Chess forum by Grandmasters

WhiteMood Simplified openings // Playing against Sicilian // 6.d3 or 6.0-0

Hello everybody, I'm currently working on the white opening against Sicilian defense, simplified openings. I've downloaded the PGN and I've noticed that 6. can be 6.0-0 as 6.d3 depending of the lines...But with the same exact position before. I can't really find out why, could you explain ? Thanks a lot chess friends :)

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What do I play against 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nf3?

What do I play against 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nf3 - I can't find this covered in the benko nor in the english sections of the course?

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It's covered under the Maroczy as White will play Nc3 e4 or g3 after cxd4.

You play 3…cxd4 and will transpose to the Maroczy Bind or Modern Maroczy. In some cases there can be a transposition to the d4 sidelines later on, but almost everything that you need is in there. If you are an advanced player, we do recommend the Modern Maroczy Bind.😀

Quiz progress

The new quiz feature within the courses is great. Thanks chessmood. However there is still room for some improvements... Some diagrams are empty... Today, all my progress in interactive quiz is lost. Maybe between sessions... What do you guys think about adding some sound when moving the pieces or correct answer?

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It is a new function and there may be some mistake. We are working hard to improve it and fix any bugs.😅

Regarding the progress, sadly we had to reinitialize the counter but as I said, we are doing our best to make it work.  

I wouldn't mind some sound too.

hi, i would also strongly prefer not to having to drag the pieces all the way to the destination squares but just click on the piece and the destination square (like on i.e chessable). that dragging is an awful UX on bigger touch screens:/ cheers iris

How do I study classical games on my own?

The ChessMood classical game masterpieces are too expensive for me. So how do I study classical games on my own? Do I think about the moves and then check the annotations? I am a 2000 rated USCF player. (I know that all the courses are unlocked this week but I am in a tournament in this week and have very limited amounts of time since im playing chess. After my tournament is finished, then the unlocked courses will be locked...)

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My tournament's last round is at Feb 20th and I will have to study classical games at Feb 21th where the courses are locked.

I believe that this is the best way to study games:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5Tw1iNDfas&t=387s

I believe the best way to study classical games on your is by picking your chess player first, but my suggestion is not to study many modern top-level games, because even though you learn these new ideas those ideas will definitely be too advanced for 2000. Instead, I would recommend you study more ancient games such as Karpov, Botvinnik, etc. The best way to do that is to use ChessBase, save all the games you want to study, and do not use stockfish while you're looking at the game. During the game, you want to try to guess the next move played by the player, if you are right good! but if you are wrong try to figure out the idea of the move the player played. Good Luck on your journey!

Re: Must-Know Endgame Theory U2000

Dear ChessMood Family, The conclusion video for Section 15, Bishop and Knight checkmate is incorrect. It is a duplicate of the conclusion video for Section 17 Checkmate with 2 Knights?! An excellent course for the target audience, keep up the great work guys.

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Thanks Kevin D!!! 😍 Long time to hear from you! I hope you are doing well and keep practicing and improving a lot!

By the way, were you not supposed to publish a Chessable course? We are looking forward to it too! Any updates? Did you already published it under a pseudonym?😀

Fixed!💪

MUST READ ARTICLE ON SPACE REPETITION CHESSABLE

Impressive article by IM Junta Ikeda. I agree with absolutely everything. I thought that most of you will find this interesting too. Maybe we can still save someone. https://juntaikeda.substack.com/p/3-lifetime-repertoires-the-10-pitfalls

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I suspect that most people come to these sorts of conclusions eventually.

I don't think it's really a criticism of spaced repetition. He mentioned repetition is overrated, but that's about it [repetition is the most important memory technique though]. When you read what he writes it's not that repetition is overrated, it's repetition without context and continuous repetition of different lines (my interpretation) since he mentions then about getting it in your games which is repetition just by playing and happening to stumble upon the line (outside of training games). I also get a hefty dose of buyer's remorse given he performed badly in a tournament. He also states that just parroting lines to go into a dull position you don't understand is a problem, and yes I agree totally. However I often think there is too much criticism without any real effective alternative to dealing with the opening. Unfortunately it's a problem with chess in that there are plenty of not so playable lines or easy places to go wrong when you're up against a knowledgeable opponent, and some lines allow your opponent to be more familiar than you with it, especially when it's a rare line. [Maybe should be solved by letting players use a standard database - also a good way to teach that knowing everything won't help if the rest of your chess is poor] Point 2 'understanding why you play each move'. Do you really (honestly?) remember why you play each (and every) move (or even ~50% of them for that matter?) that is available to you when you play a game of chess in an opening line you might not have played against in the last 3 months?; Given there are thousands of moves even in the Chessmood repertoire let alone a Chessable lifetime GM one? I totally agree when it's something quite obvious, visible over the board if you think about it, or related to good healthy chess. However how often do you hear (and this are Chessmood issues singled out since it's easier to quote, though I think Chessmood does opening teaching better than other sources): . 'We play this move' - without any good reason why . 'We play this move to avoid "big theory"' - especially when the theory move is the most natural - how would you know over the board not to play that move because it'll lead to lots of positions you don't know . 'We play this move [because alternatives are refuted / concrete reasons]' - can you really refute that line over the board, or are you going to have to use your memory not to play an alternative? . no reason at all - it was just an arbitrary choice, preference or related to some GM or engine analysis / training that this move came out top With the examples above I think it's unreasonable to understand the ideas behind the moves or why you play each move. Sure the first 10 moves of say the mainline dragon are really good for ideas behind the moves (and usually the first few of any opening), but in such an opening that isn't going to help you much. To also avoid not offering a solution, I'd suggest this instead: . Understand the positions you play - there are far fewer positions than moves, and they are more unique than say Nf3 which appears in almost every line, as well as positions crop up in different openings and are part of your ability to play chess since themes like good/bad bishop etc pop up which can be trained in those positions helping crystalise knowledge gained from elsewhere. . Focus on the moves where - there is an obvious and clear mainline you can remember/understand especially to take your to your positions and/or it's concrete and tactical and/or where choices might lead to a set of positions you don't know. . Avoid openings that give your opponents plenty of choice, but you have to find exact moves, especially where your opponent will see it much more than you - that's just asking for it to go wrong.

Personally I like Space Repetition. But this of course depends on how you use it and how much time you spend. 1) I have 2 Life time repertoires bought in Chessable with white and 1 with black, as well as some specific Courses on openings I am interested in 2) I checked all my courses once/twice, but I do not come back to them so often now. It was a good start because I returned to chess after a long period of not playing and I wanted to have new repertoire. 3) These courses are especially useful for me when I am preparing against opponent - I just repeat all variations I need 4) I also come to Chessable when I am analysing online or OBT games. It is just Chessbase alternative in this case. 5) Additionally I have created my own PGN files where I added missing moves or alternatives, my own comments. I have converted some of them into my own private Chessable course. I have converted to private Chessable only those PGNs that are more or less done. 6) I am trying to understand moves. If I do not understand or I have additional candidate moves, I am using Lichess for analysis. 7) I am trying to spent time on other parts of chess not only openings Otherwise I agree with these: 1) You should not spent too much time on it (those XPs etc. never was motivation for me, so I come back to Chessable when I need) 2) It is true that sometimes especially with black I do not want to play the variations that are given because I want to outplay much lower rated opponent in more complex position 3) It is true that sometimes you need alternative to play against specific opponent or because you just have different mood 4) It is true that it is helpful to have more than one alternative in some positions (but anyway usually you have one main line with white and black) 4) It is true that there are a lot of non-critical variations in the course and you should not spent too much time on them 5) It is true that sometimes repertoire author doesn't describe all ideas and plans, but only moves. This could be problem, but if you add additional effort by yourself you can understand them better... Even just playing more and more helps you understand given lines better. The repertoire itself without playing is nothing. You remember better lines you face during practice. So Chessable for me is just another tool to supplement other ways of learning.

Question about Tactic Ninja : Section 12.9

Hi, I have a question regarding Tactic Ninja, Section 12.9 (See attached screenshot). Cant Black directly play Ng3? After White plays fxg3, black can play Qd3 with mate in the next move - Qh2? White doesnt have a way to prevent mate (or at least I dont see it. Of course, White could play e5 taking on black's pawn but after Black takes the queen on the next move, its mate again on Qh2 ?) Could you please explain? Thanks in advance and great job with the courses. I am enjoying it :) BR, Nanda

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Hi Nanda I presume you mean Qg3. After Qg3 white takes the other knight gxf3 and now black has no mating threat and white's queen can defend his king remaining lots of material up.

New article: Ostrich syndrome and the tale of 3 Grandmasters

Once upon a time, there were 3 GMs in their 20s with 2600+ Elo. 

One retired and became a coach. 

Out of the remaining 2, one’s Elo slipped below 2600, while the other’s Elo hit a high around 2700. Why did this happen?

You’ll find out in today’s article below. It’s a common difference between those who raise their rating and those who don’t ?

https://chessmood.com/blog/ostrich-syndrome
 

And with this, we’re restarting the tradition of publishing articles every Tuesday, which our students loved! Stay tuned for more! 

Enjoy ❤️

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I am currentoy playing the Sants Open, the strogest tournament un Barcelona. Today I played R5 and score my 2nd loss, so I am 2/5 which is not great considering I play on the B group. The other Game I Lost wss on R1. What they have on common? The fact is I feel a pressure before going to play and in R1 I reached 45min. late and today 30 something late. Whats the lesdon? Arrive a bit earlier than the starting time, relax, Focus and good things will happen to you. If you arrive late and play in a rush dont expect a nice outcome. ?

This biggest take away I got from this article is to be humble enough to admit ones' mistakes, because the easy thing to do is to blame others or our circumstances. I just realized that most of my games are lost because of laziness, and I can do a better job of giving more effort.

Definitely it takes courage to face my flaws... it's so painful! But I'm not gonna give up, ever - great ppl are great despite their flaws, not because they don't have them!

Can you get scholarships for you chess accomplishments?

eg. you be a GM when you are 15, so can you technically get a scholarship from Standford🤔 and go to Standford to study?

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I do not know exactly if Stanford has a program or not, but many american universities do and have scolarship programs. 

Just google it a bit and you will find out many places, like in the link below: https://chess-class.com/scholarships.html

😀

Model games for French

Are there any suggested model games for French, I have not found any suggestions. I would like to see some. I know there is database with many games, but maybe there are some suggestions for each section? Could be PGN or just surnames of players... :)

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New article: Weak Squares in Chess: Everything you need to know!

One of the things players between 800-2400 levels underestimate is the concept of weak squares. 
 

They often don’t grasp its importance and, as a result, fail to punish their opponent for creating weak squares.

Today we’ve released a detailed article on the same where you’ll see ?
 

✔️A simple method to identify weak squares.

✔️How to exploit them?

✔️How to create weak squares in your opponent’s camp when they don’t have any.

✔️What to do when you have weak squares?

…and much more! 
 

Read the article below, which covers everything you need to know about weak squares ?

https://chessmood.com/blog/weak-squares-in-chess
 

Enjoy ❤️

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This was a excellent article and very well written! Thank you GM Gabuzyan! Some weak squares from our openings that come to mind are the d5 square in maroczy bind structures. The d3 square in the Benko. The e5 square in the caro-kann exchange. The dark squares in the grand prix attack. These bite size positional articles sent by email are fantastic. Keep up the great work - Sarathi

?? Thank you GM Gabuzyan for sharing very instructive and insightful article !!

Thank you ChessMood for this fantastic article covering all the aspects of the weak squares. This simplified article shows the principle of weak squares and all players will easily understand this principle with concrete examples!

A suggestion

Hi chessmood! I notice that your courses does not teach us how to deal with the Bird Opening and those silly sidelines like 1.h4,1.a4,1.g4. Will those new courses about how to refute these openings be out within this few weeks or months ?😜 We will be waiting !!! P.S. thanks for spending your time reading my suggestion

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Of course, we will deal with the Bird (1.f4), maybe even the Grob (1.g4) in the future but I am sure that we will not do any course on 1.h4 and 1.a4. We cannot see any sense in doing it, just play normal ches following the main opening principles. 😀😀

I think you cannot prepare anything on h4-a4. The ones who play this move probably wants to play without opening preparation, so this would be purely improvisation and it is difficult to guess moves. Probably just normal development is enough here and then starts middle game :)

what is there to buy in the tactic ninja or endgame roadmap?

hi, I am a new member here, I am rated 1800 on lichess, and I was looking through some courses, and when I checked the tactic ninja, the lifetime access cost 400$, so I check out the unlocked parts, but all the parts were already unlocked, same case with endgame roadmap, 95$ even though everything is unlocked. what extra do I get if I do buy the courses? is it that I only have a limited time / limited number of videos in these courses unless I pay? is it a bug?

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Today and for 5 days all the courses are unlocked to celebrate our 5th anniversary. Enjoy. After these days, tou have to be a member or buy the course to have access to it 🙂

How to deal with Unbalanced Material ?

I recently played a game that on reflection made me realise that there is complete gap in my knowledge. I was playing Black and initally a Benko but via the e3 line I tried the CM version of the Blummenfeld Gambit . I was eager for an Avetik style King-side attack!! I got lots of development for my pawn but then my opponent ( higher graded than me ) sacked a knight for 2 pawns and play. So White had a good pawn structure and passed pawns on the Queen's side. They had 3 pawns against my knight and we both had other minor pieces and a rook. After various exchanged it was 5 pawns,bishop and knight v. my 2 pawns,bishop and 2 knights. . I simply didn't know how to handle this situation, that the computer afterwards had as equal and drifted to a loss. Are there any materials on the site that cover this ? For instance a big pawn majority .v. a piece etc . This lack of equilibrium is difficult without some sense of a technique to deal with it. Thanks Keven 😠

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Bird's Opening 1. f4

Hi, Is there a Black opening (or plans) on how to face 1. f4? Thank you

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I think that the CM-Team said that there will be a separate course against 1.f4. As a Sicilian player with Black I like to play 1...c5 and I transpose after 2.e4 with 2...d5 - or, more likely, after e.g. 2.Nf3 I continue with 2...Nf6 and a g6/Bg7 set-up

How to improve

Hi guys my name is Osborn from south Africa I just joined chessmood beginning of this month ,am not a pro member ,but on 29$ p.m plan. I am almost finishing watching tactic ninja series ,I can analyse the puzzles there but i find it hard to see them in live games ,I expected abit of improvement by far but its like I cant see these patterns in live games ,I wonder if anyone once went through this and how to overcome qnd improve ,my rating in chess.com is 936 on rapid my username is Osb111

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Practice Knowing intuitively what patterns to look for Looking for forcing moves: checks, captures, threats Looking at what your opponent just did (and what they are trying to do / threatening) Being able to calculate 2 or 3 (forcing) moves ahead (e.g. practise mates in 2 on lichess for example) Solving lots of simple puzzles

I will add a couple of things to what David said. I noticed that you're playing quite a lot of blitz at the 5+0 time control. That's probably a bit fast for your current level. I see you also play some 10+0 and I think you'll improve faster if you play more of that time control and less of 5+0. Try to review your games and look for any "obvious" mistakes that you made. Reducing the frequency of those will be your biggest source of rating points. If you play blitz, I would suggest 5+2 or 5+5. On chess.com they show up in the preset time controls if you select the "More Time Controls" option. Also there are many useful ChessMood blog posts about improving various aspects of your game. Be sure to check them out!

You should just concentrate on game. Try finding Tactics and in endgames best moves help and play only when you have mood as right Mood is equal to Right Move.

Practice, of course. But you can practice not only playing, but also solving. If you have chess.com membership you can solve unlimited Puzzle Rush or Tactics. If you do not have membership, you can use www.lichess.org and solve free puzzles there. You can start with Easy puzzles. Based on the time that is available for you - you can do puzzles before each playing session or just decrease number of blitz games, instead do puzzles.

I just started the course Blunderproof and i think it's full of good advices on how to develop a solid awareness and stay focused during the game.

Hi Osborn,

I was waiting a bit to publish the study plans and now you can check and follow the plan. We are sure that if you follow our advices, you will see a big change. 😀

Check them out and in some months, let us know your progress!!! 💪

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NyVJXCzrN6LoiJGZgUhkEeS5almcQbH8JzE2jJETBYA/edit

How do i spend my moodcoins?

It says that i can spend them on buying courses but i don't see where

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On the page of a video course, you should find an option in the top right that says "Get lifetime access". If you click on it, there should be several options regarding your payment method, one of which should be using moodcoins. 
(This is a quote from Peter M. that I am kindly copy and pasting once more, I hope that there are no royalties involved :-) Thanks Peter!)

Reti

Morning guys. Would anyone happen to have any suggestions against the reti opening?

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So I asked ChatGPT about a good response to the Reti opening... and basically, it said since the Reti is so flexible, Black can play anything. :) ``The Reti Opening (1.Nf3) is considered a flexible and aggressive opening for White, as it allows for many different responses and can lead to a wide range of pawn structures. There are several good responses for Black to consider when facing the Reti, and the choice of which one to play will depend on your preferred playing style and the type of pawn structure you wish to achieve. Here are some of the more popular responses: **d4 d5: The King's Pawn Game is a straightforward response that aims to establish a symmetrical pawn structure. ** c4 d5: The Queen's Pawn Game is similar to the King's Pawn Game, but it allows White to play d4 with the idea of c5 at a later stage. **Nc3: The Knight retreat is a flexible move that prepares d4 and allows White to control the center of the board with pieces rather than pawns. **g3: The King's Knight Opening is a solid choice that aims to establish a pawn chain on the kingside. **b3: The Bronstein-Larsen Opening is a slow, flexible move that prepares b4, and it is often used by players who prefer a strategic game. **Bg5: The Bishop's Opening is an aggressive choice that aims to control the center of the board and put pressure on Black's dark-squared bishop. It's worth noting that the Reti is a highly flexible opening and that Black has many options for how to respond. It's a good idea to spend some time studying different responses and understanding the pawn structures that they lead to in order to find the one that suits you best.

Many lines transpose to the English course by Gabuzyan as David explained. Or if you play the Dutch it is covered too via transposition…😀

Ethical vs dirty

When dirty is ethical and when it becomes unethical? In the Lost positions section "last chance & dirty" there are some tricks that I would call unethical. Personally I would never put my queen under attack on purpose just to hope that my opponent wont see. I can do this only online if time control is very low (like 3 minutes and below) but never over the board. (Never say never, but still )

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Not sure what your rating is, but I think you'd be surprised how often players don't look at their opponent's last move, or assume their opponent doesn't make terrible blunders. It's obviously a last ditch attempt, and works better in low time, or where the opponent is playing automatically because it's so easy and expects to win. Some opponents might not even capture suspecting something and not confident enough in their own calculation. If it turns out to be a move that gives you chances, then them not capturing is a great thing and you're back in the game. Not sure why you see this as unethical. It's certainly just as unethical as flagging your opponent when they were winning.

Why my lifetime lessons is disappearing?

I had bought 3 lessons with chessmood coins but only one lessons is granted for me to be lifetime.What happen to the other two?If you are asking for prove please check my chessmood coins and also the "ticks" for those lessons which prove that I finish them before already(many months ago i think). The lessons are: Counter the Czech Pirc Counter the Larsen Opening Colorado Gambit The Refutation (i still have the so-called lifetime access for this lesson only) *I never bought chessmood membership as well or watch these videos during the Avetik's birthday unlock.Please help me thanks

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Hi Ko Ko, please use the  
https://chessmood.com/contact

page for this kind of personal questions regarding your account and such.

If you prefer, you can also send an email to [email protected]

and explain your case. (Just copying and expanding a bit on the the above text will be enough.) 
Thanks! 😀