Chess forum by Grandmasters

Anti-Sicilian with 2.Nc3 d6

Hello,

I have a question how to play Anti-Sicilian with 2.Nc3 d6 when opponent plays 7…Bg4 (opponent isn not going to castle on move 7) and what are the plans here after for white?

Thank you

Tomi

Replies

please provide more details i dont understand

Frustrated with chess?

Hello, 

I know occasionally one gets frustrated with chess. I played an over-the-board tournament in September and got 2nd place only losing to a master. I defeated an expert-2000, 1789, and 1650 rated players. Then in October I drew an 900 rated player and lost to a 1450 player. So I got frustrated. I played again in November and in 5 rounds only defeated a 1749 rated player, losing 4 games to rated players ranging from 1768,1779, 1689, 1850. Now I am really frustrated. 

I reviewed all the games and found I made some really simple and stupid mistakes. So I did not play in December but worked the tournament. Now I want to play in a Senior Open in January and want to prepare. 

So I am asking Coach Gabu and you all what to do to prepare? Should I work on my tactics with Tactics Ninja or focus on something else in Chessmood because I have 2 weeks off-from now until after the new year. The tournament is January 18-19. Just FYI-I am 1600 OTB, 1800 on Chess.com and over 2000 on lichess. Any advice would be appreciated. 

Replies

Dear Henry,

Up and downs happen to everyone in chess, and the right process is to detach from the results and focus on learning from mistakes.

About the prep, this article can really help https://chessmood.com/blog/the-right-way-to-prepare-for-a-chess-tournament

The Tricky Schlechter Variation Against The French Defense - 9.Bb4

In the video https://chessmood.com/course/french-defence/episode/137 , coach Avetik mentions about covering 10. Bd7 and 10. Qa5 in the advanced sections. However, I do not see a video in the advanced section covering those moves. Can anyone help?

Replies

It's not covered yet - but I have checked with the engine and here are the ideas.

If 10…Qa5 11.a3 - Black has many moves there, but always White had decent practical chances. There are too many possible moves - so I didn't mention all of them - my advise check a3 deeper.

If 10…Bd7 11.Qd4 Nxf3+ 12. gxf3 - and White is slightly better. Again opponent has too many moves, but White's position is more attractive.

Games Review and bonus 1 - 1 call for new PRO members

Hello Chessmood Family!😀

I have joined Chessmood recently as a PRO member and am really grateful to Avetik, Gabuzyan and Co. for helping me improve my chess! I've only watched a few courses and the improvement in my rating has already displayed the ideas I have learnt from Chessmood.

That is why I am about to take the 1 - 1 call with a Grandmaster, in the hope that it will help me progress with my chess even further. For this, I felt like it would be a great idea if I send the Grandmaster I am taking the call with some of my games I have played recently, so they can help me figure out where I am going wrong and can help me forward from there.

Since the call is 30 minutes, I felt it would be a waste of time to put the games on the board during the class, when if I can send them earlier, there will be more time left for me learning how to boost my chess improvement!

I would be really grateful if I could send my games to the Grandmaster before the call, so they can have a quick look at it before and there will be more time left to get on the bit where I will be taught how I can improve!

I know that this is asking a request that may be hard to fulfil, especially with the team working on spectacular courses for the benefit of every Chessmood user, but I will be ever so thankful if you could do this to help a young boy really grasp his skills on his passion.

Once again, I am really thankful to the Chessmood team for giving such insightful ways to improve specific areas of your chess and it would really mean a lot to me that a Grandmaster spent their time in analysing a bit of my chess and giving me ways to improve. If this is possible, can someone please tell me where to submit my games before the actual call?

Many thanks,

Guranshvir

Replies

Hi Pawn, 

Thanks for the reply!

However, a few of the games I want to analyse are in my recent OTB tournaments

Thanks

Guranshvir😀

I guess you can include a link to lichess study with the games and post it with your chess.com/lichess.org accounts.

Hey there,

Please create a study in the lichess, and provide the link in the survey so I can take a look :-)

Thanks for your kind words :-)

Chessmood Success

Hello Chessmoodians,

I joined ChessMoood in May of this year and have been working away at the under 2000 courses since then almost daily, although I did take a 1.5 month hiatus.  This weekend I played my fourth tournament and only my first since starting my studies here.  Going in with a 1468 provisional rating, I managed to win 5 of 5 games in the U1600 section, using ChessMood openings and strategies.  There were two Sicilian Grand Prix Attacks, two Exchange French Attacks and even a McCutcheon Gambit.  I dedicate the win to Avo and Gabu and everyone else that makes this place so great.

Here are my 3rd round McCutcheon Gambit https://www.chess.com/a/2pw4fXb42FJ9c/analysis

And my final round French Attack

https://www.chess.com/a/xPoM7Bb42FJ9c/analysis

In case you would enjoy seeing the fruits of our labour.

I was also telling inquiring minds about ChessMood.

Thanks so much!

Replies

Congratulations on your victory!!!!!

Question

First thanks very very much to you and to beautiful courses I have a little question 
I'm a 2200 rapid chess.com if I finish all of courses and master 2 opening white and c5 with black and the all of responds an solving tactics daily. Will I reach the basement, Candidate master?

Replies

No

if you focus and get the most out of the courses then yes

You could, however, it depends on how you use the program. Since you are at 2200, you most likely will find fundamentals and it may help you earn 100 points and may help you in the future in games. Hope this answers your question!

Hi Anas, I think the way we can improve the most is not to think about what title we reach - I used to have this mindset but chessmood changed it to how much knowledge you have about the game. The more knowledge the higher rating. I stared chessmood as 2000:chess.com but reached 2300 in 3 months.

How can I improve my rating is 1500

Hello coach 

I am 1500 rated player of chess com but I am keep blundering and lose matches I also watch your lessons but there is no change can you help me?

Replies

Hello, Lol Lmao

I would suggest you follow the study plan and watch the courses with lots of attention and dont forgot the 3 rules to underatnd everything study (watch course with 107% attention) -  practice (play lots of games to digest what you learnt) fix (in the games check your mistake and fix it) I used this exact method and went from 2000 to 2300 rapid on chess.com 

Sincerely, Pawn

essential or pro

Hi, my son is 9 year old. He is hovering around 1400 in rapid on lichess. He spends couple of hours learning chess every day . I am struggling to decide if we should go for essential or pro.  Essential  festive price is 648 USD and pro is 888. almost 250 usd difference. We are on tight budget so it matters. does pro addons that are not available in essentials worth it. is pro suitable for someone who is 9 year old. Thank you in advance for your answers

Replies

Hello, Nikhil

It depends whether your kid is serious about chess and how much time he is putting in each day I would suggest you check this out. it will help in making the decision - https://chessmood.com/chess-study-plans/for-advanced-players

 This is the study guide for going from 1500-2000 which doesn’t talk about any features or extra things you get with pro so the features won’t really matter. The only difference is that you get events. where you can get better understanding of openings. But honestly for that there are two courses called white mood and black mood model games which is closed to 26 hours combined. So at this rating I would pick essential. But if your son is spending more than 4-5 hours I would suggest pro membership. Another problem is you said you live in India and the events are usually held at 8 or 10 (America/New_York) So this is late in evening in India(I’m pretty sure) so need to consider if you can join this. With the information you provides I would say essential but you still need to take into consideration these factors and decide.

Sincerely , Pawn

Veresov-what is our plan?

hello-I have looked at the Blackmood course and unless I am blind, I cannot see anything against the Versov. I played an OTB game against a 2000 rated player a few weeks ago and I was not sure of the plans so had to work it out. My game is below, it ended in a draw but I am still not sure I played the best line, or more importantly, the line that you (Chessmood GMs) would suggest.

Could you add it to the course?

thanks Paul

[Event "Black Dutch Course: Veresov Game OTB"]
[Date "2025.12.13"]
[Result "*"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "A40"]
[Opening "Horwitz Defense"]
[StudyName "Black Dutch Course"]
[ChapterName "Veresov Game OTB"]
[ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/78HRUt8s/YQyDGntl"]
[Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/SenanandKyle"]
[UTCDate "2025.12.13"]
[UTCTime "09:45:50"]

1. d4 e6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5 d5 4. e3 h6 5. Bh4 c5 6. Nf3 b6 7. Ne5 Be7 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. Bxd7+ Nfxd7 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Nb5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 O-O 13. O-O Nc6 *

Replies

I Know ..b6 was wrong by the way. my idea was .. Ba6 and trade bishops but it didn’t work out. 

Seems like there is a video On that.

https://chessmood.com/course/blackmood-openings/episode/4398

Maybe I should have gone 3..Bb4 as per below analysis?

I'll try this line next time.

[Event "Kyle Dutch Attack: Chapter 7Veresov 3 Bg5"]
[Date "2025.12.14"]
[Result "*"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "A40"]
[Opening "Horwitz Defense"]
[StudyName "Kyle Dutch Attack"]
[ChapterName "Chapter 7Veresov 3 Bg5"]
[ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/FvcZ1b6F/eVpiUuNC"]
[Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/WARNALDO"]
[UTCDate "2025.12.14"]
[UTCTime "11:54:13"]

1. d4 e6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5 Bb4 4. e4 h6 5. Bxf6 (5. Bh4 g5 6. Bg3 Nxe4) 5... Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qxf6 7. Nf3 b6 8. Bd3 Bb7 (8... Ba6 9. c4) 9. O-O d6 *

i should have been clear- I am enquiring what is the plan against 3 Bg5? (which is not in the course).
 

hope this clarifies my question.

Thanks 

We might have re-recorded some of the d4 sidelines in the future, but at this exact moment, the Veresov is not yet covered.
If you take a look at the image, I added the beginning moves, which I think are super solid for Black, as well as one of the top lines for the engine.

In the given position, Black is going to 0-0. Play with c5 and maybe b6. Since White's Knight is on c3, they are not able to use the c pawn for the fight in the center, and that's why Black's position is absolutely great.

Scandinavian 9. Nf4

After e4 d5 exd5 Nf6 Bb5+ Bd7 Bc4 b5 Bb3 a5 a4 b4?! Nf3 Bf5 Qe2 Nxd5 Nd4, in the course I believe it is said that White wins a piece. However, there is an interesting move Nf4 after Nd4. I was wondering if anyone could give me a good line after Nf4, as I cannot find a continuation that wins a piece for White.

Replies

Hey there!

Interesting question :-)

After Nf4, we play Qc4! 
The thing is now if Nxg2+ than Kf1 and Knight and f7 are hanging at the same time.

If after Qc4 - e6 - than Nxf5 wins.
If Be6 - Nxe6 leads to a big advantage due to a powerful light-squared bishop.
If Bg6 - engin move Nf3 - attacking the Knight on f4.

Overall, this Qc4 is a crazy engine position, and there might be some other moves ( I tried to mention the most visible ones) - you can try to check a bit more with the engine. I can clearly say Qc4 is the move leading to the advantage :-)

Openings

 in blackmood openings simplified in section French attack vs Nd2 you did not mention how to play against E4 E6 D4 D5 Nd2 Nc6 Bb5 De4 Bc6+ how to play against it please explain.

Replies

There are many good moves.

Ba6
Nf6
Qd5

Black is already slightly better due to the pair of Bishops.
The pawns are doubled on the c file - but very likely Black will get a chance to play with c5 and trade the weak pawn.

Is it ever too late?

Hi I'm new here , I have a question about age. Is age an obstacle in getting better at chess, lets say a player is a 2000 rated player. is it posibble to reach 2200+ for example. 

Please write your thoughts . 

Replies

Starting early with clever supervision can certainly make wonders. The earlier you start, the later you are likely to hit your first major plateau(which means that you are more lilkely to reach ,say, 1800 chesscom rapid rating without much struggle). However, even if you start playing chess later on in life, reaching 2200 is certainly, with a right mixture of talent, hard work and time, an attainable task.

Yes definitely. Why say no

Hello, before I started chessmood I was 2000 ELO but after 2 months I reached 2300 just from chessmood opening. 

New article: In Memory of GM Karen Asrian

Today, GM Karen Asrian would have turned 44…

But even during his short life, he managed to leave a profound legacy. 
Not only through his achievements on the chess board but also in the many lives he touched with his character and spirit, including ours. 

You can read today's article devoted to Karen's memory, here:

https://chessmood.com/blog/karen-asrian

Replies

What a beautiful and inspirational article! Thanks very much, GM Avetik, for taking the time to write this wonderful memorial and for sharing it with us. 

I love your vibrant humanity, Avo.

Good teachers are like gold.

I had a 45-year career teaching mathematics at University with some success.

And, to this day, I can look back at the handful of teachers in my life who have had the most impact on me. To a person, they were not only experts in their fields, but also kind generous, and compassionate souls who loved to learn.

My major professor did research on effective teaching and came up with a list I still carry around with me.  Effective Teaching requires:
 

Clarity - in goals as well as presentation,

Variability - change things up from time to time,

Enthusiasm - if you aren’t enthusiastic about your own field, how can you expect that of your students? 

Task Orientation - do something,

Have the students practice the criteria for evaluation - ever have a teacher who made it a secret what was going to be on, for example, the next test?  Ugh.

Thanks, Dr. Evans, I will miss you …

And thanks, Mr. Avetik, for reminding me of my favourite teachers.

Avo listed the first quality he learned from Karen as humility.

Thank you for your continuing articles that emphasize traits such as these!

In a world where power, fame and aggressive behavior is celebrated, its good to remember that millennia old verse : “The meek will inherit the world”.

Great article. Will try to be more humble in my coaching from now on, in memory of Karen!

Thx Avo,

In German (the language really doesn't matter) there is a toast: you drink to each other and say: “To absent friends”!

Avo, he would be very proud of you, you display all the same characteristics and qualities as him and are a great coach.

He taught you well.

Thanks for sharing this

This is beautiful <33

Welp…guess I better stop procrastinating my social interactions then!

Hi Avo your article on GM Karen struck me a lot ; 
Karen is next to you and looks at you
he whispers to you, even if you don't see him……he is always there……..next to you , 
This is what Sant'Agostino  said about death: 
"Death is nothing.
I just switched to the other side: it's like I was hiding in the next room. I'm still me, and you're still you. 
What we were before for each other we still are".

GM Karen 
is and will always be in your heart and nothing and no one will be able to break the bond between you 

Cheers

Riccardo …..an humble chess player  ♟️

Inspirational one Avo sir.. I'm visualising to be a GM

Karen stays forever in his chess games!

What a beautiful article, Avo. Thanks for sharing it!

Nicely said…sincere.  you re lucky to have had him enter your life.  That was what we call a break…and you were clever enough to realize it!  We all need a break, to get ahead.  even better when we learn from it…and can pass it forward.    

Thank you for sharing Avo, great human lesson.

Wow…what an inspiring person and story! My toast to GM Karen Asrian’s memory.

I had never heard of Karen Asrian before that article. Truly an inspiring story. I love to read, and this was definitely worth my time :) 

That is really beautiful. Thank you for writing this. We need many more good people like you both. I‘m glad you found him, and that we have found you. The next time I raise a glass of whisky, I will do so with this in my thoughts. To your good health. Cheers!

Thanks for sharing this. I know you posted this a while ago but it just popped up for me. This was very moving and inspirational. He sounded like an incredible role model for you and I'm sure many others.  I'm sorry for your loss. 

Stuck at 1000 for months

OK, I am getting discouraged here. I am investing at least 2 hours daily in chess, but haven't improved for months now. Stuck at the same rating (chess.com 1000 rapid, 600 blitz) since December. I am quite good at maths, logic, programming, and so on, but I am wondering whether my brain can handle chess at all at this point.

Watched most Rating Booster courses. Learned by heart most of the opening lines for my level, and watched most of the model games. Did 6000+ rated puzzles + lots of puzzle rushes. Most of the time I lose because of some tactic, but I did the Tactics Ninja course twice. For the last 90 days I have like 60% loses. And I try to analyze all my games after each loss.

Currently do not know what to do and learn at this point because all the other available courses are for higher levels. Paid for the PRO version here, but the live streams are quite advanced for me, so I stopped watching them.

I am also paying a WGM trainer once a week for personal lessons…

I just need to know whether this is normal and it is part of the journey, because I am quite competitive in nature and my mood currently is definitely not right and maybe I should just find another hobby…

 

Replies

Hi Ivaylo, 

When I was about 900 chess.com rapid I also struggled with basic tactics and didn't get tremendous results from tactic ninja. Eventually I gained 200-300 points of rating by using anki and working through Chess Tactics for Students (there's a deck you can download for free with a few hundred cards based on the book). If I remember right it probably took something like 50-70 hours of practice before I could quickly solve most of the tactics, but immediately after finishing my rating moved dramatically. 

The problem with tactic ninja is that it teaches you motifs and how to solve tough problems, but it doesn't drill in the pattern recognition you need through constant exposure. Puzzle rush just overexposes you to back rank mates and offers little control over the other themes you're getting.

Hope that helps! 

Dear Ivaylo,

The questions you have are fundamental and individual for each player. If I am not mistaken, you haven't used your 1-1 call opportunity. yet
I would suggest you do that, as in that case we can discuss everything in very deep detail.  For instance for U1000 rated level - it would have been much better to work on the rise of champions course - and many of Rating Booster courses, could be early to start :-)

Please let me know. 

Hey, guys! I just wanted to make a quick update here after 8 months.

I am now 1350 Rapid, which is a huge improvement from where I was last year.

Here is what I did:

- I trained more than 5000 ANKI puzzles
- I did all the fundamental puzzles from the Tactical Ninja course again
- I watched the Silent Strategy course

Thank you very much for the advice! ❤️❤️❤️

Chess book recommendations

At a tournament I played recently, the organisers raffled out a couple of 30 Euro vouchers for the chess store Chess Tigers (chess-tigers.de) to random participants, and I ended up winning one of them. Now I wanted to invest it into one or two books or other items and I've heard Artur Yusupov's “Tigersprung” ("Build Up Your Chess" in English) series is said to be quite good, but nevertheless wanted to ask around for some recommendations. I'm very intrigued to hear from the Grandmaster coaches, since I assume they will know a lot of chess books and they will also know which of them work together well with the courses and repertoires on this site.

Replies

It really demand on your rating but i will recommend Chess Strategy by Johan Hellsten,

Bobby Fischer 60 memorial games 

Vishy Annand World chess champion 

Larry Evans new ideas in chess

modern chess strategy 

Well, I guess I found the Grandmasters' recommendations: https://chessmood.com/recommendations

i recommend dvoretsky's endgame manual (any) edition as it is an essential for endgame improvement 

Courses

🥰🥰🥰

If I just finish a course what should I do next jump to next course or waiting an practicing all information I have learned in the cours  to becom in subconscious mind or what to do please any one answer 

Replies

I, as a 2000 fide rated player , really find it useful to revise and attempt all the things learnt before moving to next course. It really  helps the concept to go deep into the subconscious mind

I currently am jumping between courses and finding it works well e.g if you’re working through anti Sicilian with Nc3 and your opponent plays the Philidor or Stafford gambit, then you could practice which ever one they play, or your working through tactic ninja but you blunder your queen on move three. 
Hope this helps you 

🙃😉

I think that you should take 1 week break and play some games, and then move on to the next course.

I think you should move on to the next course immediately 

An unusual opening choice

I have recently been playing black and facing an opening where after 1.D4-Nf6 white proceeds to play f4 and e3 right away. What would be the recommendation against this system?

Replies

That looks like an attempt to play the reversed stonewall -  but Black doesn't have yet g6 included - you can try to play d5-Bf5-e6-c5.

Studying Endgames

Hi,

I'm around 2100 USCF, what level would it be necessary to start studying the advanced endgame courses? I feel like endgames in my games is mostly just about practical decisions and most of the time the game is decided before the endgame. However a lot of people are telling me that you should study them and it is very important to do so, but I just don't really see the point in dedicating a large amount of time to study theoretical stuff that don't even appear in my games. 

Thanks!

Replies

At the 2100 USCF level, you can take a look at the advanced endgame courses; don't forget to learn commented Endgame Masterpieces as well ( the 100 games).

One day a week you can make an endgame day - watching some games, and working through one of the courses. 

Acc Dragon Main 8.Bb3 Re8 9.f4

Hi,

after Mainline Acc Dragon 9.f4 i faced in blitz and it feels actually weird.

I played d6 and after Qf3 i decided for Bg4 but came in some trouble (see attached game)

Question now is what would you recommend? Bg4 is possible but engine suggests after Qf2 Nd4 Bd4 b5!?.. Is this a road you would go? Looks very deep.

Thank you

Replies

Dear Fred,

This is indeed very deep, and with the engine I checked a few options - the first one that you have mentioned with Bg4-b5.

As well as on move 10…a5 - both look interesting and complicated.

Chessmood Openings [Comparing Pgns]

Hey Chessmood team,
 

Figuring out which lines to add and which ones to skip is honestly a headache. Plus, I’m never sure if I’ve set up my PGN with all the lines. Is there any chance you could make a simple tool where we compare your PGN and ours, and it just shows us the lines we missed? We can just add the lines we missed reinforcing our knowledge. That would be super helpful. Thanks a lot!

Sincerely, Pawn

Replies

Hey there,

We don’t have at the moment such an existing tool - however best way to improve your pgns is to play games, analyze, and based on that make some improvements or adjustment.