Chess forum by Grandmasters

Scandinavian Early Bf5

I recently playing this game and sudden lost to this person who played early Bf5 line in third move. May I know what is idea and how can I counter it? According to the course, usually they play Nf6 first after that only Bf5. Below is the link to the game.

https://lichess.org/ZQ27bsJm

Replies

Hey Soul Chess,

I offer you to play with Be2 - so now Qe4+ is not a threat, and after 4…Nc6 5.d5 0-0-0 6.c4! - with a better position.

Thank you.

Imbalances

Where to find a course or blog or something about evaluating piece imbalances.

Here are some examples: (not counting pawns)

BB vs R, BN vs R, NN vs R, 

RR vs Q, BBN vs Q, BNN vs Q, BB vs Q, BN vs Q, NN vs Q

RR vs BBN, RR vs BNN

Please help😌🙏

Replies

There is a blogpost from chessmood for rook vs 2 minor pieces:

 https://chessmood.com/blog/rook-vs-two-minor-pieces 

I know you specified course/blog, but there is a really good book called How to Reassess your Chess: Chess Mastery Through Chess Imbalances. I just read the 4th edition and it was great. It had all the imbalances.

Hope this helps

There is also quite new book Chess Imbalance by Flores Rios - the same author who created a book about pawn structures. Might wanna check that out. Also there is this chessmood webinar https://chessmood.com/event/hidden-powers-of-queen-webinar

Would love to hear Hovhannes's perspective on this game

I think I did a good job of using the principles in the two bishops course! I used to be terrible at operating without a rook and I think I got better at that lately

Play Chess Online for FREE - 2 Player Chess - Chess.com

Replies

Question on Kinder Variation 6...Nh6 7.Be3

Hi ChessMood Family

I played an IM recently who found solid moves against Kinder variation.

1.e4 e6  2.d4 d5  3.Nc3 Nf6  4.e5 Ng8!?  5.f4 c5  6.Nf3 Nh6!  7.Bd3

This stops Black's useful later Nf5

7… Nc6  8.Be3.  And here I could not decide best plan and liquidated centre, which is not good.

After engine analysis, I came up with following plan.  

8… Ng4  9.Bg1 c4!?  10.Be2 Bb4.  Followed by Qa5, Bd7 and maybe OOO (or Ke7).  The point being to gain big space advantage and better pieces, damage White pawns with Bxc3 when we want, and leave White King with castling problems.  Our knight on g4 can come back via h6 (and we might even get h5 in first).

I know c4 is not thematic for Black in our French Attack because we want to pile on the d4 pawn,  but I could not find a convincing line otherwise.  What does ChessMood family think?

Replies

Hi dear Ben,

Let me please mention that we recommend these lines in the simplified Blackmood openings, meant to play at the U2000 online level, where people don't ever make such advanced ideas as IMs, and if you are constantly facing such strong competition, you will need to learn the advanced openings.

About the position, I checked as well, and it seems like after 8.Be3 c4 9.Be2 Bb4 or Nf5 leads to an interesting game.
Usually, c4 isn't thematic, but in this case, it's quite reasonable, and Black will try to play on the Queenside.

Feature Request: Add age suitability

Its nice that all courses have a suggested chess.com blitz rating, but it would be even better if there was an age suitability.

 For example, a relative of mine has a really young child who wants to learn chess, and I want to recommend the Rise of Champions course seems great, starting the chess journey from the perfect place!

However, will they understand the course? Are all courses friendly for all ages or only 10+?

Please tell me.😃

Replies

There's no 18 rated content, no, lol.

Looking for Model Games in the ChessMood Dutch Attack

Hi everyone,

I know ChessMood has model games in the BlackMood Opening Model Games course, but those are part of the paid content. Since I don’t have access right now because of my financial issues, I was wondering if anyone here who plays the Dutch Attack could share some of your own games for me to study?

I’d love to see how you all approach the Dutch Attack in practical games — move orders, common middlegame plans, even mistakes we can all learn from. Wins, losses, or draws are all welcome =)

If you’ve played the Dutch Attack, could you please drop a few PGNs or links?

Thank you =)

Replies

None of the below are “model” games lol. Some of them were lucky escapes. I'm still learning and figuring out the dutch myself. Feel free to look around though!

https://lichess.org/VtUgbkpJ6w6h

https://lichess.org/6jVelhoXB0A8

https://lichess.org/study/toXAGiza/A4enuoHC

https://lichess.org/study/toXAGiza/CCRWbVz2

https://lichess.org/study/toXAGiza/1vZZhsTM

https://lichess.org/study/toXAGiza/lTe3cQVa

You might also try looking through the “best games of the month” threads (past and present). There are frequently Dutch Attack games being posted there, and they are all pretty high quality games.

I was losing and getting tilted, then my kitten tried to steal my bean salad, and I laughed so hard I stopped caring and won lol

Proud of pulling this off without any rooks too. I rely on my rooks a lot and feel defenseless without them

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/142963990918

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2025.09.10"]
[Round "-"]
[White "sarvjeet1600"]
[Black "piedraven"]
[Result "0-1"]
[CurrentPosition "5b2/5P2/8/8/8/1kqK4/8/8 w - - 0 63"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECO "C21"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Danish-Gambit-3...dxc3"]
[UTCDate "2025.09.10"]
[UTCTime "17:23:14"]
[WhiteElo "1170"]
[BlackElo "1204"]
[TimeControl "600"]
[Termination "piedraven won - game abandoned"]
[StartTime "17:23:14"]
[EndDate "2025.09.10"]
[EndTime "17:36:02"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/142963990918/analysis?move=123"]
[WhiteUrl "https://www.chess.com/bundles/web/images/noavatar_l.84a92436.gif"]
[WhiteCountry "69"]
[WhiteTitle ""]
[BlackUrl "https://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/v1/user/216792023.7f07b8f0.50x50o.05bf042244a8.jpg"]
[BlackCountry "73"]
[BlackTitle ""]

1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 Bb4 5. Bc4 Ne7 (5... Bxc3+) 6. Bd2 O-O 7.
Bd3 $6 d6 $6 8. Nf3 Bg4 9. h3 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 h6 $6 11. a3 Bc5 12. O-O Ng6 13. Rfe1 $6
Ne5 14. Qg3 Qf6 15. Nd5 $4 Qe6 $9 16. Nxc7 $6 Qf6 $4 (16... Qg6) 17. Nxa8 $9 Nxd3 $9
18. Bf4 $4 Nxe1 $9 19. Rxe1 Nc6 $6 20. Nc7 Ne5 $6 21. Bxe5 $6 dxe5 22. Nd5 Qd8 $2 23.
Qxe5 Re8 $6 24. Nf6+ Qxf6 $2 25. Qxe8+ Kh7 26. Re2 Qf4 27. Qd7 Bd6 28. g3 Qe5 29.
Qf5+ Qxf5 30. exf5 g6 31. f6 g5 32. h4 Kg6 33. hxg5 hxg5 34. Rd2 Bc5 35. Rd5 Bb6
36. Rd7 Kxf6 37. Rxb7 Kg6 38. Kg2 f5 39. f4 gxf4 40. gxf4 Kf6 41. Kf3 Ke6 42. b4
Kd6 43. b5 Kc5 44. a4 Kb4 45. a5 $6 Kxa5 46. Rf7 Kxb5 47. Rxf5+ Ka6 $6 48. Rf6 Kb5
49. f5 a5 $6 50. Rd6 $6 Bc5 51. Rd1 $6 a4 52. f6 Kb4 $6 53. f7 $2 a3 $1 54. Rd5 Bf8 55.
Rd1 Kb3 56. Ke3 a2 57. Kd3 Kb2 58. Rd2+ Ka3 59. Rd1 Kb2 60. Rd2+ Kb3 61. Rc2 $2
a1=Q 62. Rc3+ $6 Qxc3+ 0-1

Replies

Bugzone

Hello, Chessmood

The Bugzone AI feature has collected almost 283 bugs or puzzles that I was just doing for a tournament to prepare so I was just wondering how can I refresh it and remove them all and start fresh. 

Sincerely, Pawnbishop

PS: I got first place in the tournament 

Replies

Hey brother,

Congrats on your first place! Amazing!!!

I redirected your inquiry to the technical team, so if there is any way, they will let you know :-) 

Hi Pawn Bishop,
First of all, congratulations on winning the tournament, that’s fantastic! 🤩

Currently, BugZone doesn’t have the option to refresh and start from zero, but our dev team is working on new features to make the tool better and better. Thank you for sharing your suggestion, we’ll definitely consider adding this option in the future.

Best regards,
David

Opening Learning

Recently I will start to learn the ChessMood Opening Repertoire.

Should I completely ditch my previous one, or keep reviewing it once every while?

If I keep it, I will have two repertoires, which sounds good, but my brain might not fit all that information.

My FIDE is around 2000.

Replies

I am also around 2000 fide so do not tale my word for it.

I think that you should get as much experience with the chessmood repertoire as possible and therefore should not play your old repertoire for a while. While it might be sometimes handy to know multiple openings, it is not such a great advantage compared to other areas that could have been improved instead.

I myself would not mind ditching my old repertoire (which I already did a year ago) if it is too time-consuming to review it from time to time. If you wonder if it will fit into your head, it might just be. 

I hope that helps

Question on calculation

Lately I've been training my patterns and tactics, and I had an interesting experience in a blitz game today. Here is the game: https://lichess.org/ZhgVoZbR/black

I reached a critical position in the dutch attack where I knew there was a major problem when my opponent played 19. Bc4. I immediately knew that 20. Nd2 was the right move. Then right when my opponent played 21. Bxc5, my brain immediately knew there had to be a sacrifice leading to a mate, and when I reviewed the game, there was a mate in 6. This is very good because my pattern recognition has been dramatically improving and is a clear sign that my training is paying off.

The problem was when I got to this position, I had an extremely difficult time calculating the full line until the end, so I ended up blundering a mate in two. This highlighted something about my style: I'm more of an intuitive player. I can often feel when a move and idea is correct. But when I know I'm in a critical position, I realize I need to calculate precisely, and that's where I struggle. It's hard for me to visualize the board move by move in my mind. 

So my question is: Any advice on how to improve calculation and visualization skills so that when my intuition tells me “there's something here”, I can actually work out to the finish? Should I be training this skill deliberately, or is it something that naturally improves over time as I do more puzzles and tactical exercises?

Thanks 

Replies

Dear Tyler,

It's great to hear that your training is paying off and you can feel the patterns.
In the calculation course, I advised how to improve the visualization part in the last section.
Even though we can feel the patterns, there are sometimes calculations hard fore even super GMs.
The way to train it is to practice and practice and practice. 
However, this is a skill that can be improved throughout the entire chess career.

ChessMood Prices

Is the pro membership worth it? I have gotten a free course before, and it was incredible.

Replies

What do you think is the most complex opening or variation there is?

What do you think is the most complex opening or variation there is?

Replies

My guess would be the Ruy Lopez, since it's been around forever, is still very popular at the elite level (therefore has been played and analyzed by top players a lot) and there are loads of options and sidelines after almost every move until about move 20 (and probably beyond)

i think it is the sicilian because both sides have alot of variety 

Catlan for sure or some queens gambit side lines

It's probably the Grünfeld opening for Black.

(1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5).

 It reaches to a lot of complex lines that you should know, especially when it comes to Carlsen's repertoire against the Grünfeld (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 d5) which leads to a lot of lines where Black has to play a lot of critical positions where one mistake can throw the game. You can even look at the chessable course (Lifetime Repertoires: Peter Svidler's Grünfeld Part 1) which contains the main and sublines. There is even a part 2 for that. Each course literally contains a jaw-dropping 1000+ variations!

Either mar de la Plata variation of king's indian, poisoned pawn variation of Najdorf

Of the top of my head: Ruy Lopez lines, Najdorf lines, perhaps some QGD lines (although I don’t believe that one too much).

Ok so I just took a look, yeah the Mar Del Plata line is loooong. Theres a reason why I play Nbd7 instead of e5!

There are lines in the Winawer French and the Botvinnik Slav with crazy pawn sacrifices and exposed Kings. Certainly any variation can become complex, but these are especially chaotic.

New article: The Magic of Doing the Right Thing

There’s a beautiful Armenian proverb:
“Do a kind thing and throw it into the water.”

Kindness always comes back, though not exactly when or how you expect 😊

Feeling stuck in life or chess? Our just-published article might give you the spark you need… or simply remind you that magic often starts with doing the right thing.
Read it here 👇
https://chessmood.com/blog/right-thing-magic

Replies

Hi Avetik! I have been reading many of your articles in Lichess and from there only I got to know about ChessMood. Thus, last year I decided to buy the PRO Membership and have renewed it this year too. I must say even though this year my chess rating hasn't gone up that much (2150 to 2053 till now), your every blog sparks a light in me. Even though, am stuck I feel edified by your blogs. I don't know what the future awaits for me, but surely I would like more blogs from you. I have never seen you in person but I hope to get a chance :)

Thank You for writing the blogs and inspiring me and many alike.

E6 sicilian

Hello Avetik 

In e6 sicilian what if black dont play 3….d5 ?

for example 3…..a6 

Replies

That's mentioned in the 2… a6 Sicilian course though it is hard to say what to do in a generall case. 

Either Bc1-b5 or d2-d4 might be the next moves.

Personally, I just play the Closed Sicilian setup with g3, Bg2, etc. I score pretty well, get positions I know, etc.

English Fianchetto 10.Bd2

Hi All,

following line: 1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.0-0 d6 6.Nc3 e5 7.d3 Nge7 8.a3 a5 9.Rb1 0-0…

Here are 3 Main moves mentioned: 

10.Bg5 f6 Bd2 and now we can safely play Be6 because ng5 not possible (at least my interpretation)

10.Ne1 here we can also play safely Be6 because Ng5 again not possible

10.Nd5 Nxd5 ok easy to understand this plan. :)

But… what to do after 10.Bd2? 

h6 loose a tempo to Bg5 f6 line

Be6 not possible due to Ng5 i assume

engine says Rb8 but the lines looks not really intuitive. 

Can you help understand some ideas here and have a recommendation? :)

Thank youu

Replies

Dear Fred,

In the given position, the main idea for Black is to make d5.

I would advise after 10.Bd2 h6 - to be able to go Be6 and d5 and fight for the center again.

Since White is not on time to prevent it with Ne1-Nc2-Ne3, Black tries to play in the center.

How do you balance school and chess

Hi guys im a very ambitous chess player but at the same time im in high school do you guys have any advice of how you guys balance chess school or maybe even work? around what time of the day do most of you guys study chess?

Replies

Hello friend, nice question.😃

I study chess after school classes and in the weekends.

You can balance chess and school by making your schedules.

Here is what I mean.

For example:

If your school dismissal ends at 4:30 pm, and let's say you arrive at home 5 pm. Here's what you should do.

First of all, finish your work; every school has assignments. Maybe dance practicing, study, do homework, and more.

Then, once you're done, schedule yourself.

1. Check when do you sleep?😴

Maybe 9:30 can do, or even 10 or 10:30 pm if you really want to.

This can adjust your time schedule for chess and school.

2. When are you probably gonna finish your assignments?📚

If you want to study chess, just do assignments, no distractions, just straight to studying or “doing homework”.

3. How to plan?⏰

Just do your assignments then do your chess, that's all what you need. Also, adjust! Do not make yourself very tired, do not make yourself sad, frustrated, because we have our own reaching points. Just don't overwork. It will give you anxiety and sad stuff. Maybe make your work 3 hours only. Also, maybe when you are working, to not make you get distracted or tired, eat something delicious like a snack for one time. Just not too much ‘fun’ activity.

To summarize, follow these 2 steps:

Step 1: Do assignments and do NOT waste any time on playing phones or whatever distractions you're having.

Make it fast if you are a chess lover but also, focus on your school too.

Step 2: Do your chess, follow what your parents say like it's time to sleep. Always know when are you going home, sleep, and have dinner.

Additionally, here is a very important note.

Focus on your academics, not 100% chess. Always understand that your parents pay for your tuition or provide education for YOU to learn. School is the #1 priority. Not chess. Academics are curricular while chess is non-curricular. Chess is #2. 

Here's another one.

Be happy.

📅 Weekends

Weekends are the times when you have a lot of fun activities to do. You can have fun in the weekends, but maybe study more on chess and do your school assignments too. This is also the time when you can relax, unless you really study chess everyday and that is fine with us.

That's all I have to say and goodluck for you and to everyone reading this!⭐

Best regards, Jayden Fide

???

Who is giving drugs to the chess.com engine ???

Replies

🤣🤣

Question regarding Endgame Mastery Course

I can see that for all courses under Endgame Master, it says 1500-2600, does it mean that this content is enough study till 2600?

Replies

Anyone?

Yes, it should be more than enough for all levels as there are already all theoretical endgames you could think off included. 

I wouldn't recommend you studying them though (except the U2000 one) as long as your elo is below 2300 because you probably have more important areas to improve. Even a lot of grandmasters don't know some of these theoretical endgames.

Benko 4 b3 with Nc3 Rb1 ideas

Hi,

Any thoughts after the capture on c4 (4. b3 bxc4 5. bxc4) and g6 White plays 6. Nc3 and 7. Rb1 to control the b-file before us. I'm assuming this is why 4… g6 which is more complicated gets suggested in other courses even though practically the difference doesn't matter at club level.

Replies

Hi David,

To be able to answer on your question precisely, can you post it move by move from the beginning, and the position image, as it might occur in different ways, depending also on how Black replies.

But in general, White's Rb1 isn't dangerous, as Black will definitely have many chances to fight for the b file.

BugZone bug that I can't report here because I'm not a PRO member

How do I proceed? I would love to help you improve your product, but I don't understand why I need to pay extra to do that.

Replies

Oh now there is a “Report a Bug” banner to click on in BugZone.  

So I have been able to report the bug after all.

NB the “Report a Bug” banner only appears intermittently (which might be another bug!).