Chess forum by Grandmasters

Price Raise

    Hi to the chessmood family.

    It says that prices will be raised from the the current price of around 600$ a year for the essential plan. The discounted price right now is about 400$ a year after taxes. What I'm confused about is whether or not chessmood plans to raise the price of the plans even higher than they currently are, or are they just going to revert back to the original price of 600$ and 900$ a year. If they are raising it, I probably going to buy the lifetime plan right now.

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😀Hi Pencheng!

Please contact Lily at our Customer Happiness Department since you have an active membership already. Better talk directly about your membership details privately, a public forum is not the right place.

Course Recommendations

I'm pretty new to Chessmood, and I've wondering of the courses that I should take. Which ones are the most helpful in your opinion? Thanks.

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Depends on what you would like to be better on, but generally:
Tactics & Mating Patterns: Tactic Ninja & Mating Matador
If you blunder a lot: Blunderproof
How to play in the endgame? : Endgame Roadmap
How to play in the opening: Opening Principles
There's a lot of material in these courses, and i hope you enjoy them 😄
 

Your most foundational two skills courses are Blunderproof and Tactic Ninja if you ask me. Go delve into those before anything else.

Hi Nobody (nice handle btw),

Good ideas have been posted, Maybe the place to start, if new here, is the Study Plan:

https://chessmood.com/chess-study-plans

It“s pretty comprehensive. They have several plans tailored to various ratings (although they are all worth reading to get a feel for making progress) and should give you a good start.

Don’t forget the Blog, which has a gazillion (or so) good articles about the details of chess improvement … and life!

Don’t forget “life!”  The folks at ChessMood haven’t :)

Good luck, this site is good.

Alekhine, What to play after 7.Nd7?

The postion occurs on alekhine, after 4.Bg2, 5.dxe5, Nxe5, 6.Bxe2 Qxe2, with the threat of qb5+ to win the pawn. 7.Nd7 - seemingly a multipurpose move, Defends the check and after Qb5, the d5 knight jumps to b7. What to play here? Do we castle? Play c4? Or trade the knights?

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Can you please provide the first 3 moves as well as I don’t remember playing Bg2 in the Alekhine.

After 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Be2 dxe5 6. Nxe5 Bxe2 7. Qxe2 Nd7, you can just play 8.0-0, with a very solid and stable advantage it seems.  Next moves might be Rf1-d1, c2-c4, and Nb1-c3.

What is this weird notation on the Capablanca's chess fundamentals book?

I don't know if its because im reading an old version of the book, but i can't understand some of these notations. What is a K -Kt 1?

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That's called as the Descriptive Notation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descriptive_notation). It was used to be the standard notation for games, books, etc, until about the 1980's. (thank god for that) After that, the standard algebraic notation was used. 

There is a blog on chesscom on how to read the notation: https://www.chess.com/blog/chess_dot_tom/how-to-read-descriptive-notation

Looking as you are reading the old CF book, i recommend you to look at a more recently published version, or you can read an eBook version on forwardchess (https://forwardchess.com/product/chess-fundamentals?section=Best%20Seller) (It's Free!)

Alapin Sicilian

What are your thoughts on the Alapin Sicilian as an opening choice for White? i don't think i have the time to learn the closed Sicilian but i d'ident try yet.

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It is also a good anti-sicilian too. It's about taste… 😁

I do play the Alapin Sicilian and most of the players under 1700 rapid (chess.com) do not play the right moves but if they do the position will be quite balanced. I like this opening and it doesn't take a long time to learn it.

Chess improvement follow up after tactics training

I have finished most of Ninja Tactics, mating matador and can solve most of the quizzes. I have also covered attack/ defence,  7Q method, endgame roadmap. However, in my practice games, I still need a lot of improvement in my positional understanding, what to do in different pawn structures, how to handle different endgame positions. How else can I use Chessmood to improve these aspects of my game?

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Hi Luke,

I remember that we recommended you to watch one classical / attacking / endgame game per day, and that will take a whole year if you work with one game correctly. It takes one hour per game normally (at least). 
You can also do one daily lesson or even 2 in one day. That will also add 30 min more.
You must start too with the Endgame course under 2000 if you are having problems with endgames, that's for sure a good thing to do.
Then you must analyze the games but you did not tell us anything about the openings. What are you doing there? Because to understand the middlegame plans and structures goes connected with the opening. We always explain a bit the middlegame plan in our opening couses… Can you please clarify on this?😃

Did you have your one on one call with a GM which is part of the benefits of being a PRO member?

Memorizing ChessMood Openings

Before disclosing the idea, let me talk a bit about my past experience with chess.

I used to play chess a lot when I was young. My national rating was 2180 at peak. I was considered CM (Candidate Master). In those days one would get FIDE rating only if you reached a Master title.

Then I stopped playing chess for 30 years and worked on my business career and focused of my family.  I only restarted playing chess recently, after we moved to live in another country (France). 

In the last couple of years I won some games against the master and international masters, but too often I got a very bad positions out of the opening against the strong players. At the Master level and above the opportunities (i.e. opponents blunders) to save yourself out of bad opening are rare.

I am self taught and never had a chess coach. When I discovered ChessMood after listening to the Perpetual Chess podcast it occurred to me that with this method I have a chance to raise my chess to the next level - my goal is to get a master title in 3-4 years. I am quite good at tactics and strategy but very bad at openings repertoire.

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I think this is a great question, though I'm only 1900 FIDE at the moment and was only here a few months. Personally I have simply been watching some videos from time to time, letting it seep in with interplay between understanding and memorization (obviously one view is not enough here^^), and happy with my opening progress for now.

Hopefully more qualified ppl can answer the question better :)

Wetzel suggested a flash card approach in his book Master at Any Age, although you can use hand-drawn figures. I've had mixed success with this, but the main thing has to be cutting the information down, particularly to that which is critical or difficult to remember, and not just repeating the things you already know or what you can work out at the board.

Would be interesting to know how GMs actually deal with their large PGN files, sure keeping playing them will help (you need a training partner for that much stuff as you might not see it for years), but even then it will fade quickly or not being able to recall correctly under pressure. Then there is the theory changing...

First, your document with diagrams is beautiful.

Second, great question. Let me link you to a question I asked that got very good answers that apply here as well: https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-members/how-do-you-study

Following @Richard_Dickinson's advice, I got a 30-day trial of Chess Position Trainer (CPT) and found it to be very easy to use. You create your white and black repertoire and then import your games as you play them. You'll notice where you diverge from the repertoire, the program will help you do timed repetitions so you memorize without doing it every day. Lastly, it works with Positions, so if you have several different move orders or openings that get to the same critical position, they'll all be connected, so your notes on one will be reused for the others.

I wish you best of luck studying and continuing to kick ass

Its quite interesting to use WORD doc instead of pgn file, and I can see your reason. How deep do you go with this method? How many different moves of your oponent, let`s say in move 6, can you track this way? 

How did early 20th century chess legends train and improve?

Looking at games from Capablanca, Lasker, Alekhine, it's remarkable on how they played like that on a high level at a time where information was scarce, what was it that made them THAT good? Was it just self analysis? or did they play like a trillion games before they got good? How did they approach books? And was there any of these training strategies are still effective today?
Genuinely curious on what the answers is since I never lived during a time when engines never existed in the first place😄

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The great chess players (  like Capablanca, Lasker, and Alekhine) were really good because they practiced a lot, studied old games, and learned from other players. They took chess seriously and thought hard about their moves.  they didn't have computers but their methods of learning are still helpful today : practicing a lot (like really a lot ) and playing against strong opponents. as GM Avetik Grigoryan wrote in the study plan :

The chess improvement formula : Study -> Practice -> Fix -> (Repeat) Despite having fewer resources, they followed this simple strategy for getting better at chess.

lastly Like any sport or discipline, some individuals have a natural aptitude for chess.

Information was a little harder to get, but it was not scarce. I clearly remember ordering (via regular mail) various chess periodicals and also Chess textbooks, which did a great job on openings, middlegame, and endgame study. Reviewing and analyzing games—especially losses—was as important as it is today, and I'm positive the GMs you mention did a lot of that.  

Computers and chess engines have undoubtedly elevated chess study to a new level. However, something may have been lost. I have study texts and notes that I've marked and highlighted before computers, laptops, and cellphones; I review my handwritten notes from time to time when part of my game needs work.  

In my opinion, it's important to set up a physical board with chess pieces and visualize in true 3D. This may take longer, but it's a great way to reduce screen time and helps with manual dexterity and coordination.

( The super GM tournament (Candidates) that just finished in Toronto, Canada, was an example of the highest level players – men and women – who sat opposite each other using real chess sets, handwriting their moves. )

Third question from 7 Q - where am I strong

This is from the Course 7Q Method - How to find a plan in any position

Why are we not strong in the queenside due to our pawn majority there? Is it because we have no pieces there? :-)

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Hi here's my take: Although we have more pawns on the queenside, Black controls the b-file so we cannot easily advance the pawns. Clearly our bishop is bad and the knight has a strong outpost on d4. I think Black actually has the initiative on the queenside. If we try to advance our pawns with b3 we can never exchange our bishop, Black can advance a7-a5 and increase the pressure on the queenside. Or if a2-a3 the knight still goes to d4.

I've watched this video some time ago already and I have to admit that White's best move did not occur to me immediately. Until I remembered to ask the next questions which pieces are not happy and need to be improved or traded. 

Alex's explanation is very good. Also Avetik explains why this Queen side majority is not enough in the minute 5 onwards of the video. Please check it out. 
Also just wanted to add that just counting the number of pawns is not enough, because then Black would have a majority in the center, but we cannot completely agree on that, do we? 😃

French Attack Exchange Variation

Hey guys,

Loving the French Attack!
I was wondering on the occasions where opponent castles long in Exchange Variation, what's the attack plan for us?

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I'm no chess expert but the attack plan for White can be  to create a pawn storm on the kingside. This involves pushing the f-pawn to f4 and then f5, breaking apart Black's solid central pawn structure and eventually starting a Kingside attack. This plan also gains space on the Queenside and possibly creates room for the dark-squared Bishop to come to b2.

Can I get the coaches in here to help? I face long castle using French Exchange quite frequently (1100 elo blitz). Can't do the attack set up with opposite castles =/

Brag: Finished 51,000 Puzzles

Six months ago I began a quest to complete 51,000 mate-in-1 puzzles. Today, I have reached that goal! I can say, without question, that it has made a massive improvement in my game (went from 1400 to 1740 on lichess). 

Additionally, going back into Tactic Ninja is so much easier for me now than it was before. Loving all the new puzzles in Tactics Ninja! Actually, I just love puzzles. Keep the puzzles coming!! :)

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Yes, I guess that you must love to solve puzzles after solving so many. Now you need to go for other types of puzzles, but don't lose the habit of working hard every day on chess! 😄

Paging Dr Avetik - this might or might not be suspicious

This site looks lifted from the SLP course. He uses the exact same terms Chessmood does. 

I appreciate that I might be overreacting. There are only so many ways to describe the same set of skills. If you ask me what a knight is and I say it moves in an L shape…did I plagiarize someone by explaining facts? But on the other hand ‘SLP mode’ is very much a trademark saying of Avetik's so…

https://summitschoolofchess.com/how-to-save-losing-positions-in-chess/

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This looks almost blatantly copied and pasted. All the article writer did was just summarize some points. They even used the same examples!!!!

Something is going on here…

Thanks for letting us know. We'll take it from here. 😀

The French Attack..

In the advanced variation of the French variation 3. e5 bd7 4. nf3 a6 5. c4 dc4 6. bc4 bc6 7.nc3 nd7 what should we do against d5?

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For me, i would trade everything with Bxd5 and if the take, we take back with the queen to provoke them with a trade, then castle long if they do take. This really just covers a barebones variation of the line, but i recommend you to do your self analysis on this variation.

How to play when opponent takes you out of theory?

I've been studying the chessmood repertoire and model games with commentary, and the games that go in that direction I generally win (unless I blunder x)), but lately half my opponents don't play the moves taught here. And then I went from knowing exactly what to do to not sure what to do and then I get out-played. Do you guys have tips on how to navigate in waters that are unfamiliar? 

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Shouldn’t happen much but when it does -

Use the Opening Principles (https://chessmood.com/course/opening-principles). 

My only exception is if it happens really often, (like nc3 on the french exchange) Post them on the forums as they might spark a conversation to how to play and guide you through that position.

Why does Magnus Carlsen resign in this game?

Hi,

I am a total newbie to chess, please help me understand why Magnus Carlesn resigns the following game:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZQmbRTtAUg

He can still try to take the black bishop, with the white queen, one square to the right, but he resigns.

If he will take the black bishop with the white queen it will end up, as much as i can see, with him being in disadvantage of 1 rook, in comparison to the black pieces, but is this the reason he resigns? 

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Yes, this is the reason. At the GM level, they just resign when they're a rook behind without compensation even in blitz.

Hello Roi!

Yes of course the reason is lack of material. On GM level player may even resign being 2 pawns down, but in this case its a rook and pawn. Especially in and endgame there is no chance.

At GM level being down one piece without compensation is like being down a queen at 1600 level

need a chess coach on spot during June 10-20, 2024 at Almaty

Anyone is interested? Qualification: you need to speak English relatively well, so my kids could understand you. Our coach cannot accompany them to Almaty, so we are considering hire a coach on spot to help. Price negotiable. Prefer CM, FM or above level, titled players, or experienced chess coach with juniors. Please PM me here and then we can get in touch to explore the possiblities. Thanks. 

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If you know someone might be interested, please help forward to them. My kids will go to Almaty, Kasakhstan to join the Asian Youth and it would be good if we can find a coach on spot. Thanks a lot!

My deadly dangerous bishop. Thanks Gabuzyan

I wouldn't have thought of this before the bishop pair course. I always saw bishops as simply projectiles

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/daily/646706395?tab=review

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Well played.  That light-square bishop was a real annoyance for black and difficult to remove from the fantastic square that you found for it.

The French Attack

Hello guys…

Till date I played e5 against 1.e4.. The French Attack has complex type of positions that are not usually found in 1.e5..Do you reccomend me coming out of my comfort zone and learning this new opening..Will it help me improve in chess?

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Yup! I recommend to play the french against e4, If you don't like it, you could always find another one that might suit you. (sicilian, pirc caro)
If you really wanna improve, you gotta get out of your comfort zone. You might fail at first but the important thing is to focus on growth and not the results. More about this on here: https://chessmood.com/blog/detachment

One of my favorite quotes:

”Comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing grows there.“

Since you're asking this on ChessMood forum, it would be to play French since it's part of the repertoire. Or you know, Sicilian if you're 2000+ elo :P

How to not think about songs when you play OTB games

Recently when I play songs get stuck in my head and it is very annoying. How do I get them out of my head?

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Press skip until you find one that you like, or just mute…😄

No, jokes aside, and I hope that you understand that it was a joke, you need to work more on concentration and calculate regularly much more than you are doing. When you start to calculate more seriously, you don't have time for music. I would also recommend not to listen to music while playing chess at home… 😊 I also had and some times still have this during my games, but calculating exercices a lot at home helped me overcome this. 

The Grand Prix

Recently when I was playing the Grand Prix Attack against a 2000+ rated opponent (I am around 1800) in an OTB tournament I faced a problem in the opening.. 
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bc4 e6 6. 0-0 Nge7 with the idea of d5..After d5 I did not get a chance to attack on the kingside… What should my plans be in the positions where e6-d5 is played later on in the game.. I face this idea from 80% of the opponents against whom I have used the Grand Prix Attack

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Exactly this is the reason, why ChessMood recommends 3.Bb5 after 2..Nc6.

Actually, Bc4 is not so convincing when Black has the opportunity to play …d5 in one

move. It's something different, when Black plays …d6 and only later tries d6-d5 (= loss of

one tempo!)

See here: https://chessmood.com/course/crushing-all-the-sidelines-of-sicilian/episode/2081

I do highly recommend checking out the advanced Nc6 course.

https://chessmood.com/course/sicilian-defence-part-2
It will become highly unpleasant for your opponents!