Chess forum by Grandmasters

what to write about blunders and should I include positional blunders?

Note that by positional blunders I include moves that I understand they were blunders during the games and not something that the engine is telling me.

I also wonder if not noticing an important  capture is not a blunder even if it did not cause tactical mistakes.

I will give the last bad blitz game that I played today with my comments here
making the comments take more time then playing the game and as you can see most of them are about my thoughts and not about engine evaluations.

https://lichess.org/BlloFElq/black

1)8…0-0 was a positional blunders and in the game after my opponent played d4 I understood that I blundered by not preventing it or by allowing white to play it with a tempo by playing Bc5

2)when I played 15…Qf6 I missed Qd3 and when the engine may not consider 

Qf6 to be a blunder even when it is not the best me from my point of view missing Qd3 is a blunder that I will probably not do at long time control.

3)I needed to play 17….Be6 and not 17…Bh5
I can understand why the engine say that 18.f4 gives a clear advantage for white because of the idea f5 against Bg6 but I did not think about it during the game.
I am not sure if to consider it as a blunder
4)when I played 20…Rxe3 I calculated the line 21.fxe3 Qg3 22.Ne5 Qxe3+ 23.Kh1 and thought in the worst case I can win another pawn by 23…Bxe5 24.dxe5 Qxe5 and missed 25.Rf5
I wonder if to consider it as a blunder because the engine does not consider 20…Rxe3 as a blunder even if it is not the best move.

5)I think 21…Qg3 is a mistake but not a blunder.

6)23…b5 is a blunder based on the engine
I saw the opponent threat 24.Nxf7 and hoped to get some chances after 23….b5 24.Qxc6 Rc8 25.Qxd6 Rxc2 when I did not see in my calculation that the rook at c8 is not protected(of course I could see it in the analysis without an engine).

7)I think that 25…f6 is a blunder and I simply did not see 26.Nxc6 otherwise I could play the better 26…Bxe5 when I still have knight and a pawn for the rook(engine say that it is also losing but I did not understand it and I think it was my best hope)
8)I consider 26…Ne6 to be a blunder even if the engine does not agree and I needed to play 26…a6(did not see capturing b5 pawn and thought that I need to activate my pieces)
Note that I already had less than 40 seconds on my clock when I played f6 and Ne6 and time pressure(inspite of having an increment of 3 seconds) caused me to blunder from my point of view

9)when I played 33…Bf4 I blundered by not seeing the fact that I lose a pawn by 34.Re7+ and Rxa7
It could be an excellent idea in SLP mode but it was not and I saw that I can capture the rook at a7 during the game only at the time my opponent played 37.Kh2 and I wonder if I need to consider the fact that I did not see Bxa7 earlier as a blunder.

37…Bxa7 does not save the game but it was my best chance and I missed a  draw later in the game

10)42…Ke6 was not a mistake(stockfish prefers Ke8 but I ignore it espacielly when a weak engine like fruit2.1 that has a better human style from my point of view without the nnue evaluation and not a positional monster like stockfish  likes Ke6)

11)44…Rxd6 was the last mistake or blunder(not sure what to say about it).  I thought the pawn endgame is probably losing but I was not sure and I did not believe that a move like g6 Rd7 or Kd7 can save me because it seems to me I get no progress with it when the opponent can make progress(of course without time pressure I could avoid going to losing pawn endgame because I would not play a move that I am sure to be losing even if I believe that other moves are also losing and I will probably see that g6 45.b5 Rxd6 46.Rxd6+ is good for me because g6 prevents the opponent king the move Kf5). 

Replies

I played a second blitz game that was relatively better and again the question is what to comment about blunders.

https://lichess.org/i505zdFU/black#36

comments:
1)I could get the advantage with 15…Nb4 but I will ignore it because not playing it is not a blunder that I understand easily(I will only mention that I considered Nb4 during the game but did not think that it is better.

2)I missed 27…Bxa4 that the engine only consider as a mistake but missing a capture by myself can be also considered as a blunder.
I thought initially to capture back with the queen when playing 27…Nc4 but saw even before the opponent move that I need to capture with the pawn not to lose my queen and I wonder if to consider the fact that I did not see the fact that 27…Nc4 28.Bxc4 Qxc4 lose the queen at the time of playing Nc4 as a blunder.

3)The engine considers 32…Bb5 as a blunder and claims 32…Rd8 or 32…Kb8 as better but at time trouble I prefer to trade pieces and I saw that I cannot protect c2 and did not consider the fact that the opponent has problems after Nxc2 because the knight is pinned.

Note that my opponent does not have to capture c2 immediately and could also avoid the endgame.

4)35…Re8 was a positional mistake but I did not like exd5 Nxd5 when I cannot play Rc8 and did not see that I have Rc8 and thought that it is losing a pawn because of not calculating Nxc8 but calculating Kxc8 and had to play a move so I played non blundering different move with the rook.

5)I played the endgame later perfectly 

Middlegame Roadmap

Hi Chessmood Team,

First of all I wanted to say Merry Christmas to you all CM Team and all members of the CM champions. 

I have been struggling quite a bit during my game in the middlegame part. I get good position from the CM position, I feel like I know my line but I am having a hard time converting the advantage. 

I was wondering when will the course middlegame roadmap be ready on your end? I feel I could benefit from it. 

Thanks again for the great courses!!

Kamel 

Replies

Merry Christmas Kamel! 🎉

Chessmood is working on the middlegame roadmap course along with other courses.  

For now, you have 2 options:

You can just go through the “Rating Booster” section, you will learn the most important skills you need in the middlegame (good tactical vision, know how to attack/defend, SLP and WWP, etc.

or

You go through the “Middlegame Mastery” section, where you will master all the middlegame concepts.

Whether you chose option 1 or 2, depends on your rating. Please check out the study plan ( https://chessmood.com/chess-study-plans )

for more information about this. 

I hope this helps you! 😃

French attack as black

I am reviewing the chessmood openings as black the French attack. In the first 3 options black wants to play Ne7 and the Nf5. What is the proper response if white plays Bg5 after Ne7 to prevent Nf5 and pin it? 

Replies

In the advance and the exchange, I have had good results with h6, g5 and going queenside or keeping the king in the center, as we get to launch a pawn storm with tempo. Could be completely wrong though. 

Just f6 Henry, to start the King side attack at the same time.

Benko Gambit

Is it okay to play benko gambit during classical game? 

Replies

Gabuzyan played it in the Armenian championship, so I think it is probably OK.

1.e5 c5 2. Mf3 Nc6 3.c3

Hai Champions.

Is there any cover for c3 line as below in Chessmood course

1.e5 c5 2. Mf3 Nc6 3.c3

Thanks in advance

Replies

Hi,

yes, here:

https://chessmood.com/course/counter-sicilian-alapin/episode/4040

My goal was 1000 by New Year and now I've got blunderitis

I was 969 and for some odd reason I'm just terrible lately and dropped to 880. What do I do? Anything I can do to defrag my brain?

Replies

Hi there,

It's frustrating, isn't it?!  Have you had a chance to read Avo's article about ‘How to stop blunders’?  Or studied the BlunderProof course? Links below:

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

https://chessmood.com/course/blunderproof

I think this is the best way. https://chessmood.com/blog/golden-method-to-increase-rating-in-chess

But, IMPORTANT-keep in mind that this won't raise your chess skills. So, if you want to raise your rating, either do this or learn some new and unique opening, but than you must learn it REALLY good, and since you don't have much time left untill New Year, I don't suggest that. Or, if you don't want to try them because you don't have much time left, than you'll have to rellax and play. Or, tell yourself that you will buy a cake if you do it 'till next year, so you have a good reason to do it ;)

I think this article will help: https://chessmood.com/blog/raise-your-chess-rating-by-cutting-your-losses

Good luck in making the goal!

• Did you stay focused throughout the games?  (paying as much attention to your opponent's moves as you do to your own)
• Did you double-check all critical moves?
• Did you (and I'm thinking here in terms of the example game that you provided) begin to relax when you were ahead and release the pressure on your opponent?
• What did you do between games?  Did you shut yourself away somewhere so that you could mentally prepare yourself for the next game?  Or did you allow yourself to be distracted by watching other games?  (I'm speaking theoretically here as I've never played in a tournament!)

  Good luck!

  See your losses as a opportunity to learn. Analyse your losses and learn the right lessons from them. A coach can help you very much with that.

  Everytime I face a bad mood during a game, I just use this magical trick:

  https://chessmood.com/blog/a-secret-weapon-for-handling-tough-positions-and-bad-moods

  
  I would highly recommend you to do that as well! 😃

  Use these 5 steps to get out of a bad period: https://chessmood.com/blog/5-crucial-steps-to-stop-bad-results-in-chess

  
  Remember that after losing just 3 games, it doesn’t need to be a bad period. 😁

  For now, just try to learn the right mistakes from your games, keep a good mood, and continue what you are doing. 

  Good luck improving! 👍

https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/the-best-games-of-december-2023-and-the-prizes

Uri, we think you are taking a very wrong approach to learning and improving chess. 

Checking engines all the time will not make you stronger, but weaker. It will destroy your self steem and it will make it impossible for you to enjoy chess because the engines will find always better moves.
Please see this article: https://chessmood.com/blog/vishnu-prasanna-coach-of-gukesh

Also we do not see the utility in having the 5 min games from the streams, played live while teaching in the webinar and selected by GMs for their instructive value to be analyzed by an engine.

First, when we do the courses we check the important variations with cloud engines that cost lots of money every time, and we do that when we believe is needed based on our long experience as GMs, teachers and coaches.

We appreciate your intentions, but PLEASE refrain from doing this since it has no teaching value and of course it will provide no money or extra income as you were hoping for.

The affiliate program is a complete different topic. Please check below for all the info. 
https://chessmood.com/refer-a-friend

Thanks for your understanding.

1. https://lichess.org/study/mTMuXuva
2. https://lichess.org/study/LjAJSrx8
3. https://lichess.org/study/LawI2yDo
4.  

Thank you for your time and assistance!

Stephane

Replies

Will there still be a monthly option for sign up?

Hello just wondering if there will still be a monthly option for sign up I am not seeing. Thanks

Happy holidays. 

Replies

Yes, there is. 😃

You can find it here: https://chessmood.com/become-a-pro#pro-payment

If you look carefully , there is a tab for yearly and one for monthly in the upper part . You just have to click monthly to see the plan 

gambito escandinavo

me gustaria un estudio del gambito escandinavo e4-d5 2. exd5 -c6  saludos gran trabajo

Replies

Hello, I don't speak Spanish or whatever is the language this post is on 😀, but as far as I understood you want a study on how to refute the Scandinavian gambit (e4 d5 exd5 c6). I recomend you to check out this course:

Whitemood openings simplified, Section 18: https://chessmood.com/course/whitemood-openings

If you are looking for a complete guide against the Scandinavian Gambit, I think there is not a main course on that.

Hope this helps

https://chessmood.com/chess-study-plans/for-advanced-players

This should help you!

What would be the best approach to paly against an engine?

While I play against a human opponent whether on the internet or over the board, I can assess him by his ratings and the moves he makes on the board. AND sometimes he may make a mistake or even a blunder that may result in a loss in the game. But the situation may be almost different if there is a computer to make moves against me because if the machine doesn't have any technological issue at hand, it will make no error that is quite a challenging situation because whatever the moves I make I can't win. I have to suffer paramount and no hope of winning remains there.

Replies

You can usually change to level of the computer opponent. On chess.com, there is an entire collection of computer opponents (with estimated rating levels) and personalities (some are aggressive and want to attack, some are defensive). The computer bots can be “dumbed down” so that they are definitely beatable.

Mating Matador Quiz Question

🙂

Does anyone know who played the game in puzzle 31 of the Mating Matador Quiz? Tip the game looks like it was reversed and it was played in 1938

Replies

Koch vs Nowarra - 1938 the game goes slightly different the Queen is not taken on h5 and white forces the same Blackburne mate a few moves later.

Current special offer

Hello all,

I’m an “essential” member with my next yearly payment due in February.

Am i eligible for the “Holiday Special Offer?"

thx

Replies

Hi Scott,

Instead of a public forum, regarding personal membership matters, please get in contact with our Customer Happiness Department and together we will find the best option for everyone. This is the best way: 

https://chessmood.com/contact

Thanks,😃