Middlegame roadmap

When the course it will open ?

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No specific date was announced but it is planned to be released this year according to the email list.

Chess Mood managers please follow up. Today's tactics are wrong!

In today's problem, May 6, 2024, we have two equal ways: The first way: c7 Kd7 Ne7 Rxe7 c8= The second way: c7 Kd7 Kb7 Re8 Ne7= I went the second way, but he didn't accept my move and said it was wrong but right! please check it!

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I agree!!! 

Thanks for telling us.😅

..h5 or ..h6 ?

I recently played this game https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/108696649263?tab=analysis&move=18 and have a question regarding the pictured position. White is clearly intending to play h5 to attack and trap my bishop, so the logical response is to move my own h-pawn. But how far?

The engine prefers ..h6 slightly more then ..h5. Why is that? Is ..h6 always better in similar positions? I seem to run into this dilemma in other positions too, and would like to finally be confident about understanding the ramifications of each option.

My thought is that ..h6 is the more standard and principled move, but it could also allows White a hook to open the kingside by playing g5. The move of ..h5 keeps the position closed, but more cramped for Black if White pushes g5 in response. Any thoughts on the pros and cons of the two moves would be greatly appreciated.

It should be noted that in this particular position, the engine gives ..Nc6 as perfectly playable, because my Bishop still has access to the c2 square. But for sake of analysis let's say this resource is unavailable.

Thanks   ~Jake

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Normally, the difference isn’t large, but there are some factors to consider.

h5 type moves are usually  very weakening. It is wise not to do this around the king. However, let’s say you are worse on 1 flank of the board. These h5 types of moves can either help close up the position, which in turn makes it harder for the opponent to convert his dominance into something more tangible, or it will open the position at the cost of the opponent getting a weak pawn (h4  fype pawns.)

h6 moves are more solid and safe. However they are very passive and can turn into good hooks.

In your position I would probably play h5. Since it is an endgame, the open kingside position won’t be trouble some. Also, since e4 move won’t be much of a danger after g5 Ng8 or d7, because of Bb4. So if they play g5 then try to discourage e4, get your knight to f5, and open up the position to get at the weak h4 pawn.

If after h5 they take, that is not a problem, simply target the h4 pawn.

If they protect g4 pawn, you don’t really have to do anything as this standoff will mostly favor you. You will be pressuring form it, they defending.

This was all a bit complex but keep the main ideas in your head.

There is usually not much difference, it is not like after one you are dead lost.

I hope this helps!

h6 is more passive and allows then the space gaining that they want. It is not my type of move although there is less downsides.

I don't think that there is a huge amount in it, either way.  Of the 2 options, my preference is for h6 because I like having the bishop where it is on that long diagonal from g6 to b1 - potential defence for advancing pieces further down the line and restricting for black.  A little simplistic, perhaps, but that's how it looks to me.

Engame, only 1 move to draw

Hello everyone, 

In this position, there's only one move to draw for White, the others lose. It's f4 but I don't understand it. Could anybody shed some light on this?

Thank you!!

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Okay so I did some analysis and playing around and here is what I found:

First, Whites king is actually pretty badly placed. The king on g4 simply cannot accomplish much while the Black king just wants to play Kb5-c4-d3.

Because of the previous statement, White needs to find a way to create counterplay (mainly a kingside pawn majority). This is actually again not easy to do. The main idea here seems to be playing f4 and f5 as the only way to create it on time.

Here are some variations:

1. h4? (This idea is common, to run the pawn to h6 and create some weaknesses) Kb5 (Most principled, Black just continues with the plan outlined earlier) 2. h5 Kc4 3. h6 gxh6! (This seems to be Blacks main defense. Although the kingside is ruined, to match with the king and take advantage of it takes too much time.

1.Kg3? (Trying to stop Blacks king from marching into our camp.) Kb5 2. Kf2 Kc4 3. Ke2 Kc3 (Here if we are forced to make a move with the king we lose as Black will play Kd3. However, not only do we have to move first (which usually means we will run out of pawn moves first), but Black also has waiting moves with the king (Kc2-c3)! So this ends up clearly lost.)

1. f4! (The idea of this move is to play f5 and get a kingside own majority. However this allows Black to obtain a passed d-pawn so I was very skeptical.) Kb5 2. f5 e5 (most natural; here White has to find a series of only moves to hold the draw which I will do my best to explain.) 3. dxe5! (It seems dangerous to give Black the (future) passed d-pawn, but we must creat our counterplay instantly. As it turns out, we are in time to play g4-g5 and f6.) fxe5 4. Kf3! (We need to open up the path of our g-pawn, and moving our king closer to the queening square of the Black pawn (d1) will give us the best chances to either stop it, or force Black to use more tempo to advance it (as is the case here).) d4 5. exd4! (Not an easy move to see at first, the problem is that our own e3 pawn will get in our way. After g4 d3, we have to spend an additional tempo to stop the pawn that will lose us the game. In the main line, we do not have to spend an additional tempo. And if we don’t play e4 (which is the tempo move I am talking about) Black will play e4 themselves and easily win the endgame after stopping our pawn.) exd4 6. g4! (We start pushing our g-pawn instantly. Making a move with our king will simply prove to be a tempo loss.) Kc4 7. g5! (Again we have to create a queen as fast as possible and we will not stop Blacks d pawn.) d3 8.f6 (The rest is very simple, here both pawns queen at the same time and the resulting endgame is a draw (although practically white has a slight edge as the king is closer to the h-pawns).)

I hope this helps and sheds some light on this position. If you have any questions about the variations or such don’t hesitate to ask.

Just play through the variations on a board (online or  not) and get the feel for the position. Once you understand the moves, you will be able to incorporate the ideas into your own games and in similar position will know what to do!

Again I hope this helps, and if you have any questions then please ask.

Caro Kann Exchange doubt

Hello Everyone,

This forum is to discuss about a new move that I came across.

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nf6 5. c3 Nc6 6. Bf4 Bg4 7. Qb3 Qc8 8. Nd2 e6 9. Ngf3 Nh5!?

I was surprised by the move and was completely confused what to play and went on to lose the game. After checking in the engine I found that the best move was Be3. I do not understand what is the idea of the move. Isn't it making the bishop more passive. I need help to know what would be the most practical choice against 9.. Nh5 and what is the plan of Be3.

Thanks in advance!

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Hi Pranav,

I believe I also faced the Nh5 move and replied 10.Be3 in order to keep the bishop pair. In my opinion our idea is to play after h3 and get a bishop pair advantage as that knight takes the square from the Bishop, not allowing later to play Bh5.

Losing streak from time to time

Hello guys,

 i play in lichess and i win and some time lose as usual, but some times i lose streak maybe for a week i keep losing then i get back and win, is there anyone like me, and does it mean should i take a break from chess when it happens? 

It happens for me from time to time

Ahmed

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Hi Ahmed.

I think there will be many players like you - chess is a game of small margins and one mistake can cost you the game so, statistically, it's easy to go on a losing streak.  The important thing is to avoid tilt - because this will contribute to your losing streak if you let it.  How many games do you play per session?

If you haven't already read it, this article may be useful:

https://chessmood.com/blog/5-crucial-steps-to-stop-bad-results-in-chess

Books on Checkmates

I've become convinced that the key to chess success for me is mastering the the checkmate. One of my favorite courses on the site is Mating Matador, for that reason. After a long stint working on my skills at mate-in-1, I've moved on to mate-in-2, and discovered that checkmate is even more exciting the more moves are involved.

I want to take my checkmating skills to the next level and have researched some books on the topic. Would appreciate any feedback on any of the titles.

- "The Art of the Checkmate". Renaud and Kahn
- "1000 Checkmate Combinations". Henkin
- "Fundamental Checkmates". Gude
- "Checkmate! The Patterns of Winning Mating Attacks and How to Achieve Them". Koltanowski and Finkelstein

Most of these seem pretty well reviewed, but I couldn't find much information on the Koltanowski book. Anyone read that? Thanks in advance and happy chessing!

-------

He hears, where'er he moves, the dreadful sound;

Check the deep vales, and Check the woods rebound.

No place remains: he sees the certain fate,

And yields his throne to ruin, and Checkmate.

-------

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Hi, Jared.

I'm not sure a book is the best thing for this as there are many great resources online.

I would recommend solving lots of puzzles on checkmate and learning checkmate patterns

here are some links:

mate in 1 https://lichess.org/training/mateIn1

mate in 2 https://lichess.org/training/mateIn2

mate in 3 https://lichess.org/training/mateIn3

I would also recommend the mating matador course for checkmating patterns.

hope this helps.

Set puzzles on board is worth it?

Hello,

I'm curious to know if you usually solve puzzles on the board or simply on the screen.

I've started playing OTB recently and it seems like I'm not able to see the tactics as well as I can on the computer or maybe it's just a psychological thing due to the situation of facing someone in person.

Placing the puzzles in the tactic ninja course seems very boring since they are patterns that you recognize and take little time. Maybe it would be good to use the board in more complex calculation problems or maybe I'm scratching my head too much and it doesn't matter  😅

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This has been discussed before but I couldn't find the thread so I'll repeat my answer here.  In summary, I believe a mix of solving online and solving on a board is ideal.  Solve easy puzzles online and harder puzzles on a physical board.

As you mentioned, the advantage of solving online is that it's simply faster.  You can get through more puzzles because there is no setup time.  I like to solve easy puzzles online, where the solving time is relatively short.  If it only takes say 30 seconds to solve a puzzle, then it's kind of a waste to be spending 2-3 minutes setting up the position on a board.

But, as you say, visualisation when playing chess OTB tends to be a little different compared to playing online.  Most players perform a bit worse OTB unless they are doing some sort of regular practice with a real chess set.  I find that regular solving on a physical board is all that is required for me to feel comfortable playing OTB.

We want to solve harder puzzles using a board, so the trick is to have a good source of puzzles that typically take a few minutes to solve.  I like to use a book, so that I can keep the computer completely out of it (less distractions).  Also, the solutions in good puzzle books tend to be more thorough.  There are many great puzzle books these days, although it can take a few tries to find one at the right level.

When solving with a board I like to sit down somewhere quiet, and take my time to solve the puzzle.  I try to focus on visualising to the end, and finding all the main defensive ideas.  Then write the solution on a piece of paper and check it against the solution in the book.  Oh, one last thing: these days I'm quite paranoid about setting the position up correctly and do a few checks such as counting pieces etc.  Nothing worse than solving the wrong position LOL!

Scotch Game

In the 8.a5 line after c4 instead of Ba6 what if black plays Nb6? Any suggestions Chessmood team members

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In the section about 4.Nf6.

I think you can gust develop your pieces with Nc3, Bg5, g3 and Bg2 and then try to take advantage of your opponents misplaced queen and bad pawn structure. And if g6 you can always play h5.

Hope this helps.

https://lichess.org/study/HuK7iQiE/jzaNW0CD

10.h5 is an excellent move with the h6 idea and putting pressure on the future black castling

We can bring out the rook via h3 - b3 and but pressure on the b6 knight

PGN download

Hi everyone

I have been trying to download the WhiteMood (<2000) Openings to a Study in Lichess. However, not all the Chapters download as an error message about null moves comes up.

The BlackMood equivalent seems to work well.

Any ideas how to fix this? Very grateful for any help.

Thanks,

Tony

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I recommend for you to look at this recent thread here (https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/studying-openings-with-pgn-files) but basically,
If you have Chessbase, you can paste the pgn there
If you have windows OS, you can install the free chessbase reader 2017 app, scid sadly does not work
There may be some other pgn viewer apps on mac. i haven't tried chessify but maybe that works
On linux you can use wine and follow the same procedure on windows.

Please check this thread too https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/null-error-when-important-whitemood-pgn-files-into-lichess

We are on a short break but we will see what we can do about it when we get back.

A doubt in the Scotch Game ?

Hi, Avetik and chessmood team, I recently saw your Whitemood Scotch Game, in that on episode 5 you mentioned after 5…Qf6, we can play 6.Qe3 and play Nc3,b3,Bb2,0-0-0 but they play 6…Bb4 Completely ruining our plan.Can anyone in the chessmood team please check it out.

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I have faced this same problem. However, the plan recommended is to play c3,a3 and put the knight on b3 via d2. In this way we will trade of that strong bishop and keep ours.

I think the most simplest move is a3 making the bishop move away and castling long.

But I like the fianchetto plan, isn't there any other way to keep the fianchetto idea?

It would be nice if anyone from chessmood team would respond to this Question

Hi Ben Ten😀, if you want your chess opening related questions to be answered by one of our GMs,  please post them in the PRO Member channel. If you're not yet a PRO Member, you can upgrade your plan here at anytime:
https://chessmood.com/become-a-pro

Also, please refrain in the future to post posts asking for a reply or you will be banned. We always reply to the messages but we are busy too and we have our own schedule. No need to do extra posts asking for the same thing several times.🙃

Doubt in Jobava London

In Jobava London, :  The course recommends - 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 Bg7 5.h4 ,h5! 6.Nf3, Bg4 (where black keeps his K in the center). and against 5. Nf3 0-0. It only mentions 6.Be2 and 6.Nb5 in that variation. But, how to deal with this move order : 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 Bg7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.h4 (intending h5 Kside attack, since white has tried black into castling)

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Hi Aswin😀, if you want your chess opening related questions to be answered by one of our GMs,  please post them in the PRO Member channel. If you're not yet a PRO Member, you can upgrade your plan here at anytime:
https://chessmood.com/become-a-pro

Best Games of May contest

I think by mistake Chessmood posted the best games of May thread as a pro members only forum.

Is it supposed to be this way or does it need to be changed?

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I think it should be available to all syudents

Yes, we realized about it. We'll fix it, do not worry… 😀

Chess library games

Hi everyone, 

as I was watching blunderproof course, I noticed GM Avetik said something about having a collection of his own games that he felt he played the best. I was wondering, although it might sound silly forgive me in advance, how do you keep a library of games like that ? 

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😃

You just want to enter the games that you feel you played very good in a separate pgn file and after entering a few games that pgn becomes a collection or a library

Hi Kyle

As Ben said use pgn files. The best place to do that is in Lichess studies where you can create a library of your games.

There are some youtube videos showing you how to create Lichess studies. Here is an example:  https://youtu.be/LQdg3YQBoUs?feature=shared

Good luck.

Hi Kyle,

💪You do not need a collection of pgns, just one pgn file with your best games on it… 😀

New success story: Over 500 Points in 5 Months After Abandoning a Popular Belief

In his interview with ChessMood, GM Ivan Sokolov shared a popular but harmful belief many chess improvers hold.

Some wear it like a badge of honor🙂

However, our student realized the danger of it, made the right changes and raised 500 points in 5 months!🚀🤩 

What was the belief? 

How did Neo improve in such a short time?

You’ll find the answers in today’s success story:
https://chessmood.com/success-stories/neo-toppinen

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Hard agree.

You are only ‘underrated’ when you've just had severe tilt and have now recovered. A few other exceptions but people do falsely think they are underrated because they play well SOMEtimes.

Congratulations, Neo, on your impressive accomplishment of increasing your ELO rating by 500 points in just a few months! Your dedication is truly inspiring. I've learned three important lessons from your journey: 
1) You've shattered my belief that I was underrated as well. 
2) Your disciplined use of free time to solve tactics has made me realize the value of smart time management in chess. 
3) Your commitment to putting in four hours of practice daily is a testament to the fact that hard work truly pays off.

Great job, Neo! 

👍

Wow this is amazing , 500 points in months

NEW ARTICLE: How to Memorize Chess Openings and Variations – Without Forgetting Them a Few Days Later!

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Wonderful idea. I am working almost the same except the point 1 I am not following. My files are already created but no worries next time I will make another file for my memory test. It will be wonderful.

I just read the article and it is just awesome.  Just one clarification in our chess mood opening course there is a pgn file after every opening.  If I download it and complete it that's mean I followed step number two right?

You really know what we need to learn!!! I'm so grateful!

The article !! is very instructive and effective.It is really helpful.

Dear Avetik, I have an experience that I want to share with you:

In some complex openings like Catalan, KID/Grunfeld (g3 systems), Some Reversed Sicilians etc... we can reach the same positions via different move orders! In these slow/complex openings,  it seems to me that understanding the pawn structures and the relative value of pieces are much more important than memorizing variations. Memorizing interrelated variations and addressing all transpositions in a software is not an easy task at all... To my experience,  in such complex openings, trusting the opening choice, understanding and feeling the position is the key to find the right move.

As always - very instructive. Thank you, Avetik. One thing I like to add re Step 4 - Fix your mistakes:

I find it very useful to integrate Opening Tree into fostering my repertoire and fixing mistakes. At the moment I am in my second iteration of watching the videos form each opening course. Before starting a section, I load my lichess games into Opening Tree from the last months (this might take some time). Then I try to remember the line(s) and the challenges I faced and mistakes I made when playing it. After completing the section and checking the correctness of my pdf, I switch to Opening Tree to analyse what actually happened in my games. In my pdf (and my study plan) I note the date of the 2nd iteration so that I have the starting point for the next period.

Maybe ChessBase (or other tools to store one's games) already allow you to create such trees out of your games - but to my knowledge my tool does not, so I was very happy finding Opening Tree.

This is amazing this i feel like this blog was made for me

Studying openings with PGN files

I am a new chessmood member. Can someone tell me the best way to use the PGN files to study the chess openings? I tried to copy and paste it into a Lichess study, but it gave me an error. Thanks for any help you can give me.

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Hi, what course was it that you got the pgn? Some big pgn files like the tactic ninja cannot be pasted on lichess as they are big. 

If you can, paste them on pgn viewer applications such as chessbase or other local chess gui apps.

French exchange variation question

How should Black respond if White plays 5 Bb5 rather than 5 Be2?

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Assuming that you played Nf3 Nc6  5.Bb5 we go Bd6 and White should follow with c4. After any other alternative than c4 for White, Black will deploy his other knight on e7, will castle and will gradually bring all his other pieces into the fight.

After c4, dxc4, d5, a6, Ba4, b5, dxc6 and bxa4  Black’s pawn-structure might seem to be horrible, but you should not 
forget that White’s powerful light-squared bishop is absent from the board and he is a pawn down at the moment. If Black manages to capture the pawn on c6, or even in a position with equal material, his position would become more promising.

Chess is fun when....

Chess is fun when you are curious about it you will become GM when you are curious for chess

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Should you check when a piece is already pinned to the king?

Hi there,

I'd appreciate a little insight on this scenario, please.  My opponent's bishop is pinned to the king by my queen.  Should I, if I have the opportunity, still check the king?

During the game, I chose not to because it seemed counter-productive and I moved Bc4 to add further protection to the pawn on d5.  However, having now reviewed the game I wonder whether I should have done the move Bb5 because it would have stopped my opponent from casting.

What would you do and why?

Link for reference (not my best game - started off pretty well but then lost my way in the middlegame): https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/108133811341?tab=analysis&move=16

I'll try adding the pgn too …

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It does stop the opponent from castling because of a tactical detail: Bb5+ Bd7? 2. d6! And you win a piece. Bxb5 3. dxe7.

However, since you didn’t notice the tactic, you did the right thing! Without that tactic, Bb5+ would be a helping move for the opponent!