Chess forum by Grandmasters

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

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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!! 

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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?

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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😃😃

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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. 

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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 

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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

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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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go back buttons

Maybe add buttons to go back 10 seconds and 30 seconds. Forgive me if this has been suggested before.

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Dear Daniel,

Thanks a lot for your suggestion.

How do we do in this kind of situations? 🙂

If we hear an idea from many students, we might consider adding it. 
 

Thanks for your time and for being concerned.

Good luck!

I'd like to know perfectly "Tempo"

I am studying wonderful and excellent courses in ChessMood,

but I can't find the exact meaning of “Tempo”. (If it's my falut, i'm so sorry because i'm still learning english)

So, based on courses, “Tempo” includes 

1. Attack the King(Check)
2. Attack the more valuable piece
3. Threat Checkmate

Am I correct? or Do I miss something?

thank you in advance.

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Good question! The idea of “tempo” can be tricky to understand, but it is very important to know. A “tempo move” is where your piece attacks or threatens your opponent while also being a good improving move. For example, think about this position from the Scandinavian Defense:
1. e4         d5
2. exd5     Qxd5
3. Nc3

The Nc3 move is a tempo move. It attacks the queen, and develops the Knight to a strong square at the same time. Black has to waste a move to move the queen away, so White gets quicker development. People will sometimes say that “Nc3 gains a tempo on the Queen”.

Checks are the most powerful tempo moves, because the opponent is required to respond. That doesn't mean every check is good, but they are always worth considering, especially if you are going for checkmate.

Let me know if you have any further questions

basically, a tempo is a move. 

If you make a move, you use a “tempo”. 
If you move a piece somewhere and then have to move it back to it's initial square, we will say “you juste lost two tempi here", meaning your moves where useless and did not improve your position. 

If you make a move a force your opponent to react, it is as if you had this move for free, that's why we call it a “tempo move”: you make the move, the opponent react my doing something forced, so you get to move again after. Using tempo moves can help accelerate the optimization of your pieces. Usually, a tempo move imply any kind of threat, forcing your opponent to react. 

BlackMood Main Courses?

In the BlackMood openings there is a lot of reference to the Main Course, but there is no French or Dutch in the Main Courses? Which ones are meant?

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Hey there,

We are planning to have advanced French and Dutch in the future, at the moment we don't have them in the advanced repertoire.
I can't mention exact dates, because, on top of openings, we are working on multiple other courses as well.

In Section 4 French Attack vs 3. Nc3

5. ... Ng8 This unusual move really makes me think outside of the box. I'd calls it Rein-Back Variation as in reversing a horse in dressage. This is a special "dreesage" routine since no horse has ever hops backward over 3 pawns at once. Also paying tribute to The Cadre Noir de Saumur. A famous riding school for training cavalry in France

Cheval s'inclinant, Saluer Avo!!!

BTW: I enjoy and learned a lot of wonderful chess from chessmood courses. Love you all.

Milestone aren't always epics

So, since the improvers tournament last sundays that let me with a peak rating of 1899 elo rating on chess.com, I have not played rapid chess. Was I intimidated? maybe a little bit, but mostly I was sick and in no condition to play. Today, I was better and just before going to meet my sparring partner, I thought “I have time for one game, let's see if I can get that 1900 before I see her!” (so I can brag about it :P ) 

I did my warmup, went into deep focus for a big battle. My opponent played the Queen's gambit declined. Surely, being more than 1900, he know some theory… I, for myself, have procrastinated studying it because it's not something I encounter very often, so I know what I play is not suppose to be good, but it has been “good enough so far". I stay in my confort zone, expecting to be punished at any moment… and then… my opponent play this weird Bb4 on move 7.

 
Isn't that a blunder? 

isn't that just lose a piece with a simple tactic?

I play my 8th move… 

my opponent loose the mood an resign. 

That's how I got to 1900. 
That's not epic. 
But still worth celebrating. 🥳

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/123108910760?tab=review&move=14

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Absolutely it is worth celebrating.  Well done! 😎

Congratulations!  A very impressive milestone to reach!

Another one. Not bad for a poor lil blunderitis victim

Yes that is also me on one of my collection of lichess usernames

https://lichess.org/EAfAJL5i/black#44

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❤️

Yes, but from my humble experience I see that you cannot develop your gameplay just by playing Bullet, and you cannot play in "tournaments" with it. I see that you should play rapid or classic games to play well and develop, and there is no harm in playing Bullet, but the main thing for you to develop is rapid and classic play.I don't mean to criticize you, but I advise you from my humble experience