Chess forum by Grandmasters

Ask me Anything Webinar Notes

- These are my notes from the "Ask me Anything" webinar. I only took notes on the questions that I thought were most useful to me. To get the full webinar, feel free to go to the recording. 

How much do you study per day? 

- depends on your goal 

- slowly improve: ~1 hour 

- a lot of time (5+ hours) to improve a lot 

- be productive, rest if needed

- try to study as much as you can 

What do you recommend against Rossolimo?

- System with ...g6 where Black recaptures with ...dxc6 after Bxc6 

- Check Carlsen's games on how he handles the Rossolimo

What did you do to become GM? 

- have a burning desire, hard work, and determination

- find people that will help you on your journey 

- understand why I wanted to become GM

How to properly use engine?

- engine is not always right, don't blindly trust it 

- check only blunders with engine 

- don't work strategical/positional positions with engine 

What to do for crucial games? When you have to win?

- don't panic and don't relax at the same time 

What is the optimal training environment? 

- environment where you can grow and enjoy 

- use trustworthy sources 

- surround yourself with people that have already achieved what you want to achieve 

Blindfold Training

- important but overestimated

- much more important to have a database of games in your mind 

- good for calculation

Time spent studying v. Time spent playing

- if you play a lot, spend more time studying vice versa

- learn knowledge followed by playing 

Concentration 

- turn off worries, take out the "trash" 

- forbidden to watch other's games when playing

- 100% concentration

- don't go on social media before the tournament because that will only increase "trash"

- turn off everything and focus before the game 

- motivate yourself 

Training Advice 

- watch a lot of games and understand ideas etc. 

- the number of games you play for blitz should be equivalent to the number of rounds in your usual tournament 

- around 1 hour of tactics/puzzle 

- find books where the author played the games or used the Recommended Page to see what books GM Avetik recommends

- find sparring partners around your level

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Thanks for sharing your work !

A super job Kevin!! 
Thank you for sharing and helping others! 

You have amazing note taking skills! Thank you for sharing!

Amazing!!!

Thanks so much

Need some help..and advice

Sir  ..i was rated around 1850 in lichess....i couldn't afford a coach so i tried working hard online watching videos...and surfing...thing around...i seriously want to improve my ratings...i dont know what is my original rating...as i had not attended any tournaments...i can do any thing to improve my chess career....please help me to reach 2500......??.....just tell me what should i do...i can work hard on anything.....thx

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First of all lichess rating starts from1500.so Ur just started playing chess..

I recommend couple of things...

Do tactics everyday...this is the most effective way of increasing Ur rating..because at this level more than 50%games are decided on tactics.......

Secondly study some endgames..the books like 100 endgames u must know ....

After studied that book throughly Ur HV pretty good knowledge of. Endgames..Ur understanding of endgame increases....that will help u...

Now  start reading some chess blogs...that will increse Ur interest in chess...Ur will read some amazing insight of game.. tournament..and other

U need 6~12 months to do that depending upon how mush time u afford to give regularly

Ur overall game will increase

Here are the 3 important steps! 

1 Why you want that? Have a definite answer to that question. You should have a very strong answer!  

2 Burning desire to do that! 

3 Massive, determined action 

3a- If you are a PRO Member- you have already a big advantage, you know the direction, you have mentors. 
a1Watch the courses, watch the streams and put in practice. Don't afraid to get out of the comfort zone. We grow only when we are not in the comfort zone! 
a2 Explore chess books from chessmood.com/we-recommend 
a3 Solve puzzles minimum of 30 minutes a day! 

You'll see big progress in a few months! 

3b- If you are not our PRO Member 

b1- Find good sources to learn - Good FB groups, good youtube channels, if you can't afford to have a coach - find friends who can help you or you can grow helping each other. 
The rest is the same. Explore chess books, solve puzzles. Of course, having a coach or mentor - is a big shortcut- but if you can't afford it - That's the way. 
You will find good resources here: chessmood.com/we-recommend

A video link about how effectively explore chess books   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5Tw1iNDfas&t=913s 

Friends, and don't forget about the Right Mood! Right Mood generates Right Moves! 

Tactical skill and positional understanding are very important as is knowledge of some basic endgames. Doing tactics helps a lot, but you'll need to do quite a lot of tactics with varying themes and levels of difficulty to achieve something big. Reading (and understanding!) some books like "How to reassess your chess" and "The Amateur's Mind" (both by IM Jeremy Silman) helps to improve your strategic skills as would many of Dvoretsky's books (Advanced material warning!). You might want to brush up your knowledge of endgames (rook endgames in particular, as well as pawn endgames) by understanding what to do in endgames rather than memorizing long theoretical variations.

I would also suggest choosing yourself a 'pet' opening. If you already know an opening (and like it!) then you could easily make it more fire-proof, by looking for novelties and ideas everywhere. One last thing, never be afraid of playing an opening or gambit that leads to a position deemed unclear as sometimes there is always a possibility that the opening may be better than its reputation. Use any good material to learn openings, but I suggest checking all lines with an engine and by yourself before playing it. That way, you can avoid any unpleasant surprises by hanging a piece in the first 10 moves. I should know, I've done that a few times ;)

Best of luck!  

Hello my Chess brothers I need some practice

 Hey guys I need some practice !  Hi guys this is Eric the old biker dude eating a little bit of practice on the board.  Not sure what the rating is now but at one time 30 years ago I made it to 1800 I’m sure it’s a lot lower .  I work very strange hours so getting games in is a little bit of a challenge .   If you feel that you have some time to spare send me a message I would love to go over this fine instruction that I’m trying to learn here .  Thanks Brothers for all your kind attention and stay free in the wind ! as I go take my motorcycle for a ride !

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It'd be useful if you added what time you can play. At the weekend, I'm free if you're interested 

Hi Eric

I'm in Oz so my timezone at UTC +8 can be a challenge however may match your strange hours?? On Lichess as Patrick-66

Old biker dude :D :D :D 
Super job guys! 

Hopefully soon we will have a chat in chessmood, so you can message each other not going to other platform :) 

I am available many times now. You can always reach out to me when you want to play!

Our Nice Games

ChessMood Family! 
In the comment section let's post our best games played online or offline and support each other! 

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https://www.chess.com/live/game/3730862141

It seems I need to add this game in the 2nd section of the course "Nightmare of Rossolimo" :D

https://www.chess.com/live/game/3730797031 

Anti_Sicilian with Nc3! 

https://www.chess.com/live/game/3735942348

one of my best play in benko gambit..thank to chessmood... learning chess with more motivate after. join chessmood pro

Our New PRO Members! Welcome to team!

Derek JY , Raf De Coninck , Kavin Nattavutthisit Wallace Howard , Mark Knerr, Anu 

Welcome to our team ?

Here you can find about our teammates:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ChessmoodPRO/permalink/384093582386242/

Would be cool, if you also introduce yourself.

Warm welcome, guys ?

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Welcome!

Patrick Oliver, Jack Zhu! Welcome to our PRO Members team! 

Welcome to the team!

Mate Janosik! Welcome to the team! 

hi

Hello guys!

Nightmare of Rossolimo!

Dear friends, dear PRO Members. 
With your request, I started to work on the course Rossolimo for black! We will kill at as Carlsen do! 
I just finished the 1st section, I'll edit it today and upload! 

Right Mood - Right Move! 

 

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Nice! Thank you!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/3730862141

It seems I need to add this game in the 2nd section of the course "Nightmare of Rossolimo" :D

English Opening

Is there a line where we can get good play against the english?

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You don't like Maroczy Bind? 

Best preparation for an OTB Open Tournament ?

I'll play an OTB Open tournament in one month : 1h30/40 - 30' +[30"]. I'll will play the Opening Repertoire suggested here, even if I'm not ready yet... Is there a special preparation ? more tactics ? more opening preparation ? something else ? Thanks.

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Probably do many tactics before the tournament to be sharp then focus on openings before your game.

Mr. Pascual, take a good rest before. You need energy! 
I agree with Kirk, some work for the calculation can be solving puzzles. 
It's also a great idea to play some sparring games trying our opening repertoire.
You can play with any of our team members, so you don't show your secrets to others :) 

I think proper physical fitness is also important.If the game lasts longer,we need good energy levels.I agree with the prior replies.I consider physical one of the important factor now a days.We can see that fit player like magnus has great results.While vishy is strong in his game,he lacks fitness.Which played a major role during his recent tournaments

Can black survive?

Black to move...

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If Qf2 I don't see anything, but I may be wrong

We have the first Grandmaster PRO Member!

We have the first GM Pro Member! 
Alexey Kislinsky, welcome to team :) 

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Welcome!

New Project for PRO Members

Dear Friends!
I am very excited to announce that from the 1st of June we start a new project for PRO Members!
As many of you have problems in the middlegame, I will analyze and upload 1 classical game each day explaining ideas, plans, what and why.
This will help you a lot with middlegame, as you will see so many new ideas, which will grow your chess understanding and your chess level.

#Let's_keep_constant_growth

With best wishes,
GM Avetik

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Looking forward to it coach!

How to Play for a Win against the Maroczy Bind?

The Accelerated Dragon is a very solid and sound opening, but as the title suggests it is exteremely difficult to generate any winning chances against the acid test, that being the Maroczy Bind. To make matters worse for Black some aggresive new ideas have recently surfaced that make the Bind even more potent than before. Below are a couple of illustrative games to highlight how White can cut across two popular plans Black typically employs:

Fier,A (2561) - Ahmad,Al Khatib (2336) [B36]
25th Abu Dhabi Masters Abu Dhabi UAE (7.23), 13.08.2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Nxd4 7.Qxd4 d6 8.f3! Bg7 9.Be3 0-0 10.Qd2 a5 11.Na4 Nd7 12.0-0-0! Relatively rare but very strong b6 13.h4 Ba6 14.Kb1 Nc5 15.Nc3 f5 16.h5 fxe4 17.hxg6 hxg6 18.Nxe4 Nxe4 19.Qd5+ Rf7 20.Qxe4 Qc8 21.Bd3 Rf6 22.Qd5+ e6 23.Qxd6 Bxc4 24.Be4 Rb8 25.Rc1 b5 26.b3 Qe8 27.Bg5 Rf8 28.Qh2 Rf5 29.Qh7+ Kf7 30.Bh6 Qf8 31.Bxg7 Qxg7 32.Qxg7+ 1-0 My conclusion is that 12.0-0-0 closes the chapter on 11...Nd7, but perhaps 11...Be6 deserves deeper investigation.

Sousa,Andre Ventura (2373) - Pintor,S (2040) [B38]
6th Famalicao Open 2018 Vila Nova de Famalicao POR (4.6), 31.07.2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Be2 d6 9.f3! Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Bd7 11.Qd2 a5 12.h4! h5 13.0-0-0! Very strong a4 14.g4 e5 15.Be3 hxg4 16.Bg5 gxf3 17.Bxf3 Qc8 18.h5 Nxh5 19.Bxh5 gxh5 20.Bh6 f6 21.Rdg1 Rf7 22.Rxh5 Qc5 23.Qg2 a3 24.Bxg7 Qe3+ 25.Kc2 Qxg1 26.Rh8# 1-0 Again this 0-0-0 idea poses serious problems for Black, and forces him to consider his early move order and typical plans very carefully. Who knew that this Yugoslav Attack style play that we see in the regular Dragon would also prove effective in Maroczy Bind as well.

So ChessMood family I welcome your thoughts an ideas on how to generate some winning chances against the dreaded Bind. 

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Kevin, good question! 
Right now I am working on the new course, advanced Maroczy Bind, which will be ready soon! 

Closed Sicilian with 2... g6

One of my recent opponent played 1.e4 c5 2. Nc3 g6. I didn't know it so I played f4 but I got a bad position out of the opening (in the end I drew the game). After the game I found out that the main move is d4, so what would you advise me to play if I meet g6 again?

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Fantastic answer by Kevin! 
In the first game 14.Qa6 I believe is the strongest move! 
About Rb8, need to check...

There is also a quite interesting idea against 2...g6 3.d4 cd 4.Qd4 Nf6 5.Be3!? Bg7 6.Qd2! 
Idea is going to dragon line without wastng time on Bc4 and Bb3! 
It's a very fresh idea played by GM Demchenko againt GM Dubov. 

By the way after we get a clear advantage, the 2...g6 will be the 5th part Anti-Sicilian! 

Sorry guys I mistakenly deleted my earlier post, oops :(  Let me try to reconstruct it as best I can. I had expressed that I too was wondering how best to meet 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 g6!?, as 3.d4 recommended by both GM Robin Van-Kampen on chess24 and GM Alexei Kornev in his book Rossolimo and friends didn't seem fully convincing to me. See below games for details:

Dastan,B (2520) - Nguyen,P (2421) [B27]
Graz Open A 2018 Graz AUT (6.3), 21.02.2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Qa4 d6 7.e5 dxe5 8.Nxe5 Bg7 9.Bb5
0-0 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Bxc6 Rb8!? 12.0-0 Qc7 13.Re1 Rb6!N 14.Bf3 Bb7 15.Bf4 Qc8 16.Bxb7
Qxb7 17.Qa3 Rb4 18.Bg3 Rc8 19.Rad1 Bf8! with excellent compensation. 

Jovanovic,Zo CRO (2518) - Guseinov,G (2664) [B23]
European Rapid 2018 Skopje MKD (11.7), 09.12.2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Qa4 d6 7.e5 dxe5 8.Nxe5 Bg7 9.Bb5 0-0 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Bxc6 Bd7 12.0-0 Rc8 13.Bxd7 Qxd7 [with sufficient compensation]  14.Be3 Qxa4 15.Nxa4 Rxc2 16.Rac1 Rxc1 17.Rxc1 Nd5 18.Bd2 Bd4 19.Rc4 e5 20.Kf1 f6 21.Ke2 g5 22.g3 Kf7 23.Nc3 Rd8 24.Nxd5 Rxd5 25.Be3 Bxe3 26.Kxe3 a5 27.g4 Kg6 28.h3 h5 29.Ke2 h4 30.b3 Rb5 31.Kd3 Rd5+ 32.Ke2 Rb5 33.Kd3 Rd5+ ½-½ 

GM Guseinov is an Accelerated Dragon specialist whose games are well worth studying, and curiously he also specialises in the 2.Nc3 Anti-Sicilian for White.

Thanks very much for your input GM Avetik, I will check out the Demchenko vs Dubov game for sure and look forward to the fifth part of the Anti-Sicilian Course.  

Right mood right move as always. :)

Crushing with Scotch game!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/3680234628 

And again h4! :) 

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Fun game!

Another #SLP!

Keep saving a few of these. How about all of you?

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/3715269030

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Bro, wrong link... You should give us the link without that ...analyze...

Time Management Notes Part 1

- These are my notes from the webinar 

• Knowing chess and playing chess are very different

• Don’t recommend to play a lot of correspondence games

Basic Problems with Time Management

1. Play too slow

• Time pressure

• Not enough time for the rest of the game

• Some players spend too much time in the opening stage which does not allow them to have the time they need when faced with critical positions later on in the game

• Losing due to time pressure is not a good excuse

• Chess is just a game: At home, chess is a science as you try to find the best moves. However in a game, it is just a game. Since you have limited time, you cannot find the best moves every time.

• Don’t try to find the best moves all the time unless it is a critical moment

2. Play too fast

• Quality of moves goes down

• Some players spend too much time in the opening stage which does not allow them to have the time they need when faced with critical positions later on in the game

3. Noticing critical positions

• Comes with experience

• Be aware that at some point of the game, there will be critical moments

• Spend more time in critical moments

Standard Games v. Blitz Games

• Cannot play blitz games as good as standard games

• Play as many good moves as possible

• Knowing the opening well or playing must-play moves can save time; can lead to spending more time in the future than your opponent

• Good time management leads to higher-quality games

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These are great notes! Thanks for posting them!

Wooooow!!!
Kevin, super!!!
Fantastic!!! I am shocked! 
It seems you liked the webinar and took lots of value from there. 
Thank you for sharing your notes! 

 

Let the giants fall!

I am winning games against much higher rated players! This is my best on chess.com so far! Will we get a course to fight the Scandinavian defense soon? 

https://www.chess.com/live/game/3707117894

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Hey!

I checked your game.Your opponent blundered few times,in scandinavian defence I prefer to play with c4 and Nc3(in general)instead of c3 Nbd2.Hope soon we will have scandinavian defence video course.

Best Regards GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan!

How to Crush the Polish Opening

Have an upcoming game against player who always plays 1.Nf3, any 2. b4. I have my own ideas, of course, but am curious what others think. One idea I have is to play 1. Nf3, c5 taking away a free 2. b4.  Yes, 2.b4 can still be played, but I think challenging a confirmed Polish in such a manner might be disconcerting for him. 

Other ideas?

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If your opponent wants to play the Polish, you should not be looking for ways to avoid it but rather welcome it.

1.b4 is well met with 1...e5 or 1...d5, while 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.b4 is still well met by 2...e5!. Remember that Flank Attacks or Flank Openings, all things being equal, are best countered by taking the center, that's strategy 101. Check your Database or an Online Database for games played by strong Black players in the above lines to get a flavor for how play develops, you will see that Black often wins with mating attacks.

Scotch Game

Here is a game against a strong opponent on Chess.com. This game shows how quickly black can go wrong in this opening. This was a daily game with a 3 day/move time limit. I hope it will open in this format. Enjoy the game

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A very nice game Jeff! 
A typical crush with Scotch! 
Did you learn Scotch game here or you played it before joining our PRO team? 

Our Goals

Dear Friends, dear Pro Members! 
Let's put some certain goals and keep track on them!  

On what level you are now? How much is your rating, what is the next goal? 

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I am a coach, and all my goals are related to my students.
But I also put a personal goal, so we all grow together motivating each other, and I hope on my personal experience to motivate you :) 

Now my online rating in chess.com is around 2700. 
My next goal is to get 2800. 

I know it's gonna be tough, on that lever are playing Grandmasters who work on themselves every day!
I am retired, and I am a coach, but I'll do that! 
I believe in the Right Mindset, Right Mood, and the power of our Openings! 

Till the end of the year, I'll try to get 2900.
The next goal is 2800. 

Right Mood - Right Move! 

My rating over the board is around 1200-1300. I'd like to reach 1600 within the next 12-18 months then hopefully one day, I can reach 1800-2000 :)