Chess forum by Grandmasters

Power of ChessMood Scotch

When you want to reply no, because it wouldn't be Scotch again :D

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lol nice 

Haha :) 

Gabuzyan quote

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Didn't Tal say though you can only take one hanging piece at a time?

Hey Mogens!

Thanks for paying so much attention while I am streaming! Appreciate it :-)

Nice :) 

Pirc Defense question - 3....Nd7

Hi! I played in the Pirc tournament for chessmood members earlier today (amazing by the way, I plan on playing in more).

My opponent played a line that I don’t recall seeing in the opening series videos.

Can you advise on the best plan for white? I prefer the Bf4 setup to the Grand Prix.

the game went:

1. E4 d6

2. D4 g6

3. Nc3 Nd7 

Thank you. 

-Ben

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Benjamin, check out Modern Pirc course, Pasini variation! 

Course suggestion - Unhappy pieces

Unhappy pieces - the art of making your opponent's army miserable

Might work as a good companion to happy pieces. This time on exchanges, space gaining, pawn wedges, overloading, making pieces passive, no available / not having a plan / strategically lost and so on, the idea being that causing problems with the opponent's army gives you the better position (and how to convert it to something more concrete).

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Hehe :) 
David, we're planning to add this course! 

Another tactical trick in c6 Modern (Pirc)

[Note it is often just known as the Modern, although it's also known as the Robatsch defence]

In the 3... c6 line, 6. Nxd5 is refuted, but 6. Nxb5 with the same idea isn't mentioned (my first thoughts about the position], but it also fails due to Qa5+ 7. Nc3 d4.

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Nice! 

Sicilian 2... Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 and other questions

Only dxc6 is covered directly here (bxc6 is mentioned in the rossolimo course, but then that has Nf3 played). It seems there are quite a few games in the database 200 or so in this line (about a tenth of dxc6) so would be useful to have some instruction what to do here if the opponent captures that way (specially here and/or in general the difference is handing the pawn structure).

I think I asked before (but can't find a reply) that there is reference to good rossolimos tempos up with f4 played before Nf3 in the d6/e6/g6 lines, however there is no guide to playing this as White. It might be a good position, but what's the plan from here?

Also why after f4 being played in the g6 lines is Nf6 now played and not the idea of playing c4 as in in the Nf3 lines of the Rossolimo course? How does it differ here that this plan isn't the best now (e5 ?) ?

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Hey David, 
We'll add all these in the section. 

Interesting English sideline not covered in Chessmood course yet

Before Chessmood, I played e6 vs the English (with Black). Since GM Gabuzyan released the course based on e5, I have been playing e5.

However, in this game I faced an interesting sideline, not covered in teh course, that I think it could be troublesome if you are unprepared (as I was). 

White plays e3 and d4, in order to destroy black pawn structure and gain initiative

Analyzing the game, engines suggest 12... g4, instead of 12...b6.

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I would be interested in @GM_Hovhannes_Gabuzyan recommendation against 7.e3 8.d4  or any other English player

Hey Sergio!

I checked out the line and it looks best to me including 12... g5 which is leading to big advantage for black, if instead of taking on d6 whites players 12.h3 you can play 12... bxf3 13. qxf3  and play 13... nf5 which seems pretty nice to me for the black side.

Scotch 4...Bc5 - 7...d6 - 8...Be6 Question

Hi!! in Scotch 4...Bc5 5.Nb3 Bb6 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Qe2 d6 8.Be3 Be6 9.0-0-0 0-0 10.f3 Ne5 11.g4 then Black has 11...Bc4 if 12.Qd2 Nxf3 and if 12.Qf2 Black has Nexg4 or Nfxg4. When I use my engine, engine suggest me to play 11.Kb1 Bc4 12.Qf2 Neg4 (or Nfg4) 13.fxg4 Nxg4 14.Bxb6!? Nxf2 15.Bxf2 Bxf1 16.Rxf1 that white is slighty better. What's your opinion ? And is there any improvement that I need to do?

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is there 8...Be6 move in the course?

Hello Chong!

Nice question,

11.Kb1 is a nice move taking king to safety, but my opinion is that would be better to play 11.Qd2 with an idea to play 12. be2 and try to play g4 a bishop on e2 is already protecting pawn on f3!

When do we blunder?

Two situations that are common to blunder in which we saw during tonight's stream:

In difficult positions where the is an 'only' strategic move, which under the pressure we forget to check if it's tactically sound.

On declining a draw and therefore having to 'prove' something.

Any others you can think of?

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Making and analogy with tennis I think there are 2 kind of blunders:

1- Unforced Blunders

2.- Forced Bulders

Unforced blunders rarely happen between players >1800

Force blunders may be subdivided:

a) Blunders forced by time trouble

b) Blunders forced by a strategically worst position that forces you to find the only good move, move after move until you blunder

c) Blunders forced by a tactically worst position that forces you to make a very precise calculation to find the correct sequence of moves in the combination

d) I am sure there are many others...

I think the lack of concentration is the first cause of blunders. :/ 

Hey David,

It's an interesting question. Every single person in the world is gonna be blundering. Even the world champion ) so to say we can get rid of it, will be not real. But I think we can decrease the amount of blunders with several steps.

1.High concentration

2.Good shape ( not being tired)

3.Experience (playing a lot different type of positions will allow to see or feel hidden resources)

4.Not to play very fast and check more and more options possible

5.Sharpen tactical intuition!

In general, I can't predict when will you or I blunder as otherwise it would never happen but think that trying to be very focused on the game will decrease the number of blunders.

The New course - How to play against 1.c4 - English Opening

I'm happy to tell you that we uploaded a new course "English opening, 1.c4".  
I'm going to show you a very practical opening repertoire - how to play against it.


https://chessmood.com/course/english-opening-1.c4-how-to-play-for-black

If you have any questions, please post here. 

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Great news! I am eager to watch it. Thank you maestro

Thank you! I have been eagerly awaiting this course! 

I can hardly wait to watch this and post my thoughts, especially as a new white repertoire course has recently been released on Chessable that has been getting rave reviews: 

https://www.chessable.com/the-iron-english-botvinnik-variation/course/50500/

Thanks Sensei :)

I have already watched it for the first time, without taking notes or writing down a PGN, just trying to understand the ideas. 

Very interesting ideas, easy to grasp and remember, and superbly explained.

I am going to have to change my English Repertoire with black ;-). Currently I play ...e6 instead of ...e5.

@GM_Hovhannes_Gabuzyan, what are the main differences between ...e6 and ...e5? It seems to me that ...e5 is more aggresive and provides better opportunities for an attack on the white king, while ...e6 is quieter

if white start with 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.e3 Nf6 4.b3 c5 what should I play. Is this same like english opening ?

https://lichess.org/KgRYc3WOw9Bm

What I love about this course is its simplicity and beautiful explanation! It is so easy to understand and play. Before this course, I played some random Nf6, g6 against the English. Now, thanks to you, I have a structured repertoire against the English. Thank You Coach Gabuzyan!

So far, no complaints and I learned a lot!

Dear Pro Members!

I have a good news for you!

I've added two more sections in the course "English Opening."
I cover there White's 5.e3 with Nge2 setup and 5.a3 Check it out :) 
https://chessmood.com/course/english-opening-1.c4-how-to-play-for-blackThe next time, I'll upload 5.e4 move. 

Hope you enjoy it and win many interesting games!

Good Luck!

Hey, champions! 
A new section - how to play against Botvinnik system is added :) 
A one, that many of you waited :) 
Enjoy :) 

https://chessmood.com/course/english-opening-1.c4-how-to-play-for-black/episode/2111 

Dear Pro Members,

I've added a very important section in the course "English opening", when White plays with e3 d4 plan. It's an important one, as you'll get these positions also playing Benko! 

I hope after watching this section, you'll be very happy facing this setup.https://chessmood.com/course/english-opening-1.c4-how-to-play-for-black

Hope you will like and enjoy it!

Urgent Questions Plz Answer

Hey Guys... I have some Urgent Question... I have a team tmt game at 11:30 IST and I saw that my Opponent plays d4 Nf6 and then Nf3... What can I play? He plays this and on the next move plays c4... Probably this move order to avoid a particular opening.. Plz recommend what to do... 

P.S. His chess24 username is Davit10 He is from Armenia :) :D

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Plz answer as soon as possible!

You can try 2...g6 and after c4 - c5

Rubic's Cubes

Hi guys I know it's a chess forum but still a question came in my mind. How many of you guys are able to solve Rubic's Cubes and which method do you guys apply in solving? 

I am able to solve 3x3 with beginner method but soon I am gonna work on Advanced Methods which every tournament player uses. With that I will be able to solve a cube in less than a minute. World Champs can solve cube in less than 5 seconds. So solving a cube in 1 minute will also be an achievement for me.  I do have 4x4 and 5x5 cubes but due to time issues I never learnt them but soon I hope I will try to find an hr daily for cubing practice so I will do okay in cubing. 

Website useful for cubing:

https://ruwix.com/

You know guys I just love logical things. I am not attracted to any memorization stuffs.. Apart from chess, cubing and computers (once I will reach my chess milestone of 2000 I will do learn ethical hacking so I i will help coach in security of Chessmood.com ) .  I only like Fast and Furious series, home alone series and some south indian movies.  I do like cartoon because I don't believe that cartoons is only for kids. I like Tom and Jerry, Shinchan, Doremon etc. 

Well it's not chess topic but I hope I will find some cubers here. I always have 3x3 in my hand hehehe.

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One of my friends from Germany taught me how to solve it, but I forgot, maybe I can do it in 10 min if not more.

I'm still thinking that for me it is impossible to learn :D

3x3 my best time is 1:40 with the advanced beginner's method.

Previously I used the Singmaster method published in the 80ties in Scientific America, which is way to redundant.

I have looked at the Fridrich method, but I don't feel inclined to learn 400 + algorithms for the sake of gaining one minute.

But it's a pleasant past-time, and useful cubes are getting affordable more and more.

Well, My CFOF is going fine. Yesterday I went though some F2L lessons and center lessons to make me fast. I think in few months I will reach 1 minute and my cuber mentor said that I will reach sub 30 by the end of the 2021.

Queen's gambit (Netflix) any grounding in reality?

Watched the first couple of episodes now.

So the premise (not to give too much away) is by taking tranquillisers (perhaps not a good message) she is able to visualise the chess board on the ceiling and play through many games in her head. Add a copy of MCO and some other chess literature that was around in the 50s/60s(?) USA she becomes a chess genius and can beat 2000+ (USCF) I guess before in later episodes going on to be a grandmaster herself.

Of course it's a fantasy, but it's an interesting question, just by reading chess literature and being able to visualise is there any hope that a player could reach 1300 mostly on their own (sort of like Alphazero), let alone the heights she reaches. Most of us have to play many games against opponents, incur loses, read all sorts of sources, get help from other players/coaches and so on to get a few measly rating points and over the years we gradually improve. I suspect in the 1950s that 2000 USCF wasn't as strong as it is now (and USCF is noted to be overrated vs FIDE, so maybe it's 1500 FIDE today), but even then that's not easy to reach without several years of games IMO.

Oh yes and the blunder in episode 2 was a real facepalm for her opponent given how much time he had on the clock. Perhaps his mind wasn't on chess.

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ChessMood Benko course

How it looks like :D

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lol

Wow! There should also be a rhino named King's Indian defence.

Rate your vision

Rate your tactical and strategic vision from 1-10 

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Tactical - 7, Strategic -5 Ι need to improve.

tactical 7, strategic 2 :D

1 tactical and 2 strategical 

I guess it depends to whom you compare, so I will answer comparing me to the average player in my elo rating range.

I would say:

Tactics: 4

Strategy: 6

I think I am slightly better strategically than the average player in my rating range, but slightly worse tactically.

Tactics-7, Strategy-8

Tactical-6

Strategy-4.5

My mood in concrete positions is the thrice of my mood in slow positions, so I have lost many equal games. One of thing I do frequently in slow positions is opposite side castling, even if I know that's the worst decision. But I have also won by playing super solidly. As for tactical, I give myself 6 because I have missed many tactics during games(I don't mean simple tactics like fork, pin, skewer, etc.) but in attacking schemes I play more confindently and can give myself 7

-2,345,678.

Srsly, 5 on tactics and 5 on strategy.

How to analyze our lost games?

Hello sir, is there any particular technique of analyzing our own otb losses? I want to find more weaknesses in my play

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It is recommended to annalyze the game on a board without help of a computer and try to find what went wrong.  First general concepts: you lacked space? your position was cramped? You were too passive? You were too agressive? Exchanges favoured your opponent? You reached an disadvantageous ending? You had advantage but were not able to materialize it and ended up losing? you missed an important combination? Time Trouble?  You could not find a plan? etc

Then analyze move by move, study posible variations, analyze what you did not see during the game and try to find out why. 

Last of all, analyze the game with the help of an engine.

Of course, having a coach analyze some of your games would be of great help ;-)

Endgame Challenge (1)

In one of my games the following endgame position appeared. I am not disclosing if I am Black or White or who won the game.

I would like to know, who do you think has more chances to win and which side would you feel more confortable to play (Black or White).

White have first move.

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There is a problem with sharing pictures....Don't forget to post it later :)

On the one hand, black has a bishop against a knight, which can be a significant advantage in the open board, but we should also take into account that white is a pawn up. Also, white can centralise his king faster than black because there is the pawn on f6, if we follow the king of the hill variant method (one should bring his king in the 4 central sqares to win).

Well,  Bishops are my favourite pieces (I don't like endgames that much, I love to attack with my queen, but I have no fear of endgames, even of complicated ones). As for my analysis, the position is almost equal, and if we let engines run for long they will mostly evaluate variations from +0.2 to -0.2 which can't be significant edges.

But I would feel more comfortable with the black pieces, also black's kingside oawn structure is familiar to me because against 1. d4 I have: 1st option King's Indian defence, 2nd option Benko Gambit, 3rd Modern Benoni, where I have a fianchettoed Bishop on the kingside, which can lead to the preservation of the three kingside pawns. 

What do you think? I can't say who is more likely to win. Maybe 85% draw, 8% white wins, 7% black wins in my level (1750-1950 online chess). I hope I tried to explain and evaluate the position correctly. 

I would prefer to play for black, first reason is: the position is open and we have a bishop, second reason is: the game goes on both sides, which means the bishop should be better than night, but in general I think the assessment should be almost equal.

Also recently we got a very nice course about bishops, if you didn't watch it yet, here is the link: https://chessmood.com/course/Bishop-Pair-power 

So hard to answer what side should I prefer, but I don't think why I would feel comfortable to play with white. @WIM_Susanna_Gaboyan sorry :D  

Thank you all three for the comments.

First, the position is about equal.

However my feeling was that even though pawns are on both sides of the board and the position is rather open and the Bishop is supposed to be better than the Knight --> it is only White who can play for the win. Black Bishop doesn't have very good targets to attack and can not restrict the movement of the Knight. 

Before entering this ending as White I made sure that Queens were exchanged, because if we add the Queens to the board, I believe Black is better.

In the game Black made a few inaccuracies (in the sense how to play this ending best for Black) in the couple of next moves and their position become difficult to defend. 

Finally, he was faced with a position that only accurate moved could save him, and I was able to play around until my opponent made a mistake and finally I won with White.

I will post the moves soon, but before that perhaps you would like to think about what are the best strategies for Black and for White. Playing on which side of the board? Pushing pawns, yes or no? How to position the King? etc.

Despite being an equal position and my love for bishops, in this case I would be more comfortable with white. The reason is the Pawn majority in the queenside 2 vs 1, that is faster than 3 vs 2 and the white passed Pawn. My strategy would be taking king and Knight to the center and advance the passed Pawn. Force black to blockade it and then switch to the kingside trying first to exchange the Knight. Easier said than done

So the best plan for Black was to prevent  advancement of white pawns on the queenside by ...a5 and to start pushing their pawns on the kingside with ...f5. Failing to do so players have reached a position that is quite more favorable for White than the intial one.

It is still a draw but now Black need to be careful, which is not so easy when playing the real game.

35.Ke2 Kf7 36.Kd3 Ke6 37.b4 h5 38. c4 g5 39.h3 Bf2 40.g4 hxg4 41.hxg4 Bg3 42.Ke4 Bf4 43. Nd4+ Kd7

In the continuation we will see that even though a Bishop is long range minor piece, its line of action is rather restricted. 

Unbalanced materials

Wat material do you prefer to play, when the position is equal?

1) a. Queen pawn vs b. two rooks

2) a. Queen vs b. three pieces

3) a. Queen two pawns vs b. Rook two pieces

4) a. Rook and pawn vs b. Bishop knight

5) a. Rook vs b. Knight/Bishop and two pawns

6) a. Knight/Bishop vs b. three pawns

if you have more options please add in the comments :)

I'll reply first: 

1) a 2) a 3) b 4) b 5) b 6) a

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It is difficult because it depends heavily on the position, king safety, pawn structure and coordination of the pieces. Knights like broken pawn structures, Queens like unsafe kings and uncoordinated pieces, etc

As a general response:

1) a 2) b 3) b 4) b 5) b 6) a

It seems the same as Susik except for question 2 where I usually prefer 3 pieces intead of a Queen. (asuming my king is relatively safe and not very easy to check, my pawn structure is not very broken and my pieces are somewhat coordinated)

1)a 2)a 3)a (I always prefer the queen, I even didn't read 2 and 3 questions :D ) 4)b 5)b 6) a

Are you professional?

Do you play or train chess as a professional or it's just one of your favorite hobbies? 

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Perhaps it used to be a hobby but once I faced that stupid ...e5 move in the Exchange Caro-Kann in a Classical game (and lost, partly because I didn't know the theory because the advanced section wasn't recommended for me) I decided to consider myself a professional and dive right in. So yes. I am a professional =) Are you?

Hell no.  It’s a hobby.  And you can tell from how badly I play. 

I would like it to be my profession..! but not, I have another career so I just try to play and train as much as possible to reach my goal...

Just an amateur who loves Chess

Are you all Pro members?

Perhaps another nuance to this conversation is which country are you from.

If you want to be a professional in the UK say, it's almost forget about it, unless you have some other source of income/wealth. You probably can get by on about £15,000 a year, though it wouldn't be a great existence (although what many people have to do with). In London you're talking a fair bit more than that is also where much of the top chess action is / nearby outside of the other two main tournaments (the British and Hastings - and maybe also count the 4NCL) so that makes it harder for professionals.

First prize for the British (assuming you do win it and outright against a strong GM field) was £5000 in 2019, £10,000 before that. Hastings prize money isn't that great either. Until you're titled those are expensive tournaments to enter. There are a couple of GMs (Hebden and Arkell) who go round the local tournaments (often agreeing not to turn up at the same tournament to avoid prize funds splitting). This usually (though not always due to an IM or a strong junior turning up) earns anything between £250 and £500 say for a weekend's work. They are often reliant on offers of accommodation and sometimes travel.

Perhaps the top 5 or so UK GMs might make money from the international circuit (such as Adams, and Short), but it's really only the top 10-20 in the World that make any serious money.

The rest are reliant on coaching, writing books (not easy to earn a living if you want to put out quality over quantity), appearance fees and 'second' jobs (finance for example). As well as if you don't get accommodation and travel added that's got to come out of your pocket - at least that can be offset against tax if it's a business expense.

Being a professional unless you have the talent to get near the top isn't an easy life in expensive countries. Those that have potential will probably look towards finance and IT for a career rather than continue with chess.

The current top tournament has a $1.5m prize. That sort of money has to filter down a lot further for chess to be a viable profession for many.

Personal Trainer

Do you have a coach? If no, would you like to have it?

How do you think does ChessMood able to replace any coach? :)

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Looool, I swear I wanted to give this question :D

I do not have a coach, but If you are serious about improving and are really committed and you can afford it, having a good coach is the way to go.

I think Chessmood is the next best thing, and it is compatible with having a coach! 

Currently I do not have a coach in chess. Since I am very new here I would like to take a year with the repertoire, puzzles and play. After that I really would like to meet regularly with a coach. How often to meet a coach is mire about the financing. I do think it would be best with a coach from CM.

I am used to have a coach or mentor in golf, drawing and painting. It helps you to work on the right stuff and it speeds up the learning process. It also streches your comfort-zone which is important when trying to improve.

Nice things about having a coach

- you can always ask a question and get an opinion from a more experienced player, unlike e.g. the chess.com forum, where only my easier questions were answered 

- they demonstrate critical moves even during training, helps prevent bad habits like 'hope chess'

- (as the guy above wrote) you get out of your comfort zone, it is also refreshing doing new things

The main issue is the cost to hire one, but unless they are strong GMs, I think you can get more affordable price. If you've never had one, it looks worth at least a try.

No as of now

Earlier I used to take group training from an IM

In my opinion, coaching is very crucial for faster growth