Chess forum by Grandmasters

A line I never found in the scotch game course

😀

I am currently going through the scotch game course, and I am looking at some of the sections past the main section because I was interesting in refuting +Bb4 because I had seen it in some of my games before. I looked a model game section which had the model game for it, and in the video GM Avo said he played the line which he taught us before in a section, I am looking for this video with the Bb4 video but have not been able to find it. Could somebody please tell me if I'm missing it and it is in plain sight or it is not a video 😀

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BugFix thoughts/suggestions

I'm really excited for the idea of Bugfix, but I feel like it could use some improvements.

Just like FixMood, we really need a link to the video where it is discussed or where the quiz originally happened.   Especially since you can filter bugfix to apply over a wide range of courses, sometimes I have no idea where it came from!

Second, during the initial stage, I feel like there ought to be an option to show the solution after a few wrong guesses.   This isn't the daily puzzle.  It seems like, in “stage 1” there should be an option for hint or show solution.   Then in “stage 2”, if I get it wrong again, send it back to "stage 1" (I forgot the names of the stages – e.g the initial fix, then practice stages).  Right now, if I can't solve what is being asked after one or two tries, it is just “guess and check” which doesn't seem like a productive way to learn.  Again, having a link back to the course chapter would also do the trick.

Finally, it would be nice if BugZone kept some sort of statistics of which quizzes I keep getting wrong.  Right now, you answer it right once and it disappears from the bug list (moves to the second stage, but only after a delay),  – but I want to be drilled over and over on a course's quizzes, and then show me which moves I consistently get wrong.   Same with FixMood – it's one thing to see games where I strayed from opening prep, but it would be great to show some sort of stats.  Hey, on move 7 of the Scotch, 75% of the time you play the wrong move, let's drill that position.  For instance BugZone could then let me filter on bugs that I make more than 50% of the time in that position (counting both quizzes and fixmood games), so I focus on my weaknesses.  (Or maybe percentage isn't the right metric, I want to find mistakes I make most commonly in the positions I encounter most commonly).  For instance chessstalker has something that shows repetoire holes, something like that would be useful tying to chess mood content.

Anyway, are other people using BugFix?  How do you use it to best effect?

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I really like it, and like the idea. 

I do wish there was an option to remove / start over though, as it is currently quite large and like you mentioned I can't quite remember where some puzzels were added. 

For me, FixMood only works for White. 

The BlackMood Repertoire is not being detected (and they're all showing in early deviations but I'm sure that I play the first four moves almost always correctly) only the WhiteMood is detected. 

Is anyone else having this issue?

Also, in the Petroff 4.Nxf7 is marked as the right move, even though that's only for the Starter Course.

Thanks

Potential issue with quiz in Tactical Ninja?

For the test, position 7/8 has no answer with black to move.

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Wait never mind I just figured it out

Petrov Defence with 3...Nc6

Hi, I was watching the opening cours on the Petrov Defense. I am missing a line against 3….Nc6 which happens almost always in my games. I never faced 3….d6. And I kinda struggle against 3….Nc6.

What is the recommended plan here? Any advide?

Thank you very much.

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Hi Jan

This is the Stafford gambit.

You can find the course in the section: Refutations of the abracadabra gambits

Good luck!

Why are there so many bots on this Platform???!!!

In another AU thread, the phrase real money casino Australia came up while people were comparing different platforms. I checked it later, and what stood out was the emphasis on secure deposits and fast payouts. It wasn’t highlighted as the main theme, just part of a wider debate, but the mention added authenticity and showed that optimization for AU users really matters. Even though I had doubts at first, the clear layout and focus on fairness made it seem trustworthy.

Opening preparation

Hi Hovhannes, what would you recommend after the line 1.b3 c5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 e5 4.Nf3 d6 5.Bb5?

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Hi Nikola,

I checked the move, to be honest, many options are doable 5…e4, 5…Nf6 - I didn't see any issues for Black. Is anything specific bothering you?

Help in the French exchange please.

Having trouble getting the long castle setup in the exchange French. I love the French Attack. I just have trouble getting into the setup when white plays nf3. instead of c3. Any advice on this would be very helpful. I have watched all the videos and model games I think there is just something I am missing with this set up.

Thanks for your answers. 

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Just go Nc6, Bd6, Nge7, Bg4, Qd7, f6 & 0-0-0 bro. White cannot really do much about your setup in the French attack, which is great. I’m not exactly sure what problem your dealing with.

There are a few modal games from the stream section that addresses this. There Avo just played Ne7 leaving the bishop on f8. Later in the game the bishop gets developed nicely. You can leave the bishop on f8 and follow the usual setup with long castle.

Ya Same Just go Nc6, Bd6, Nge7, Bg4, Qd7, f6 & 0-0-0 bro. White cannot really do much about your setup in the French attack, which is great. I’m not exactly sure what problem your dealing with.

Thanks for pointing out game 81 and saying leave the bishop there. Answered my question thanks.

I beat a 1720 player on chess.com

Hello, 

I was playing a game earlier, and yes I did blunder my knight at the end and luckily my opponent didn't see it, but I beat my first 1700 player at 1723, very happy with this result, outplaying him in the end game. I wanted to share my victory here. https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/170709477842/analysis

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Congrats Tyler,
It's great to watch your progress over time, my friend. Keep going, 2000 is the next? :-)))

Strategic Masterpieces Game 45

In Game 45 of Strategic Masterpieces, in one of the variations (12:23 of the video), the position below is reached

GM Avetik mentions that the g7 pawn will be lost and also the h6-pawn. But what if Black in the position below goes Kh8, with the idea that after Rxg7 there is Rf6+ and White cannot take the rook because of stalemate? Would White just win by advancing the king and e-pawn, or something else?

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White will not take the rook but will reply with Rg6 move :-)
You almost found a draw, haha :-))

Chess Social Media

Anyone active on whatsapp, facebook or instagram. I wanna some active chess groups on whatsapp and instagram. If anyone knows then add me

fb @abhishekyadavgm

insta @chesslectures

whatsapp +919992285777

Please add only for chess related stuffs. Thanks.

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We have our discord server here too friend

https://discord.gg/PF9fh6h

call it

Video playback speed stuck?

Hi folks, I have a situation where I put the video playback speed at, say, 1.25x, and then it stays for the next video…sometimes. Okay so far no biggie, I actually like that part for convenience.

But then I have a situation where it sticks at 1.25x or 2x speed, I change it and the change doesn't stick, and I have to grab the video and change the speed every time! What is going on? Can anyone help me figure this out?

Replies

Hi Ben,

Thanks for reaching out!

The player is designed to remember your last-used speed for convenience, but sometimes the browser cache or player settings can get "stuck" on a specific speed (like 1.25x or 2x) and refuse to save new adjustments.

To reset the player's memory, you can try this quick trick:

1. Start a video and change the playback speed to 1.5x (or any speed different from what you currently have).
2. Change it back to Normal (or the specific speed you want to keep).

This toggle usually resets the persistent settings in the player's memory so future videos honor your new speed choice.

Let us know if that does the trick for you!

Course Attachment for Defend With Honor

Hello chessmood,

There is no attachment in the Defend with honor course.

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Thanks for noticing Pawn Bishop,
We are aware of that, and from time to time we are updating the materials :-) 

An opening repetoire for white

I get that the opening chosen is sound, interesting and instructive and designed to develop your chess…but wow there are so many response vatiations! 

I am a chess returner after a 50 year gap…I'm not sure how much complicated “development” I can do in that sense, compared to if I was younger and beginning a chess journey. Agree that many playing system openings have not studied the opening in depth- but one could- and I wonder if that might be a more effective development path for someone only aiming for a finite ceiling of club player?

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It's quite easy to learn actually. I started playing chess 4 years ago at the age of 51. I joined CM in january and I raised my FIDE standard rating with 170+ points in 5 months. All main lines are covered in the White- and Blackmood openings and on my level that helped a lot. The issue is the rating average in my club is still 250+ up. I loved the Sicilian lines as well. But to keep things easier for myself learning one thing at the time I decided to keep French line against 1.d4 it complicates more than enough against the best players in the Club. 

Good Mood Good Move

-Arild

GM Noel Studer has even simpler repertoire (2h for white) in his courses. He speaks about minimalist openings in his video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn3bHXi1ssE

I played it before CM and is really easy to remember because you get same positions from many openings and the lines are short. Anyway in general I like now CM more because it goes into positions that I like to play.

Try and decide yourself.

Well you could just watch some short and sweet courses on chessable or chess.com as they are mostly only 1 to 4 hours long but cover everything in a short and sweet manner.

It really depends on playing style is. For White if you prefer a sharp line with tactics and attack, then you should play 1. e4. If you prefer positional and quiet positions, then d4 is probably most suitable for you. Of course, both variations have positional and sharp lines. You can find courses online about both of those openings, though Chessmood focuses on e4 for White. 

However, if you really want simple and easy lines to learn that also have some depth, then focus on London System (1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4) as White. It's not that hard to make a mistake and it can counter basically every single Black variation after 1. d4! It's also very good as a reverse-colored opening for Black to counter White sidelines.

But at the end of the day, it really depends on your style and play so go find a right fit for you!

london system as white, modern/pirc as black depending on your style. modern a bit simpler but kind of passive, you dont really attack (at least at the besinning). just 2 simple, 1-hour study openings and you dont have to worry about openings anymore.

I'm looking for a chess site that has free game analysis.

Hey, does anyone know where I can get free game analysis? Something like the Chess site "I won't give the name so I don't advertise". You can just tell me what it's called and I'll look it up on the web so we don't advertise. I'm a young beginner, and I don't have the money to pay for the analysis yet. Thanks in advance.

Replies

You can try Lichess

https://encroissant.org/

This pc software has analysis feature and you can generate report that tells you how many good moves, bad moves you played  =)

Lichess is the website that gives you free analysis you can try it

lichess is good, also in chess.com you can do a self-analysis and just watch the evaluation bar after each move. this lets you understand if that move was good or not. 
if you really want the chess.com style analysis with the feedback, you can use these: chessRef, AeroChess, ChessDream and Chessigma. 

Opening preparation

Dear Hovhannes!

Currently i am preparing for one of my potential opponents in my next tournament.  I know for sure that he plays e6 against our Gran Prix systems and after 1.e4 c5 2 Nc3 e6 3. f4 he plays 3 … Nc6 and then Nge7 with d5. In this instance i did not find  any transitions to Step by Step repertoire, and the main line 4. Nf3 Nge7  5.d4 leads into structures of Open Sicilians. After 5 g3 Black finally gets the chance to play d5 without transitioning to the positions from the e6 course. What would you suggest to play against 3… Nc6 with delayed …d5 move?

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Dear Andrew,

How about in this case playing the systems with g3-Bg2-0-0-d3?

Sicilian Grand Prix

I wanted to ask what to do in the Sicilian after 1e4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 Bb5 and here if blacks plays Qc7 I encountered in a game and took the knight not sure If its the best way to tackle it

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unnecessary to just give up your bishop pair for nothing… keep developing normally with Nf3 and when your opponent plays a6 respond with Nd5, attack his queen and only then take the knight, doubling his pawns. if he goes for Qd6 and take back your bishop with his queen you can play Ne5, followed by either Nc7 or d4… Bf4, both are winning. 

Queen's Gambit: Sharing an Interesting Engine Suggestion Involving Piece Sacrifices

Hi everyone! I've been playing against bots lately since I had to take a break from chess due to some health issues. I am really impressed with the performance of the engine I am using to help me refresh my memory on my main opening, the Queen's Gambit.

I found this one line it keeps suggesting extremely interesting. The engine has been recommending an early sacrifice of the g-pawn, and sometimes even sacrificing a knight and a bishop in exchange for initiative and a strong attack.

This really reminded me of some of the lines and tactics taught here on ChessMood, so I wanted to share it with you all.

The PGN are below. Thanks!
[Event "Play vs Bot"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2026.06.21"]
[Round "-"]
[White "CodeMasterForever"]
[Black "Cramling-Bot"]
[Result "1-0"]
[CurrentPosition "r1b4k/3n4/4p3/p6Q/2pP4/5N2/PP3P1P/2K3R1 b - - 1 30"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "D30"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Queens-Gambit-Declined-3.Nf3-Nf6"]
[UTCDate "2026.06.21"]
[UTCTime "01:17:03"]
[WhiteElo "1182"]
[BlackElo "2175"]
[TimeControl "?"]
[Termination "CodeMasterForever won by checkmate"]
[StartTime "01:17:03"]
[EndDate "2026.06.21"]
[EndTime "01:31:39"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/computer/1602169642/analysis?move=43"]
[WhiteUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/377617625.06e8d03e.50x50o.ecf2fdd68f05.jpg"]
[WhiteCountry "225"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/124922546.3290393a.50x50o.bcd3d40795b5.png"]
[BlackCountry "132"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 h6 7. Bf4 O-O 8. g4
dxc4 $2 9. Rg1 Nd5 10. g5 $1 Nxf4 11. gxh6 Ng6 12. Bxc4 b5 $2 13. Bd3 Nd7 14. hxg7 $2
Kxg7 15. Qc2 f5 $6 16. e4 Qe8 $2 17. O-O-O Qf7 18. Ne2 c5 $2 19. Nf4 fxe4 $2 20. Nxg6
exd3 21. Qxd3 c4 $6 22. Nxe7+ Kf6 23. Qa3 b4 24. Qxb4 Qxe7 $6 25. Rg6+ Kf7 26.
Rg7+ Kxg7 27. Qxe7+ $1 Kh8 $2 28. Rg1 Rf7 29. Qxf7 a5 30. Qh5# 1-0

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Questions about advanced French positions

Hi,

I have two questions about advanced French positions. 

First, how to play in the advanced French e5 c4 lines when White plays Nc3 d5?

Second, in what positions do we play f6? I see in the simplified repertoire that sometimes Avetik recommends to play f6, but I hesitate because it weakens the e6 pawn and weakens the king position a bit.

Thanks!

Replies

Dear Tyler,

By any chance, did you check the Advanced French webinar that GM Avetik made?
Here is the link https://chessmood.com/event/french-attack-advanced

If you will stil have further questions, I would love to help.
When playing f6, you need to make sure that the activity you gain on the f file and opening your pieces is good enough to compensate White's open e file and the weak pawn on e6 - there is no such rule like always do it here or there :-)

I would advise analyzing your games - and whenever you played f6 - sometimes good and bad, try to understand the differences :-)

Two Rooks against Queen

Dear Chess Mood members,

Hope you are all doing well.

Is there any video / material / link you could recommend that deals with two rooks against queen situations?

I always thought it is equal but my opponent yesterday led me to this situation and the engine showed winning advantage for him.

I ended up just checking his king for a long time. 

Thanks for the feedback. 

Paco

Replies

Hmmmmmm, let me think….

Oh, I know a very nice guy ( GM Gabuzyan) who recorded 4 daily lessons on that topic!
Explaining the Queen vs 2 Rooks concepts.
https://chessmood.com/course/daily-lessons-with-gm/episode/4798

This is the link for the first one - the other ones are just below it - numbers 319-322 :-)

Hope you enjoy it :-)

French Defense: Franco Sicilian Defense

c5)

Hi everyone,

I’m currently following the ChessMood repertoire against the French Defense. However, I’m struggling to find a consistent approach against the Franco-Sicilian (1.e4 e6 2.d4 c5).

I’ve been trying to stick to the repertoire's ideas (playing Bd3), but after 1.e4 e6 2.d4 c5, playing 3.Bd3 feels uncomfortable because I lose the d4 pawn (or I have to deal with complex, long-term imbalances). It seems to transpose into positions that feel like a Benoni, which I don’t know well and are outside my current knowledge base.

How do you guys recommend handling this in line with the ChessMood philosophy? Should I be looking for an early c3, or is there a specific way to handle the Bd3 lines that avoids those uncomfortable Benoni-style structures?

Any advice or guidance on how to navigate this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Replies

Dear Jose,

In that position, White continues with 3.d5, gaining the space advantage, and that allows to comfortably place the pieces in the center. 
Usualy Black respons with 3…exd5 4.exd5 d6 - you can develop the Knights - Bd3-Bf4, I recomend to meet a6 with a4 not to allow the b5 move :-)

What to do after Calclman?

After watching the Calclman course, other than doing the course quizzes, is there anything else I can do to further improve my calculations? Any books/websites to recommend?

Replies

There is the fantastic book “Improve your chess calculation” written by Ramesh RB. But be warned: It's so demanding (and often frustrating). Although Ramesh would probably disagree I think the rating should be at least 1900 FIDE.