Chess forum by Grandmasters

Book recommendation

Hi chessmood family ,

I am 1600 fide rated player .and searching for a book on calculation and visualisation and pawn structure book to get me up to the 2100 fide level .I have few hours everyday to spend on chess .Kindly suggest me some good books on these topics .

Thank you .

Replies

Hi Ar Ray,

this might be helpful:

https://chessmood.com/recommendations

Chess Structures by Mauricio Flores Rios for pawn structures
and Chess School 2 by Sergey Ivashchenko for tactics are brilliant books in my eyes.

How to use moodcoins to buy courses

Does anybody know?

Replies

Hi!  

I have some Information for you:

1. Go to the Courses page and pick your course
2. Select the option “Or get lifetime access”
3. Select the option “Buy the course”
4. In the right-hand section titled “Choose your payment method” the last option will be MoodCoin.

Remember that $1 = 1,000 MoodCoin.  So, if the course costs $300 that is 300,000 MoodCoin.

Need to earn some more?  Details are here: https://chessmood.com/moodcoin

Grand Prix Anish Giri's Chessable course

Against our Grand Prix Repertoire Anish Giri recommends 8... a6. 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3. f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bc4 Nc6 6.O-O e6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nb5 a6. This move is not in the course and from my own research i've found: 9.Nbxd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 Nf6. Here you can either go e5 or f5. What are the plans for white or are there any other moves you can play that i've missed?

Replies

Help for this please.

Advanced repertoire with French attack

Hi there, CM family, Happy new year to all of you!!

I know many people has already asked this same question before, but I really would like to know if we Will need to wait still a lot to have the step-by-step French attack repertoire. I'm wondering if I shall start studying the accelerated dragón or wait for the French attack.

Thanks a lot

Replies

I was wondering the same thing. With the Simplified BlackMood Opening Repertoire based around the Dutch and the French it was a surprise to see that the Advanced Courses are based around the Accelerated Dragon and the Benko Gambit. 

They are working on those advanced courses.

For right now, you can either go further with self-study, or switch to the main rep (Benko and Acc Dragon).

Later you can choose which you like more.

Up to you!

Silent Strategy Bug

Great course! 

I think something is wrong with 

Section 4. Weak Pawn / 14. Active vs Passive pieces / Training / nr 2

Replies

Section 4. Weak Pawn /  23.The right capture / Training / nr 4 & nr 5 are the same.

Chess Coaching Advice

Hello Everyone,

I am a senior in High School with a rapid rating of 1746 (chess.com). I am the President of my High School's chess club, and I typically give chess lessons to the club members. Recently, a teacher at my school asked me to coach her son (a 5th grader rated 578), and I agreed to teach him 1-on-1 for an hour each week.

I have never coached individually like this before, and so I was wondering if anyone had any advice.

Thank you!

Replies

Hi Nick,

I'm very much a student rather than a coach but I remembered seeing this post in the blog and thought it may be helpful:

https://chessmood.com/blog/how-to-inspire-your-chess-student

Hi! Maybe this book could be helpful to you ! 

You can find it in here (scroll down a bit): https://chessmood.com/recommendations

$250 For Whitemood and Blackmood opening courses why?

These are really good courses. I just don't understand why they are $250? I would gladly buy them for around 70 to 80 each. I can even see 100 each maybe. I understand they are good courses and take a lot of hard work and time. It just seems a bit unreasonable at these prices for someone that doesn't want to spend money on a membership to the site and just get the opening courses.

Thanks for your time and answers.

Replies

The amount of time that it takes to produce such a course plus you've got GMs producing it justifies the price (for experience + time costs). Unless you can go in with material ready and just go with very little prep and outtakes you're unlikely to be making your time back.

However, given the market is competitive, IMO it's pricing itself out of the market with such prices. If you can't afford a subscription, you could wait until the next time the courses are open or take it or leave it I'm afraid.

I believe the main reasons is 2 things:
First, you can buy them with mood coins. Currently Id say they have a bit too much value though.
Second, CM wants to encourage memberships instead of people buying the courses.

Endgame for 2000

Should one that is 2000 but never really learned endgame start by endgame under 2000 or directly into the step by step endgame mastery ?

Replies

Should you learn build a base first, or go straight to building a skyscraper.

As I believe CM says in the study plan, take the u2000 test first.

If everything is easy, go to advanced.

If not, then watch u2000 course first.

What is the difference between deflection and distraction?

In the tactics ninja class, this sentence was said about deflection:  "deflection occurs when a piece is forced away from an important duty that it's performing."

When I review the distraction section of the same course, it seems like distraction is doing the same thing.  For example 7.2 of the same course has an example of a knight defending a bishop and the solution was to attack the knight with a pawn.  So, it seems like the knight is being forced away from the important duty of protecting the bishop.

Does anyone have a way of distinguishing the two tactics?

Replies

I just found that this was already answered here:  https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/deflection-vs-distraction

Happy birthday, GM Avetik!

Thank you for bringing fun to our chess games, and helping us improve!

Replies

Rare Opening lines Preparation in general.

Hey I know there is a blog on preparation against an opponent that you know you are going to play against. But what about preparation in general, not a specific opponent? Does anyone know if there is a free resource on how to learn it?

For example, like learning how to prepare a very rare opening but having to use databases or engines to prepare, I know those exists, but how exactly preparing with these free resources in general in case if the lines are so rare enough that there is not a video or chessable courses on it. Only hypothetical, but I feel it is important to learn.

Replies

Too much problem regarding chess visualisation

Dear chessmood community, 

I am good at tactics and mating patterns but when it comes to visualisation I could not even imagine a board or even I would say not one row of the empty chess board .Although when there is a position on the board I can visualise it very little  for 2 moves .I am curious why I can't visualise a empty chess board.i get confused with the squares and the diagonals and it's very problematic for me .I am rated 2200+ rated online on lichess but I am messing up easy winning positions due to this problem.I could almost never visualise more than two moves in a position.Kindly suggest some tips to improve this skill .it's very much required to level up your chess level .I can easily feel that .

Replies

Dear Ar Ray,

Visualizing is a skill that you need to improve through practice - and do it constantly. As more you train it - as better it should become. In the Calclman course I have a section dedicated to visualization - here is the link https://chessmood.com/course/calculation/episode/7223

Just practice, practice, and practice again! It demands time to improve.

Dear friend,

Start from very first steps - just remember the board squares - try to visualize the board blindfolded with remembering which square is dark which is light - just picture a single piece moving around - and in this way advance step by step. It requires constant practice to become better at doing this 🙂

Diagnosing why I'm playing well

The title may be a bit strange. Usually, players want to know why they're playing poorly. I'll try to explain.

I've had two stretches of time in the past few months where I won many more games than I lost, and my Lichess blitz rating increased considerably. I don't want to focus too much on the rating itself because, in the most recent stretch (going from 1040 to 1280 in under a month), that's partly a function of playing more Lichess arena tournaments with much higher-rated opponents. When I lose, I barely lose points, but the few times I win, I win a lot of points. And, I find I learn a lot from analyzing these games regardless of the result.

But, that's not the only way I'm gaining rating points.  In these stretches, I'm winning a lot more than I'm losing against players near my rating.

So, what's the problem?

At some point, the streak ends, and I start losing.  A lot.  And I believe I've crossed that threshold now.  Chessmood has many articles that mention “tilt,” and they all contain solid advice.  But I don't see many articles about the opposite – what happens in a winning streak?  GM Gabuzyan describes a time like that in https://chessmood.com/blog/gabuzyan-3100-top-ten.  Mood matters!   But, while anyone's psychological state may contribute to how they play, the chess moves still happen on the board.  Any GM could be having a lousy day yet handily beat me if we played a blitz game.

So, I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing differently when I'm playing well for a period of time so that I can make sure to keep doing those things.  Ultimately, I'm playing because I want to play, not to chase a rating.  I can have a lot of fun playing even if I'm losing – especially if the games are interesting, if I keep a game against a higher-rated opponent competitive, etc.  But why not win if I can, right?

Any advice here?

Replies

Dear Andrew,

Since you are training and putting effort into chess it is reasonable to see growth :-)

Beating strong opponents is the key to big growth how to become 1300 with only wearing 1100-rated players?

I would recommend that you understand which conditions you play so well. You may be well rested, in a good mood, at a specific time during the day, or after a specific action. It's a great idea to understand what is your personal best playing time during the day and try to follow that!

And as well you have the right attitude! Following the growth and not focusing on the rating is the right thing to do! That allows us to throw away the negative emotions and focus on the game!

Short survey for a research project about online chess

Hi everyone,

I'm conducting a research project about online chess.

If you have a few minutes, it would be great if you could answer to this short survey: https://ludovic200.limesurvey.net/196948?lang=en

Thanks a lot!

Replies

Completed 🙂

Don't forget to come back and share your findings!

Did it!

Mating Matador - Bombardier Mate

Hi all

In example 2 i think after Qxc8 Black has Qe1+ deflecting the rook from the d file. White still has Kf2 winning, but its no more a bombardier mate 

Replies

I mean Re1+

Audio issue on Nightmare of the Rossalimo

Hi The advanced section of Nightmare of the Rossalimo has no audio with the video.

Replies

Oh dear! Mabey you could contact a staff and let them know your issue?

Dear Mitch,

 

Can you share any additional details that can help us? 

I just tried, and on my end it works well on my end.

If the issue still exists for you, I will redirect it to our technical team.

 

Tarrasch French

Hi,

In the French Attack Tarrasch variation, after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nc6 4. Bb5 dxe4, what to play if they take on c6 first with Bxc6? the computer shows it’s advantageous for black but I cannot find a concrete plan to continue.

Thanks,

Kevin

Replies

Dear Kevin,

Could you please post the exact position so I can better advise you? 🙂

GM Simon Williams - Trading Queens in French

I was watching a stream with GM Simon Williams, he noted that because of the kingside development challenges in the French that trading queens is almost always better for Black.

Pushing kingside to attack can make me a bit stressed at times, but going to an endgame with a nice advantage on the queenside sounds comfortable.   Anyone have thoughts on this idea?

Replies

seems logical to me

french defense 2.b3

what should we play here? what's a good and practical answer to this?

Replies

I like 2…d5. After 3.Bb2 not 3…dxe4 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Qe2 since this is white's desired setup.
But 3…Nc6! If 4.Nc3 d4! 5.Nce2 e5 playing against the Bb2. After 4.Qe2 you can 
go 4…dxe4 5.Nc3 Nd4! 6.Qxe4 Nf6 and black is fine. Learnt by courses of Plichta and Giri.
I know this line since a teammate of mine plays it and it can be very annoying for black
if they don't know what to do.

French Attack Steinitz Attack

I recently played a game with black using the French Attack and was surprised by a White attack I had not seen before, The Steinitz Attack. I tried to play the game like a generic French Attack and I won after a long close game. But I am troubled by my response to White's play. I wasn't sure what to do so I made it up as I went along. 1e4 e6 2e5 ??? Wasn't sure what to do here. I played d5 and the game continued 3exd6 Bxd6. Did I miss something in one of the French Attack videos? There must be a better way to respond. Any suggestions?  

Replies

Just curious, why would you assume there should be a better way to respond?

I certainly think that this is fine. Just look at what (after 3 moves) both sides have gotten. Black should be at least equal I believe.

Although their might be a better way, but I was unable to find a video on this.