Chess forum by Grandmasters

Question on Kinder variation after 5.Be3 Ne7 6.f4!

🏆 Hi ChessMood Team ! 🏆 

I played the “Kinder” variation of the French attack recently (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Ng8!).

In the Blackmood videos, Avo talks about responding to 5.f4 with c5 & Nh6 now that the diagonal is closed).  Or responding to 5.Be3 with Ne7, so that the coming Nf5 hits White's bishop with tempo and allows c5, ruining White's pawns.  

But my opponent played a tricky move order:  5.Be3 Ne7, 6. f4!  This confused me because I was not confident to play a 6.c5 sacrifice.  I played 6...Nf5 anyway, but White's Bishop predictably went to safety on 7. Bf2, and now the c5 push is not so clear.

What do you think is the most thematic French Attack way of handling this move order?  

FWIW, I have come up with the following, which involves sacrificing a pawn on c5.  (In some subvariations Black can win the pawn back on c5, but this full line shows White keeping the c5 pawn) :

5.Be3 Ne7 6.f4 c5! (anyway, saccing the pawn) 7.dxc5 Nd7 (looking to win back the pawn after Nf5) 8.Bb5 (pinning the knight) Nc6!  9. Bxc6 bxc6 10.b4 (finally securing the pawn) a5 11. a3 Ba6 (the point, Black is a pawn down but has solved the light square Bishop) 12. Nge2 (to enable castling) Be7  13.O-O O-O  +/=   

White is up a full pawn in the above but Black has better pieces I think and can look at f6. 🤔 

Is this any good?  Any better ideas? Is there any way to get c5 in without a sacrifice?   It seems that 5.Be3 then 6. f4 are quite logical moves for White so I think this is worth planning for.

Thank you for your thoughts !   😀 🙏

Replies

Dear Ben,

Usually, U2000 this variation of Nc3 happens rarely, and the specific sequence you mentioned is even rarer, however, if you still face it, I would recommend after f4, to play with Nf5 and h5 - if Bd3 - g6 to recapture on f5 with a G pawn. And after that playing with b6-Ba6 ideas. I think it's very practical. 
 

French Attack, Classical, Steinitz, Boleslavsky Variation

In French attack, Classical, Steinitz, Boleslavsky Variation, (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qd2 O-O 9.Be2 a6 10.O-O)
What is the purpose of 9. ...a6? What would happen if I didn't play this move?

Replies

Dear Yuya,

The variation that you have mentioned is not from our opening repertoire.
I would be very happy to assist you with any questions related to our variations.

Future Courses Ideas

ChessMood !

The best chess courses site. I have nothing to say. The courses are wonderful, the explanation is the best, the training examples are carefully chosen, the courses ideas are amazing, the user interface is magnificent.

I have only one thing to add (Not a bad thing, just relax 😀 ! ), as previously said in the title of this article, “ Future ideas ”, the courses about openings are numerous, the same goes for the endgame, and the section of “In Grandmaster's Mind” and “Rating booster”. However, for the middlegame section it's the opposite, a few and uncompleted courses, even if the middlegame is far more important than the opening phase, and there is so much course ideas when it comes to the middlegame play and concepts.

“Playing in open and closed positions”, “Improve your middlegame play”, “Crucial middlegame concepts”, "Improve your positional play", “Various middlegame strategies”, and many other courses ideas.

So what I'm asking is focus more on the middlegame courses, without forgetting about the other sections, and complete the unfinished courses.

Nothing more to add about this great, amazing, instructive and fun website.

All my respect, appreciation and love to the creators, coaches and developers  of this website. ❤️ 

Thank you for taking the time to read this article and I hope it was useful. 🙏

                                                                              THANK YOU ! 🙏 

Replies

Check this https://chessmood.com/courses?scrollTo=#middlegame-mastery

Brave Chess

🤔

Hi, I was just watching the ‘Brave Chess’ video in the Blunderproof course. It gives an example where White blundered a mate in one: 1…Qg1 checkmate according to the video.

But actually that move is not even a check because the White king is on h2 and the Black Queen can't move backwards…

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check again

Hi,
good point! I agree.
Maybe the rules should be modified: A check (under normal chess circumstances) must be parried. 
If that is not possible, we define it as a checkmate?! Without the modification …Qg1wouldn't be mate, like

you pointed out.

Course

From where i have to start?

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Ratting booster

YAAAAAAAY

Well my struggle with tilt lately had a happy ending. I made it to 1400 chess.com! Yes that is me on my alt; it's my little arcade purely for bullet and blitz

Replies

Congratulations! 🤩 🥳

Can't win with the Dutch

Hi, I'm a 1400 on Chess.com. I've enjoyed the Chessmood repertoire but can't play the Dutch ATTACK. I often get games with 100% opening accuracy for the Scotch and the French ATTACK. Does anyone have any ideas for why this could be happening? Also, if anyone wants to spar with the Dutch ATTACK, I'm game.

Replies

I must admit I had similar problems when I was 1800ish, and so switched to the Sicilian and Benko (then later KID) which worked much better.

Simply try to understand the ideas, sparring games is always a great idea, and if you want, you can experiment with new openings.

French Bd3

Hi

I recently played the following line 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3 Bd3 Nf6 4 e5 Nd75 c3 c5 6 Ne2 Nc6 7 a3 and here all the analysis we've been given follows Qb6 by black. However in this game black played 7. ..a5. I castled then played Bb5 but got crushed on the queenside. 

The move 7. … a5 seems to cross all the plans we were shown in the courses. Can someone explain how it is best to proceed here? Should I exploit the hole on b5 or aim for kingside activity?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Replies

a4 seems reasonable here followed by Na3,Nb5. this also stops black's plans in the queenside with b5,b4. if you successfully stop black's counterplay on the queenside you will have very good potential for an attack as you can easily advance with f4,f5 while black is left with no clear plan. While this position is not yet winning for white, white has a clear advantage due to their space advantage as well as their potential for a kingside attack. 

hope this helps, Samuel

Dear Norbert,
 

You don't need to focus on the Queenside.
A3 pawn limits all Nb4 ideas. So you get a clear game on the Kingside.
Play with 0-0 - meet Qb6 by Bc2 to protect the d4 pawn. Sometimes going to Kh1 - to escape from Diagonal where the Queen is located, is reasonable. Playing with f4 seems like a great and easy plan.

There are other options as well, but what I offered I think is the most practical one.

ChessMood Simplified Openings VS Step by Step Repertoire

Hi, I'm a bit confused with the recommendations available for the openings between the Simplified Openings Course and the Step by Step courses.  I have an OTB game coming up and my opponent plays the London.  I'd like to prepare something for the match because I currently play the KID typically against d4, but I don't really feel comfortable with it against the London.  The Simplified course recommends the Dutch Attack and provides a nice idea for the set up. I thought the Simplified course would be an introduction since it gives a lot of simple ideas to go up against a number of different openings from white. So I went to the Step by Step courses looking for a more thorough course on that Dutch Attack recommendation against the London, but the only course I see is the d4 sidelines which includes the London and Jobava along with the Trompowsky.  Is there not a full or more thorough course on how to prepare the Dutch Attack against the London? Or is the d4 sidelines better for me to study to prepare for my OTB game?  
 

Thank you, 

Garry P. 

Replies

The advanced repertoire for black is different to the simplified courses. Personally, I really like the advanced repertoire against the london as it will surprise many opponents (the section in the course is also only 25 mins long) but if you usually play the Dutch then you could risk transpositions into unfamiliar territory if your opponent does not play the London.

Hope this helps, Samuel 

Dear Garry, 

In the future, we might also have advanced French and Dutch in the step-by-step section, but by now the repertoires are different.
Based on your rating/level you can choose which ones to play. Usually simplified are for U2000 online ratings, and advanced one 2000+ 

Question on London Counter in the d4 Sidelines

I just went through the course and I noticed there isn't any mention of white playing Bd3 rather than Be2. I understand that it is an inferior move than Bd3, but I do see it played quite a bit by people.  The engine seems to suggest to play c5 right away, but I was wondering if there was any lines or plans that could be offered within the course to better understand the ideas that are best to play against that similar to how the course provides it for the other moves.   

Any suggestions would be appreciated.  Thanks!! 

Replies

Dear Garry,

It's impossible to cover absolutely all moves in all the openings, so we try to focus on the main/more common lines. 
If you can post a specific position, with a question I would try to help :-) 

Caro-Kann Na5 line

after 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Nf6 6.Bf4 Bg4 7.Qb3 Na5 8.Qa4+ Nc6 ; in the course, 9.Qb3 is recommended transposing to the main lines after 9…Qd7 or 9…Qc8 but what if black plays 9…Bd6 aiming to reach the Qd7 line with an extra tempo?

Replies

sorry i meant after 9.Nd2 e6,10.Qb3 not 9.Qb3

Happy B

Happy 7. Birthday Chessmood 🎉🎊, very warm congrats to Avo and the whole team and big thanks for the intense streaming week especially to the very busy Gabu. I enjoyed it so much😃😃

Replies

Dear Alan thank you so much for this kindest words :-)

Courses?

I'm a 1400 rapid on chess.com. Has anyone else been 1400 recently and had a course that specifically helped them. I think I'm going to work on the endgame courses, but I want to maximize my results. 

Replies

Below 2000 all the courses in the rating booster section are very good, particularly the tactic ninja and blunderproof courses. The u2000 endgame course could also be useful for theoretical endgames or the endgame roadmap for more practical tips.

Hope this helps, Samuel 

Please help 🙏🏻

Guys hi chessmood family I've finished this free week and I really learned a lot and sadly it has ended, if anyone could help me or we can split the price of the course because I don't have that much of money and I have the most important tournament of my life in may so I need it so much, and if anyone can recommend chess books for me that could help me please 

Replies

Hi Gbril,

You are more likely to get some help if you provide a little more detail.

What is your current chess rating?
What details can you give about the tournament?
Which areas do you think you are weakest in? (eg openings, tactics, endgame …)

Also, remember that you can buy courses with MoodCoins. Do the daily puzzles, answer questions on the forum, post your best games in the game of the month posts. It may take some time to accumulate enough MoodCoins but it is basically free.

i dont know how much time you have left but all the best for the tournament . Books For Endgame: “100 Endgames You Must Know” , “Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual (Some of the sections in Dvoretsky might seem complex to some people ), ”Fundamental Chess Endings  “by Karsten Muller. i would recommend to start with “100 endgames you must know” . 

For middlegame : “How to Reassess Your Chess" by Jeremy Silman” , ”Simple Chess" by Michael Stean, “Chess Structures” by Mauricio Flores (“Chess Structures” cover various pawn structures and positions that may arise out of various openings). 

For Openings there are various sources these days like databases , using engine , courses etc. One book for an understanding level approach with explanation is "Understanding the Chess Openings" by Sam Collins . 

For puzzle practice try "Woodpecker method" if u havent yet. 

Hi I'd just like to say a big thank you to Avetik

The free consult a while back was really valuable. I'm 1153 in rapid after finding it nearly impossible to stay above 1000 for a year.

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🤩

Wow, congrats!

Small doubt

Rise of the champions course
I already left a review but I had one small doubt, some of the puzzles had 2 to 3 solutions. Are they all supposed to be answers or are they tied from some places specially in the gyms

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what is it

Help!!!!!

I cant use mood coins

Replies

If this is regarding buying courses with moodcoins, on the page of a course, you should find an option in the top right that says "Buy this course for $XXX". If you click on it, there should be several options regarding your payment method, one of which should be using moodcoins.

If this is about the daily puzzles, you have to finish them in one attempt to get the reward.

Ok update: I'm mostly over my horrendous tilt attack

Not quite the deadly predator I was last week when I was in really good form…but I got back to 1300 chesscom at least. Happy with that.

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Doubt in Philidor defence

When we play white against Antoshin line Philidor, after we played g3, Bg2, Nde2, if black plays Bg4 (before we play h3) what to do? Shoul we allow Bxe2 or play f3, g4, Ng3? Please guide me

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Things chess players say that would sound very alarming out of context...

‘Do you want some more annihilations?’

context: I was helping teach a beginner friend lol

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