Chess forum by Grandmasters

Tournaments

I have many questions about preparations for tournaments.

1- What should I do before tournaments

2- How to handle the pressure of time control 

3- What's the suitable way to review the preparations 

Replies

Hi Ramez,

I would suggest that you start here: https://chessmood.com/blog/category/tournament-preparation

💪😀

For people who play during afternoon hours, how do you play?

In about 2 weeks, i'm gonna be at my 11th grade class, and the schedule is around 6am - 2pm. How should i play on these times? I'm worried after classes, i can't play since my body and mind would be tired. My schedule used to be waking up at 8 am, play a game at 10 am then head at around 12:00.

Replies

Just play when you want to play and you feel it. Avetik talked about this on the blog if you recall it.

No need to play if you are tired, don-t you think so?

The best games of April, 2024, and the prizes

Hello ChessMood family, hello champions and future champions! 
Welcome to the "Best games of April, 2024" competition.
Under this post, we invite you to post the best games that you will play this month. 

The Prize fund is 350K MoodCoins which is equal to 350$.  

The 1st prize  - 150K
The 2nd prize - 100K
The 3rd prize-  50K
The 4th prize- 30k
The 5th prize- 20k

Good luck with your games and keep the Right Mood! 
#ChessMood
#Right Mood - Right Move 

P. S.
Here are the winners of March, 2024:

Corentin
Zaid Al-JAY
Roy Li
Marius Cornee
Joseph Zaffarese

Replies

cm caro kann, with the advanced idea of 7.Na3 instead of taking the queen on b6:

https://lichess.org/cnBfJr2E

I watched some of the SLP course, and it definitely helped me salvage a draw under time pressure here: https://lichess.org/Wj32cCSvx0Qv

Winning with the Dutch Attack! Although I didn't find any tactical blow I found an interesting middlegame plan and had a nice positional play until the end!

https://lichess.org/W7IK5hEDhf6u

winning with the scotch game!!! https://lichess.org/KuHXb29rT5JQ

Cm acc. Dragon, with a scd queen:  https://lichess.org/LdNSgkj3/black

https://www.chess.com/live/game/106000883131
 

brutal French Attack where white exchanges the light squared bishop. No castling per Avi’s recommendation 

a caro kann, when black does not develop the Bc8 bishop before e6: https://lichess.org/3TG3G8xk

https://lichess.org/study/Cx7zalEP/KKIBgcxu

An amazing game by me! Destroying a Caro Kann. Beautiful ideas. I also added comments to further understand in case anybody wants to view it.

Do you think my opponent reported me for this game ;)) ?

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/106171860035?tab=review

https://www.chess.com/game/live/106086645313

A quicker game

https://www.chess.com/game/live/106085503489

A difficult game 

https://lichess.org/f8ISU03nlbIK

Punishing the 5. … Bxf2 bishop sacrifice in the Scotch.

White versus Sicilian 2..Nc6 line

https://lichess.org/8RW6we6wyYoA

90+30 otb https://lichess.org/SN76fjEE#2

90+30 otb https://lichess.org/SIxgkg8e#95

90+30 otb https://lichess.org/fFaF5NiT#28

90+30 otb https://lichess.org/IRtNSszM#32

https://lichess.org/nPVVhzMD/white#35

A closed sicilian with a great attack and a nice sacrifice : https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/106390694757

Quite an inaccurate game by me, but I was pleased that I saw the mating attack in an instant - thanks to the Mating Matador course!!

https://lichess.org/cw4L0Cfa 

Opponent did not play too well, but the mate in the middle of the board is funny

https://www.chess.com/live/game/106422472355

https://lichess.org/broadcast/6th-holi-cup/round-5/JwxsXUQj/F17gRJd7 this was my offline game where i was black

https://lichess.org/eceyIS2BPZE2

Kingside attack in Sicilian Nc6 variation.

trying out Carlsen sicilian variation

https://lichess.org/Zy3ttxXdcQlE

Trying out bishops opening but getting 2Ns with d4 https://lichess.org/F1ukA8ygXiTS

https://lichess.org/Q963fjGG/white#45

not a chessmood opening but played really well for me 

https://lichess.org/tbWcbQed/white#53

https://lichess.org/AgWGwonW/white#55
relentless attack Pieces were very happy working together lol

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/105166790125?tab=analysis&move=0

One of my best games where I CRUSHED my opponent.

otb 90+30 https://lichess.org/ItYysdnm#45

90+30 otb https://lichess.org/u9A5A4Of#34

90+30 otb https://lichess.org/SXGlt23I

90+30 otb https://lichess.org/QaLrR3Vb#39

90+30 otb lichess.org/Vk4eRADK

BlackMood French Attack

Scotch

https://www.chess.com/live/game/106652396547

https://lichess.org/r78HdJrx/white#88 

A flawless game in the Scandinavian

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/106495115925

An all-in french attack with a nice queen sac to checkmate ! 

Caro Kann exchange

https://www.chess.com/live/game/106684338461

https://www.chess.com/analysis?tab=review

A brilliant game in which the opponent gave me a chance to attack and I finished him off with a brilliant rook sac

opening prep against some guy who plays 1.d4 2.c4 

some benko fun - more dopamine rush here than dutch imo😄

Good attacking game against Sicilian with Bg2 closed line.  As guided by GM Avitik in the course, if black plays e6 and a6 we need to place our Bishop in g2. 

https://lichess.org/hjtiOrSt

https://lichess.org/h02DJ0Hl#59 90+30 otb 

scotch game: youtube variation, watching these guys taking 3 mins for a move they didnt prepare for are the funniest thing ive seen lmao

https://www.chess.com/live/game/106765346597
 

I haven’t studied our chessmood course for playing against first move b6 so I just played off of instinct. managed to play 100% accuracy through 12 moves and my opponent resigned

My very first French after watching the Blackmood French Attack course, and against Schlecter Variation!

White played 4.c3, I replied with the recommended e5 and it turned out better than I expected!

https://lichess.org/y1ObBojdvDuh

https://www.chess.com/game/live/106699211653

https://www.chess.com/game/live/106776749639

https://www.chess.com/game/live/106777871879

https://www.chess.com/game/live/106782650651

A great attack against the carokann !  

Kramnik would call it interesting 😅: https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/106834202629 

A recent OTB game

www.chess.com/game/live/106868400027

https://www.chess.com/game/live/106872003941

https://www.chess.com/game/live/106871408167

A game in the French attack with advance variation

https://www.chess.com/live/game/106934557493
 

brilliant middle game in the benko 

https://lichess.org/study/NLWedEIe/x91phyZB

A quick miniature I played OTB in a tournament in France(Classical). I played Black and have included 2 variations which i had found during the game and I thought were really beautiful. I think I deserve a prize for those alone!

25th move queen sac game : https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/106940543437?tab=review&move=49

https://www.chess.com/live/game/106695604069

A very tactical game that featured two rook sacrifices followed by a bishop sac to seal the deal.

Typical CM Antisicilian attack

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/106978201151?tab=review

https://lichess.org/ymQDHEXZ/black A game that starts with a mouse-slip from black😂(i played c6 instead of c5)

A not-very-usual line led to me, as black, feeling disheartened after 5.h5. But i quickly regained my composure and decided to fight for it till the end no matter what, and look where it led me to :) A fun, wild, dynamic game that is sure to keep you on your toes!

Hello, chessmood family. It would be overly presumptuous to say that this game deserves to be among the best games of the month. But I am very proud of it, since this was my first game and my first victory using the whitemood repertoire against the Caro-Kann defense. There is this guy in my chess club that always uses the Caro-Kann against my 1.e4 and always beat me unashamedly. But I feel that from now on he can start trembling in fear!! Muahahaha!

The game ended after a nice tactic (Ninja tactics forever!) combining a discovered check and a double check gaining the queen…(Pity that when I analyzed the game afterwards I saw that Black could have played …Kh7, ruining my tactics 

https://lichess.org/xsq9IquX/white#1

Dear ChessMood team, I played this Grand-Prix attack in round 3 against 1786 FIDE rated player in a FIDE rated classical OTB tournament on 8th April. Thank you for bringing such an educational course for all of us.

//lichess.org/TCnQn8Eg/white#36 A brilliant attacking game with an unusual finish in the grand prix

8. h4 f6 Scotch https://lichess.org/mATEMQa3/white#22

https://www.chess.com/game/live/106944026583

https://www.chess.com/game/live/106945980671

https://www.chess.com/live/game/107022145067

I destroyed a Stonewall with yet another rook sac. I'm especially proud of my timely …a5 and …e5 pawn breaks

A typical French attack!

https://lichess.org/gJjQVdRm/black

😃

A game in the Smith- Morra gambit declined. with a brilliant move somewhere in the end

A sketch game where black try to switch to an alapin without success and then try a cheap trap that worked : https://lichess.org/hnbVftC1/black

https://lichess.org/2yVxhKO7mFEV

https://lichess.org/JYRJH83D/white#37

https://www.chess.com/game/live/106947112687

I got resignation from my opponent as a result of a windmill.

https://www.chess.com/game/live/107034014035

https://www.chess.com/game/live/107032932453

https://lichess.org/n2U2VwLr/black#37

Trouble on the h file in the Kalashnikov https://lichess.org/6oB4UUbc/black

https://www.chess.com/game/live/107118085681

Hi, friends!

A hilarious cat-and-mouse game.

https://lichess.org/cVOhCjsR

https://lichess.org/sP6gRYqX/white

attacking game

70+15 otb 

https://lichess.org/ac7h4pE9#39

https://lichess.org/6eX1DJKS/white#19

https://www.chess.com/game/live/107248862763

An attacking masterpiece for white

https://www.chess.com/game/live/107249988205

An attacking tactical combination

A nice win in the French advanced

https://lichess.org/Y5fj8oZ8/black

https://www.chess.com/game/live/107295149499

https://lichess.org/R4eE61s6/white#59

https://lichess.org/C2ASTOqh/black

A win the French Defence KIA variation. I was Black

https://lichess.org/E8aeP9Rx/white#1

I was white

k😀ing side attack against the caro kann

A typical attack with the Grand Prix!

https://lichess.org/NhMg2LCce8TE

Funny checkmate in CM French

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/107485998213?tab=review

https://www.chess.com/game/live/107463206575

A typical French attack, advance variation. White resigned without too much fight

https://lichess.org/6dPTRTAk/black

Managed to play a good game against strong competition in the benko gambit  https://lichess.org/04XvC8eW/black

A model positional game.

https://lichess.org/GAuA8OHZ/white#1

https://lichess.org/Fi9az9KR/white#51

Hello, here I apply for the “Best Game of April” 
I played a 10 min Scotch with strong pressure on the kingside and the opponent (100 rating points more than me) was getting nervous. Mate in 19 moves. I do not get such results very often :) best regards

https://lichess.org/27luSlEksXBF

I played this game at the ALTO in Charlotte last weekend. My opponent was rated 2288! The time control was G/110 minutes with 10 sec increment. 

https://www.chess.com/game/live/107464406813

https://www.chess.com/game/live/107711560937

French attacking game - I was black

https://www.chess.com/game/live/107767315615

Opponent played rubbish opening against me and he paid for it a strong attack with a brilliant Knight Sacrifice

Model Philidor defense againsy Bg4

I was possessed by the soul of the great Paul Morphy in this game! For a moment, I thought I was going to reproduce move by move his famous game at the Paris opera, but it was still faster!

My first 100% accuracy! Only 4 centipawns lost

https://lichess.org/XPRsJRwS/white

Not bad. Trying to equalize and gain counterplay on queenside as black against a somewhat automated opening, white got an “uncomfortable” position. The errors made by white were almost “natural” with that mood. 

https://lichess.org/ui096z9u/black

https://lichess.org/AFYD39KW/black#39

https://lichess.org/7jsEsur1

Sorry if it didn't say the time or anything, I wanted it to be anonyous as it was a OTB game

https://www.chess.com/game/live/107709234387

https://lichess.org/unk8vvk3/white#49

https://www.chess.com/game/live/107851818655

https://lichess.org/CpmCj3L2/white#43

https://www.chess.com/game/live/107859032725

https://lichess.org/YlZb0nJx/black#0

I played as black. Is there a limit to the number of games I can post? I know in the lichess game of the month, only the first game you post will be counted as your entry.

https://lichess.org/9bIRLH3C/black

FIRST GAME WITH FRENCH ATTACK LETS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :))))))))))))))))))))

I sacrificed my knight and rook for a crushing attack and checkmated him with a queen sacrifice                                                   https://www.chess.com/game/live/107953889913

Scotch game

https://lichess.org/iAo48sh402jL

https://www.chess.com/game/live/107998868575

https://www.chess.com/game/live/107856047363

first game with greymood openings. https://lichess.org/CgqCfBT0/white 

Also what do I do against bf5 when I haven't played bd3 already? 

(Move 4 of the game)

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/108037841121?tab=review&move=38

Beautiful.  

https://lichess.org/8JJzeF2V/white

https://lichess.org/xxtMJ7ny/white

A good game with a planned 16. Nb5 after ensuring the escape king d7 square was closed. A good attacking game overall.

https://www.chess.com/game/live/108105653401

https://lichess.org/aeQV5Stp/white

pretty nice end tactic which forces mate.

The games I prefer to play: a pretty positional game, no fireworks, no sudden tactics, almost without errors, with the typical monster blocker on d6 against a passed pawn and the bishop pair.

https://www.chess.com/game/live/108136839817

A good reply against a scandi with portuguese gambit: https://lichess.org/BLF4QwMq

https://lichess.org/1D8ZNG1C/white

A decent Dutch attack with tons of hanging pieces in the end

https://lichess.org/lwQ3oqjt/black

I think this is the most attacking game I have played in my life!

Where should we upload the games for the “Best games of the month”

https://www.chess.com/game/live/108192596967

https://lichess.org/6TMAMwvK/white#83

https://www.chess.com/game/live/108191434391

https://lichess.org/iISkmMSz/white

good attack and the end tactic was beautiful. 

https://lichess.org/7myo8ESb/blackDestroyed the position instead of capturing the hanging queen. Won with +13 material

Crushing London system with the Dutch attack! I felt comfortable from the first move, with a clear plan of what to do all the time. Thank you very much, dear CM coaches!

https://lichess.org/L4ObHImj#52

https://lichess.org/3HEhYKiJHOuK

nice attack vs the caro kann

nice attack in the scotch with rook sac for mate

https://lichess.org/g32WPYs8jF8D

https://lichess.org/wAmnDxhT/white#41 Nice move Bg5

Hi, good night.

I've just finished a very beautiful - minigame.

It's about pins.

Have a great day tomorrow, May first.

A nice Otb win with white in a senior event in Montreal against a ex champion of Senegal 

i went for the knights domination over the bishops and it paid off ! 
 

https://lichess.org/study/ehU7URKF/hjBf29tt

Champions, how are you?

Thank you for sharing your games. We saw some really creative ideas! It brings a smile to our faces every time we see you follow the openings you learned or apply what you learned from any of the courses. Keep it going!

Now, onto the prizes:
 

1st Prize: Kiran Vanbrussel for playing this beautiful attacking game! 14.Nxg7, sacrificing the Knight to prevent g6, is a cool idea. It’s impressive how you punished the opponent for ignoring their development and King safety! Well done!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/107953889913

2nd Prize: Armandas Ledas. Alphazero would be proud of this 😊 Kh2-Rh1 is a very creative maneuver. Rf6!! and Rg6!! was the best moment, leaving your Rook hanging for 2 consecutive moves! Thank you for sharing your game along with the annotations! 

https://lichess.org/study/Cx7zalEP/KKIBgcxu

3rd Prize: Regis H. You played a classy attacking game in the Advanced Caro-Kann. Being brave enough to push 19.g4 shows how well you understand the position. And 30.Ng6 was a fine finishing touch! Good job!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/106684338461

4th Prize: Abhiraam Devulapalli. The biggest highlight of the game has to be 16…Rg4—such a beautiful move on the board that it can be easy to miss. Also, you developed all your pieces at such a fast pace, and that made a big difference in the end! Excellent game! Well done!

https://lichess.org/lwQ3oqjt/black#1

5th Prize: Joseph Zaffarese. Quick development, good knowledge of the opening. It’s a joy to see 22.Nf7! and how you grabbed the initiative before wrapping up the game. Nicely done!

https://lichess.org/tbWcbQed/white#28

Congratulations to all of you.

And thank you once again everyone for sharing your games!

Good luck for the next month’s contest!

Why make may only accessible for pro members? Pro members aren't the people who need mood coins. The people who don't have pro members are the ones who need these coins. I hope you reconsider this horrible decision (whether by accident or not). Thank you

It's a crucial issue at present this best games platform is only allowed for the pro members.

However, the members who are not pro have no platform to show their patterns.

Moreover, there is no blog for us who are not GMs. If there were a blog for amateur players, we could share our feelings via our blogs.

11-5-2024 Daily puzzle answer

Dear chessmood,

I was solving today's chessmood puzzle (Study by Troitzky) and I found a different answer.

After 1.Nf4+ Ke4 2.Ne2! 

idea is that if the rook stays on the same rank then 3.Ng3+ followed by h7-h8=Q wins for white.

And if the rook stays on the same file than direct 3.h7 seems to win for white as well!

Just to find out if my answer is also correct.

Replies

I agree with you! Ne2 seems to also win.

Yes, i saw the same thing. There were two clever solutions.

These puzzles are fun.

💪Yes, sorry this may happens sometimes, we always try to avoid these double solutions problems but we miss some from occasionally. If we look at the bright side of it, it is good because then we see who is doing their homework solving the daily puzzles when you post a message asking this.   (Sorry, it was meant as a joke, hopefully you will understand it)…. 😅 What is true is that you also worked more deeply the position too.😀

What to do on Online Training?

Every night, my coach schedules a training. The problem is sometimes it's tiring, and one time, I fell asleep on my chair. How do I fix this? Thanks.

Replies

I think that you should try talking to your coach. He will know better than anyone else since he knows you. 🤔 

My first win against a titled player

Hello everyone here is my first win against a titled player.  Thank you Chessmood family for all your help and video lessons. I couldn't have done it without you!!!

https://lichess.org/RLiIh53J7PAV

Replies

Congrats. Bxf6 instead of taking the queen was a nice one!

Thanks Henry! You are definitively playing well. Last month you also got a game of the month prize if I-m not mistaken! Well done! Keep it up!!! 😁

Unironic anxiety playing against real humans

I'm posting this on a throwaway account 
Ever since a long hiatus from playing chess, i have been very, very scared to play humans and only really play against bots, which has been very bad, considering i didn't perform like this years ago, when i only played against humans. That's the short version of my story. 

It started on november

I got word from a youtuber i've been following about chessmood having a 1-month membership giveaway. Naturally, i was hyped and i instantly signed up right away. I have been reading the blogs from lichess from GM Avetik so i knew that this platform was great.
Was watching tactic ninja daily, until i discovered the simplified openings (whitemood and blackmood). My repertoire kinda needed some fixing so i decided to switch to these.

Here's where i think i went wrong.

When watching the opening courses, i told to myself that i won't play until i finish the course! This was mostly in part on how random on what openings you are gonna see during each game. One day i might be looking for against the caro and i'll get e5, something like that. So i didn't play it, but i got the files for it. 

LIfe just pushes you back, man

During January, my life went through a very steep downward hill, so that meant no chess because i need to focus on other parts of my life ASAP. Health issues, Debts and other stuff kinda factored in my long hiatus.

Until around april, I was finally able to play chess again! Sort of. The "i should not play until i get this" mentality still lingered, and i can't put myself through consistent, against human sessions. One day i might play 2 games against ppl, the other day i'll totally forget it.

The problem with bots

As i said, all i play with is bots, which isnt that bad, until they play a move for 2 seconds, even if a timer is at 30 mins. My mind feels like i'm playing a bullet game, even if i got 15 minutes on the clock. There's straight up no downtime when you play against bots. It hurts my progress and i feel like it shouldn't be like this.

How can i break free from this? Do i just hit the "play" button? or is it better to find some training partners i'm comfortable with?

Replies

Hi TRIII,

Why the throwaway account?  There is no shame in asking for help with your chess (I should know, I do it all the time!)

To be honest, I was initially reluctant to play against human opponents too.  Much like you, I wanted to learn enough first to be able to play competitively.  The trouble is, as I soon came to realise, part of that learning process is to actually play games!  It is this experience that improves our board vision and allows us to develop as players.  I don't like to lose (who does?!) but it helps to think of these losses as part of my learning process.  

In fact, if you look at some of the ChessMood articles one of the recommendations is to lose 100 games as quickly as possible!  Like this one: https://chessmood.com/blog/stop-blunders-in-chess

If I were you, I would just dive in and start playing.

What rating level are you at?  If you fancy a game against a low-level player you can find me on Chess.com playing as “ShouldveStuckToPoker”.

Good luck!!

After ninja question

Sorry if this is a dumb question but I have finished the tactics course and Avetik says that if we have solved more than half of the puzzles we have to watch the videos and solve the puzzles again. 

I noticed that after each video there is a quiz with the colors changed. My question is, is it okay to get those quizzes right and skip the video except when we don't get it right. I want to do things well.

Replies

Hi Guillermo!

Of course it is fine, the goal is to make you understand the patterns, to recognize them in a game. If you do the puzzles right then it means that you understand the concept behing them. When you start to have trouble and do not find the correct solution, then you must watch the video, work on this type of tactic and make it yours! 🙂

That is the idea. Also if you do the quizz on the main page (withouth knowing the tactic type) and write the number of the puzzle that you got wrong, then at the end of the first round of puzzles, you will have lots of data to work on. Then you will analyze the missed positions and realize which type of tactics you are missing, meaning that you did not fully understand the concept.👍

There are many books on tactics, many sources, but we spent many months preparing the positions for the course, lots of debates and positions analyzed to find the best teaching value. If you manage to work well and understand the positions of this course only, you will have a very good base for speeding up your progress… 
Good luck and may the Chessmood Force Be With You! 😁

Interesting line in GP 2..d6

Hi Chessmood Team!

Recently I read a newsletter of Alex Colovic about the grand prix and he had a very interesting line against our chessmood line 

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 Nc6 4.Nf3 
And here he recommends a6!? as a prophylaxis against Bc4 as it will be met with b5

 While if we play a4 after 4..a6 Black will respond with the powerful Bg4! and now we can't go for our trademark Bb5 line due to the pawn of a6.

Against 5.g3 black will respond with the normal g6-Bg7 setup 

The best move for white is 5.d4 but after cxd4 Nxd4 Nc6 and we have transposed to a line of najdorf (e4 c5 Nf3 d6 d4 cxd4 Nxd4 Nf6 Nc3 a6 f4 Nc6)  which is not in the courses 

 More details of the line 👇

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6PJAgBp9vE

Regards

Vedant

Replies

Hi Vedant, 

We just talked about this with the team yesterday.

In this case, we cannot go with Bc4, it's better to go g3 and go for our closed Sicilian setup with Bg2. The best line for Black against the Closed Sicilian usually involves Rb8 and b5, a5. But with the line that you are suggesting we would be a tempo up since they already played a6. Of course this is not the same GP attack but we also must know this structure very good 😊 

Monthly Games

Madison (Loftis50)

Can you tell me how does the monthly games work. Also, set-up for sparring partner

Replies

Hi Madison!

Regarding the games of the month, you just need to post the game or games that you liked the most during that month in the following thread:

https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/the-best-games-of-may-2024-and-the-prizes

It will change every month. Then we check all the games and select the best games of the month. We announce the winners and GM Gabuzyan does a webinar explaining them to our pro members. You can see this stream or the past ones in events.

As for the sparring partner there is a thread to post your name, rating and explanations in order to find one. (Just like you did) You can also check the other people looking for a partner too and contact them directly. Also on our channel in Discord you can try finding a partner.

https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/studysparring-partner-1362

SAME daily puzzles???

Something felt familiar while I was answering today's (8 May 2023) daily puzzle so I went digging into the archive of daily puzzles and I was shocked to find that the exact same puzzle was posted on 21 Nov 2022. Whoever tried to pull this trick clearly forgot that chess players have a good memory!

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Yeah. Sometimes when they dont have a new one they repeat. Its happened multiple times before.

Lol it happened today too!

😜😂

Nevermind, you'll get free moodcoins

👍Yes, we are rotating the puzzles at the moment. You can solve them again, there is nothing wrong to remember an idea. We are working on the courses but we will update the daily puzzles in the future. Thanks for your understanding.😅

The London System is bad, right?

I've just read some articles on chess.com (written by a chess.com staff member) claiming that the “London system is the best opening in chess, blah blah blah”.

I would like some clarification: GM Avitek says the London is not ideal for chess improvement, right?

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It is a system based opening where the first 10ish moves are played on autopilot. This isn’t good as they don’t think for themselves, and they reach the same positions over and over.

How do you deal with trashtalkers?

So in late march, I started a 3 day correspondence game which went pretty meh, until about move 25, after which i won an exchange and he typed in chat: “elo cheater?” and offered a draw which i refused and replied, “go report if you think” (not really the best response, looking back). I've blocked him by now and he still keeps sending me draw offers (constantly, i've been refusing them) and i think i have a winning endgame. 
In the future, please give me tips on how to deal with them😁. I'm begging you.
P.S. I'm planning to post this game on the best games of May (or april if it finishes early), should i remove his name on the pgn? or should i also post the link and his username? 🤔

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just report him

Disable chat. It does mean you miss out on interesting conversations sometimes but I have had one too many people throw tantrums because they couldn't beat me. Not worth it. Too much risk of still being mad for my next game and tilting.

Interesting. I’ve played on Chesscom for over 2 years now (not counting the 6month break when I explored Lichess), and I believe I have never had someone be toxic to me. 

I would probably just ignore them. You did nothing wrong (right???) and so you can’t get in any trouble. They are just wasting their time.

One time I was playing someone otb (I will not mention who) and he kept telling me to hurry up, how awful my moves were, and saying that I wasn't playing “real” chess (Lol wut does that even mean?). Trashtalkers only trash talk bcuz they can't win without it Lol. Just report them. Don't let it bother you 😁

On lichess.org or Chess.com, I suggest you to report them or disable chat and tell them I've disabled chat but if it is OTB then report to the arbiter or tell your opponent that you will tell the arbiter. I've tried it before and it worked really well. 

I find a little mistake

🤫

Here, actually both Qxb7 and Ne2 is great, but if you play Nf2 website say its a mistake. Can you correct this? :)

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Thank you :) 

Fixed!

Question about Tactical Ninja

In this course (but the question may also apply to other courses) you give the advice not to do more than one section per day.

Do you also have a lower limit i.e the least you should do in one day ? For me a section takes several days. Is this Ok or bad ?

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In the study plans, it is recommended atleast 20 minutes if you don't have enough time.
https://chessmood.com/chess-study-plans/for-advanced-players?scrollTo=#section-a-few-more-recommendations
It's fine to take some sections several days if you don't have enough time. But 1 section a day is recommended for fast growth.

New article: How I crossed 3100 and got into the top ten on chess.com

Have you ever wondered how to play chess in extremely challenging life situations and break through those plateaus? 
It's a tough question, and many players only worsen their feelings of despair by experiencing losses in chess.
 

In today's article, GM Gabuzyan shares his personal story of how he overcame adversity, broke the 3100 rating barrier, and achieved a top-10 ranking on Chess.com during the toughest year of his life.
 

Click here to read the article:
https://chessmood.com/blog/gabuzyan-3100-top-ten

Feel free to share your thoughts below. 

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+

Now, you should aim to become a world champion!

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Continue to do meditation!

+

Amazing work!

Good things and bad things happen all the time, and bad things happen to good people. Not easy when you're there on the receiving end. I've found success in life is often being able to insure or lesson the effect of bad things (like prophylaxis in chess), while preparing our ‘cards’ so we can take advantage of the fortunate things that come our way. While we can't always control what happens to us, we can control how we prepare and react and focus on what we can control and do something about. Easy to say as an outsider though.

Sorry to hear about the divorce (I thought the Twitter thing was just humour, not based in reality). I hope it was not acrimonious however difficult it must have been. If it was related to the time and pressures of being a chess professional and working at a start-up they must have known what they were signing up to. My suggestion - get a partner with a horse - they regularly want to go visit the horse and ride and that leaves plenty of time for chess :)

Take care,

David

aim for the stars and go for 3200+
(but first drink some water <3)

There is first time for everything. 3 200 rating barier will be broken, soon!!  👊👊👊

I think rating number is meaningless.
There may be rating inflation or rating deflation.

Achieving top 5 ranking on chess.com may be a possible target but I wonder how do you get it.

There are a lot of GM's and usually they do not get to the top 10.
What make you special relative to other GM's(maybe part of them play also when they do not want to play but I am sure significant part of them play only when they want to play).

I think that basically the advantage of strong players is knowledge and the question is what you know that they do not know
and I wonder if there are things that you can learn and most GM's cannot learn that helped you to become number 10 in blitz.

There are things that I believe most GM know and I cannot learn.
For example  I do not know and probably cannot learn to visualize chess positions like a GM.

Even memorizing one chess position like a GM is hard for me.

I can learn to construct a chess position that I saw and put the pieces on the right squares if I try to construct it few times from memory but even after doing it I do not see the position like a GM.


I would like to memorize the positions of tactic ninja chess quiz like a GM.

I remember for example the position in quiz number 1 of chess tactics ninja that I tried to memorize in the following way(I could put it after some tries in my long term memory to be able to construct it without looking at the diagram even after not looking at the position for a few days but I do not remember it like a GM).

I remember in the following way(I write my thoughts at the time of constructing the position on the board) 

There is a black queen at e2 that likes to do Qf3+ and there is a white king at h1 
I remember white pawns at h2 f2 e3
I remember white rook at d1 and white queen at d5 that protect f3 so there is no Qf3 mate in the root position
I remember that the queen at d5 has 2 pieces near it(white bishop that protect h2 so it is at e5 and white rook at c5.
I remember a black rook at g6 that help Qf3 to be a mate.
There is a black rook at b4 that is going to play Rd4 so Qxd4 is not possible because of Qf3

There is a black king and 3 black pawns near the rook at g6 so it was Kh7 pawns h6 pawn g7 pawn f7.

My memory is based on connection between pieces and I do not see the full picture and if people ask me what is in square X then I cannot reply at the same speed that I can reply if I look at the board.

I would like to be able to visualize all the positions in the chess tactics ninja quiz in the level that I have the ability not only to construct the position on the board but also reply to questions in the same speed that I reply to them if I see the board but it seems that I cannot do it.



 

+

  I am sincerely sorry for your rough year . I m impressed your were able to come back from your lowest point and turn it to success especially as it was not linear ! You are a model for all the students who follow your live streams . I feel I am learning something every time I have the chance to watch the streams . Eventually , I hope to be able to use all that knowledge successfully to thank you and  all the chessmood team for helping me in my chess  journey . Not easy to change habits at  57 yrs old but I m patient , resilient and determined ! 

Way to go Champion GM. Fighting back is inspiring. Your story is something you can be proud of. Thanks for sharing coach!

plus “+”.

What happened after GM Avetik read your story?
Especially "I sat down in front of the laptop, and in a few hours, I crossed 2900. The mood that day was fantastic and was multiplied after this successful session. I didn't analyze how that happened, I just enjoyed it all. I continued the routine for the next few days, any second I had the crazy feeling, "I want to play chess", I did so, and sometimes this even occurred during my working time in the ChessMood office. (I know my boss is reading this, so sorry.) "😜

Great job Hovhannes!!

Sorry to hear about family and health troubles but glad to see you were able to come back from your lowest peak with stunning performance!! Co Gro mate!!

+++++++

Bravo coach! 
Being able to come back is really inspiring for me, and now I want to cross my next objective like you did. 
I truly hope 2024 will be a better year for you and you can achieve your objectives. 

You are amazing bro, never forget it 💙

Unbelievable, what a great success, my warmest congratulations. That makes my heart beat even faster with every training blitz game with you. May all the best return next to the chessboard too. And: +

WITHOUT ANY DOUBTS +

Definetly! +++

Hi coach, inspiring story! Thank you for your honesty and openness!

I would first say  my very best wishes for good health and second keep going to 3150, 3200++

You're an inspiration and definitely the player I try to copy!

If I were in your place before ChessMood, 5 chairs and 3 mice would have happened (you can probably guess what happened to them ;) But ChessMood taught me that breaking chairs would make me go broke but not fix my rating. Thank you ChessMood! I hope to help more people find this amazing website! 

P.S. Totally go for 3200 as your next goal! It's completely worth it! +

😀

+

😁

++++++++++ Go until you reach 90000000000000000000000000000000000!!!!

New article: The Risks of Playing Chess When You Don't Want to

Is it a familiar situation?

- You LOVED chess and then HATED it on the same day?  
- Once a month, you lose 100 rating points in a few days? 
- You enter into a negative loop and play horrible chess? 

If you said “No”, congratulations! You’re better than 99,999%. 

And if you said “Yes”, today’s article will help you to get there. 

You’ll also learn some funny stuff like:

✅ How they recruited a Chess Grandmaster into NBA 
✅ What you should do instead of breaking your phone at angry moments, etc.

The article is just out from the bakery and is published on our Blog 👇
https://chessmood.com/blog/risks-of-playing-chess-when-you-dont-want

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Hi GM Avetik . It s so humble of you to share those not so glorious moments ! Everybody here has the chance to learn from you and with you ! I did those mistakes too, especially in short time control , bullet being the worse ( I stopped bullet after joining here ) . Thank you for your honesty , humanity and wisdom . Always a pleasure to read whatever you write on !

Maybe can try playing in 2 different profile which you don't care as much for losing rating :D Good luck.

is his included to learnig chess? how do i nhow fo sure i want to play\study chess?

very intresting artikele!

Tactics Book structured like Tactic Ninja

Can anyone recommend a tactic book that is structured similarly like tactic ninja? By structure of tactic ninja i mean:
- Introduction of the Motif
- Definition of the Tactic Motif
- Examples of the Motif
- Test
People also keep talking about Winning Chess Tactics by Seirawan. Is it good?
I'm not talking about books with 1000+ examples and their answers without any explanation, I already got those trying to find this type of book.

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Have you looked at Chess Tactics from Scratch by Weteschnik and published by Quality Chess?  I haven't read it but heard it has very good explanations and examples.

Look up “Chess Steps” by  Rob Brunia & Cor Van Wijgerden. 😀

NEW ARTICLE: Be Willing to Ask

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I want to ask if it is good to study openings by myself with engine and database.

I am rated 2140 on lichess.

In opening courses, the instructor tells you a move to play and maybe you want to play another.

So preparing by myself I think is better. What do you think?

aha, nice article Avetik 🙃

2 Questions in Caro kann

In the main lines, 12.Ne7 line after Ne5 Bf5 Bxf5 Nxf5 g4 Ne7 f4 what if black plays b5❓

And in the 7.Qb6 line after Qxb6 axb6 h3 Bh5 Na3 e6 Nb5 Kd7, here can you help me how to proceed in this position ❓🤔

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Can somebody help me?

Send a screenshot I will help you. I am a Caro Kann player.

The second part I get that position constantly I tried different things nothing looks good to me! I play Bc7 and take the doubled pawn it’s a fine game but kinda boring end game . 
I saw someone play nbd2 early and its a totally different position from the course 

Hello

To your 1st question:

After 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Nf6 6. Bf4 Bg4 7. Qb3 Qd7 8. Nd2 e6 9. Ngf3 Bd6 10. Bxd6 Qxd6 11. O-O O-O 12. Rae1 Ne7 13. Ne5 Bf5 14. Bxf5 Nxf5 15. g4 Ne7 16. f4 b5

Many moves look interesting like g5 and Qd1. However on further analysis i think Re3 is a bit better, getting another piece into the attack. One possible line may go 17.Re3 Rab8 18.Qd1 b4 19.g3 Nd7 20.Rh3 g6 21.c4!? The position is very sharp where i think practically white is better. Next c5 will come closing the center and Qg4-h4 attacking black's king. Black's counterplay is very artificial and despite the 0.0 by engine i would say its quite good for white.

To your 2nd question

After 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Nf6 6. Bf4 Bg4 7. Qb3 Qb6 8. Qxb6 axb6 9. h3 Bh5 10. Na3 e6 11. Nb5 Kd7. Here you can consider playing a4 with the intention to bolster the knight on b5, support a4 with b3 and then improve with Kd2 f3 g4 h4  (forcing Bxd3 Kxd3) Rag1 Be5 and a well timed h5. 

Hope i was able to help you out. 

-Debayan