Chess forum by Grandmasters

New course: Endgame Roadmap

 Hey everyone! 
 

The “Endgame Roadmap” is out! ?
The first sections are there, and the others are coming next week. 

It's not about theoretical endgames, and not subtle Grandmaster-level techniques. It’s about how to think in the endgames. 

After watching it, you’ll never be in the situation when it's endgame, and you just don’t know what to do, and from where start the thinking process. 

You’ll have kind of a compass in your hands, so you’re never lost in the endgames and always know the road ?

It’s a very unique course in its format, and we hope you’ll love it and take your endgame play to the next level. 
https://chessmood.com/course/chess-endgame-roadmap 

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Tricky order in Sicilian

Is this order covered in any of the courses: 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. Bb5? Thanks.

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This is a Rossolimo where White played Nc3 a bit earlier than usual. From what I remember, the position after 4...Bg7 5.0-0 d6 is discussed a bit in the course (but the trendy 6.e5 isn't).

Dear Pablo,

Here we continue with Bg7 and if white decides to take on c6, after dxc6 we are getting transposition to the course.

Good luck! ?

i need help

i want to be a member but i can t because of my country

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Dear Nader, 
Can you please be more specific? or better still: contact our client support directly and explain with all the details your situation. We always try to help if possible. Here is the link for contacting us privately: https://chessmood.com/contact

Thanks a lot!? 

Scotch 8...a5

Recently I faced a lot of a5 in my game. I actually get a lot of pressure on my c4 and e5 pawn. May I know what is the idea of white in this position with g3 and h4 and what is white plan in the rest of the game.

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8... a5 is covered in video 36 of the Scotch course if you have access to it.

The best games of August, 2022, and the prizes

Hello ChessMood family, hello champions and future champions! 
Welcome to the "Best games of August, 2022" 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 July, 2022:

Aram Sevag
Regis H
John Fallon
Ayush Shirodkar
Jay Garrision

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My best august games so far (added more with each session): Sicilian GP CM style: https://www.chess.com/game/live/53107198031 https://www.chess.com/game/live/53801477013 vs GP https://www.chess.com/game/live/53104892003 quick KO vs pirc https://www.chess.com/game/live/53108346253 vs Rossolimo https://www.chess.com/game/live/53107828853 acc dragon https://www.chess.com/game/live/53371741295 (instructive attack in this var, though missed Nxe4) quick crush in From gambit ? https://www.chess.com/game/live/53374804279 benko vs f3 variation (sneaky piece win and conversion) https://www.chess.com/game/live/54033575373

Beautiful attack and checkmate! https://lichess.org/KGTTwhxb#61

LiChess says I am 10-0 in this line... I now wish everyone would play this against me hahahahahah!!!

In this game, I played the Scotch - my favorite attacking opening with white and had a beautiful checkmate combination with Qxc6+ Ke7 Nd5+ Kd8 Bg5+!! Qxg5 Qxc7+ Ke8 Nf6+!! gxf6 and Qd7#??? https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/53584809141?tab=report

Attack against the long-castled black king in the scotch https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/53745629019?tab=analysis

Here is my best game Salutes Chess Mood Team Here is my best game: https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/game/?p=/xgeWTpTuEcn9RsLbKwinpnW7/vf77dk11+deUfnY7G/XEKxECDIixi/7ktQ3jSN from R Raman with user id iraman [email protected]

Scotch early Qf6 e5! https://www.chess.com/live/game/53780961693

as GM Gabuzyan says, bring your pieces https://www.chess.com/live/game/53785749289

what a checkmate with sicilian grand prix attack. I love to attack like this. https://chess.com/live/game/53800216689

https://lichess.org/nHcS53XNIKxW Sac sac and mate!

https://lichess.org/study/A8Ob9G0z/lE54Khbg A Classic Endgame !! A Win with similar Bishops & equal Pawns !! ?? Just A Beauty !!!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/53951353407 Defeating a Fide Master With an Exchange up in the Endgame. :)

https://lichess.org/Sfba1wX8#31 This is my last game of a OTB tournament and got 5/9 after this win :)

Nxg7! https://www.chess.com/live/game/54046262567

Nxh2!? https://www.chess.com/live/game/54058298753

Finish him! FATALITY!

Two passed pawns against a knight https://chess.com/live/game/54324636043

Rf6 :) https://lichess.org/1CIKmeNyxYiQ

https://www.chess.com/game/live/54419392137

When I play the Scotch, I become a monster!

Everyone will die if I play the King's Indian Defense!!! ? This is the best and the most accurate game I've ever played in my life!!! https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/54529200229?tab=review

I played a smooth scotch game on chess.com https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/54524425099 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nxd4 5. Qxd4 d6 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Bf4 Be7 8. O-O-O O-O 9. f3 c5 10. Qe3 Be6 11. e5 Qa5 12. exf6 Bxf6 13. Rxd6 Bxc3 14. Qxc3 Qxa2 15. b3 Qa3+ 16. Qb2 Qb4 17. Bd2 Qh4 18. g3 Qe7 19. Bf4 Rad8 20. Rxd8 Rxd8 21. Bd3 g5 22. Be5 f6 23. Bxf6 Qf7 24. Bxd8 Qxf3 25. Rf1 Qe3+ 26. Kb1 c4 27. Qf6 h5 28. Qf8# 1-0

https://lichess.org/TS8zsFkK A great game against strong player !!! Amazing Attack on the Black King !!!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/54629918539

Hello ChessMood family, Here is my game for which I think it could be consider as one of the best games of August 2022. https://www.chess.com/game/live/54735919995 PGN: [Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.20"] [Round "?"] [White "igormilenkovic1979"] [Black "Eagles-man"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "1337"] [BlackElo "1366"] [TimeControl "900+10"] [EndTime "5:11:40 PDT"] [Termination "igormilenkovic1979 won by resignation"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nc6 4. Nxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bc5 6. Be2 h5 7. c3 Ng4 8. d4 Nxf2 9. Kxf2 Qd6 10. dxc5 Qxc5+ 11. Be3 Qe7 12. Rf1 Qh4+ 13. Kg1 Qxe4 14. Bc5 Bd7 15. Nd2 Qe5 16. Bd4 Qd5 17. Bc4 Qg5 18. Bxf7+ Kd8 19. Ne4 Qh4 20. Bf6+ 1-0

Hello to all the members of ChessMood family. Today, I wanna show you a back-and-forth game that is full of blunders and mistakes. What I've learned from this game is that I have to learn more about practical endgames, because in this game, I was two pawns up, but I couldn't capitalize on my material advantage in this knight endgame. In the end, I was even losing in this kind of queen and pawn endgame because my opponent has already made a queen and my pawn was still on the 6th rank. But then he made a blunder and let my bishop pawn get to 7th rank. So this game ended up a draw. What a memorable game! I will forever remember this game! Thanks for reading!] And this is my game: https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/54809745423?tab=review

Typical (?) French with a little combination Bxb2 to gain material https://www.chess.com/live/game/54916020317

https://www.chess.com/game/live/54923860055.

Quick https://www.chess.com/game/live/55011463721

https://www.chess.com/game/live/55008486047

https://www.chess.com/game/live/55076801907?username=dulger Win International master with caro kann exchange.

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/55047929765?move=41&tab=review crushing opponent game with the french attack, one game having 2 brilliant moves !!!

Rf3! https://www.chess.com/game/live/55091726885

An interesting & nice win in accelerated dragon exchange variation : https://www.chess.com/live#g=55176681553

https://www.chess.com/game/live/55169389217

Hello to all members of ChessMood family! Today, I want to show you the best game I've ever played in my entire life. In this game, I was white playing against the French Defence. In the opening, my opponent made a slight inaccuracy so I took advantage of that. Little by little, I activated my pieces and put all my pieces in good squares, then unleashed a brilliant rook sacrifice Rc5!!. The point is that if they've taken the rook with the bishop, I will play Ng5 and white will have a big attack and gain a great advantage. My opponent didn't take the rook and returned back with the queen. Then I played h4 opening my king's breathing room and ready to play the move Ng5. In the end, I did blunder the move g4, but my opponent couldn't capitalize on my mistake and took the pawn. So I went Qg2 to trade my queen, but my opponent refused to trade and made another mistake. So I finished the game by playing Bc4 - double-pinning the bishop. Then I got the bishop and checkmate him in two moves. Wow, what a beautiful game with an unpredictable positional rook sacrifice! This game should be forever remembered by me??? Thanks for reading!!! This is my game: https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/54894313551 And please be friends with me on Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/member/themysticallion

https://lichess.org/X8CZwejd/black Awesome game with me saccing my queen

Attack! https://www.chess.com/game/live/55517396935

This was played on the chess.com website but I uploaded my commentary as a pgn file. It probably isn't the best game and I committed a bunch of errors including a missed mate in one! I did beat someone about 90 points higher than me while in serious time trouble. Most importantly, I used the grand prix attack for the first time since studying the course. Even though I have a great deal to learn about the nuances of the position, I felt it to be very playable and seemed to have the initiative most of the game. Thanks https://www.chess.com/analysis/library/41sUUXjPRY?tab=analysis [Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2022.08.28"] [Round "?"] [White "Jean_Valjean1967"] [Black "mkl_ns"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B23"] [WhiteElo "1709"] [BlackElo "1771"] [TimeControl "600"] [EndTime "13:34:31 PDT"] [Termination "Jean_Valjean1967 won by checkmate"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 {This is one of the first times I have played the grand prix attack against the sicilian after watching the chess mood course. I didn't get it right by a long shot but am glad to have implemented some of the broad suggestions.} 2... Nc6 3. f4 d6 4. Nf3 a6 {This is to stop Bb5 but I knew to go to Bc4 anyway since e6 had not been played closing the diagonal.} 5. Bc4 e6 6. O-O g6 7. d3 Bg7 8. Qe1 {Moving my queen to go to the h4 square and help with the attack.} 8... Nge7 9. f5 {I know f5 is very thematic yet found it difficult to do knowing that would be sacrificing a pawn for the attack} 9... exf5 10. exf5 Bxf5 11. Bg5 {This was a mistake. I thought about taking advantage of the pin on 37 ignoring that the Knight move is what was prescribed in the course. This move made things difficult} 11... Qd7 12. Nd5 O-O 13. Qh4 Nxd5 14. Bxd5 Rab8 15. Bh6 {Trying to get him to remove one of the defenders of his king} 15... Kh8 16. Ng5 Bd4+ {The check was not that important. He wanted to set up his queen as a defender of the h7 square} 17. Kh1 f6 18. Bxf8 {winning an exchange but dulling my attack} 18... Rxf8 19. Bxc6 bxc6 20. Nf3 Bxb2 {Going for the b2 pawn was a mistake. It opened the b file for my rook} 21. Rab1 Be5 22. Nxe5 dxe5 {This hurt his pawn structure} 23. Rb6 a5 24. Rfb1 g5 25. Qa4 Qd5 26. Qxc6 Qxa2 {I think this was a mistake of his. He may have won a pawn but removed his queen from the battle.} 27. Qxc5 Rc8 28. Qe7 Qxc2 29. Qxf6+ Kg8 30. h3 {This was a silly mistake. I was so worried about the possibility of a back rank mate that I didn't take on g5. If I had done that then my queen would cover the c1 square. I missed that} 30... Qxd3 31. Qxg5+ Kh8 32. Qf6+ Kg8 33. Rb7 Qg3 34. Qxf5 Rf8 {I was getting into time trouble and here missed the obvious mate in one on h7. Instead I decided to trade into a winning endgame} 35. Qg4+ Qxg4 36. hxg4 Ra8 37. R7b5 a4 38. Rxe5 a3 39. Ra1 a2 40. Re2 Kg7 41. Raxa2 Rxa2 42. Rxa2 Kg6 43. Kh2 {Better was rook a5 cutting off his king} 43... Kg5 44. Ra4 h5 45. Kg3 hxg4 46. Rxg4+ Kf5 47. Kf3 Ke5 48. Rf4 Kd5 49. Re4 Kc5 50. Ke3 {A much quicker mate could be to queen my g pawn but I wasn't thinking very quickly because of the time.} 50... Kd5 51. Kd3 Kc5 52. Rd4 Kb5 53. Rc4 Kb6 54. Kd4 Kb5 55. Kd5 Kb6 56. Rc5 Kb7 57. Rc6 Kb8 58. Kd6 Kb7 59. Kc5 Kb8 60. Kb6 Ka8 61. Rc8# {With an entire second to spare.} 1-0

I played this in an online tournament. It was a pretty good Caro Kann defense. I was with the white pieces. My opponent and I both could have learned something from this game. 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h5 5. c3 e6 6. Nf3 c5 7. Bg5 f6 8. exf6 gxf6 9. Bf4 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Ne7 11. Nxf5 Nxf5 12. c4 Bb5+ 13. Bd2 Bxd2+ 14. Nxd2 Nc6 15. Be2 Ng7 16. Qc2 Kf7 17. g4 Nd4 18. Qd3 Nxe2 19. Qxe2 hxg4 20. Qxg4 Qa5 21. h5 Rag8 22. Qg6+ Ke7 23. cxd5 Nf5 24. d6+ Nxd6 25. Qd3 Qe5+ 26. Qe2 Qxe2+ 27. Kxe2 Rg5 28. h6 Rg6 29. h7 Rg7 30. Rc1 Kd7 31. Nc4 Nxc4 32. Rxc4 Rhxh7 33. Rd1+ Ke8 34. Rc8+ Kf7 35. Rc7+ Kg6 36. Rg1+ Kh6 37. Rh1+ Kg6 38. Rg1+ Kh6 39. Rh1+ Kg6 1/2-1/2. We agreed to a draw.

Miniature in the Scotch! Now if I could only get all my opponents to play the Scotch...?

My first contribution :) French Defense: La Bourdonnais Variation (thank you, chess.com), played on the feeling for French positions since I never studied this one. https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/55644603861?tab=review

Played a nice game against caro kann with chessmood recommendation against caro kann (with one brilliant move ) https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/55644628769?tab=review 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Nf6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. O-O e6 8. h3 Bxf3 9. Qxf3 Bd6 10. Bf4 O-O 11. Nd2 Rc8 12. Rfe1 a6 13. Be5 Qc7 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Qxf6 Qe7 16. Qh6 f6 17. Re3 Kh8 18. Rxe6 Qc7 19. Rxd6 1-0

https://live.followchess.com/#!mpl-51st-national-u-19-2022/1916052036 One More Phenomenal Game played by Me!!! Scored a big Win against a strong IM with Black pieces in the recent 2022 Junior Nationals!!! This OTB game was Superb playing against Scotch with a very patience full end fight!!! Bh3!!!!?✨??

A good Symmetrical English game with Black. Powered through with the d-pawn. https://lichess.org/9aJx1yhWWfMe

Amazing Game! https://www.chess.com/game/live/55696522537

Wild Trompowski with black , otb game

Maroczy Bind with black

Inspired Benko after webinar ;)

English miniature 19 moves

Modern miniature 18 moves

My first executed grand prix attack && https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/55730611167?tab=analysis 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 d6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bc4 e6 6. d3 Be7 7. O-O Na5 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. Bxd7+ Qxd7 10. e5 Nd5 11. Nxd5 exd5 12. exd6 Bxd6 13. Qe1+ Kf8 14. Qxa5 h5 15. Ne5 Qf5 16. Bd2 h4 17. h3 Bxe5 18. Qxc5+ Kg8 19. fxe5 Qxe5 20. Bc3 Qg5 21. Rae1 Rh6 22. Qc7 Rg6 23. Qxf7+ Kh7 24. Rf2 Qg3 25. Qf3 Qg5 26. Bd2 Qd8 27. Qh5+ Rh6 28. Bxh6 gxh6 29. Rf7+ 1-0

Nice Game! https://www.chess.com/game/live/55882442179

e6! https://www.chess.com/game/live/55886020527

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/55914878905?tab=review 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bf4 d5 4. c3 c5 5. 6. Bb5 a6 7. Ba4 b5 8. Bb3 c4 9. Bc2 Bd6 10. Bg3 Nh5 11. Ne5 Nxg3 12. Nxc6 Qc7 13. hxg3 Qxc6 14. Rxh7 Rxh7 15. Bxh7 g6 16. Qg4 Kf8 17. Qh3 Kg7 18. Nd2 e5 19. Qh2 exd4 20. exd4 Bf5 21. Bxg6 Bxg6 22. O-O-O Rh8 23. Qg1 b4 24. Nb1 Qa4 25. Qe1 Qc2# 0-1

Hello champions!
 

Thank you for sharing your games. How are you all doing today? 

We enjoyed going through your games and seeing you score beautiful victories, keep it up! 

Moving on to the prizes for the best games of August 2022 now:

The first prize goes to Aayush Shirodkar – An excellent attacking game that shows how to punish opponents for ignoring their King safety. 

https://www.chess.com/game/live/55696522537

Vedant Garg takes the second prize. Great sacrifice with 15.Bg5 and 16.f4, and an even better finish with 26.g7 27.h7 28.h8=Q+. Well done! https://lichess.org/nHcS53XN#55

Rob Dzedzic takes the third prize for their crushing miniature victory after 10.Bxf7+!

https://lichess.org/1CIKmeNy#27

The fourth prize goes to Regis H. Nice game of building an attack. Eventually, 22.Nxg7 came out of nowhere and ended the game! https://www.chess.com/game/live/54046262567

The fifth prize goes to Paulius the Witcher. It looked like a smooth, effortless victory in the Accelerated Dragon! Well done!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/53371741295
 

Congratulations!

Once again, thank you everyone for sharing your games! 

Keep the CoGro!

See you for the next month’s contest. All the best!

Report from the Warwickshire Rapidplay 4th Sept

This is my second tournament since Covid and part of the slow preparation to take me up to Hastings at the end of the year. The format was 7 rounds of 15 10, I entered the open (no 'easier' sections for me) which had the range of under-rated juniors at 1800 up to serious and well seasoned players at 2250, then a 2350 and a GM (note in the UK it's very difficult to get above 2200 unless you play a lot of tournaments and much of the club scene is below 2000). Aside from the top two players, anyone could have a shot, especially given grades (for what they are worth) are still out of alignment with reality and not everyone had rapidplay grades so there was bound to be some variation in strength from tournament grade to rapidplay 'strength'. I was entered with my OTB long play rating of ~1900 which itself is around 100 points+ undergraded because league games are rarely against anyone higher so I have to try to win them them all which in itself isn't practical. I'm also back at 2200 on lichess at this time control which suits me - it's not playing against off-beat stuff or running out of time like 5 0, but nor is it deep calculation. The key components to a strong performance here are tactics (including mating patterns), openings and plans when you get out of the opening as well as healthy slightly aggressive chess. I felt that my openings were good enough, tactics slightly rusty but again good enough. Also at this level in the Chessmood repertoire you'd expect more advanced options (typically e5 going into the Mieses line with h4, Sicilian going into Nc6 lines especially, caro kann, modern, pirc as White, and Rossolimo, Maroczy, Benko mainlines and English as Black with some variations from the advanced sections). I warmed up for about 20 mins with some tactics as suggested in Blunderproof before the first round. Round 1 (Black) Rossolimo Nc3 d3 lines with early castling. I forgot about Bd7 to stop e5, but my opponent didn't know that. I opened the g file for an aggressive attack after f5 and recapturing gxf5. Unfortunately I'd probed with Rb8 earlier and my king was on h8, so I fell for Nxe5 with Qxe5 threatened with a fork. Luckily my opponent then was careless given I had Rg8 lined up against the king and took Bxh3 getting the pawn back. Unfortunately my opponent's initiative was too much and I lost the first round. 0/1 Round 2 (White) was Sicilian Nc6 with Nxb5. I had a great ending knight ending a pawn up. The final position to avoid getting checking (low time for both sides) I allowed my passed pawn on the 7th to be captured by the king, but only at the cost of the knight my king was attacking. 1/2 Round 3 (Black) was another Rossolimo, this time Bxc6 where White had omitted h3 and played a4. Possibly the lack of h3 could have been punished. The opponent got in d4 and opened the d-file and then tried an aggressive sac of Nb5 cxb5 Nxb5, but I fought it off successfully 2/3 Round 4 (White) was another Nc6 Sicilian, this time I went for c4 Nc3 d5 set-up but in the particular line Black got in a6 b5 and broke the bind, the rest was easy 2/4 Round 5 (Black) was against the Maroczy with White playing a4 against a5. I captured on d5 with the bishop. White managed to get a pawn up in a heavy piece 2R+Q ending, but I manged to keep active and it ended in the Philidor position. 2.5/5 Round 6 (White) was against the French 5... Be7 without c5 and Black was developing steady but a little bit passive. However I allowed a swap of queens which put me about a tempo behind with some pawns on the same colour of my bishop and lost the endgame 2.5/6 Round 7 (Black) was against the Smith-Morra going into the c3 sicilian. White tried a3 with the idea of Bd3 without annoying Nb4, but this doesn't work if I can reply Bf5 which I did before e6. Getting tired I messed up with a weakening pawn move not seeing that after the attacked piece moved my own piece would be pinned on the c-file (tiredness last round was mentioned in Blunderproof). My opponent had a number of chances to win as it was very hard to co-ordinate my pieces against his 2B, but I manged to win a R ending. Final score 3.5/7 joint 6th 2059 performance http://chess-results.com/tnr671799.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=7&flag=30 So things to take away - need to find time to work a little bit more on getting tactics on top form again. Need to restudy advanced sections of Nc6 sicilian. Maroczy and Rossolimo still need work. However 3.5/7 isn't a bad result by any means.

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Sounds like a good solid result. Got to be happy any time you can gain some rating points. Rossolimo is very popular these days isn't it. Random question/suggestion: have you thought about pairing the Accelerated Dragon with something like the Hyper-accelerated Dragon to keep your opponents guessing?

Looking for a playing patner

Hi there guys. Am 19 years old. I got into chess pretty recently and i recently became 800 rated on chess.com. looking for someone of similar rating range to play with regularly, exchange ideas with and in general improve with. If interested:https://instagram.com/d.o.l.a.r.z_1?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

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Question to anyone who can answer.

So guys theres this stage as soon as the opening is done and both sides have Castled. If there are no weakness for the opponent, what should I do? I randomly move pawns because I don't know what to do ?

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Hello! In my opinion you should find your worst placed piece and look to improve it. You should take space without overextending. Provoke weaknesses and target them. Damage your opponent pawn structure, a damaged pawn structure is a liability in the endgame. When the course middlegame road map is out, you could study it. Hope you improve!

Hello, The stage after the opening is the middlegame (or the mopening like Chessmood members like to call it sometimes ? ) As you mentioned in your other thread, you are rated around 700. For this reason, I would recommend to learn the fundamentals for now. First you need to learn to walk if you want to run one day ? You could check: Chess Fundamentals by John Bartholomew on Youtube Build Chess Habits by Chessbrah Beginner to Chess Master by ChessNetwork I'm sure those playlists will help you to learn something and improve a little! Once you are above 800 (as GM Avetik told you in his answer in the previous thread), you should come back to Chessmood courses :) The next step will be to watch the courses in the Rating Booster section (Tactic Ninja, Mating Matador, BlunderProof, Spartahn Shield) - Openings Principles & Simplified Openings With all those courses, you will improve your chess tremendously! Once it's done, you will be ready for all the other middlegame courses which will help you to understand how to plan in the opening. But before learning how to make a plan in the middlegame, you need to build solid foundations (fundamentals + tactics). PS: It's always cool to watch videos/resources but don't forget to PLAY A LOT for now! It is the most important when you are a beginner ?

And here is one of the main problems of chess, that you're suddenly confronted with possibility and you end up moving the pieces aimless and it gets boring. This is how a lot of people see the game. I'm hoping the middlegame course will shed some light on this, but it's really not easy to guide someone what to do in the middlegame, except teach them the skills used during the middlegame and getting them to look at many example games in order to get a feeling of what to aim for in their opening of choice. A game between novices usually goes one of two ways, moving the pieces and pawns, sometimes quite unhealthily until one of them drops some material, the other one maybe notices and captures it, and gradually it gets reduced to a queen or a rook and they cobble together a mate. The other way is they know some trappy (possibly unsound) line and one of the players falls into it and loses the game. In a typical middlegame, the aim is now to co-ordinate the pieces that you've developed to target weak spots in your opponent's position while ensuring they don't do the same. To do this you'll need to open files and diagonals for your long pieces, find places in the opponent's camp for your knights and keep out the opponent's pieces or push them away with your pawns. Either one side's position becomes compromised and gradually weakens allowing a decisive positional advantage, or an attack on the king. Pretty much most games between equal rated players (tactical mistakes and blunders aside) end with a pawn promoting to a queen first and that's it. Now I say typical because there are both exceptions and to the degree you can attack, defend and counterattack depends often on how quickly you developed in the opening, how sound the development and placement was, and sometimes the style of the players and what the position calls for. It is something you need to get a feel for as much of it is too complicated and even if it wasn't not understood to give any hard rules of what to do beyond a set of often true guidelines. For middlegame skills, typically they fall into tactical motives, positional play and attack and defence with all needing calculation and strategic planning. For a beginner you should be targetting learning tactical motives and checkmate patterns as well as avoiding and detecting blunders since this both brings the most results, but it's also the easiest to learn (not saying all tactics are easy to see). Positional play should be limited to playing healthy moves which don't make unnecessary weaknesses (there needs to be a course on this IMO), as true positional play is harder to grasp and the best play in the world can be undermined by tactical mistakes. Thus usually serious positional play is only studied by those 1800 FIDE or so and above. Attack and defence are also difficult at this point, since an attack usually comes from positional superiority (or sometimes not!) and in weaker player's games this is very hit and miss and usually down to big material inequality. As mentioned before, I would study the tactical and checkmate courses (and practice puzzles) and watch streams of GMs beat opponents of the level and slightly above using sound openings (none of the beating opponents with unsound gambits or bongcloud!). A lot of what to do you'll pick up just by watching and copying. And when you do have some idea of what you are doing, it then becomes easier to formalise the study. Think of learning chess like going to school. We study subjects that improve our ability and knowledge often (which and) to what level depending on where we are. The aim (other than producing well rounded citizens) is to put the student in a place where they could embark on a career or detailed study, but they need to have a broad base first. Learning chess is much the same, you need the basic skills first before you can appreciate the fine points of a top GM's play and replicate it yourself.

Study the course 100 Classical games, reviewing complete games critically is a useful way to learn ideas and techniques. Also make time to go through your own games and look for the areas that can be improved. Experience is the best teacher, so playing a lot rather than just studying in a vacuum should also prove very beneficial.

I need some help

Hi guys. Am relatively new to chess. Been playing for a few months and not improving at all. Can you guys suggest for me a way in which I can study chessmood courses suited to My level (700 rated ? I know am shit) . Any advice is appreciated.

Replies

Everyone was 700 rated once, so think of it as a base level rather than being a bit s**t. The good news is you'll rapidly increase that with the right study. 700 honestly is a little low for chessmood (it's the level you know how to move the pieces, but not a lot else), but that's not to say you won't get something out of it. At this level I would focus on the following things: Playing a lot of games, certainly minimum 5 3 speed, but maybe as you progress 10 0, 15 0 or 15 10 so you have more time to think. After opponent's move ask what were they trying to do, did they make a mistake. Try not to overthink, just look for threats, and keep an eye on checks, captures and threats as well as king safety. In the opening try to move each piece once, and the minimum number of pawn moves to control the centre. Work on avoiding putting pieces and pawns on squares where they can be taken or are under defended (count attackers and defenders and check that you don't give away more valuable pieces during the exchange). Be able to quickly see when the opponent is leaving material on en-prise. Work on noticing the actions of the long pieces (bishops, rooks, queens) so that you don't miss what they are attacking at the end of the their line of attack. Work on noticing that there are multiple directions pieces can attack and not to miss attacks because you didn't consider all the options (a lot of this becomes automatic quite quickly). Work on simple tactics and checkmates - the two courses tactic ninja and mating matador are great for this (try to get the gist, many of the puzzles will be too hard for you right now). The openings 101 course and pawn endings (just enough to play K + P vs K from any position), plus start to look at the simplified whitemood and blackmood openings. After you play check against the course to learn if you were doing the right thing. Finally watch the streams, particularly the ones that start from 800 or so and up. Look at what the opponents do wrong and listen to the commentary. Also see how the GM's development, placing of pieces and speed of development compare and try to absorb this. Also outside of chessmood, I would recommend on YouTube Ginger GM's Speedruns which start from about 800. Even though the openings will be different there is a lot of information there on what players of those ratings do wrong (which you can the avoid and punish opponents for). Also if you're a pro-member posting in the pro channel will mean that GMs will be aware of the post and answer. The main channel while open to all is a little hit and miss for replies. Good luck as you start your journey!

Hi friend, 
Once you know how to play chess, you can benefit from the sections "Rating Booster" and "Simplified ChessMood openings," especially the opening principles course. 
However, while we believe that ChessMood is the best solution for 800-2700 level, for below 800 level ChessMood isn't the best...yet! 
We're preparing now step-by-step courses for below 800 players. 
If you have purchased a membership, I would even recommend canceling your membership, and waiting for the email from us, once we upload the courses for beginners. 
If you're in the 30-day period, you can ask money-back too. 
We're not here for making money, but serving and helping the chess players. 
Right Mood - Right Move! 
CoGro (Constant Growth)

Hello fellow Chessmood user. 700 is a pretty good rating for someone who is new to chess, when I started chess I was 400, when I discovered Chessmood I was 1100. Chessmood (in my opinion) is more suited for 800+ because below that level, most of the content may be to advanced. Most beginners will not follow theory (no offense to beginners who do follow theory). So most of the opening courses will be pretty ineffective at beginner level. However, Blunderproof and Tactics Ninja can suffice for your needs. Try to think as your opponent, think about what they want, then try to sabotage their plan. After they have no counterplay, then you should start thinking about what you want. In the opening, if you don't know theory, follow these four rules and you will be fine. 1. Control the centre 2. Develop your minor pieces 3. Keep your King safe 4. Take space without overextending I hope you improve and when you get better, you can rejoin the Chessmood community!

Benko 3rd move deviations: 3. Nf3

Hi guys! Is 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 covered? I get this in my games and would like to spice it up... but White does not cooperate!!! Thanks Andrea

Replies

Well I meant 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nf3 I still needed to take my coffee!!! :D

Hi Andrea,

As our members mentioned 3…cxd4 is what we play, and either transpose to Maroczy bind, or positions with Fianchetto setups.

Good luck!

Chessboard awareness

What are some good exercises for better board awareness? Something that will build up brain muscles to spot them quickly, instead of going over the opponent's last move (and other pieces).

Replies

I worked with the book Cognitive Chess: Improving Visualization and Calculation Skills by GM Konstantin Chernyshov and it was very helpful! (Maybe best if you already are 1700/1800+ at least)

Was recommended by GM Shankland - choose some simple to solve tactics, find some way to have the location of the pieces read out to you. Solve the problem in your mind.

The obvious one is to solve a lot of puzzles including studies.

Hi Faik,
 

First of all, you need to be at the top of your concentration. Of course, it's tough always to be 100% focused but keeping numbers like 80+ is real. Once you are in a great focus I believe tactical vision is very important. You need to know some common patterns and as well be able to see the ideas. Our courses Tactic Ninja and Mating Matador will help you in a tactical sense, and blunderproof course can be useful as well.

Rossolimo question

Hi guys! I've a question what is the best reply against 1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4 Bxc6 bxc6 5 d4 ? Today i start the open championship of my province(state) of Quebec. I am in excellent chessmood and i will have fun. My goal is to get 6/9 its a strong open so we will see. Tx guys have a great day!

Replies

5.d4 is a strategic mistake. The idea of 4.Bxc6 is to compromise Black's pawn structure and play against Bc8 at the expense of handing them the bishop pair. 5.d4 enables Black to repair their pawn structure with 5...cxd4. It also opens the position, which only helps Black's bishop pair. After 6.Qxd4 Qxd4 7.Nxd4 Bg7, Black is already slightly better and can easily finish their development. Good luck with your tournament!

Hi Jonathan,

Peter N provided a very clear explanation. Bishops feel better when a position is opened, and d4 only favors black.

New article: How Quiet Moves can Turn Around a Game

Hello champions! Hello ChessMood family!?
 

Today’s article is written by super GM Pavel Eljanov! 

It’s a super interesting read for players above 2000 rating where Eljanov talks about: 
 

✅The most important skill in chess in his opinion.

✅When should you look for quiet moves.

✅Why it’s hard to notice quiet moves with 2 specific pieces.

…and more. 
 

Check it out here?

https://chessmood.com/blog/quiet-moves-in-chess

After reading, you can share your thoughts under this forum thread.

Replies

Game 2: did I miss the explanation of kh8?

When I think of quiet moves with the King, I'm immediately reminded of Kasparov's Kh2 vs Karpov in the Lyon match way back in 1990. One of my favourite Kasparov games. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty-16QZubRA

Whitemood Opening Games

Hi, Can we please have a Whitemood Openings Games section (simplified version), just like the Blackmood Openings? Rgds, Debasish

Replies

I am sure that in the near future we will do it but it is not a priority in our agenda right now.?

We have other courses in the making but in the meanwhile you can check the games of the streams played by Avetik with the Whitemood and Blackmood repertoires. Also, since almost 90% of the openings are the same as in the advanced White repertoire of the course Rock and Rolling with White were you will find many, many instructive games. 

https://chessmood.com/course/rock-n-rolling-with-white

The Blackmood games was a different case since the repertoire offered in the more advanced course is different.?

chessmood is sufficient ?

if i study all material of chess mood in next 12 to 15 months i will it all definetely right now i am doing the opening course and coureses from rating booster section so my question if finish all material of chessmood and i will play 16 to 20 tournament in next 2 years so can achive 2000 elo from 1403 ?

Replies

Well, that will depend on how well you play. Certainly with the material that we offer, if you study it and understand it, anyone can improve a lot. The rest is up to you, you have to play and win a lot of games in the tournaments that you will play. To learn and deeply understand all the material is not easy but many people have done it with the right studying attitude. 

As for the question if with the Chessmood material is enough, yes the material that we offer will help you to get there, you do not need more sources, we are sure of this but the most important thing is YOU.

You have to study, play, analyze your games, etc… We can provide the best material in the world for you to improve in one site but the rest is up to you.

As an exemple of this fast improvement please check this interview with one promember of Chessmood who went from From 1933 elo to 2400+ in 1 year! only studying Chessmood courses and playing well of course:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRQIvD4agNM

Happy learning and happy improvement Punit!?

Coming Soon "Defense"

Hello, About 2 weeks ago there was "Defense" course in "Rating Booster" section and it was "Coming Soon Aug 17". But suddenly it disappeared. Is there any publish schedule?

Replies

Hello Pan Tsi, ?

The first sections have been published on time.

“Defense” was just a temporary name. The definitive one is Spartan Shield - 7 Key Concepts to Shield your King
 https://chessmood.com/course/spartan-shield

Check it out and happy learning! ?

How to complete 'all' video courses in a year

Hi Y'all Just study them for 60 minutes a day. Minimum. I took out my trusty Excel and with a series of copy -pastes and search-replace, I just discovered that (as of 27/8/22) there is currently: - a total of 61 video courses - with a grand total of 315 hours 40 mins of video learning content. So doing the math of 315.67 divided by 365 gives 52 minutes a day (rounded up to 1 hour) to cover all the content produced so far. Hope this helps someone. Frankie "Durian Defense" Kam Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Replies

Haha interesting statistics Frankie,

However, we are on the way to upload a lot of content and new courses )) For example I strongly believe soon it will be a different number at all ??

Good luck!

But why the focus on completion. It should be on getting the most out of it which might take several rewatches, notes, asking questions, testing stuff out. Continuous improvement not quantity of material.

Introduce yourself

ChessMood Family! 
Let's introduce ourselves so we know each other and keep growing together! 

1. About yourself
2. Your chess level
3. Your goal  

Replies

I am Pascal age 61 from France

My Fide elo rating is 2216

My goal is to win 100 points every 100 games : so first step (Fide master)

Hello ChessMood family!

1. My name is Jay Garrison and I am 46 years old.

2. My current rating is 1724 USCF (1816 peak) and I am unrated with FIDE.

3. I will be the first amatuer over 40 to become a GM. Check out my facebook page @thechessambassador for the full story and to follow my progress! and throw me a like to the page while you are there :)

Brad Pevehouse from Texas USA

My online Elo ranges differently from site to site. I guess I'm about 1366 but it fluctuates wildly. So I really don't know. My goal is to reach 1600 standard rating by the end of this year and move toward my ultimate goal of 2000 and keep it there consistently. When I reach 2000 I will set a new goal. Hopefully I can do this in 2 yrs.

I am Guenter from Austria, 55 years, FIDE Rating 1959
Goal --> to develop from a good to a very good trainer ;-) 
and to look towards 2000 Elo

Hi This is Bhabatosh Chowdhury , I am originally from India and lives in Chicago. 

My last known chess rating in USCF is 2016 ( 12 years ago ) , I dont have FIDE rating . 

I have very little tournament experience but make no mistake I am better than my rating , My goal is to improve my chess, I am not worried about Titles and rating . I love this game and want to improve as much as I could and this is my new start @41 . I strongly believe that success always follows hardwork , so rating/titles will come when it has to come.

Hello ChessMood Family ! I'm glad I found you. 

 I'm  from Athens Greece, age 20. 
My FIDE rating is around 1850 - online I am usually between 2000 -2100 . 
My goal is to one day acquire a FIDE title - I'm sure the stuff here will help me :)

1. Hello all, my name is Faik (35y old) from Bosnia. I started playing chess during 2020 2. My rapid rating on chess.com is ~1750 3. Get (any) FIDE title in next 3 years

Taking the upcoming e3 Benko for a spin

Some interesting things from this line looking at the analysis. First we can ignore ?! on 5... g6 - computers don't understand the Benko Perhaps 9... Ng4? was too soon. The computer wants to play Qa5 which isn't our line, so maybe 9... Bxa6 is better here. Move 14 is interesting. While Bxa6?! must be okay here, I completely missed the idea of e5 and if fxe5 then Qh4 is coming. So after e5 Be3 exf4 Bxf4 Qh4+ g3 Qe7 - there is some nice play on the e-file. Finally the prophylactic 18... Nc7 - the knight doesn't do a lot here right now, so the computer offers c4 and doesn't mind losing the c pawn if White attacks it e.g. Qe2 Nc5 Qxc4 Qb4 Qxb4 Rxb4 getting back the pawn.

Replies

9…Qa5 is very interesting and it would be my first choice too trying to wait a bit more. The idea is to develop and try to exchange Queens or exchange on a6 on the right time, there is some Karpov game in the course with the same idea, if White captures with Bxa6 with Qxa6 we stop White castling. Ng4 is too fast since the QS is still undeveloped. Nice game by the way David!?

Nice one, thanks for posting.

Using affiliate link on existing account

I would like to purchase an annual subscription through this link https://chessmood.com/?r=ElCapa. However, as soon as I log in, the 20% discount is no longer available. How can I take advantage of the 20% offer on my current account?

Replies

Dear Manuel,

Please for this kind of technical questions contact our client support directly. They will gladly help you. Here is the link for contacting them: https://chessmood.com/contact

Thanks a lot!?