Caro-Kann Bg4 Qb3 line

Hello,
In the Bg4 Qb3 line, I liked the Ng5 idea. I tried it against my sparring partner and won a good game. When analyzing, he suggested 14...Qd8!? with the idea Ng5 Nh5. I guess this is a novelty and an interesting one ?
The next game he played it, I answered 15.Bg5 but was not convinced. Maybe 15.h3 a6 16.a4 is better ? Then I studied 15.h4 a6 16.g3, in the spirit of the ChessMood course, which is the most promising I guess. The critical line looks like 16...b5 17.a3 Qb6 18.Ng5.
What do you think ?
Thanks a lot,
Sylvain

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Hi Ravot,

Thanks for sharing your question, It's so nice to see someone new utilising the forum. In the diagrammed position the Engines love 16.g3 which is okay I guess, but in positions like this and similar ones, if Ng5 is not working I usually try to switch to the 'Plan B'. Plan B involves Ne5 transferring the Queen to h3 (Not possible in the engine g3 line) and looking for opportunities to plough ahead on the Kingside with a later h5, a crude plan admittedly but not easy to meet and totally in the spirit of the position. I have a Model Game in mind and will post it if I can track it down, 

I agree with you Ravot that h4 followed by g3 as the Engine suggests is definitely the best approach here, and it's very strange that Qd8 has not seen any practical tests as yet.  Thanks for the info about the Dzinzi - Karpov clashes, I think I also may have heard in an interview that Dzinzi was Karpov's coach for awhile.

Hi Sylvain,

This is a very nice question. Up to my records, we should play with h4 after Qd8. The idea as mention g3 - kg2 - rh1 trying to open the h file.

If after h4 black plays Nh5 then Bg5 move is coming.

Current Torre recommendation?

Referencing this post:

https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-members/torre-attack

Is the 'universal' d5 c5 Nc6 Qb6 still the recommended way to go against the usual set-up of e3 c3 Nbd2 Bd3 ?

Note that in the d4 sidelines course the Tromp move order is not possible since we play g6 against Nf3 (and the course covers Bg5 then Nf3).

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Hi David,

Can you please clarify the position for me?

The Section: Sicilian's Closed Systems - Update?

Another very instructive section as usual. But please allow me to bring to your attention two important omissions from the update, that I would like to see covered soon. The missing lines related to our repertoire are 6.Nh3 and 7.Nh3.

See diagrams below for details:  

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illustrative Games:

Hey! 
Yeah, true! 
Nh3 was also suggested by one of Armenian IM's. 
We'll add it, after Gabuzyan finishes his participation in the Armenian championship. 
In two words, the key of playing against it, is not to hurry with 0-0! 
But instead play Nge7, h6, Be6.  

Hi Kevin

We are working on this lines and in near future it will be recorded!

Chess improvement

Hello Good morning friends my chess.com rapid time control rating is 1754, my aim is cross 2000 rating barrier at end 2021, I usually invest around 7hrs per week for chess, I am not making any serious mistakes in opening but  let say after 15 or 20 moves i am not able to make a plan and do some serious mistakes and also i am very weak in analysing my game or any masters games. So how can i improve my level of middlegame and how can i improve in analysing my own games?  Please suggest in best possible way. 

Thank you

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I was also under the same problem before two years. It would be very useful to watch the courses of the commented classical games or endgames, which not have only perfect commentary, but also complicated plans that my opponents do not even know about. You can also watch the other middlegame courses if you are a pro member and if you are not, it is really worth your while. Some puzzles or compositions of the middlegame and endgame phase, which are categorized in chess.com and lichess may also help. I hope I tried to give you some good suggestions.

"Crushing All the Sicilian's Sidelines" course is updated!

Dear friends, dear PRO Members!
We just uploaded the 3rd section of "Crushing All the Sicilian's Sidelines" by GM Hovhannes Gabuzyan. 

Watch it here ? https://chessmood.com/course/crushing-all-the-sidelines-of-sicilian

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if i am not wrong you missed an dangerous line

1 e4-c5 2 Nc3-Nc6 3 Bb5 (wich is recommend for white

will there once come also a recommendation for black versus the Moscow 3 Bb5

Modern Pirc ---> Pirc transposition

I am not a PRO member now but I had watched the course previously when I was a PRO member. According to my files, I have a doubt. What do we do when Black plays 1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Be3 c6? I remember Avetik sir telling something like it transposes to the Pirc soon but what if Black delays Nf6 and plays b5 and Nd7? What is our setup here? Also, is it possible to play 5.g4?  Thanks in Advance!

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Thanks a lot for your detailed reply, Kevin! I will certainly take a look at the setup you mentioned. Will there be an update to that course? I think it has been quite a long time since the courses were released right? Again, thanks a lot for your reply!!

Scotch ...Nf6 - advanced video 41

Hello  Chessmood pro family!

1k1r1b1r/p1pn2pp/2p5/2Ppp3/1P5P/RR6/P2N1PP1/2B2K2 b - - 4 19

In this position it looks better to me to play 19...Kb7 (preparing ...a6 and ...Nb8) then to bury the king with 19...Ka8 and ...Rb8-b7.

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c3 Sicilian 6th and 7th move deviations

The course only covers the main lines, which a lot of players as White do not play. Expect 5/6/7 Nc3, Bb5 without Bc4, Bc4 without Nc3, 7. exd6 and so on. Very few seem to play a mainline under 2000.

Some are quite tricky and if you make one mistake prepare for a game of SLP.

First example is 7. exd6 with the mistake 8 Bb5?! White loses a pawn, but Black is behind on development. I didn't play it perfectly accurately, and it seems the idea is to let the c6 pawn and possibly a7 pawn go to win the g2 pawn or trap the knight.

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6. exd6

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. cxd4 d6 6. exd6 Qxd6 7. Nc3 Be6 8. Nf3 - I should have played 7... Nc6 here so 8. Nf3 Bg4

6. Nc3

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. cxd4 Nc6 6. Nc3 Nxc3 7. bxc3 d6 8.
Nf3 dxe5 9. Bb5 - mistake d5 was better but I go on to lose.  - 8... e6 needs to be played to stop d5

For 7. Nc3 (instead of the mainline) I have dxe5 8. dxe5 Nxc3 9. Qxd8 Nxd8 10 bxc3 Bd7  or 8. Nxe5 Nxe5 9. Nxc6 Nxd1 10. Nxd8 Kxd8 11. Kxd1 Be6 12. b3 Bd5 13. f3 Rc8  which is Ungurs - Sveshnikov Riga 2002

For 7. exd6 I have Qxd6 8. Nc3 Bg4 with e6 and Be7 to follow

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. cxd4 Nc6 6. Nf3 d6 7. exd6 Qxd6 8. Be3 - some strange idea g6 9. Bc4 Nb6 10. Bxf7+ - this is not good Kxf7 11. Ng5+Kg8 12. Qb3+ Qd5 -end of attack

The lines after 7. exd6 Qxd6 8. Nc3 Bg4 9. Be2 e6 10. O-O Be7 11. h3 Bf5 12. Qb3 O-O 13. Qxb7?? are fun, the pawn is poisoned due to the threat of Rab8 and Ndb4 which catches the Q or the R but there is lots of calculation.

We could play 14...Be6 intending Bd5, instead of 14...Ba6 (in the first example)

Welcome New People

Hello everyone,

Recently I played a tournament, was a little busy for this reason and didn't follow what is happening here last month, now I see a lot of new names. Let me know who is a new Pro Member here  I want to welcome you guys, and will try to help you as much as I can :)

How your trainings are going and what courses have you already watched?

I hope you enjoy being in this Family,

I wish you best of luck in your future.

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Anyone Who Plays the KID?

Anyone Who Plays the KID?

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Me.

me too !

I just play against it ;-) (Bayonnet Attack)

The King's Indian is my obsession, it's a fascinating Opening that still even baffles the engines. Lately there is a line that many KID specialists are employing and advocating against the Saemisch, and it goes: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3 a6 7.Nge2 Nbd7 8.Qd2 b5 [For more details you can check out the following link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhEtEgaI8Q8 ]

Μy main repertoire against 1. d4 is: 

1. Benko Gambit / Modern Benoni for a win

2. King's Indian defence

3. Grünfeld defence which is an opening that works very well in my level. 

ok 

SLP

I did threaten this meme

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Chess Variants

Hey ChessMood family,

Do you play chess variants at chess.com or lichess, if yes, which one do you like best?

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I was top 30 in the world for bughouse back in 2017/8(chess.com), now I only play standard. If memory serves me right, GM Hovhannisyan was also roughly top 30 in the world for bughouse back then. 

Chess960 is my favourite. I also play 3check, King of the Hill wchich is good for controlling the centre and king activation in the endgame, and sometimes crazyhouse. 

I like chess960 very much, but I don't play it often because sometimes there are not opponents and I have to wait so long :D 

Is solving compositions good?

I have heard many opinions. Some say it will improve calculation. Some says it is not good.

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even I too have got many opinions regarding this

I would share my point of view and then you can decide

1) If you play games that require calculations and sharp play, solving them might help

2) If you have time, solving them will give you happiness and confidence

3) Kasparian's domination, 1234 endgame studies and sam Lloyd's puzzles would be best for rating range 1400+ although anyone can solve them if you like

4) Study- like solutions will most likely not help in practical play if the openings are dry

5) They can be entertaining yet tough to crack, so one must choose them wisely

6) It can help a lot in understanding piece coordination and geometry

7) It can surely help in swindling and slp

Caro-Kann g6 without Bf5

I've just finished my OTB tournament (Armenian women's championship) and I've practiced our Chessmood openings and faced one problem in the Caro-Kann g6 line  1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Nf6 6. Bf4 g6 and she played this position without Bf5, so the game was continued 7. Nf3 Bg7 8. O-O O-O, here I've played Nbd2 normal move and after unpleasant Nh5 move, I didn't know how to continue :(

Maybe I shouldn't play Nbd2 in this position? 

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I think you played Nbd2 correctly. Just after Nh5 you move the bishop to e3. Than Re1 with idea to move bishop to f1 in case knight goes to f4. If opponent plays f5 to trap the bishop you can play Nb3 with idea to go to c5-d3 and free the way for bishop to go back.

In the course, there is also a recurring motif of playing Re1 to e3 to maybe g3/h3 later. If black plays Bf5 then we trade and play Ne5 and I think we are back on track. If black plays for some f6 e5 idea with Nd7 for instance, then it will also be possible for us to play c4 and Nc3. (slightly uncertain if it is preferred to go Nbd2 c4 and then recapture with Nc4)

9.Re1 is the best and a very subtle move. 
After 9...Nh5 10.Be3 f6 11.c4! with Nc3.
That's why Re1 is a little bit better. 
Also after Nh510. Be3 f5 will not make any sense, as it's not threatening to trap the bishop. 

Scotch video 36 (8.h4! a5)

What if Black goes for 9.c4 Ba6 10.g3 g6 11.h5 Bg7 12.f4 f6 13.hxg6 and now 13...fxe5!? instead of the video's 13...hxg6?

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Thomas, an interesting question. 
Just checked, 13.h6 might be stronger. After 13...Bf8 14.Bd2 (With Nc3) fe5 15.fe5

Scotch 4...Bc5

In the Scotch course Chessmood gives the following line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nb3 Bb6 d6.

What if Black postpones ...d6 and goes for 6...Nge7 7.Qe2 O-O 8.Be3 f5!? as given by Krykun in his "A Complete Repertoire for Black after 1.e4-e5!" book? This way Black avoids the f2-f4 move as in Giri-Navara and threatens to play f5-f4 themselves.

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Apparently, Chessmood gives 7.Bg5 after 6...Nge7 (see the Negi-Maiorov video)

Hey everyone! 
Kevin is right, 7.Bf4 is an interesting idea. 
In my opinion 7.Bg5 is also strong. (With idea Qd2 instead of Qe2.)

 

Tournament in Scotch

Hello everybody,

I hope you are doing fine. 

I am studying the interesting course about Scotch opening.   I have an idea to create a rapid tournament for training on Lichess.  I am playing with the thought and I would really like  it. 

What do you think about this....  My suggestion is next weekend on Sunday  16,00 local time.  I am from Sweden. 

Please let me know and enjoy the rest of the weekend. :-) 

Best regards, 

Susanna 

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I would join.

Jag ställer upp!

ok i wii join

Thank you for your answers and that you are interested in the tournament. Nice to know!  I have written a suggestion about this to the team leader on our team on Lichess.  Hopefully there will be a tourmament to set up.  i am waiting for the answer. :-) 

Dear friends. You can organize it by yourself and add here the links of the tournament. 
First of all, on Saturdays we want you to play all the openings. 
Scotch we have played already once :) 

Philidor Defense

Hi all!

In the Advanced Section of the Philidor Defense you present the strong novelty 9.b3 after 5...Nbd7 6.Bg2 c6 7.a4 b6 8.h3 h5 9.b3 against the modern approach of delaying castling and going for ...h5 after White goes h3. 

Even better for Black seems to be delaying 5....Nbd7 and going for 5...c6 6.Bg2 (6.a4 a5 and ...Na6 with counterplay) b5 7.a3 Nbd7 8.h3 h5 when 9.b3 doesn't seem to be working. Is there a solution for this moveorder, as the line seems to be good for Black?

Best regards, Arnim!

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You have a posed a very interesting question, perhaps White can still play in a similar way as in the Advanced Course by delaying castles kingside for the time being. For instance: 

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nge2 c6 5.a4 Be7 6.g3 a5 7.Bg2 Na6 [7...0-0 8.h3 h5 9.g4 hxg4 10.hxg4 Nxg4 11.Ng3 exd4 12.Nf5 Bxf5 13.exf5 dxc3 14.Qxg4 With a winning attack.] 8.h3 h5 9.Be3 Nb4 10.Qd2 exd4 11.Bxd4 White is better, he has more space and can castle on either wing depending on what Black does. If Black castles kingside prematurely White can even consider g4 as a sacrifice with a powerful initiative as shown in the note at move seven. 11...0-0 [11...d5 12.0-0-0 dxe4 13.Qg5 And White is crashing through.] 12.0-0-0 Be6 13.g4 hxg4 14.hxg4 Nxg4 15.Bh3 c5 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Bxg4+- Winning

The above were just sample lines but it seems to me that if White refrains from castling kingside he will retain excellent attacking chances, akin to those found in the Advanced Course.   

Scotch ...Bc5

Hi Chessmood colleagues,

In my online games I often encounter the following line in the Scotch ...Bc5:

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nb3 Bb6 6.Nc3 d6 7.Qe2 Nge7 8.Be3 and now instead of 8...0-0 as given in the course, Black stays flexible with his king and goes for 8...Be6 9.0-0-0 Qd7.

Any opinion on this?

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You mean black wants to play with 0-0-0?

What is the difference in the two Scotch courses?

Hello,

I am new and looking to understand how best to proceed.

I see there is a Starter course that covers the Scotch as well as there is another course called, "Attach with Scotch Game". Which should I start with?

I also have no experience manipulating/editing a PGN file, how do I do this please.

Thank you,

Leslie Smith

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I didn't do the starter course, but I'm assuming it's a quick introduction to Chessmood and what is covered there will be covered in the main course. The use would be for say 1500 and below where tactics and basic endings plus avoiding dropping material would be better use of time than studying the rest of the opening courses in any depth (personally I'm not sure Chessmood is the best resource until you break 1500 at least, but you'll get good answers on the forum of how to get there quickly). The other idea is it's a sample of what you'd get if you bought a pro-membership since it's unlocked. I'm not sure you'd miss anything if you went on to the main course which is very good.

As for PGNs if you don't have Chessbase (probably essential for most players above 1800 particularly for opponent prep, though the online database which is free is useful for this if it's just for seeing what they play), you can use other programs such as SCID which is free (I used to 'work' with Shane on the Free Internet Chess Server long ago - though I don't think he's maintaining SCID these days). SCID is not quite as good as Chessbase for a few reasons, but Chessbase itself has a number of issues.

PGN is only one route. You could make hand written notes first time around, and then flashcards the second to help you remember. Then it's up to you to revise and keep it up to date with new ideas, things from the streams and so on. This is the older process before databases were around, and is probably more useful for learning/study IMO, though the database has the advantage of being electronic and easy to cross-reference to games and analyse with an engine without having to enter it manually.

For brevity afficionados, I'll say so well what @David_Flynn explained at lenght in but a few words: The first one is a condenced king-start version, the 2nd an in-depth coverage.

For creating pgn files you should read this article https://chessmood.com/blog/the-most-effective-way-to-create-chess-pgn-files and what about scotch, I recommend you to watch the first "Starter course", then Attack with Scotch

Hey and welcome dear @Leslie_Smith,

I think if you are already advanced player, maybe you can even start from "Attack with Scotch game".

What's your rating? 

In the game that you posted I think that BxBb6 was not a good strategy, in the Scotch Bc5 variation, the Bishop on b6 is a "stupid bishop" (quoting Avetik) and taking it does not help here, instead if they exchange our bishop on e3, we move the Queen and free our Light Squares Bishop. I would keep the tension a bit more...