How to Contact

Hey, how do we get in contact with the grandmasters? I am looking to potentially purchase lessons and/or opening files.

Replies

You can contact CM support via https://chessmood.com/contact and you usually get an answer within 24 hours - CM support then can either help you or reach out to the GM's

Alternatively you can also write to [email protected]😀 . It is the same thing, but maybe is easier to write an email directly.😁

Maroczy Bind - Missing diagrams

Hi, was just reading the intro to the course (https://chessmood.com/course/maroczy-bind) and noticed no diagrams where is stated: Below are some positions from the course:

Replies

Thanks for reporting this. We'll fix it asap.😅

World Chess Plc ?

I got an email that they were looking to float on the London Stock Exchange. Never heard of them. Anyone know anything about this company? https://www.investegate.co.uk/world-chess-plc/rns/intention-to-float/202210130700047170C/ NB. Not interested in investing, just never heard of the company before.

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This is the group that runs the FOA (FIDE Online Arena) and also is opening a Chess store/cafe/place to play in Berlin. They have been around for a while and were even the organizers of two of the World Championship matches (I think around 2016-ish.) If you pay a small annual fee, you do have the possibility of gaining FOA Titles (ACM, AFM, AIM, AGM) that FIDE recognizes and places an "attachment" page on your FIDE profile page that shows those titles if you achieve them. (Similar to how the USCF has online ratings as well as their OTB ratings.)

How to Handle Painful Blunders

Hey Champions! 
We have this topic in our Blog.
https://chessmood.com/blog/how-to-handle-painful-blunders
If you have any questions, comments or you just liked it, feel free to share your thoughts here :) 

Replies

If we keep the Right Mood during the game, we'll not blunder right?, because Right Mood = Right Move

Sometimes blunders are painful but we can't give up. Rather than that we must find forced moves check, capture, threat to create counter attack or draw the game. We can use chessmood saving position course.

Losing streak in OTB chess

Hello guys, Can anyone with some large chess experience tell me if you already had during your chess career long losing streaks in OTB chess and how did you do to overcome them? My doubt is about regaining confidence, chess psychology during the games and so on. Thank you guys, and I wait for your stories and how you did to overcome.

Replies

How are you losing these games? If there is a pattern you can maybe focus on working on that problem. Myself I have problems with concentrating and boardvision, costing me some games or at least costing me some good moves. Going trough the blunderproof course again for that reason, to regain focus and get some help with that.

Opening level

How far Ican use these chess opening, Can I become IM or atleast FM? Or upto what raing level I could beat easily?

Replies

The advanced openings can be used into GM. Beating someone easily is far more than just the opening.

Accelerated dragon

Is there any drawback for playing the move order 1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 with black? I read this is the so called "hyper-accelerated dragon" does it transpose or can white get an advantage for this choice?

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The chessmood recommendation is 2...Nc6, allowing the Rossolimo with 3.Bb5 which is playable from both sides. 2...g6 avoids having to deal with the Rossolimo, but it gives White 2 other good options: White can play 3.c3, which is a somewhat annoying option for Black and even more annoying and difficult to play for Black is 3.d4, cxd4 4.Qxd4, Nf6 5.Nc3, Nc6 6.Qa4!

Other than mentioned before, a question would be why are you avoiding it? If it's to avoid the maroczy, then you're going to need to either get it anyway or need to find other replies for different move orders, although it will be the most common sequence at below master. If it's to avoid the accelerated proper (not sure if you can do that) or accelerated sidelines, then consider the sidelines you do pick up with this move order. Another option is to consider the sveshnikov for example (which keeps many of the deviations the same), but that will have more complex positions, and only advisable for stronger players.

new chessable course btw https://www.chessable.com/lifetime-repertoires-hyper-accelerated-dragon/course/131928/ watched the intro and found interesting move order to avoid maroczy 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6!? 5.Nc3 Nc6 and we're in acc dragon, what do you guys think?

French Attack question

I had a game this evening as black and played French Attack. After 1.e4, e6; 2.d4, d5; 3.e5, Bd7; my opponent played 4.g3, and then fianchettoed his bishop, which ruined my plan to trade the light squared bishops. I don find anything in the BlackMood course about this variation, so it must not be good, but in a blitz game I could figure out how to deal with it. Any suggestions?

Replies

Yes, as you said is not a critical move at all. You can just go c5, Nc6 as usual, or wait with Ne7, Nf5 and then go to the QS and play healthy moves. We cannot follow one plan always, we need to adapt.😀

NEW ARTICLE: The Difference that Makes the Difference

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I am  committed to my goals. I work more than 7 hrs daily on my skills and I am improving this is what you also told me so I am also in never give up company. You know my story. I wanted to learn chess and finally I found you and Iam happy for that. I also carefully followed your study plan and I feel the difference in my games. I think i rarely missed any live stream. I like live streams instead of recordings because in live streams its fun to see why my moves are wrong and right. I also spent whole nights whenever saint louis grand chess tour events come online because they show a lot lines and variations which are popular at high level.

Final word. You turned a failure like me into a winner and I am winning a lot and all credit goes to you and your courses. I will never quit and I will become a 2000 in one year and this will be my first milestone and the final goal will be to achieve the title GM. It's gonna be tough but I will be like a diamond so it wont be possible for a normal metal to break me!

I am committed to learn how to play unmaterialistic chess and maybe now or then play something that contains some beauty. The rating is not principal for me but I am committed to improve my game and get rid of bad habits.

Once again, Maestro Avetik hits the nail on the head. Nothing is gained by what has been described by a British GM (commenting on amateur study habits) as "reading and nodding". Improvement requires blood, sweat and tears. No pain, no gain.  Clichés? Perhaps,  but also self-evident truths. 

Much appreciating all the work being done by our maestro Avetik: excellent courses & streams! Looking forward to participating in any upcoming webinars and other events!

I also believe leaving incomplete pgn drafts, rather than complete analysis files, is really helpful. I have put in extra hours to create full files, but that extra work pays off.  

By the way , meastro Avetik., I practiced Hung Gar Kung Fu for several years. You may be familiar with that style.

Chessmood family, ¡un abrazo desde México! 

Really another excellent article !! Specially i would like to mention this paragraph " People that are interested in chess play blitz games for 4 hours a day whereas committed people play for 1 hour a day and then spend time reviewing their games." through which you can easily differentiate serious & non serious chess players & also give right path to be better chess player.

GM Avetik, After gone through this article i can say you are not only successful GM.You are also a successful life coach.

Great article! It opens my eyes even wider. Now I will surely, committedly, find more time in my schedules for my dreams. I am waiting eagerly for my exams to finish so I can give my 200% to my dreams. Now I have quite less time for chess but after the exams, no one gotta stop me!!!

Thankyou so much for this articel! It really inspired me to continue pursuing my goal in Chess. Im already motivated and I therefore read and solve puzzles in a Series of chessbooks I ve collected.☺️Your article was spot on. Olso a reminder that I should reach out for others when I feel I go nowhere!????????Finally, yes I am committed!????☕️

Commitment is no joke :)

Hello guys,

This article is very positive, but let's be realistic. How to fully commit when you are a working person and want to improve? Should I quit my job and fully commit to chess? I don't think so, but if I did I think I would achieve FM more easily, but chess doesnt put food on my table. That's why it's so hard to improve beyond 2000 rating imo, esp for adult improvers.

I can dedicate 3 hours max per day, more on weekends. Imo this is minimum to keep my playing form, but recently even though I train hard, the rapid and blitz rating went down. And about classical - I was almost +40 after 2 tournaments (won vs IM and stuff), but just losing 2 games vs ~1900 rating and I lost all this hard-earned rating. Chess is brutal this way.

My goal is modest for this level - to become an FM. I feel it can be done one day. I don't dream about GM. I've been hanging around 2100-2200 elo rating for 10 years. You can call it plateau.  Max I had was 2260, very close to FM, but not quite, went down -100 after that. I feel that my knowledge, openings, understanding are superb compared to years ago. Yet still I stay at the same level.

Any advice for this situation? Txs

One can say one is interested in whatever one wants, but doing the work is commitment.

Blumenfeld countergambit

For ELO 2100+ is Blumenfeld countergambit good option? I am playing NimzoIndian, but opponent can ply 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 (instead of Nc3, so skipping Nimzo Indian). There is one game in Classical attacking games course that follows 3...c5 4.d5 and b5. I have never seen this before. Is it playable? Is it good options for ELO 2000 and 2100+?

Replies

I tried it a few times, but for my taste I dont like the line with Bg5 where white doesnt accept the gambit and plays in kinda good modern benoni version. Another thing there is this e4 sac idea for white in some accepted lines which breaks the center which I don't like. Still with some analysis I'm sure for this level most of the stuff is playable if you invest some time for preparation.

1.b4

Do you have some video on 1.b4 (Polish/Sokolsky opening)? I play the main line (with e5-Bb4). I have faced this opening multiple times and locally have one player who regularly plays this opening.

Replies

https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-channel/sokolskypolish-opening

let me share some of my pgn, perhaps it's certain 1900 latvian player? 😆

Here's also my game against that latvian player I meant from Riga 2022 rapid

Traveling, looking for offline engine

I've got a new gig and it looks like I will be traveling a lot and I wont have the luxury of stable connection all the time. I prefer to play on my computer, as it has a bigger screen than my smartphone. Is anyone here using any sort of chess engine as a partner?

Replies

Friend of mine told me about this piece of software: https://www.filiphofer.com/ I haven't tried it myself, but heard that it is pretty good. You can give a shot their free version and see for yourself.😀👍

You could try the Tarrasch Chess GUI which comes with a few different engines. http://www.triplehappy.com/

Arena for which you can download additional engines.

Thanks for the replies everyone, I've decided to stick with https://www.filiphofer.com/ It checks all of my boxes and has a simple, sleek design. Thank you Karl for recommending it, I'm looking forward to using it daily.

Mobile app

Hello 👋 are there any plans for ChessMood mobile app? If you already host videos on Vimeo (for example), they have a product called VimeoOTT that has already built a mobile app (https://vimeo.com/ott). Best, Faik.

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The best games of January, 2023, and the prizes

Hello ChessMood family, hello champions and future champions! 
Welcome to the "Best games of January, 2023" 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 December, 2022:

Praful chess
Keep Cool
Vladimir Bugayev
Rubic Cubik
Andreas Sym

Replies

https://www.chess.com/game/live/66480140219 I am posting this again here because it is a January's game but I can delete the post if sir did check the game in last month's post.

[Event "Live Chess"] [Site "Chess.com"] [Date "2023.01.04"] [Round "-"] [White "BagnaCauda96"] [Black "playe4"] [Result "0-1"] [CurrentPosition "r1bqr1k1/ppp2ppR/4p3/6N1/3P1n2/1BP5/P4PPP/R5K1 b - -"] [Timezone "UTC"] [ECO "D31"] [ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Queens-Gambit-Declined-Queens-Knight-Variation"] [UTCDate "2023.01.04"] [UTCTime "14:25:05"] [WhiteElo "1141"] [BlackElo "1126"] [TimeControl "300"] [Termination "playe4 won by resignation"] [StartTime "14:25:05"] [EndDate "2023.01.04"] [EndTime "14:27:02"] [Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/66581443227"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 dxc4 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bxc4 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 Nxe4 8. Qc2 Nf6 9. Bg5 O-O 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Bb3 h6 12. Rfe1 hxg5 13. Nxg5 Re8 14. Re3 Nf8 15. Rh3 Ng6 16. Qd3 Nf4 17. Qh7+ Nxh7 18. Rxh7 {

Game may have continued...} (18. Rxh7 Qxg5 19. g3 Kxh7 20. Kf1 Nh3 21. Ke2 Qf5 22. f3 {-19.6}) 0-1

Let me start my January game collection: Grand Prix stuff, nice combo at the end https://www.chess.com/game/live/66597838687 Another GP (from titled tuesday) funny game, though ended in a perpetual https://www.chess.com/game/live/67716218957 GP a6, my interpretation (Nd5 sac bam!) https://lichess.org/ax75szb0QOf2 Trying out the bishop opening: https://www.chess.com/game/live/67377116715 Caro Bd3 in titled tuesday https://www.chess.com/game/live/67712410465 Game from OTB rapid tournament 10+5 vs ~2250 player ("just the usual day in the office of Bd3 caro" :)

https://lichess.org/study/xejALumO I played very interesting game in exchange Caro-Kann, which went all the way to the endgame. With best regards Petrosian64

[White "Arnav"] [Black "Gupta"] [Result "1-0"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Bd3 Nc6 4. c3 e5 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. O-O exd4 7. exd5 Qxd5 8. Re1+ Nge7 9. Be4 Qd7 10. cxd4 O-O-O 11. Be3 f5 12. Bc2 g5 13. Bxg5 Rg8 14. Bf6 Bg7 15. Bb3 Bxf6 16. Be6 Qxe6 17. Rxe6 Nxd4 18. Qa4 Bxf3 19. Nd2 Bxg2 20. f3 Nxe6 21. Qc4 Bd4+ 22. Qxd4 Nxd4 1-0

Dear CM family, happy new year. a quick scotch [White "Mamarmar"] [Black "S-E-Chess-Club"] [Result "1-0"] [UTCDate "2023.01.05"] [UTCTime "16:19:24"] [WhiteElo "1977"] [BlackElo "2449"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "180+2"] [ECO "C45"] [Opening "Scotch Game: Potter Variation"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "lichess.org"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nb3 { C45 Scotch Game: Potter Variation } Bb6 6. Nc3 d6 7. Qe2 Be6 8. Be3 Bxe3 9. Qxe3 Nge7 10. O-O-O Qd7 11. h3 O-O 12. Nc5 Qc8 13. Nd3 Ne5 14. Nxe5 dxe5 15. Be2 Rd8 16. Kb1 Rxd1+ 17. Rxd1 Nc6 18. Nd5 Bxd5 19. exd5 Ne7 20. Qxe5 Qd7 21. c4 Re8 22. Qh5 Ng6 23. Bd3 Qe7 24. Qf5 Qe5 25. g3 Qxf5 26. Bxf5 Re5 27. Bxg6 hxg6 28. Kc2 Re2+ 29. Rd2 Re4 30. Kd3 Re7 31. Re2 Rd7 32. Re8+ Kh7 33. Ra8 a6 34. Ra7 c6 35. Kd4 cxd5 36. cxd5 Kh6 37. f4 g5 38. f5 g6 39. f6 g4 40. h4 g5 41. Ra8 gxh4 42. gxh4 Kg6 43. Ke5 Rc7 44. Rg8+ Kh7 45. Rg7+ Kh8 46. Rxg4 Rc1 47. Rb4 Re1+ 48. Kd6 Re8 49. Rxb7 Rd8+ 50. Rd7 Rg8 51. Ke7 Rg4 52. Rd8+ Kh7 53. Kxf7 Rxh4 54. Rg8 Rf4 55. Rg7+ Kh8 56. Kg6 Rg4+ 57. Kf5 Rh4 58. Ke6 Rh6 59. d6 a5 60. d7 Rxf6+ 61. Kxf6 { Black resigns. } 1-0

Beat a player almost 150 points above me using Dutch Attack!

Got lucky in the end https://lichess.org/Zvq1oV8Z/white

I am Black in this game. I played a nice queen sacrifice for an attack.

An easy game from our French adv variation. Opponent tried to start like 1.e4 e6 2.f4 (like King's gambit) but made easy for our line. https://lichess.org/lvdrhZj7/black

Final round game, showing that the Sicilian and KI can be related.

power of sicilian accelerated dragon: won in 17 moves. It's really rare for black to win so quickly from what I've been playing (transitioned from French Defense since I'm 2300 elo). Really love how sicilian can fight for initiative so quickly, even though my opponent did blunder :P https://www.chess.com/game/live/66727798585

2300 vs 2300 (my opponent is a NM) - Grand Prix vs sicilian I blundered early on, lost my rook, but following SLP principles, went for the king, and managed to win! https://www.chess.com/game/live/66810687607

Using the ChessMood advanced section (Accelerated Dragon 7.Nxc6 with Bd4 - 10. Bc4 variation where we accept the sacrifice) to win a beautiful game against a 2258! I'm confident you can use this as a model game for this variation, Lichess suggests I played with 96% accuracy and 24 average centipawn loss :D [Event "Cracovia A"] [Site "Krakow"] [Date "2022.12.30"] [Round "4.27"] [White "Trybus, Daniel"] [Black "Safar, Sandro"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B34"] [WhiteElo "2258"] [BlackElo "2179"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceDate "2021.12.11"] [TimeControl "6000+860"] [WhiteClock "1:02:31"] [BlackClock "0:48:48"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Be3 Bg7 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. e5 Ng8 9. Bd4 Qa5 10. Bc4 Bxe5 11. O-O Nh6 12. Re1 f6 13. Kh1 Rb8 14. Bb3 Nf5 15. Bxe5 fxe5 16. Qe2 d6 17. Rad1 Rb4 18. a3 Rd4 19. Qf3 Bd7 20. g4 Rf4 21. Qd3 Nd4 22. h3 Nxb3 23. cxb3 O-O 24. Ne4 Be6 25. Re3 Bd5 26. f3 Qb6 27. b4 Kg7 28. Kg2 Bxe4 29. Rxe4 Rxf3 30. Qxf3 Rxf3 31. Kxf3 Kf6 32. Rc4 d5 33. Rc5 e4+ 34. Ke2 Qc7 35. Rf1+ Ke6 36. b5 Qh2+ 37. Rf2 Qxh3 38. Rxc6+ Ke5 39. Rc7 Qd3+ 40. Ke1 e3 41. Rfc2 e6 42. a4 Qe4 43. b3 Qxg4 44. Rxa7 Qg1+ 45. Ke2 Qg2+ 46. Rb7 0-1

King in the center https://www.chess.com/live/game/66944397091

Rook blunder/sacrifice in Scandinavian https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/66967806539?tab=review

An interesting draw https://lichess.org/WwKRRm4DdyRS

The destruction of King's Indian defence in otb game. (3rd league in Slovakia) Verbovsky (2064) - Valko (1897) https://lichess.org/PDhZCt8O I'm white, of course :)

French, played on chess universe: Player04549903-Fandorine 5 min game 1. d4 e6 2. e4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bd7 6. Be2 f6 7. O-O fxe5 8. dxe5 Qc7 9. Bb5 Nge7 10. Bf4 Ng6 11. Bxc6 Bxc6 12. Bg3 Be7 13. Na3 O-O 14. Nc2 Nf4 15. Ne3 Rad8 16. Ng4 d4 17. cxd4 Nxg2 18. Kxg2 Bxf3+ 19. Kg1 Bxd1 Black wins 17..Nxg2!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/67076471097 Checkmate with en passant:-)

https://www.chess.com/live/game/67077655999 Cooperative pieces:-)

https://www.chess.com/game/live/67019536047 Win on 15 moves by quick attack.

Never allow a Queen/Bishop battery! https://www.chess.com/live/game/67091956377

https://www.chess.com/live/game/67115546395 Fast and the furious:-)

https://lichess.org/0gb2w6kq/ Sicilian !

https://www.chess.com/live/game/67160996433 This game is like a knot:--)!!!!!

Scotch game: https://lichess.org/iH0nCAJg

Just got one 2220 fide player with the french attack https://lichess.org/Jg1qEeHI/black

One of my first wins with the stonewall https://lichess.org/ou4zUktO/black

https://www.chess.com/live/game/67249820995 One of my best checkmates :-)

https://www.chess.com/live/game/67252871011 One of my best checkmates ever:-) part 2

Wild french exchange https://www.chess.com/live/game/67272032587

Pretty cool tactics in a closed Sicilian :D

Hello. Here is a nice game I played against GM Ginger. I forgot the precise theory (e5! instead of d3) but got a nice Chessmood attack in the spirit of the repertoire. https://www.chess.com/game/live/67342271271

Scotch miniature https://www.chess.com/live/game/67434172411

Trying an old gambit I used to play, still effective :-) https://www.chess.com/live/game/67440816625

nice attack after Bxh3 https://www.chess.com/live/game/67453466303

Four queen moves in the opening, while the opponent manages to misdevelop a rook and bishop.

the right way to exploit a isolated queen's pawn! https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/57BUy9m41k?tab=analysis

combining attacking and positional resources to win a game! https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/3oKqwd7i5U?tab=analysis

an intense game https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/3dWcvckvTQ?tab=analysis

[Event "Intersting sacrifices game: Discovered attack"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/GM6Yj6zL/dMGGSu3h"] [Result "*"] [UTCDate "2022.12.04"] [UTCTime "03:24:01"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "D06"] [Opening "Queen's Gambit Declined: Austrian Defense"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/kartheeshvar"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c5 3. dxc5 Qa5+ (3... dxc4 4. Qxd8+ Kxd8 5. Nc3) 4. Nc3 (4. Bd2 dxc4 5. Nc3) 4... dxc4 5. Bf4 Qxc5 { [%csl Gc3] } 6. Nd5 { [%csl Gc7][%cal Gd5c7] } 6... Na6 (6... Nf6 7. Nc7+ Qxc7 8. Bxc7 Nc6) (6... Nd7 7. Nc7+ Kd8) 7. e4 e6 { [%cal Gd5c3,Gd5e3] } 8. Ne3 (8. Nc3 Nf6 9. Qa4+) 8... c3 9. Rc1 Qb4 10. Rxc3 (10. bxc3 Qxe4 11. Bb5+ Ke7 12. Bd6+ Kf6 (12... Kd8 13. Bxf8+ Kc7 (13... Qd5 14. Nxd5 exd5 (14... Bd7 15. Bxd7 Kxd7 16. Nf6+ Kc8 (16... Kc7 17. Qd7+ Kb6 18. Rb1+ Ka5 19. Qb5#))) 14. Qd6#)) 10... Qxb2 11. Rc2 Bb4+ 12. Ke2 Qa3 13. Nc4 Qa4 14. Nd6+ Bxd6 (14... Kf8 15. Rxc8+ Ke7 (15... Rxc8 16. Qxa4)) (14... Kd8 15. Rxc8+ Kd7 16. Qxa4+ Ke7 17. Qd7+ (17. Rxa8) 17... Kf6) (14... Ke7 15. Rc7+ Nxc7 16. Qxa4 Bxd6 17. Bxd6+ Kxd6 18. Nf3 Bd7 19. Ke1 (19. Qd4+ Ke7 20. Ne5) 19... Nf6 20. Bd3 Ke7 21. Ke2 Rhe8 22. Re1 Kf8 23. Kf1 Kg8 24. Kg1 Rf8 25. Rf1) 15. Rxc8+ Rxc8 16. Qxa4+ Ke7 17. Bxd6+ Kxd6 18. Ke1 Rc1+ 19. Ke2 Rc8 20. Nf3 Ke7 21. Ke3 Nc5 22. Qb4 { [%cal Gb4d6] } 22... Nf6 23. e5 (23. Bd3 Rhd8 24. Rd1 { [%cal Gd1d8] }) (23. Kd2 Nxe4+ 24. Kd1 (24. Ke1 Rhd8 25. Be2 Ke8)) *

[Event "ICC 90 30"] [Site "Internet Chess Club"] [Date "2023.01.12"] [Round "-"] [White "amicusUK"] [Black "Amburn"] [Result "1-0"] [ICCResult "Black resigns"] [WhiteElo "1867"] [BlackElo "1845"] [Opening "French: Schlechter variation"] [ECO "C01"] [NIC "FR.01"] [Time "13:59:38"] [PlyCount "47"] [TimeControl "5400+30"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Bd3 dxe4 4. Bxe4 Nf6 5. Bf3 Nbd7 6. Ne2 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. Nbc3 e5 9. Be3 Re8 10. Ng3 exd4 11. Bxd4 Ne5 12. Re1 Nfg4 13. Nce4 Nxf3+ 14. Qxf3 Ne5 15. Qc3 f6 16. f4 Bb4 17. Qxb4 Nc6 18. Qa4 b5 19. Nxf6+ gxf6 20. Qb3+ Kg7 21. Bxf6+ Kxf6 22. Nh5+ Kg6 23. Rxe8 Qxe8 24. Qg3+ {Black resigns} 1-0

French Exchange variation and mate "beautiful" Gabuzyan style. Watching his streams is helpful! https://lichess.org/RzWWwOOnGy5o

Another closed Sicilian, this time in a 60min+30s tournament game against a ~2000 rated player. Thanks for the preparation 😉

2300 vs 2600 - Dutch Attack ! https://www.chess.com/game/live/67759921489 Still works like a charm :)

Hello ChessMood family ! Here is a 5+3 Blitz game, 1435 vs 1459. I've followed the recommendations of the WhiteMood Repertoire starter course against the Philidor Defense and it worked. The destruction of the short caste was a pleasure :) https://lichess.org/zZW4evIOkHQ1

https://www.chess.com/live/game/67851668675 When time "is enough":-)

https://lichess.org/zjR1z0yIWn6j Very attacking game!

CM Scotch https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/68011417887?tab=review

A nice game although it was a London ! https://lichess.org/study/OOJMQKf0

https://lichess.org/study/xejALumO Hello, I played very nice game in 2...e6 sicilian as white, game ended with very nice tactic. Petrosian64

https://lichess.org/BHyDHgwI/white#1 a miniature in grand prix

Chessmood Rossolimo variation against french GM Jean Noel Riff https://www.chess.com/game/live/68160175329?username=jncool68 Game analysis in spanish: https://youtu.be/ocold36Y9ng

https://www.chess.com/live/game/68196209191 Nice:-)

https://www.chess.com/live/game/68209272083 Nice:-) part 2

I was black in this game. A crazy game in the Queen's Gambit.

Absolutely horrible middlegame by me, but then channeling my full SLP potential :D I know its nothing compared to other games this month, but if I can SLP, anyone can ;)

The ultimate power of the Bishop pair ✨🐘 https://www.chess.com/game/live/68740536873

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/68818907813?tab=review My opponent has made a very big blunder, but after that my attack was very nice with sacrificing a rook and a bishop.

After so long played chess. Misplayed a bit middlegame but still okay ending . https://lichess.org/j6hEqxKE2YEC cm concept of Bxc6 !

https://www.chess.com/live/game/68886168089 2 knights and a cowboy rook ,:-), Cooperation checkmate 😂

https://www.chess.com/live/game/68887300411 1 knight and a cowboy rook,:-) Cooperation checkmate part 2.

Easy Win: https://lichess.org/UnCRx7to/white#0

After studying the French Attack this month I played this game and I was pretty happy about this one. Thanks to Avetik's plan. I usually do not post but I thought this time I'll share with you guys. Thanks

Last month GM Gabuzyan mentioned that there weren't many black games, so for this month I decided to send black games only... In the process I understood why there were not many black games. The prices go to fancy games with sacrifices and with black pieces you are mainly defending! Nonetheless, I stayed with my plan though and here are my best black games! This was a tough month for me (during Christmas I lost around 300 elo points) but yet I think I won all my games against Morra Gambit, so i decided to include a couple of them: https://www.chess.com/game/live/66506029707 https://www.chess.com/game/live/66643807771 This one started as an open Sicilian but transposed to Morra as well: https://www.chess.com/game/live/67644760009 Here I had a little combination in the end: https://www.chess.com/game/live/66649227129 And one game against 1.d4 (where I was hoping for a windmill but my opponent didn't allowed it): https://www.chess.com/game/live/68286780801 In most of these games my accuracy was high but, in order for White to lose some serious mistakes must take place, which lowers the level of the game, of course.

As White, I checkmated my opponent's king on g4 on the 22nd move 😀 : https://www.chess.com/game/live/69005436705

Like to add one game played against Sicilian line. Opponent can't have any time to attack the White. https://lichess.org/jhXthUha

A game I played last week in a tournament on the Faroe Islands against the caro kann. even though my opponent was unrated but I was struggling. However I liked how I maneuvered my pieces in the end . http://chess-results.com/partieSuche.aspx?lan=1&art=4&tnr=721662&rd=5 (Al-Jay, Zaid (1458) - Hansen, Hardi) please find this game from the list

In the first game, I was white. I really loved the knight manoeuvring. In the second game, I played black. The Fearless Warrior helped me a lot to improve my attacking style. The SLP method helped me a lot in the 3rd game.

https://www.chess.com/live/game/69145274805 Morning coffee,smoothie game,:-)

https://www.chess.com/live/game/69253693165 10 moves checkmate? ,:-)

Hello Champions!

How are you doing? Thank you for sharing your best games for this month. There were some real beauties in there and it was a joy to go through them!

Let’s move on to the prizes for the month of January 2023. 

The 1st prize goes to Sidharth Sreekumar. Fantastic execution of …b5 and …d5 breaks in the Sicilian Accelerated Dragon, and then the beautiful Queen sac with 17…Qxb5! Just amazing and well done!

https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=lLe18NzaxsGJVaanmejkGz968hjirMsdYLxBkkKTTgS7Av2UiPlzx4EeQbb6Dr+4

Vladimir Bugaev takes the 2nd prize. Starting an attack with 13.b4 and giving up an entire Rook was a bold choice. It was great to see how you kept the attack going after that. Very well done!

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/66967806539?tab=analysis

Zhong Kai Tan takes the 3rd prize. It’s very rare to see a Black King march to g5 to support the attack against the White King on g1, especially when Queens and Rooks are on the board. It’s a treat to watch when such things! Great work!

https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?p=lLe18NzaxsGJVaanmejkG6j3gdIszH9Cl7GKf5IwZvVf76VKEAqp1tAywKPgoosf

The 4th prize goes to Andreas Sym for checkmating the Black King on g1 in 17 moves. Yes! Black King on g1 in 17 moves! Thank you for the Greek gift! 

https://www.chess.com/game/live/67249820995

The 5th prize goes to Regis H for this masterpiece in the French Attack. Great game that shows how to punish the opponent for ignoring development, right from starting the attack with …Bxh3 to the cool and calm finish with Rg6+. Well done!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/67453466303

Congratulations to all of you.

And thank you once again to everyone for sharing your games.

It’s a great start to 2023, and we look forward to seeing many more of your victories! 

Keep the CoGro!

And we'll go over these games in today's live event with GM Gabuzyan. Come join the event as we enjoy the games and learn together! 
https://chessmood.com/event/games-of-chessmood-champions-6

[Feature request] Add a button to turn the puzzle in the video into interactvie chessboard

I am thinking about a very useful feature. When I watch the course, sometimes the GM will ask the audience pause and think. If there is a button that can turn the current chessboard into an interactive chessboard. It will be very helpful for us to think. The implementation should not be very hard given that the chessboard in the video is standard and there are plenty of existing tool to turn the picture into chessboard. This will be so cool to have it. ?

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I also think so.

Why do you need an interactive chessboard to think? Personally I find that I can think fine by pausing the video and looking at the picture of the chessboard. I do think there is value in providing a puzzle, so that we have to actually play a move on a board and can get graded as correct or not.

Not having an interactive chessboard during the course, forces you to practice your visualization skills, which is very useful. Anyway, there is also the quiz https://chessmood.com/quiz/the-tactic-ninja which has interactive chessboard, but i think is better to do the course without it first.

Opening Practice

Hello everybody, I have created a team on Lichess with the name Opening Practice, and I will host tournaments on it involving ChessMood Openings, the tournaments will be casual and the time control will be 15+10, lichess.org/team/opening-practice. See you in the tournaments!

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Hi Pratik I've just sent a request to join your group. It's an interesting idea. I hope you get support from our community.

And the tournaments will be 120 minutes (2 hours).

request sent ;)

Hello everyone, at which time are you suitable to join the tournaments?

Hello everyone, the first tournament will be on 3:30 IST on Lichess of 15+10, this will be of Scotch Game, It will be casual of 2 hours, good luck and see you in the tournament!

Hello everybody, I have a bonus for you all, https://lichess.org/study/erleazsT and https://lichess.org/study/rG7jCvip, these are my WhiteMood opening studies, which the team members can enjoy learning, these are from the WhiteMood Starter Course itself.

This is the link of the tournament: https://lichess.org/tournament/mpp61qR7

Enjoy!

The tournament has been rescheduled to 10:30 PM IST, https://lichess.org/tournament/mpp61qR7 this is the link.

Chess Mood courses available on other YouTube channels

I was just searching for a particular chess video at YouTube on the Sicilian Accelerated Dragon & the results returned an entry to a YouTube channel Chesscube, where the ChessMood course on Sicilian Accelerated Dragon & other courses are available. Is this right, ChessMood courses allowed to be accessed from other non ChessMood sites?

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I believe this was the one discovered before and they were looking at getting it taken down. Is this a new occurrence of it?

Avetik or someone from the Chessmood team, if you have problems with this, please reach out to me; I'm working at the company where we protect creator copyrights on YT.

Thanks for the feedback members! Any feedback from Chess Mood admin? My view, is this is not good or right & I would like to know why this site is still making Chess Mood courses freely available, presumably contravening copyright protections & making a mockery of Chess Mood?

Already contacted our technical staff regarding this again. Let's see what we can come up with. 

Faik, thanks for your help too. 😀I think Lily is in contact with you regarding your coaching, maybe she will ask you about this too. 😅

Yes, we opened a compaint in Youtube, long time ago, but so far no news. We will take further steps, thanks!💪

ChessMood courses now streaming on Twitch chess?! How is all ChessMood content available for free to non ChessMood members?

New course: In GM Avrukh's Mind

Champions, today, Grandmaster Boris Avrukh launches his 1st course on ChessMood! 🥳🥳🥳

Yes, it’s the same man who trained world-class players like Kramnik, Caruana, Nakamura and was once part of the world's top 50 players.💪
 

In the course, you’ll step inside his mind as he shares his best games and see: 

✅The thought process and decision-making of a world-class Grandmaster

✅How to play in dynamic positions, use initiative to create an attack, and finish off the game, from a Grandmaster famous for his dynamic play style.

✅GM Avrukh’s battle against world-class opponents like Sakaev, Harikrishna, Rublevsky and much more.
 

Ready to jump inside the mind of Grandmaster Boris Avrukh? You can start watching the brand new course here 👇
https://chessmood.com/course/boris-avrukh-best-games

Replies

Hello, can you please check the privacy settings on the video? I can access the course; however, I can't play videos. Exact message: Sorry Because of its privacy settings, this video cannot be played here. UPDATE: It looks something with my account is off, I can't access any video :) UPDATE 2: Thank you, David Flynn. It's something with my Chrome, as you pointed out, privacy settings. Brave browser is all good for me. Sorry for bothering everyone!

Might be useful to have a guide to the games in the text - that is what is special about each game. For example the first game is a masterclass on having the isolated pawn. This would make it easier to return to games of interest later relating to themes. Same point as well to the classical, attacking and endgame games as well.

I just watched the first game. Fantastic commentary and explanations of a very instructive game.

Lovin this course 👍, watched couple of games and every one has specific theme to learn like in classical ones! Also enjoying down to earth commentary and explaining why certain move was chosen without too many variations. Quality content as usual, thanks CM team and GM Avrukh!

A course that i wish it existed

I had this idea: a course that doesn't talk about how to play chess, but about why play chess. And the answer will not revolve around what scientific literature said in the matter (problem solving, impulse control, bla-bla) but instead it will talk about what chess has in common with other important things we encounter in our life. For example, i believe in a similarity between chess and music: melodies and rhythms are like the "tactical patterns", while the structural elements of the musical composition are the "strategy" Also i see a similarity between learning an opening and learning how to live in our society: you get a lot of instructions but at some point you have to make decisions on your own. Some materials are waterproof because they have a closed pawn structure. Today, in the middle of a crazy tactical combination that started a few years ago, i will play a quiet move that i believe will be the key of success. That quiet move is to stop drinking coffee for two days. I share this here hoping that people enjoy reading and maybe they can add other similarities or give their thoughts about my idea.

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It's interesting. Maybe the thoughts of multiple students could be collated and put into a blog article which later might become something else. With the idea of a beginner's course in the pipeline, encouraging people to try chess would be beneficial. Too many people dismiss chess, and a fair bit of the time it's down to not understanding the pleasure one gets from it (whether competitive, psychology or aesthetic).

Hi, last year I found that great article (and hearing story). What is chess (unfortunately only in German it seems). Perhaps some translators might help. Give it a try Thomas Glavinic (when you click on the link there is a text version) something like craziness with a method https://share.deutschlandradio.de/dlf-audiothek-audio-teilen.html?audio_id=dira_DLF_061b632b may be there is a good translation somewhere .. https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/wahnsinn-mit-methode-versuch-ueber-einen-unfassbaren-sport-100.html enjoy

Feedback on an advance French?

Hello, I did my best to analyze a game in the French advance I played poorly (as black) to understand where I went wrong. I hope some stronger players will take a look and give me some feedback! It was a 5+3 game on lichess, I am rated ~1600 there in blitz now. I have attempted to attach my analysis as PGN, first time posting (new to CM) so please understand if I made a mistake with the upload.

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Hi Pete, welcome to the family! 
I checked your opening in this game and you need to develop your pieces faster.

h6 is not necessary, if the Bishops are traded in such a closed position is not a big deal. Also Nf5 should be played earlier instead of c6 because no one is attacking your b5 pawn, no need to defend it yet. Give priority to pieces development, that would be my main advice. 

You should: 1) Develop your pieces, not pawns 2) General strategy - In French f6 (attacking center and pawn chain) sometimes is a good option for black, but after playing 9...h6 you would never have an option to play f6. Bg5 should not be a problem. 3) Very concrete - maybe there was an option to play early b4 (b4 cb Bb4) at some point as pawn on a3 is pinned