mistakes.

Lastly, remember that blitz rating is not the ultimate measure of your chess ability, especially when you’ve already proven your strength in classical chess. Use blitz as a tool for sharpening your skills but don’t let it define your overall self-assessment as a player.

I hope these tips are helpful to you, and I wish you the best of luck in your continued chess journey. Keep pushing forward and stay focused on your improvement!