Chess forum by Grandmasters

Dutch Attack against London System

Dear ChessMood family, I recently studied the Dutch Attack course - which is excellent! - and have a question when facing the London system: in the typical London setup (Bf4, Bd3, Nd2, c3, 0-0) should I still play Ne4 if white has already played Nd2, which is usually answered by white with Nd2xe4? If so, should I take back with the Pawn f5xe4, as explained in the chapter ‘a counterintuitive idea’? Thanks for your help!

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ChessMood Family, Welcome to our Forum!

Dear friends, dear chess lover, welcome to our forum! 
This is the first forum in the chess world, where your questions will be directly answered by Grandmasters! 

In our chessmood family, we have cool members, who take value and help others as well the same time! 
We will reward such cool people! 
Ane time your answer to any questions gets 5 "likes", or "best answer" by any of our Grandmaster- you'll be rewarded with 1000 MoodCoins! 

Let's keep constant growing! 
Right Mood - Right Move! 

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In chess during each game the player must be prepared psychologically. After chess training this is in the main place! Not right??

Scotch game 5...Bb4

Hi, I'm a 1300 player.

I am struglging with the 5…Bb4 of the scotch game.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bb4

I don't do very well in this variation. I am concerned about the doubled pawns on c file and the e4  pawn being attacked eventually. Does the chessmood course cover this variation? i don't seem to be able to find it.

I have looked at the engine, but i can't seem to comprehend it.

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Dear Eric,

In these lines, we play with 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 - you can check in the Whitemood lines how to play :-) 

Here is the link:

https://chessmood.com/course/whitemood-openings/episode/3724

Caro Kann, whitemood repertoire how to create an attack with white ?

I played this OTB game yesterday and I was not able to buil up an attack on either kingside or queeside, what I've I missed ?

Who can give an advice ? As the position will occur again your comments will be very useful. Thnkas in advance for your help

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do you have the pgn of the game?

Dear Carlo,

Indeed, the information is needed; if you can post a picture of the positions, I can see and provide recommendations.
 

As well, we have lots of model games here https://chessmood.com/course/whitemood-openings-model-games/episode/6404

This is the place where we add our best games, and that experience can help you a lot as well :-)

Good luck, hope you will master and enjoy the Caro Kann opening :-) 

what opening should i play

“Hi, I’m trying to choose a main defense vs d4.

I’ve played d5 setups (sometimes Triangle), but I often get passive positions and a bad light-square bishop. I know about breaks like …c5 or …e5, but I struggle with the timing in real games.

I’m also considering the Benko Gambit, but I’m not very comfortable with gambits.

Should I stick with d5 and improve, or switch to something like the Benko? I just want something reliable for tournament games.”

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Well, I love Benko a lot, but!
Opening should be something you enjoy - you like what you get, so I would advise making a choice based on your feelings :-)
I play Benko, as I smile everytime I get it :-)

Why don't you try benoni defense or kings Indian defense or semi slav.

Yes, that'll be good, if you find it too advanced, chessmood dutch is always an option.

12-year-old son is set to compete in a qualifying tournament next month

My 12-year-old son is set to compete in a qualifying tournament next month to represent our country in a major international event. I am looking for a structured daily training path to optimize his preparation over the next four weeks.

He is currently using ChessMood for his opening repertoire. For a typical training day, would you recommend a mix of 20 minutes of tactics, opening reviews, and practice games? Or should he focus on a specific intensive course instead?

I would appreciate any guidance or specific routines you could suggest to help him reach his peak performance. Thank you for your help!

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Dear Kevin,

I would love to help, and I think the best I can do is to share this article with you about tournament preparation https://chessmood.com/blog/the-right-way-to-prepare-for-a-chess-tournament

My advice is, if the tournament closes, it's a bad idea to learn and apply a whole new opening, as there will not be enough time to practice and get experience.

I personally wish your son good luck, and will be waiting for your updates about his results :-)

Sneaky move in the Alapin 4.Qc2

Hi all I faced this move 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Qc2 which defends the e4 pawn.

I played 4….e5 and opponent immediately played 5.Bb5.

Later he will play d2-d4 and if I exchange the c and e pawns I'll end up with a backward and isolated d-pawn.

If we play 4…d6 then White can play d2-d4 with a strong center since it's defended by the c3 pawn.

Now I know against 4.Qc2 Black should have many choices e5, e6, d6, a6, g6. What can you recommend for us to play following the Chessmood style?

Thanks very much,

Alex

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Interesting Question!
I have never faced it :-)

So many moves are fine for Black.
I liked the most e6, followed by d5.
But it's also possible e5-Bb5-Bd6.
It's also possible to play with g6.

Thanks for the interesting question, it was fun to check it :-)
Let me know which move you liked the most :-) 

openings against d4

😆hello guys and grandmasters, i am struggling against d4 as a 2000 rated player, i play jobava londan and french as black but dont like dutch , kid

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How about Benko?

That's what we advise at 2000 or above level, and it's my most favorite opening :-)

Then why don't you play semi - slav defense it is very solid.

1..Nc6 2..d6 3..Bg4 question

hi all!

Just wondering what the recommendation is after 1 e4 Nc6 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 Bg4 (most popular on Lichess).

Do we try and transpose with 4 Be3 or perhaps 4 Nc3 or perhaps 4 h3 or maybe keep it safe with 4 Be2 or do we try and punish them with the interesting 4 d5!? 

If they go 4..Nb8 we have a good centre but if they go 4..Ne5 (also the most popular) we have the option 5 Nxe5!? it gets very tactical with white potentially sacraficing his queen-see my little study below. 

thanks

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Dear Paul,

I checked the position, and the line with 4.d5 as you posted here leads to an outstanding advantage for White, above +1 - which is super decent.

Great job in analyzing!
Hope you have a wonderful day :-)

White mood french defense 7. Be3 e5

Today in my OTB game I played with the white pieces, and the opening was a franch defense and my opponent played  7. … e5 after my 7. Be3.

How to handle this ? I put the game below,  so someone can give advices end improvements for white to handle this move.

Thanks

---------------------------------

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "ProMember, Carlo"]
[Black "na, na"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Carlo"]
[ECO "C01"]
[WhiteFideId "-1"]
[BlackFideId "-1"]
[PlyCount "38"]
[GameId "2298096329667798"]
[EventDate "2026.04.12"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[SourceVersionDate "2026.04.12"]

{[%evp 0,35,17,22,28,29,21,0,0,-6,-10,-10,32767,32767,0,-12,30,32767,32767,32767,6,35,36,-20,-35,-44,14,-35,-27,-21,-12,-30,-24,-52,32767,-64,-50,-61]} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Bd3 dxe4 4. Bxe4 Nf6 5. Bf3 c5 6. Ne2 Nc6 7. Be3 e5 8. Bxc6+ bxc6 9. dxe5 Qxd1+ 10. Kxd1 Ng4 11. Kd2 Ba6 12. Nbc3 Nxe5 13. Bf4 O-O-O+ 14. Kc1 Ng6 15. Be3 Be7 16. Ng3 Rhe8 17. Nf5 Bf8 18. b3 Ne5 19. Kb2 f6 1/2-1/2

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Dear Carlo,

After 10…Ng4 11.Nd2 is the right continuation, we bring the Knight out; sometimes it goes to f3, sometimes to other squares - it depends a lot on how Black will continue, the position is not very concrete; however, if you want to see more, I advise working a little with the engine.

11.Nd2 is the answer!

Dear Carlo,

I didn't get whether you are asking a question or if it is a statement :-)
Could you please clarify :-))))))))

hahahah - cool than :-)))

Why is this a mistake?

I just finished playing a game, and I am not sure why one of the moves I made was a mistake

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/167477666574/analysis?move=24
After analysing the game, I saw that 24. Bxf6 was a mistake. I found that quite strange as I had watched the first few sections of the piece trading course, and I asked why before I traded. Basically, my logic for trading was that it weakened the pawn structure around the black king, but apparently, that turned out to be a mistake

Can someone explain why?

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The thing is, despite the fact of weakening the King, White gives up a dark squares Bishop, and also doesn't have ready resources on the King's side for a quick attack.

Also, the pawn on e6 is next to the doubled pawns, and they are gaining flexibility with a f5 move in the future.

3D Chessboard

😊

Personally, I think it would be great if Chessmood had a 3D chessboard setting similar to Chess.com's. I hope Chessmood will include a 3D chessboard setting in a future update. 

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Hey there,

Thanks a lot for your interesting suggestion, we might have many different novelties in the future :-)

Can black survive?

Black to move...

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If Qf2 I don't see anything, but I may be wrong

PGN for Benko Gambit

Hey there :)
Is it just me or PGN file for Benko Gambit doesn't open? At least I cannot add it in Lichess study, which I use for opening prep.

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Hey Anastasiia,

Can you please describe your issue a little more in detail, so we can try to advise you :-)

1900-2000 rated player stuck

Hi, I'm a new member and I'm hoping to improve. I reached 2065 a month ago after improving fast after 3 months on chess.com from 1600 but since I'm self taught it feels like I don't have the right foundation. So far I've watched tactics ninja and loved how it simplifies the fundamentals. I'm so excited 😊. 

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Hey there,

Did you check the study plans ?
https://chessmood.com/chess-study-plans 

silent strategy

why can i not buy silent strategy?

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Hi Leo! the course was completed just recently, and we forgot to display the price. Now, with your reminder, we just did. So, please try again 🙂 

Advanced blackmood repertoire for intermediate players

Hi everyone,

I’d really love to see live streams on the advanced Black repertoire for intermediate players, especially those rated around 1600–2000.

This would be super useful for players who are trying to switch from openings like the French or the Dutch to the ones like the Accelerated Dragon and the Benko Gambit. I would also love to see more games on how to beat those annoying London players 😜 on the intermediate level.

I think a lot of improving players would benefit from this. 

Thanks!

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Hey there,

These are the advanced webinars on those topics made by GM Avetik

https://chessmood.com/event/french-attack-advanced

https://chessmood.com/event/dutch-attack-advanced

I believe this would help.
U2000 level, our repertoire stands quite well out of my streaming experience :-)

Scandinavian. 2... Qxd5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.d4 g6

I have just had a game in this variation against a high rated (2716) online player and I have noticed that some strong grandmasters played it too.

In my game I lost due to the weakness of the center pawns.

[Event "casual blitz game"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2526"]
[BlackElo "2716"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. d4 g6 5. c4 Qd8 6. Bg5 Bg7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Qd2 Bg4 9. Be2 Nc6 10. O-O-O Nd7 11. Nd5 Nb6 and so on.

This plan is not mentioned in the Chessmood course, so I wonder if I just missed it or any regular plan better than what I did might be ok.

P.S. After a closer look at the game I see that I missed a big tactic there.

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Hey Alexander,

In the game, Bg5 is a mistake.
I checked the position, and there are options with Be2 and 0-0, or playing with h3.
Position can develop differently based on what Black does. My advise would be to follow the games of strong players through the database.
As with the rating of 2500+, you will understand the middlegame ideas much better.

Strategic Masterpieces (Game 29)

In Game 29 of the 100 Strategic Masterpieces course (must-know classical games), there was the following position below

In the game it was played Bxd7 followed by dxc5 to create an isolated pawn on d5. I understand the logic

My question is, what is the difference between the above line, and playing dxc5 first, with the idea that if Nxc5 Black has an isolated pawn, and if bxc5, then Bxd7 and Black has weak hanging pawns?

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Hi Teddi,

The difference is if bxc5 right away, then Black can try Nxc5 - followed by Nce4, which can be a little unpleasant.
In other words, the a4 Bishop doesn't do much, so we trade it off.

extraordinary talent or mediocrity?

I have a question. I play chess more seriously, meaning I already knew the rules and simply started learning and playing in July 2025. In less than a year, I caught up with a guy my age who had been playing chess for 10 years and always teased me about him being better back then. Does everyone who's better these days make this kind of progress or something like that, or is it a rarity? I'm asking out of curiosity.

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I think it depends on the level you've reached and the games you've played. I don't know if it's a rarity, what I do know though is that the more games you play over time, the more your true strength will reflect. Just make sure you're setting your foundation right.