Chess forum by Grandmasters

Tactic trainer

Hi everyone, do you know if out there there's something (a software or a website) where you can train tactics by selecting the motifs you want? I don't want like lichess where you can select one motif at time, but more than one time. Thank you

Replies

You can try Chesstempo where you can select several motives at the same time. 😁

Worth of a queen

What is the worth of a queen? I learned that it is worth 10 pawns when I was learning chess, but about two years ago, when I started playing chess online, I saw it is worth 9 pawns!  I read that it is because when you have two rooks you will win against a queen, but is there any other reason? Also, when did it changed, or I just learned it wrong?

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It would depend on the situation. 

For example, a trapped queen wouldn't really be worth anything, whereas an active queen would be worth a lot more. 

Also, two rooks won't always win against a queen, because if they aren't working together (eg. defending each other), then the queen would overpower them.

We normally teach at beginners and kids that it is worth 9 pawns. You did not learn this wrong, as engines got stronger, the value of the pieces changed a bit generally. Again as it has been said the theoretical value of pieces change depending on the positions.😃

Benko instead of Modern Benoni

Hi everyone,

several times somewhere here I read that for example

Avetik is a big Modern Benoni fan. Now I am wondering why

the Benko is proposed for 2000+ players.

Is it because it is (much) easier to learn? (This is at least my impression)

I like the Benko and the course here very much but I am interesed in how you made up your choice.

Of course I am interested in anybody's opinion.

Thank you!

Replies

I think it was based on complexity, but I think they underestimated the Benko complexity a lot, hence the reboot/additions in the pipeline.

Dear Coaches,

I am really curious 😉

Thank you!

Sorry Thomas, it skipped my mind! I thought I already replied to this one!

The Benoni is a very, very sharp defense where you need to walk a very thin line of only moves in a few variations. It is also very easy to get steamrolled by White if you do not have a clear positional sense and sharp eye for tactics and mostly for counterattack. In some lines you can even be a couple of pawns down with compensation with development. Still we cannot propose this since we think that it would be too complicated. It is a very good weapon in an must win game (if you have an attacking and sharp style of play) and it is very good for IM level or even for a good prepared FM. The understanding and feeling that you need to play it well is much deeper than with the Benko.
Also the Benko positionally speaking is very sound and the tactics and lines are not so difficult to remember, the patterns repeat a lot and it's much easier to get good positions fast. It also annoys a lot the d4 players, don't forget this point too! 😀

Ruy Lopez

Is there a course to learn the Ruy Lopez?

Replies

No, we offer the Scotch for White as a response against e5. 😃 Why don't you try it?😅

Sharp Positions

i always find it difficult to keep track of everything in sharp positions, i'm 1800 on chess.com and i've been stuck there for almost 7 months

i want to know how my thinking process should be to do well in this type of positions,

like what are the things i should check out first and the things that i should prevent

Replies

Did you check out our course 7Q Method - How to Find a Plan in Any Position?
https://chessmood.com/course/chess-planning-7q-method
This course should help you to find plans, check it out.😀

Change email

Is there any way to change our email for our account

Replies

I don't see a clear way, maybe try contacting the team to see

Yes, please contact us at support and explain your case:

https://chessmood.com/contact

😀

https://chessmood.com/event/webinar-time-management

Please watch it!

The point that helped me tremendously: Avo says that during a game chess

is just a game. Only afterwards it is science. You probably know the problem.

I was immediately able to understand what he ment, because this is exactly the point

why I found myself in time trouble all the time: That I was way to scientific and not practical

ON THE BOARD. I am still in time trouble too often, but in the end, this will be exactly the

knowledge that WILL help me. 

Again: Please watch it, it is great!

https://chessmood.com/events#6

You will find other topics here.

Good luck and good study!😀

https://lichess.org/training/KeAJ0

Replies

Hello, after your move Qg5+, white can block with Qf4, and we are down an exchange.

After qxe4 rxe4 and pawn takes e4, we are up a piece! (Dont forget the c8 bishop :)

I hope this helps!

Pawn Structure Course

Hello Chessmood fam,

Is there a course here that focuses on proper pawn structure (e.g., when to make pawn breaks / take hook, etc.)?

Thanks so much and keep up the great content!

Replies

Hello, at the moment, no such course exists, mabye in the future though!

We ALL miss things!

In the Dec 5, 2023 Racing to 1500 Part 7 event, I think I caught a big miss.

At close to the 33:47 mark, black plays … Ra6.  To my eyes, that is a free rook with Qxa6.  No one viewing caught this live, and during the review no one mentioned it.  

Even Petrosian hung his Queen once as a GM.  But I think the story goes his opponent missed it, because he was …. you know….Petrosian!

Replies

Hey there,

Yes, that is correct :-)
We were all focus on the Kingside attack🙂

Here is the game I was referring to.

Tigran V Petrosian vs David Bronstein (1956) (chessgames.com)

Would you like to raise 100 points in three months and have more fun than you usually do? 
If you said “Yes” you will like today’s article. 

Recently GM Avetik ran an experiment where there would be only one subject - him. He would surrender to his HEART, SOUL & BODY, and play chess ONLY and ONLY when his heart wanted to. 

In three months, and only in four sessions, he raised 100 rating points. 
How did he do that? 
And how you can do it even better? 

Here is the link ⤵️
https://chessmood.com/blog/surrender-experiment

Replies

This is how I think motivation works. Your brain acts like many parts, each one shouting its demand. All you hear is your current thought train (or interruption to it) and how you feel. Ever tried to work through being hungry? That shouting starts to get louder and louder until it's hard to focus on anything. That's how we stay alive. Once we've eaten, it goes back to being quiet again. Or ever had that one thing was bothering you, you deal with it, then suddenly something else pops up you weren't aware of?

Being in-tune with yourself can help massively. I'm wondering whether I should even make my work days longer (which I control). When my mind is on chess, go ahead and ‘fill that need’ now, then go back to work with the ‘chess bug’ leaving me alone. Work a little later to get enough hours done of course, but it'll help on days where in the end I had to work longer anyway because I wasn't feeling work, despite having to do it and felt I needed to work longer to get what I'd planned done.

Also going for a walk can help down periods, but I guess the topic is about hacking chess motivation, not getting on with work :)

Interesting experiment. Maybe I can play a few games in the middle of work.
But I wonder how my teammates would respond. Especially my boss :)

Also the CM you crushed with chessmood openings is from the same city as me(see the last 4 letters of their username). Wasn't me though.

As always, great article.

It’s very interesting as usual ! I have an idea to try this and still keep playing regularly to improve . Having an account where I only play when the 3 conditions are present . And another account for the rest of the games I will play even if not perfect condition or for training purpose 

Nice article and even better games GM Grigoryan!

Looking forward for part 2!!  💪💪💪

I doubt if I can do better.
In the last days I played many games and trained even more with courses of chess mood with no improvement in my lichess blitz rating that is now 2071 and was higher in the past(my best blitz lichess rating was 2225 and when I started training with the new openings it was slightly more than 2100).

In the last weeks I finished the following courses:
1)Opening principles
2)White mood opening
3)Black mood opening
4)Opening Avengers
5)Tactic Ninja

I also started other courses that I did not finish.

I also took the quiz in courses 2,3,5 and for 2,3 I took it again and again until I could finish the quiz with 100%
for the tactic Ninja course I also trained again and again in the first problems before deciding to solve all of them(in the last try I had only one mistake out of the first 400 problems that I repeat them and also solved the rest of the problems without many mistakes and of course when I had a mistake I thought in order to find the right move).

I played nine 5+3 games today after all of this training and my rating did not improve.
Noticing tactics in blitz games is clearly different than solving them in puzzles and practically I also miss tactics in my online blitz games but the problem is not only tactics but the fact that I do not understand some of the openings.

For example the pawn sacrifice in the line 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bxf6 Qxf6 6.exd5 Bb4 7.dxe6 Bxe6 

Here is the last game that I lost with this opening when I got nothing good from this opening.

https://lichess.org/4x6nj7r03S2b

when Bxc3+ was probably not good but the real mistake was 9…Nc6

Why I thought that the line with 9…Nc6 and trading queens is good?

Here is a different game I lost in the same opening
https://lichess.org/5KWByDzN/black#17

I needed to play 9…Qxe6+ based on the engine but I thought it is bad to trade queens when I am a pawn down so I played 9…fxe6
I learned from that game that the bad pawn structure of white is worth a pawn so I did not care about trading queens in the other game that I post.
Note that I analyze every game with a computer to understand at least part of my mistakes.

I've read the article, and I have a question. Isn't improving your rating in this scenario not the same as improving your chess? As Avetik said, your rating is the average of your good and bad sessions, and you raise it to be only the average of your good sessions. Your skill level stays the same, doesn't it? And where rating really counts, which is over the board, you can't choose to only play your good sessions, you have to play all "sessions"(tournaments) you sign up for, at the given date and time. So basically you're only making a number go up, right? You're not really getting any chess improvement just from playing online when you're in the right mood, or am I missing something? Love

Nice article. 

Most of all because of this:

Should you start the experiment?   

If you want to improve your chess skills, no, you shouldn’t. 

You need to study, practice, and analyze your games.
You need to detach yourself from your results and focus on growth. 

I mean, most of the time articles and interviews are about rating growth, but this clearly explain the difference between chess growth & chess rating. 

Thank you coach, as usual.