Chess forum by Grandmasters

A Scotch Game to learn from

A Scotch Game between top Grandmaster's played today.

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Thanks, if chessmood will make a video on it then it would be super if not then I will try to understand it by myself by using this pgn and computers,.

Maybe Nepo is also one of the secret members of ChessMood? :)) 

Game with Benoni

Hi all,

I'd like to share a game I just played OTB. It's a classical 90m/40+30m with 30sec inc per move. It is the first time I've ever played the Benoni  after following Chessmood course.  Game ended with a Queen sacrifice which I'm proud of :-)

[Date "2020.07.20"]

[ECO "A57"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. e3 g6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. g3 O-O 8. Bg2 d6

9.bxa6 Bxa6 10. Nge2 Nbd7 11. f4 Qa5 12. O-O Rfb8 13. Qc2 Nb6 14. e4 Nc4

15. h3 Nd7 16. Rf3 Ra7 17. Rb1 Rab7 18. b3 Na3 19. Bxa3 Qxa3 20. Na4 Qxa4

21. bxa4 Rxb1+ 22. Rf1 R1b2 23. Qc1 Rxe2 24. Bf3 Bd4+ 25. Kh1 Rxa2 26. Rd1 Rbb2

27. Rxd4 cxd4 28. Bg4 Rh2+ 0-1

regards,

Duncan

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Nice,useful educational game. It helped me because I am studying Benko Gambit as well.

Hi Duncan! 
Very nice game. 
Just one correction. This is Benko Gambit. Benoni is another one :) 

Upcoming simul

I find the instructions for the simul are somewhat vague, i.e. log on 5 mins before ... where?  live chat again where ..?

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Live stream in youtube will start at 17:55 there

Hey Derek! Sorry for inconvenience. 
Live chat of youtube link we meant. 

Tips for chess study plan

Hello Chess Mood Family

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The best way to divide your time at this rating is: 60% learning from the Chessmood courses, 10% playing games, 20% analyzing and fixing your mistakes, 10% others e.g. solving puzzles or other stuff. I am using this division of time for three months and I had a progress of +100 online points. In addition, check the article "golden rule" in the blog. It will help you to keep a method of not playing much and playing only if you are in the right mood. I think my advice was helpful.

Hey Anurag! 
Study plan is something very personalized thing. 
That's why we jump for 1-1 calls with our new PRO Members. It depends on your level, goals, strong and weak points. 

Studying Kasparov's games

I've started looking at studying Kasparov's games. 

I don't own chessbase, I've not bought as I'm on a Mac , although I think I could get it to work with parallels.

I've signed up for a months premium membership with chess tempo which gives me guess the move , and I've noticed it has 487 games in total. 

I guess for this to be really effective, having a book with the same games analyzed would be useful. I've thought about buying the part 1 book in the we recommend section. I guess I may find the same games are not included though. 

Do people use any different tools for doing this, anyone found chess tempo is sufficient, or do I really need chessbase? Does the standard chessbase include these games or do you also need the database. 

Thanks! Tom

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Karpovs my best games is a great book, as you get in insight into one of chess alltimes greats. 

If you want to study seriously and want to become a strong player, chessbase is needed for sure. 

Have a nice day

Christoph

Hey Thomas! 
Yeah, overall Chessbase is very useful software. 
It also comes with three key I think, so you can share it with your friends. 

https://shop.chessbase.com/en/products/chessbase15 
This one for 119$ is good one to start with. 

Pro Membership

Hello Chessmood Team

I wish to buy your pro membership, I really loved your courses, is there any discount coupon available, is so, kindly provide it here

Thank you

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Hi Devansh. 
The price is already discounted and after 1 month, the price will go up.
At the same time staying the same for previous PRO Members who were already with us. 

Possible Novelty/Improvement in the Benko!

Not sure which move number but at some point ...Na6 is suggested, I believe Ne8?! Might be even better with all the similar ideas, except it frees the Bishop on g7 much sooner and the same knight will go to c7 in the same amount of moves as the b8kknight... in addition, the b8 can replace the Nf6 on the d7 sqaure... It might only be a small improvement, but IMHO I think it's worth looking at. Please let know what you think... Thanks! - Otis 

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Hi Otis Wilson

Is this the position you mean?

Sincerly

Kim Skaanning

Hey man! 
Very interesting idea. 
There are few downsides with Ne8. 
First when you move the e8 knight, you should be always careful with White's h4 move! 

2nd - after Ne8 very often Bg5 gonna be unpleasant. 
For example after 12...Ne8 13.Qe2! defending the b2 pawn at some point trying e5. And if you go 13...Nd7 then 14.Bg5 becomes unpleasant. 

Overall, I am very happy, that you think about the positions yourself and find your ideas. Good job! 

Question on Acc dragon

In course Acc Dragon in the last video in Section 3 White can play 12.0-0-0 and after 12...e5 de5 Bg4 white has 14.Qg3 move and black can not take 14...Bd1 because of 15.ef6 attacking the two bishops and black is losing minus 2 

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Hey Kevin! 
Can you please write move by move, add a screenshot of the position or write the concrete second of the video? 
Any of these. 
Thanks. 

@Kevin_Sun

So why play 14...Bxd1? Can't you play 14...Rxe5 instead and now you are actually threatening to take the Rook on d1.

Training Games (15+5, 2400+ Elo)

Hey ChessMood family!

I'm GM Max Illingworth, and I'm looking to play training games at a 15+5 time control against players  rated 2400+ FIDE, in preparation for the 2020 FIDE Online Olympiad.

If this interests you, let me know in the comments! My username is 'Illingworth' on Chess.com. 

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The Scotch Game - The Beginners Mind - Part 04

Hello ChessMood family, today we continue our exploration of 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nxd4 5.Qxd4 Ne7 which I am discovering more and more is very popular at certain levels.

Clearly black is intending 6...Nc6 to kick the white Queen from her dominating central post so what to do? I hear you ask, well remember the question I left you with at the end of Part 03, which was what were the possible drawbacks of 6...Nc6. To my mind the main drawback would be that it will leave Black's kingside short of a key defender, which in turns makes 0-0 potentially very dangerous for black as that will leave h7 hard to defend and White could invade rather quickly via h5 with say a Queen, notice a Knight on f6 not only protects the Black monarch directly on h7 after he castles but also keeps the important invading square h5 under control.

Now that we have identified the drawback we need to formulate a plan to exploit it, but before we do that I want to return quickly to the reason you would hardly see 5...Ne7 played at the 1200 - 1700 level, I briefly touched upon this in Part 04 but it needs further explanation. In this rating range 6.Bg5 looks very unpleasant to meet as it is very difficult for them to calculate accurately that 6...Nc6 does not lose material, this type of calculation where many pieces can seemingly be exchanged at once I like to refer to as 'counting' calculation, it is an important skill to master and can save a lot of time in a practical game, it is also where most games are won or lost at the 1200-1700 level.

The topic of learning how to 'count' effectively in chess deserves its own article and is outside the scope of this series, however what we can do is examine what a typical thought process might look like in the current position after 6.Bg5 from Black's point of view. Here we go, the Knight on e7 is pinned and we need to break it quickly or else we cannot develop our Kingside, what are our options let's see 6...f6, 6...h6 and 6...Nc6. 6...f6 looks too weakening on the c4 to g8 diagonal, 6...h6 looks interesting but after Bh4 g5 is impossible as the rook hangs and if I move the rook to play g5 then I can't 0-0. What about 6...Nc6 unpinning could that work he's attacking my Queen but then I'm also attacking his and after 7.Bxd8 Nxd4 White can't save the bishop on d8 because of the fork on c2, but what if he goes 7.Qd2 instead protecting his Bishop and renewing the attack on my Queen which doesn't have any squares, oh no, but wait, whew, I can block with my Bishop on 7...e7 which also develops a piece and then I can Castle safely.

That is the kind of thought process that often occurs at the 1200 - 1700 range and honestly it was not a bad one at all, but to become stronger such a thought process needs to be constantly refined. For instance, whenever your opponent makes a threat you must always ask yourself two things, 'Must I React' or 'Can I Ignore' by doing this you can often find resources that wouldn't occur to you otherwise, another useful tool in a good thought process is the concept of 'Revisiting' that is using ideas discovered from one candidate move to revisit and apply them to another candidate move. let's see how this works in the above example. We dismissed 6...f6 quickly as positionally very bad, next up was 6...h6 which we didn't like because after 7.Bh4 we couldn't follow up with g5 to break the pin, so onto 6...Nc6 which we discovered was playable because we counter attack his Queen also, furthermore if White exchanges on d8 he is the one after Nxd4 that loses material, at this point this should have prompted us to 'Revisit' 6....h6 where it turns out 7.Bh4?? is a losing move as now 7...Nc6! wins material by force since White must take on d8 or lose the unprotected Bishop on h4. In the example 6...Nc6 was chosen and after 7.Qd2 7...Be7 was automatically played to block the 'Threat' to the Queen, but had we asked ourselves 'Must We React' or 'Can We Ignore' the move 7...Bb4 might probably have popped up on our radar which as it turns out is superior to 7...Be7 due to 8.Nc3 being met with more 'can we ignore' thinking 8...Bxc3! now white cannot recapture with the Queen or he will lose the Bishop on g5 so 9.bc3 is forced with a ruined pawn structure and a complex battle ahead where Black has his fair share of the chances.

Just for clarity sake I will add that 'Must We React' implies a direct defensive response to a threat while 'Can We Ignore' implies meeting a threat with an equal or stronger threat or counter attack. I hope I've managed to convince you that 6.Bg5 is not as terrifying as it looks at first sight. Next time we will look at what I think is a more promising setup for White, but in the meantime I welcome any  thoughts you may have.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YQnvBhN2Ug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0-Wilf77Sc

Previous installments:

https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/the-scotch-game-the-beginners-mind-part-01

https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/the-scotch-game-the-beginners-mind-part-02

https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/the-scotch-game-the-beginners-mind-part-03
 

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Victory with some mistakes, but thanks GM Avetik for the anti-Sicilian class

[Event "CORUJAO DO CHESSVEJA BULLET Arena"] [Site "https://lichess.org/ZZhoU51m"] [Date "2020.07.21"] [White "MagicIrair"] [Black "Ding_Jr"] [Result "1-0"] [UTCDate "2020.07.21"] [UTCTime "03:52:04"] [WhiteElo "1503"] [BlackElo "1637"] [WhiteRatingDiff "+8"] [BlackRatingDiff "-8"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "120+1"] [ECO "B21"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "lichess.org"] 1. e4 c5 2. f4 { B21 Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack } d6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bc4 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. d3 O-O 7. O-O a6 8. Qe1 b5 9. Bb3 Bb7 10. a4 b4 11. Ne2 a5 12. g4 Qb6 13. Kh1 Nxg4 14. Rg1 Nf6 15. Ng3 Nbd7 16. f5 gxf5 17. Nxf5 Ne5 18. Rxg7+ Kh8 19. Qh4 Nxf3 20. Qg3 Ne5 21. Rxh7+ Nxh7 22. Qg7# { White wins by checkmate. } 1-0

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right or wrong sacrifice (second position ) ?

[Evento "Casual Classical game"]

[Site "https://lichess.org/SUe3rYEw"]

[Data "2020.07.16"]

[Pequenogafanhoto branco]

[Preto "MagicIrair"]

[Resultado "1-0"]

[UTCDate "2020.07.16"]

[UTCTime "23:42:41"]

[WhiteElo "1776"]

[BlackElo "1814"]

[Variante "Padrão"]

[TimeControl "1800 + 0"]

[ECO "A80"]

[Abertura "Defesa holandesa"]

[Rescisão "Normal"]

[Anotador "lichess.org"]

1. d4 f5 {A80 Defesa Holandesa} 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 c6 ?! {(0,33 → 0,86) Imprecisão. e6 foi melhor. } (3 ... e6 4. a3 b6 5. Be2 Be7 6. c4 OO 7. Nc3 Bb7 8. Bf3) 4. h3 d5 5. c3 e6 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. Nbd2 Be7 8. Ne5 OO 9. Ndf3 Ne4 10. Nxd7 Bxd7 11. Ne5 g5 12. Bh2 Rc8 13. Bd3 c5 14. Bxe4 fxe4 15. h4 cxd4 16. exd4 Bb5 ?! {(0,59 → 1,19) Imprecisão. Be8 foi o melhor. } (16 ... Be8 17. hxg5 Bxg5 18. Qg4 Rf5 19. Qh3 Qf6 20. Ng4 Qg6 21. Bd6 Bb5 22. a4 Ba6 23. Nh6 +) 17. Qg4 ?? {(1.19 → -0.37) Erro. hxg5 foi melhor. } (17. hxg5) 17 ... Rf5 18. Bg3 ?? {(0.00 → -2.78) Erro. hxg5 foi melhor. } (18. hxg5 Ba3 19. Nf7 Kxf7 20. Bf4 Bxb2 21. Rxh7 + Kg8 22. Qh5 Bxc3 + 23. Kd1 Bxd4 24. Qg6 + Kf8) 18 ... Rxc3 ?? {(-2,78 → 0,00) Erro. Ba3 foi melhor. } (18 ... Ba3) 19. bxc3 Qa5 20. Kd2 Qa3 ?? {(0.00 → 5.75) Erro. Bb4 foi melhor. } (20 ... Bb4 21. Rhc1 Qa3 22. Qd1 Qb2 + 23. Ke3 Bxc3 24. Rc2 Qa3 25. Rb1 Bb2 + 26. Nd3 Bxd3 27. Rcxb2) 21. Qd1 ?? {(5,75 → -3,34) Erro. Rhb1 foi melhor. } (21. Rhb1 Be8) 21 ... Ba4 ?? {(-3,34 → 6,42) Erro. gxh4 foi melhor. } (21 ... gxh4) 22. Qc1 Qd6 23. Ng4 e3 + 24. Nxe3 Rf4 25. hxg5 e5 26. Bxf4 exf4 27. Nf5 Qe6 28. Nxe7 + Qxe7 29. Qe1 Qxg5 ?! {(11.45 → Companheiro em 10) Xeque-mate agora é inevitável. Qe4 foi melhor. } (29 ... Qe4 30. Qxe4 dxe4 31. Rh4 e3 + 32. Ke1 Bc6 33. Rxf4 Bxg2 34. fxe3 Bc6 35. Kf2 Rg7 36. Rf5) 30. Qe6 + Kf8 31. Qh6 + ?! {(Posicione em 9 → 12,85) Perdeu a sequência forçada de xeque-mate. Rxh7 foi melhor. } {Preto renuncia. } (31. Rxh7 f3 + 32. Kd3 Bb5 + 33. c4 dxc4 + 34. Kc3 Qg7 35. Rxg7 Kxg7 36. gxf3 Bd7 37. Rg1 + Kh7) 1-0 Ng4 e3 + 24. Nxe3 Rf4 25. hxg5 e5 26. Bxf4 exf4 27. Nf5 Qe6 28. Nxe7 + Qxe7 29. Qe1 Qxg5 ?! {(11.45 → Companheiro em 10) Xeque-mate agora é inevitável. Qe4 foi melhor. } (29 ... Qe4 30. Qxe4 dxe4 31. Rh4 e3 + 32. Ke1 Bc6 33. Rxf4 Bxg2 34. fxe3 Bc6 35. Kf2 Rg7 36. Rf5) 30. Qe6 + Kf8 31. Qh6 + ?! {(Posicione em 9 → 12,85) Perdeu a sequência forçada de xeque-mate. Rxh7 foi melhor. } {Preto renuncia. } (31. Rxh7 f3 + 32. Kd3 Bb5 + 33. c4 dxc4 + 34. Kc3 Qg7 35. Rxg7 Kxg7 36. gxf3 Bd7 37. Rg1 + Kh7) 1-0 Ng4 e3 + 24. Nxe3 Rf4 25. hxg5 e5 26. Bxf4 exf4 27. Nf5 Qe6 28. Nxe7 + Qxe7 29. Qe1 Qxg5 ?! {(11.45 → Companheiro em 10) Xeque-mate agora é inevitável. Qe4 foi melhor. } (29 ... Qe4 30. Qxe4 dxe4 31. Rh4 e3 + 32. Ke1 Bc6 33. Rxf4 Bxg2 34. fxe3 Bc6 35. Kf2 Rg7 36. Rf5) 30. Qe6 + Kf8 31. Qh6 + ?! {(Posicione em 9 → 12,85) Perdeu a sequência forçada de xeque-mate. Rxh7 foi melhor. } {Preto renuncia. } (31. Rxh7 f3 + 32. Kd3 Bb5 + 33. c4 dxc4 + 34. Kc3 Qg7 35. Rxg7 Kxg7 36. gxf3 Bd7 37. Rg1 + Kh7) 1-0

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right or wrong sacrifice (first posicion )?

[Event "El Rey Inca Arena"] [Site "https://lichess.org/bxygYAiZ"] [Date "2020.07.19"] [White "MagicIrair"] [Black "silvio23"] [Result "0-1"] [UTCDate "2020.07.19"] [UTCTime "23:48:49"] [WhiteElo "1535"] [BlackElo "1872"] [WhiteRatingDiff "-2"] [BlackRatingDiff "+2"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "180+0"] [ECO "B21"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack"] [Termination "Time forfeit"] [Annotator "lichess.org"] 1. e4 c5 2. f4 { B21 Sicilian Defense: McDonnell Attack } g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. Bc4 a6 5. a4 e6 6. O-O?! { (0.06 → -0.66) Inaccuracy. Be2 was best. } (6. Be2 Ne7) 6... Ne7? { (-0.66 → 0.39) Mistake. d5 was best. } (6... d5) 7. Nc3?! { (0.39 → -0.50) Inaccuracy. Be2 was best. } (7. Be2) 7... O-O 8. d3 Nbc6 9. Be3? { (-0.40 → -1.85) Mistake. Bb3 was best. } (9. Bb3) 9... b6? { (-1.85 → -0.44) Mistake. d5 was best. } (9... d5 10. Bxc5 dxc4 11. dxc4 Qa5 12. b4 Nxb4 13. Bxe7 Re8 14. Bxb4 Qxb4 15. Na2 Qxc4 16. e5) 10. Qe1?? { (-0.44 → -3.46) Blunder. Bf2 was best. } (10. Bf2 Bb7) 10... Bb7?? { (-3.46 → -0.60) Blunder. d5 was best. } (10... d5 11. Ba2) 11. h4?? { (-0.60 → -3.70) Blunder. Bb3 was best. } (11. Bb3 Qc7 12. Rd1 Na5 13. d4 Nxb3 14. cxb3 d6 15. Qh4 Rad8 16. g4 h6 17. Rd2 f6) 11... h5?? { (-3.70 → -1.18) Blunder. d5 was best. } (11... d5 12. Ba2 d4 13. Bd2 dxc3 14. bxc3 h5 15. Qg3 Bc8 16. Rfb1 Ra7 17. Re1 Bd7 18. Rab1) 12. Ng5?! { (-1.18 → -1.75) Inaccuracy. Bb3 was best. } (12. Bb3) 12... Nb4?! { (-1.75 → -1.02) Inaccuracy. Nd4 was best. } (12... Nd4 13. Bxd4 Bxd4+ 14. Kh2 Bg7 15. Bb3 d5 16. Rd1 Qc7 17. Ne2 b5 18. axb5 axb5 19. c3) 13. f5?? { (-1.02 → -5.47) Blunder. Qe2 was best. } (13. Qe2) 13... Nxc2 14. Qg3?! { (-5.22 → -6.98) Inaccuracy. Qe2 was best. } (14. Qe2) 14... Bxc3?? { (-6.98 → -1.04) Blunder. Nxe3 was best. } (14... Nxe3) 15. bxc3 Nxa1 16. fxg6 Nxg6?? { (-0.56 → 3.43) Blunder. fxg6 was best. } (16... fxg6 17. Rxa1 Qb8 18. Qxb8 Raxb8 19. a5 b5 20. Bxc5 bxc4 21. Bxe7 Bc6 22. dxc4 Rb3 23. Bxf8) 17. Nxf7 Rxf7 18. Qxg6+ Rg7 19. Bxe6+ dxe6 20. Qxe6+ Kh8 21. Qh6+ Rh7 22. Qg6 Qg8 23. Qxb6 Rf8 24. Rxf8 Qxf8 25. Bxc5 Qg8?? { (-2.27 → 2.23) Blunder. Qe8 was best. } (25... Qe8 26. Qb1 Rf7 27. Qxa1 Bc8 28. Qc1 Kh7 29. Qg5 Rg7 30. Qf6 Bh3 31. Qf3 Bxg2 32. Qf5+) 26. Bd4+ Rg7 27. Qh6+? { (2.51 → 0.98) Mistake. Qxb7 was best. } (27. Qxb7 Nc2) 27... Qh7 { Black wins on time. } 0-1

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Bonus Event Simul

I am ready to participate in the simul. How do I challenge the maestro? I don't see a link to any live stream?

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Play vs GM

Hello Champions! 

Celebrating the international chess day, we added a bonus event: A Simul game vs GM.

This time GM will be me :)
https://chessmood.com/event/bonus-event-simul-game-gm-avetik-vs-pro-members  

Looking forward to playing soon against you.

P.S 
The instructions are in the link above. 

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My usernames are: Giorgos_Kechagias on chess.com and giorgoskehagias509 on lichess.org. I am excited since it will be the 1st time I will play with a GM!

What is your lichess id?

Haque_30-m 

This is my lee chess id

Anyone knows how to follow the stream???

MY nick is ollydog

Duncan

Scotch

In Scotch after 1. e4 e5  2. Nf3  Nc6  3. d4 if black does not take the pawn and play 3. ...  d6, then how can I approach?

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I'm pretty  sure this line was covered in one of the Scotch updates. Did you double Check?

Postscript: Now that I think about it, the line you are looking for might be in the Philidor Course since the position is very transpositional.

I think the best line against 3. d6 is: 4. d5 Nce7 5. c4 g6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. c5 dxc5 8. Qb3 c6 9. dxc6 Nxc6 very playable position for both sides.

Webinar: Questions and Answers about ChessMood Openings

Dear friends, dear PRO Members, my champions! 
This gonna be an interactive webinar with our PRO team. 
You can send me your questions related to our openings in advance. 
You can ask me also about positions, that you feel uncomfortable with. 

I'm going to answer all of them even if it takes hours. 

See you soon!


https://chessmood.com/event/questions-and-answers-about-ChessMood-openings

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This endgame position is good for white as you explained but I don't think I can win this. So some tips needed. You know very well I am not good in endgames.

https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-members/plan-in-the-gp-endgame

Anthony, have you checked Kevin D's series about Scotch? 

Maestro Avetik, I missed today's webinar because of work obligations. I did watch the recording, though. I really liked the way you answered the questions. One discussion about chess improvement particularly I found very interesting. You said you went from 0 to 2000 yourself in about 3 years (from 1800 to 2000 in one year). I would like to ask you two follow-up questions: how long did it take you to get from 2000 to IM level? And, would it be possible for you to single out one or several key factors in your growth? Was it determination? Opening study? Postgame analysis? A good coach? A combination of all the aforementioned? etc. I would be very curious to read your comments.

Hi
I missed yesterday's webinar because of work obligations. I also watch the recording. Thanks for your high quality answer's.

Hi Anthony

I play the Scotch a lot. If you are interested we could play some training games on chess.com

Where can I find Kevin D's series about Scotch? 

Here https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/the-scotch-game-the-beginners-mind-part-01

Dear Unknown User,
during the webinar you gave me a deep and complicated question, which I couldn't answer right away. 
"Many people are playing the 2...Nc6 when I play the Closed Sicilian with white. What should I do if they play 4...a6 Bd3 g6 b4 cb4 Nd5 Nc6?" 

Well, I checked it, 7...Nc6 is really interesting move. 
I tried different moves for White, using both engines Stockfish and LCV, . 
There are few options for White, I would recommend to play 8.Rb1 a5 9.Bb2 Nf6 10.Bf6!? ef6 11.c3. 

The position is very unclear, but it should be much easier to play for White, because of Black's very ugly pawn structure. 

CAN'T DOWNLOAD PGN FILES!

Sir, why can't I download the PGN files after the openings??

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How to use engines (if at all)?

Maestro Avetik,

Recently you dissuaded me from using engine-guided study of chessmood openings, and I have turned my engine off ever since. However, there are several aspects of engines that I don't really understand.

Why should the engine be an exclusive grandmaster's ally? Why should the lower-rated chessplayer stay away from the engine? How exactly does the engine slow down or prevent rapid growth? What is 'a computer move'? Could there be exceptions, i..e situations in which engine use could be useful assistants to lower-rated players, or beneficial to their growth? Are there only cons, or are there any pros, too? And if so, what are the dos and don'ts of engine use?

Many authors and commentators have claimed that the use of engines has been one of the main reasons why today's grandmasters earn their titles at an ever-younger age, so surely, engines can't be that bad, can they?

Most strong amateur players that I know use engines a lot, for different purposes, especially for post-game analysis (finding tactical mistakes and missed opportunities) and opening preparation (consulting databases, finding reliable antidotes against opponents' known opening repertoire, etc.). By strong amateur players I mean, broadly speaking, players in the 1900-2300 ELO range. Players clearly below your own level, but whom I still look up to (and often feel rather intimidated by, especially the 2100+ ones).

I would love to read an article of yours in which you address these issues.

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Hey Ramon! 
Nice question. 
I'm writting an article about it, as I see, this is really a confusing topic for many chess players. 

Error on chess.com Sunday Tournament page

I see a notification in chess.com that there is a tournament on Sunday. Clicking on it I get the following error. Any idea what's going on?

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Hunan jan, I just asked our girls to check, it seems okay. 
Can you check it again? 
Is there still the same problem? 

Champions, do we have someone else who has the same issue?