Chess forum by Grandmasters

Any Ideas in the French attack after white plays 2 b3 bishop b2 Qe2 and long castles?

Or two g3? Any answers are greatly appreciated. I don't think we are supposed to take the sacrificed pawn in the b3 variation not sure though.

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Can you please provide the exact moves that you are asking for giving Black moves too? 

Also what do you mean 2.g3? e4 e6 g3? 

Thanks in advance!

Summary of Racing from 2200 - 2800

Hello, dear champions ? During today's webinar, we will summarize what we have seen during racing from 2200-2800. https://youtu.be/oGxCg5Dn2-4 We will see: 1. Most popular openings for that level 2. Interesting ideas in the middlegames which we are playing 3. Emotional accidents ? And many more! Below I am adding a link where you can download all the games of the streaming series. https://drive.google.com/file/d/17lhhIoHImqlj9RcDsRNY6A2m45aIVYmw/view?usp=sharing See you during the webinar! Let's learn some chess and have a good time together ??

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Trouble with videos hanging (pausing)?

Is anyone else having trouble with some of the videos spontaneously pausing while you're watching them? I don't know if this is called "hanging" or "buffering" or what, but it's been happening to me a lot the past few days. In particular, in the Tactic Ninja course, Sections 25 through 28. After waiting a little while, I close the course and reopen it. Sometimes that helps, sometimes it doesn't. Thanks for any help!

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No problems here.

I also had similar problems with other courses in the past few days

i've been having the same problem for a few days now. Gm Grigoryan responded to a similar complaint a couple of days ago. He said that he was aware of the pausing and that he had techs working to fix the problem. Hopefully they will fix it soon or a least update us on when they will correct the problem

Having the video pausing problems, very annoying.

It happened to me a couple of times today while watching one of the Classical Attacking Games. I suspect something is being bandwidth limited somewhere within the ChessMood stack. Anyway, it wasn't too bad: I just took note of where I was up to in the video, reloaded the page, and used the slider to go back to where I was up to in the video.

Sorry for the delay in the news update. I wanted to make sure that everything was clear.
 
The issue is a result of the most recent Chrome update. Some of the users fail to load some videos.
We've contacted the support center of the video hosting service provider, and it turned out that the issue is on their side. So now they're working to resolve it. 

Thanks to all for your patience and understanding, we hope that it will be solved very ?soon.
By the way if you try with another browser for the time being it will problably solve the issue. I always use Firefox.

Question about Anti-Sicilian repertoire

Hi guys, I'm re-studying the Anti-Sicilian at the moment and I'm now on the line that goes: 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d5 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bc4 Nc6 6. 0-0 Nf6 7. d3 0-0 8. Qe1 e6 and now after 9. e5 Ne8 the course recommends 10. Be3 but never mentions what, to me, seems like the most obvious reply: 10. ...d5. OK, now 11. Bxc5 is possible, but after 11. dxc4 isn't Black getting both of our Bishops for the Rook? Nick

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Oh, hang on, this is dealt with in the Advanced Section. I thought, "I'm sure the move was Bb5 here..." Now I remember why!

Doubt in BlackMood openings-French Attack

Hello everyone, After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nc6 4.Bb5 it was recommended to go here 4...dxe4. But now what if they play here 5.Bxc6+ instead of Nxe4

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Just recapture and be happy that white gave you the bishop pair advantage. You might be concerned about the black pawn structure but the dynamic aspects of the position give black full compensation. This line was discussed previously here: https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-channel/french-attack-a-few-issues

King's Indian Attack with Black

The King's Indian Attack is relatively popular at all levels. Are we going to see a video on this opening? In the meantime, what is the recommended response? The Botvinnik setup comes to mind since we use it against the English with g3, and in some variations of the Closed Sicilian. According to the database, it enjoys a good reputation at the highest level. One of the main lines could be: 1. Nf3 c5 2. g3 Nc6 3 .Bg2 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. d3 e5 6. e4 Nge7 7. c3 O-O 8. a3 d6 9. b4 a6 10. Nbd2 h6 11. Rb1 Be6 WDYT?

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I think that the Botvinnik English as in Gabuzyan's course is the easiest way. I do not see any problem in playing the first 6 moves as you played. I asked him to check this, but I played this line several times and I never thought that it was a problematic line for Black, our usual setup works perfectly. ?

Hello Francois, Even though I also like Kings Indian a lot I believe in the near future we are not going to cover that opening. The reason is we have now solid openings for different levels and our priority is to work on a lot of middlegame courses, helping to improve chess understanding and become better at this game! About the sequence you mentioned, if white goes with c4 that positions you can find in the English course as black, and as well in the case of e4 setups in the Sicilian Sidelines course with 2.Nc3 - 3.g3 we cover that kind of structures as well. Good luck!

Problem with courses

I'm trying to watch the blackmood videos (Dutch vs London) and it's not loading. I just get the circle of doom rotating and the video not loading. Is this a problem from my side or from Chessmood?

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No, no. It's our fault. Our developers are working on it. 
Sorry about it. 

Sorry for the delay in the news update. I wanted to make sure that everything was clear.
 
The issue is a result of the most recent Chrome update. Some of the users fail to load some videos.
We've contacted the support center of the video hosting service provider, and it turned out that the issue is on their side. So now they're working to resolve it. 

Thanks to all for your patience and understanding, we hope that it will be solved very ?soon.
By the way if you try with another browser for the time being it will problably solve the issue. I always use Firefox.

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.