Chess forum by Grandmasters

Qxd6? in the accelerated dragon

I have stumbled upon a line in the Nxc6 variation of the accelerated dragon where after Qxd6 Qxd6 Nf5 Rd3 Ba6 white has Bc5! later equalizing the material. What would be a plan for black in such a scenario?

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Dear Andrew,

To make sure I understood your question correctly, can you please post the picture of the position?

Dear Andrew,

In the provided PGN, all seems correct and Black is slighly better - it's already a great achievement to get a better positions by Black right out of the opening.

Although instead 20…Re8, I like 20…Rd8 move, that keeps the rooks in the game. Plan for Black is to attack weak White pawns on the Kingside.

Weird French Sicilian line

How to play against this??
 

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/5RDNQ72JGW/analysis
 

what are are typical plans and ideas. Thank you.

Sincerely, Pawn

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In those positions, we are playing with 3.d5 and obtaining the Space advantage.

The plan is to develop the Knight to c3, the other one usually to f3. Organise the castle and play in the center.

Black can have a couple of developement options; however, in all occasions after 3.d5 White maintains a decent advantage.

Refreshing Opening lines

Hello, 

I have completed step-by-step white repertoire and started black repertoire and It’s been a long time since I reviewed those lines. what would you recommended is the best way to go over them. For me looking over the Pgn doesn’t help. I use the website chess-tempo to review the lines. But I am also looking at going over the conclusion or summary at the end of the courses. What would you recommend to go over the lines??

Sincerely, Pawn

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What you are doing is fine.

Additionally, I highly recommend practicing your openings and then checking the games with PGNs to ensure everything is done correctly.

In case of lines that rarely occur, it's a great idea to check them from time to time to refresh your memory.

Maroczy and Modern Maroczy

Hi, Is the Modern maroczy and Maroczy bind the same course but improvements or are they transposition to something else.

Thank you,

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The Modern Maroczy is a slightly improved version (from Black’s perspective) of the Maroczy. It’s a related variation that differs in some details.

The Modern Maroczy is a different option. 

The unique idea where Black tries to get some space on the Queenside. 

Maybe there can be some transitions as the structures are quite similar. So I would advise learning both if you want to play this opening. 

Playing white and opponent plays Benko against us

Hello everyone,

I am learning the Benko since the new videos just came out and having fun. But it looks so bad for white sometimes in this opening.  So I have a question for all, what do we play as white when our opponent tries to play the Benko against us?

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If you play ChessMood’s White repertoire, Black can’t play the Benko against you. If you play 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4, I’d recommend to accept the gambit and play either the mainline or 5.e3, which is perhaps more practical.

Dear Henry,

That's why we play Benko!
To make White's life harder.

Since we are not playing d4 in our repertoire, it will be tough to recommend a line. If you want to accept Benko, you can try to learn some of the advanced sections, where often both sides get interesting playable positions.

Caro-Kann question??

I get this position in a lot of games, but I always seem to mess up.

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/nJstNBNs8/analysis?move=0

can you please tell me the common ideas and plans we do.

Thank you,

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Hey there,

The thing is, those positions aren't really very concrete. Black can try to play in different ways - White just has an edge due to their bad doubled pawns.

Sometimes Nf3-e5 is interesting, sometimes pushing on the Kingside and getting more space. Bringing pieces to the good locations - like Re1.

Dirty flagging achievement

No pieces? No problem. Not sure how I pulled this off, I really haven't had enough caffeine this morning

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oh yeah I have done this

Just won at 4 person chess!

Got my opponent's queen too which was fun!

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New article: Does bullet chess make you better or worse?

Does playing bullet actually help improve your chess? 

GM Avetik Grigoryan reveals the answer to this question, backing it up with science. He also shares:
 

✅ How this time control affects your game.

✅ Why streamers and GMs play bullet, and should you follow in their footsteps or not?

✅ A former world champion’s perspective on playing bullet chess and more…
 

Read the full article here 👇

https://chessmood.com/blog/does-bullet-chess-make-you-better
 

Hopefully, it points you in the right direction of chess growth 💪

Share your thoughts and opinions under this forum thread.

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My real beef with bullet is that opponents don't play real openings and often play dumb moves to waste clock time. Otherwise it would be a good way to practise many openings in a short period.

The truth is that I don't even know nothing about premoves. Playing bad chess is no fun for me. And as a rule of thumb when more time more quality is displayed. So I enjoy watching SGM play their best chess OTB in classical time controls.

Great article 👌.

Great article by GM Avetik

Maybe you forgot to tell us that we should play rapid/classical time control if we have time,only to play blitz time control when we don't have many spare time but still want to improve our chess skills?😂 This article finally solved my "puzzle" on why my bullet and blitz ratings is always higher than rapid and classical,while other people who don't play bullet frequently is vice versa!

Thank you coach, it's just up to me to take the right way and be in the 1%...

Excellent article. I fully endorse and agree with it.

I hate playing fast chess and my friend likes playing fast chess so a few weeks ago he sent me the article on why I should play blitz chess. Needless to say I am happy this now exists 😆

I feel like I was a better calculator before adapting to faster time controls.I hated bullet and I liked rapid more than blitz or bullet for a better quality of chess. I was more ''obsessed'' with finding the best move in every position. I sometimes get in that ''mind-set'' but it won't last long.Blitz or bullet have made me catch up with other players' speed (you need to have a bullet skill/rhytmn to be a good blitz player imo) but after analyzing my games there are blunders or mistakes that make me a little frustrated even if I have won some of them. Currently I feel like my brain has gotten numb but I have decreased the amount of time for blitz or bullet games per day and my 1st games tend to have better quality.

Yeah

Kahneman actually won the Nobel Prize in economics. I know him well from many years of undergrad and grad training in econ and finance, but one could easily consider him more of a psychologist. Another great book to consider on learning is, "Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning", by cognitive scientists at The University of Washington, St. Louis, a top tier school. The book has very valuable lessons for life, some that may surprise you. Thanks for a great article, as usual.

Very nicely written GM Grigorian, Kramnik is like the ultimate dictator (in a good way 😀😀😀) for me and if he says that bullet is damaging my chess, then it is damaging my chess!! Petrosian64

After my rating dropped from ~1800 to 1400–1600, I reflected on what went wrong: I played 100–200 bullet games and neglected rapid/blitz, then took a short break, started playing again around 1200, and my rating kept dropping. Eventually, I stopped playing to figure out the why and the solution.

Reading this article helped me connect the dots: bullet reinforced System 1 autopilot thinking, while System 2 — deliberate calculation — barely got exercised.

Now I’m focusing on longer time controls, calculation, and proper endgames. I’d really appreciate any advice or feedback from GMs here on how to efficiently rebuild my strength and avoid bad habits.

Logging out

Hi,

Apparently I am logged in on 4 devices. I can't find a way to logout from the account. How can i do this?

Thanks
 

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Few doubts....

in whitemood-scotch game, … Qf6, Be3 what if Be7
or Nd4 Nd4, Qd4 what if c6? getting a shield before going gun on gun? 
Just asking…

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The Chess Prodigy Who Beat a Billionaire

In the glittering towers of New York City, a teenage chess prodigy from Queens challenges the elite and proves that true power comes from courage, not privilege. Discover how a pawn became the king in this inspiring story of class, strategy, and hope.

A Classic story of The Pawn Who Toppled a Queen.

Here is the Link (Below):

https://bedtimestoriesforall.com/the-chess-prodigy-who-beat-a-billionaire-the-pawn-who-toppled-a-queen/

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Question regarding 1.d4

After 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3, are there any recommendations by Chessmood in the courses? Such sidelines have become so common above the 2000 FIDE mark. Would appreciate some advice!

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Hi there, this move order is covered in d4 sidelines corse > in London system chapter. So after 2.Nf3 you can play g6. If 3.Bf4 it's already covered in the course. If 3.c4 then I suggest you can try d6….Nbd7 followed by e5 at the right time. Playing similar structures and ideas

New opening courses

Chessmood, could you please make new opening courses that are as funny as the rise of champions. I gotten used to the funny things at the end of the rise of champions videos and I find the advanced opening courses just a bit unfunny.:)

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What you don't find it funny to crush your opponent with the Sicilian defense or by channeling the a viking helmeted Gabu with a glorious attack.

True story:  I was playing a friend and he played the winged gambit.  In the chat I said:  Gothem vs Gabu.   My friend and I still laugh about it.  BTW:  Gabu won :D

Benko Gambit (Bg4 - Bxf3 or Ba6 exchange idea)

In the Benko Gambit In some sections we have seen the idea of trading our pieces because we are the side with less space. We were given two options.

1.  Bg4 and then at some point take on f3.
2.  Ba6 and trade of bishops from here.

I personally prefer option 2. But which one would you say is stronger.

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Hey Pawn Bishop,

Both options are very practical, and just if it’s a matter of taste I like Bg4 idea.

New Benko course PGN file

Hello guys. As many of you are too I am very excited by the new course. Just checking, Is there a Pgn file as creating your own one on chessbase take years 

Thanks Ashwin

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😀

The benko is a fun opening 

If you have access to the course they already provide draft file. All you have to do is learn by watching videos and create the remaining lines and variations. Good luck 

Also this was elegant. Rare shape I don't see in games much.

The rook was the business end of the battery but it worked because the king had nowhere to go

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This makes me feel better about my blunders lol

someone shit the bed here

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New Success Story: From Lost Momentum to National Champion: Zoubaier's Comeback Story

No coach. 10 years of struggle. And still, he came back as National Champion. 🏆

Huge congratulations to our student, FM Zoubaier Amdouni🎉

A story of quiet resilience and a comeback no one saw coming. Here’s how he did it 👇
https://chessmood.com/success-stories/zoubaier-amdouni

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Wow, bravo!

Yes sir!!!

Inspiring, amazing work, wish you a bright future.

Benko Gambit

What are the starting moves of the Benko Gambit course, it starts from a random position.

Thank You, 

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The new version is just uploaded a few hours ago.
https://chessmood.com/course/benko-gambit/episode/7969

In that link, you can see the starting moves!