Chess forum by Grandmasters

BIG MISTAKE IN CHESSMOOD SCANDINAVIAN COURSE?

Hello dear friends and Chessmood Grandmaster Team, the following line is given in the Scandinavian course under “3. Bg4” section.

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. Be2 Nc6 5. h3 Bh5 6. d4 O-O-O 7. c4 Qd7 8. d5

However, stockfish thinks that 8.d5? is a mistake/inaccuracy which only gives +0.5 for white, and the right move is 8.g4!(not given in the course) which gives +1.2 for white and gives the line 8.g4 Bg6 9.d5

Could one of the Grandmasters please explain why 8.d5 was given in the course and not 8.g4 

Thank you very much!

Replies

 A big mistake would be to recommend a bad/very poor move. Here, you have a stable advantage after 8. d5 which scores around 60% in the online database without weakening your king's safety and the need to be accurate for the whole game.

Choosing the second-best move which is more practical is often a better option than going for the first engine line which will require strong play until the last move by the human player. 

I hope one of the GM will provide you with an answer, but I wanted to help based on what I know about Chessmood's philosophy in the opening! :)

Did we really need a title that is all in capital letters and says “Big mistake”?!

Could you not simply have said “Seeking understanding of move 8 in the Scandanavian course”?  That way, if somebody else has a similar query they can do a search and your post will come up 🙂  Just a thought …

Query about Endgame Roadmap Course

Hello chessmoodians , 

I am a fide 1600 rated player .Is the endgame roadmap course going to help me with endgame strategy? 

Replies

I saw the course rating is 2100 .but my online rating is more than that .so I am confused if I should go with the course or not .

Dear Ar Ray,

The endgame roadmap is a decent step-by-step explanation of general strategies in the endgame.
Apart from rating, it also matters how good or bad your endgame skills are.
For a 1600-rated FIDE player, I think it will be a good idea to strengthen your endgame foundation.

OTB Norm and ELO tournament

Hi guys, for anyone interested, there are 2 tournaments (GM/IM/FM groups) in Ha Long and Hanoi, Vietnam this June. There are a few spots available left in each groups. 
It's a great tournament for norm seekers/people who wants to improve their rating in Asia, as not many norm tournaments are available there.
Registered players: (all groups): https://chess-results.com/tnr1135384.aspx?lan=1
(Regulations below)
Thank you!
P.S: There are also an GM/IM norm tournament in Hanoi after this tournament. Same organizer, you could ask the organizers for more details.

Replies

Too Expensive! ! ! !

I have only ONE question?…WHY IS IT SO EXPENSIVE??

Replies

Uptick in spam :/

I’ve noticed some annoying spam lately (porn, betting, some poe2-like nonsense, …).

I’m wondering if there is anything we can do to help to target quickly and remove these people.

Is there a way to flag spam?

thx.

Replies

You can use Duckduckgo to block tracking/cookies

The Golden Method

Hey Champions!
When you play online chess how many games do you play during one session?

On Tuesday will share you in our ChessMood Blog my Golden Method, but before that, I would love to hear your thoughts. 
 

Replies

Hi all! Good morning! In my recent online games since joining Chessmood 3 weeks I played an average of 14 games (3min+2sec) whenever I can. In the last 3 weeks I had 6 sessions and my rating went up 80 points at the moment in lichess. Before I used to stop after winning 2 or 3 games. Now I try to play longer when real life allows me.

I used to play very long sessions of 20 games or more almost everyday. After joining ChessMood, I found that I wasnt focused and lost concentration after about 10 games, and would lose my mood, and then loss my rating LOL. I now only play 2-3 games at a time, 3-4 times a day, so I can make sure I can concentrate more consistently.

Due to time issues I play only one or two games of 15/10 on chess.com. My motto is to play good moves instead of playing a lot games. I play daily one or two games. After every game I check following things.

1. Blunders

2. Tactics which I completely missed.

3. Candidates which I considered but I was failed to see the whole line.

4. Opening move orders and ideas. Now a days due to lack of time I mix up plans in openings but soon I hope to find more time then this problem will be solved I know.

5. I also try to focus and control excitement level when  I realise that position is winning for me or i have an advantage.

6. Now a days bec of chessmood I am trying to play with right mood even if I get minus positions and I saved many with rightmood concept.

My conclusion of recent games shows bad tactical skills and positional skills are superb and improving day by day. So, I think with classics in future I will consider tactical training and combinative training. 

I usually play 2 games. I take my games very seriously and make sure that I am in the best conditions to play my best games. I need to try and extended my duration of focus so that I can play more games of good quality

hello

Lichess rating of game 1704

👍

The method worked!And I usually play 8 games.

Help Me!

When looking back I can see i have made huge progress looking from back 1200 but when winning does nothing and losing takes everything. Few days ago I was 1481, few months ago i was 1444, today im again 1444! people less rated destroy me. after so long, changed from 5 openings, new tactics giving up my favourites i improved. But playing with my friend who uses my same opening, i lose, or draw. good opening principles vs ok opening principled, quick and strong vs passive and slow.
Im at another plateau. everyone has thos but why do i have it every 50 points?!
Hope for help!

Replies

Hi there,

Have you read the ChessMood article on plateaus?

https://chessmood.com/blog/enjoy-your-plateaus

Good luck!

YOU SHOULD TRAIN PAWN STRUCTURE

This is on lichess right? If so then maybe try turning ratings off for a while in your display settings. This can help to focus only on the chess.

Guidance in using moodcoins.

How can I purchase courses with mood coins? , There is no option to get the course using mood coins.

Replies

Go to the course you wish to purchase. On the right, there should be an orange button to get a monthly/yearly plan, but underneath there should be a link that says “buy this course for $x” (see first screenshot). if you click this link it should take you to the payment page. On the right of this page there is a section titled “choose your payment method”(see second screenshot). select moodcoin and hit the purchase button, and the course is yours. if you need some more moodcoin, you can solve the daily puzzles or submit games for game of the month. Also, note that some courses cannot be purchased in this way if they are incomplete.

hope this helps, Samuel

New article: ALFAVE: The Practice That Helped Me Rise Again

What if 10 minutes could shift your entire day?
Your entire chess journey, and your entire life?

GM Avetik shares the practice that helped him rise again.

ALFAVE. 6 letters. 6 stages.
It might be exactly what your next breakthrough needs.

Discover the Practice here: 
https://chessmood.com/blog/alfave

Replies

….only changed few words

That’s why this matters, for life.
And chess journey, too.

With best wishes and love,
For your growth and life journey,

THANK YOU (Avo for sharing ALFAVE)

… F … not easy, hard work to do for me

Avo, your life journey is amazing!

A wonderful, unique website for becoming the best chess player one can be.

Lately, the next, higher tier in this lifelong project: becoming a better person and thus , making this world better by sharing our own ALFAVE with those around us.

It's just a natural progression from ChesMood, isn't it?

Thank you and please…keep sharing your life experiences , the lessons you learn and your joy with us!

Sincerely

Ovi

Hi Avo

I've been a member of ChessMood for a while, and I first wanna thank you for this AMAZING website and community you have built. It's truly amazing, and all your content is really helpful.

But THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing ALFAVE with me and everyone in ChessMood. After all, everyone wants to become a better person, and I've been going through some of my worst periods in life too and this just really helped me clarify my thoughts and my chess. You have no idea how much this changed my life right now :D

Thanks again for sharing this and continue doing everything you are doing. Thanks to you, all the GMs in ChessMood, and everyone in the ChessMood team for providing this amazing community and website. 

Have an amazing day :D

Czech Pirc

Hi Champions,

I just finished the Czech Pirc course and I am looking for some model games in case the black side chooses the “Normal” Pirc set up. I just learned the theory on the Pirc but there the variation thaught is without the white pawn on f4. Any reference is welcome.

Keep up the good work. Edger

Replies

I guess you are right. I normally try to get some model games for the variations which I study but it's not show stopper. Thanks anyway! Cheers

Dear Edger, 

Thanks for your post, I little bit got confused if you still have any question - please clarify and I would love to help :-) 

The best games of April, 2025, and the prizes

Hello ChessMood family, hello champions and future champions! 
Welcome to the "Best games of April, 2025" competition.
Under this post, we invite you to post the 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 March, 2025:

Samuel Marsden
Tony Weir
Thomas Maes
Trying to get Better for real
James L.

Replies

https://www.chess.com/live/game/136910015824

Mating white in the middle of the board after a chaotic Jobava London game

https://lichess.org/0WjDJEBP/black

Amother good N vs bad B endgame. Silent strategy!

 https://www.chess.com/live/game/136970196226

Attacking the king:

https://lichess.org/c4SLeTqB4ZtY

https://lichess.org/vI8yIy8i/black#0

Beautiful Queen Sacrifice

https://lichess.org/KPNGhyn6/white#0

Beautiful Rook Sacrifice for attack

https://lichess.org/om2MZbwR/black#0

Positional Chess

lichess id: Anuraghav

https://lichess.org/pf7N8alt/black#60

sacrificing rook to attain checkmate

https://lichess.org/zWoll0Xx/black#38

beautiful tactic to win in middlegame

https://lichess.org/eSZxW6r3/black#81

a beautiful attacking game

I uh, just kind of mindlessly mated the opponent XD

https://lichess.org/aWzTUmY4/white#1 

https://www.chess.com/live/game/137024626196

https://www.chess.com/game/live/137062291518?move=0

I was just playing a slow positional strategy against the isolated QP – then my h-pawn went berserk)

https://www.chess.com/game/live/138036043723?move=0

https://www.chess.com/game/live/137037733890

Crushing someone rated 400+ higher than me*: https://www.chess.com/game/live/138036043721

*pre-event rating

crushing the Benoni
https://lichess.org/CE65PvfO#37

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/137103604180?tab=review&move=0

Bxh6 was a mistake but position was winning anyways

https://lichess.org/ifklBQxj/black#0

This game is an attacking game where I thought I could attack my opponent's king fast since my king looked safe for me.

https://lichess.org/ilrlNU7C/black#0

This is the other game, it is also an attacking game, but in this game it is same side casting attack.

Philidor, I thought Ne7-g6 was a cute idea to exploit the pins (turns out I could have played it even earlier!)

https://www.chess.com/live/game/137126995044

A game from the ChessMood Schlechter Defense

Chess: ThankfulBone vs Tomboov247 - 137139062430 - Chess.com

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/137161068220?tab=analysis&move=52 a nice french exchange game 

https://www.chess.com/game/live/137180487196

https://lichess.org/S6IzRMGA1Nmi

and thanks to Gabuzyan sir for teaching a great opening.

https://www.chess.com/live/game/137233397120
En passant gambit 

I played feriocus attacking play in this game!

https://lichess.org/study/zNkAqpm2/EJN2zHUl

poor white king :)

https://lichess.org/study/SnHlWENo/BAR2mXDq

A satisfying attack against a bad …e6 and …g6 setup in an otb tournament

Here is a game I won with the chessmood attack on the king side! Thanks Chessood!

https://lichess.org/Lz6SjXib#41

French Tarrasch, with a good attack in the white king

https://www.chess.com/game/137312948684
 

Well, this was an SLP gambit. :)

https://lichess.org/wjoyphhs/white#32

My best GPA against the Pirc Defense:
https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/137318285468?tab=review

https://lichess.org/BYfL0foD/white#0

Near perfect game punishing opponents slow opening play in the scotch finishing with a nice mate

Hello all, A victory playing the Sicilian Rossilimo as black with a sacrifice!. Enjoy

https://lichess.org/JXpF28nF/black#44

Two minis:
GPA vs. Sicilian - it's a bird… it's a plane… it's the knight on g5!
https://www.chess.com/game/live/137214479386

French Attack -- second time someone played 4.c4 and I was ready! Game reviews FTW!
https://www.chess.com/game/live/137214410530?move=11

https://lichess.org/nmAqTpRv

Could be a nice model game for the topic of attacking

https://lichess.org/NSq9Q8Pk/white#0

This is my third game I will upload, I think Bd5 from me was a tricky move (a silent move). I think I also used SLP in this game since I was an exchange down in the opening ( but I felt it is not a problem since I have a double bishop advantage and my opponent's dark squares are weak around his king ).

As per GM Gabuzyan recipe, ‘bring the pieces’

https://www.chess.com/live/game/137444085904

https://lichess.org/FbBq9qXl#55

Playing with someone who is 700 rating more than me. I picked up on how to think fast by the first few moves and I knew that ill get something got by the bishop sacrifice so i did it. so far this month till now I didn't feel any games best or wow. But I love this game and I'll never forget it.

Nice checkmate with bishop and knight 

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/137370776674?tab=review

I am not playing often against the Philidor but the attached  looks like a smooth win in the Hanham variation.

https://lichess.org/d7NG29yg/white#77

https://lichess.org/0uovt1sa/black#53 I won a piece with a tactic, consolidated and played a saving move at the end against a 2196 elo player on classical lichess

Anothere one is https://lichess.org/Qd132CaYxw94 where I simplified into an drawn rook endgame and kept pressing for a win that I got

Here's a game in Benko Gambit. Super happy that the ideas resulted in a good result. 

https://www.chess.com/game/live/137410228220?move=0

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2025.04.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ukeera"]
[Black "chess_vissu"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "900+10"]
[WhiteElo "1819"]
[BlackElo "1764"]
[Termination "chess_vissu won by resignation"]
[ECO "A58"]
[EndTime "15:07:31 GMT+0000"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/137410228220?move=0"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. Nc3 axb5 6. Nxb5 Ba6 7. Nc3 g6 8. g3
Bg7 9. Bg2 d6 10. Nf3 O-O 11. O-O Nbd7 12. Re1 Qa5 13. e4 Ng4 14. Bd2 Nge5 15.
Ne2 Qb6 16. Bc3 Nd3 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Rf1 Qxb2 19. Rb1 Qxa2 20. Nc3 Qc4 21. Qd2
Rfb8 22. Rfd1 N3e5 23. Nxe5 Nxe5 24. f4 Nd3 25. Rxb8 Qd4+ 26. Kh1 Rxb8 27. Ne2
Nf2+ 28. Kg1 Nh3+ 29. Kh1 Bxe2 30. Qxd4+ cxd4 0-1 

Also, I want to take this opportunity to thank GM Gabuzyan and GM Avetik.  Lots of love. 

Typical Greek gift in this Exchange Caro-Kann miniature
https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/daily/801238345?tab=review

I'll show you two interesting games against the same opponent: 

A dark square massacre after making use of his blunder, 18…Qa5?? (earlier on, in the opening, 7.Nbd5 would have given me a winning advantage already, but I sadly missed it) 

https://lichess.org/7MN3NYTa/white#0 

And a sudden and brutal SLP after losing a piece 

https://lichess.org/XxGhRtmh/black#0

Beautiful checkmate using a king, rook, knight, and bishop

Check out this #chess game: ViciousRacoon vs Nahs76 - https://www.chess.com/game/137489190560

some good games of april.

have some good eastern days.

quick sicilian: https://lichess.org/7P0KQU8K

nice (not perfect) dutch: https://lichess.org/0euGzEHc/black

clean french attack winning a central pawn: https://lichess.org/GAjmt95S/black

dutch attack: https://lichess.org/e2BOYuuR/black

french attack against a titled player: https://lichess.org/3d43mOko/black

Lesson i already know keeps getting taught to me again and again. Never Give Up-Miracles Happen
https://lichess.org/xDoQmTUVi3O7

https://lichess.org/2Dd0XcQb/black#0

destroying a 2600's kingside in a bullet game

Titled players aren't invincible: I beat an NM in just 17 moves!

https://lichess.org/9WH6G2Id/white#0 

Hello everyone, tactics I learned from coach Gabu! Enjoy the game! 

https://lichess.org/5nrpYiBG/black#31

😃

https://www.chess.com/events/2025-faroese-chess-championship-open-group/07/Al_Jay_Zaid-Kosini_Bogi_a

a decent OTB game in the scotch with some instructive moments especially insisting not to exchange the queens when I am attacking. even though I did not win the tournament, but I won the guy who got first place

Quite a few mistakes but managed a mate GP attack. Note time remaining…

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/137537674866?tab=review

some of my best games in the year i am starting to think i have grown my skills above my ratings…
Blitz-
https://lichess.org/CANQT2VoNO9O it was so obvious that i want my rook to support me than my bishop
https://lichess.org/gSnylL6KSRl0 i won in my weak area-endgames because of opponents isolated pawns

Rapid-
https://lichess.org/zDFp79T2pakX all my pieces checkmate the opponent
 

Finally geting comfortable with Gran Prix opening. Look at the attack but enjoy the checkmate!

https://lichess.org/eGblZlGPbNKU

https://lichess.org/eMKdUN8m/black#0

nice rossolimo game

https://lichess.org/ZLImSCQT/white#0

positional endgame play in the scotch

Based on the Spartan Shield , i applied the good defense and managed to win a nice game in Black French.

https://www.chess.com/game/live/137626051958

Thanks GM for the wonderful ideas taught in Spartan Shield course which is all new concepts for 1500 level Chess.com players.

https://lichess.org/rgePlrqZ/white#0

Clean game punishing opponent greedily forking my pieces and opening their king

https://lichess.org/kgvL6rg8/white#35

https://lichess.org/FJM7Y9JI

Pretty finish 

Just when everything was lost….still hope!

https://lichess.org/xE1A6zEZ/black#1

I played online. I played as black. Time control was rapid(15min + 10sec).
This is a game which I applied the topics I learned in Multiple ChessMood courses.
https://www.chess.com/game/live/137476710044

The opening was the French Attack, Exchange variation, which I studied through the BlackMood Openings.
I made a blander on move 16. But I calmed myself and took a deep breath, and told myself "This is a start of SLP mode!"
I switched into SLP mode from move 17 to move 22. I deployed my pieces for opponent's king.
After gaining material on move 23, I switched into WWP mode and started simplifying the position—like with 26...Qe4.
I made preparation to Bucking Bronco mate on 34 move, and eventually finished the game with a Kill Box mate.

This game felt like it used everything I’ve learned at ChessMood, and I’d say it’s my best game of April.
 

I couldn't believe I got, in an actual game, the Queen-sacrifice mate-in-8 from the Owen Defense: https://www.chess.com/game/live/137724259238

https://www.chess.com/live/game/137737762746

https://lichess.org/brVMTgTs/black

https://lichess.org/yp6ItuRa/white#46 The Dreev line with Bd6 (loosing a pawn) in the Caro Kann

Elefant gambit 

https://lichess.org/1Z5uGdj2/white#0

https://lichess.org/wX3OqLcF/black

https://lichess.org/PaR28TEf41KI

Bullet queen sac

I won by check mate using a strong smothered mate thous it was a blunder because king could take but i still won-
https://lichess.org/WdC7BjjGa1um
 

https://lichess.org/g1lovdeJ/black#0 Nice mate with d4 sidelines

https://lichess.org/6juZKSiy/white Nice bishop sac with scotch 4 nights novelty bd2 made by coach david!

Punishing opponent's careless play with strong counterattack

https://lichess.org/lAB1QcZy/black#44

https://www.chess.com/live/game/137887631100
 

still fooling around with the en passant gambit that’s the declined variation 😂

https://www.chess.com/game/live/137890725102

Bought the Maroczy bind course with my MoodCoins, then this happened (OTB 70+15) :-)

https://lichess.org/study/uU4BulVx/CQHGqAHO

Also had this one this month (are we allowed two entries?). OTB 70+15. Sadly my opponent blundered in an interesting position.

https://lichess.org/study/4qjNOhL9/ttNcMnj1

Hello ChessMood familia, 

Here is a game I played with the Benko Gambit: 

https://lichess.org/VkhDi5A4/black#64

The takeaways I had from this one: 

1. White's difficulties in developing the c1 bishop in Benko Gambit's leads to mistakes (in this case 13.b3?)
2. When one “small” thing for white collapses, the entire queenside collapses in this opening.
3. Always sac the queen 😆
4. Always mate with a pawn 😜

Crushing Attack in Caro-Kann using Chessmood's lines. I felt so proud to execute a brilliant Rf6 blockade tactic inspired by Bobby Fischer's game to launch a powerful piece sacrifice attack against the black king.

I have attached the Chessbase PGN link below for your reference

https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/game/?p=13xApBJIfPQn67xFy31ZSuw+xCpulV9yLh/nDWdMdoEPMh4fj6j0Un0GjvNhaefR

Drawed a FM with the najdorf Qf3 varitation

https://lichess.org/j51He8rO/black#8

when are prizes coming?- or the next month forum?

Hello champions!
How are you?

Thank you for sharing your best games. It was a pleasure to review them. You scored some beautiful wins, and we found many instructive moments and ideas. Now, on to the prizes…

1st prize: Zaid Al-JAY. Great game with several instructive moments! From not exchanging queens when attacking, to playing with all your pieces, to targeting new weaknesses — you played a fine attacking game. Well done!
https://www.chess.com/events/2025-faroese-chess-championship-open-group/07/Al_Jay_Zaid-Kosini_Bogi_a

2nd prize: Edger Schoonhoven. You crushed the Elephant Gambit! The pieces flew into the attack, and the game was over before Black could even develop. The perfect punishment! Very good!
https://lichess.org/1Z5uGdj2/white

3rd Prize: James L. You took advantage of the isolated pawn on d5 very well. With a queenside invasion by the Rook and the h-pawn marching down the board, you created a powerful attack and won. Fantastic game!
https://www.chess.com/game/live/137062291518?move=53

4th prize: Samuel Marsden. A crushing kingside attack! You timed …f5 perfectly to open the lines, and from then on, all your pieces just kept going forward until the game ended in a mate. Good job!
https://lichess.org/2Dd0XcQb/black#1

5th prize: Nathan Eppel. You took advantage of the weakened dark squares and launched a strong attack, even without the Queen! The checkmate with the Bishop and Knight was beautiful. Well done!
https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/137370776674?tab=analysis&move=21

Congratulations to all of you!
Thank you once again to everyone for sharing your games.
All the best for next month’s contest!

Stuck at 1000 for months

OK, I am getting discouraged here. I am investing at least 2 hours daily in chess, but haven't improved for months now. Stuck at the same rating (chess.com 1000 rapid, 600 blitz) since December. I am quite good at maths, logic, programming, and so on, but I am wondering whether my brain can handle chess at all at this point.

Watched most Rating Booster courses. Learned by heart most of the opening lines for my level, and watched most of the model games. Did 6000+ rated puzzles + lots of puzzle rushes. Most of the time I lose because of some tactic, but I did the Tactics Ninja course twice. For the last 90 days I have like 60% loses. And I try to analyze all my games after each loss.

Currently do not know what to do and learn at this point because all the other available courses are for higher levels. Paid for the PRO version here, but the live streams are quite advanced for me, so I stopped watching them.

I am also paying a WGM trainer once a week for personal lessons…

I just need to know whether this is normal and it is part of the journey, because I am quite competitive in nature and my mood currently is definitely not right and maybe I should just find another hobby…

 

Replies

Hi Ivaylo, 

When I was about 900 chess.com rapid I also struggled with basic tactics and didn't get tremendous results from tactic ninja. Eventually I gained 200-300 points of rating by using anki and working through Chess Tactics for Students (there's a deck you can download for free with a few hundred cards based on the book). If I remember right it probably took something like 50-70 hours of practice before I could quickly solve most of the tactics, but immediately after finishing my rating moved dramatically. 

The problem with tactic ninja is that it teaches you motifs and how to solve tough problems, but it doesn't drill in the pattern recognition you need through constant exposure. Puzzle rush just overexposes you to back rank mates and offers little control over the other themes you're getting.

Hope that helps! 

Dear Ivaylo,

The questions you have are fundamental and individual for each player. If I am not mistaken, you haven't used your 1-1 call opportunity. yet
I would suggest you do that, as in that case we can discuss everything in very deep detail.  For instance for U1000 rated level - it would have been much better to work on the rise of champions course - and many of Rating Booster courses, could be early to start :-)

Please let me know. 

Caro Kann

1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 exd cxd 4 Bd3 Nc6 5 c3 Nf6 6 Bf4 all known, but then my creative opponent played e5.  7 dxe5 Ng4 8 what is the correct way now?

I played 8 Qe2 Bc5 9 Bg3 o-o (a surprise for me) - only after the game I can see that Nf3 should have been played. But I started to think of Bxh7 + Qh5 + Ng5, forgot blacks Bf5, so in order to follow this I played Nh3 and was rolled over.

(Ncxe5, Bxe5 Nxe5, Bc2 Bg4 ups, Qf1 Re8 ups, Kd2 Nc4 etc…. 0-1 But what is the correct way? 

Replies

Hi Erik,

I think this sacrifice is absolutely useless, you should play 8.Nf3 Bc5 9. 0-0 - with a big advantage for White. 

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Attacking the Philidor defense

When you are attacking the Philidor defense what if they instead of trying to develop their dark squared bishop they try to develop the light squared bishop?????

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Please post the specific moves, position, or video (and time), as we have no clue what you are talking about.

i guess because there isn't a good square for the light squared bishop

Beginners Openings?

What openings are good for pure beginners. Let's say  a student is working on basics checkmates and going to play a tournament then what is useful opening for him to play. Also imagine he knows basics of openings too.like center control etc.

All suggestions are useful because soon I am going to give private lessons to beginners and below 1500 players.

Replies

With white pieces Colle system is ideal choice.

Against e4 Giuoco Piano is a good choice.

Against d4 King indian defence is a good choice.

Here, Comfortability with opening is also pretty important.

Abhi, we've talked about this topic a lot during the webinars. 
Our openings are very good for beginners too. 

WHY? 

A beginner should play very active chess. It's must to develop active play skills. 

I see, Amit offered Cole. 
While Cole is a very solid and White wouldn't get checkmate in 10 moves even if they play aginst a GM, systems like Cole are very bad for beginners, as the future growth will be slower. 

To summarize 1.e4! for White, Sicilian for Black! 
Against d4, there are many good options. I still believe that Benko is the best.  

Note: Many chessplayers and even GMs say that the best openings are the openings they play. This is not objective. 
However the openings I'm recommending they were never in main opening repertoire, but it's so obvious that one for improving his chess skills should play this openings, that from scratch I started analyze 1.e4! 

One hundred people, one hundred opinions. 
I just share mine, the rest- up to you. 

Great discussion on beginner openings! For newcomers, I recommend starting with simple openings like 1.e4 e5 (Italian Game) or 1.d4 d5 (Queen's Gambit), which promote central control and piece development. It’s important to focus on understanding the ideas behind these openings, rather than memorizing moves, to build a strong foundation. 

Well, for pure beginners wanting to begin studying openings, i’d say:

“Go to 'The Rise of Champions,' Sections 3 and 4 here at ChessMood.”

That is a great course. :)

 I learn stuff in there all the time. I’m not much of a player, but i’m not a pure beginner.

Look who got a nice new milestone

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Didn't you just recently post about reaching 1300? Your rating is going up fast! Keep up the good work!

French Attack, Steinitz variation

Dear Chessmood family!

I love the chessmood reportoaire and have been playing it for about a year. Lately I am facing a response from white that is new to me (probably some youtuber that recommends it): 1. e4, e6, 2. e5

I checked the opening videos, but could not find any videos about this. In the last video about “dubious moves”, GM Avetik tells us to just follow the development plan, but the annoying pawn on e5 makes it uncomfortable. 

According to the opening principles, e5 should not be a good move, but I can't find a way to punish it, at least not in the short term. 

Any advice? 

Best regards,

Marcel

Lifetime Chessmood brother

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Dear Marcel,

2.e5 indeed is a bad move, and over the years of streaming, I probably faced it just a couple of times. I would recommend 2…d6 to trade the pawn - as if they capture, you can develop the Bishop. This move isn't deeply covered as it's not dangerous and that's why GM Avetik advises to follow general healthy chess principles. Advancing the pawn to e5 just itself, without gaining any tempos, is not a great strategy. As an alternative, you can play with 2…d5 that will sooner or later transition to regular French opening positions that we play.

Add Tactics and Endgames Related to ChessMood Opening Repertoire

Hi ChessMood team, I wanted to share a suggestion that I think could add great value to the Tactic Ninja and Endgame sections. Would it be possible to include puzzles or chapters focused on typical and recurring tactical motifs and endgames that arise from the openings recommended in the ChessMood repertoire? The idea would be to gradually add dedicated chapters that train the tactical ideas and endgame patterns specifically tied to the ChessMood openings. This could help reinforce pattern recognition and deepen understanding of the positions we frequently reach when following the repertoire. Thanks for all the amazing content and guidance you provide!

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Dear HPS,

We thought about it - we might have some for some separate openings, however, there are positions where Endgame transitions are too different, and not really possible to predict. The same situation is about tactics, as in some openings they might be more common, in others they are too different.

Thanks for your great suggestion and your desire to help us improve our materials!

Lost to 8 year old kid in a rated event

Amazed by the way how this kid( fide 1586  spotted my mistake on move 16 and blunder on move 18 how he thrashed me and more importantly he blitzed out all moves (this is 60+30 time control) . Curious to learn how these kids get trained on spotting mistakes which are atleast depth of 7-8 moves.. . Any pointers how to attain that skill set. Btw I am 40 year old with fide of 1500+

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Source "Analyze This App"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nb3 Bb6 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Qe2 O-O 8. 
Be3 Re8 9. f3 Qe7 10. O-O-O d6 11. g4 Be6 12. h4 Rad8 13. h5 Bxb3 14. axb3 Bxe3+ 
15. Qxe3 d5 16. g5 d4 17. gxf6 Qxf6 18. Qd2 dxc3 19. Qxc3 Qf4+ 20. Kb1 Rxd1+ 21. 
Ka2 Qc1 22. b4 Qa1+ 23. Kb3 Nd4+ 24. Kc4 Qa6+ 25. Kc5 Qc6# 0-1
 

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Dear Rajk,

We are not analyzing the separate games of students here, you are welcome to ask any questions related to the website content, our courses, blogs, or any other way we can help you :-)

Regarding your question, it sounds like your opponent calculated something quite deeply, and the solution can be to have good calculation skills as well.