Chess forum by Grandmasters

Free Tickets

Hey Champions! 
Our Italian friends organize a strong online tournament, with 1000 euro prize fund, where many Grandmaster will participate. 
As ChessMood is one of the sponsors of the tournament, and organizers are our friends, we got FREE tickets for our ChessMood PRO Members. 
Here you can find more info about the tournament - https://www.facebook.com/events/789658141566159/ 

If you would like to participate, please write your nickname in chess.com and your real name. 
And join this group.  - https://www.chess.com/club/anti-cheating-blitz-chess-tournaments 
Before 1 hour of start, the registration will be opened. 

The tournament starts tomorrow (Wednesday) at ChessMood's streams time :) , 8 AM PST. 

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I would love to be bale to play, but I will have to work, so sadly will miss it :(

Hey Coach, I would like to play. 

EsotericPA

Matt Hammons

I would like to play, 

my real name : Nguyen Doan Giang

Nick name chess.com: giangdoan0804

hey coach, how can I join the tournament??

I don’t know where the link to tournament is

Hello coach! I would like to participate in the tournament. Here is my details:

Chess.com username: Mykelpagz

Name: Michael Joseph Pagaran

Hey Coach

I am going camping with the family today, so I cant play.

/Kim Skaanning

chess.com -abhi_chess_gm

real name- Abhi yadav

Hello coach! I want to participate in the Tournament 

Chess.com Nickname: HeinichessPY 

Name: Heinechen John 

Hi there!

Thank you a lot, it looks appetizing. But I am not registered on chess.com, just on lichess. Can I play on my friend´s nick? :)

Ah! Please remember me to lose the first games, be the last of the tournament classification on round 5. Then I need to let loose, drink, and just concentrate on playing chess... and finally win. I read Hovannes sensei article today... Did I get the instructions right??

Ok, folks! I fid the registratuon and made my self couple of rating points. If nessasary to have >2300, give me 30 minutes, pls. My nick is SunceMamino. Real name is Martin Machata.

Great. I will join: rogerrein Roger Rein

Good mood - lot of fun :)

2305, hope it will be good enough at the moment. ;)

Hello coach .iam a new member.    Username:mahdi2302                                         reel name:abdelhadi aassim                           please the time of tournement(gmt)  

Guys, we (italian organizers) are having trouble with manual subscriptions to the tournament! I'm having the person who is in charge of subscriptions to the tournament to manually add you all, i hope we manage to! I put "added " to all of you who were added alredy to the tournament!

I will like to play

Mr real name: Moemedi Machobane

Chess.com username: machobanemoemedi

I would like to play. Mateo Jackson , MateoJackson

Hey,

I would like to participate, 

my real name : Cyrille DIMEY

Nick name on chess.com: onerouslawyer

Bye,

I would like to join 

my chess.com account is SuperBubbleBee

Hi 

i like to play 

  Chess.com account : mikhailtal68    real name : arman shahzamani

Guys, it seems you should go here and click join:
https://www.chess.com/live#t=1234613

Sorry, guys, is there a link or a direct way on chess.com to join the tournament? Pls give me info...

It does not work. They want us to register and pay 8 euro. Nevermind.

I would like to play

Real Name : Robick Vohn Villa from Zamboanga PH

Nickname : RVKVilla_14_Zambo

I think the registration is closed or they are just busy ?

pls help me join the group

Guys, if you wrote your nickname recently, the organizer will not have manually add you in the tournament... 

I am not the organizer, I am just helping you to get spots in the tournament. Hopefully, all will be good. 
Nicolo, let us know, when you find time. 

"The art of exchanging Bishops in the openings."

Hello, champions! 
In two hours we start the interactive lesson. 
I opened this post, where in the comments section I offer you to write down all the things you learned today. 
Even if it just 1 thing,  no worries, write it. 

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My main takeaway is just how early in the game you can make a good positional decision on which bishop to exchange based on what color the pawns are committed to.  While some of these examples I knew about, especially the French Advance, and Carlsbad structures, it was nice to see just how many other examples there were.

I was also impressed just how fast the members were in answering questions, even though they show sometimes ratings around 1500-1600.  I guess the lesson was full of instructive material and presented well.

Fantastic webinar coach. 

1. Keep an eye out for which pawns are locked in the center. Trade off your bad bishop, which is same color as your pawns that are locked up, for the opponents good bishop. 

2. Most openings have some version of this. Pay attention to move order and try to exploit this (example with Ne2/Bf4)

3. Look for opportunity to try and force the exchange of the bishop, or if the opponent avoids it then your bishop becomes strong, such as the example where if black played c5 and we exchanged our d4 pawn, thus making our dark square bishop good. 

4. Be creative in how you go about exchanging. For instance, if the opponent can stop you with g3/h4 don't forget to look for other options (Qb8, Bd8, Bb6 example)

The main thing I learned is we should be looking for the right trades from the very beginning of the game. The pawn structure will tell us which Bishops (both sides!) need to be traded, or avoided! Just be careful the pawn structure isnt easily changes before making the trade! Also to be aware that there is always exceptions, for example, when you have less space, it can be ok to trade your good bishop to gain more spaces for your other pieces.

I am sure there is even more I learned, but these are the things that stand out to me the most right after attending the stream!

It was a great session. I learnt a lot about the following things:

1) Opening bishop Trade: bottom some examples that I remembered well.

1. Trades of bishops when pawn formation in the center is fixed.

2. Trades of bishop in different openings such as:

- In Queen gambit exchange variation- Black must try to trade LSB for white's good LSB bishop. So he chose the plan the Nbd7-Nf8-Ne6-g6-Ng7-Bf5 an amazing Carlsbad plan.

1)  Bad DSB in philidor for black.

2) In caro kann white have excellent bishop on d3 an it's reversed carlsbad and black can't successfully change the LSB with white's good one.

3)  French exchange- trade LSB as black and trade DSB as white.

4) French advance then trade bishop by two route

Qb6 Bb7 Bb5 and second one by coach a6-Bd7-Bb5 and confusing route hehehe.

5)  In benoni it's good to trade LSB  for white if he can and white must not allow Bg4 Bxf3 (capture of knight) Bec knight is useful on Nfd2- Nc4 maneuver to target the d6 and b6 complex.

6) Closed Benoni trade DSB as black with Be7 Bg5 or h6 Bh6.

7)  Kasparov's King's indian plan with Kh8-Ng8-Bh6 ( when pawn is on e5)

8) In benko b4 and closed e5 structure black can play with Bh6 again to trade of his bad DSB.

9) Carlsen's approach with Bb4 to trade his bad DSB even by damaging pawn formation bec c5 was not possible due to dxc5 and it make white DSB super and with bad hanging pawn formation for black.

10) Gabu sir Bh3 to trade off his bad LSB for his opponent's good one on c8.

11) Qh5 in french advanced line to stop black's plan of Bf5 to trade off our good LSB

12) Trade of DSB is favourable for white if he is playing stronewall formation and trade of LSB is better for black if he play stonewall.

That's above all about general opening bishop trade themes I learnt. Some were known to me but some were new to me.

2) In the middlegame section I learnt how to apply these concepts in practice by numerous examples that coach showed us.

3) Learnt so much about pawn formation decide trades.

That's all the things I learnt from this session. Sorry If I missed something. 

Nice and funny webinar :-)

I like the relaxed, but instructive and serius way you/we do things here at ChessMood. 

I learned some creative ways of exchanging my bad bishop for opponents good bishop, and I had a fun time. 

I think Matt H write some of the importent takeaways in the webinar.

I also agree that it was a terrific seminar, than you Avetik and all for the great feedback.

Can someone please explain to me the KID?

Thanks in advance...

Hello coach.in the  accelerated  dragon  there's  a line D×d4 that's  not  covered  in the  course.                                                                I have  same  idea  but  it's  not enough, so  I hope  for your knowledge.                                  With  best  wishes.                                                       Abdelhadi aassim

Super closed game...any is it possible to continue?

 I recently drew this game because I didnt know what else to do. Any ideas anyone?

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Should be draw. You actually play without your bishop :) 

Books with PGN Format

Hello ChessMood Family! 
How are you doing?

Guys, I have a question. 
Do you have books with PGN format, so I can open it with ChessBase? 
Or do you know where I can buy? 

Thanks in advance!

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I have some, Which one you're looking for? 

Sir I have many books. Even Kasparov's predisors. Sorry for spell. I have almost 200+ books in pgn format.

Email me the book or anything u want.

I will be happy to share.

I am not active on your web because of time issues and i am preparing for my exam. I will be available for email response.

abhiiyadav1997@gmail.com

I will def. do my best to help you in case of book.

I think that you are looking for something like the everyman books, almost have the pgn digital download edition. If you want to buy them originals here is their web, they are the ones that have "My great predecessors series"

https://everymanchess.com/

What about : my best chess games by Anatoly Karpov?

Unexpected win on move 5

I was recording a course about this position and remembered that this is one of the most strange things I've seen in the last time. 
With the last move Black played g6, with the idea to go Bg7, Nge7... 

Can you imagine that g6 is a big mistake and White can get almost winning position? 
Can you find the way? 

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Nd5!

Nd5!, Nf6
Bg5 Be7
Nxe7, Qxe7

White is +~1.5 and for a 2000+ rated game is this winning.  For those of us at 1300 this is just another game :)

Good Food = Good Mood= Good Move

After seeing Jay's pic in facebook forum about his food before training chess, I thought I could say something regarding diet and sports performance, but then today a good friend of mine published a really good article, and before you ask I did not suggest the title of the article, it is pure chance. Please take a look I am sure that some of you will find it useful.

https://foodrevolution.org/blog/nutrition-and-mental-health-connection/

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Nice article! Really lots of useful stuff. 
Thanks for sharing it, Edo! :) 

King and two knights vs king and a pawn

Hi

In todays's lessons we talk about tabelbase and king and two knights vs king and a pawn. I found this nice video on that endgame. I watch it in oktober 2018 :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VM9JWGbBQ4s -
What is Troitsky's line? An instructive endgame lecture

At 4.10 he show us the Troitsky's line. I did not know about the Troitsky's line before I saw this video.

Here are a link to the free tabelbase
http://www.k4it.de/?topic=egtb&lang=en

/Kim Skaanning

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Thanks Kim! 

Nice! Thanks Kim! 

Posting games on the forum

I would like to post some games but not sure how to do it. I notice some games are posted by some of you really cool, with the entire board , moves by hitting arrows, side notation,  etc.

Not just the link...

How to do that?

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

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Hi Ovi, in the bottom left there is the button to "add new file" and there you can add your PGN file.  I am not an expert at adding them like Kevin D, as I can't seem to get my sub-variations to populate, but I am sure that is a user error and that is easily done. 

ProMember coaching

A big thank you to GM Avetik Grigoryan for getting me some coaching with Nicolo Pasini. Our first lesson was tonight and it was better than excellent...Thanks Avetik & Nicolo best wishes to you both :-)

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Super! Looking forward to seeing your fast growth. 

chessmood scotch 1 - MVL 0

https://www.chess.com/live/game/4726346985?username=kevin_goh

Way to go GM Goh!

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Yeah!!! 

Congrats GOH on beating one of the best players in the world!

Looked to me that there was a mate , move #38...Qa8!

About PGN files

Hello sir

I want to become pro member before i wanna ask you something that the pgn files you give at the end of each course is a draft file or the whole analysis that you teach us??

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Any pro member here??

Please rply

It's a draft file + homework. 

Hi Diksha Garg

The pgn files are not af full draftback of the hole course. They contains the importent lines. ChessMood's idea is to make us work with the openings. If we get a full pgn, most of us will get lazy, and we will sit back and watch, and not work. We update our own pgn after we have watch the course. I have also watch the course again and played the lines into the pgn. I use the traning mode in Chessbase to remember the lines. We also update our pgn, when we play a game, get an idea ect.

We had a nice webinar today with GM Grigoryan, maybe it is the reason why many of us PRO Members did not have the time to answer you.
The courses are very high quality.

I have found it immensely helpful to build your own PGN files of the lines :) 

Yes, very important to spend time watching the course and build the pgn up yourself.  Then you come back to it, develop it, add games, use it to learn the variations.  The pgn in the course is just a skeleton.

SLP and CM openings

I played GM Jorden Van Foreest today in blitz and utilized the valuable SLP method to sneak out a win ;) 

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Oh!! You won a GM? :) 
Is it the 1st time? :) 

Hi Matt H

Nice win, and thanks for sharing :-)

/Kim Skaanning

Nice ! That's a big fish to catch!

That is very very cool!

NEW ARTICLE: It’s Never Too Late to Resign

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Hi guys, today I blundered my queen but my opponent sidn't see it. He continued with the game... Until today, I resigned immediately when I made a blunder :) But now I know that I must wait. Notice that I was playing bullet and I am 1900.

Garry Kasparov made a similar mistake in Game 2 of his 1997 match against Deep Blue. He resigned right after Deep Blue made a blunder that allowed him a draw by perpetual check. He was so trusting of the machine's ability to calculate that he did not even bother to look for a perpetual check.

There have been several times when my opponent resigned and I had to turn on the engine to find out why!

Missed mate in 1#

I really wanted to resign today when I saw my opponent had a mate-in-1. I kept playing, and ended up flagging him in a drawn position.

Also happened to me many times, sometimes I wait and sometimes I don't...Now I'll ALWAYS wait!!

Great article.

Philidor Defense

Hello, champions! 
I started to record a new course about how to get an advantage against Philidor Defense.
The 1st section is ready.
https://chessmood.com/course/philidor-defense 

If you have any questions, feel free to post it here.
With best wishes,
Avetik  

P.S COGRO! (Constant Growth)

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Hey Champions! The 2nd section of Philidor Defense (the main line) is uploaded!  Lots of credits go to Levon Aronian, who told me about g3 strong move, otherwise, I was suffering to find a clear advantage.
Check it out, you'll love it!

Hey Champions! 
The 3rd section of Philidor Defense is uploaded. Enjoy! :) 

Hey Champions!
Who couldn't wait for Hanham Line in the Philidor Defense??
Here we go!
https://chessmood.com/course/philidor-defense
The 5th section is uploaded, around 1-hour material to learn
COGRO! Even if tomorrow is your birthday  :D :D :D 

Hey Champions!
The 5th section of Philidor Defense is added.
Another half-hour material to learn
https://chessmood.com/course/philidor-defense/episode/1159 

Hey Champions
How to play against Modern Philidor or Modern Hanham line, which also Simon Williams calls Black Lion?

The 6th section is uploaded! 
https://chessmood.com/course/philidor-defense/episode/1167  

Hey Champions! 
I have good news for you!r you!
​ 
Philidor Defense course is completed! 
Just uploaded the last section - how to play against gambits. 
https://chessmood.com/course/philidor-defense  

Now you will Rock N Roll​ everyone who plays Philidor Defense :) ​

With best wishes,
GM Avetik 

Hey, champions! 

Today I've added 50 minutes material in the advanced section of Philidor Defense. 
https://chessmood.com/course/philidor-defense/episode/1371 

Hey champions! 

We've added almost one-hour material in the Philidor course! 
When Black plays with 3...Nc6 

Philidor Defense, Section 8. ​
https://chessmood.com/course/philidor-defense/episode/1390 

Enjoy :) 

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 d6?!

Often played by weaker players and occasionally even by GMs. What's your recommendation here? 4.dxe5 Nxe5 5.Nxe5 dxe5 6.Qxd8 Kxd8 isn't quite as bad for Black as one might think.

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Most strong e4 players would just go 4.Bb5 there, transposing to the Ruy Lopez - Steinitz Variation which doesn't have a great reputation for Black. 4.d5 also looks reasonable, but 1.e4 e5 players for  White tend to prefer open positions to closed ones. 

Peter, you go 4.Nc3! 
The key is after 4...Nf6 5.Bb5 Bd7 to take 6.Bc6 Bc6 and 7.Qd3! (7.Qe2!? is also good!) 
Now e5 hangs. And after 7...ed 8.Nd4 you play Bd2 and 0-0-0 with a great position. 

This I'll add in our courses, just can't understand in which one? :) 
Is it Scotch or Philidor? :D :D :D 

Here we go! 

Philidor Defense, Section 8. ​
https://chessmood.com/course/philidor-defense/episode/1390 

Chess Training Regimen

Hello all, would like to ask if anyone would like to offer their daily chess routine or even training regimen as Abhi posted on a different thread. Understand if it's a highly classified secret, wont post it anywhere else:)

This might help others to improve their chess training  regimen.

So, I offer my daily routine. I am about a 1600 chess.com player , higher on li chess. Would very much like to achieve 2000 USCF.

1, Tactics for about 1.5 hours first thing in the morning. That way I feel that patterns and ideas set in better.

2. 1-2 hours Chess Mood videos on opening repertoire. This is sometimes spaced out during the day so I can remember the ideas better.

3. 1 hr game play afternoons. Avetik suggested that I ought to play less and the 9 game rule is a good one IMHO.

4. 1/2-1 hr Game study and analysis evenings.

I try to keep this about 4 hours a day every day.

Cheers and thanks in advance for any ideas!

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Fischer would never go against Spassky if...

"Fischer would never go against Spassky if he had a girlfriend."
From which movie is this? ????  
The right answer will get a prize :) 

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"Money Heist" not movie but TV Series. I think...

I am not sure maybe from the movie " Pawn sacrifice".

if I win then where is my prize ;)

Pawn sacrifice

Repertoire

Hello,

It would be great to have a repertoire against Colle Zuckertort, Londoner, Kingsindian Attack, Bird etc. etc.

Greetings

Christoph

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Any relation to IM Christoph Scheerer of infamous Blackmar Diemer Gambit fame and other Wacky Openings :D

The London System was already covered, I guess the KIA and Colle Zuke will eventually follow but these are all pretty lame systems vs King's Indian or Benoni setups, with many ways to equality or better. 

Webinar - Typical Mistakes with ChessMood Openings 12 May 2020

Just saw the Replay of the TMWCO Webinar quite interesting, but just wanted to clarify for Avetik that the Kevin in the chat was not me, probably it was Kevin Hall (Kevin H in the forum) or some other Kevin. :)

Warm Regards,
Kevin D

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Hehe :) I know :) 
It was Grandmaster Kevin Goh Wei Ming :) 

Individual Coaching

Hello dear PRO Members! 
I have cool news for you. 

We noticed that many of you have issues with analyzing your games yourself and finding the mistakes.
And many of you were asking about individual training.  

Here we go...! 
We decided to offer private lessons as well ???? 
Mostly we'll check your games, find mistakes, and fix them to speed up your growth. 

I am sure you understand, that there will be a limited amount of seats and we'll accept students on a "First-come, First-take" basis.

+ we'll offer you a "PRO Members Only" discount price!

I'll ask you to fill this short form to apply for individual lessons. 
https://forms.gle/edqFFCRQKa38URZq5


With best wishes,
GM Avetik 

P.S COFAGRO(Constant and Fast Growth)

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