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Chess forum by Grandmasters

Help

Help, I'm trying out chessmood.com for the first time but the training chess board is only 1"x 1" on my cell phone. I only play chess on my cell phone and have everyday for 2 years, its tiny and too small for me to see. I have an android cell phone. Is there any way I can enlarge the chessboard to be as large as the full width of my cell phone? Just like chess.com and Lichess does. I need a bigger chessboard to be able to see and follow the instructor GM's properly. Any solutions? If not, I will quit trying to make chessmood.com work for me. The teaching is so good and clear that I am planning on going for the Pro membership. But if I can't even see the training chessboard then I will have to go elsewhere. Please assist as I want to join the community now! But can't if I can't see the training videos properly. ([email protected]) Much Love!

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I have an Android phone and when I use a combination of landscape mode and full screen mode and the board is quite big.

member numbers

How many members does Chessmood have?

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Happy Birthday Avetik Fri 270123 ENJOY!

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Happy Birthday Avetik! 🥳🥳

Happy birthday Avetik. I hope that you've had an easy day today. Eat some cake!!

Happy birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday! I plan to subscribe in the future but i will take this opportunity to watch the Endgame Roadmap :-)

Black repertoire

Hi ChessMood family! I was wondering something about opening repertoires, and I noticed that there's a lot more white material than black material on chessmood. I was wondering would that mean that the black repertoire is weaker? Or is it that since the white repertoire is already so extensive that the coaches wanted to keep black material a bit less so it's less overwhelming to learn? Just wondering!

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I think there is a bigger choice of systems for Black to play against 1. e4 than for Black to play a single system against e4, d4, c4 particularly as the repertoire fits together and it was an intention to avoid theory heavy openings. If instead, they'd opted for the Najdorf against e4 (early version of Chessmood had some lines) and the KI against d4, then I think they're have been a lot more material for Black. Also both the Benko and Accelerated miss a number of lines out.

Good question! I think that the black material is less so that it does not become too overwhelming to learn since there is so much white material already. I do not think it would mean that the black repertoire is weaker.

I think one of the reason is that chessmood recommends to play 1.e4 as white. When you start with 1.e4 you have to be prepared against a lot of different replies, while black can specialize in a single weapon against 1.e4. I see in the section of openings for black, that most of them are dedicated to the Sicilian Defense, which is a reply to 1.e4. There is also a course to play against 1.c4 and against 1.b3 The only one i see against 1.d4 is the Benko Gambit, but white can avoid it, so it looks like there should be more against 1.d4

French Attack Classical Variation

I would call 1. e4, e6 2. d4, d5 3. Nc3, Nf6 4. e5, Ng8 the Red Knight Variation. The name comes from Alice in Wonderland. The Red Knight and White Knight have a truly bizarre struggle.

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Good one Randall!! 😁

Lost Benko game - advice appreciated

I recently lost this game in an OTB tournament. I feel my opponent simply got a better position without playing any particularly clever move, just playing naturally, even though I played all the typical Benko moves and even managed to get the pawn back. Basically, at no point was white in danger, and that's kind of what we would like white to be when we sac a pawn, no? That it should be difficult to play white... I would appreciate if you guys could provide insight of how I should have thought to find a more challenging way to play as black here.

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One minor point is that your opponent played an inaccurate move order. When they play an early g3 like that, you can play the disruptive Qc8 instead of capturing the bishop. I think it is mentioned by GM Gabuzyan when he discusses the updated Benko course: https://chessmood.com/event/benko%E2%80%93gambit-questions

The main mistake here, is the move 13. We put the Queen on b6 and the knight goes from a6 to c7 to avoid Nb5 being played, or if played we exchange it. This is why we do this setup, but in your game you allowed the opponent to place the knight on b5 and then you played Nc7 allowing him to take. 

Next time play Nc7 and do not allow Nb5. This is the key in this variation.

??I hope that the next game that you play this variation you will post your victory below this post Yair…?

Revisiting this post again, I just watched this video: https://chessmood.com/course/benko-gambit/episode/344 again, and at 1.48 GM Avetik says that if white plays 12. Re1, then we continue 12..Nbd7 and not 12..Na6. Why is this? After all, white can still play a2-a4 on the next move. Furthermore, is there a reason why we look at white's a4 plan together with Qe2 and not with Re1? I'm facing the same opponent again so I'm trying to prepare. :)

ChessMood Search Function

Hi ChessMood family, I was wondering if you guys felt having a search function would be helpful when looking for information in the video library. For example I was wondering how to respond to Smith Morra Gambit with Chessmood material and I had to individually click through the videos, read through each introduction, look look at the video titles individually to find it. I was thinking it would be cool if we could just type it in and the website would automatically bring up what we want to find, or not. What do you guys think?

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The problem is always development cost (not cheap, or an opportunity cost vs doing something more needed) as well as doing it in an intuitive way. Most of us know that the Smith Morra and the Alapin are related by the Nf6 move so would automatically gravitate to Black openings, Alapin. Not sure how many other titles you'd need to look through - Blackmood, no not there, anti-sicilians for Black, no not there any longer, oh look the Alapin course. If you're an beginner, yes it might be a bit more challenging, but there again this isn't really geared to beginners. What would be more useful is an openings browser tree that links moves to videos and model games. That is even more expensive to produce (it's the basis of Ginger GMs GChess), but I feel would be a much better investment and far more useful to a lot of people. The reality is until ChessMood is much bigger I doubt development time for something not so necessary wouldn't be possible. What would be simpler is a tour video of the various videos and what you'll learn in each so you can get an overview of the site. The problem is it would be out of date most of the time and need updating every few months at least. Perhaps the opening principles is the place for that even.

Yes, the Search Function is one of Avetik most wished feature. I am sure that we will do it, he thought about it at the beginning of Chessmood, way before other sites, but we were not very lucky with our first developers… 😅

Anyways, thanks for the input and I am asking Gabu to try to record an explanation correcting our miss in the “Anti-sicilians course”. Thanks for letting us know about it!

Accelerated Dragon 7. Be2 d5 8. Bb5 0-0!? advanced course?

Hello, In the following video https://chessmood.com/course/sicilian-defence-accelerated-dragon/episode/258 between seconds 45 - 55 between the 45s - 60s mark, Avetik mentions the following line would be in the advanced course. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Be2 d5 8. Bb5 0-0. I don't see that line mentioned in the advanced course. If it's already recorded, could you kindly upload it?

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Hi Vishnu! 

Avetik did not record this line yet. It is on our list, but I think that going castle first before d5 is more principled and it is covered in the course in detail.

I will remind him of this line though.  

Endgames: Where to start?

Hi chessmood family! I am a beginner who just joined the site. I know a little theory on K&P endgames, but little on any other endgames. I also find it hard to find the correct plan in endgames. Which course should I start with? Endgame roadmap or Must Know Endgame Theory U2000? Thank you!

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Start with Endgame Roadmap. I'm doing a quick run through it and so far it is a very nice course. I believe it actually says in the introduction to Must Know Endgame Theory U2000 that you should do the roadmap first.

I think you should start with the Endgame Roadmap course first. As it is mentioned in the roadmap, it will teach you how to think in various endgames. You mentioned that you find it hard to find the correct plan in endgames. So, my suggestion is that you start with the endgame roadmap and then consider doing the endgame theory U2000.

yes i think start with endgame roadmap and if need more knowledge you should defenitely solve 100 endgames you must know book it is really helpful.

The book "100 endgame you must know" is great as fundamental endgame knowledge. another great book is dvortesky engdame which is a bit more in depth. I'm sure that there are great endgame courses on chessmood that you can watch , learn and apply in your games

Wow, so many replies at your post, that is nice to see. Welcome to the family Max!

We already awarded the “best reply” seal to Peter M. who was the first to reply.

As he said, Endgame roadmap first and then follow with Must Know Endgame Theory U2000. 

I would also suggest to start watching after completing these courses, you watch the> https://chessmood.com/course/classical-chess-endgames

Here you will see lots of ideas from the courses implemented and many more!😀😀

Calculating issues

A game where my attack could have won, but I missed the correct sequence, then almost lost (mutually low time and luckily an opponent who didn't see the win). First the engine prefers the safer 10. b3 first, but I was much more in the mood for an attack caveman style with 10. Qh4, more so after the Qc7?! reply. Ignoring the suggestion of 12. Kh1 being better than going for Bh6 which is hard to see, my problem is 13. Qg5. I'd seen Ne8 as the only defence, but couldn't see anything better than Bxg7 (Rae1 is the engine's preference). I'd looked at 13. Ng5 but couldn't make it work, despite it being the correct move. I'd seen the follow up 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. exf5, but couldn't see anything else here to continue the attack. The Engine continues (with the move 13... Qb6 inserted) 15... Bd5 16. Rae1 with Nxd5 and Rxe7 to follow or Re3-e3-g3 which looks like a lot of moves and certainly not concrete enough to calculate beyond trying to work out if the rook might get hindered getting to g3. Going back to move 13, any tips on seeing the idea Rae1-e3-g3/xe7. Obviously getting another piece in there is obvious advice, but am I being too concrete in my calculation. It's hard not to be when the first few moves are forcing.

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I'd like 13. Ng5 with follow ups of Rf3-h3

Looking at 13.Ng5 I find myself wanting to analyse 13...Rxb2 first. Of course I'm aware of the possibility of 13...Qb6, and that it might be stronger, but in a situation like this I often find it helpful to look at the simplest (potentially naive) response first to get my bearings. I looked at 13.Ng5 Rxb2 14.exf5 and then at the replies 14...Bd7 and 14...Bd5. I noticed that after 14...Bd7 I have 15.Rae1 with tempo since we're threatening Rxe7, and noting that we have e6 well covered making Rae1 more compelling. So I think seeing this variation would cause Rae1 to be floating around in my head when analysing other possibilities. Also when looking at 14...Bd5 I was looking at Nce4 ideas. I'm not overly convinced by Nce4 Bxe4 dxe4, so I started wondering about the possibility of Rae1 with the idea of Nce4 Bxe4 Rxe4. So the Rae1 idea continues to stay in mind. Btw, being a bit lazy, and only half awake, I played thru a few moves and saw 14...Bd5 15.Nce4 Bxe4 15.Nxe4 (backwards knight move!) Nxe4 16.Qg4 looks to be mating. At that point I got bored and stopped analysing but if I continued I'd check that further including black inserting Bxh6 at various points. None of this has been engine checked, so could be mistakes but I don't think it matters. The main point was that by looking at a simple, and probably suboptimal, response like Rxb2 first it can be easier to get a feel for some of the ideas in the position. Maybe that's what you did, maybe not. Would be interesting to hear.

Scandinavian e6 2nd move

Good day Druva here . I am wondering whats the best response to e6 after e x d in scandinavian Thank you so much

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Hello Druva, In reality this is a rare gambit for which I have a proper analysis. The best variation is this: 2. ... e6 3. dxe6 Bxe6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bd6 6. d4 0-0 7. h3 Re8 8. Be2 Nc6 9. Bg5 Bf5 10. 0-0 h6 11. Bh4 g5 12. Bg3 Bg6 13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. Nb5 Qd7 15. Nc4 in this line white maintains a +1.8 advantage. I am not sure if this variation is included in the chessmood course "against the scandinavian".

The side that accepted the pawn should be hurrying to put their king to safety and at times, give the pawn back for active development of pieces. The side that sacrifices the pawn is aiming towards quick attack and faster development of pieces in the center, applying immense pressure against the other king. it's a compromise between temporary being the upper hand in dynamic and efficient pressure vs long term being lower hand material wise if the side that accepts the gambit is a solid defender. so move order is evolving around this concept.

Cheating!!!!!

Cheating!!! I beleive it was Napoleon hill who wrote a book like getting rich or something like that. In it he talks about pretty much everything you wrote GM Avetik. Take a look at that book! Maybe some author stole it from him and thought he was Napoleon hill!!!

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Hi Marc,

https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/new-article-legal-cheating-and-my-top-secret

This is the thread for the Cheating article, maybe you can post this reply ther with the other posts and once you do, I will delete this thread. Thanks Marc! 

Why there are no tournaments?

Why there are no tournaments for chessmood members (pro or not pro) in lichess? There could be even thematic tournaments? I see this team https://lichess.org/team/chessmood-pro but it seems it is not active.

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Hi Renate,

We used to organize many tournaments in the past, we participated in the Bundesliga as a team too. The problem is that there were not enought players. Having such different time zones was one of the main causes, but it is difficult. 

😅I am sure that in the future, once we have more users, we'll try again. 😅

Where to play online rapid tournaments?

Do you know of a chess server that regularly holds rapid tournaments? I'm looking for at least 10+5, or better, 15+10. I was very surprised to discover that neither lichess nor chess.com seems to regularly hold tournaments slower than 10+0. (Slower user-organized tournaments seem to occur irregularly and only attract a handful of players.) I also couldn't find any other server that looked promising.

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ICC were holding one (over now) e.g. https://new.uschess.org/national-chess-congress-action-icc and I know there was at least another one being held there at one point that anyone could enter as long as they weren't camera shy. A bit of Googling around might help you.

Perhaps have a look at some of the clubs on the two main servers. For example I know that my chess federation runs regular informal rapid tournaments (restricted to people from my country though). There's also Untitled Tuesday on chess.com (https://www.chess.com/club/untitled-tuesday). That one's 3+1 not rapid but it's an interesting example of a regular tournament organised within the club structure.

Hi, i find this "private" daily one on lichess .. Suisse Tournament UTC time 15:30 I think https://lichess.org/swiss/rw5jrPLC you need to sign up to this list i think (reminder about 10 min before on lichess messages) try it

Check https://www.lichess4545.com/ It's the best place to play training games.

Thanks everyone for your replies. Today I played my first five classical games (30+0) on lichess. So far so good!

Longer than rapidplay, but 45 15 - 4NCL spring congress, but the games are between 19:30 and 21:30 UK time every other Tuesday starting from the 17th which might not suit. Entries close this Tuesday. https://www.4ncl.co.uk/fide/online/arrangements_spring23.htm

Every Friday evening, the ICC and USCF host USCF-rated rapid tournaments (swiss). Fridays are 15 & 5 tournaments (5 rounds). Saturdays are 12 & 3 rapid tournaments. Note.. I believe you do have to be a USCF member for these rated tournaments.

French Attack Question

In a game I was playing as black it became the french attack. I reached this point in the opening I'd like some feedback on 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Ng8 5. Nf3 c5 6. dxc5 Bxc5 7. Na4 Be7 Now normally it's to follow up with a6 after Be7 to stop this knight move but they went ahead and did it right away instead. Was moving my Bishop to e7 the best move or was there something else to play?

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Hi again Noah! 

There is nothing wrong with Be7, it is a good move targeting both sides of the board. I asked Gabuzyan too to reply, it may take a while though… 😅Happy learning!!! 😃

1..e6 against the English, Bird etc

hi folks, is there a pgn file or video on the 1..e6 opening where white does not play 1 e4 or 1 d4? Before I joined this great site in December and started learning the openings, I played an OTB tournament and in 3 games as black I faced 1 f4 twice and then the English. I am not sure what my opening and plan should be now that I hope to play 1..e6 in my next tournament in 2 weeks. Thanks for any help! Paul

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I don't think there is a course on meeting the Bird. The closest might be this section of the course about playing against the Nimzo-Larsen (1.b3): https://chessmood.com/course/larsens-opening-1.b3-how-to-play-for-black/episode/3501 So probably for the full ChessMood repertoire the recommendation will be 1...c5 like against the Nimzo-Larsen. That's good if you play the Sicilian because it can transpose, e.g. after 2.e4. For French players I'm not sure what the recommendation will be.

Looking for a coach

Hey all, I'm looking for a coach to help me with my chess progress. Ideally, someone that is focused more on building up a strong chess foundation instead of quick rating points improvement. I'm working properly on my chess since dec'20 and started playing jun'19. Current chess.com rating (rapid 1813, peek 1834), OTB I played only one tournament and won one game against, so I don't have a rating. Playing style I enjoy is pressuring the opponent from the first move, but I do not playing in a Tal style of crazy sacrifices since my calculation/intuition is not that great. Age, 35yo. The time allocation for chess is 10 hours a week, with an additional ten dedicated to tactics only (with a book + pen&papper). Optimal hours are between 1 pm - 8 pm CET. F.

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Hi Faik,

😀We will get in touch with you via email and we will try to find a good coach suited for you, it may take some days but we are on it. 💪

 

 

Anti-sicilian main line with 8..Bd7 9.Nd7 Nd7 not covered

I think that 8..Bd7 9.Nd7 Nd7 is not covered in the course, but it seems normal move. Opening bishop, moving knight to b6. ELO 1900 player played these moves spending 1 second. [WhiteElo "1926"] [BlackElo "1907"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Qa4 d6 7. e5 dxe5 8.Nxe5 Bd7 9. Nxd7 Nxd7 10. Be3 (10. Bb5 Bg7) 10... Bg7 11. Rd1 O-O 12. g3 Qc8 13. Bg2 Nb6 14. Qb5 Qe6 15. O-O Qc4 16. Bxb6 (16. a4 Qd4) 16... Qxb5 17. Nxb5 axb6 18. Rd7 Rxa2 19. Rxb7 Na5 20. Rxe7 Rxb2 21. Nd6 Rxc2 22. Bd5 Rd2 23. Bxf7+ Kh8 24. Ne4 Re2 25. Bd5 Bd4 26. Rd7 b5 27. Ng5 Bg7 28. Ne6 1-0

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Hi Renate,

 

The move you are suggesting for Black is possible. What I recommend to play is going 10.Bb5 Bg7 11.0-0 0-0 and 12. Rd1

In my opinion that is a good practical position for white and not so easy for the Black to decide with the Queen.

 

Good luck!

main courses of french attack

Dear CM coaches, in the french attack course against King's indian attack, we heard GM Avetick says that against, 1.e4 e6 2. d3 d5. 3. Nd2 "while the main move is 3... Nf6, which i will recommend you in the main course" but here you recommend to play 3... e5. my question where is the main course of the french attack ? wish you a good day

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It will be published this year. At the moment we still did not record it.😅

Please check this thread for more info:

https://chessmood.com/forum/threads/french-defense-main-course?reply_id=17616&page=1

 

Important missing line in Alapin

Today I got surprised by 10.a4!. If I'm not mistaken, this move isn't covered in the course. It's the most popular move in this position and scores well (66%). As I learned the hard way, the plan a4-a5-a6 followed by d4 and Nf3-d4-b5 can be quite dangerous. Allowing this line seems to be the price to pay for choosing the straightforward 8...Be6 over the more complicated 8...c4 (which was offered in the old course). Would be good to have it covered in the advanced section.

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That's an interesting one thanks. The top 3 engine moves are Qd7, a6, and Nd5. All are about equal according to Stockfish. If I faced this in a game I'd probably lean towards Qd7 because it's the move that best solves the problem of our awkward kingside. I'd be looking to followup with e6, Be7 or Bd6, and O-O. Of course the downside is that it allows white to achieve their plan of a5-a6 but you can't have everything :-) a6 is the other move I might play because it stops white's plan. I do find the hole on b6 somewhat ugly though. I would not play Nd5. Not an intuitive move for me although I do understand the prophylactic point of allowing a5 to be met with a6. Something about this position makes me want to keep it simple. What did you play in your game, and what would you play if facing this again?

Hi Peter,

 

There could be several moves against a4 like Qd7 or Nd5, and since positions are not concrete I tried to explain the main ideas to our auditories, as well since I have seen your notes about the previous lines with c4, of course, you are welcome to make your choice and can try to advance in that variations.

 

Thank you!

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