Chess forum by Grandmasters

Model Games in the Classical Maroczy Bind and Accelerated Dragon

Hello Sir,

In this Black Friday Offer, I completed the Maroczy Bind and Accelerated Dragon course. It was very different than my first views in the Maroczy Bind, I thought black has to defend always, but now I understood how to play it correctly. Besides this, can anyone tell me who are the experts in this Maroczy Bind and Acc. Dragon with black and white. I think one of them would be Iturrizaga, because I think somewhere GM Avetik Sir told that it would be beneficial to watch his games.

Thanks,

Replies

Hi Khokan,

In addition to iturrizaga, you can check Guseinov games

Deleted

The best games of November and the prizes

Hello ChessMood family, hello champions and future champions! 
Welcome to the "Best games of November" competition.
Under this post, we invite you to post your best games that you will play this month. 

The Prize fund is 350K Moodcoins which is equal to 350$.  

The 1st prize  - 150K
The 2nd prize - 100K
The 3rd prize-  50K
The 4th Prize- 30k
The 5th Prize- 20k

Good luck with your games and keep the Right Mood! 
#ChessMood
#Right Mood - Right Move 

P.S
Here are the winners of September: 

1st-  Specter11   
2nd- Jay Garrison
3rd- Abhi Yadav
4th- Arman Shahzamani                
5th- Derek Simpson  

Replies

Accelerated Dragon Aggression

https://lichess.org/9ciuKE8y/black#69

Crushing the English with Black. According to Chess.com, Black's accuracy was 99,1% with just one mistake.

Is it possible to see which games constituted the best games?

Quiet approach in endgame and won

https://lichess.org/XueimBz69qdU

Scotch

https://lichess.org/xSD437DxboiL

Beautiful Game!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5669127397

And I Played A Brilliant Move!!

Finally a 24 move knockout.

https://lichess.org/HMdjkufT3FmX

21 move Maroczy. I do not know why my opponent played Bd4 in the end losing line but still I liked it

https://lichess.org/cGvJaT8jVeKj

22 move domination against 2200+ player..

https://lichess.org/uFJjECl5LONU

12 Moves Scotch Miniature shows an exception that why d5 is wrong in opening.

https://lichess.org/JKyPx7iUvhU3

King side attack in Benko Gambit

Love this mate.

https://lichess.org/rv4O3mUvyMxk

Not a sound sac because my follow up had issue but I won

https://lichess.org/A3LsZ6qn/white#53

Missed mate but nice kking hunt I think

https://lichess.org/Fjh0K6bkF5WJ

Killer Attacking Game!!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/5680724151

I am Very Happy To Get 1 Brilliant Move In A Game!!

But I Got 2 Brilliant Move This Game ....Just Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bad game but I liked that game

Strength of a passed pawn.

Expect the unexpected

Miniature in Na5 advanced Section Line

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5685117173

23 move miniature against 1.f4

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5685203891

This was a Bc5 scotch, such and amazing course, get a crushing position just following the plans and opponent is losing badly!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5669812899

23 move knockout in GP

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5690497874

Well I am not a benoni player but I knew one thing about benoni from classics is that white place his pawn on e4 and a4 not on a3  and e3. So I knew I am already ok or may be somewhat better because white will have to lose another tempo by playing a4 so I played it anyways. I also knew TV concept so I knew my knight on f6 is not well placed so I provoked weaknesses and then I won this game positionally.

Concepts: 

1. Playing against tempos.

2. TV concepts.

3. Isolated white's light squared bishop.

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5690545391

A benoni game.

Scotch

https://lichess.org/8F03Noy1

Monster Bishops

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5694832869

https://lichess.org/wD1hofSwL4ye 

I like that position with Bf4 when nobody can do anything and my king is king coming eat a3  than b6 a5 an win.

Messed up in opening I know but did okay in middlegame 

Zen Mode Helpful;

https://lichess.org/72O6zC7AWlGX

Total violation of playing for e4 as white in Benko Gambit so he paid the price. Zen Mode helpful 

https://lichess.org/YUMgT8YWo0Dz

Blunder by @Jay_Garrison but I think it's so tough for anyone to play against chessmood benko.

https://lichess.org/O3sb0dGamYdu

Still doing okay in attacking 

https://lichess.org/LsKMWnqozFLN

https://lichess.org/mnWFiyb3 

Sicilian Defense: 

https://lichess.org/Ympjm5oF/white#10

French Defense

https://lichess.org/ybutjfzL/white#4

Sicilian Defense:

https://lichess.org/LRRXG8ho/white#7

Sicilian Defense

https://lichess.org/RAosVwid/white#5

https://lichess.org/iuea92968BWQ

Anti-sicilian part 2. Several mistakes, but quite nice finish

Power of the bishop pair in a Scotch miniature

https://lichess.org/9PAzkZVn4NBF

https://lichess.org/VAMxDMEl 

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/5713703252

The guy took my Pawn and I took his king. Well I missed simple tactics terrible but Nd6 was nice found I think. I play a bit bad on chess.com

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5718715412

Play the Benko with black and crush a strong GM like this !!! :

https://lichess.org/ayXJCwWAIgjs

Nearly perfect Benko, according to the engine: https://lichess.org/RWOETDGoESoq

Caro-Kann

https://lichess.org/kOIPIupTXAAM

Scotch victory in 14 moves! Crushing opponents with ChessMood openings is easy!

Queen's Pawn Game

https://lichess.org/5OSmR5Ou/black#5

Scotch Game

https://lichess.org/moI7RWq3#5

Sicilian Defense

https://lichess.org/O8M1ONAw/black#7

 Scotch Game

https://lichess.org/20KWjYkx#7

Philidor Defense

https://lichess.org/F5M9XF1f#7

Learnt from Capablanca

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5723584437

Some sort of unusual play by black and I won with my fav., GP

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5723606027

Unusual GP smooth win.

https://lichess.org/56omxKMD#49

Entirely smooth dragon - simple and straightforward! 99.2% accuracy!

https://lichess.org/fipHeGa8/black

Nice Game!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5725889186

https://lichess.org/u5oyAYUhZSwX

A nice tactic and win in the Grand PRIX!

 Scotch Game

https://lichess.org/ducG7ydI/white#5

Queen's Pawn Game

https://lichess.org/o49lfnEU/black#7

English Opening

https://lichess.org/f3y1QMaa/black#9

Scandinavian Defense

https://lichess.org/UEc3dqqm/white#10

English Opening:

https://lichess.org/hLCBD3Qs/black

 Sicilian Defense

https://lichess.org/wAVuq3eJ/black#9

Pirc Defense

https://lichess.org/8dd5L1wd/white#11

 Scandinavian Defense

https://lichess.org/aGvvZJYY/white#10

Queen's Pawn

https://lichess.org/Vv0daewr/black#8

 Sicilian Defense

https://lichess.org/dAi4XHAK/black#1

French Defense

https://lichess.org/5VknmQLZ#3

Sicilian Defense

https://lichess.org/Lr2rQau7/black#11

Knight sacrifice and checkmate in opposite castle

There is a small story behind this game. Since I passed 2000 ratings at lichess at chesscom I don't play there anymore because I'm afraid that my rating will go down :D So at this Polish website people sometimes "cheat" on time settings- they invite you for 3 minutes, and change it to say 15 before you realize, hoping that you would just resign instead of playing a longer game. In this case the guy changed from 3 to 5 but I decided to play anyway and I think I used the extra 2 minutes well :) 

Of course I played with blacks ;) 

https://www.kurnik.pl/p/?g=ch497375559#63

Kind of Windmill in Acc. Dragon...

I hadnt faced the Alekhine in months, and quickly forgot the line. I was still able to remember a couple of the ideas and win a game against a player rated much higher then me. 

The key though, is immediately after the game I went to my PGN and check my file to fix my mistake - I hope you are doing the same!

Nice attacking game in Closed Sicilian ...d6 variation. I won on time, hoverver my oponent was already in a desperate situation.

Sicilian with monster knight.  It spent half the game on d5 :)

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5753170453

 Scandinavian Defense

https://lichess.org/JFJ3vjFU/black

A crushing victory from a smooth game

Wild Najdrof heheh.

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5749869317

A game against the Philidor.  I haven't looked at that video yet but just tried to play actively.  Sacrificed an exchange to keep my opponent's king in the center, and tried to get happy bishops!

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/5756588244

SLP!  Got into a bad position out of the opening (haven’t done the English course yet!) and went into slp.  Managed to complicate things enough to equalize material and then won in the endgame.

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5758430159

Unusual d4-d5 destroyed positionally

https://lichess.org/NSzlyur1#36

Positional Queen's Indian. Right trades and simple win.

https://lichess.org/pH0TsFIg#46

Cutest Mate!

https://lichess.org/4p6lAHPf#41

One of my best checkmates.

Absolute crush against the French.  18 moves

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/5764036604

I know the player was not super strong but I liked this Qd2- Qh6 pattern so much and it worked well here

https://lichess.org/pqowpGod#31

Mating net was fun 

https://lichess.org/CAPBReMf/black#52

I am 2200 on chess.com!!!

Very Thank You Sir @GM_Avetik_Grigoryan @GM_Hovhannes_Gabuzyan

and my last game which made me 2200 was a great example of "Power of Never Give Up" 

https://www.chess.com/game/live/5770046052

Just a day or two ago I had watched the commented classical game Karpov - Unzicker and I had a chance to do something similar.  Missed a few things (only 90% accuracy) but was very glad I saw the opportunity to try to do the same idea as Karpov.

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5773249277

Sicilian Defence 

https://lichess.org/ah9oPnJOJ4cR

 French Defense

https://lichess.org/6HARtZvi/white

I play White :

https://lichess.org/theFXuFz0EtY

I missed some tactics but I play with my plan.

Great win !! with our Ra4!! novelty

Quick knock out

Anhilating the Chigorin Defense. Pure attacking chess!!

Tried to play positionally with Smyslov Petrosian's System but in the end forgot queen trap but luckily I won. I liked my move Na1

https://lichess.org/YAHNFpy0#43

Testing Positional chess in this line too. I only saw some games but still I don;t know plans for both sides so I played with my basic logic

https://lichess.org/4yBZ8n52#31

Clean Game https://www.chess.com/game/live/5783802199

17 move win with Anti-Sicilian against 2250

https://lichess.org/nflEPsZk/white#1

Scotch Game

https://lichess.org/fVzRKKZs#11

 Scotch Game

https://lichess.org/fVzRKKZs#4

Anti-Sicilian Nc3 19 moves checkmate

https://lichess.org/1qcWkpuoGVlH

Scotch  20 moves checkmate.

https://lichess.org/bxOEUOviQwNX

Modern Benoni with Black.

I sacrificed a Knight for positional advantage, and initiative

https://lichess.org/IGLxe6RFYFGh

kentinator vs. Mateojackson | Analysis - Chess.com

 Sicilian Defense:

https://lichess.org/OhL2m8dT#6

Sicilian Defense

https://lichess.org/6VPor0vT/black#7

Sicilian Defense

https://lichess.org/gYzQXjua/black#5

Scotch Game

https://lichess.org/2x6Lc8px#8

I am working a lot on positional and attacking play so my openings are unusual because I just wanna check how well I am able to do well in different openings. I am already doing nice with chessmood openings. 

Power of Initiative

https://lichess.org/oM66jA1q#63

Benoni Str. win

https://lichess.org/8KqoVVPs/black#60

Smyslov Petrosian System Str. win

https://lichess.org/sNjIoIf2#67

KID vs my positional

https://lichess.org/JHf5sF7Z#51

Learnt this ending from Capablanca's best Endings. In one game against Janausky he played this str. as black so I got nice chance to play it well as white

https://lichess.org/byUCAUJz#79

Caro-Kann Defense

https://lichess.org/vDmFDLdB/white#8

Had a brilliant move in this one!

https://lichess.org/A7wHp3hn/black

https://lichess.org/u6MZVlnS 

https://lichess.org/xaWyUOgT 

Crushing the French. 

https://lichess.org/VCcBt931 

Sicilian

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5804795054

Positional play training with d4

https://lichess.org/OUD6pBnQ#42

Crushed unusual GP

https://lichess.org/b3Lkj5aJ/black#44

I am not sure if I got totally correct the chess mood opening here, but black doesn't move the knight in the Nc3, Nc6 sicillian and opponent ends up with worlds worst bishop. Plus nice rook sac at the end!

Chrushed the opponent like a steam-roller :)

https://lichess.org/d75kumW1MXj0

Juz noticed Bf4 line against the Pirc can be transposed from 1.d4 as well... Got a huge advantage right after opening, (before he blundered and resigned)

Crushed my opponent with the Chessmood Scotch!

Dragon crush with happy knights!

https://lichess.org/MnDuhJoy/black#1

Don't think white is the ninth World Champion!

Power of Knight vs Bishop in a close position:

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/5827568120

Wanted to exploit his weak squares so bad

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5827547960

https://lichess.org/9DMf0NAA 

Sicilian Defense

https://lichess.org/VVKEj3eu/black#6

Kindly ignore my opening mistakes but see how easy I played after Nxc6 structure change and in the end I loved the move Kf1. I learnt this king move from Petrosian's game in which he placed his King from g1 to b1 and then he won. Sorry, my bad memory can't remember the opponent name. 

https://lichess.org/vPvGQxIq?fbclid=IwAR2iVmpvYFed-WTSVO04a_up_2oeCihwVMhcSCzjzp2cg4Z8YmbatuUdSww

https://lichess.org/UR6FWupg

This is why I love the Dragon 

London System

https://lichess.org/QWqQiV7Q/black#7

https://lichess.org/oTjiTZV2OHOO

https://lichess.org/ddnZYDrp

 Sicilian Defense

https://lichess.org/9MWU1JfO/black#14

Basically all prep... Destruction with Nc3 against d6!

https://lichess.org/U1ZKuHYk

My best game of November!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5726132237

Thanks!

This is from an OTB tournament (just before lockdown) with 1.5h time control +30" increment per move.

Not really proud for the opening but I enjoyed the tactics in the middlegame :)

i derived the idea from the Kasparov's amazing Nh8 idea and employed it in a game even though he played the brilliant 33.Qe5 move, but still i am proud to find this idea within 2 seconds of time left.

Amazing end position 1: https://lichess.org/bW78Tkd2/black#25

Amazing end position 2: https://lichess.org/ZXcGpEmE/black#50

White gets punished for lack of development: https://lichess.org/rUxs8RBB/black#74

Nice to win against a 2300 player with black in g3 Maroczy bind, though I made some mistakes (I couldn’t remember the analysis from the course):  https://lichess.org/S2xP1qxKujNo

When  the prizes will be given sir?

Not so sure if I posted this game here in this post or not but I posted it on facebook.

Coach i have a nice game for you to see . I know you cant see all games because you are so busy but I don't want you to miss this great game which I played on lichess yesterday. I think Qc7 is not in my pgn and yes I was right so best against Qc7 was Bf4! but I played logical long castles and won.

https://lichess.org/Fjh0K6bkF5WJ?fbclid=IwAR1X0CWB3WYo-XDz2j3VMoVv-t4xTX-f_F5hekk-1p93wGqpYIoAr-ObX5M

Hello ChessMood Family! 
There were never posted so many nice games as in this month. 

The 1st prize goes to Michael Larsen for his fantastic attack in the endgame. 
https://lichess.org/ZXcGpEmE/black#33 

The 2nd prize goes to T K for his great tactic! Qe5! The game you can find on this page:
https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/the-best-games-of-november-and-the-prizes?page=5 

The 3rd prize goes to Abhi Yadav, for his strong attack, sacrificing three pieces! 
  https://lichess.org/Fjh0K6bk#57

The 4th prize goes to Piotr Urbanski for his brave attack and the nice mate Nh1! 
  https://www.kurnik.pl/p/?g=ch497375559#63

The 5th prize goes to Khokan De for killing the English with out systems. 
The game you can find here: https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/the-best-games-of-november-and-the-prizes?page=1  

Among other nice and instructive games, there are 3, which I would recommend you spend time and check out, as they're very instructive. 

https://lichess.org/ducG7ydI/white#47 played  by Chong, a very instructive attack. 
https://lichess.org/wD1hofSw/black    Suren paralyzed all White's pieces. 
https://lichess.org/vPvGQxIq#57   If someone showed me this game, I would say it's played by one of the classics. :) 

Good job guys! Thanks, everyone, see you next month! 

Chess Goal

What is your goal in your chess career? Which you think is realistic.

Replies

Well before chessmood I had goal to become a 2000 before I die. Due to lack of resources I thought becoming a 2000 will be so tough. But now I think my first milestone is to reach 2000 so I can start my own earning from chess and then I will work to become a Fide Master and if I achieve that milestone then I will work on my final goal that is becoming a Grandmaster.

I am 1465 and 23 but still I have hope and chessmood and Jay Garrison as my mentors

wgm please :D

My goal is to be the first player to reach GM after starting as an amateur (Under 2000 ELO) in their 40s.

ChessMood is the right place to be to achieve this goal! 

#MakingHistory

I am Highly Motivated to become FM

My goal is to become FM in 3-4 years. It is going to be tough as I don't have all my time just for chess. The good is that you only need ELO rating high enough, there are no norm tournaments toa achieve FM title .

To be coach of 100+ Grandmasters 

I'm gonna be a very strong GM. It's unrealistic, but 'I love crazy', if you've seen Frozen ;)

We recommend section

Dear GM Avetik Sir, it would be very helpful if you could add more books and also mention the rating range for which it is more beneficial

Replies

Devansh, nice idea! 
That's exactly what we'll do when we launch the new website. Hopefully soon :) 

Suggestion (sales)

Hi,

Veru good site, of course, i will say this of the

most sensitive way (i hope), as advice: of course, your

model of sales is well designed, but, why not consider offer

individual courses  (with PGN's) Alongside to the current

model of PRO member? in order to no detract the scheme of

membership, those courses can be offered to a relative steep

price (e.g. $32). I have interest actually to purchase 2 or 3

courses individually.

Greetings from Mexico 

greetings

Replies

Luck in Chess

How many percent do you think luck affects in chess? Do you consider yourself as a lucky player or not?

Replies

I am never lucky in anything. I won every game by super efforts. No one gave me free points. On the other hand I lost my all games by blunders. So, I have no luck.

Chess is a game of some luck. I think because there is no 'inside' random element such as a die or what cards you are dealt, it's misunderstood as a game where luck doesn't figure (those that play poker will note that while bad cards are not something that can be controlled and ultimately could undo the best player, a fair part of the game is how those cards are played - a bad hand on its own isn't a problem if you can convince your opponents to fold).

Because playing perfect chess is beyond the human mind, and for at least sub-super GM is often more complicated that our skill level allows us to work out, there is a luck element.
Take a sharp position that neither side really know what's going on - one of two things might happen:
My opponent makes an error and I see it - and v/v
My opponent makes an error and I don't see it - and v/v

If I'd calculated some other line (when both lines looked appealing and there wasn't time to calculate both) and this means I would have/would not have seen the error, then there is luck/bad luck that I chose that line to calculate.

Another luck example is the opponent plays an opening I've been studying or falls into my pre-game analysis so I get a good position.

I do subscribe to the make your own luck point of view, but that is about being successful over many events (critical moment where the right/wrong decision factors highly) not just the one. The chance of success in any one particular event could be down to you, but it's a game of numbers (the better you are, the better prepared you are, the better state of mind you are in, the more events you'll succeed in overall and the better you'll play).

I think 40% of luck. Do I consider myself lucky? never :(

To-do list

Have you already read the last awesome article?

https://chessmood.com/blog/organize-your-day-organize-your-chess-journey

Do you have a To-do list already, if you don't have it yet, are you going to create?

Replies

WEll I never create any to do list but on the other hand i love to write what I learnt everyday. 

Here is my daily chess updates files!

https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/daily-study-updates

I used to plan my day every day at night and put everything in my head. But that's only for the next day.

Now I will write down the monthly and weekly plans in a copy.

I have read the article, although I don't do any to do lists, I keep it all in my head. Also, find me in the sparring partners forum. I am searching for partners to practice chessmood openings.

I have a lot of experience with these and its a very good article.

Have been guilty of avetik syndrome feeling bad about not completing list!

Will post my chess one later today actually to see what people think

First Session!

Hello everyone! Today I played my first session of games and I played 7 games, 5+5 Time control!!

Can you guys guess my score?

PS. Its not very good ``(                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Replies

may be 4?

Great! 

a

Replies

Just as after 9.f3 (where we play 9…d5) we also should play 9…d5! after 9.h4, the plan with playing 8…Re8 was anyway to prepare d5 with e6, and now after 9.h4 we want to strike on the Kingside – h4 is very aggressive, White keeps his King in the center, at least for the moment, but h4 also weakens some squares on the Kingside (in particular g4). Play might continue 9…d5!, 10.exd5, Na5, 11.h5, Nxb3, 12.Nxb3, b5!

Krystof, it will be covered in the adv. section. A bit I covered in the last webinar.

P.S Please such posts upload in the PRO Members channel. 

Jobava 4. e3 5. h4 7. Qd2

In this line, the course notes:

After 8. gxf3 black is fine, e4 will be met by c6 and e6.

Is it possible to have a couple more moves here, or in particular what to do with the b8 knight in this position if c6 is needed to meet e4, and whether O-O is right after O-O-O.

Simon Williams (the Ginger GM) in his Jobava course gives this line, and notes that after 8... Nc6 (suspicious as a mistake since no c6), now 9. O-O-O O-O 10. e4 += 'comfortable for White, better development, piece placement and control over the centre, with moves such as Kb1 e5 and maybe Bh6'.

Also there is a model game if 8... O-O Navara - Bobras after 9. O-O-O and in the game 9... c5 is played (marked as ? with 10. dxc5 as +=). In the comments 9... c6: 'White is already well on top' and the line 10. e4 b5?! 11. e5 Nfd7 12. e6! fxe6 13, Rg1 is noted Black is in a mess and has lots of weaknesses.

What's the Chessmood suggestion?

Replies

Hi, I am also interested in more info for this line. This year, I was crushed in 45m+45s game by White who was later banned (not related only to my game), most likely because he played with the help of the computer software.

That does not make the game less interesting as I was probably facing very good moves from the White side. I have some improvements to my game but still I do not find this line easy to play for Black.

Tactical vision problem

Hi guys! Currently I'm into a period where my tactical vision is quite off. I can't solve most of the puzzles like I used to do a month ago. Have you ever been in a situation like that? Any suggestions on how can I go forword this? thank you

Replies

Being 'off' would my thread below on 'being in the zone' be useful?

Well first of all kindly tell your elo so I will try to answer you well. If you are pure beginner then it happens and you need to do a lot tactics and min one classic a day but if you are intermediate then I wanna know what kind of patterns you was solving and from where?

https://chessmood.com/blog/how-to-improve-your-tactical-vision We have a good article. Read it, it should help

Lucio, I would recommend you to check out the great software "CT-ART 6", it will help you to keep your mind in a good shape, even if you do just 10 minutes each day. 

I faced the same problem as you (I have the same elo rating in tactics). It has nothing to do with vision or decrease in your ability to solve tactics! It is probably a change in their algorithm and they have changed the rating of the puzzles.

A criticism of the TODO list

Recently there was the blog article on planning using TODO lists to help complete your study.

As I saw an article (below) relating to TODO lists, I thought I'd throw it into the discussion. This offers scheduling (allocating) time instead as an alternative idea for those that find TODO lists have some of the problems mentioned.

https://forge.medium.com/be-a-schedule-builder-not-a-to-do-list-maker-396096a7486a

Note that I don't believe in either method alone, other than for occasional use or hitting a deadline when there is the need to focus on specific tasks or time-box something. Both can be used together though (i.e. you schedule time for certain tasks on the TODO list). However for trying to work long term, neither works for me. A big part is finding what works which differs between individuals.

As explained in my reply to the TODO article, there are at least two components which scupper the best laid plans of TODO lists and schedules - realism of tasks and motivational hunger. I'm less motivated if there are enough unknowns, or the task is too large and unrealistic or not something I'm good at from past experience. [Note being able to cope here and being a 'can do' person is a great way to get ahead in a career since others will also shy from difficult ill-defined tasks]. Doing too much of something (or something is far more pressing or interesting at this moment) also means tasks won't get completed or we'll feel burned out trying to do them - you can only sprint for so long - small chunks often are usually better that marathon sessions just to get tasks over with. The hare and tortoise can be seen as an allegory for this.

So where does this leave chess. I wish I was saying it as someone who'd made a title and then I could say it with a little bit more authority, but as I'm too a learner at good amateur standard, the best I can do is draw parallels from what I've succeeded in. If you need to organise your time and tasks to get enough work done then by all means do it. Just make sure the tasks aren't trying to accomplish more than one or two small things at once (learning a 25 move variation in an opening you don't really know well when you aren't a strong player, is not that, remembering what options Black has after move 6, and what the rough plan to each, is). Make sure the tasks you are accomplishing are the important ones given the time you have (not missing simple tactics is more important than knowing all the openings even if you could accomplish that). Avoid information overload. Aim to do study often, make a habit of it, than cram for a week or two, get demotivated, forget it all, then try to restart next year. And remembering knowing is one thing, being able to demonstrate it on the board and win is the end goal.

Happy to be corrected by others that have got further than I.

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Certainly some good points in that article. In my working life and personal life for probably the last 10 years or so. I have run things based on my calendar, with scheduled time for certain projects etc.

There are weaknesses in this also, it often takes way more of your time to do a task than you would think. Or you are say working on something its super interesting and you want to investigate furthers but your schedule has another task in it etc. Generally I find if something takes your curiosity you need to work on it or investigate it fairly quickly. Otherwise that passion/intrigue goes and it becomes just another task on the list and can weigh you down.

I use a combination of both actually list and schedule. I have a general list broken down into what I want to do medium term, then for this month/week and day. Then those tasks blocked out in my calendar, trying to make sure I leave 1.5x the time i think it will take to complete it (often takes longer). I am not some master at this or anything, and often things don't go to plan. Just try not to beat yourself up when it doesn't.

Likely there is no perfect/magic formula as long as you dont spend all your time making lists and not actually doing! (some people I know do this)

I'm a list-maker: lists of things to do, lists of lists of things to do, and so on. The problem is that most of what goes into those lists, doesn't get done, as it's easy to list them without scheduling When they should be done.

I was also inspired by a similar article recently on using a calendar/time-table to schedule tasks. Everything goes into a TODO and then the most important and urgent ones get put on the schedule, a weekly schedule. This has helped me to make sure some things get done.

Another benefit of the schedule is that it sort of forces you to come to terms with the fact that you have Finite time and so very little of it. Also, with a schedule you realize that the little things also take time away from your main tasks. For me, just making coffee takes like 15 minutes. I hadn't realized this until I started making a schedule.

I do like Coach's suggestion of keeping annual, monthly, weekly TODO lists. I think that combined with a schedule of when the things will be done will help stay productive and focused.

Thanks from heart

Hello, champions, my dear ChessMood Family! 

Happy Thanksgiving! 
Many of you have not only joined ChessMood, but also helped me to grow it. 
Some of you have shared it with your friends, some of you helped morally and financially... 
Some of you just raised your ratings, which is the best compliment for me. 

I want to THANK YOU from my whole heart, for everything you have done for me and for ChessMood, at least for your trust. 

I wish you happy Thanksgiving!
Enjoy :) 

With best wishes 
GM Avetik 

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Thanks Avetik and you too.

To say this is a great site is an understatement, because it's truly interested in players' improvement, and has the material and events to facilitate that. Thank you for your time and effort.

Looking forward to seeing the rating improvements, I'm sure it will bring with some work on my part, finally taking me off the 1800-1900 plateau. Onwards and upwards.

Thank you very much @GM_Avetik_Grigoryan, @GM_Hovhannes_Gabuzyan and the rest of the team.

Thank you for all your hard work, the hard work we can see and the one we cannot see but we can feel.

Thank you for the high quality of the site and for not falling into the temptation of trying to provide too much content in little time, affecting its quality. 

Keep up the good work and let's keep growing together!

You are one of the first people I want to give my thanks to dear Coach!!!

Thanks for your unwavering devotion to your job and each of us personally!

Thanks for coach for amazing chess contents. Because of you I am sure 1000s of players are alive in chess including me. Have a wonderful day!

Thank you coach! This community is my favorite part of chess, to be honest.  I appreciate everything the whole team does and am grateful to all your hard work. 

I Have to say THANK YOU because the site is awesome and the quality of the videos is very easy to appreciate. 
I have been member of other sites (premium accounts) and you could feel watching some videos that  the authors spent no time on doing them 'analysing' them.. or that maybe they were just with the engine on while recording and just saying the first move that it appeared... I echoe what someone above said... don't fall in the temptation of quantitiy over quality, keep the great work and more members will come... finally I have to say that I started with Chessmood in August or smth like that and in November I played my best chess tournament ever! Maybe it was a coincidence but maybe not...

So I am sure that as soon as my 6 months membership are finishid I will renew for other 6 months... and keep telling my friends to join! 

Well, same success story with me! I can only say a BIG THANK YOU!

I started by pure curiosity, not believing that you can help me. I just said "ok, I will try it for a few months, if it works I am staying".

Happy thanksgiving coach! I wish you the best!

I'll cross $ 100.000 soon...

Just had a call with my favorite personal development coach... I'm thinking to invest another big sum in myself and join his coaching program.

 And I Just figured it out, that I'll cross the 6 figures I've spent on my education during my life.

 Do I regret a cent that I've spent?
 Yes. Once I bought stupid courses for 1000$ :D

 Dear ChessMood Family. Check out this article, if you haven't.https://chessmood.com/blog/the-must-learn-skill-to-skyrocket-your-growth-in-chess 

 It's your life, it's your chess journey... You decide.
#Make_Smart_Decisions

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Theme tournament: The Nightmare of the Rossolimo

So just what is the nightmare? If it's the common nightmare theme of seeing yourself turning up realising you've not studied enough, then finding out you've forgot to put on clothes and are in your underwear.... isn't that probably just reality?

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Attack against Caro- Kann Qc8 line

In our caro-kann opening Qc8 line , one of my opponent played 13.  ..... Nh5 after below moves order in a game against me.

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6

5. c3 Nf6 6. Bf4 Bg4 7. Qb3 Qc8 8. Nd2 e6

9. Ngf3 Be7 10. O-O Bh5 11. Rae1 Bg6 12. Bxg6 hxg6

13. Qb5 Nh5

what is this move ? is it some engine move or recent theory?

how  should  I plan my game after 13. .... Nh5?

need your kind comments.

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My opinion is that 13...Nh5  is a good move, but it doesn't change much if compared to 13...a6 or 13....Qd7.

The lines more or less transpose into each other and end up in positions where Black and White are equal.

Examples:

13...a614.Qd3 Nh5 15.Bg5 Qc7
13...a6 14.Qe2 Nh5 15. Be5 O-O

13....Qd7 14.h3 O-O 15. Qd3 Nh5
13....Qd7 14.Qd3 Nh5

13...Nh5 14.Be5 Qd7 15.Qd3 a5
13...Nh5 14.Bg5 a6 15.Qd3 Qc7

I think you can go 14.Bg5 trying to exch. the bad bishop. 
14.Be5 and 14.Be3 also looks interesting. 

Black's problem is their king. 

Scotch trap in the 'beginner' Nxd4 line

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 d6 5. Nc3 Ne7 - Nf6 was covered in the course.

6. Bg5 seems the right idea and tries to gain concessions with f6 or h6, 6... Be6 8. O-O-O f6

And now the tempting 9. Bxf6? gxf6 10. Qxf6 Resigns?? Both of us had overlooked 10... Kd7! and now if 11. Qxh8?? Bh6+ and the queen is lost.

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Wow so interesting. Did you check it with the engine?

Wow! I liked Kd7, cool one :)

Strongest player that you won

The higher rated player you beat and what was the rating?

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In over the board play I have a victory vs someone rated 2200. 

In a simul, I have a victory vs our very own GM Gabuzyan. I also have a win on time in a simul vs Coach GM Avetik, but I was losing when he ran out of time (I did try to offer him a draw, but he didnt see it)

I also have a draw vs Yasser Sierawan in a simul

I have won 2 CMs in lichess Blitz Arenas. In classical I have drawn against a CM.

The best players I've beaten are rated around 2200, although it's not often that happens.

Took out two FMs one year at Hastings, and also a long while back had a win vs Cathy Forbes (WIM) on time. Titled players aren't invincible.

Do you mean OTB or online?

Where are you from?

Me- Armenia, Yerevan

Let's go!

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Arizona - United States

A suburb of Chicago.

Greece, Central Macedonia, Thessaloniki GMT +2

Unfortunately India

Indonesia. Gens Una Sumus. Thank you.

Again same :D

Missouri - USA :)

I live in San Francisco, was born in China.

Madrid - Spain

Goa- India!

Alipurduar, West Bengal, India, Asia, Earth, Milky Way, Universe. 

Hope that's enough LOL :)

Lagos, Nigeria

Oakland, California, United States

Originally from Yerevan, Armenia (went to school 119 until grade 8)

Chessmood Events

Hello All,

I have a few suggestions for Chessmood Events.

1. Streams: Can we have more SLP and WWP streams? In some of my games, I am unable to convert a winning position, especially if it's a complicated, tactical win. By the way, I also love those thematic opening tournaments and the common mistakes stream afterwards.

2. Special Events: Simuls only happen a few times a year and I missed today's one :(   So if possible, could we have more simuls? I have already played Coach Avetik, Coach Gabuzyan, and Coach Samvel, but the thrill of playing a GM never leaves! If that's not possible, there are a few more events that happened in the summer which I loved. One-on-one games with Coach Avetik and Coach Gabuzyan were my favorite. Another good one was the Pro members Vote Chess vs Coach Avetik.

3. Courses: I have been watching the new courses and I absolutely love them! My favorites are "In Gabuzyan's Mind" and "Commented Classical Endgames". Keep up the good work!

Thank You

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Myself, I'd like to see some longer streamed games with Chessmood openings. Perhaps 30 min games. The extra time can be used to discuss the middlegame positions, but also I think sometimes the opening whizzes through and a refresh on the theory or how to deal with something novel would be useful.

The 100 commented classical games course is really good, I bought that which is how I found Chessmood - if you need to understand positional chess better it's a great course - very much recommended for 1700-2000s that can fight well in dynamic positions, but are all at sea when it gets quiet. I'd also advise if you play e4 to look at the Scotch course. That's really good and I've been having really good results with it at blitz which I wasn't having with the Lopez. I'm looking forward to having lots of wins with it as soon as Covid ends and OTB chess restarts - look out opponents :)