Chess forum by Grandmasters

The 7 questions

Dear ChessMood Family, 

I finished the 7Q Method course but am confused when to use those 7 Questions to formulate a plan. Doing it on every move is very time consuming. It would be great to get a general guideline regarding this.

Thanks in advance!

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😅😀Well, the idea of asking yourself what to do at any given moment, is to find a plan. Then when you have found a good plan, then you should follow it. There is no need to ask yourself at every move all the questions when you already have the plan. This would be impractical since when you decide a plan you should implement it and adapt it accordingly to the opponent moves… 💪

Click, drag, or both when moving pieces?

Hi All,

I've just had my second ‘dropped’ piece when my finger slipped off the mouse button while making my move (and, of course, it drops where it can be easily taken 😆 ) so I think I'm going to try click-only for a while and see how it goes.

I'm curious as to what method you use for moving your pieces - do you click, drag, or both?  

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definitely drag on this one, idk if it's watching hikaru's streams or me playing fps games that made me use drag lmao😄😄
on some cases if my mouse is broken or if i play on a phone, i just use click, since i might ‘drop’ a piece at the wrong square (happens a lot to me😄)

I've always done drag. It just feels more natural to me. If you really want to be precise I'm pretty sure chesscom has a “Confirm your move” setting, where you have to click a checkbox before your move is registered.

As for your other forum post, congrats on your 100 games! My only recommendation is to watch Naroditsky's YouTube channel. He recently posted an amazing couple of videos specifically about puzzle rush strategies.

Yeah I also use drag. Although I once had a mate in one, dropped a square short, and lost :(. But I still find it easier, preferable, and less loud (Thats my moms preference :) )

pirc line with 2. ...nc6

 so there is this weird line that im having trouble with in the pirc, it goes 
1. e4 d6 2.nc3 nc6 3.f4 and e5. after this the opponent will develop their bishop to c4 and ill have trouble castling kingside and doing the standard gp attack, any help?

Replies

with nc6, this should transpose to the philidor/scotch/nimzowitsch setup, it's dangerous to play the GP on this one, so after nc6, you should play nf3 or d4 (both works here) trying to transpose to the said setup.

Right Mood Rituals/Activities before a Game/Tournament

Hello ChessMood Family,

I have one quick question. Whenever I play in tournaments, especially in an important game that I have prepared for months, I usually get very nervous, no matter who I am playing. I try to take a few deep breaths but this doesn't seem to help me get rid of the stress, and I think of harmful things before the game. Are there any Right Mood Rituals/Activities that you try to do before the game to clear your mind, get in a good mood, and focus on playing your best that may help? 

Thanks in advance!

Replies

Did you read the articles in the blog related to this already?

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

💪

Link Tactics Ninja tests to related course material

Is it possible to link the ‘take a test section’ to the Tactics Ninja course itself - sometimes if you get stuck it would be nice to be able to go directly to the relevant section of the course for that test example 

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Is There An @Shadowheart1253 On Here From Chess.Com?

I really wanna find u if ur on here, it's me, Sola, if u see this, pls contact me….okie that's all for now

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How can i analyze my games with engine?

Every time i analyze games, its always from the site analysis (chess.com, lichess) and ive always wanted to one by one look at games with the engine and anotate them manually. any tips?

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Hey, I think this blog could be helpful to you:

https://chessmood.com/blog/analyze-blitz-chess-games

Little warning on how you use engines, please don't use them as a crutch. But looking at your post I think you already know that 😄

Black against 1d4 e6 2c4 ...

Hello, I would like to ask in which section of the simplified BlackMood Openings I will find how to play against this White opening?

Thank you for a hint.
 

Replies

Hi Joachim,

That looks to me to be the Normal Development of the Dutch Defence.  Hope that helps.

PGN Files Question

1. Does the PGN file (say in Tactic Ninja) contains all the quizzes in the course including the new recently added Training Quizzes?
   
   2. What exactly it is supposed to contain for each course?
   Thanks!
   Dan

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Hi Dan!

No, the pgn of the Tactic Ninja does not include the latest puzzles at the moment.
 

As for each course, it is different, you must check it for yourself but by practicing the quizzes you have the same moves. 
As for the opening courses you have the main moves, the scheleton that you can use to build up your pgns for your repertoire. 
How to work with the pgns is explained in the blog: https://chessmood.com/blog/the-most-effective-way-to-create-chess-pgn-files
Check it out please. 😀

PGN files problems

Hi!

I'd like to open the PGN withemood oppenings, but I can't.

Do I need to upload something to open them?
I am speacking about the first attachment. The second one I can open it.

Thanks

Replies

You need to either have a plan with chessmood or have bought the course to see the pgn files. Chessmood is worth the money :)

The file has been downloaded?

If so, can you right-click on: “WhiteMood Openings.pgn” and get an “open with” option in the drop down menu?

Then any software that will read text should do it.

Anti-Sicilian

I could not find a video to what happens after 1. e4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 Bb5 g6

What is whites best response?

Replies

The CM recommendation is 4.Bxc6 (whenever Black does not play 3…Nd4), doubling and weakening the black pawns on the c-file. The continuation given in “Anti-sicilian part 2” is 4.Bxc6, dxc6, d3, Bg7 and then 6.f4 or 6.Be3/Qd2/Ne2

moodcoins

how can i buy courses with moodcoins?

Replies

If you click on a course, there will be a button that says Get Lifetime Access. Click it, and select the option to pay with moodcoins. 1000 moodcoins = 1 dollar.

If you want further help, you can contact the support team, or check the other forums about this topic (In the forum, just search your question in the search bar).

I hope this helps!

Training partner

Anyone here from the Philippines? i wanna play im from philippines also so maybe we can meet up to play some practice games.

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Grand Prix with 3...a6

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. f4 a6  what should white play? 
 I played 4. a4 ?!  or is better 4. Nf3 and 5. d4 ?  or otherwise 

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You should play 4.g3 - whenever Black plays a6, CM recommends to play g3/Bg2/Nh3, please have a look at https://chessmood.com/course/4-anti-sicilian-with-nc3-part-4 / “Anti-Sicilian with 2.Nc3 a6 (part 4)” for all the details!

also here's a delicious annihilation by me

Move 27. The knight is the only thing keeping me from laying waste to his position. He resigned.

https://lichess.org/Ne7aE2jTWE80

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Me saving a lost position

I was down a ton of material but I managed to get my opponent to blunder a rook and then a direct line to his king

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

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Petroff defense

Avetik what if in the Petroff defense course in the advanced section with c6 what should white play after 14.. bf8 be3 black plays ne5 move on the 15th move

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I would suggest checking with the engine and make sure you didn't miss the recommendation in the course.

what are the best improvement courses in chessmood for above 1500 fide rating

what are the best improvement courses in chessmood for above 1500 fide rating???
i wanna know as i donnot have much time to spare on chess and waste my time watvhing unnessary courses

Replies

The best advice would be to go to https://chessmood.com/chess-study-plans, where you find the recommended study plan for your playing strength. In your case with a FIDE rating over 1500 the “Chess Improvement Plan for 1,501-2,000 rated players” would make sense. Everything is clearly explained there - start with Tactic Ninja and Mating Matador, then do the Openings Principles and then you can create your opening repertoire (e.g. based on the simplified ChessMood openings / WhiteMood and BlackMood courses), before tackling middlegame and endgame.

What Didi said.

:)

I would suggest calclman because calculation is an important part to improve. Here's the link https://chessmood.com/course/calculation. Also Tactic Ninja is good to hone  your tactical ability. https://chessmood.com/course/tactic-ninja

Middlegame improvement

Hello everyone! 

I have a doubt. Currently, my middlegame is not so strong. I have problems with being creative in the middlegame because I blindly follow the opening plans even if they are not effective. My doubt is that if I play variants such as Chess 960, will it be possible to improve my middlegame? Will it be effective since there is no opening theory in Chess 960 and you are on your own since the beginning?

And if this is not the right way, can you please suggest a way to be more creative in the middlegame? 

Thanks in advance! :)

Replies

I suppose I'll leave some of my thoughts on this otherwise empty forum. I personally enjoy learning openings, so that is the best part of my gameplay. Often times I feel capable of playing the middle game because I am used to my opening repertoire and know the plans of such positions. Creativity is not exactly something I think about chess; rather, my familiarity with certain positions naturally lead to plausible strategies. Perhaps you need to review your opening prep with the intention of learning the purpose behind each move instead of just the sequences. Other suggestions include keeping up with studying tactics so you can make the most of your pieces.

As for Chess960, I don't think the variant is necessary to isolate creativity. Sure it could be a fun alternative, but ultimately you want to practice middle games that could actually result from a standard game.

Take this advice with a grain of salt. I would also appreciate seeing others' perspectives.

~ Jake

I would suggest going to the middlegame mastery section in the chessmood courses. It tells you how to calculate, attack, defend, and more. Here's the link https://chessmood.com/courses?scrollTo=#middlegame-mastery

How to buy courses with MoodCoins

Hello, how many MoodCoins do I need and how can I buy the Tactics Ninja course with them? Thanks.

Replies

Hi there,

Try this:

1. Go to the Courses page and pick your course
2. Select the option “Or get lifetime access”
3. Select the option “Buy the course”
4. In the right-hand section titled “Choose your payment method” the last option will be MoodCoin.

Remember that $1 = 1,000 MoodCoin.  So, if the course costs $300 that is 300,000 MoodCoin.

Need to earn some more?  Details are here: https://chessmood.com/moodcoin

The course is $600, and each dollar is 1000 moodcoins.

Therefore, you need 600000 moodcoins to buy that course. It would take 1200 daily puzzle solves to save that up.