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Chess forum by Grandmasters

sicilian grandprix move order

hi, what to play against e4 c5  nc3 e6  f4  a6!? it seems black is mixing up?,thanks

Replies

Hi Ash! Good question.
I'll add it to the adv. sections very soon. 

How do you study?

Hello friends. How do you study? Specifically, how do you work with the course materials?

- Do you use the PGN files? What's your process?

- Do you memorize everything? Just the key moves?

- Is there software you use that's helpful?

- Is there something very important missing from existing software that would help you study?

Replies

I do not like to use PGNs made fron others. I like to make my own PGNs beacuse I learn in the process and I write my own notations, and use the structure I like. I do not even use the draft PGN provided in Chessmood courses.

I make complete PGN with all the variations and then a summary PGN with the strategic ideas and just the first moves of every variation. I first study the summary PGN and when I know the summary PGN well, then I study the main variations with more depth. Every time I play a game, I go back to the PGN of the opening and review. Every week, I review my Opening PGNs

I use Chessbase as a tool, but lichess studys can also be useful. Chessbase training tool is not great.

I think you can also create your own openings in Chessable, that is a better trainig tool,  but I have not tried yet.

A great question!

My favourite chess software is Chess Position Trainer (CPT). It is intended for opening study but I import whole games and manage to use it for whole game training. This morning, unrelated to ChessMood I imported x2 V Korchnoi Modern 1.e4 g6 0-1 games as I lost badly in a Modern defence game of mine yesterday & I get fine inspiration checking how the best GM's play such games!

As far as ChessMood openings go though, I have most covered in CPT software also & I enjoy finding ChessMood openings by great GM's and adding them to my CPT database. For example, did you know GM R Fischer played CaroKann Exchange 3.Bd3 Rubinstein vs Tigran Petrosian & Moshe Czerniak 1-0? I like playing through these games and so, I try to learn to play better myself!

Goodluck with your chess study & play! ;-)

Hey, nice questions. 

First of all in the beginning I worked on all video course and made my own pgn files so I don't need to check for video all time. So when I prepared my files I went through those openings first which are common at my level .For example Scotch and Anti- Sicilians. I used a real board to move pieces and I saved my pgn in chessbase 14 software. After I finished revision of those openings then I applied the woodpecker method for revision of most of the variations.  Yes, I can't remember all lines but I understand and remember most of the ideas of variations. If you are below 2200 then don't try to memorize all lines. It's good if you can but if you can'y then work on ideas and dont miss any chessmood webinars and streams so the openings and middlegame ideas will become fresh in your mind.

Conclusion:

1. Watch most common openings first which come on your level of play. Learn ideas and play games and then check the games after your training session with your pgn.

2. Don't miss any streams so  the ideas of openings will always become fresh in your mind and this way you will not only remember ideas but your mind will capture variations too and you will learn how to punish the bad play by opponents.

3.  Once you make all pgns of all openings then try Woodpecker Method on them. It will sharpen your openings revision and you will do superb in memorizing lines.

Good luck.

I will try to describe my process below hoping that it can help.

What I normally and ideally do is different depending on the topic.

For openings:

1st step, watch the videos in a big monitor, half the monitor for chessbase, half for the browser. I input all the moves, all the variations showed, even when Avetik explains why something does not work. I used to do this without writing too many comments in order to watch more and go faster. But for me this proved not good and I rewatched the courses and completed the files with the missing comments.. The latest courses that I studied I do it slower and I write almost everything that Avetik says, I add some comments on my own also.

2nd step, I create a copy of the pgn files with all the comments and the lines and I go one by one of the variations pruning them, eliminating lines that are not the ones we choose, leaving only one option available. I do this in order to make it easier to study. This is mandatory when you want to train with Chessable or CPT (Chess position trainer).

3rd step. Importing the pruned files to CPT.

I have been using CPT for many years and I like the interface and how easy it is to use, it makes it clear to have all the branches in your repertoire easily available and also you can practice the opening lines, I do not use the training interface of CPT, I just use it as a fast reference for the opening. Once I finish one opening I import it to CPT and is really easy to check the right moves when studying, verifying one opening.

4rt step. Importing the same pruned pgns to Chessable

I also had been using Chessable since 4 years ago and find it very good when used with responsibility. Avetik made a reference to it saying it was a "kindergarden" tool, but it can be very useful too if you are a pro member of Cheesable, if you are not, I do not think that you need it at all. Just with the pgns that one creates, should be enough.

Anyways, I import the files to Chessable and I create a book for my study, sometimes you get some errors but after a while I managed to understand how this importation process really works and now I almost get it right the first time...

I like to have all the lines in Chessable because it is really easy to access them trough the browser.

5th step. Practice the lines in Chessable. You have to adjust the deepness of the lines. When I do this I select first to practice the first 10 moves, then 13, 15, 17, 20. Sometimes more, but that depends on the opening.

I also adjust the repetition process of Chessable, my created books with the Chessmood openings are set to 1 repetition, not 3 as in a normal chessable book. 

Also another thing really important when practicing with this system is that you have to select the option to practice directly, you do not want Chessable to show you the right move first. You already watched the video, wrote the comments in the pgn, you do not need to see the move and practice it right away as per default! This is the point that I think Avetik dislikes the most about Chessable, you can disable it, do not worry.

This is how I do it, it takes time, but once I have the pgn files with all the comments, it is priceless, it's for a life time. This is the most important thing. Then use the interface that you fancy more, even studying the pgns in chessbase using the "training" option when you cannot see the next move is really effective.

For other positions and games:

The same process I will use it for the chessmood endgames.

As for the Classical Games, I always look for the game in the database, add it to my pgn, fill it with Avetik's comments and then I save it. I make one separated pgn with the position and the moves that Avetik said are key and some that surprised me, sometimes are not the same moves. Then with this file with the positions I also create a book in chessable to practice them, variations of 3-5 moves max. otherwise there is no end.  Then repeat from time to time...

I hope that I explained my process in a good manner, but let me know if you have any questions. Best regards to everyone and let's keep working my friends!

Can I have some sample pgn that you've made so that I can have a guide with the openings? Many thanks chessmood family.

Trampowsky Line after 9. H3 O-O

Sir, after the prophylactic H3, and castle, your suggestion is to go Bc7, Qd6 and attack the h2 square.
What if I go Be6 first?
If Bxe6 then we undouble our F pawns, if not, then we can activate our a8 rook first by bringing it to c8 and then go Bb8 and Qd6. What do you think about this line, sir?
Please let me know. 

Replies

Hey Vanshaj. 
That's possible, but we'll need the c8 bishop in the upcoming attack. 

P.S 
Please, all kind of questions about the courses, post in the PRO Members channel. 
Main channel's questions I may miss, while PRO Members I answer all. 

French Defense: Black's 3rd rare moves and 3...Nc6- covered!

Champions, today we added around 1.5 hours of material in the French Defense course, covering Black's rare 3rd moves and 3...Nc6 in the advanced section. 
https://chessmood.com/course/french-defence

Check it out, should be very useful not only for improving your opening. 
 

Replies

Daily puzzle

Hello

Just a question, after a month in chessmood, doing and mistaken mostly daily puzzle, I was able to solve last 3 days in a row, quite happy :-) , this is because learning or they are easier ?

Have a great week, 

Best Regards

Marc


Replies

No success is immediate

It is the result of hardwork, dedication and patience

Your every bit of hardwork has paid off

But remember, there's more to achieve and always be humble after achieving greatness because it will lead to more success

Keep achieving great heights

All the best

#COGRO#

Hey Marc! 
Yeah exactly :) 
After doing such training period, our mind starts to work in another way, it becomes more creative. 
All Grandamsters who solve such studies first time, on a study that they would spend 15 minutes at the beginning, after 20 hours of solving such puzzles, they can start to solve in 1-2 minutes. 
I've solved in my life around 20.000 such studies. 
At first it was not easy, but then I was solving them a few minutes, sometimes in a few seconds. 

Keep the COGRO! 

Last week I have solved 4 correct puzzles and I only need 2min thinking.

Najdorf Course by GM Gabuzyan

I play the Najdorf with black. I just saw that GM Gabuzyan had made a course on Najdorf but I am not able to find it. Is there a way in which I can access that course? It would be great if I could access that. 

Replies

You can open a new tab and search for Chessmood Najdorf and it will be the first thing popping up

I hope I have answered your question

Chessmood Black Repertoire against 1.e4 2.Nc3

Hi,

In Chessmood Repertoire, against 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3, it is recommended 2...d6. Would it be possible to have some lines with 2...Nc6, more aligned to Accelerated Dragon?

Thank you very much

Replies

Hi Sergio, the course crushing the sicilian sidelines will be recontructed and the main move for us eill be 2. Nc6, and in  the course accelerated dragon there will be added lines players of our level are facing most. In the Rossolimo course early castling 5. O-O will be also added.

Hey guys! 
GM Gabuzyan is working on it. 

Alekhine Defense

Many players are playing

e4 nf6

e5 nd5

d4 d6 

nf3 dxe5

Nxe5 c6

in blitz

Almost 3/4 players have played against me

How to react?

Can you please make a video on this

Replies

I think a good continuation is: 6. Be2 Nd7 7. c4 Nxe5 8. dxe5 Nb6 9. Qxd8+ Kxd8 10. Be3 Be6 11. Nd2 Kc7 12. f4 g6 and this is a more or less equal and playable endgame. Correct me if I am wrong somewhere.

Bryan Tillis has made a course on chessable recommending this line. I played Bryan in lichess with white in a few blitz games some days ago.  The opening clearly did not go well for me in both the games. Also an IM played this line with me in a few games 

It'll be in the upcoming sections. 

The new course - "Happy pieces"

Hello ChessMood Family! Hello Champions! 

I've good news for you!
As I promised earlier, soon we are going to upload many new courses related to the middlegame and endgame.

The new one - "Happy Pieces" is uploaded.  
https://chessmood.com/course/happy-chess-pieces-the-art-of-keeping-your-chess-army-happy  

This gonna be one of the most important courses you've ever watched about chess.

Enjoy the first part. The rest is coming!


Replies

Thank you Coach!!!

Amazing course! Thank you so much for creating it. Looking forward to the continuation

I was searching for such a course for a long time! Thanks!

Waiting for the rest to come,thanks for the amazing course.

Hi

I like the course very much. I think the placement of pieces on squars that make them happy is fundamental for understanding of the chess. 

Although many of the examples are simple, they provide a good understanding of how important the interplay between the pieces is.

PS: Change the titel "18. The Queen in the Scotch Game" to "18. The Queen in the Scandinavian defence"

Champions, 2 more sections are added! 
https://chessmood.com/course/happy-chess-pieces-the-art-of-keeping-your-chess-army-happy 

Sections 6 and 7! Enjoy :) 

beautiful course, love it

Another success

One of our first ChessMood PRO Members - Nicolo Pasini, when he joined us he was around 2200. 
Yesterday he made his first IM norm! :) 
Most probably no one have seen better than me, how hard he worked. 
Very well deserved, Nicolo! 
Congratulations! 

#Success is not an event, it's a process.

Replies

Chess mood is gonna rock the field!!

How IM Norm? OTB Tmts are back on?

congrats to @Nicolo_Pasini and I hope soon you will achieve all three IMs norms so we will call you IM @Nicolo_Pasini. Rating will come behind you hehehe.

The power of ChessMood openings

Hello ChessMood family! 

I've decided to show you the power of ChessMood openings and we've created a playlist on our Youtube channel "The power of ChessMood openings", where we're going to upload model games with our ChessMood openings, whether played by one of our Grandmasters or ChessMood family members, or you :) 

The first game - how to play against Modern Pirc is uploaded. 
https://youtu.be/vEZWHjMiMs8

Enjoy :) 


Replies

French Defense , Kf2!!

E4 E6

D4 D5

Nd2 Nf6

E5 Nd7

F4 c5

C3 Nc6 

Ndf3! Qb6

G3 cxd4 

Cxd4 Bb4+

Kf2!!

How is this line

I have played in numerous games

The opponent gets a shock whenever I play Kf2

Then my plan is Bb1, Qc2/d3, h4, g4 and attack

I had many successful attacks in this line

Black players are often confused how to react


Replies

It's a very big line. 
Black goes right away g5! or f6 then g5! Crushing the center. 

French Defense

In French defense course,section 1, at 15:09 minutes bg6 is shown as winning move , but is a losing move shown by engines

Before this move, evaluation is +5 and after Bg6, it goes to -5

Black wins after Nxe5

Hopefully, I am right 

Replies

Actually my engine is showing Qg6 instead of Bg6 as winning (+9.60) at depth 33

+250 points in 3 months!

One of our ChessMood PRO Members, Moemedi, raised 250 points in 3 months! 
He started with 1960 and got to 2207 now! 

The secret?! 
He just followed the study plan we have set up with him during the 1-1 call when he joined us and he kept working hard. 

Success is not an event, it's a process. 

P.S 
Soon I'm going to make an interview with him. 
If you have any questions, you can add it in the comments. 

Replies

Congrats to @Moemedi_Machobane

Wow

super!!

Thank you very much Coach, i am pleased to learn from you and the whole of Chessmood team!!

Antisicilian 7....Ng4

Hi, all! I want to ask a question about the Antisicilian course of our white repertoire. There is a line 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Qa4 d6 7.e5 Ng4 8.Bf4 Bg7 9.exd6 0-0 10.Be2 exd6, where white stands better. But what about the more ambitious 10...e5 with following Qxd6? Is there any advantage for white?

Replies

Even I faced the same line with e5 instead of ed6

Hi Martin! With e5 Black closes their g7 bishop, weakens the d6 square and loses tempos.
You just go 11.Bg5 or Bg3, and then after Qd6 Rd1!  

If you want to play more principal 10.Bb5! is the engine's first line with big adv. 

Positional sacrifices and attacking chess and random Questions

Often we hear that

I was winning but missed it as the lines were too complicated

Or I wanted to sacrifice an exchange but felt hesitation

Or I am in constant time pressure

Or I missed that intermediate move in between in my calculations

Or my opponent devaites me out of the theory

Or my opponent was well prepared, how do I even fight

How to counter these real life situations?


Replies

1. I think person is suffering from lack of vision or he is scared to sack. So he is playing chess with fear. He must have to keep in mind that chess is a war game so like in real war people sac their life to save their nation of win against enemy's army so same in chess. By sac, you can may be expose his king or make weaknesses in his camp. So he must get rid out of fearful attitude. For this purpose I strongly recommends to learn Essential Chess Sacrifices so he will become familiar with more sacrificial patterns and after that I want him to check out games of Tal so he will learn more about initiative.

2. I seriously have no experience at above 1600 level so I can share the idea of why below 1600 players are coming under pressure. First reason is lack of knowledge of openings ideas. Without knowing openings they start thinking from the very first move in the game. Due to that they spent more than 25-30 mins in opening phase. Normally this happened to my opponent. Because whenever I play I prepare my openings and my opponents face issues. Second point is lack of knowing basics of planning. For example if the position  has Carlsbad Structure then they do not know the ABC  of minority attack and then they face issues in finding plans.  Lack of knowledge of basic endgames. I saw some people calculating even in basic king and pawn endgame positions. They also do not work on tactical patterns so their speed of calculating and feeling of patterns is super slow. So in the end they face time pressure.

3.  The third question can be answered by good players than me.

4.  If your opponent is out of theory and you are unable to find plans or deliver mate then its clear that you have lack of knowledge of classics. Openings and middlegames ideas are well defined so if anyone below 2000 elo violate them then most of the time they will lose the game without any efforts so work on classics and your this problem will be solved. For example after I started watching all chessmood streams I am winning almost all games in which my opponent violates basics and especially if the King in the Center then it's nightmare. 

5. For this purpose check out games of Top Level . Don't miss commentary of top events. Once you will start watching top events you will see how elite players handle Strong Novelties and what are their reactions. For me Saint Louis Grand Chess Tour helped me a lot in understanding how to play against a well prepared opponents.

I do not say my answer are right. But this is what I feel about questions. I am excited what our mentors will add in comments as answers.

White's Antisicilian 2.Nc3 part 1. 2...d6. 10. ...d5 11. e5

Maestro Avetik, in this variation (1. e4 c5, 2. Nc3 d6, 3. f4 Nc6, 4. Nf3 g6, 5. Bc4 g6, 6. 0-0 e6, 7.d4 cxd4, 8. Nb5 Nge7, 9. Bb3! 0-0, 10. Nbxd4 d5, 11. e5) you mention in the course that White is better is this favorable "French structure with a bad Black bishop on g7). I was wondering, what if Black immediately plays ...f7-f6 undermining White's center. Would that be playable for them?

Replies

Hey Ramon! 
Then e6 gonna be a serious weakness :) 

Endgame courses

ChessMood Family! 
I've started to record endgame courses! This month we're planning to upload 5 ones! 
Stay tuned :) 

Replies

Hurray. First you made me Tal by showing many attacking games in streams and in openings and middlegame courses. Now you will make me Capablanca hehheeeh,

Thanks master. I am so excited to see your amazing courses in which ideas will come in my mind like chess is so simple

Great. We are waiting:).

Thank you maestro, this is wonderful news!

Pawn Endgames [Step-by-step]

Champions, in this post you can ask all your questions related to the course Pawn Endgames: 
https://chessmood.com/course/pawn-endgames 

Enjoy it :) 



Replies

 Champions, the first three sections are uploaded!
We start from the very basics and go to more complex ones - step-by-step.

#COGRO! 

I am not so good in the endgames so I hope this course will help me a lot!! I have very good results with classic games, my favourite course.

Openings

Sir, I would be very grateful to you if you can make e4 e5 for black as many players don't have the time to study Sicilian lines and remember them

And many players do play e4 e5 so it might benefit a lot of players and I am sure that many people will like these courses on your platform

Hoping for a positive reply

Thank you

Replies

I think, that an complete e5 repertoire, needs way more time to study, as there are more "correct" tries for white, and a lot more serious gambits. 

Jan Gustafssons e5 repertoire for example is about 26 hours, and very complicated

I think it is very difficult for a chess player to remember all lines and solid systems against Italian, Ruy Lopez, Scotch, or against all openings which we are learning to play against. 1. ... e5 is the most solid time, but 1. e4 c5 is the most aggresive try. And this is proved as I don't always opt for Accelerated dragon and go for Najdorf or Taimanov.

Hi Devansah

Chess Mood opening with 1.e4 e5 is Scotch opening!

This Scotch is a mighty fine opening. Do you play it? Have you done the Chess Mood Scotch course?

If you have not done it-then do this Scotch course! Then you can study the Ruy Lopez and Italian openings by your own account as I do. If you need specific opening help with Ruy Lopez or Italian openings just ask in a post in forum, as many here can play these openings too (even coach GM Avetik Grigoryan I believe! LOL)  ;-)

I hope this helps a little. Goodluck and best wishes and play the Scotch now! Right Mood Right Move COGRO!

Devansh, 1.e4 e5 is not shorter than Sicilian. 
The philiosophy of ChessMood courses- we keep 1 strong opening repertoire and stream it all the time, so you learn it very fast. 

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