Chess forum by Grandmasters

3...Ne7 in our 3.Bd3 French repertoire

Today I faced this move in the French (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3 Ne7), how should we focus the opening in this game? I know that this move is not covered and it should not be good, still, in order to stay in our lines what could be the best approach? Thanks in advance for your reply!

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One thing I notice here, what's going to be guarding his king? We get a lot of firepower on the queenside and the centre is unsafe so Black castles king side. He also has to watch out for attacks on h7. Ne7 presumably to come to g6 is awkward and invites h4-5. The fianchetto Bg7 weakens the dark squares. Just Nf3 and O-O per engine seems reasonable and Black will have to cede something.

Edo, Ne7 is just a very bad and passive development. After 3.Bd3 usually our next moves are 4.Ne2 and 5.0-0 
But after 3…Ne7 we can even play 4.Nf3, as after 4…de4 5.Be4 there isn't Nf6. 

Mating Matador K+2P pawn race mate

Noticed this one was absent even though it's common. Was this because it's in the endgame and thus covered (to be covered) in pawn endings?

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Tactic Ninja

I have finished the Tactic Ninja course as always it was great experience. I also completed the Epilogue section ( Step 1 & 2). Now i am planning to do 10-15 mins daily practice with the course as suggested . My question is should i go through by section wise or I will only work with the Quiz part ?

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I would just work with the quiz first. See how fast you can finish the 777 problems… It is a good way to refresh your memory or even to warm up before your blitz session…

Mating matador, remembered this game

Thanks for mating matador course, nice to repeat the basics, just finished it and remembered one game shown to me long time ago about unavoidable mate. Can treat it like an exercise or just watch the game, white to move https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1673496

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Closed sicilian classical OTB game, analysis

Continuing the games from Lithuanian chess league (team event), next I played vs 2230 elo guy. He surprised me a bit with closed sicilian - was expecting Grand Prix from him and didnt remember chessmood variation :) as this was second game of the day and had little time to prepare. So here's my 6th round game. Any suggestions welcome https://www.chess.com/a/MJ6PXkb8ZT2S

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Thanks for sharing your game, only suggestion i would like to give is that, as i like bishop pair :D I wouldn't take Bf3 rather than that i think it was a good game, good luck for next games :)

Caro Qc7 line vs GM, OTB

And here's my final 7th round game from Lithuanian chess league team ch. Played vs 3GMs and other strong players on 1st board for the team. Gained 17 rating points :) In the game early draw was agreed, as it was beneficial for my team, but the last position is slight edge for white imo. Wanted to thank chessmood for this caro Bd3 variation, cause when prepared vs Qc7 line, black has to watch out :D https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/2pBBSESERU

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Thanks for sharing these games in our lines, played on a high level

Good job, congratulations :)

How to play in "Racing..."

I wanted to play GM in "Racing from 1200...". I clicked on "Join Event" which allowed me to view the stream, but how do I play in it?

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This event is not for playing in it. The GM plays against random people that are on chess.com at that moment and they are paired trough Chess.com system. During this event you should compare your knowledge of the variations with the GM, see how we plays with our openings, the plans etc. You can ask questions related to the games too. 

There are other events were you will have the chance to play with a GM, but this is not one them. ??

Doubt not answered

Sir pls may I get the complete variation Full variation to the question I have asked.. for black.. for c4 london system.. What if he plays london system with c4 instead of c3.. Delaying c3.. For eg d4 Nf6 Bf4 g6 e3 d6 Nf3 Bg7 h3 O-O and then he plays c4 instead of c3. And then After tht I need to know how to continue for black if he plays c4 followed by Nc3 or Nbd2. This was the question.

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https://chessmood.com/blog/tv-concept-in-chess

Be2 Grand Prix

I mentioned this a while back that we don't have anything on 2. Be2 (and for that matter Be2 at other points after Nc3 f4 Nf3 Be2 which is occasionally seen and the retreat there from Bb5).

Well GingerGM now has a Chessable course on it, so we're likely to see it a bit more.

Is it worth a small section in the beating anti Sicilian course like the more common 2. Bc4?

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Hi David,

Had a classical OTB game last year vs a ~1800 guy who played exclusively with 2.Be2 vs sicilian and in preparation wondered what to play. Ultimately decided to go with Sielecki chessable recommendation from his Magnus sicilian repertoire course, also Plichta recommended this line as well.

The game went like this:

1.e4 c5

2.Be2 Nc6

3.f4 d5! (important move)

4.d3 e6

5.Nf3 Bd6 (typical bishop placement vs this line it will go to c7 and black is ready to go f6)

6.0-0 Nge7 (6..f6!? already could be played here, but I had nice trap in mind)

7.e5 Bc7

8.c3 0-0 (setting a trap)

9.d4? (smth other should be played but black is more than fine already) cxd4

10.cxd4 Nf5 and d4 falls due to Bb6 tactic at the end

So I think this early d5 with e6 and Bd6-c7,Nge7 with upcoming f6 is great way to fight for black vs this reversed dutch system

Hi David,

As you know we cover the main or little less important lines, but instead of Be2 white can make other super-passive moves and up to my opinion it's not really worthy to cover in the courses.

Just try to learn our main ideas against Sicilian sidelines and you will be able to deal with a lot of moves like 2.Be2.

I had one of these in long play last week and didn't deal with it effectively. My opponent must have took pity and resigned in an equal position with chances and me with 5 minutes on the clock (15 seconds increment) and him with tons of time - don't do this even if it looks like you've lost a pawn (he could regain it)! https://lichess.org/PpIT60H6/black After the game I checked what Ris had to say in his anti-sicilians book and he gives the line 1. e4 c5 2. Be2 Nc6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 d5 5. d3 Nf6 (i.e. leaving Bh6 as an option which happens in all given lines) where Black needs to know one or two ideas, but White gets no better than equality. The stem game is Kapnisis - Christiansen 2020 In my game 7... d5 was necessary and e5 was not to be worried about as Ng4 f6 is fine for Black giving a small advantage.

New Website

Hello Champions, 

do you enjoy our new website??

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Nice update! Thanks for any work you did!!

Somehow I can't change the profile picture. I think I registered a login by connecting to a Facebook account, and now the profile pic isn't downloaded from there, and I can't change with an upload of a new one either. There is no option to change the profile pic at all. Thanks for your work on the website.

Once I checked everything and understood how the different pages work, I must say that it is better than the old one. Chessmood is growing, getting new courses, helping us grow!

I don't know if it has to do with the new website, but since the change I no longer get MoodCoins for solving the daily puzzle.

Yes Susanna -- I had replied to the initial tab wanting feedback. I got a very polite email asking me for clarification on my points. Unfortunately I managed to delete it --sorry about that. So in an effort to be correspondingly polite this is what I would have said in reply. Whilst liking the new website I thought that the old 'back to courses' box should be retained as this was IMO easier that back arrowing . I also commented that the landing page with the pic of the two GM's was visually fresh & modern but you had to know or figure out yourself that the courses/forum etc were accessible through the 'Learn' function drop down. However, in truth it is easy to comprehend this and for those familiar with the site no problem at all. But a new comer to Pro-Membership would have to guess to navigate the site. Once again just minor procedural stuff. Good job overall and a nice platform for the future ?

No Reply

Hi I sent a query several days ago via the contact link. I've had no reply. Can someone please respond to me?

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That's strange. I will let the people from support about this. Thanks for reaching out.

I asked our support team and they could not answer your question without Avetik, and Avetik was off for several days in a very well reserved holidays. They will get back to you or tomorrow at the latest, when they do, let me know here please and I will delete this thread. 

Thank you vey much!

Study plan

Sir could u pls implement a study plan for all the Pro members regardless of their subscription plans.. Because I get confused where to start and how to start. Just finished crushing D4 sidelines..One more doubt is you ask us to play e4 and we study that and from black side we have to face french and viceversa.. how to combat that.. same case is for the sicilian defence..Which I have to start first.. Secured First place in an online tournament using ur techniques.. only from black side. I have to start with e4 openings. Its tough I know since i am a D4 player changed from london system to catalan...

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If you are starting with Chessmood and your rating is not over 1800, we normally recommend to start with:

1. Tactics Ninja
2. Mating Matador
3. Opening principles
4. Whitemood and Blackmood openings
5. From here depending on your opening knowledge, you should work on middlegame courses and endgames, that depends.

If you already are playing other openings for White, first start with the black openings, and some middlegame courses, no need to change everything right away. 

How to cope the problem I will probably face

I am playing a tournament with time controls (the first time I am playing a tournament with time control !) and I am increasing my rating by 150+ (from 1650 to 1800+) . Today it will be over But I am playing a GM tmt next month which does not have any time control. In this tmt (time:90m+30s inc +30min for 40 moves) after move 20-25 my time was less than 20mins but since I will get 30min extra after 40 moves it was no problem. But this GM tmt only GM games will have time control. How to cope this problem since if I get 20mins> for the rest of the game it will be a problem?

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I believe that regarding time trouble, the following seminars by Avetik might be very useful to you, please check them out.

https://chessmood.com/search?search=time

Monthly subscription

Hi sir I subscribed my chessmood on March1st for 29 dollars. Will it be the same amount I have to pay on April or is it 49 dollars.. Pls guide me. I posted a question yesterday I havent got reply for that..

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Would probably be better to use the contact us link at the bottom of the page to discuss the terms of your membership. If you became pro before the website change then you get to keep that rate.

I informed the support team but you should contact the user support team for any inquiries regarding memberships.

Please use https://chessmood.com/contact to send your request.

Thank you very much!

French Attack -- A Few Issues

Hi -- I'm a long term French player and I think some of these lines give me a better structure than some of the lines I learnt from Simon Williams . However there are a couple of lines where clarification would be useful or even a fix !! # Advanced ( Dream Variation) e4 e6 : d4 d5 : e5 Bd7 : c3 a6 : Qb3 . I think an early c3 is seen quite often and nullifies the Bd7/a6/Bb5 tactic. I see nothing better than to play a previous c5 and go mainstream ? Though that is OK. # Tarrasch (Nc6) e4 e6 :d4 d5 : Nd2 Nc6 : Bb5 d/e ? : Bxc6+ b/c : Ne4 . Despite the 2 bishops IMO this looks awful for Black . Isolated double backward c pawns and b3+c4 can close off a bishop on a6 etc.

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Our French expert Avetik will take a look at your question in a week. He is on holidays for a week, in the meanwhile I hope that some members can show their opinion. The French Attack does not go deep intentionally, Avetik is working in the advanced version, and there everything will be covered. 

@ Keven Holton # Tarrasch (Nc6) e4 e6 :d4 d5 : Nd2 Nc6 : Bb5 d/e ? : Bxc6+ b/c : Ne4 . The potential activity of the Black pieces especially the unopposed light-squared Bishop is a more important factor than the broken pawn structure in the above position. As a general rule dynamic factors such as piece activity more often than not outweigh static ones like a bad pawn structure. # Advanced ( Dream Variation) e4 e6 : d4 d5 : e5 Bd7 : c3 a6 : Qb3 . In the above variation you prevent for the moment Black's strategic idea of trading light squared Bishops, however the cost was too high and after c5 White's Queen turns out to be misplaced since capturing the pawn on b7 is too dangerous following Nc6 intending Na5 trapping the White Queen. In the Advance French White's main strategic aim is to avoid too many piece exchanges and consolidate his space advantage on the kingside and in the center, and Qb3 while well intentioned positionally fails for the tactical reasons mentioned.

@ Keven The difference between the Grand Prix example you gave and the Tarrasch French position under consideration, is that in the former case the position remains somewhat closed and Black's uncontested light-squared bishop has much less active prospects because White's pawn structure (d3 and e4) restricts it. In the French position we are looking at White's pawn is already committed to d4 and not d3 and the center is a lot more open, meaning that without a light-squared bishop White's light squares will be very weak and hard to defend in the long run, in addition, having to cope with those chronic light-squared weaknesses means that it is unlikely that you will be able to organize any sufficiently active play in the ensuing middlegame. The inability to organize reliably active play or counter-play and instead being doomed to passivity is always a bad sign strategically and should be avoided.

Full screen

Hi ChessMood Team, My problem is that since you changed website, I can not play any of the videos in full screen. Can you help with this? thanks -Kamel

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Hi Kamel Did you try and click the right square at the bottom of the screen?

It might help if you say what operating system and web browser you're using.

Well, you should try with another navigator like Firefox, the microsoft one, etc. or reinstall your Chrome, maybe you have some extension that blocks it. This it is not happening with any other user, the problem must be on your side, try different browsers…

Move order change

HOW DO WE KNOW IF HE PLAYS d4 Nf6 and then Nf3 which system will white play london or trompowsky we dont know if its london we have to fianchetto and in trompowsky its immediate d5 what do we have to do if he plays Nf3 followed by Bg5 instead of immediate Bg5..

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Note you don't need to post to both channels. The pro channel gets looked at by the GMs the main channel is for those who aren't pro members. Personally I think they should be topics where main is a topic for asking about free courses and memberships and the rest is pro, but that's how it is now.

We fianchetto after 2.Nf3 and there are many transpositions possible. Not just Bg5, there are many more. 3.Bg5 is the Torre opening which it is still not included in the d4 sidelines course, but it will be soon.

By the way Sreenath> one question=one post. Just post one question in the Promember channel if you are a promember, otherwise I have to delete the extra posts. 

BlackMood opening files

Hi all, In the BlackMood opening course I am not able to find the homework and pdf files . can anyone please send me the link Thank You in advance

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Hello, I think they are waiting the course to be finished (inclusion of the Dutch Attack) before adding PGNs & homework ?

Little question about a possibile study plan

My goal is to became a FM in 3/4 years. I'm 1300 Elo fide My study play is based on 6/7 hours every week. 1 day a week I'm at the club and I play my training game against my training partner (long time + after self analysis with Fritz) In the other sections (1h, more or less, for 4 day) I have some topics to cover: -tacticts (30 Min, tacticts ninja course); -middlegame (30 Min, 1 classical game in Chessmood); -endgame (30 Min, I have my endgame technique book, cover 1600-2200 Elo) -Opening part, I have already cover all Chessmood course in the opening and I have my own PNG file that I improve, every time I noticed something is missing (30 Min); In total Eight sections of training - 30 minutes - : 4x30 min (tactict), 2x30 Min (middlegame), 1x30 (endgame), 1x30 (opening). I need some advice!!! is it ok?

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Have you had your 1-1 call with a GM yet? If not, this sounds like exactly the sort of thing to discuss.

Since you didn't get much feedback I will add my 2 cents. Overall it sounds good. Is it safe to assume you also play online regularly as well? A few online blitz or rapid games each week would balance things out nicely. My only other suggestion would be to throw in a session of chess.com's Puzzle Rush every 2nd week. It's fun so good for motivation, and is also useful tactics training.

Hello Alessio,

Overall sounds doable, though I would put more attention in Middlegame mastery courses, as well bit increasing quantity of Tactics course you are doing. 
In my opinion that would be a good optimal time distribution.
One personal note: I don't recommend too much use of engine while analyzing the game, machines analysis below 2100-2200, in my opinion, can bring more damage than the value, may be only to check blunders?

Good luck!
 

Grand prix with e6,Nc6-d4,Nge7 game vs GM, questions

Hi again! Another game from the weekend OTB classical in Lithuanian chess league. Also vs GM (I'm playing on 1st board in our amateur team lol). This time got surprised in the opening and forgot that I could play with d4 after Nge7. I think this line with e6,Nc6-d4, Nge7-c6 is quite good for black. In the course it was recommended to play with g3 if I'm not mistaken kinda like closed sicilian and I got a decent position out of the opening, just went nuts later :) How you guys play against this setup? Txs!

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Btw, I believe 3.Nf3 is an interesting move cause if 3..Nc6 4.Bb5 we transpose to 2..Nc6 3.Bb5 line? The problem with 3.Nf3 afaik is 3..a6 and now white can go for open sicilian or 4.g3 line

Hi Paulius,

I believe no need to castle long as it looks dangerous, I would have played short side castle with regular ideas as white. QB6 looks bit strange to me.