Chess forum by Grandmasters

What do you recommend playing after d4 with black?

I have a rating in 1950 classic fide and 2422 blitz chess.com. I like to play Benko Gambit very much (I like aggressive and dynamic play) but I would like to learn another opening that is solid and that I can play without any risk in classic fide tournaments.
I would have to choose between Modern Benoni Defense , King's Indian Defense and Nimzo-Indian defense.Which one do you think would be the best for me considering I play Benko Gambit and I like it very much,but I would also like one that is solid enough and I can play it anytime.If you have other interesting openings that are not here and you recommend them I would love to know.Could you also tell me what resources to use books/courses/videos.
For Avetik or Gabuzyan.

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Dear Super Pawn,

I do understand your thoughts and concerned. I personally apply Benko in both blitz and classical game and find it interesting, however if you are willing to add more openings to you reply after 1.d4 you can find some courses in the opening/s you want to learn.

Currently, our website offers only Benko for the 2000+ level and Blackmood repertoire for the U2000 level.
We might have some more options in the future, but I can't provide any info as it's not decided yet.

Scotch game question

when you play the scotch as White when you play with Qe2 and be3 after f3 g4 what should you do after Ne5? I think it’s a very strong response and haven’t been able to find anything on my own.

One of the positions I came across white to move

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Dear Paul,

In the given position, h3 is the best move - so you are defending the pawn on g4 - and now planning to continue the game with the f4 idea.
White is doing better in that position.

Training/Sparring Partner

Hi, I'm Spencer, living in the UK. My FIDE/ECF rating is around 1850 and I'm looking for a training/sparring partner with a similar/higher rating while studying here. I can play on lichess etc.

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Hi Spencer,

You'll have more luck if you post in the dedicated thread:

https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/studysparring-partner-1362

Training puzzle wrong answers

Excercises/puzzles – ability to go back and see where my WRONG answer in the position led - so can see how to learn from that

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This would be a great feature, but I would imagine a ton of work.

For each puzzle, instead of 1 variation, now multiple (and of course you can’t possibly cover every move).

Still though, would be great I think!

Especially for the Daily Puzzles!

ww

How to play French Schelchter versus 6. ... e5

Hello Chessmoodians,

I'm new to the ChessMood openings and only ~1400 with them.  With White, I just faced 1. e4 e6  2. d4 d5  3. Bd3 dxe4  4. Bxe4 c5  5. Ne2 Nf6  6. Bf3 e5 .. without Nc6 first, so that I can trade the bishop like I just looked up in the Advanced Section.  

I continued: 7. dxe5 Qxd1+  8. Kd1 Ng4  9.Bxg4 Bxg4  10. f3 Bf5.  The engine says that these were the best moves for me, but they resulted in a position I found really hard to play with my king stuck.  Could one of you stronger players please recommend a better approach after 6. … e5?

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Thanks for your response, Chess Player.

However, that's kind of disheartening.  So, next time I play Schlechter against the French, I should just hope that my opponent doesn't see 6. … e5 or I need to play with a stuck king?  

To be fair, this opponent likely did not see it either as he has been banned for breaching Fair Play.  But, still, the move is there to be made.  I see it glaring at me in my daily drills now.  I guess I'll be going through some more lines of analysis for this game.

I don’t understand - isn’t white just a healthy pawn up?

5-minute research study on the factors that contribute to chess ability

Hello all!

I am a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland in Australia. I am currently conducting research on the personal characteristics that contribute to chess ability and am seeking volunteers to participate in a 5-minute online survey. If you are a currently active competitive chess player with a FIDE, ACF, USCF, or ECF rating and are at least 18 years old, it would be a huge help if you considered participating! If you are interested in participating, the survey can be found at the following link: https://uniofqueensland.syd1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2bBQZHJcKB1hDam

Thank you,
Christina

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ss

oh

Video subtitulado en ESPANOL

Buenas noches soy de Lationamerica y hablo espanol y desearia hacerme vip pero los videos no estan subtitulados en espanol, hay alguna manera de poder hacerlo para pagar mi membresia, espero me puedan ayudar. Gracias

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Por el momento, lamentablemente no ofrecemos subtítulos traducidos. Pero está en nuestros planes para el futuro. Especialmente con el desarrollo tan rápido de las tecnologías de inteligencia artificial, supongo que pronto podremos agregarlos.

Course about Material inbalances

Someone mentioned it in a video…, is there a course in planning about this. This is such an interesting topic, for middlegame and endgame. Rooks vs Minors or Knight vs Bishop, Queen vs pieces and so on… Keep up the good work 👍

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I am currently doing the Must-Know Endgame Theory Under 2000 course which deals with material imbalances.  They receive a more thorough treatment in the Endgame Mastery section.

Hey there.
Dear Thomas,

We might have a course on that topic. Planning to. Can't mention the dates because Imbalances are quite complicated and in order to creare a high quality course, it will take some time.

I have problems in Caro-Kann Exchange variation 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Nf6 6. Bf4 Bg4 7. Qb3 Qd7 8. Nd2 e6 9.Ngf3 Bxf3.

I had some problems in the following variation,I will leave two games below played by me in which I didn't know how I should have played to win.The first one is an online game on chesscom and the second one is a game from a classic fide tournament.I made some mistakes in the middle game but in general I don't know how I should play further after the following line 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Nf6 6. Bf4 Bg4 7. Qb3 Qd7 8. Nd2 e6 9.Ngf3 Bxf3.(can beat on f3 later).I looked at the Caro-Kann course and there is a model game but still not sure how I should play.
I would appreciate if I could get an answer.
To the Chessmood team.

(lichess study link - https://lichess.org/study/ihfsWyei/I7rmSKr3)

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Dear Super Pawn,

In those positions, White is aimed to play and attack on the Kingside.
The main plan is to bring the Queen Back - usually c2-e2 - sometimes differently, and try to launch an attack on the Kingside.
Sometimes we spend time on a3 - or Qc2-e2 to make Black's b5-b4 harder.
We do get these structures often during our live lessons. Did you also check Rockn-Rolling for White course? With the Caro model games?

New article: The Complete Checkmate Patterns List (with examples)

Champions,

While working on creating the Mating Patterns pdf, we thought ‘What if instead, we publish it as an article?’

This way, you can easily access all the checkmating patterns, with their definitions and examples. 
So you can simply check this list whenever you want to memorize or quickly refresh your knowledge of a checkmating pattern.

Here, we’ve covered every important mating pattern, including the Queen to the pawn, and also mate patterns involving different pieces.

Click here to check out the complete list of mating patterns👇

https://chessmood.com/blog/checkmate-patterns

Share your thoughts below.

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Nice. Would be useful for a few of these handouts on the openings as well. I do a lot of this work manually and it's time consuming.

When playing-I see a lot of patterns- wondering if if they lead to mate or not, and mostly think that its just risky and leave them be, but now i see they mostly do

I have only just seen this 😢. Very helpful. Thank you.

A very big thank you for all those who worked on that brilliant blog! It has been a big lifesaver!

At what time I should play ?

Hello, I would like to know at what time I should play online to be able to apply what I have learned (I have 2350 blitz chesscom,1950 classic fide) and where would be the best because in the articles written about the right time it says that in general you should play with increment, but at this level (2350) it is not easy to find people who play with increment. Is it a good idea to play only at 3 + 0 ? Or the time is too short to learn something from the game ?

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Hey Super Pawn!
Yeah, it’s true — 3+0 is super popular, and at some point, most players just stick to that. Especially around your level, it’s hard to find opponents with increments unless you’re playing at very specific times.

So if you’re getting good opponents at 3+0 — no problem, just go for it. The only thing I’d suggest is to make sure you review the games afterward. That’s where the real improvement happens.

And if you can mix in some 3+2 or 5+3 from time to time — even better. But don’t worry too much, 3+0 is totally fine for applying what you’ve learned — especially if you stay focused and don’t just flag for fun :)

About the Sicillian course

Recently I found a line in the sicillian course that I didn't find a great continuation for it      1-e4-e5 2-Nf3-Nc6 3-d4-cd4  4-Nd4-g6 5-Nc6-bc6 6-Qd4

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Dear Mohamed, 

Please provide more details and clarify your question, as I am not sure which side you are asking for.
Also, you did say e4-e5 - but wrote Sicilian. I assume you mean e4 c5?

Collaborative YouTube Nelson & Eric

GM Avo & GM Gabu,

The courses and content here are great, I have devoured so much content here and am so grateful for your instruction.   That said, there’s something truly special about the collaboration videos you’ve done with Nelson Lopez and Eric Rosen On YouTub.

The questions they asked and your review of their master level thought process is incredibly instructive.   I honestly think these videos might be better than some of the courses on the site, really incredible stuff.

Kory

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I have never watched Eric Rosen, but I do enjoy Nelson Lopez' youtube channel.  I wholeheartedly agree that the collaboration videos there have been really helpful to growing my understanding of ChessMood openings.  While I wouldn't agree that they are better than the on-site instruction due to not as much detail, they do go a long way for exploring the unusual concepts in the ChessMood repertoire.  It was definitely a great idea!

Ye its amazing to see how even an IM like Eric Roosen could still be improving with the same stuff chess mood teaches us.

Hey guys,

Thanks for your kind words, it's a pleasure to hear that :-) 

I didn’t find it on a quick google search (too many Eric Rosen videos out there). Could someone post a link?

Anti Sicilian part 2

I am playing white, on move 4 for black he doesn't take the Bishop or the Knight on f3 instead he plays e6 or g6. ??

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Hi Madison!
Can you please specify the concrete position? Or put the move sequence that reaches your position. 

Dear Madison, 

The requested variations are covered in Anti-Sicilian Part 2 in the advanced sections.
 

Chess Journeys podcast

I am this week’s guest on the Chess Journeys podcast. The episode dropped today. It’s how I found Next Level Chess which is how I found Chessmood.

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Hey David, 

Awesome to hear that!
Is there a link? 

French Attack vs 3.e5 question

I am a little confused about the “The Knight moves” section. In the video portion, after white plays 5.Nc3 GM Grigoryan goes on to discuss several lines where black can delay taking on cxd4, and instead play Nc6. My confusion with the course discussion is that I am pretty sure he gives black three consecutive moves (c5, Nc6, AND cxd4). I understand it is discussing the general ideas of the position, but that seems like two pretty critical tempe and the makes the following lines where black takes over the center a little unrealistic. Am I missing something or is it just a general strategy discussion? 

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Dear Patrick,

The point is that if White has the Knight on c3, their pawn structure is now disconnected as the pawn on c2 can't protect on d4.
And he is just generally explaining the position, meaning that Black will attack the pawn on d4 and get good control over the center.
Of course, White will be making the moves in that time period - so his explanation goal is to deliver the point that the Knight on c3 is misplaced and prevent the connection of the pawn chain.

Let me know if you have any further questions.
Good luck :-)  

Anti-Sicilian part 3 - No d5

Hello, Coach, Gabuzyan

How to play if black doesn’t immediately play d5 in this line shown below

For example - e4 - c5 - nc3 - e6 - f4

Can we please have another video on the transpositions of how to play if not d5, it is not covered in course, or at least a brief explanation.

In other courses transposition is covered like caro-kann shown below -

In the caro-kann course we have a section where transpositions are possible. In  section 4 of caro-kann it shows that if black plays nf6 first instead of nc6, we play c3 not bf4 as then we allow qb6, and we will have problems with b2 but instead we play c3 and now everything is transposition except if black plays bg4 and have a additional option of qc7 after we go qb3 and then we will play this h3-g4-g5 and the knight will retreat and we can capture the d5 pawn.

Something similar to this. Thank you!

Sincerely, pawnbishop

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Dear Pawn Bishop,

Please post the exact position and your question, so I can provide you with a valid answer.

I got 1600 on my main account too

Think I'll take a little bullet hiatus and focus on theory again because for a 1600 I know absolutely nothing haha. My main assets are speed and reaction time

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Congratulations Voran!

Are you playing bullet chess?
In case you do, read this article, https://chessmood.com/blog/does-bullet-chess-make-you-better 

The Must-Learn Skill to Skyrocket Your Growth in Chess

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Really inspirational article !! for everyone.Thanks for sharing your learning experience.

Great!

I liked your Blog! My goal is to win at least 3rd place in a chess tournament!

Gm Avetik Grigoryan

You told us to :-

Hey Champions!
 

We have this topic in our Blog.
https://chessmood.com/blog/the-must-learn-skill-to-skyrocket-your-growth-in-chess
If you have any questions, comments or you just liked it, feel free to share your thoughts here. 

And told us to say our goals but when I told you happy birthday and my goals at chess.com and lichess.org is so you told me are you joking but I think I may like you and your way at joking and also the very huge benefits for example I played in Egypt a real tournament but not rated I became the second from more than 20 players and it was 10 +5 and there were many people have more rate than me and it is at Chess results site and I feel I could do my goals at chess:-

(1) One of them the other Grandmaster who made live from some days told me not to say them at live and not to tell them at forum but you can find them at the post when I replied and told you happy birthday to you. 

Not the best game of the month but special someways

This was a last second save to a draw in a bullet game.

Check out this #chess game: peterbago vs jonth-alan - https://www.chess.com/live/game/140300544334

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