Chess forum by Grandmasters

New article: 10 Insights from Levon Aronian

A week ago, GM Levon Aronian joined the ChessMood Podcast.
It was an episode packed with wisdom, fascinating stories, and moments that make you stop and reflect.

In the newest article, GM Avetik shares the insights he took away from that powerful conversation—lessons that can challenge how you think, how you grow, and how you live.

Read it here:
https://chessmood.com/blog/levon-aronian-insights

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Спасибо Аво за содержательные и мудрые мысли,которые вы излагаете.Незнаю почему но эти и другие ваши работы правильны не только по своей сути,но и по духу!

Ваши идеи находят глубокий отклик в моём сердце!

that podcast helped me in my life, i love GM Aronian he's a good guy 

Levon Aronian is also a very expert music listener. I wish he could share something more about how loving music did help him develop his wisdom.

Reinventing yourself really resonated with me, with having passion but reinventing how you see a problem, 

Trying to face the truth, or trying to reinvent yourself with chess is something I have been trying to do for a while now before I try learning more, and honestly I have been taking breaks from chess to try and achive that decision. 

Just wondering what others think, is it or does it seem socially acceptable to take breaks from chess? I feel like in competive chess teams, taking breaks looks like slacking which makes me seem hesitant to take them, although I am trying to detach from that and others opinion, but it still makes me question and hesitient if its really worth it even if I think its worth taking breaks beforehand. And even if you take breaks, what do you think the best way to get back in shape with chess skills after they took a turn with the time away from the board? 

Psychological I am trying to change my mood in general to be excited about new experinces or positions to try and improve from.

Looking for Sparring Partner

Hey guys, my name is Prashanth, I'm from Australia, my rating is 1000 I'm looking for a sparring partner, to get to learn new things and improve mhy rating.

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Hi Prashanth - welcome to ChessMood!

You'll have better luck if you put your request in the dedicated thread for sparring partners:

https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/studysparring-partner-1362 

1200 rapid, woohoo!

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😎

Congratulations!  

Well done!  Looks like you found a scary tactic and the opponent has not taken the SLP course!

Fren attack, advance variation: Big downside! Help needed

Hi there, chessmood family

I've been playing the blackmood repertoir (French/Dutch) for some time now and I like it. But lately I found a very strong line for the white pieces against the advance variation that makes me rethink all the lines given in the blackmood repertoire. The idea of the advance variation for black is to trade our bad bishop with Bd7, a6, Bb5. However, white can play c4 and it's very strong. The game would go as follows:

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bd7 4.Nf3 a6 (we follow with our plan of trading bishops, but here it comes) 5.c4

This move is considered in the blackmood repertoire and Avo suggests 5…dxc4 In this way, the pawn is no longer on d5, blocking the big diagonal for our bishop, no we can move Bc6 and suddenly our bad bishop becomes a powerful piece.

However, I found that after 6.Bxc4 white pieces have dynamic advantage. I show the position below after 6.Bxc4.

The dynamic advantage of white pieces is evident: better development (knight and bishop out), ready to castle short and black pieces are very far from castling, white has space advantage and easier development of the pieces. White here has three main ideas: 1) Nf5 atacking the weak pawns on f7 and e6 with possible piece sacrifice on f7 to enter with the queen on f3 or h5; 2) breaking the center with d5 to open up the position with our king in the center of the board; 3) If black pieces castle short, Kh4 to slide the queen through g4.

Here the blackmood reccommendation is 6…Bc6 puting the bishop on the long diagonal, and white can follow with 7.Nc3 to which we would respond with 7…Nd7 with the idea of Nb6 to attack the bishop on c4. Everything until now is on the blackmood repertoir. But the blackmood repertoir does not consider the move:

8.d5

We need to capture or we loose a pawn, so 8…exd5 9.Nxd5

The white knight on d5 is very strong. We need to attack it. 9…Nbe, attacking the knight on d5 and the bishop on c4. we also thread to exchanging the queens eventually. But white can move:

10.Bg5 attacking the queen 10…Be7 11.Nxb6 Qxd1+ 12.Rxd1

The knight on b6 is attacking our rook on a8 and thew two dak square bishops attack each other. we need to take to knight 12…cxb6 13.Be3, attacking the weak doubled pawn on b6.

The evaluation of stockfish is +1.0 but besides this, I would not feel confident playing with black pieces here.

It would be great if some strong player could share his/her thought with this line. I'm really afraid of playing the French attack and reach this positions, which I think is basically forced if white pieces play the move 5.c4 

Thank you very much in advance for your thoughts

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f6

According to my engine, Black should be fine after 9...b5 (9...b5 is +0.3 while 9...Ne7 is already +0.6.). Here is a sample:

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bd7 4. Nf3 a6 5. c4 dxc4 6. Bxc4 Bc6 7. Nc3 Nd7 8. d5 exd5 9. Nxd5 b5 10. Bg5 (10. Bb3 Nc5 11. Nf4 Qxd1+ 12. Bxd1) 10... Ne7 11. Nb4 Bb7 12. Bd5 Bxd5 13. Nxd5 Nc5

That's an engine line and it requires some work, but at least it seems White only has a very tiny advantage that can be neutralized with perfect play.

In any case, I would recommend not to forget that the WhiteMood/BlackMood repertoires are supposed to be starters. The point is to provide beginner/intermediate players below 1800/2000 with easy setups/ideas they can learn easily and spam against not well-prepared players, so you can dedicate 70/80% of your time to watching/studying, tactics/calculation, middlegame and endgame courses to get a good understanding of the game and develop the skills that matters to be good at chess. 

Once you developed a good understanding and chess skills, the plan is to upgrade to the main recommendations (Accelerated Dragon) and the full 1. e4 repertoire which will require lots of time to be mastered, but can be used against much stronger oppositions. 

So depending on your current level, you should decide between 1) not taking opening study too seriously as your opponents will rarely go for those critical lines, and even if they do, that's not necessarily what will decide the game as they'll still be prone to make lots of mistakes in the middlegame/endgame 2) taking opening study more seriously because you start to face strong and well-prepared players on a daily basis and want to neutralize their preparation/pose more problems (the Accelerated Dragon lines are full of tricks and deep moves that can pose problems to the opponent if they aren't well prepared.)

I agree with “The Squirrel", that 9…b5! should give black a playable position. I just wanted to add on a funny almost-forced line on the tenth move, which is:

10. Nd4!?

Entering some complications, but it shouldn't be too much of a danger to black.

 Bb7 11. e6!

black has to be quite precise here

 bxc4! 12. Qh5!? g6 13. exd7+ Kxd7! 14. Qh3+ f5 

my engine says that even 14…Ke8!? is okay for black, but up to here is all forced.

15. Nc3 Bd6 <>

with some kind of dynamic equality in a very unclear position - black has the two bishops, but his king is weaker than white's and his pawn structure on the queenside is demolished. But black should bring his king to safety on either side before white gets his pieces out and brings both rooks to the central files to fry black's king.

Thoughts on my tactics?

I'm white. I couldn't quite get a knight annihilation lined up, let go of it and tried something else before the crap hit the fan though. Quite proud of this one.

Adrenalectomy vs jjroman18201: Philidor Defense • lichess.org

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A Mindblowing Defence

I've had a lot of interesting moments in my games lately. I've been playing really sharp chess, and wild things have occurred. So today I played a bullet game and after analyzing it with the engine, I found this:

Study: https://lichess.org/study/zNkAqpm2/bp6SrWR9 (Chapter 4)

The position is also attached as a screenshot below the text. Black to play and win, you can treat this as an impossible calculation excercise if you want!

(Yes ofc I saw this all in the game, my opponent was just too scared to go for this line 😅)

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I gave it a go.  I cannot believe I blundered Mate-in-25 like that!

Well beyond my skill to figure this out in a bullet game.  Or any other time control, lol.

Crazy that Black needs to be incredibly accurate to get an advantage despite already being a rook up. Thanks for sharing!

Rock 'n' Rolling with Black

Hello GMs and everyone.

I like a lot the Rock ‘n ’ Rolling sections, nevertheless I noticed that there isn't any game with Frech Attack with Black pieces.

Can I ask to our fantastic GMs why?

Many thanks for your attention.

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ChessMood online chess?

Hi everyone, is there a place where you can verse others on ChessMood?

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Hi Thomas.

Are you looking for somebody to play who is from this community?

Try asking on the “Study/Sparring partner” post  and then you can hop over to Lichess.com

Is it good or bad?

In lichess my friend asked me to play for some team tournaments, I agreed, The name was TPR and soon I realized it was way beyond my lever at least 1600+, I played there often now, 80 odd losses 10-20 draws and 22 win and 19 mates in them. im at my highest peak of rating now 1555, when i first started i was 1300 odd, i usally play against 1700-2200. i have won with players in 2100 odds, but is it good to have soo many losses and few draws and wins?

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I think for me the questions would be - “Am I having fun?” and “Is this helping me understand chess better?”  If the answer to both was yes, I would see nothing wrong with continuing playing there.  If the team raised objections to all my losses, I would simply withdraw and find a lower rated one.

Well if take it as a challenge , focus on winning by analyzing and improving your flaws either in  opening / middlegame/ Endgame, Then It's really really good for you. Use your ego as fuel to beat them by improving yourself.

Then try to keep up with them and in which phase you struggle with , then study related course.

Daily Chess Puzzle

https://chessmood.com/daily-puzzle

Today's daily chess puzzle of 14/5/25 is wrong. I moved Bd6, Qg5 and then Nf7+, but it shows wrong. It shows Be5+ is correct. Please explain why it is wrong, because later when I checked on engine, it shows Nf7+ is the best move

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Thank you!
We have fixed the puzzle!

Puzzles in step-by-step opening repertoire

Hey guys, recently I decided to spend some time on antisicillian courses from step by step repertoire, because when I played online I felt like I was getting sicilian almost every game when I played white and I felt I needed to study it more. I really like the lines offered in the courses and resulting positions, but I would love to see 2 improvements:

• there are no puzzles after each video - it would be great to have them, it helps a lot with remembering the lines
• when you take the test after finishing a course, positions from the advanced sections are not included - I would really like to have them there as well, as (again) it helps remembering the lines; from time to time I go to there to retake the test to refresh the concepts

Cheers!

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MoodCoins

Hello, how can i use mood coins ? It says that I can buy courses but I cant find the option for that. Pls help

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Hi there,

The detail is in the post below:

https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/how-do-i-use-moodcoins

Daily puzzle solution is wrong

Today 14/05/2025 the daily puzzles have a shorter answer than what is suggested on the solution. 

1-Bd6 Qg5

2-Nf7+ Kg7

3-Bxg5

White has extra pawn and two pieces advantage. 

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Agreed, the bishop sacrifice is required after other queen moves but against the move given the immediate knight fork should be accepted.

Thank you!
We have fixed the puzzle!

May Collaboration with Streamer

Wanted to let the family know that I have been spreading the word in my chess.com account.  About 50 games active and they all know about the May collaboration.  Hopefully you drum up some more business.

Also anxiously awaiting advanced French course … I couldn't resist :D

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Hey Dear Kory,

Thanks for spreading information about the May collaboration.
I hope you are enjoying our website.

About the French course, I can't give you any expected days. We are working on so much for content for our students in different directions.

Good luck :-) 

Should I switch to CT art 4.0 ?

I have read the article about improving tactics i understood based on that I did tactics ninja and mating matador twice, as they suggest it's suitable for 800- 2200 chess.com rating range so I touched 2000 in chess.com and also i feel most of the position is very although i setup each and every position in chessboard after setting up still I can't get most answer in few secs but i am able to solve 60 to 70% puzzles in less than 2 mins or 90 secs i feel it's sometimes i already knew answer so initially I planned to complete 5 times both course each tactics ninja and mating matador but after completing 2nd I feel i should switch to CT art 4.0 I am confused should I complete my initial target of completing 5 times or i should complete one more time both courses and then switch to CT art or immediately to CT art 4.0 ?

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Hi Punit,

Congrats on reaching 2000 on Chess.com. That already shows your tactics are improving well.

If you are already solving 60–70% of the puzzles under 2 minutes, and sometimes you recognize the answer fast, it means you are building the right patterns.

In this case, there is no big need to repeat the courses 5 times. I suggest you do one more round of Tactics Ninja and Mating Matador, but this time only focus on the puzzles you got wrong or solved too slowly.

After that, you can work with the CT art program, which is a decent one in my opinion.

Good luck!

Daily puzzle May 14th - error

Today's (May 14th, 2025) Daily Puzzle gives 2.Nf7+ as wrong and suggests 2.Be5+ as the only valid second move. Please fix.

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Was coming here to suggest the same thing. Can confirm, engine agrees 2.Nf7+ should be correct (not that you need an engine to know a free queen is better than giving up a bishop for the queen, but still)

Thank you!
We have fixed the puzzle!

WORLD CHAMPION GUKESH DOMMARAJU GETTING CRUSHED WITH CHESSMOOD OPENINGS!

In the 4th round of the Superbet Chess Classic Romania, GM Maxime-Vachier Lagrave uses the ChessMood line 5…Nb3 against the 4…Bc5 move against the Scotch. Superb performance by MVL, and it proves that ChessMood openings could be useful, even against the world's best.

Link to game: https://www.chess.com/events/2025-gct-superbet-romania-chess-classic/04/Vachier_Lagrave_Maxime-Gukesh_D

As IM Prin Laohawirapap says, when playing the Scotch Game, 80% of the time he has a winning position out of the opening. And indeed, even the most “natural” moves made by Black led to at least +0.7 for white. And in the game mentioned above, even GM Gukesh made a mistake with 8…0-0

Most dominant opening analyzed by ChessMood grandmasters. Huge respect to the ChessMood team!
 

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Yes this was an awesome game for MVL as white! He crusied to victory. Black never had a chance! 

PS I thought I was watching Coach Gabu playing on a stream! 

https://lichess.org/broadcast/gct-2025-superbet-classic-romania/round-4/9gjeUImF/6Ymlka4i

Thank you for sharing this  guys! I have seen some new ideas as well - e.g. not the typical f3 move just after the long castle and a bishop to b5 development. Perhaps an idea the chess mood team picking up these games and commenting on them just like the 100 attacking or endgame classical games. 

Just an idea and let's keep the right mood :-) 

Never give up!

I like to challenge myself by playing against higher-rated players when I get the chance - often through Daily tournaments.

One of the people that I've played against is around 2,000 in Rapid and Blitz (but ‘only’ 1,500 in Daily for some reason).  My Rapid rating is 1,000 (Daily 1,300).  Even when I think that I am playing well he completely out-plays me.  Games played: 5 and Games won: 0!!

Until today!  Despite not playing my best I finally managed to beat this player.  I'm so happy  😁  Perhaps he'd taken pity on me and I was actually playing against his cat!  I don't care - I'm taking the victory anyway …

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Never surrender!  :)

Well done. And it's good that you are enjoying the moment. It's well deserved.

How do you play against the isolated pawn?

Hi there, chessmood family

My question is related with the Schlechter variation against the French defense, in the line with 3…c5: 

1e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3 c5 4.exd5 exd5 

The main course here suggests three possible continuations for white: Nf3, dxc5 or c3, and let us choose which one we prefer.

• What do you usually play in this position? Which one of the three moves is best for white?
• If we choose dxc5, black continues with Bxc5 and in the main course Avo says that we should play against the isolated pawn on d5. How do you exactly do this?What should be the strategy? Anyone can share some model game with this line? 

I'm still trying to realize which of the three suggested moves is best in this position. So far I tried dxc5, and I usually play it against a friend of mine who beats me all the times. So, either I'm not plying the way I suppose to do it or I need to pick another one of the two moves suggested here: Nf3 or c3. In this case, I would also thank receiving advice on these lines too.

Thank you very much in advance for your vauable help

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Passive setup for black in Caro Kann 4..Qc7 and 5..e6

Hi I played today against this:

1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 exd5 cxd5 4 Bd3 Nc6 4 c3 Qc7 5 Ne2 e6 6 Bf4 Bd6 7 Bxd6 Qxd6 i played 8 Nd2. I have ideas like f4 Nf3.

I could not find anything about this when black play passive and black look his lightsquared bishop behind the pawn chain.

What is chessmood aproach against this?

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Dear Erik,

The passive setup is very good for White, and we get an easy game - we do have model games in this type of setup. Also, did you check simplified or advanced repertoires? Because I am pretty sure GM Avetik talks about this kind of setup.