Chess forum by Grandmasters

What to do against 1.d4 e6 2.a3 f5 3.e4?

What to do against 1.d4 e6 2.a3 f5 3.e4 when the pawn on a3 prevents Bb4 ideas?

Replies

Hahah - 2.a3 :-)

That's a funny idea, but I see that it has a point in stopping Bb4. The downside is that it's a time waste!

I checked, and capturing the pawn on e4 is the best idea. If Nc3 - Nf6 -Bg5 d5! 

Checked with the engine and Black is doing well enough :-) 

Advanced anti-sicilian question (Part 2)

Dear chessmood. 

Question on the anti-sicilan advanced line when black plays e6 on the third move which happened recently twice.  1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 * 

Hybrid between the Anti -sicilian Part 2 and Part 3 in reality)

Normally we get structures with bishop taking the knight on c6 with f4 and d3 for white to follow. However as per the attached game white is “late” and allows for a lot of counterplay with the d5 and c4 push in combination with the Bishop on a6 development for black (as also explained by Avetik but in another move order) . See my  attached game.

https://lichess.org/tDTtae8s/white#5

Analysing with the computer a suggestion is to play the position after the Bc6 capture with a quick d3 and Nf3 development and not include the f4 pawn push.

However this is not in line with the variations usually suggested (but then again this might be an exception)

I could not find any coverage in the model games hence me reaching out for your suggestion. 

Thanks in advance.

Edger (Teolo1)

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Dear Edger,

The main mistake you have made was to play b3 after c4 that allowed cxd3 and Bishop on a6 activated.

It’s poss to play with dxc4 Bxc4 Ne5 or d4 after c4 - both leading to interesting playable positions.

Help

hey avo , 

i am recent student(from india) from chess vibes ,the one month i spent here was very worthy 

 and i really want to get the subcribtion rn but i have an huge finincial issue , 

i dont know if i can tell or not but i m telling 

i just completed boards , for class 11 and 12 , my family has spent around 15-20 lakhs now we r tight for money , so we can afford the membership , 

i suggest to give this offer like this one after  2 years (after jee advanced - which i m gonna cook) for people like me 

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Sad mood

Hi there, CM family

Yesterday I played a game OTB. I felt sad all day for some personal issues. But I decided to play my best chess. I managed to overcome my mood and played quite well. The game was won for me, I got my opponent ready to resign. And then suddenly I Lost all my Will to play, my Will to win. I missed a mate in one in my favor that would have give me the win inmmediately. But I still had clear advantage. But not any Will to win. My opponent was very short on the clock and I got plenty of time to play carefully, without any rush. We finished in a draw by perpetual checks, all because of my sad mood and my lack of Will to win. I did'nt like that version of myself yesterday. Hace you even gobe through a similar situation?

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My mood definitely impacts my chess and it has ups and downs.  When my personal life is going well, my rating soars.  However, when it is not, I don't find good moves and am easily distracted.  Sometimes when I'm down, I don't feel like playing chess at all.  Learning to cultivate happiness is a very important blunderproofing skill.  I have learned that happiness is best created rather than found.  This skill will also enhance all your relationships.  Forgiving yourself for not being at your best due to poor mood is also important, so you don't escalate into negative self-talk, which lowers mood even further.

chessmood openings pgn files

�😕�

Hello can anyone help me out please?

1. I am working my way through the chessmood openings for white. Is it possible to print out the pgn files with the homework for each opening?
2. Whilst trying to work out how to print these, I have accidently lost/deleted the right hand panel with all the lines on and for each opening just have a large board in the middle. How can I get the right hand panel with them on back again?   I have tried logging out and logging back in again.  I lost them by stupidly pressing the X button just below the chessbase menu in the top right hand corner.

Thank you 

Paul

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Hi Paul,

You just need to go to the View ribbon on Chessbase and click Notation. 
Another option would be to load on of the standard layouts by default. Also in the view tab.
It was not a problem on the pgns, you just close the notation panel. You just bring it back.
😃
 

Hello. Can someone help me stop the Blackburne-Kloosterboer gambit in the Scandinavian defense?

Hola. ¿Alguien puede ayudarme a detener el gambito Blackburne-Kloosterboer en la defensa escandinava?

Replies

Dear Merlin,

The gambit is not really dangerous, and GM Avetik covered ideas on how to play against it, in the advanced Scandinavian course for 2000+ rated players. 

But there is also a solution to play 3.d4 - and after cxd5 4.Bd3 with a clear transition to the Caro-Cann opening.

As well the opponent who tries to play the gambit might be upset to get a regular Caro variation.

Good luck :-) 

Target rating reached!

When I first started playing I set myself a development target of reaching 1,000 on Chess.com.  At the time I had no idea how realistic this was or how long it would take but since I was in no hurry that wasn't an issue.  (I realise most of you probably reached this level so long ago that you don't even remember it but for me, it feels like an important first step in my chess learning journey)

Well, today I reached my target! 😎

Thank you to the ChessMood team (especially Avo and Lily) and to everybody here who helps to answer my queries. 

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Congratulations! What's the next goal?

Every goal is important , you should be proud of yourself for attaining it ! Congrats 👏 

Congrats on reaching this milestone!  I guess your chess muscles are growing stronger.

🥳 Congrats 

Congrats :-) 

Well done!

Hold on wasn’t this posted 7 months ago?

PGN databases from courses

Hello!, I really liked the courses, they are very instructive for me. Where can I find the PGN database of the games presented in the courses? The only pgn file I found is the one for the variant tree.

Thanks!

Replies

You have to watch the course and create a PGN or edit the one provided.  I would recommend that you load them into Chessable or ChessTempo to train on the lines.   It’s like playing a bot, but you will definitely learn the lines and tactics in the position if you watch the course closely.

Course Progress Reset?

Is there a way to reset/delete my progress on one (or all) courses. Running through a course the second time it is very difficult to keep track of where I am at as all sections are already marked as complete.

Replies

You just select the square and it will unmark it.   Go through again and unmarked it where you stop.

New article: The Rating Obsession: Why It's Ruining Your Progress

You study, you play, you grind… but every time your rating drops, it feels like a punch in the gut. Sound familiar?

The truth is, rating obsession is ruining your progress.

In this eye-opening article, GM Gabuzyan reveals why rating anxiety is one of the biggest roadblocks in chess—and what you need to focus on instead:
https://chessmood.com/blog/the-rating-obsession-ruining-your-progress

Replies

Yes, yes and yes!  This year I took a new vow not to look at my rating.  I am managing it - I play games wherever possible without knowing my opponent's rating before or after the match.  And without looking up my own unless I absolutely have to for some admin purpose.  I will treat myself at the end of the season to see where I am at.  And honestly, I don't even really care exactly what it says because I know I am a stronger player than a year ago from everything I can feel.  

It is very liberating for the goal of each game to be just put your best effort in and learn something from it.  Exactly as you wrote, whatever you are, and whatever you become, that will be visible by the rating reflecting it later.  But you can't get there by looking over your shoulder  - only forwards !

Thank you for this important article!

Great article, GM Gabuzyan, thanks! Yes, almost all of us amateurs have a very unhealthy obsession with our rating. It's the same with golfers, and others too, so it must be part of human nature. 

The deeper issue is fear of loss of status, both in our own eyes, and in the eyes of others. Probably many (most?) of our impediments to improvement at chess are due to fears of one kind or another. 

Thanks for the good advice on how to cope with our fears!

Wow, you must be a mind reader, I am going through the same mind field. Afraid to play so I would not drop. Mistake because then you tilt. OUCH.  Great article hit the spot, strength not numbers. Thank you. Prayer answered, May Jesus bless all you do. You have a great gift

Just the kick up the backside I needed. Few games later new highest rating 👌.  Cheers pal.

Dear Sarah, thanks for kind words :-)

Beginners black opening continuation (e.g. Sicilian Gambit)

Having done the excellent Rise of the Champions, I'm interested in finding out a bit more on the opening gambits. For example the Sicilian Gambit for black; what happens when the opponent doesn't take the gambit? What are the other key ideas?

From what I can tell the next level up course is the full black repertoire with 1.e6. BlackMood openings. Is there any more content looking deeper on the opening gambits from Rise of the Champions?

Many thanks! 

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Caro Kann 5..g6

Hi,

where can I find 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 and now 
5..g6. So far, I only found g6 in connection with Nf6, but in the mentioned move order black has the Nh6 option, additionally. I faced this line as white
in a tournament game yesterday.

Thank you!

Replies

Dear Thomas,

The I didn't find the mentioned sequence either, to be honest that Nh6 idea seems bit unusual, if you can post a position which feels uncomfortable and you don't know what to do, I will try to help :-) 

Error in the daily puzzle

The correct solution was rejected on the third move.  The engine took my side.

Replies

Same with the move was Rg3, but it was rejected. And I really tought that was the answer so I looked on the engine and it said that it was right.

PS: You mean the puzzle of 13 March 2025 right?

Hello. I think it's a bug. In fact, the third move is the only one which saves the day and the problem is based on it. They'll fix it. :-)

Same for me lol.

First time using the engine and it confirmed. I just think it's some sort of bug.

Thank you guys! 

It has been fixed!

Yes, I get the same problem. Does not someone in the chessmood team not do the daily puzzles to improve their own game? This way errors would be seen quickly. 

Thank you guys! 
The issue has been solved.

🙃

Today the puzzle is bad again after Nc3 c1=Q d4+ cxd3 e.p. 

Here comes my first point you can play both Kd7+ and Kb7+ and for some reason only Kd7+ is good.

My second point is that after Kd7+ Kb4 Na2+ and Nd5+ wins and only Nd5+ is good.

So please Chessmood team do puzzles that only have one possible solution otherwise some people will get it wrong!

Daily puzzle

Today’s puzzle is broken again - Nf6 works just as well as the solution given.

Replies

Actually it dosent:

After Nf6, Qg1!

Now Re8+ Kg7

Rg8+ Kh6

taking the queen is stalemate.

The best after Qg1 is to play Nh5, and after Qg8, We are back to the original position.

This is a repetition of moves and it still wins, but in terms of puzzle solving, it is considered incorrect.

Hope this helps!

This is a classical example of “why you shouldn't always trust the engine". 🙂

My second game against the sicilian !

🤩

Second game i play against the sicilian with the grand prix attack and i found a brilliant knight sac !
The rest is far from perfect though but still proud and happy to put the chessmood teachings in action.

https://www.chess.com/game/138876879614
 

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GM Avetik visits Northern California! (USA)

Thank you GM Avetik for an enjoyable Sunday! 🙂

Especially GM Avetik and Andre doing squats! 🙂

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That looks like such a fun event! Both of them seem like great guys.

wow

Algeria (it's in North Africa)

ChessMood Black Openings

I'm 77 years old and only took up chess seriously a few years ago. My chosen Black repertoire before joining ChessMood was Caro Kann against e4 & KID against d4 & everything else. I have resisted the preferred ChessMood Black opening repertoire as, at my age, I didn't want to learn yet another opening. However, whilst I've had some success with the Caro I am unhappy with the games I get with the KID. So, reluctantly, I'm going to try to learn the French & Dutch 'Attacks'. Two questions:

1. How easy will these be to learn?
2.  What is the best software to print out the pgns from the course?

Replies

Dear Reg,

Have you already used your 1-1 call option?

What to do against 5...Qc7 in Caro-Kann?

Recently, I faced this 5…Qc7 in a classical OTB match against a 1600 rated Caro-Kann player. I didn't know how to respond, and ended up just winging it with opening principles. I checked the WhiteMood Openings course and it's not covered there. How do we play here?

Replies

https://chessmood.com/course/caro-kann-defence/episode/162

This was in the main course.

Additionaly, in the advanced section, it is called “Dreev Line”:

https://chessmood.com/course/caro-kann-defence/episode/1050

GM Avetik visiting Nothern California (USA)

Thank you GM Avetik for an enjoyable Sunday! 🙂

Especially GM Avetik and Andre doing squats! 🙂

Replies

That's really nice, you met :-) Hope you had a good time!

nice puzzle mate in 2 (seen on youtube a few days ago)

😀

nice puzzle …

saw it on youtube (well unfortunately (not sure if I would have managed) with the solution coming up quickly by Magnus before I could screenshot ..apparently well in under 2 minutes) 

some days ago perhaps you have seen it already.. 

but in case not you might enjoy try to find the solution before watching:

white to mate in 2 ..  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-x3Wzy6pVk)

Replies

It's a nice one Michael!