Chess forum by Grandmasters

New success story: How a Math Professor Broke the Plateau and Crossed 2000 Rating

Adult Improver Success Story🚀

At 48, married, with two kids, and juggling a full-time job, his schedule was packed.

But that didn’t stop him from achieving his long-forgotten chess goal.

How did he do it? 

Discover his inspiring story👇
https://chessmood.com/success-stories/angelo-sifaleras

Replies

Good job Angelo, Congrats!!! I can confirm at those rare times when i attend webinars you always there with smile and full concentration :))

Well done Angelo fantastic

Hello Angelo, You are amazing! Great stuff! I want to follow in your footsteps! I am a full time accounting professor that returned to chess after 15 years of earning my education (2004 to 2019)  I have joined Chessmood to get my rating over 2000 as well. Thanks for sharing and God bless you and your family. 

Angelo,

What a great story. I hope to follow in your footsteps and would be happy with half the success. I am returning to chess after 20 years, have joined my local chess club and am very focused on reaching 2000 OTB over the next two seasons.

 I too try to attend the interactive sessions but miss more than I would like as they are very valuable

Well done

Tony

Angelo,

Congratulations my friend. I feel I can call you my friend because I always see you on the Chessmood events. Your story is great and I am very happy for you. I also am an adult improver and love the Chessmood content and atmosphere.

Best Wishes

Rick

Congratulations Angelo!

Hi Angelo,

Big congrats on your raise.

Whenever I am able to attend an event, you are there. Always very concentrated. And always so nice 😊

I wish you all the best, in life and in chess.

Many greetings from Germany to Greece,

Thomas 

Hi Angelo what amazing job you have done !!!!
😀

Greetings from Italy 
 

That's fantastic Angelo! 

You are an inspiration to those of us who struggle to improve at all. I find that for every step forward I take a step back - very frustrating. 

Can you tell us what is your favourite time control and how many games you play and analyse in a session? 

Congrats Angelo ! You deserve all your successes as you worked efficiently to get them .  When you will get more free time , I m sure you will do the same OTB ! I wish eventually to visit you as you are the nicest chess player I had the chance to meet online ! ( no offense to the others … ) 

Congrats Angelo! Keep it up. I admire your dedication and ability to find the time to improve your chess skills while also managing a full-time job and a family!

Congrats 👏 👏 

Congratulations! BTW, what maths do you do?

In the so-called French 'Attack', Steinitz variation, is 4. ... Ng8 not simply terrible for Black?!

Dear ChessMood family and fellow champions!

I want to start this post with a positive note, because despite the criticism I am about to deliver, I love ChessMood on the whole! The courses are really well-made and they have helped me improve a great deal. The rating-booster courses have been an absolute highlight, so thanks to the team.

However, I am running into some pretty major issues with aspects of the opening repertoire. In particular, I want to highlight the suggested 4. … Ng8 move in the Steinitz variation of the French as being pretty terrible for Black. 

1. e4, e6
2. d4, d5
3. Nc3, Nf6
4. e5, Ng8?

(Yes, I am giving it a question mark.)

It seems to me that we are relying upon our opponent slipping up by playing 5. f4 … next where we have c5 and Nh6 for a nice playable position. But I don't see many players making this error (I'm an intermediate sort of player at around 1500 rapid rating on chess.com). Simple developing moves like Nf3 and Be3, which help secure the pawn structure, are perfectly natural for White and will give them a significant edge.

Take for example:

5. Nf3, c5 (as per the course)

6. Be3, Ne7 (as per the course, attempting to go after the e3 Bishop)

Here, White has 7. dxc5, and after … Nf4 (clearly Black's best option), White can play 8. Bg4, where … Be7 is almost forced (everything else is worse for Black). In the resulting position we are down a pawn (probably only temporarily, but even so…), we have less space, less development, and we are going to lose our precious dark-squared Bishop. It's just plainly horrible!

By the way, 6. … cxd4 is no better for Black as White can recapture Nxd4 or Qxd4 where they will have three or four pieces developed, whereas our pieces are all still sleeping.

The opening video on this section doesn't really look at this line. It briefly analyses 5. Be3 … from White, but not 5. Nf3 … followed by 6. Be3… 

Of course, I know that they cannot cover everything, but these are absolutely normal moves for White to make that completely debunk this suggested 4. … Ng8 line and I do think it's important to consider your opponent's strongest responses generally.

The problem I have is that I face 3. Nc3 … a lot and I don't much like the mainline 4. … Nfd7 move either, though it is what I am now choosing to go for. 

Has anyone else encountered problems with this 4. … Ng8 stuff and are there any work arounds? I wonder if folks are also choosing Nfd7 instead? Any advice generally on facing 3. Nc3 … in the French?

Thanks everyone! 

Replies

Ng8 is technically dubious, there is a reason nobody plays it. It's still okay at your level though.

If you want something else interesting, Than (after Nc3) Id recommend Bb4, where depending on your style, you can either go for winawer main lines, or play in the style of Petrosian, soon dropping the B to f8, playing B6 and Bb7, Qd7, Na6-a5 or E7 is a common plan, delaying c5 and going 0-0-0.

It is very interesting, and Id recommend you take a look at his games!

Hope this helps!

🙂

I've been playing winawer for a long time before switch to sicilian. If you like attacking and getting aggressive, this is your opening!

how to avoid painful blunders?

&☹️nbsp;

How do avoid painful blunders?

Replies

Howdy Eli se!

This article might be helpful:

https://chessmood.com/blog/stop-blunders-in-chess

Hey there,

On top of the article Sarah provided, you need to watch the Blunderproof course.
However, just by watching it you will not gain much - you need to apply and master the techniques and methods GM Avetik shares in the course.

If you put in good quality work, after a while your Blundering rate should go down, however we can never fully exclude blundering, because even Carlsen time to time blunders :-) 

Blackmood Dutch attack with white playing

Hi, I am regularly getting the first position below. It is black to play. My understanding of the plan is to play Ne4 and then d6, Be7 and then g5, h5 and attack the king. This is here a bad idea as White can capture the Knight on e4 and then play Ne5 followed by Qh5 and win. See second picture. What am I missing in the first position? What is then a better plan?

Thanks !

Regards, 

Julien

Replies

With white playing Ndd2 (In the title of the post :-) )

Dear Julien, 

I believe GM Avetik mentions this in the course as well, that in this structure we can also play with d6-Nbd7-Qe7-0-0-0 ideas and then quickly push on the Kingside.

On my own during the streams, I sometimes postpone exactly 0-0-0 move and play with h6-g5 trying to attack the King.

How to deal with bad days

Hi everyone, today i started play my 9-games session but after 3 games i notice that i was playing really bad: didn't see any tactics, leaving pieces hanging etc… i come from.poker and in theese kind of days my coach always said “stop playing if you are tilting”, is the same in chess? Ho do you do in this kind of situation?

Thanks a lot

Replies

Hi Mattia,

i think your line to poker fits really good. (just in chess there is normaly no money on the line so playing wont hurt you as much)

I think it depends on your goal. (getting better -  reach a new elo high - get playing experience)

Bad days are normal. But in chess in my opinion there is a huge misterious for me i see everyday.

People in general think they are so good as their best performance/elo they ever reached.

For me the most helpful thought was to be honest with my own playing strength.

For example in your case just be honest that your tactics probably are not as good as you think and just try playing the best chess you can. There will be sessions like this but if you are constantly are training you wont miss tactics in your next sessions as easy as this time.

But maybe if your normaly stronger i just remember Avetiks hint dont play when you are not mentally ready. (Because obviously your not playing at your normal playing strength)

Probably some people could write a whole book about this mental topic (as i know in poker are whole books about this as an poker player myself :) )

Dear Mattia,

Indeed it's similar to Poker.
When it feels like a really bad, tough session, it's depressing the good idea is to stop playing at that moment :-)

 

New article: 10 Things to Give Up to Enjoy Chess Fully

Champions, your chess journey will have many moments to celebrate!🏆
But you’ll also face joy-killers. They’re always waiting to drain your love for chess. At every step.

Discover how eliminating these joy-killers can make your journey more enjoyable!😍

https://chessmood.com/blog/things-you-should-give-up-to-enjoy-chess-fully

Replies

Thank you as usual for your precious words

Nice, I just want to confirm from the experience that ChessMood is right about these things.

Nice Article ….Thanks Avo

I have a question. In the article, you say that you should disregard the opinions of other people, unless they’re someone important, like a coach or mentor. But…for children, their parents are often one of their biggest mentors, not only in chess but in other aspects of life. Their opinions and feelings and reactions can be some of the most important things. Most chess advice, I’ve found, forgets about children - which is understandable, to some degree, but I’m yet to find an answer to my question, and I’m hoping you could provide some insight. What if there was a child. Who used to love the game - the logic, the strategy, the fact that there was so much to LEARN - and was good at it. Good enough that they were used to winning regional tournaments, playing and performing decently at national ones, and even sometimes playing for their nation. Good enough that everyone expected them to not just maintain that, but improve, get better and better and better - because surely, a teenager is supposed to be better than their 10 year old self? What if there was a child, who hated being good, because it came with infinite expectations - from, others, from their self. But also from their parents. Until their hatred for the pressure and expectations bled through into their love of the game, until they had more negative experiences with playing chess than positive. Until just the thought of chess brought back feelings of anxiety and stress instead of the wonder that was once there. Now say this person stops playing chess - not completely, but certainly not as they were before. 3 regional level tournaments over the course of a year, occasional periods of playing online chess with months inbetween without even looking at a chessboard. It helps - they have begun to rediscover, to remember, their love for the game. They like playing games with music on, and watching the available episodes of your courses, and reading chess blogs - fun things. Things that still let them play, still let them learn, in ways that are enjoyable, and understandable, and most importantly, unpressured. They wish it could be like it was before, but this is fine; they’re fine. And then they get home from school one day, and their mother informs them they have a tournament in one weeks time. And another, two weeks after that. With more planned for upcoming months. It’s a routine they’re used to - and that’s the problem, because just when they‘re on the verge of loving this game again, all their progress might be reversed. It’s not the tournament itself they dislike. They want to play the tournament, toyed with the idea of signing up for it themselves. But that instinctive, ingrained pressure, the urge to meet expectations and make their parents happy - it’s still there. They would prefer, of course, if they could just block out the opinions and reactions of their parents - but what if they can’t? Is there anything you can think of to prevent them falling back into the pattern that destroyed their love for chess?

I’m sorry that this is so long and maudlin and rambling, and for the third person - some distancing felt necessary, as I’m not particularly fond of the person described. . If you have read to the end of this then I already have immense respect (and apologies) for you, but if there is anything, any insights or advice you could provide, that would be treasured beyond words. And even if not, thank you for reading this, and for making your courses and this blog. Like I said, they are one of the things that helped me regain this tentative love for chess. Whether or not I lose it again, I will forever be grateful for that.

New article: 36 Lessons I Took from Chess to My Life

GM Avetik put together 36 lessons he took from chess to his life. And you can probably guess how old he just turned! 😄

Hopefully, these insights inspire you both on and off the board 👇
https://chessmood.com/blog/life-lessons-from-chess

Which lesson resonates with you the most? Or do you have your own life lesson from chess? Share them here.

Replies

Thanks Gm Avetik for your inspirational articles.

Just to let you know never played 

any OTB or online games with someone.  

My current elo will certainly will 

not be over  zeto.

I sometimes I watch YouTube chess videos,  and that's all 

my chess life is.  

I am turning 60 next year. 

But thanks for your inspirational 

letters 

Amazing words Avo , I'm completely agree with you ; 
playing and study Chess saved me from a bad period of depression due to my work ;
 

Happy Bithday Avo 

Happy Birthday and thank you for all of the work that you do to help us improve!

I'm not sure about number 30 in the list: “Trust your intuition - Sometimes, your gut knows what your brain doesn’t.”

To me, that sounds like an excuse to not play a move that your head tells you to play because your heart says that the resulting positions “look scary" - even if your calculations suggest the move is OK. 

Lately I've been making a conscious effort to listen to my head over my heart in these situations, even at the risk of losing.

So…. 

Number 22 is my favourite right now: “Don’t be afraid of calculated risks - The biggest rewards often come with some uncertainty.”
 

🤔

all well said and happy birthday 

(well difficult to add another 33 thoughts with just 33 years older, but working on that   

Happy birthday.

Very good insights on chess and life in general. The insight that resonates most with me is number 7: Surround yourself with good mentors. I'm an older player (well past 60) and I recognize the value in learning from someone with more knowledge of a subject. For chess players I would definitely suggest one-on-one coaches (if affordable) and/or chess teams/clubs.

Nice article!

Happy Birthday!

Congratulations Avo and thank you for the philosophy behind chess and life!

I like your last lesson, it's the journey not the destination.  I am 71, and will never be more than a putzer.  But I am taking your ChessMood course, because learning IS the goal.  I am only half way through your training ninja, and I find your educational videos FANTASTIC.

Happy Birthday to you sir,

I was about to Quit playing Chess but ur Article gave me New Hope That make u my Jedi Master.

I taught for close to fifty years and I always told my students: “the process of life is the purpose of life,” so I like number 36.
 

Although, I still fall back on: “Please pause the video and think.” (especially, as I have mentioned somewhere else around here, when i’m talking to my wife :)

Thank you :) and Happy Birthday GM Avo  27.01 :)

Happy birthday Avo!

Nice to meet you, because I mainly agree with you, although I first played life, and now I'm trying life lessons in chess :))

And it's really interesting because I also really improve my life experience with chess. I'll probably never become a chess grandmaster,

but I certainly want to be a grandmaster in not being afraid of losing. Thank you for your encouraging courses and posts.

• Happy birthday.

•• Most of them are great but the first one is very strong ( know your why).

••• I want to teach with you chess when my rating in fide exceeds 3000 in standard and blitz and rapid I am 1848 in blitz and 1748 in rapid and standard ok deal ? Tell chess mood?

and also you are very great coach you and Botivinik and me when I become +3000 at fide and +3500 online 

💐Happy Birthday Avo! 🎂

Congratulations Avo for having so well summarized in 36 concepts how chess can perfectly inspire us in real life as well.. 

I just wish you could now write a book with 36 detailed chapters… and how it relates to your own experience… 

Thank you for sharing these ideas, 

All the best, 

Lionel

Happy belated birthday!

Happy birthday

Happy belated birthday!

Real 

I played 2 times against Gm Bassem in real in rated games in Egyptian leagues I play unusual openings in site called playchess.com or it is called chessbase.com and there is international master called Turhan from Turkey who is the most person played on that site in the world more than 500000 games I have one unusual and my inventions of the unusual openings in 1+0 bullet games many times I win him although my strategy and positional play and thinking at chess was very bad and I won a grandmaster at 1+0 bullet at lichess.org at that unusual openings of my invention and in real at blitz I won Fm from Egypt and Fm from Sudan in 2 tournaments at blitz 3+2 and when I was 1927 at blitz  one tournament I got 5 from 5 from the first 5 round at blitz by some other unusuals from my invention.

And I finished Mba at marketing from some days by 3.25 from 4 GPA and I passed the comprehensive exam and finished engineering at 2009 and I made a real chess academy at Egypt at 2015 and i want to have one month premium then year premium then lifetime premium and learn and teach many people from my site and I am lucky to know you and after or before that I do 2 stuff become Gm by rating 3000 at real and 3500 at rapid and blitz and bullet at chess com and lichess and be from your site team and also I am lucky cause I got gift from Gm Bassem and from chessmood when I became 2025 at bullet at chesscom

Happy (Belated) Birthday, “Avo” ! TY for sharing your beautiful mind and insights about chess and Life with all of us. May Our Gracious and Merciful Lord bless you in all your endeavors and guide you along your path, with many more Happy Birthdays to come, according to His Plan for your Life. Amen.

a french problem

At first I used to play 1. b3 or 1. g3 and 1. … b6 or 1. … g6 then fianciatto the 2 bishops everyone kept saying it was bad but I couldn't believe it because my win rate increased rapidly after shifting from a4 or h4 and a5 or h5. I saw a few courses they said that my wins would stop when I reached about 500 on chess.com couldn't believe those words I made it till 670-720 range with those. then my coach suggested my to touch the e and d pawns before I fianciatto my bishops. white good I didn't know it till I joined chessmood but I played the scotch game well. black was the problem every time I put e5 responding to e4 and d5 to d4 I lost. so the only one I knew was a YouTube gambit with 1. d4 e5. but winning was low. it was here I discovered French attack. well thanks to the upper hand on black I've moved past 800 now about 881. 
Problem is higher rated players who I play with knows French more and more I can't keep up with them playing French. And they start playing against me today I got lucky but white is starting to feel the French problem as well.
If anybody can please help me play against French, how to play it better and maybe another strong opening with black.
Please help 🙏🙏🥺🥺🙏🙏

Replies

I found out I came second place in a correspondence tournament!

Quite proud of this - I'm much more a speed chess person but it turns out I can actually calculate!

Replies

You should be proud.  Congratulations!

well thats just amazing

Scotch Nf6 variation a5 sub-variation

Hey, 

In the a5 variation of 4. Nf6 of scotch, the white pawns seems to be too much advanced and the king is stuck in the middle which I do not find safe for white to play. Black losses a piece there for 2 pawns but the open king is a strong compensation. 

Is there any alternate line there?

Replies

Tbh, IMO while the rest of the course is very good, if you're over 2000 (i.e. start to see this more often), the course needs a lot of work/updating in the Mieses. Personally I would supplement with Chessable's Mayhem in the Scotch for ideas and Ris' Killer Scotch if you just want more focus on lines (although lines date).

Oh, and king in the centre and an advancing a pawn are part of this in some lines but you need to know what you can and can't get away with.

Any grandmaster reading this, what are your views/opinions on this line?

@David Sh.

@David Sh. – could you please post a short reply to my question in “The best games of January”? THANKS!

Replies

Dear Didi,

Please check “The best games of January” thread. 

The best games of January, 2025, and the prizes

Hello ChessMood family, hello champions and future champions! 
Welcome to the "Best games of January, 2025" 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 December, 2024:

Samuel Marsden
James L.
Kurt
Sriram M.
Saphira Bond

Replies

A beautiful game turning the Pirc defense into a Grand Prix attack. Enjoy!

https://lichess.org/cTcqOjzn/white

One of my favourite games in which I played pirc defence and launched a same side castling attack.

https://lichess.org/study/zZVXu7AQ

https://lichess.org/1jJnBjYiuyGn

Alekhine rout.

https://lichess.org/0FbWB6Cb

nice game

Check out this #chess game: MTineer vs Amkoya - https://www.chess.com/live/game/129712734821

https://lichess.org/f02rZNMSKywZ

nice attack

https://lichess.org/ksdOC0qH/white#63

You might appreciate this game for its certain kind of beauty if perhaps not for its high quality.

After 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 I tried the WhiteMood suggested gambit but Black declined: 3. f4!? f5?!

Remarkably, for the first nine moves white only moved pawns, and after white’s ninth move all of black’s pieces and pawns were on their starting squares except that the f pawn was on f5, the knight that started on g8 was on b8, and the knight that started on b8 had been lost.

Just a few moves later there’s a beautiful geometrical motif where the white bishop on g5 and white’s connect-four pawn chain a3-b4-c5-d6 dominate the black queen.

I’m adding pictures of the position after white’s ninth move and of the final position after white’s 17th.

https://www.chess.com/game/daily/752225941 

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. f4 f5 4. d4 Nc6 5. c4 Ndb4 6. a3 Na6 7. b4 Nab8 8. d5 Nxe5 9. fxe5 e6 10. Nf3 Be7 11. Be2 Bh4+ 12. g3 Bxg3+ 13. hxg3 c6 14. Bg5 Qc7 15. d6 Qb6 16. c5 Qd8 17. Bxd8 1-0

https://www.chess.com/game/live/130198727081

Early Queen a5 in Modern

https://lichess.org/IaQoLZGKdJFO

I used everything i learnt from chessmood in this game to practice

I won two pawns in the opening in this Exchange Caro-Kann with a typical temporary bishop sac motif, but had a surprisingly difficult game afterwards, having to defend against my opponent's pressure on the h-file. Luckily for him, I also “managed” to miss a cute mate in one - 31.Ng3#, with only 6 seconds on my clock, but still won the ending comfortably, thanks to the excellent defending job done by my knight. 

https://www.chess.com/game/live/130252271941

And a hell of an attack in the Grand Prix, with two piece sacks. Kudos to my opponent for not resigning and letting me play until mate

https://www.chess.com/game/live/130254095743

Happy new year to all cm family and team.

a miniature in the french attack: https://lichess.org/VbCPQLwt/black

Beating GM Gabuzyan in the simul

https://lichess.org/YuDw4GFx/black#0

https://lichess.org/gRg47ncS/black

Amazing rook sacrifice on move 22

1.  https://lichess.org/nshE93QTk1Pp
2.  https://lichess.org/AfHmhIBoq7mu

Good evening,

I played 2 instructive games, in the first game, my opponent got too greedy and lost and in the second one, I saved half point from totally lost position.

Please enjoy!

https://lichess.org/I5I1pEvb/black#86

Power of the Bishops rip through!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/130444282221

Hi All,

2 games of a tournament i played this month.

One Benko and one Closed Sicilian.

Hello ChessMood family!

This game was played in classical OTB with 60+30 time control. In this game I used the knowledge from the Benko, Calculation and Blunderproof courses. It really shows the power of the RIGHT MOOD! 

To be honest I blundered (after not blundering for 23 games) that after 14.f4 Nd3 he can simply play 15.Nc4  winning a piece… I had been on the point of starting panicking and saying bad words about myself when I recalled GM Avetik's legendary RIGHT MOOD - RIGHT MOVE, used the 5-step method to recover after blunders, smiled, straightened my back and found the beautiful 15…Nxb2! tactic which leaves me pawn up! :) 

Thank you a lot for what you share in ChessMood! It's just great!

Nice attack in the Alekhine Four Pawns, after my opponent leaving his kingside undefended. His bishop was especially poorly placed on b4; much better would have been on e7, controlling the dark squares around his king. This way, he allowed me some nice sacrifices with a mating attack. 

https://lichess.org/MKJkABii/white

https://www.chess.com/game/live/130536690265

French attack!

I was Black in this one. Nice checkmate in the end

[Event "Live Chess Game: ZanyGentleDaydream vs CuteBetterFirebird"]
[Site "ChessKid.com"]
[Date "2025.01.13"]
[Round "?"]
[White "ZanyGentleDaydream"]
[Black "CuteBetterFirebird"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Rated "Rated"]
[WhiteElo "1391"]
[BlackElo "1486"]
[TimeControl "5|1"]
[Termination "CuteBetterFirebird won by checkmate"]

1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. d4 Bd6 5. Bd3 Bg4 6. Nc3 c6 7. a3 Nd7 8. O-O
h6 9. Re1+ Ne7 10. Be2 Qc7 11. h3 Be6 12. Bd3 g5 13. Bd2 O-O-O 14. Qe2 g4 15.
Ne5 gxh3 16. Nxd7 Bxd7 17. gxh3 Bxh3 18. Bf4 Bxf4 19. Qxe7 Rhg8+ 20. Kh1 Bg2+
21. Kg1 Bh2# 0-1

https://www.chess.com/live/game/130625440515

king hunt in a Scandi

https://www.chess.com/live/game/130668599717

My immortal (no joking). But a nice “french attack” ing game sgaonst the tarrasch

https://lichess.org/26LIjV30/black#40

A good dutch stonewall https://lichess.org/waBlpYdr

And a decent caro kan.

https://lichess.org/hhc0Nc82

going to be getting my pro membership back very soon! Here is a game I played today https://lichess.org/OBOoLcBJ/black

https://lichess.org/v9CGI6DN

A game with a nice knight sacrifice for an attack, I still had the upperhand but I won when my opponent blundered his rook 

https://lichess.org/jhLAvIi2/black#0

cRAZY eNDGAME

Pin Tactic in OP

https://lichess.org/ipmgGXyg/white#0

https://lichess.org/bMVJa1J0/black#0

Art of Positional Play

https://lichess.org/kXIa8VdL/black#0

Queen vs Rook and Bishop

https://lichess.org/DiyzwGAm/black#0

Skewer saves the game

https://lichess.org/5UO5LvcH/white#0

Checkmate on my king's square

https://lichess.org/01zRFAqP/black#0

SLP!!!

https://lichess.org/OSn7Y3An/black

<iframe src="https://lichess.org/embed/game/OSn7Y3An/black?theme=auto&bg=auto#62" width=600 height=397 frameborder=0></iframe>

Italian opening, in which my play was mainly attacking.
All of my pieces were targeting the opponent's king, except for a knight defending and closing my kingside.
My king side was sufficiently closed and secured.

Accumulation of opponent's inaccuracies starting from 15.fxe3?? up to the catastrophic escape of his king to the other side causing many tactical shots resulting in penetration of my attacking pieces and the promotion of a new queen trading his old one then checkmating him by a pawn move as the defending knight of the kingside participated in limiting the opponent's king (mating net).

Performance:

1 Inaccuracy (Checking engine reveals insignificant evaluation)

0 Mistakes

0 Blunders

18 Average centipawn loss

96% Accuracy

https://lichess.org/rECYyUJz/black

Dutch attack.. Stonewall!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/130856415387

French Attack!

Game rating: 1750, 90.1% accuracy. My blitz rating is only 1016. Woo hoo!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/122218878304

Opponent threw c5 at me early, which got me out of the opening quickly with a plan to attack their backward d-file pawn, but they left a line to their king open which I took advantage of and applied pressure.  

So fun!

Spectacular queen-trap in the Schlechter French (technically not trapping it, because black could save it by moving to g4 or h4, but then he would lose his e7-bishop)

https://lichess.org/FQB34poa/white#31

AntiSicilian .. early g6….. d4!

Fighting game in time pressure! Perhaps some great moves in it.

https://www.chess.com/game/live/130940969485

I managed to deliver a beautiful combination in this game with 15…Bxc5! 16.dxc5 Nc3!! Didn't make the time control, hence the draw. I should never ever play a game without increment again, but I think this is the 1000th time I promise this to myself :))

https://lichess.org/J5TvjjF0/black#0

I'm returning after two month break ;)

CM French attack

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/130132714961?tab=review&move=38

CM Antisicilian O'Kelly

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/130127353749?tab=review&move=38

OTB Rapid using CM idea

https://lichess.org/IvE4QXng/white#0 

The Defination of Positional Play

https://lichess.org/xbG2DsFn/black

Nice Endgame

A win against a player rated over 900 points higher: https://lichess.org/CspWLlFM  Probably more an example of “everyone blunders” than anything, but I'll take the win.

dutch stonewall https://lichess.org/rnssGIPI/black

A smooth Scotch in the main line 4. …. Nf6.

Ilias_Belhadj vs T_Game: Scotch Game: Mieses Variation • lichess.org.

My best Dutch https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/131162389695?tab=review

scotch game https://lichess.org/8SklRDX0

I don't think many will think that this is a great game but i really like what i did here
https://lichess.org/tQOLSb4qxBhC
 

advanced french Bxb5 https://lichess.org/LfT29iqK/black I was able to punish early opening mistakes and find the right tactics thanks to tactic ninja training. My rating went up 100 points the last 2 days from the endgame roadmap and spending a lot of time on the simplified openings 😅

https://lichess.org/KKYitJbo/black#0

Weird Bishop vs Knight endgame

https://www.chess.com/game/live/131219963563

My best Caro-Kann Exchange https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/131221809433?tab=review

A mating threat combing with a nice tactic in the Modern Maroczy punishing my opponent's inaccuracy.

https://lichess.org/nzRFX7Mb

https://www.chess.com/live/game/131235636929
 

https://www.chess.com/game/live/131254764809

https://lichess.org/dcFN2Mhn

A game with a brilliant rook sacrifice

Benko SLP

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/131169607153?tab=review

my first game with calculating(i learnt it in  the blog)
https://www.chess.com/game/live/131386870487

I got carried away and stopped in between but after i lost the bishop i restarted and i won!
I will never forget this one my first calculate game

Another Grand Prix Anti-Sicilian :)

https://lichess.org/S4faPGVl/white

This dude tossed opening principles out the window along with his king

https://lichess.org/2BpHCdbp12JO

https://lichess.org/leH2EoCP punishing bad opening moves 

https://lichess.org/t4O0IKu8

A game which had 2 Rook sacrifices. 97% Accuracy with only 1 inaccuracy 

https://lichess.org/study/SnHlWENo/0KCBJXOt

Probably the shortest game I'll ever submit. Only 5 moves!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/131596788917

https://www.chess.com/game/live/131602169725

https://www.chess.com/game/live/131666990861

https://www.chess.com/game/live/131686198783

Happy with this win in the Advanced French

Here's a slow and steady win against a 300+-point-higher opponent playing the Sicilian: https://lichess.org/F1nRSWRY/white

A blunder into checkmate helped, but mostly, I was able to keep improving my position little by little throughout the game.  I chuckled that the engine identified 3.f4 as an inaccuracy.

Here's a more dramatic win against 500+-point-higher opponent: https://lichess.org/LfkEh17M/white#39

I'm not going to claim my Queen sacrifice was sound here (the engine calls it a blunder), but it accomplished what I intended, and a later blunder into checkmate sealed the win.

2 good games I played in a tournament on Lichess, the first one I feel good to see the mate in 8 and the second one is one of the most beautiful mates I've ever made.

https://lichess.org/QZJZ6dwS

https://lichess.org/LzyRmXWN

A nice miniature with a queen sac
https://lichess.org/study/SnHlWENo/OewO00lB 

Crazily imbalanced game after opposite side castling in the Exchange French, which otherwise has a drawish reputation!

https://lichess.org/4ds5goYZ/white#43

scotch game bc5 https://lichess.org/BqALQSKq

I felt it was a nice domination with some good tactics against The English.

emnaki vs Ilias_Belhadj: English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System • lichess.org.

https://www.chess.com/live/game/131937553355

Hello everyone! Here is another game of mine. This one was played in classical OTB in 60+30 time control. I found some really nice tactics and it felt great to beat a higher-rated opponent in such a nice way! The ending was clearly not perfect due to time trouble, but I think I made a practical decision by going into 3 pawns vs. Night ending

My best French 3.e5-5.Nc3 https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/132037798667?tab=review

Dominating White in a short Accelerated Dragon. Really proud of that!

edsoncezar vs Ilias_Belhadj: Sicilian Defense: Accelerated Dragon • lichess.org.

This was a very nice OTB game in a recent tournament, that's why I have created a lichess study: https://lichess.org/study/4BF0gfou/3HZzHpcP
I used the ideas of GM Gabuzyan in his great course “Counter the English Opening” (playing 1…c5 / 2…g6), when I turned the good opening position in an attacking game against the opponent’s King and managed to win against an experienced opponent of FIDE 1965, almost 200 points higher than my rating

WhiteMood Scotch Game 1

https://www.chess.com/game/live/131493611331

WhiteMood Scotch Game 2

https://www.chess.com/game/live/132021591527

A nice Alapin to finish the month!

escaqs2021 vs Ilias_Belhadj: Sicilian Defense: Alapin Variation, Smith-Morra Declined • lichess.org.

https://www.chess.com/game/live/132111592537

Hello champions!
How are you?

Thank you for sharing your best games. You played some amazing moves and scored beautiful wins. As always, we found many instructive moments and ideas. Keep it going!

Now, onto the prizes:

1st Prize: Gaspar Veress. Sacrificing two pieces and delivering checkmate is fantastic! You built a dangerous attack. When it came to finishing, it was great to see how you played the intermediate move 17.Qh7+ before Qh5, wrapping up the game quickly. Nicely done!
https://www.chess.com/game/live/130254095743

2nd Prize: Tyler Ferland. You executed some of the most important plans in the French Attack, from trading the right pieces to playing on the kingside. After gaining a material advantage, you calmly traded queens, leaving no chance for your opponent to make a comeback. A smooth victory. Good!
https://lichess.org/LfT29iqK/black#60

3rd Prize: Joseph Zaffarese. A Grand Prix Attack miniature! Your pieces got into perfect attacking positions. Soon, there was the classic Annihilation tactic and beautiful checkmate! You made it look effortless. Fantastic, well done!
https://www.chess.com/game/live/130625440515?move=0

4th Prize: Regis H. A great king hunt in the Scandinavian! Your opponent’s slight inaccuracy in development gave you the chance to quickly seize the initiative. Castling on move 26 was a class move to bring your last piece into the crushing attack. Well played!
https://www.chess.com/live/game/130668599717

5th Prize: Marius Cornee. Excellent game in the Dutch Attack! You brought your most powerful pieces to the kingside party. When your opponent tried to defend with their Queen, you found a nice way to trap it and win. Well done!
https://lichess.org/waBlpYdr#0

Congratulations to all of you!

Thank you once again to everyone for sharing your games.
All the best for next month’s contest!

I FINALLY got a chance to use the X-ray tactic!!

Replies

Share goals, inspire others'

Happy New Year Chessmood family!
Everyone has new goals this year and everyone is ready to achieve it.
But for some of us our goals feel impossible.

So to release pressure I have started this discussion.

Put posts based on 2 things,
1. What's your goals this year, why it feels impossible/how confident you are
2. Comments, advice and cheer ups for other people's goals

I hope this discussion helps many players from the chessmood family☺️

Replies

My goal this year is to reach 1500 rapid on chess.com
looking from the mid 800sit seems a little too far😔

My goal is 1650 USCF this year. Currently, I'm around 1250. I'm absolutely 100% confident I can! 🏆

Best wishes to you Zaheem and Sarah with your goals!!! 

Mine are to

1) actively try to get better at chess by consistently studying/practicing/fixing

2) learn to play the WhiteMood and BlackMood opening repertoires to perfection 😀 

3) consistently avoid 1-2 move blunders in online blitz games

4) train tactics and mating patterns and use them in games.

Ok, 1400 blitz rating on chess.com would be nice too. 🤣

I only do process goals because otherwise I put too much stress on myself.

Biggest goal is just stop tilting so easily and keep making gradual progress.

I read in a recent article that competition helps you get to goals faster because you get the mood that you need to win and that's good as long as you don't stress it
So a chalenge for everyone here the first to reach the goal without stressing out wins and monthly update will be great to share progres
Ready?Set!Goooooo!!!

My goal is to reach 2100 on lichess rapid. I am 1900 now so maybe it is a little bit ambitiuos. But it is always good to be ambitiuos right?😊

New goals are great!
New goal slightly confident because it is to reach 2000 on lichess 30+0

�🤗�

thanks

BlackMood French Exchange

Hi, I am working through the simplified black openings. I am surprised I can see any recommendations for 4.Nc3. When looking at the LiChess database, this is the second most played move after the exchange on d5. 

Is this something that will be added in the future?
What would you recommend?

I have had a look at it. It seems that 4…Nf6 is the best response, but would it mean you would need to abandon the main plan of a King-side attack?

Replies

Dear Michael,

This move is not a real danger,  and during the interactive lessons, we face it very often. Sometimes I play just with 4…c6 and it develops normally. Sometimes, we still try to apply our strategies with 0-0-0 and attacking ideas.  It sometimes interrupts our initial setup ideas, but of we develop similarly our opponent can't also apply the same strategies.

Please let me know if you have any further questions :-)

Preparing for tournaments

How should I prepare for a tournament that I have in about 2 weeks? It is a team tournament, and I am currently at my peak rating. What should I be studying?

Thanks, Sabarish

Replies

Dear Sabarish,

Here are 2 articles that might be helpful https://chessmood.com/blog/the-right-way-to-prepare-for-a-chess-tournament

https://chessmood.com/blog/grandmaster-tips-the-right-way-to-prepare-for-the-chess-game

Good luck!

Sounds when moving pieces

I was just practicing with the training puzzle series in the tactic Ninja course, when I was so happily surprised to hear a sound when moving the pieces!!!!!!

Thank you so much ChessMood teams!!!!

Replies

Happy that you are happy, dear Luc :-) 

For tactic ninja could we have some martial art noises ;)

Unauthorized Screenshots

I might be wrong, but I believe when I submitted a bug in the AI Coach that a screenshot was captured. If I'm not wrong, that is really bad. Unauthorized screenshots violate GDPR and are a security issue.

Replies

New course: In GM Kuljasevic's mind

✅Best-selling author of two chess books
✅Former coach of Finland’s national team
✅Host of a chess show on TV

Please welcome GM Davorin Kuljasevic, who just created his first ChessMood course!🥳

Learn from his chess wisdom as he breaks down his best games:
https://chessmood.com/course/davorin-kuljasevic-best-games

Replies

Great course, but it seems to me that the puzzles are out of order in games, for example, the puzzle from game one is on game 4, and there are many like this. Maybe it is just a bug, but it would be great if this is fixed! Cheers.

Analysis Finding

Have you ever had like a bad game and wanted to resign but listened to coaches and stayed in the fight but unexpectedly win the game?
Well many of us had this type and when we go to game analysis it is too complex and go to chess.com review your free reviews are used.
So we will see the games commented in this discussion and tell the good moves, bad moves, brilliant, blunder etc..

Replies

early morning game got some good moves and all of a sudden its rook or queen for knight. i felt so sad i'm a good rook player than a queen with only one rook player. don't know how but i just mated black!
https://lichess.org/QaPtcHgV/white#61
 

win lose then won!
https://lichess.org/WHkJEWg5