Chess forum by Grandmasters

Semi SLP type situation

Not sure it counts. I was up a rook but missing any bishops and my opponent had two!

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/daily/640411533?tab=review&move=92

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New success story - The Power of Focused Learning: 400 points in 1 year

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Great job!!!👏👏👏👏

Darun sir 👍👍.

😍

I wanna too -  such a like big success :) My congratulations Sir :) 

Congratulations! Thank you for the inspiration! Keep going strong! God bless you!

Congratulations on your success. This is a truly inspirational story. I also agree this is a great place to learn and understand chess. Wishing you continued progress!

Great article Debashish! 

And well done!!

1.e4

If I face 1.e4 from black, I feel that the french goes into positions that are not my style..can anyone reccomend be a solid opening which is not very complex..

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Tell us your style! There's so many openings that may fit the criteria on black openings. Do you like closed or open games more?? Do you like more solid openings or more tactical ones? Do you enjoy fighting for the center or do you like giving the center, then fighting for it? if you can think of more details, please share them as maybe they can help.

The french wasn't “my style” as well, but now I understand the positions and I love it.

You can also play the Sicilian:
https://chessmood.com/course/sicilian-defence-accelerated-dragon
😀

Are there particular lines in the French that you're having trouble with?  Perhaps a few tips could make all the difference.  Or one or two alternative variations in the French .

What is your approximate level?  Part of improving at chess is learning how to play different types of positions.  French type positions pop up in various openings, so it's very useful to build some familiarity with them if you can manage.

The other ChessMood opening, the Sicilian Accelerated Dragon, is very good but if anything it is going to be more complex than the French.

If you are determined to change you opening against 1.e4, and want to prioritise simplicity and getting a solid position then I would recommend one of the following:

• 1…e5 and playing the Petrov Defence. 
• The Caro-Kann

Try whitemood openings I am sure you would be more confident about playing the French Defence then. You can also check out the course for Sicilian defence some lines, don't try to learn all systems but start that will give you confidence. If you still don't think French does not work go for Sicilian I think that's best

Maybe try scandinavian (e4 d5) there are a lot of variations to choose from and its also not as complex…considering the fact that u don't like the resulting positions from french,scandinavian should be a definite try for you.

Also, specifying the type of positions/opening/variation that you want in detail, would not only simplify your search, but also increase the efficiency of the solutions you'll be getting. 

Sounds like the classic Caro-Kann Defense vs French Attack (Defense) debate. 
I initially didn't like French that much myself, but after watching the GMs here play it, it changed my mind completely. Now I love to play French “Attack”. 

How to recover from losses?

Hello All.

I am playing a classical tournament and in 2 rounds i consecutively lost aginst lower rated players. I am really upset. Could there be any solution to this and play better next round and suppose if I lose the next round again?

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I would recommend you to read this article written by Gabuzyan. https://chessmood.com/blog/the-tournament-is-not-over-until-it-is-over
Also do not make the mistake of thinking about lower rated players, there are no lower rated players anymore! After Corona people still did not play enough OTB and many people have low rating but their playing strenght is much higher.
💪The only think that I can suggest is to try to play a good game of chess and not think about the rating! That's why amateurs play chess to enjoy it! Not to win rating, it will follow you if you play with good mood. Forget about the lost games and concentrate on the next one! 😁

The power of Tactics Ninja

Fans of Tactics Ninja might be interested to know that yesterday in the Candidates there was a perfect example of the “Lifeline” tactic.  Firouzja vs Gukesh, Round 7.

https://www.chess.com/events/2024-fide-candidates-chess-tournament/07/Firouzja_Alireza-Gukesh_D

After 30… Bc5, White's knight looks lost.  But thanks to the Tactics Ninja course, I found the game move for White within 15 seconds (!)  I am only a 1500-1600 rated player, but the techniques in the course were so clear:  see if the “lost” piece can throw a lifeline to another piece, to support an attack on a more valuable opposing piece.   This made it so simple to find the candidate moves, and therefore the solution.  Chess.com even gives the move a double-exclam.

Thank you Avetik and all ChessMood - I find this stuff very inspiring!

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Very nice of you to point this out, thanks!! And well done finding it!😁

Help with classical chess

Hello all, I played in a rapid tournament in October and won it with 4 wins and finished unbeaten.  Today i played my fist classical tournament in years and managed to only get one draw. I barely used half my time. Any suggestions on how to use more time and train my brain to think differently in a classic al chess game with longer time controls. Any suggestions would be appreciated. 

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Please Henry, watch the webinars related to time trouble in the following post:
https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-channel/time-management
Also, if you did not play Classical games and only played fast online, you need to adjust, try to play 60 min game online, find a training partner to play longer games. You need to think in the critical positions, but you can only do it by actually doing it! 
💪Practice, practice…😀

Anti-Sicilian Part 3 question. 3....Nc6.

Hi Coach!

I recently faced the following line on chess.com

e4 c5

Nc3 e6

f4 Nc6?! 

I wasn't able to find this 3... Nc6 move in the material, it seems like a combination of several of the other lines. Can you (or anyone in the community) please confirm what to play against this?

Thanks!

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After 4.Sf3 it should transpose to something known. 4...d5 or4...d6 we can play Bb5. And after 4...a6, 5.g3.  

I've watched only 1 and 2 parts of Antisicilians, I will try to answer after watching others too. I think somehow it should be transposed one of the positions. 

I didn't watch it yet, but I guess it has to be transpose.

Hi Benjamin!

You can be playing with 4.Nf3 as @Mogens_Nielsen mentioned it will be a transposition.

Reminds me of another move order trick:

1. e4 e6 2. d4 (French?) c5 (nope, sicilian) and now you've committed to d4.

which you can decide to play an Open Sicilian (Nf3), Benoni type position (d5) or c3 Sicilian / French Tarrasch IQP (c3 / Nd2) - none of which are in the repertoire, but the c3 Sicilian / French Tarrasch is played similar to the c5 lines in the Schlecter French where the cost of c3 is no worse than the cost of Bd3 and scores well at club level - you could probably transpose it though Bb5+ is likely to be more useful than Bd3.

We talked about this too during our GMs meeting and of course, there are many possible transpositions to our opening and some move orders can be strange to meet the first time. That said we always try to stir the situation towards a familiar battlefield. Our piece deployment should be consistent and we must be comfortable with the positions that we will reach. I just put together some initial moves where you can see that we always aim for the same and there are many possibilities that you should try and investigate by yourselves too. Find the position that you have more feeling for...

Hello, i got yesterday on the board, the following game. and it went to the line here (previous post, variation with 4. Bb5) :

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. f4 Nc6 4. Bb5 Nge7 5. Nf3 a6 6. Bxc6 Nxc6 7. d3 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Ne2 Qc7 10. Ng3 f5 11. Ng5 d6 12. Qh5 h6 13. Be3 Bf6 14. c3 hxg5 15. fxg5

losing the knight and the game. but i was not sure what to play at move 4. 

and what to play after the strange 3…Nge7: 

french exchange with 4.nc3

whats the setup here??? usually, i play c6, and then i try to trade off my light squared bishop so that i may play my knight to a6, where it is veryyyy useless. any tips?

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You will find your answer in this post: https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/french-exchange-after-5-nc3-3467 😃

In a streaming game, I once saw Gabo playing 4…c6. Actually, I think it was Gabo, but I'm not entirely sure. I've tried to find the game to send you a link, but without success. I only have some moves (sorry, no the entire game) I annotated on my pgn that I hope can be of any help. The idea is to stick to the plan with Bd6, offer to exchane the lightsquare bishops on f5, and attack on the king side. I personally think that 7…Bg4 would be a better move, to provoke h3, and then Bf5, but this is not how the game was. Anyway, these are the moves I have annotated

1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. d4  c6 5. Nf3 Bd6 6. Bd3 Ne7 7. O-O Bf5 (7... Bg4 8. h3 Bf5  8. Re1 Qd7 9. Bg5 f6 10. Bh4 O-O 11. Bg3 Bxg3 12. hxg3 Bxd3 13. Qxd3 Na6 14. a3 Nc7 15. Re2 Rae8 16. Rae1 Ng6 17. Rxe8 Rxe8 18. Rxe8+ Qxe8 19. Qe2 Qxe2 20. Nxe2 Ne6 21. Kf1 Kf7

French Attack exchange variation question

I have a question about the French Attack exchange variation that I haven't been able to find covered in the BlackMood Openings starter course. After the initial exchange leaving pawns on d4 and d5, how should we handle our f8 bishop if white's next move is Nc3? The recommended position for this bishop is d6, but of course this will block the queen from protecting the d5 pawn which is now under attack. Trying to add protection to the d5 pawn and then move the bishop to d6 seems to interfere with the overall setup recommended in the course in various ways:

1) Moving Nf6 blocks the f7 pawn, and GM Avetik repeatedly recommends against putting the knight in this position during the course
2) Moving Ne7 puts the knight in the recommended position but blocks the f8 bishop from going to d6
3) Moving the pawn to c6 blocks the b8 knight from its recommended position

So is there a good adaptation for the aggressive setup recommended in the course for this scenario? I'm never quite sure how to play this and I see it fairly often at my level.

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with nc3, we play bb4 instead of bishop on d6. for more info look at this thread :

https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/french-exchange-after-5-nc3-3467

Hi, very interesting point. I had exactly the same problem in one of my otb games. Silly cate suggests playing Bb4 pinning the c3 knight. But this line comes after the sequence:

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Nc3 Bb4

If I am not wrong, Dave is asking for the reply against 4.Nc3, on the 4th move, not on the 5th. That is:

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nc3

During a streaming game, I saw Gabo made the move 4…c6, which protects the d5 pawn and allow us to play Bd6 on our next move, and continue with Ne7-Bg5, etc. I guess this is the right sequence to play. (Obviously, we cannot play c6 if we already have our knight on c6, so c6 is valid only against 4.Nc3 and not against 4.Nf3 followed by 5.Nc3, for which we have to switch to the plan with 5…Bb4)

By the way, I read in previous forum messages that a French attack main course is programmed in the future. Anyone has an idea on when can we expect to have this step-by-step course? I've been using the simplified French attack with Blacks, and I'm now in a point in which I have to decide if I keep playing French or if I should move to the main reccommendation for Black and play Accelerated Dragon against 1.e4

The Power of Self-Belief in Chess

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Inspiring and motivating...thanks so much for sharing...most of these stories are unheard but they carry more weight and value that should steer the chess world in the right direction...we are privileged to have a team of quality support emotionally and realistically...thank you so much

90% of my failures belong to this problem...Thanks a lot for choosing such common and important themes and of course for your motivation! 

2.0 begins

Rapid time management and focus woes!

Hi everyone,

I know many of you hereon Chessmood are much higher rated than me, but I'm hoping to get some advice from anyone who's battled similar challenges at the lower ELO levels. I've been stuck around 600 ELO for a few months now, bouncing between 600 and 550, with occasional dips down to 520. I primarily play rapid games with a 15/10 time control.

Here's the problem: My gameplay consistency suffers due to time management issues. If my opponent plays blitz-style, I feel pressured to respond quickly, which often leads to blunders. Conversely, if the game progresses slowly with both of us using the full time, I find myself losing focus and making careless mistakes late in the game due to fatigue.

An additional twist:  While I find middlegame tactics interesting, I confess to having a particular fascination with queenless endgames.  Perhaps this is affecting my overall approach to the game.

Looking for advice:

How can I improve my time management skills in rapid games? Are there specific strategies for handling opponents who play blitz or slow down the pace?
Do you recommend any training exercises for maintaining focus throughout a longer game, especially considering my fondness for queenless endgames (which can be quite tricky!)?
Any general tips for breaking through a rating plateau around the 600 ELO mark, while also incorporating my interest in improving queenless endgame technique?
Thanks in advance for your insights!

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Hello,
Although i may not be able to answer all of your questions, i can try and give you suggestions on some certain topics.
First of all, when your opponent plays bullet/blitz style, don't be tempted to play a move! Control your impulses, and unless the move is in theory, try to look for anything that could be possibly wrong with that move. I suggest refraining from blitz games for this, try to develop the discipline to not impulsively play a move (this topic is covered in blunderproof course, section 10.)
Don't try to overthink each position/move, they might cause you possible time trouble. 
I don't have a specific strategy maintain focus on longer games, other than just playing more and more games. For the first time, it will be hard, but it will be more natural to you the more you play and focus longer.
To break through 600 elo mark, i suggest reading the study plans for beginners: https://chessmood.com/chess-study-plans/for-beginners
If you wan't to play queenless endgames, try to play some set positions on queenless endgames (either you create one or find a drawish position) with a training partner. You can find one in the forums if don't have one. Alternatively, you can play these positions against some bots. (for me, its the maia bot)
Hope i helped you with something!
 

Dear Csaba,

We just checked the courses that you worked on and we realised that you just started Tactic Ninja. Please concentrate solely on this course, do one section each day, learn the patterns. 
Read and follow the study plan since it is created for you, one step at a time. https://chessmood.com/chess-study-plans/for-beginners
💪Then everything will be easier, but do them in the order layed out in the program. Tactic Ninja is the course that will impact more your progress. May the Chessmood force be with you! 😃

Lifetime plans

Dear ChessMood members,

this is my first post - so i hope its in the right section (sorry - if not). 

I am about 2000 Fide and want to get serious with my chess - so i follow the forum a lot and all the activities from chess mood. My aim is to reach CM or FM title - which is a big dream (i know - i know).

I decided to apply for a lifetime pro membership and filled in the form (i hope it was sent - but i think so). I guess i will get my answer in the next week (and fine so - its sunday :)) - but i am not sure, what to do now. The lifetime accounts will get up in price and i am not sure if i have done everything correct. 

Could you give me some tipp - should i just wait or buy the not pro lifetime and hope to upgrade. I understand its a great obligingness from the founders and investors of chess mood to give such an opportunity.

So i hope you understand my question as its meant - in a polite way.

best wishes and hope to see you at the board

Manfred

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Hi Manfred!

🤗 Welcome to the forum!

Yes, we received your application and you will be contacted by our happyness department.

Thanks!

The hero bishop video

    I recently watched one of the chessmood videos on YouTube called “the hero bishop” about Nepo's win against Mamedyarov. In many classical and blitz games, my opponent plays a bad move but I don't know how to punish it. My question in the initial position after bishop to f1. Why can't Mamedyarov play Rb4 applying pressure to the b2 pawn and keeping an eye on e4. I don't know if I'm being stupid and the rook is getting trapped, but I feel like Rb4 would be really annoying for white, and I pretty sure Rb4 is a bad move but those are the types of positions I freeze in because I don't know how to deal with “annoying moves”.

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Chess on busy days

Hey everyone, I'm struggling to find time for chess during work days and often ill find myself playing chess during 11pm. Any tips on balancing chess with work? Been doing the 9 games strategy but it just takes too long.

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Hey,
This Should be helpful to you 
https://chessmood.com/blog/raise-your-chess-rating-by-cutting-your-losses
If you don't have enough time, don't play 9 games in a day. Don't play too much chess, Prioritize sleep and focus on your health. Maybe if you have spare time on weekends or holidays, you could play more games.

Next Step After 'Under 2000': Advanced Openings or Middlegame Mastery?

Hi Chessmood community, 

I have just finished the 'Under 2000' section, also including the U2000 openings. What should I focus on next: 'Advanced Openings' or 'Middlegame Mastery'?

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Hi Stephane! 
What's your level, time availability, etc.?
Do you like playing the Whitemood and Blackmood openings? If these are the openings that you are playing, for how long and how well do you understand them?😅

Modern Maroczy bind

Hi i was played an interesting line in the accelerated dragon maroczy and im not sure how to face it. It start 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5c4 Nf6 6 Nc3 d6 7 Be2 Nxd4 8 Qxd4 Bg7 9 0-0 0-0 10 Qd3!. After Qd3 i am not sure what to play. If its covered in modern maroczy i am not sure where. Let me know if u know where to look or if u know how to match it. I even saw on chesssbase a game Giri-Carlsen where Giri crush carlsen. tx guys take care and enjoy chess!

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Hi 10 Qd3 is discussed in Section 4 - 9 O-O. The Queen on d3 is vulnerable to Nc5 gaining a tempo.

Coach Avetik gives two choices 1) Be6, Nd7-c5 and a5-a4 playing like normal Maroczy Bind.

More aggressive is 2) Nd7-c5 and then Bxc3 to break White's queenside pawn structure, then target the pawns.

There's also an explanation of what to do if White sacrifices the e4 pawn and goes for a direct attack since we've traded off our Bg7.

how to play this variation from anti sicilian

If black bishop on g7 non knight on f6 we can play f5 from lesson.

Example 1. 0-0 b5 2. Bb3 a4 3.a3 possible 

i meet many times about this case and make me blunder more 

after this position i never happy from white even we development quickly

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Hello "Fighterpilot Chess" 😃,

The pgn you made really confuses me. Please provide us with a correct one.

First of all: 

6. O-O is obviously not good in that position, because it allows black to take over the center with 6… d5. 

Secondly, if black 6… b5, you obviously can't play 7. Bb3, because your bishop will simply get trapped.

But you recommend  black to play 7… a4, which is of course an illegal move. In normal chess, pawns can't fly from a6 to a4 in one move. Anyway, after a4 you said white should play a3, which would lose the bishop by the teleported pawn on a4.

At this stage of your chess career, you should not focus on the finest details of the openings, but on more basic stuff.

I would recommend you to go to the “Learn chess” section on lichess: ( https://lichess.org/learn#/1 ). You will learn how the pieces move, how they capture and a other basic chess rules.

I hope this helps you.

P.S. Please learn english, or just use google translate ( https://translate.google.com/ ). If you don't use proper english, people will not fully understand you.

I think you are just playing a wrong move order, because with e6 we usually don't put the Bishop on c4 but on g2… 😀

French Attack

I suggest adding a "take test" option for the Whitemood opening in the French Attack. It would be beneficial for practicing the French Attack with white pieces. Thank you for considering this suggestion.

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The French Defense for White already has a “take test” option, is this what you are saying?
https://chessmood.com/course/french-defence

Why don't we play the hyperaccelerated dragon?

Why do we play 2… Nc6 instead of 2… g6 in the sicilian? We are allowing a Rossolimo, which means more studying for us. Why don't we play 2… g6 and avoid that? I assume there is a reason, because your opening courses have been really good, I'm just eager to know it.

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Hi Neo,

Yes, you are right, we could do that. But we don't focus on playing tricky lines or fast recipes for winning. We want you to develop, to grow as players and Rossolimo is a great battlefield to be tested in. Also the 2..g6 has some very good lines as White along with the initiative, and it is not our cup of tea once you play against a prepared opponent. 
But the main reason is to play a very sound opening that allows you to grow as a player.😃

Anyone else notice?

When white plays d4 and we play e6 they always switch and play e4. I guess Nobody wants to play against the Dutch.

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“Always” is really an exaggeration.

Usually, only 10% plays that.