Chess forum by Grandmasters

I have a question :)

Would you want your child to play chess professionally? 

I have not children, but I don't know why this question comes to my mind very often :D 

I know many strong chess players who don't want to hear about that, but I don't know why.

Maybe because they should be a coach without a salary? :D

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Chess in a lot of countries is a hard way to scrape a living due to the cost of living and little sponsorship money being in chess compared to other sports and games. Only the top 10 or so make serious money in chess and the rest are reliant on coaching and training materials. Many chess players also have a poor relationship with alcohol as staying in hotels for weeks on end there is little to do except socialise with other chess players. Having a family is a difficult balance as a professional player. The attributes that make a good chess player also make a good programmer or banker and those pay a lot better and the income is more stable which is also why a number of GMs get involved in finance for example.

It's not for me to say what my (one day) children should do for a living, but my advice is hobbies such as chess should take a back seat to education and career advancement  unless there are some serious results achieved, and even then to have a back-up option. You might lose your chance to become a strong GM, but you'll have the funds to play and study chess when and where you want without having to worry that a bad tournament might be the difference between being able to afford the rent or not.

Well, I never thought of marrying. I am single and I am ok with it. I am ridiculous if I love anyone. So better stay alone. My dream is to adopt a kid one day and then I will teach him or her chess only if they wants to. Even though I will be super happy if they will love chess so I can improve their skills so fast because I know basics well. Also I wanna make them spiritual I know people don't believe in spiritual things. I have only one thing to say. Talk to me and I will prove God exists. 

I think it is important to support your children in their passion (as long as it is legal LOL). If my children wish to be professional chess players, then I say to them, follow your dream! At the same time I will remind them that the world will not give them a living, so then need to find a way to support themselves as they pursue their dream. 

I do not think i will be a GM because of my age and current rating. I really want my child to play chess and become GM. Hopefully they will love the game like me.

This is interesting to consider. I don't have children either, but I think a parent should expose their children to a variety of things in life (science, math, sports, art, music, language arts etc) and let their children gravitate towards the things they enjoy most. Then, support them the best you can.  

12. Nd5 better for white?

1. d4 Nf6

2.c4 c5

3.Nf3 g6

4. g3 Lg7

5.Lg2 0-0

6.0-0 cd4:

7. Nd4: Nc6

8.Nc3 Qa5

9.e3 Ne5

10.Qe2 d6

and now 12. Nd5.

Gives this move an advantage for white?

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Sorry!

I mixed things up.

Clearly better for black.

Book- Grünfeld Defence

I am interested to know if there is any book which covers Grunfeld pawn formations in depth then I wanna know about it. I am working on new pawn formations and that's grunfeld one. So deep ideas of pawn formations will be useful for improvement. Thanks

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Problem with the Grunfeld is there are multiple plans, so which one?

You have the exchange lines with e4 d4 c3, you have e4 d4 in the Russian system, then various systems with the f2,e3,d4 pawn chain, there are g3 systems with a fianchetto...

There is positional chess there, there is dynamic chess, it's a complex opening with difficulties for both sides.

The only non-repertoire book which talks more about the plans and structures rather than the moves is IM Rowson's Understanding the Grunfeld

I used to play Grunfeld, but unfortunately didn't read any book about it, I saw once, if I find I'll write the name.

Avrukh's book(s) on Grunfeld seem to be good, a lot of content in there. Although if you want to focus solely on the structures...

I've heard Zherebukh has a good book about it. 

Hey Abhi, check out Mikhail Marin's Positional Grunfeld Repertoire. He has intro sections discussing the pawn structures and model games if I recall correctly. Also Rowson's classic booking the Grunfeld deals with a lot of Grunfeld themes like the passed d pawn etc.

Hi Abhi, you might try Chess Structures by Mauricio Flores Rios (Quality Chess) since it covers some of our ChessMood Openings (and Benoni), too. An excerpt including the content is here:

https://www.qualitychess.co.uk/ebooks/Flores_Rios_Chess_Structures-excerpt.pdf

Pirc Defense with 3...e5

On Lichess, my opponents often choose a setup: 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5

It prevents 4.Bf4 variation suggested in the course. I have tried 4.dxe5 dxe5 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 with limited success.

Looking at the games in my chessbase mega database the more common way of playing is: 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. a4.

However this is not at all described in the course. What are your suggestion?

Of course, one of the possibilities is to play Grand-Prix setup against the Pirc.

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I just noticed that this has been covered in the Philidor Defense as a side-line where Black play 1...d6 instead of 1...e5. Suggested continuation is: 4.Nge2 c6 5.a4

I need to watch the Section 6 Modern Philidor or Modern Hanham Variation of the Philidor Defense course.

Share your Chess Playing Style?

We all wanna become Universal in chess in order to play overall chess positions well. But still we have our own love about different styles. So in this post share what kind of positions you like the most and what's your strengths and where you feel most comf even against strong players?

For me I like positional play a lot. My love for positional play came when I first saw llessons on Carlsbad Structure. I saw many Karpov games which inspired me to work on positional play and I felt more happy when positional positions come on the board.

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I haven't discovered my playing style yet :D 

Can´t find the Course - which existed

I can´t find the Course - which existed.

The Position starts from:

1. d4 Nf6

2.c4 c5

3.Nf3 g6

4. g3 Lg7

5.Lg2 0-0

6.0-0 cd4:

7. Nd4: Nc6

8.Nc3 Qa5

Maybe a different move order. It was a great analysis - but I can´t find it anymore.

Christoph

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It's from "Maroczy Bind" course. https://chessmood.com/course/maroczy-bind

The new course - My Best Games

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I've just realized that in the picture is your face :D

Nice, thank you.

Nice course, really informative I can  see how you think and I can use that way of thinking in my games your annotation was really good to follow along with. Thanks

Anti-sicilian vs Nc6 - first try out in long play

https://lichess.org/QYVvrkeh/white

Interesting game, but was worse for a fair bit of it and blundered at the end as time got low.

I remembered the theory and plan to get to play d4 and Qxd4 at the cost of B for N.

Opponent deviated by playing the dubious 5... Nf6, which 6. e5 is the only move that makes sense.

At move 8, considered c4, overlooking that after Nf4 d4 Ng2 Kf1 the knight is trapped, wasn't so happy with Nc3.

9. bxc3 was wrong, but at that point it's hard to see it. The aim was to either use the open b-file or a4 Ba3. The pawns resembles the Winawer French, but Black has the two bishops, so trying to keep one of them bad. The computer notes dxc3 is better, and while that does give better chances to the bishop, I was worried that Black's two bishops would find that position easier. Any suggestions here on the right way of thinking here?

11. a4 was an attempt to keep the light-squared bishop out of the game, and maybe give Ba3. The computer seems to want to play exd6 and dxc5 and swap queens, but I thought the pawns being on an
open file and the two bishops would be far better for Black.

13. Qc1 was trying to get rid of the bishop, but it wasn't going to work because Bg5 f6 would favour Black. 16. f4 makes the Bishop worse, but what is the alternative. Nd3 (computer suggestion just look s bad here).

21. Nd3 would have equalised,  but I thought the N was needed to defend c2.

28... Bh3 should have cost the opponent the game. I was lucky (didn't see it beforehand that I had Ng2 as a resource).

31. c3 was an outright blunder in low time which loses the game. I need help to arrange my thinking so blunders like this don't happen. With more time I would have consider plans for my opponent. I think the thought process that goes wrong is thinking c3 will have to played without considering what options it gives the opponent (in this case a forced win). 31. Rb1 wins, but I had though Qc7 was okay for Black. However, it now gives Nf4 and Rxf4 is no longer playable.


So to recap, I played the opening well given inexperience, but didn't look further after Nxg2 in the c4 line else I would have played it. Should have played dxc3 rather than bxc3 but didn't see the reasoning behind it at that stage. Finally I need to be able to think in a way that avoids blunders under pressure.

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Chess titled crush?

We all feel attracted to some chess players in our life and we wish that I wish I were married to him or her or make them besties. Do you have any chess crush?

For me, Yes I have but I am super young hehehe. When I was new in chess the first game which I saw was Judit Polgar's and I showed that video to my mom and I said may be one day I will play like her and meet her and we can be great friends and I felt loved. But soon I realized oops she is old. But yeah still my hope is to meet Judit one day because I really love one thing about her. She crushed every top player and proved that if girls want then they can also become strong and beat elites. I wish she will be my future friend!

This was the video which I saw and I felt loved!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ_7UZriJrw

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Ok... How old are you? if you are above 16 then its quite appropriate... But hey, I'm 10 so... Not as of Now!

Chess Meme :)

This is my favorite meme about chess :D I can't get enough every time watching this, it's so funny :D 

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I like it too a lot :D 

Chuck Norris checkmates with only one pawn :)

I just found this :D

Chess memes related to current affairs...

Caro Kann course on Chessbase

For those of you who have Chessbase premium account, there is video on Caro Kann by English GM Nigel Davis. It covers the same exchange variation with 4.Bd3. Each line is described via model games.

https://videos.chessbase.com/Video/nb:cid:UUID:2981b442-1515-4261-aa19-578ff1408b12

This can be a good compliment to your ChessMood Caro Kann course study.

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Thank you.

Thank you.

Yes, I remembered it. I started working on it before chessmood and got amazing results. Once I joined chessmood I got almost winning positions against caro kann.

Right now I need revision because I feel like I forgot a lot attaCKING ideas.

Online Chess

In which arena do you play online games and tournaments?  How much are your Rapid/Blitz ratings?

I use lichess and chess.com. I play blitz the most and my rating is about 2400 

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I play on lichess. Blitz with a small increment is my preferred time control (3+2), and I'm rated about 2150.

1465 my rating 

Mine is the same as yours :)

I mostly use lichess where I’m between 2100/2150.  I also use chess.com some but I find a lot more people there seem to cheat with engines so I don’t use it as much. 

1.e4-e5 what next?

How many 1.e4 players are here? Which opening do you prefer after e5?

I used to play Ruy Lopez but it is so much boring for me and I'm looking for some alternative 

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wrong place to get an answer, because all you will get is Scotch ;)

Well I played main lines of Ruy Loprz too and it gave me decent results. I also played some italian and anti- berlin but yeah Scotch gave me superb results!

even I played the ruy lopez but switched to scotch because its an attacking opening 

My main opening is the Scotch game. I also build a king's Indian attack through e4 when needed. From black I rarely do play e5, usually I prefer it against lower rated players to outplay them in a positional way.

After e5 I usually play the Italian and then the fried liver ... sometimes I play the four knights game too

Chess Books

Working with chess books is very common for chess players! But, buying so many books can be expensive.... so can you guys recommend some kind of Site where we can read chess books for free? 

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You can find a lot books on pdfdrive website.

I really don't recommend to read books for free. 
People spend on average 1 year for writing a book and sharing value. 
They should be paid. 

I think...
Avetik 

Your fav. Chess books?

How many books you studied about chess and can you share list of them? 

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The following books I have studied from the first page to the last one:

 Well @Kevin_D. Becoming a chess Grandmaster before I die is my only goal. Finally after so much pain I found chessmood. So I am learning openings from chessmood and middlegames and endgames from chessmood's recommended books and from other books too which I found attractive and useful.

Reading a book is not a big task. Application of those concepts in our own games matters. I am installing a lot ideas in my mind but I don't say I am applying all of them but I am trying my best and my intuition is slowly but surely improving .

Pro Membership...

Hello Everyone! I Am planning to buy a Pro membership in the next day or two, so I was wondering if there are any PROMO Codes? If yes, plz tell me!

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Hi Skipper. You have a great discount if you sign for six months. Really worth it! 

You did such a great decision! 

Looking forward to seeing you in the team! 

Welcome to the family :)

Scandinavian gambits 2... c6 / 2... e6/e5

I've had 2... c6 played against me a few times in blitz, sometimes with the offer of the b7 pawn as well. It's like a Danish and needs some care. How best to deal with it, since the course doesn't cover this one. Also there are even rarer e6/e5 gambits - are there any tricks here, or is it just a free pawn?

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The answer is pattern recognition. See my reply to this exact query some months ago here:  ----> https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-members/against-scandinavian-2-c6. 

Fun fact: Did you know that while the Halloween Gambit is considered dubious for White  1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4-/+ its cousin is actually considered quite playable for Black 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.g3 Nxe4!? 5.Nxe4 d5. Isn't chess amazing! In the second diagram g3 actually hurts white.

I do play 2...c6 quite often so beware :) Actually I won one rapid OTB tournament two years ago playing only gambits and this variation was in my repertoire. The ide was sacrifice and get out of theory as soon as possible.  If it works in rapid then in blitz it is even more playable.

It's impossible to cover all the moves. 
I know a guy who recommended, against 1.d4, to play 1...Nf6 2.c4 h6 with idea g5! 
He's a respectful IM. 

You can't just analyze everything. 
You need just to play correct chess, using the files you have in your head. 

I also know a GM who have analyzed, how to play against 1.a3 till move 15!! 
This is craziness... 

Your assessments please!

This morning myself and 2 partners (Abhi and Edwin) were analyzing a classic game that ended in the position In the diagram below. 

My question to you: Is white winning? And how do you achieve the victory.

OR Can black find a draw? How would you achieve it?

Please dont use an engine, as this is an exercise for our minds. 

Leave your answers in the comments, and I look forward to seeing them!

With out further ado: Black to move.

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Kf4-Ke3 should work, but I'm not sure 

It's a very complicated and deep example from the game Capablanca - Janowsky, if I remember correct. 

Maybe I'm mistaken with the names, but we have this position in the endgame courses, which now me and Gabuzyan are recording :) 

Stay tuned, we're going to upload now many must-know endgame courses :) 

Capablanca isolated Piece on h7~

Hi, guys I hope you are alright and doing superb in chess. Today  a funny thing happened when I was analizing game 34th of Capablanca's Best Endings with Jay Garrison. We got a position in which Capablanca isolated Bogolyubov's piece on h7 but in our commented classical game he isolated Winter's piece on h2.  In the book, Winter's Capablanca is game 29th. So it's funny that Capablanca isolated two pieces and pieces were bishops, and also opposite bishops and on same side of the board hehehe.

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Queen's Gambit

Did you already watch "Queen's Gambit"? if yes, share your thoughts here...

I just finished it, will lie if I say I am so impressed, but overall I liked it, especially the main actress.

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Not yet. Found no time. My friend Jay watched it.

I'm going to watch it soon, I will share my thoughts later

Disappointed there was no discussion of the Cambridge Springs variation.

I enjoyed watching this series. It was especially fun seeing how they introduced chess terms in a way people who dont play can try to understand. 

It was more then just a chess show. I found myself experiencing the emotional ups and downs as the characters encountered obstacles and were overcoming them. It is well written and produced. I would highly recommend watching it. Even invite those around you who dont play chess, as they will soon find a new understanding of your passion for the game.

According to the ECF, Google searches for 'chess' spiked because of this. Perhaps ChessMood should look to take advantage?