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Chess forum by Grandmasters
Beginner learnings
Sharing some thoughts as I work toward my goals.
Today's learning:
Against Sicilian, my light-squared bishop is often under attack from pawn advances. My instinct is a3 to open a2 as an escape square to prevent it from getting trapped, but the position below shows that doing so can lose initiative and that more aggressive counters may be better.
https://lichess.org/analysis/r1b1kbnr/1pqn1ppp/p2pp3/2p5/2B1PP2/2N2N2/PPPP2PP/R1BQ1RK1_w_Qkq_-_0_1?color=white
Cheers and may everyone win at chess and life!
Replies
Today's learning:
Watch out for opponent tactics in exchanges. In this position, my opponent just took my knight on e7. Looks like a simple exchange, take back and maybe take/take and we are even. Or is it?
https://lichess.org/analysis/r4rk1/pppqBppp/2nb4/3N4/2BP2b1/5N2/PPP2PPP/R2QR1K1_b_Qq_-_0_1?color=black
For a beginner that's over thinking. This sort of problem concerns stronger players. Perhaps a3 is a waste of time, perhaps not. Perhaps you can allow the bishop to be exchanged for a knight, perhaps not. The only thing that should concern is playing a3 (and h3) for the sake of it when not focusing on the basic aims of the opening (centre, development, king safety).
Being able to work on doing that, avoiding leaving pieces en-prise, learning tactical motifs, basic checkmate patterns and how to checkmate with Q, 2Rs, R and 2B, simple pawn endings (K + P Vs K) is almost enough to get to around 1200.
Rb Ramesh or aagaard calculation
I am at 2100 level want to become god level calculator. Which book should i buy in my birthday?
Replies
Enjoying Shankland's course which is also in book form.
I bought Ramesh's Calc Course on Chessable. It. is. un. solvable. The positions he says are meant for 2000-2400 even stump my coach who is 2350! Overall, the book is very very very tough, probably one of if not the toughest calc book. Some times, the lines are engine lines, so they are pretty much unsolvable, and that is the only con of the book.
hopefully you just want better calculation, as the only way to obtain ‘god level’ calculation is to use stockfish (not really advisable haha).
secondly, i've got both books (paperback), and if you're 2100 chess.com/lichess, i'd recommend just using chessmood's course.
if you're 2100 fide however, i'd suggest you start with aagaard's book (ramesh's one is VERY heavy content), but take your time and make sure you understand everything. you can even buy yourself the entire GM prep set for your birthday!
after you finish that one thoroughly, only then i would think about doing ramesh's course.
hope you found this useful <3
Chess in Mayfair, London.
I organise chess games in Mercato Mayfair, London every Sunday 7pm, would you like to participate?
Replies
Hi Daniel, what sort of rating level? David
Study Plan
I am not sure about my study plan. Whatever I try, it falls fast because of non-planning. Please give me advice about the study plan. Info ( about me ): 1542 FIDE rating, love to attack, best in openings, good in the middlegame, weak in endgame. Plays 1. d4 as white and 1... c5 on 1.e4, 1...Nf6 on 1.d4 as black. I am better in open positions than in closed, but it's fairly good too. Please help!
Replies
You should make a study plan around solving tactics, going through classical games and playing/analyzing games.
Hey Slobo!
Somehow we can't get in touch and can't make a 1-1 call, during which I give directions, study plan to all our members.
Please message me on my personal e-mail, which you have, we'll try to have a call.
Before that study our courses- you'll like it, especially when you love attacking chess.
About studying endgame part you'll get directions here: https://chessmood.com/we-recommend
Cannot browse
cannot browse chessmood videos today anyone else having same problem
Replies
Is the site down??
Recent Tourament
Hi Chessmood PRO family, I recently played a chess tournament (7 rounds).
In the 6th round, I was on 4.5/5, and I was playing a WGM with Black. I had previously in the game outplayed here, offered about 3 draws, declined 1, and then had a dead drawn position with about 1 minute (30 second delay) on my clock. I made an exchange that left me with an only move in a rook endgame, (on move 81) and I couldn't find it, and lost the game on about move 100. I was 5 hours in. This loss dashed my hopes of first place (hefty 7 grand) and I instead ended up with about 70 bucks. Any advice on how I can improve my stamina and not commit these types of blunders in my future (and hopefully much more important) games?
Replies
Dear Ashwin,
First of all good tournament anyway!
Losing a game after 5 hours of tough fighting and not finding an only move is a very tough professional situation, and GMs as well are often making mistakes in similar spots.
About increasing the stamina - it's a good idea to do a physical sport which helps to have a better physical shape and strong stamina in the long run. Being well prepared physically is a strong requirement for professional chess players.
The best games of December, 2024, and the prizes
Hello ChessMood family, hello champions and future champions!
Welcome to the "Best games of December, 2024" 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 November, 2024:
Aron Bekesi
James L.
Tomas Hanak
Jake E.
Ben TheFury
Replies
https://www.chess.com/game/live/126825542413
https://www.chess.com/game/live/126901808629
french exchange , checkmate by black on move 13 ! white helped me a bit… lol
https://www.chess.com/game/live/127060745007
a rare chance for me to sac the queen to force mate in a sicilian with white .
i m adding a picture of the best move black should have played to prevent mate according to the post game evaluation of chesscom which clearly demonstrate why we should not accept blindly the engine suggestions ( especially when a full game is evaluated in 5 sec ) … it s say +2.39 with Rc7 instead of axb3 but its still mate in 2 !
Beating the Modern:
https://lichess.org/UfXRMt4FeCJQ
Guimard vs. the French Tarrasch
https://lichess.org/fhl4RPT8sg05
https://lichess.org/kXqRxUrb/white#0
Strong break in the Vienna with 11.e6!
3…Nf6 was already a big mistake, but I failed to recognize that 4.fxe5 would have given me an almost decisive advantage, with complete central domination
https://www.chess.com/game/live/127083579571
Positional domination in a generally very tactical opening. I had a little fun at the end with delivering the most visually pleasing mate
https://www.chess.com/game/live/127161011017
A Dutch attack where my opponent defended well but eventually erred.
https://lichess.org/CbtfpnQm/black
https://www.chess.com/live/game/127164583149
a wild attacking game plenty of tactics
https://www.chess.com/game/live/127168845169
killing with black mood opening
I beat a WFM that watches chess mood! Philidor opening.
User: AryaB007 first game under Rapid!
It is not letting me copy and paste.
Winning a piece in the early middlegame but sacking it back for activity. After the sacrifice, black could have saved his c5-knight with the awkward 18…Qc6, but even then his position would've been hopeless
https://lichess.org/Asdd7Ugg/white#0
Thank you.
[Event "Online Game"]
[Site "Chess.com iPhone"]
[Date "2024.12.06"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Pencil_and_Ink"]
[Black "drivera17"]
[Result "1-0"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[WhiteElo "1120"]
[BlackElo "1076"]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nf6 5.c3 Bg4 6.Ne2 e6 7.Bf4 Bd6 8.Bxd6 Qxd6 9.O-O O-O 10.f3 Bh5 11.Nd2 Nc6 12.Qc2 Bg6 13.Rae1 Bxd3 14.Qxd3 Ne7 15.f4 Ng6 16.Qh3 Ne4 17.Nxe4 dxe4 18.f5 exf5 19.Qxf5 Rae8 20.Ng3 Nh4 21.Qg4 Ng6 22.h4 e3 23.h5 Ne7 24.Ne4 Qc6 25.Nf6+ Kh8 26.Nxe8 Rxe8 27.Rxf7 Qh6 28.Rxe7 Rxe7 29.Qc8+ {1-0}
Sent from my iPad
French Attack taking down the Schlechter.
I can confidently say that the Endgame Roadmap won me this game once it was mine to convert. I was able to think clearly and quickly about goals - thank you ChessMood !
https://lichess.org/study/sgXReSjL/VwB0SdaH
Sicilian Grand Prix attack:
https://lichess.org/NvRCJwWjtgIP
https://lichess.org/ruTGXb3FXOex
Good evening,
I played very nice logical game as black against London system.
Please enjoy!
https://www.chess.com/game/live/127374000299
https://www.chess.com/game/live/127440015563
It's always good to get f5 in the Grand Prix. Then I missed the obvious Bxg5 with 16.Qh5?? (I was afraid of hxg5, but then I would have Nxg5 with double threat of course…) but thankfully my opponent didn't find the best defensive move - f6, and I didn't miss the second time.
https://lichess.org/Z7clXnka/white#0
Dear cm family, i m quite convinced on this one: gran prix against a modern.
closing down Bg7 diagonal, and then attacking on the KS (as usual in this setup)
winning everything (material and king's crown) at the end.
https://lichess.org/voZvmYOp
I just played this interesting game in the lichess thematic arena with Gukesh-Ding game 11 opening
https://lichess.org/cc948cnQ/black#1
https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/127495167573?tab=analysis
My 2100 opponent ignored opening principles.
https://www.chess.com/game/live/127498200113
My 2200 opponent kept his king in the center.
In all reality, this game featured a complex double piece sacrifice, which was sound, however I did misplay it.
Was still an extremely fascinating struggle.
I will add my annotations here soon.
An Accelerated Dragon's player dream comes true (d7-d5 in one go).
A sweet mate in the end.
https://lichess.org/2yVBRwcXYrn9
French Advance leads to interesting complications.
Nice positional win in the French Tarrasch - Guimard. With a tactical finish.
https://lichess.org/UgrooCWDGgok
Trying a new gambit I recently discovered in an online course:
https://lichess.org/YNll2pwVLjOO
https://www.chess.com/game/live/127669247137
Antisicilian Christmas Carol !
Winning in the Schlechter French 3…c5 4.exd5 cxd4?! line with an opening trap shown in the French Course
https://lichess.org/nxQyXYaz/white#0
Defeating a 2650 in the rossolimo with 97% accuracy
https://lichess.org/Jyu4o5YZ#0
Positional pawn sacrifice in the opening leading to a viking attack:
https://lichess.org/ec4EiG3g9eyY
Dutch Attack taking on a Colle System
https://lichess.org/study/SnHlWENo/seSUZKee
A brutal king hunt with a knight and queen sacrifice
https://lichess.org/Xf9Za5LL/black
Very nice game with a very nice ending against a National Master.
https://lichess.org/qSQ0vJsx/black
Another nice attacking game in the Dragon
nice win vs 2400 in 13 moves
nice positional game followed by queen sac for mate
https://lichess.org/Jss61SVE/black#0
https://lichess.org/9LA9buMI/black#0
Attacking like a viking,sacrifised a knight as well!
https://lichess.org/92EynH5T/black#0
Super Messy and Complicated game
https://lichess.org/3UOJ9Mx5/black#0
Found Mate in 4!!!
https://lichess.org/d6flSAWu/white#0
A Nice and Complicated Endgame
https://lichess.org/y7KZbYerMFXC
Crazy Comeback!!!!
https://lichess.org/y6Yb88oG/white#0
SLP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Missed Bxh6 sacrifice several times, finally played it at the last opportunity. Better later then never :)
https://lichess.org/heRXm3uz/white#0
https://lichess.org/wuQZgPyGhDxo
Dutch Attack on the KingSide
Pasini strikes again 😃
https://lichess.org/hg9hhwsVBdW1
https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/127735199777?tab=review&move=0
Attack like a viking against the uncastled king. Mate with the pawn!
https://lichess.org/DozQ2c9b2n6h
French Attack versus my pet hate line, 3 Nc3
I just played a weekend swiss tournament in my hometown with classical time control (60+30). I did pretty well, 4,5 out of 6, and also gained some rating points. (I did even better at a rapid tournament two weeks ago, gaining around 35 rapid Elo. It seems that your courses are really helpful!)
I want to show here the two most interesting (but not the most accurate) games I played, with added commentary and engine analysis.
The first one, from round 3, is really complicated and it features a Petrosian-like double exchange sacrifice:
https://lichess.org/study/KYGZmyAe
The second one, from round 5, started off in a peaceful anglo-catalan opening, but then fireworks came in the middlegame:
https://lichess.org/study/wTgqXthj
https://lichess.org/8DLe89QY/black
3. Nc3 French with 4. Bg5
Exchange variations are not always boring:
https://lichess.org/KHjlnBSQBovU
Sicilian
https://www.chess.com/live/game/128363413071
Positional grind in the Maroczy! I was playing Black.
Chess: YeahTrue vs RightAtom - 128118609601 - Chess.com
https://lichess.org/CMCqOKlbOAxK
Good evening,
I played very nice game against Alekhine defence.
Please enjoy!
https://www.chess.com/game/live/128423595791
Interesting Dutch !
98% accuracy as black in a very tactical KIA game
https://lichess.org/hNM5V7p5/black
Funny game in rapid OTB tournament, won in just 11 moves https://lichess.org/broadcast/vilnius-open-rapid-2024/round-8/fyfywusN/s6tEYNEp
funny game in dutch https://www.chess.com/game/live/128981611439
Even though I flagged (I am totally definitely very understanding and fine about this) it was still a brilliant game.
https://lichess.org/9DWH7Rg4/white
https://www.chess.com/live/game/128459558907
watched attacking course
thanks Hovannes
it always enjoyable to attack
https://www.chess.com/live/game/128460228181
I’m definitely in the right mood!!
thanks guys 2 in a row
Nice little idea against the French (Bf2)
https://lichess.org/drZeq6yg/white#43
https://www.chess.com/live/game/128561007823
Avi,
love the en passant gambit
easy attacks
thanks
Here is a closed sicilian - no blunders, strategy only, little tatic at the end - played on Lichess, 10 min , 2000+.
https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/127652982125?tab=review interesting rook sac !? in french shlecter against NM
https://lichess.org/AtqTFFpw/white#0
nice queen trap vs strong opponent
Destructive attack
https://lichess.org/iwAzdy295ig9
WWP
https://lichess.org/szSN0In2jnSk
Good afternoon and also Merry Christmas to everyone!!
I played very nice game as black in French-counterattack!
Please enjoy!
Hello CM family,
scotch 8. h4
variation with c4 and a Bishop pair ending where white was having the initiative.
and merry Xmas.
https://lichess.org/mgBdchRo07m1
I played very instructive endgame as white in closed Sicilian 2… e6 variation.
Please enjoy!
https://www.chess.com/game/live/128781226403
Exciting Scandi
https://www.chess.com/live/game/128800445661
perfect scotch game thanks to Avi’s beautiful coaching
Huge and more or less accurate attack with black in Caro Kann Tartakower
https://www.chess.com/game/live/128852547943
French defense, with 3. e5 Ng8 where White did smaller inaccuracies, selected 0-0-0 and became victim of “sacrifice” (after a nice manoevre Ra4! → Rb4), played on lichess (10+5 and app 2000 level).
Crushing the Modern 3.f4 a6 line. As a fun fact, instead of resigning, my opponent could've played further with 38…Kg4, and if then I automatically take with Rxc5, it's a beautiful stalemate! Being on my last seconds, I probably would have fallen to that trick. But as it seems, my opponent didn't watch the SLP course 😉
https://www.chess.com/game/live/128896372231
A Jobava London game with consecutive knight sacrifice attempts:
https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/daily/744160149?tab=review
After haveing watched the wolf on chess street (some lessons, not all yet :-) , I payed great attention to follow what I have learned and this payed off (compared to my last study trip where I followed Simon - the ginger - presenting some of Karpov's masterpiece when I crushed in my trial to copy his style).
In this “french”, there is a nice white squared bishop xchange and a funny little walk with the king.
It is not who makes the first mistake, but who makes the last one! Beautiful checkmate in the centre of the board.
https://www.chess.com/game/live/128869374187
https://lichess.org/2CbAFmno/black#0
A very dynamic and explosive game
https://lichess.org/cydQg6VO/black#0
Simplicity at its best
Today I managed to deliver two well built thematic attacks in the Grand Prix g6-setup, pushing f5 and playing the standard Qe1-Qh5-Bh6 idea.
In the first one, is fascinating that one misstep from black (pushing d4, thus making a strong piece of my light squared bishop) changes the game completely:
https://www.chess.com/game/live/129046378977
In the second game the attack just flows naturally. I also did a nice sac with 15.Nxh7 when if Kxh7 then 16.Bg5+ Kg8 17.e5! dxe5 18.Ne4 would not only win the piece back, but would completely destroy black's defense. My opponent tried a queen sac instead, but threw in the towel a few moves later:
https://lichess.org/hINesyR0/white#0
https://lichess.org/RQxPP1QB/white#0
Saving a lost endgame
https://lichess.org/2imU904V/black#0
Crazy Knight Endgame
https://www.chess.com/game/live/129142380883
https://www.chess.com/game/live/129278011617
My first time trying a Dutch Attack in a classical game - enjoyed this opening very much !
https://chessdrop.com/games/9cabb0d7-3554-4a3f-a017-8816dd793c2a
A satisfying OTB French attack in a 70+10 game, with an endgame to convert:
https://chessdrop.com/games/6554cb6a-aa71-496d-9728-296e46cdeb26
A fighting win in the Scotch, classical time control, with seconds to spare on both sides. I now understand from peeking at the advanced courses that 10.h3 was best. But I was pleased with resourcefulness in the finish:
Black timed out on the increment without playing 28…g6, remaining moves are included to show example of finish:
https://chessdrop.com/games/e7ab1fc6-b6eb-47c8-b26c-134b664287d5
A French Attack against the Schlechter, with bishop and rook combining to pressure the White King leading to win in the endgame:
https://chessdrop.com/games/4da18498-4df7-4e80-bfd8-8af7fb28ad02
SLP after inaccuracies in French exchange, classical game 45+30:
https://chessdrop.com/games/71853f33-3579-4211-9054-fd792085f4f5
Dear CM family, in this french attack, black get rid off his bad c8 piece and got a good one on e4: with an uncastled and exposed king, white wasn't able to defend.
https://lichess.org/pSKfTRmm/black
happy new year.
Wild Vienna Game with nice mate at the end
https://lichess.org/D8uwo7yY/white
I forgot all my opening stuff and mouse-slipped a couple of times, but this game was sooo fun. I was black
[Event "Live Chess Game: FunWakefulAvenue vs CuteBetterFirebird (me)"]
[Site "ChessKid.com"]
[Date "2024.12.30"]
[Round "?"]
[White "FunWakefulAvenue"]
[Black "CuteBetterFirebird (me)"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Rated "Rated"]
[WhiteElo "1278"]
[BlackElo "1357"]
[TimeControl "15|1"]
[Termination "CuteBetterFirebird (me) won on time"]
1. e4 e6 2. Bc4 c6 3. d4 d5 4. exd5 cxd5 5. Bb3 Ne7 6. Nf3 Nf5 7. Bg5 f6 8. Bf4
Nd7 9. Ba4 a6 10. Bxd7+ Bxd7 11. O-O g5 12. Bd2 Qc7 13. Nc3 h5 14. g3 h4 15. g4
Nh6 16. h3 Bd6 17. Qe2 O-O-O 18. a4 f5 19. Bxg5 Rdg8 20. Nb5 Qb8 21. Nxd6+ Qxd6
22. Bf6 fxg4 23. Be5 gxf3+ 24. Kh1 fxe2 25. Bxd6 exf1=Q+ 26. Rxf1 Nf5 27. Be5
Rh6 28. Bf4 Rhg6 29. Bh2 Bc6 30. Rg1 Nxd4 0-1
https://lichess.org/Yzbrkjx2
A very satisfying end-of-year win with the Scandinavian. I've not studied the Chessmood White vs Scandivian course yet but this was a short and sweet game… with a fun mate at the end. 70+10 time control OTB
https://chessdrop.com/games/6cf46a59-c646-4375-985c-ad41ea5a9370
😀
https://www.chess.com/live/game/129340361413
a nice mate to end it
Powerful attack in the Grand Prix a6-setup, with exchange sack on f5
https://www.chess.com/game/live/129377581307
Happy New Year to all!
https://www.chess.com/live/game/129365565249
strong attack against the Sicilian with a great tactic
https://www.chess.com/live/game/129366764535
having fun with a gambit and finding a crushing sac. Brilliant middle game
Nice queen sacrifice in a french defense
https://lichess.org/sf33kdYD/black
https://www.chess.com/game/live/129430343645
English Tactic!
https://www.chess.com/live/game/129444755495
my opponent didn’t play great but i played 99% accuracy thanks to avi’s elite coaching. this is a fun game to look at
Check out this #chess game: marcelbasile vs MTineer - https://www.chess.com/live/game/129324192337
Check out this #chess game: MTineer vs Kalle_W - https://www.chess.com/live/game/129323073451
https://lichess.org/VTSz016P
This was an OTB game in a tournament after Xmas, that's why I have created a lichess study: https://lichess.org/study/Xt6UpM4M
I tried a new opening and got a good game, but then I blundered a full piece (maybe even in an instructional way) on move 13 and the position was lost.
But then I switched on the SLP mode, avtivated my pieces and managed a mating attack !
I recently came back to chess after a break and even dealing with extreme adversity right now I am still managing to play extremely well and am very proud of my progress. This was a great game I played against the french defense https://lichess.org/AWlCpg2H
edit: I just played a game against a 2079 on lichess and beat him with the dutch! https://lichess.org/OTM8edCN/black
I was bored, and decided to play some bullet.
I sacked my queen, both rooks, and 2 pieces :D
A 24 move win in the Grand Prix.
https://www.chess.com/game/live/129745125173
i am from eygpt my name is anass i played a rapid game i made 2 blunders but i win my rating 707 now i love all your courses
https://www.chess.com/game/121921954986
For preparation for a 12+3 OTB 9 rounds tournamemt I played this French exchange (10+5, both opp app. 2000) with no blunder, no mistakes :-). My opponent was so attracted by the idea of a pin with B on f5 that he missed the attack.
https://lichess.org/YQ93Sjyw/black#46
Hello champions!
How are you? Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! May this year be the one where you crush all the goals you set. Thank you for sharing your games—it’s always a pleasure to go through them and see your brilliancies!
Now, onto the prizes:
1st Prize: Samuel Marsden. First, it’s crazy how your Knight ended up on e3. Later, you got your dark-squared Bishop into an active position and opened up a file for attack. The best highlight was the finish with a Queen sacrifice. Well done!
https://lichess.org/Jss61SVE/black#0
2nd Prize: James L. Your patience stands out in this game. First, you got each piece into the game with Rf7-Rf8. Then, you calmly gave up a Knight on f4 and got your army to launch a mating attack. Even though you were down material, your victory looked inevitable. Great job!
https://www.chess.com/game/live/129142380883
3rd Prize: Kurt. You really made your opponent feel the absence of the dark-squared Bishop! In the end, it looked like White was getting some counterplay, but you calculated and calmly finished off the winning game. Nicely done!
https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=Ykvtak5ZSVB2Fm17uyu2LGyl3/usAX/f6rN/Q69+Xb10hNDSADCuXkbJbxYfTPdQ
4th Prize: Sriram M. There was one small inaccuracy in the middlegame, and you were quick to take advantage of it with a nice idea. After you got a winning position, you gave no counterplay for your opponent to make a comeback. That was really impressive. Well done!
https://www.chess.com/game/live/128118609601
5th Prize: Saphira Bond. The exchange sacrifice Re3 started a dangerous attack. 19…Ba6+ was a brilliant hidden resource—surprising but powerful! The final position shows the power of an unchallenged Bishop in an attack. Great job!
https://lichess.org/qSQ0vJsx/black#44
Congratulations to all of you!
Thank you once again to everyone for sharing your games.
All the best for next month’s contest!
Keeping track of opponent's threats
This game seemed noteworthy while I was playing it due to how well my opponent created tactical opportunities to punish my errors. https://lichess.org/study/O6v4hW9Z/MuRYLSaA
I can see where I should have played different moves, but I have a couple of higher-level questions.
First, how does one keep track of all of an opponent's threats? During the game, I would notice a threat, then forget about that threat as soon as the next move. I'm not saying that's why I lost this game, but it is a pattern I have noticed with blunders in other games. I'm sure for some players this is not a source of much difficulty, but if it is (or was) for you, how did you overcome the problem?
Second, in situations where an opponent has multiple tactical possibilities, is there any particular way to evaluate the situation more quickly and accurately?
I realize the best solution to both problems may be prevention; don't get in overly complex situations in the first place, at least in games with short time controls! But once the game has gone there, some advice on how to proceed could be helpful.
Replies
Dear Andrew,
The way we see the opponent's possible threats is by noticing the resources on the board.
In the Tactic-Ninja course, GM Avetik explains how to see the resources and I do as well in the calculation course.
So first of all you need to notice the resources for you and your opponent on the board, and based on that you may understand their potential threats.
About the second question - if the opponent has many tactical resources, you need to calculate them and only then you can evaluate the positions. To follow the right steps of calculation - I described the sequence in the Calclman course.
Dutch London
I've just faced a strange but dangerous sideline of the Dutch - London
- d4 e6 2. Bf4 f5 3. h3 Nf6 4. g4 and here I played fxg4 and got into trouble. Should I have played 4. … d5 and gone into a weird stonewall? If so what should be black's plan?
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Dear Norbert,
In that position White terribly violates the opening principles as they are not fighting for the center - I think the most attractive idea is to play with 4…c5 and try to fight for the center.
The 4…d5 you mentioned is also decent - however further play depends a lot on opponent moves - just follow the right opening principles!
Possible problem with board????
When I do the quizzes and training in tactic ninja, the board is dark and I can't see the squares. Is that normal??
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Hello, maybe you are using some browser extensions with dark mode?
Responding to Modern with 1...e6
I have had a few games as white where my opponent plays a Modern Pirc via 1.e4 e6 2.d4 g6. I can't exactly respond with a Grand Prix setup because I've already played d4. Any particular tips? Maybe I missed a line in Whitemood or one of the advanced courses.
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Hey Andrew,
This is something I probably have never got - because together e6 and g6 are badly weakening the squares on the Kingside - you can take a look at Hippo defense, where GM Avetik shows some structures with this type of development.
Here is the link https://chessmood.com/course/whitemood-openings/episode/3829
Scotch Response
In the Scotch Opening, after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. e5 Nd5 7. c4 Nb6 8. Bd3, how should White respond to 8...d5?
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Hey there - 9.cxd5 cxd5 10. 0-0 leads to a pleasant position for White - due to better development and the pawn on e5.
Model game gone wrong
https://lichess.org/study/XbqFMap3/VSowmEFo
I played this game using the blackmood recommendation against the advance French, with white playing 5.c4 (criticized in the course but the engine likes it). I tried the plan suggested in the course but got stomped (this is a serious OTB game - English county chess, 90 mins each plus increment, my opponent is ECF 2064 and I am 1927). I'm wondering if people here can point out what I am doing wrong conceptually, as I'm struggling to draw conclusions from what the engine is telling me, other than these points:
- I regretted Nd5 rather than exchanging the light squared bishops when I had a chance, and the engine agrees in terms of its top choice, but says Nd5 is also totally fine.
- I thought O-O-O seems risky and the engine agrees (preferring Rc8 to defend c7, which I considered during the game but rejected because it looks ugly), but it is also totally ok with O-O-O which matches the Chessmood plan.
- The engine dislikes Rdg8 because it wants to play Kb8 and bring the rook to c8 to defend c7 (with an alternative plan of taking on e3 and playing f5). I guess that makes sense. Same on the following move, even after moving the rook it still wants to bring it to c8. I guess the question here is how to judge that it is necessary to delay the attacking plan and play defense instead?
- Finally, g4 was a losing move for concrete reasons, but at that point the game was already feeling very desperate despite engine assessment of only +1.0 (at the end my opponent missed something which prolonged the game, but I could have resigned on move 26).
In all, my opponent gave a nice demonstration of how to dismantle the Chessmood plan - a reverse model game? 😳
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By move 10 your position was fully equal – you had good squares for your pieces and a permanent target on d4. White's only real trump was his space advantage. In a solid position with less space you should look for favorable exchanges that minimize your space disadvantage and retain your positional advantages.
I think think the conceptual problem with your plan of castling on opposite sides in this particular game is that white's attack will be much faster, due to the fact that your pawn is on a6, giving white a nice target. You had no equivalent hook on the kingside, so your attack was always going to be slower. In the ChessMood variation where GM Avetik mentions playing … 0-0-0, white is not close to starting a queenside pawn storm. His bishop blocks the b-pawn and he is undeveloped.
Instead of castling long, I like the plan you mentioned of 14… Rc8 followed by … 0-0. For example, 14.Rfc1 Rc8 15. a3 0-0 16. h4 (a Stockfish move) … Nxc3 17. Bxc6 Qxc6 18.Rxc3 Qd5.
White has no kingside attack in sight. He still has to worry about any endgame with his bad bishop and weakness on d4. Black's cramped position has been eased by minor piece exchanges, and he can continue with ideas like …Rfd8 and pressuring the d-pawn. Black is safely equal and can hope to outplay his opponent.
Of course there are other plans available, but I think castling on opposite sides in that game played into white's hands.
“I guess the question here is how to judge that it is necessary to delay the attacking plan and play defense instead?”
To me, this is key for transitioning to middle game regardless of opening line. Who is attacking when and where? Who is faster? The WhiteMood/BlackMood opening courses are designed to teach general strategies for moving into the middle game from the openings, which is incredible useful to those of us who don't have any idea of how to formulate a plan for attack. To help with this and simplify things, in the videos, GM Avetik quite often moves our pieces to show us a major potential plan without making any opponent moves! It took me a while to realize what was happening and why it was not working the same in my games. For example, I have noticed a video where we take two moves in a row and play continues from there. While this is absolutely great to help us learn and understand the positions, it also can make us overconfident in uncritically executing the attack because it was so easy in the course videos when we were given extra tempos where the opponent didn't actually move. I don't have any answers other than to think carefully about whether we have time to execute a given plan and try to understand who is faster in given positions as we transition into the middle game.
Cheers!
Death-defying SLP!!
Look at this madness! I was down 7 points of material and managed to grab a queen and win
https://www.chess.com/game/live/129955754013
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I broke the 1100 barrier in rapid! Yay!
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Congrats! Onwards and upwards …
Awesome!
Deadly high-speed annihilation during an ultrabullet game!
Bye bye knight go sleepy byes now
https://lichess.org/Nidp4bLW
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Weird Sicilian...
Hi dear ChessMood Family,
how do I react the best to the following opening idea: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c4!?
Shall I react like in the English course?
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Just to say a big thanks to Avetik
Had a free 15min consult with him recently and I have now finally begun the journey of improving past my 1000s plateau.
I reached 1083 last year and then went on intractable tilt that I never managed to get out of. I finally got up to 1091 today!
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Well done you :)
And well done Avo - your generosity to the ChessMood community, and beyond, never ceases to impress me. Keep up the good work! 😎
Hey, congrats!
5.c3 Nc6 French 6.Nf3 Bg4 not covered
Hello CM family, Happy New Year!
I don't know what to do after e4 e6 d4 d5 Bd3 c5 exd5 exd5 c3 Nc6 Nf3 Bg4
6. Bg4 is not covered in the course, and stockfish says dxc5 is the best move and i am quite confused since the whole point of 5.c3 was to delay taking on c5 and only play dxc5 after black played Be7, where they have lost a tempo. Could a more experienced player help explain how to deal with 6.Nf3 Bg4 please? Thank you so much!! :)
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I beat an IM in ultra. Unsure this counts as an achievement.
https://lichess.org/igKnrQR0
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Is that a bullet exclusive account? Haha, a really impressive win, congrats!
Beating an IM is always an achievement, well done!
