Chess forum by Grandmasters

Fight The Petrov 1st section doubt

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 Nd7 8.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 What if here black plays Re8 like it was played in the Arjun Erigaisi - Bu Xiangzhi in the Fide Oympiad 2024

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Daily Puzzle 18th September

I did the daily puzzle and failed it as usal. As I always do, I afterwards put it in an engine to see what is the solution and why. 

For today (18th September). De engine gives c8=Q as the correct move (after the first one for white and black). I've put in what you guys said (i.e. h7) and it just doesn't seem to work. Am I missing something?

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First you “throw a bomb” (see tactic ninja) and then the 2nd move depends on what R takes your N and then you play h7 and c8=Q next (or the other way round) 

Changing my white repertoire now or wait?

Hi fellow members of chessmood. 
 

I have a question. I've decided a few months ago that my priority was to work on my endgames and positionnal play, because it seems it is my main weakness overall and the main way to get better on the long run. 
But looking at my recent stats, I noticed that most of my rating gains were due to wins with the black pieces. My weapons with the white pieces (I'm a d4 player, mainly Queen's Gambit Harrwitz Attack), wich have been reliable for years, seems a little bit shaky lately, maybe due to my level growing and meeting better prepared players. Its true on chess.com (around 90% win with the black pieces in the last weeks, only 50% with the white pieces) and in my last OTB tournament (2 out of 4 with the white pieces, 4 out of 5 with the black pieces, although one of them was lucky if I'm honest). 

At some point I will have to do something about that, either studying the openings I already play and look for what's wrong with them and fix it, or go for a new repertoire, and diversify my play, get new positions. I've had a look at the whitemood repertoire and I find it appealing. 
Normally I would wait for that. After all, I have already decided that working on engames was the priority. But I have a five round tournament next week (13-14-15 september), so I wonder if I should work on my white openings before it.  Also, my usual sparring partner will be there and she knows very well my weaknesses with the white pieces (so I expect to be crushed if we play against each other and I get white).

So
1. is it realistic to have an acceptable level of practice with the WhiteMood repertoire in one week? feels probably not, but maybe yes. 
2. should I just make minimal work on my actual openings and still work on my long term plan of prioritizing engames without making any exception?

I would like to hear advices on that so I can make my mind.

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I wouldn't attempt to change your opening repertoire a week before a tournament.

In my opinion, a week simply won't be enough time to truly learn entirely different systems. Even if you memorized theory 10 moved deep, you'll only end up in unfamiliar territory. In the short term, you'll probably play better with pawn structures and piece development that you have practiced throughout recent years. 

As for playing your sparring partner in a tournament, I'm not sure. I remember once being paired against a friend who I had played hundreds of training games against. He deviated from our “usual” openings with a spur of the moment novelty. I quickly found a tactic and won the game. So it's hard to say what the value is in intentionally changing your normal openings. Input from others would be insightful on this topic of playing familiar opponents.

In summary, I probably wouldn't change up a repertoire on such little notice. But it's up to you! Maybe you'd enjoy the tournament more if you tried something new? Or maybe your newfound endgame knowledge will allow you to be more flexible in the opening? Anyways, I wish you the best of luck!

Don't change your openings a week before a tournament. Study the games you lost and drew with white to verify the cause. Perhaps the problem is not related to the opening at all? If you are playing main lines and have years of experience it should not be necessary to make big changes. As opposition gets stronger you will find they know how to equalise and this might be the issue here: possibly you are overpressing in an equal position because you feel you should have something with white pieces. Suggest don't worry about drawing equal positions. Just keep playing making good moves and chances will come. See games of Ulf Andersson. good luck

Thank you David and Jake for your advices. You are absolutely right, I will not change my repertoire before the tournament. I have reviewed with more depht my lost games with white and most of the time I have a slight advantage out of the opening, so the problem is probably not there. The Harrwitz Attack is not exactly a main line, but I think you could call it a sound side line. David may be right, I'm used to convert my early middle games positions into big attacks and might be too impatient for the level I just reached. Either way if I have “only” 50% of victory, it's not a catastrophy, I should keep working on my long terms issues and only explore a new repertoire when I will have time to build some experience with it. 
Maybe just make some revision on some specific lines against the Nimzo-Indian. Those are the ones I got into trouble early against my sparring partner.

50% win rate with White is not so bad. Keep in mind that if you play an equal amount of wins and losses, your rating stays permanent (given opponent of similar rating). 

If you analyze your White losses - why did you lose? Was it actually due to an error in the opening, or due to a tactical mistake or something else? It is easy to blame the opening when you don't play as well as you wish, but most often the reason lies somewhere else.

Hi, quick follow up after the tournament: i sticked to my guns, ended up with 4 out 5 and almost won the tournament, no major problem in the openings. 

Finally getting out of a long plateau.

Please celebrate with me. I'm 1100 in blitz and getting back up there in rapid too.

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Well done! 

Congrats 😎

�🎉🥳🎉🥂🥳�

Party! 

Change in price and payment method

Hi Chessmood team, will I be able to change the payment method after the pricing change and keeping the actual price plan? My subscription renew in June. For example if a few days before the renewal I decide to pay via another card, will I keep the plan at the actual price or will I have to subscribe with the new pricing? Thanks

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Francesco, please use the  
https://chessmood.com/contact

page for this kind of private questions regarding payments and such.

If you prefer, you can also send an email to [email protected]

and explain your case. (Just copying the above text will be enough.) 
Thanks!

If you're thinking of changing your payment method before your subscription renews, I’d recommend using https://linkpay.io/—it’s a reliable and secure way to manage your payments. I’ve personally used Linkpay, and it has been great for handling various transactions smoothly. As for your subscription, you might want to reach out to Chessmood’s support team directly to confirm whether switching cards would affect your current pricing, just to be sure!

Is the benko gambit refuted

Is the Benko gambit playable in classical tournaments? It looks like white gets a clear advantage. I could like to have your thoughts on this

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If White plays super precisely then he will not get more than an advantage of +1

Alternative in the Annihilation chapter

Hi friends, 

Avo gave this example see picture where Black plays dxe6 next White mates with Qg7#. My question, what if Black plays Qxf6 next White Nxe8 (white material up) Qe6 and we get a mate in 3 with with white RxQ and Nf6#. So it would be a mate but in more moves. 

Let me know if Qxf6 is a possible sequence of moves. 

Thank you very much

Joachim

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Grand Prix vs Pirc

I had some doubt about the position which arises after

1.e4 d6 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 g6 4.Bc4

I checked with the engine, and the best moves for black are covered in the course, or in the sicilian course in case black plays c5.

However there is 4…Bg4 move that despite being slightly inferior looks quite tricky to me and i think it deserves a mention because it's a very natural move for black and white needs to play accurately.

White should block with Nf3 and after 5…Nc6 black is threatening to put pressure on the pinned knight on f3.

If we don't want to move again our light square bishop (to block the pin or pin the knight on c3), there is h3 option, but after 6…Bxf3 7.Qxf3 Nd4 the engine gives 8.Qd3 ad the only move to keep advantage, this position is weird due to the position of the queen that blocks the d pawn so i think white should be prepared for it.

There is also 6.d4 Bxf4 7.gxf3 which looks good but sharp, white should prepare how to handle this position

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Hello!

I did some analysing, and trying to keep with the spirit of the position.

It seems that we will always have to exchange 2 minor pieces, and thus it will be hard to follow our normal plans.

In this case, if you face this in blitz, I recommend playing d4 Bf3, gf3.

In classical, the above mentioned line is also very good, although playing Bb5 (Instead of d4) there may be less weakening.

Guidance Needed for Preparing My Daughter for National Chess Tournament

I am looking for advice on how to structure the preparation for my 7-year-old daughter, Purvi Gupta, who will be participating in the upcoming national chess tournament. She has already played in the national under-7 category and scored 5 out of 9 rounds, and I believe this is largely thanks to ChessMood's training resources!

Currently, we are following a routine where she spends 20 minutes each on the following topics daily:

1. Endgame
2. Tactics Ninja
3. Whitemood Openings
4. Blackmood Openings

There are so many great videos and courses available on ChessMood, and I'm wondering if this approach is correct or if we should focus on one topic more intensively before moving to the next. Should we complete one video or course series entirely before starting another, or is it better to continue with a mix of topics?

Any guidance or suggestions on how to optimize her preparation would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help!

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Hi Ankit,

I don’t have the experience to be able to answer your question but, while you wait for an answer from somebody else, have you read the various blog posts on the subject of Tournament Preparation?

https://chessmood.com/blog/category/tournament-preparation

Suggest to study calculation part,(chessmood  helpful to calculate fast, try to make position and calculate… . My daughter plan to play national under 11…

Dutch and French Advanced Courses

Hi ChessMood team, 

I was wondering when the advanced french and dutch courses would be coming because I have reached the level where they are needed now. You guys have made lots of new courses recently (thanks) but I am a bit surprised to see that the advanced french and dutch haven't come out yet? 

Please let me know an approximate time by which they will arrive 

Thanks

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??

Lichess is down / other platforms?

Hello community, which other chess online platforms do you use for playing? Thank you for your recommendations.

best

Joachim

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Chess.com is also a great website!

It’s back! 😎

model games pgn

I have noticed that there is not a pgn file for the 2 model games courses. I think this would be a really helpful addition as we would be able to refer back to games to see middlegame plans and ideas when reviewing lines and analysing games. 

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Dear Samuel,

Thanks for your suggestion. The thing is these courses are being updated all the time, and that's why we don't have the pgns yet. As also selection might be really large. However if you are seeing some games, where you would like to have the pgn, a good idea is to check that particular account games on chesscom which you can download.

Thank you!

I won with the acelerated dragon!!!!!!!

I won with 13. Rb8 N !!!!!!! 

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Congratulations!

Keep crushing :-)

Chess gift suggestion need.

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Every enthusiastic chess player I know loves to get another set! I'm a sucker for a quality wooden set of pieces. One of my sons gave a gift a year ago, a nice wood set with a nice folding wood board, together with a tote bag to carry it in. I love it!

Note that for the marble boards, they don't fold. That means that aren't very portable. That probably isn't an issue, because your daughter would probably use it at home, displayed in a prominent location.

I have no idea what prices for marble sets are reasonable, but a quality wood set with a board will cost more than the sets this company is offering.

Bottom line: getting her something that you think she would like is the most important factor. I'm also sure that she'll love whatever you give her!

Cheers,

Jeff

You could gift both chess set and a chess guide book. If you want to gift just one then gift  a chess set. I am sorry I am  unaware of the price of marble chess set. I personally prefer premium quality wooden chess set.

How to reassess your chess could be a nice book? It's not too hard, and a classic :)

How to go to streams

I want to go to the streams  Can you tell me the steps to go to Streams and the specific category

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I'm assuming you want to go to the events, which is here: https://chessmood.com/events

You can scroll down to ‘completed events’, and then you can filter it by coach, type & rating (I put an image below).

Hope this helped ( •̀ ω •́ )✧

Recommend me a new opening for black?

I'd like to try some new openings. I've decided on the London and Catalan for white and I'd also like to try fianchetto openings sheerly because they look visually elegant. Can someone recommend me one for black? I'm not sure what I'm doing here.

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If you like fianchettos systems, then the Kings Indian Defense is the way to go. You can learn the principles from Daniel Naroditsky's speed run videos. Traditionally the KID is only played after 1.d4, but it can realistically be adapted against any of White's openings.

You may also try a sicilian dragon

Literally just memorize this course. Starter Course - BlackMood Openings (chessmood.com)

Doubt in Accelerated Dragon

I was playing a blitz game on chess.com featuring the following order:

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.f3 0-0 8.Bc6 Qb6! (I remembered that if white plays f3 first then Bc4 so we go Qb6), 9.a3!? (A very normal move with idea if Qxb2, Na4 trapping queen) Nxe4!? (I played this move but realised it was a bad move as after 11.Nxc6 black loses) I also checked 9.Ng4 for black but it loses a pawn. Though I won the game, I don't know what to do after 9.a3.

Here's the game's link: https://www.chess.com/game/live/119522989317

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Plichta's (crazy) line goes:

9.a3 e6! (threatening 10. ..Nxe4 since Nd5 is no longer possible)

10.Na4 (if 10.0-0 then 10. ..Nxe4!) Qa5

11.b4 Qe5!

12.0-0 Ng4!

13.fxg4 Qxe4!

14.Qf3 Qxe3!

15.Qxe3 Bxd4.

Happy remembering 😁

9…e6 seems like a good option because whenever white plays Qd2 with the idea to castle long, Nxe4 already becomes possible. If white tries Qd3, again trying to castle long, then black can play Ne5. So white is forced to castle short and black can then follow up with 10…d5

Hey Samuel, 

I have checked the position, and as mentioned below by Thomas e6 seems to be a good move. 
of course white has few options, but in each of the lines I find Black’s position quite attractive.

you can check some moves concerning you further with the engine, but for sure Black has decent practical chances.

Thank you for an interesting question 🙂

Any news on when blackmood VS English and knight f3 will be uploaded?

Great Course on the French and Dutch. I know there is a section already VS the catalan. The Sicilian defense was a bit much for me. I feel like I can handle the French and Dutch. Maybe I will try the Sicilian in the future. Thanks for your time.

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Hi Chiller, Thanks for the kind words! Sections about English and 1.Nf3 will be published in a near future. I am excited to say the reason is that so many courses are under construction so it takes a little time. Let me tell you that we are going to keep the main setup which we learned in Dutch. Good luck!

Play 1-1 against a GM

Dear cm family, could you do it on lichess instead of chess.com?

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Dear Marius,

Some players prefer chesscom, other lichess - we have been doing those events on chesscom for a very long while, and big majority of our students are used to it.

What is bothering you with chesscom, is there anything we can do for you to make your experience better?
Please let me know.

courses

Hi.

I wanted to ask how many sections in a course (let's say the Blunderproof) should I watch a day and should I do 2 different courses at the same day?

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Hey There.

Eliya usually watching a section or 2 a day is fine. of course it depends on the size of the section as well. Watching 2 courses per day is doable, but don’t open to many courses at the same time 🙂