Chess forum by Grandmasters

Maroczy with g3 game vs GM, questions

Hi guys! Had a classical OTB game over the weekend in the Lithuanian chess league using chessmood repertoire against Maroczy g3. Seems like my GM opponent had very good preparation and I need Chessmood advice how I should have played after 12.Bd2, cause I believe white gets advantage in this line. Thank you for your suggestions.

Replies

12…Ne4 was explained in the course with  a question mark, in order for you not to play it. Not as an interesting move, After 12…Ne4? White has g4 as a strong move, you almost lose one piece because Qe5 is available but it is NOT our best option. This is explained  in the following video https://chessmood.com/course/maroczy-bind/episode/744 min 02´29

We continue with 12…h5 not allowing g4, then we will play the knight to e4 on the next move if allowed. You should take a look at the video again, refresh your ideas and instead of Qd7 play h5, as Avetik says: the strongest move in the position…?

You just mixed the line in your mind I believe, it happens to the best of us! Good luck next time!

(6... Na5 ) Why Not (8... Bxc3) for Black in The Grand Prix Attack?

In the following position after the moves 6... Na5 7. Bb3 Nxb3 8. axb3 (why doesn't black commonly play 8... Bxc3 here?) I was looking at the position and this is what I came up with, but would like to get feedback from others. My assessment: 

1. Even though white now is left with two sets of doubled pawns, black is going to have a hard time pushing pawns past whites pawns on b2,b3,c2,c3. 

2. Blacks dark squares on the kingside look weak now that black no longer has the dark square bishop (especially now that a line has been opened up for whites dark square bishop after 9. dxc3). 

3. Moves like e5 dxe5, fxe5 look particular troubling for black as now the f6 square is disputed (stopping black from playing Nf6 immediately). Also now the f-file is open for white rook + blacks king is still in the center.

Replies

You just answered yourself in this question… I do believe that the point 2 and 3 are the main reasons… Let's see if someone else has different opinions, but the Dark squares bishop is too important to give it away so soon without any good reason.

against caro kann

I have some questions from Grand Master Grarigorian A subject has occupied my mind First question: Why caro kann height counter videos A way to counter this series of movements against blacks Not said? e4 c6 d4 d5 to c.d. Fd3 Cc6 c3 Dc7 Ce2 Fg4 o-o e6 De1 Cf6 f3 Fh5 Dh4 Tg8 How does white continue now?

Replies

In the advanced section of the Caro kann course, we offer Bg5 instead of f3 because there are some nuances worth considering if you are a very high rated player. Please check them out here: https://chessmood.com/course/caro-kann-defence/episode/1050

? 

Talentless GM

I just wanted to ask the chessmood grandmasters team that whether talent is compulsory to become a gm?and garry kasparov also said that the greatest talent is the will to work hard,is that true?

Replies

I think that in Chessmood we all abide by Avetik's sincere opinion in the following blog post, where the talks about what is needed to become a gm, take a look at it and let us know what you think…

https://chessmood.com/blog/how-to-become-a-chess-grandmaster-is-it-easy

?

Hello, Please take a look at the reply of Chessmood Odysseus and read the article. Good luck!

I heard also that with hard work and have not an extraordinary talent, if you work very hard and in the right way, you can be a GM, that I believe was said by Lasker, he even talked about 10000 hours of effective study, but to be a super GM you need tons of talent for sure.? 

To me it's a bit of a meaningless question because, as far as I'm aware, there is no agreed upon definition of chess talent and certainly no agreed upon way to measure it. For most people, the most relevant question is what is a realistic goal for them. For people who've been stuck around a particular rating for a while, then I think a reasonable goal is to increase their rating by 100-200 points. If you achieve that goal quickly then great, make a new higher goal! For those already on a solid upwards trajectory a more ambitious goal may be warranted.

Diagonal corridor mate example 4 improvement

At 0:47 it says if Kf7 we will take the rook. Better is Qxh7+ mating next move. Also a couple of other issues I've noticed: Playing via mobile the board is now tiny unless you maximise it (and it annoying forgets for the next video). The running length of the Mating Matador course is incorrect at 5 mins.

Replies

Thanks for your feedback David, we will check it out.?

Qa4 in the Rossolimo c3 line

I faced the interesting and tricky, but perhaps not so good Qa4 in the Rossolimo 4. c3 line and then made a mess of it. The question is how better to proceed here. Qa4 is interesting because after a6 White doesn't need move or exchange the bishop until later as there is a pin and the rook isn't so useful on b8 unless Bxc6 is played and given Bf4 might later become a thing. So in this case is a strategy with an early e5 to restrict the centre preferable and when should e5 be preferred (I know sometimes it's taste) over d6 or d5 ideas? The game went 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. c3 Bg7 5. Qa4 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 Our move order would be 4.... Nf6 first so 5. Qa4 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 (tr) then 7... a6 just didn't prove useful since 8. d4 follows but there is cxd4 9. cxd4 Rb8 10. Bxc6 bxc6, White is slightly better according to the engine, but I can't help but think the centre and the development of the Bc8 bishop make it easier for White. Two other options here 7... e5 and try making d4 less useful Or the interesting 7... d6 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. Qxc6 Bd7 10. Qa6 Rb8 (intending Bb5) thoughts?

Replies

how to evaluate 1-2-3 options?

Hi GMs I have been a Pro member for more than -year. I am more stable in my play, but especially in the middle game, I run into a problem. I see and calculate different variations, but I have a very hard time to evaluate which move/variation to choose, when I look at my games using stockfish I can see that I end up chosing moves that change the situation from +0.7-+0.8 to -0,5 approx. HOW to learn "not to do it" - any thoghts? Reading? a course? greetings Erik JArlnaes, Denmark, rating 1970-1930-1980-1940-1960 etc

Replies

Do you discover the reason your choice was bad compared to the better options, and if so, is there a pattern such as giving the opponent key squares for example?

Hello Erik, Take a look at the great article of GM Noel Studer about how to evaluate the positions. Here is the link https://chessmood.com/blog/evaluate-chess-position Good luck!

You could try a book like Excelling at Chess Calculation by Jacob Aagaard (or GM Preparation series: Calculation where the exercises are more difficult but the techniques explained are the same). The author gives simple ideas that will assist you in focusing on the most important aspects of the position & talk about 8 calculation techniques. I'm 100% sure that you will find your answer in one of his books :)

The genius investor

With Black plays one of our investors! 
Try to find his genius move ?

Replies

1..Rxf3!! 2.Bxf3 Qh2+ 3.Kf1 Bg3! - +The key to the puzzle as now f2 is gone and now white cant take our bishop too. Nice position ?

Having read the previous posts, I was thinking of 1..Rxf3 2.Bxf3 Qh2+ 3.Kf1 b6 as an improved version of Vedant's solution, with the threat of 4...Ba6+ 5.Re2 Qxf2# or 5.Rd3 Bxd3+ 6.Qxd3 Qxf2#. But of course white gets to move after b6 and there are various options. For example 4.Rd3 Ba6 5.Bxg4 or maybe just 4.Bg2. Anyway, rather than try to solve all the various defences, it struck me that black can play 1...b6 and then the threat of Rxf3 etc is much more potent. I'm not sure that white has any good way of strengthening their king position after 1...b6. 2.Bf4 Bxf4 doesn't help white, and 2.e5 can be ignored as we just go 2...Rxf3 and follow our plan of Qh2+, Ba6+ etc.. And if they play something like Rd3 or Re2 we play Ba6 winning the exchange and we haven't sacrificed anything yet so should be a win. Probably most annoying is 2.b4 Ba6 3.b5 but I think just 3...cxb5 and they can't blockade our pawn so we can play b4 next and the threat is renewed. 1...b6 certainly is surprising, so I think it has a chance of being correct :-)

French Attack Pgn/Pdf

Hi Avetik and ChessMood family, I am a newly member and I am so happy to have found you guys. I am a beginner with one year under my belt but I improved very fast with constant studying 2hrs daily and increase my rating from 500 to 1300 on chess.com. Anyway, my question is I don't see the pgn from the blackmood opening. Specifically, the French Attack? Am I missing something? I have been transposing the variation on chessable but it is a lot of work and time. thanks again! K Btw, I am enjoying the courses very much! K Thanks Avetik and your team for all your hard work!

Replies

Well, we normally add the pgn for homework at the end of the course, when everything is complete, we never do it part by part. 

When we will upload the last sections of the course, we will upload the pgn for homework as we did with the Whitemood openings, but the lines in the pgn are not complete, you need to complete them after watching the course. This way you can check and see what you remember… ?

How to Work Thru Happy Pieces ?

Hi There. Im approx USCF 1400 (Lichess Blitz 1650) Im currently working thru Happy Pieces and have very much been enjoying it so far. At the beginning of each video I pause the video and do my best to solve the position. So far I've been getting about 50% of the problems correct (as far as predicting the first few moves). My questions are: 1. How deeply should I be calculating? Often when I get the correct answer, I see the first few moves (and calculate as deep as I can), but often do not go as deep as the solution. (Is this ok?) 2. When I get a problem wrong how should I respond? Should I review the ones I got wrong a later time? Or is the purpose of this video series to expose myself to new patterns and ways of thinking ? I definitely find myself especially struggling to find answers that aren't forcing moves (this is probably due to my experience with studying tactics)

Replies

Also how long should I spend thinking about the position before moving on to the solution?

At your rating I would suggest Tactic Ninja and Mating Matador first. Happy Pieces is more relevant for 1800+.

Hello Joseph,

We hear you, I asked Avetik and Gabuzyan to reply to you because you had the consultation with one of them. They will know more than anyone your case. 

But as a general rule, when working with any chess video or book, I would recommend you the following:

1. You should spend a maximum of 10 minutes (some people say 15) to find the solution to the problem, in a real game you cannot spend so much time normally, but it is a good advice. Always if possible, write it in a paper.
2. Try to see the whole combination, that's to say until you found a satisfactory solution, if you stop in between and you did not get the whole solution, do not worry, next time try to do it better. Step by step…
3. When I work with problems, I mark the problems that I do not get right. Most of the times with an screenshot since I found out that it is the fastest way. Then you can check the screenshots of every course if you classify them correctly and check them after a while, see if you still miss it.
4. The purpose of Happy Pieces is very clear, to teach you, to show you that piece development is one of the most important aspects of chess, this is basic and at the same time very difficult. It should be unconcious, but many times we start attacking without developing the pieces.
5. By seeing the positions and patterns played you will add new possibilites to your arsenal, and hopefully you will internalize the importance of piece development.
6. I would say that if you identify the piece worst placed and learn how to activate it effectively, it would be a huge achivement. Then the next step is to apply it in your games.

Hey Joseph! 
Interesting question. 
Odysseus answered very nice! 

I would not worry if I solve a position wrongly. You can't solve everything correctly :) If you did, you wouldn't need that course :) 
The most important thing will be to understand the solutions where you went wrong. Then you improve! 
The idea with screenshots is very good. 

Another thing I would do in your case, after finishing the course, I would go to quiz and try to solve them. 
If I fail solving 90% of them, I would rewatch the course and then solve the quiz again. 
Until I solve everything. And when I solve, I understand. 
And that's when I improve :) 
 

Grand Prix a6,e6 lines after b4 - Na4 or Ne2?

Hello CM! Since this has been asked in fb chat, I decided to create a topic for this question. So, the question is about grand prix sicilian a6-b5 lines where black usually goes b4. 2 distinct positions can arise with white having played already f4 or not 1st example 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.f4 a6 and then black goes for b5-b4 with later d5 2nd example 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 a6 3.g3 (we dont hurry with f4 yet) b5 and then b4 with d5 incoming. I played recently blitz game, though I won, should have went Ne2? https://www.chess.com/game/live/40242659747 Is Na4 ok in this case? How not to mix up those positions?

Replies

Hi! 
Na4 is always interesting option. 
When black starts with 2…a6, we could also play Ne2, as we had time for 0-0. 
In the 2nd case, the hybrid variation, we couldn't do it anymore. Because after de4,de4, we should take it back with the king. 
In your game is fine, because after 7…d5 you're in time to play 8.0-0. 

 

Torre

Hello! In the video about d4 sidelines is there going to be a section about the Torre system? (d4 Nf6 Nf3 g6 Bg5)

Replies

Hey! Of course! 
We'll play with Bg7, d6, and then h6,g5, Nh5, grabbing the dark-squared bishop. The same idea we used in London. 

Blackmood OP_exchange variation

Hi everyone, recently I began to play french because I want to have another resource against e4. I find some problem in exchange variation when my opponent use this idea: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Be2 Bg4 6. O-O Bd6 7. Nc3.. my opponent want to play Nb5 and take my good bishop! Now I have two choices: (a) leave it and play... Nge7 Nb5; or (b) Nf6 Nb5 Be7...In this variation my opponent can develop Bf4 and I don't have "pawn storm beacuse my N is in f6. should I change my plan and go to 0-0? because I didn't see a good position with 0-0-0 in this line ..7. Nc3

Replies

PGN Files

Dear,s I noticed that there is no PGN Files for the course #counter the english opening# Are you going to do PGN files for all openings/courses? Thanks, greetings

Replies

All pgns will be added to the courses when finished, I think that there are still some pgns in different courses that we have not yet finished to upload but we will do it soon. Thanks for the reminder!

Abhi left?

I recently remembered one of abhi's Very informative posts. While trying to search for it it said deleted user in place of abhi's name. I tried searching in lichess for his name. Account deleted. Does anyone know what happened to his chess journey?

Replies

Being Dangerous From the Opening

Hi, I am having a (to me) important OTB Tournament by the end of May, and I am trying to improve as much as I can toward that. I am a 1780 FIDE player who is regarded as being very tactically sharp, but a GM saw some of my games and told me "Al, you are too well behaved in the opening phase, you have to learn to be dangerous from the very beginning of a game". I became recently a pro-member thinking that the "100 Classical Masterpices" course was maybe what I needed, but I am thinking now that, timewise, maybe I would be better off following the "100 Classical Attacking Games" course. Any thoughts you would share with me about the former? PS. Highest rated players in that upcoming closed tourney are 1900 FIDE rated

Replies

You don't have to make a choice between the Chessmood courses, enjoy them all! If you look closer, you will see that the "100 Classical Attacking Games" is incomplete yet. So from now until your tournament, you can combine both courses by looking one game per day :) For the rest of your available time, you should watch some others courses from "Middlegame Mastery" (Happy Pieces, Speedboat Adventures, The Power of the Bishop Pair...) and work on your openings. If you didn't use it yet, you could use your 1-1 PRO Call to receive a study plan with one GM from Chessmood!

Hello Al, I support Akiba's answer that no need to choose since you can combine. As well our starter courses can be good kind of opening preparation and if you have more time you can try to follow the main repertoire as well! On top of this to strengthen your chess skills overall take a look at all of the courses in the middlegame mastery section! Good luck )

Blackmood openings - video 16

After ...Ne7 it is mentioned that Ne2-f4 can be countered by ...Bb5, exchanging the bishops. But what if White then plays Nf4-d3?

Replies

Just be happy that White keeps moving the same piece endlessly… :-) The knight from e2, to f4, to d3… 3 moves in a row with the same piece in the opening… You should use this time to develop and follow the normal plan… Did you watch the opening principles course? Piece development is paramount in the opening.

Now taking this into account, let me ask you Thomas Maes: What would you play as Black?

Hello Thomas, First of all, I would like to mention that when white knight goes to d3 our Bb5 will become a good piece overall, playing well on the diagonal. Also often after Nf4, we can pressure on d4 pawn with c5 moves as due to the absence of knight on f3 it can be weakened.

French Exchange (video 22) - when White is the first to attack (queenside)

Hello, I would like to continue discussing with you about GM Jesse Kraai's ideas on the French defense and how to counter some of the lines he suggests with White. On a Youtube video, he handles the French exchange like this: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.c3 Bd6 6.Bd3 Nge7 7.O-O Bg4 8.Nbd2 Qd7 9.Re1 O-O-O 10.b4 ... 11.Qa4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfXLB-XfXV8&t=201s) This is a response to video 22 (7:20). When I watched video 22, I immediately thought that White can come on the black king quite quickly using their initiative. I know the purpose of this Starter course is to draw the main lines and I guess this topic will be covered in the advanced course. That said, I was wondering if anyone had a game that illustrates how Black can defend while still pushing kingside.

Replies

when will the French/Dutch for black be published

Firstly congra with your new site!! I read somewhere that you will start courses for black on the the French and Dutch. When will this courses start/be published

Replies

The French is already published as part of the BlackMood Openings course: https://chessmood.com/course/blackmood-openings. From some of Avetik's comments in the course I got the impression that more advanced French material will eventually be added. I don't think the Dutch has been published yet.

We never provide exact dates but we are working on them. 

The French Attack, basic section has been uploaded in the Blackmood openings course.

The Dutch basic part will be published very soon too as part of the Blackmood openings course.

Then more advanced courses will follow. This is the plan.

In the French - BlackMood, isn't the 2nd option (video 6) a bit weak?

Greetings to all, I would like to discuss with you GM Jesse Kraai's ideas about the French Defense and how to counter some of the lines he suggests with White. GM Jesse Kraai tackles the variation that trades the light squared Bishop in video 6 - 2nd option of the Starter Course - BlackMood Openings with the following line: 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.a3 Bb5 7.b4 cxd4 8.Bxb5+ Qxb5 9.cxd4 The whole idea is to grab space on the queenside with the thematic pushed a3-b4 while Black sets up his exchange device. White's next move: 10.Nc3 develops with tempo. I have a feeling Black's plan isn't that effective. I am delighted to see that ChessMood recommends the 3rd option (video 8). I gladly make mine this surprising weapon!

Replies