Chess forum by Grandmasters

Team Championship Help Required

Helllo Everyone 
Dhansuh here
I recently participated in Karnataka State Dept. U -19 chess selection and scored 8.5/9 points,therefore winning the tournment 
This tournament is held as a selection of players for the National level event called SGFI[ School games Federation of India] where Top 5 players selected from Each states would be participating in a Team Championship[4vs4, 1 reserve player]
 As I won the tournament I am the CAPTAIN of the Karnataka Team which comprises of
 FIDE 2021
 FIDE 1936
 FIDE 1647 [MYSELF]
 FIDE 1480
 FIDE 1276 
The National tournament starts in a week or two I request your help on leading the team to its best on various factors like 
Team bonding
 Board order 
Preparation and Training 
Bringing the best out of ourselves
Playing in our best shape ever during the tournament 
As some of us are studying in Colleges and returned to chess after 1 year break, we are bit rusty but the tournaments are held within in a month which is good for us since we are in playing form

Our team would be placed anywhere between 4th to 10th in Starting rank of the Nationals
As per the information I received from teammate who played for Karnataka team last year and secured 4th place 
there were 6 rounds with time control of 60min+30 sec form move One Tournament would be held for 4 days with 1 rounds each on first and the last days and 2 rounds in other days 
There would be 30+ teams participating in the tournament 
It is likely going to take Place in Chennai,TamilNadu .The chess capital of India
As I have heard the players of Armenia team perform 100+ rating points when in a team tournament, I would like to know their secrets of their success In Team Events
Looking forward for the suggestions from our Coaches and fellow ChessMoodians
Thank you
Dhanush
 

Replies

Hi Dhanush,

I don't have the experience to be able to help with your queries but I just wanted to say ‘Well done’ on your recent success and ‘Good luck’ in the forthcoming tournament. 😀

Benko 5.Nc3

Hi, 

I am learning this variation right now.

After 5…axb5 6.e4 b4 7.Nb5 d6 8.Bf4 g5!! 9.Bxg5 Nxe4 10.Bf4 Qa5 is introduced. I like it very much, like in general this kind of chess.

In the video it is said, that there is more about it left for Pro members.

I don't see any more content. Will it be dealt with in the updated course?

Or am I missing something?

Thank you.

Replies

Hi Thomas,

Yes, Gabu has been working on the update of the course for a long time (simultaneously with other courses) but I'm positive that everything will be dully covered. 😀

Chessmood board theme on chessbase

I noticed the chessmood has a unique board theme they always use. Does anyone know how to format it on chessbase? I couldn't find the blue color in chessbase

Replies

Hi Riptide,

This is an exclusive board design taylor made for us, you will not find anywere else. 😀There is no way to replicate it succesfully, because there are textures in the squares and it would not look nice if you try to copy it… Sorry…😅

Cheating OTB

🤔

Hi. Two weeks ago I've been cheated in an OTB tournament. I file the guy but like he continue in the tournament after stealling my rating points, it was me who withdraw from the tourney.

I think it would be a good topic for an article about “how to face cheating OTB”, because online most of us had cheating experiences but online everything is so superficial tyhat  well, now we have V.Kramnik in chesscom posting a long thread of articles about cheating, where he proofs with stadistical data, that even strong GMs, +2600 and higher, they cheat online, at least when there is money (prizes) involved.

But my recent experience was in OTB, which frequency is much lower than online but much deeper since at the end you want to improve and understand better chess and there is no better platform for this than going OTB.

At the end as Grischuk stated in his stream, is not so about the rating or the money but the damage in your self-esteem, when a weaker player miniaturizes you and you are helpless. You begin to think that you yourself are the weaker player and doubts about your chess skills begin to assault you.  

Replies

Kramnik didn't prove anything!

Hi dear friend, How did they cheat on you OTB in a tournament? I guess it was in Barcelona where you live… Can you explain how you reached this conclusion? Thanks!😀

Any time that you see someone with a smartphone, just go to the arbiter right away. Hopefully next time it will not happen… Be strong my friend!😀

Is Stockfish always right?

Hi all,

Is the suggested Stockfish move always the ‘best’ move?  I don't doubt that it can consider far more possibilities (and far more quickly) than I can but it does leave me wondering sometimes even after I review the suggested lines.

For example, in the scenario pictured below Ng5 is flagged as a miss and dxe5 is suggested as the best move.  I made my chosen move because I had identified a fork on e6 - pawn, queen, rook, and bishop.  Was that really such a bad move? (Be gentle - I'm a beginner!)

Replies

Hello,

First of all, try reattaching the picture. Currently I cannot see it.

Stockfish dosent always pick the best moves, in some positions it can get tricked.

However, we are not looking for the best move, we look for the best PRACTICAL move.

A lot like during SLP, we give ourselves best practical chances.

Hope this helps!

Your pal, Armandas

Sorry, the link didn't appear to work.  Trying again:

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/93107572073?tab=review&move=24

Hi again!

Engines are not always right, but most of the time if you analyse your games, they are right. In the game you mentioned, dxe5 was a better move. If you don't know why the engine is right, you can ask someone. 

However, there are some examples where Stockfish isn't right:

In a completely lost position, because if both players keep making the best moves, the winning player will just easily win. So sometimes you will need to make the best practical move, the move that gives you the most chance to win/draw. Examples of these moves are: 

Setting up a trap.

Complicating the position by not exchanging pieces.

Attacking the king.

In a completely won position, because if your opponent has big chances to attack, simplifying the position would give you bigger chances to win. Stockfish is often easily able to defend, while humans are not. So if you are winning, stockfish sometimes suggests to complicate the position and get an even bigger advantage, while simplifying the position would increase your winning chances.

I found this nice article on this topic, so if you want to read more about it, you can do it here: https://chessmood.com/blog/why-you-should-not-trust-chess-engines-blindly 😃

I hope this helps you!

Have a look at the scale method course on the engine evaluation section.

7 Q Methods exaample 1

Hi coach 

In ex 1 7q methode almost at the end of the video you say that the plan is to play on King side where we are stronger by playing g4 h4 g5 h5…but if we go g5 1st then Nh5 comes from black and we can't go h5 anymore, I can't see how to move away that knight. Wouldn't be better to go g4 h4 h5 h6? Thank you in advance 

Replies

No answer?

Sorry Claudio, I completely missed your post.😅
Yes, you are right, Avetik just explained the typical moves but not in the best order possible. It should be as you suggest.

We are taking note of this. Thanks!!! 😃

Disconnections when losing

So, in my relatively short time playing online chess, I've already experienced 3 occasions where my opponent has disconnected (quite a high proportion from my small number of games played).  Each time I was ahead of my opponent - better development, more captured pieces, and moving in for the checkmate.  

Do people somehow consider disconnecting to be preferable to resigning?

Or am I seeing a pattern that isn't there and it's just a coincidence?

Replies

Hello,

Yeah, some people think if they “Disconnect” they didn't actually lose the game, as in they may have won if they played on. They consider it better for their ego. Hope this helps!

Your pal, Armandas

1 d4-Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 g3 what is the chessmood recommendation??

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O 

What should I play according to chessmood?

Replies

I think that you can go c5 before castling altough it sould transpose to your line too.😀

The tricky Shlechter Variation against French

Hi GM Avetik!

First a big thank for the amazing lines in the course.

In Section 4 - 5. …. Nbd7 Video 4. Nice checkmate we arrived at this position.

It's a winnig position for White but GM Avetik gave us here 15. Nh5 which is a big blunder cause 15. ….. Nf5 equalize and White can do nothing.

I think the correct way to continue should be something with 15. Qf6.

Replies

Yes, you are right, we will take note of this. Thanks!😃

Dealing with black and white sub-variants

Thanks to the wonderful team of chessmood coaches.

I had a request from great professors and prominent and powerful trainers.

Please make educational videos to deal with white sub-forms such as sub-movements. Because these moves are very annoying, especially in blitz, and I can't deal with the complications after that.
1. g4
1. g3
1. b4
1. f4
1. e3
1. a3
1.a4
1. h4
And ........

Please make educational videos for dealing with black sub-forms such as sub-movements. Because these moves are very annoying, especially in blitz, and I can't deal with the complications after that.

  e4 b6

e4 a6

e4 g5

e4 h6

e4 h5

e4 e5
Nf3 Bc5

Many thanks to the esteemed chessmood team

Replies

Catalanhakra,

Don't get me wrong but maybe you should ask your great professors and prominent and powerful trainers to explain you how to deal with this. 😀
Many of the moves are already explained if you had looked at our courses before asking and the ones that we are not comenting is because it is not necessary and knowing basic opening principles will be enough.

Hi I think it's not realistic to expect courses on all these very rare openings. These rare moves violate opening principles. You will meet them only very rarely in serious games.
It is also not practical to spend your limited time trying to learn these moves. It's not a good opportunity cost. I would spend my time learning to play proper openings, middlegame play, tactics etc instead.

Blunder can make your depression

😂

Hi today i play on blitz tour via lichess 7 round 

I have suffer blunder many round and losing .

This is my example my case and feeling during calculation

This game opponent is too low level 

After opponent play Qh4 

I stop and think he can check mate also white just played 2. g3 

black already hanging pieces rook and queen .

My variation on head 

A: 1.g3 … some where move queen 2. Nxh8 white is better a lot

B: i find other idea to make beautiful i want to trap queen and forget opponent checkmate .

So i decide play 1.Bf4 ? too stupid what i do in my life too shame!!

after moving ohhh shit losee

i think most player even GM case like me know the simple idea but find other idea also forget dangerous on a moment .

When i make blunder this is typical my case sometimes i shouting and want to destroy somethings .

How to recovery like this case? , I solved tactic routine or recovery playing a moment ?

Replies

Hello,

Blundering is very common in all of chess and it happens in all levels (yes even GM's blunder). So blundering doesn't mean you are a bad player, and that's why getting angry about it doesn't solve the problem. You rather should think why you made it and try to work on it. Also you don't have to immediatly collapse psychologically, you rather should try to save the game as hard as you can(ok unless you hang mate in wich case you lose).

If you want the chessmood advice on how to reduce blunders or how to recover from one take a look at these articles: https://chessmood.com/blog/stop-blunders-in-chess (how to reduce blunders)

https://chessmood.com/blog/slp-method-how-to-save-lost-positions (How to save a lost position)

Also you can study the courses in wich these topics are analyzed if you have access to them, the Blunderproof course on how to reduce blunders ( https://chessmood.com/course/blunderproof) and the SLP course on how to save a lost position (https://chessmood.com/course/blunderproof)

Hope this helps!

Thanks sir  i done about SLP course and i  tryplay SLP gambit for recovery for recovery mood 

Fine now ^_^

You identified the threat of mate in 1. Mate ends the game, so either your move needs to checkmate, check or prevent the mate (capture an attacker, defend, block, escape).

Aside from the mate, Bg5 would be great winning the queen. It's a pattern I bet you've seen before. The problem is making it on automatic because in some tactical puzzle it was the winning move (and the danger of such puzzles).

The brain is good at automatic association which linked that formation with a trapping move, the weakness is it can't easily see a second (weaker) association. Like an optical puzzle, once you see it one way it's hard to see another. For me the mate in 1 is far stronger than the queen trap.

That's experience I guess. Solving more mating puzzles will help.

However keeping the evaluation you made in your head while you look for moves is practice, and like already said we all make stupid blunders. Treat it as an opportunity to improve rather than something to get angry at.

A blunder check might help, but in blitz there usually isn't the time. However with such threats and pieces pointing at your king, you need to use more time here, and is part of time management. Possibly hints at a longer time control being beneficial.

Hi there, hope you're all safe and sound!

  Your move was not a blunder if that wasn't checkmate in one, your move could be a brilliant move then.

But, have you even tell yourself before making a move on the board: What's opponent next move? or: what will be the opponent's respond?

In the past, I was same as you, I was making a lot of blunders in my games.Then, I asked myself, What should I do to prevent this blunders?

Finally, I found the right answer: "Think well"=>"predict opponent's respond" => “make your move”!

with this tactic, I perfectly focus more on games and prevent more and more my blunders!

Thanks for reading!

A game of firsts

No serious questions in this post.  Just sharing developments in my fledging chess studies 😀

In a game that I played this afternoon I had two firsts - one good, one not so much!  

• Firstly, I got my first ‘Brilliant’ move in the Chess.com post-game analysis .  I'm sure that many of you get loads of these every game but for me this is a major achievement (I'm easily pleased!).  
• Secondly, as a consequence of taking more time to avoid blunders … I ran out of time!  Oh well, I'm sure that I'll get quicker with more experience.

How about you guys and girls?  Any firsts to share?  Or just general commentary on your development?

Replies

Congrats on your first Brilliant move! 🎉  

Even more advanced players don't get Brilliant moves very often, so that's definitely a sign of improvement!  😃

Do you play with an increment (e.g. 10 minutes + 5 seconds for each move), or without (e.g.10 minutes)? I would recommend playing with increment, because you will run out of time less often.

And as you already mentioned, you will get quicker by just playing more games. 😃

Update: I think the problem was tunnel vision

I made a point of visually sweeping the board and taking into account what every single piece was doing and I got back up to 900 from low 800s in the last few hours. 

Think I'm going to write out a list of things to consider before making a move and spend some time playing longer time controls with the list in my hand explicitly running through it before moving anything.

Replies

Sounds more to do with not seeing the right things. In chess you can't see everything, nor totally understand what's going on in many cases. Trying to break into individual components doesn't really help either because they can be combined in many ways. A sweep, list or blunder check can be a crutch to some extent, but it's more pattern recognition that is the issue here (noticing threats or simple tactics). Solving (simple) tactical puzzles will develop this.

The list will eventually become a calculation process, but the main points at your level are:

What did the opponent just do, and what if anything (especially tactical or mating) do they want (trying to answer why or positionally will unlikely be useful at this level).

What are the checks possible.

What are the captures possible.

And if the first two don't lead to anything, what are the threats (to simplify a move that attacks something for now).

Add in a bit of basic knowledge of well covered by the booster courses and you should see progression.

1 Nf3 C5 2 c3 what is the Chessmood way?

Hi Chessmood!

I played against a strange move 2 c3 cause Nb1 knight have problem to develope to c3 and controll d5.

I think black can play many different opening and setup. My question is what will chessmood do against it? What different openings can white and black play? my opponent talked about many different passive setup like Phillidor. 

Replies

against this particular setup I usually play like this: 1.Nf3 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.d4 Qc7 (just to defend the pawn) then develop KID style like g6, Bg7, 0-0, d6 maybe b6, Bb7 depends. I don't think white has very active setup (kinda London style) so there are many ways to play here

Hi Erik,

2.c3 itself is not a dangerous way of playing, you can choose several ideas.
I would recommend to follow opening principles - accordingly develope the pieces and fight for the center.
Setup recommended below by Paulius is very applicable.

The summarize s 2.c3 is not concrete at all and there are various option to continue. Keep the opening principles and fight for the center.

Best game Nov

[Event "Rated Blitz game"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/CNYq6eOn"]
[Date "2023.11.02"]
[White "yars995"]
[Black "TheIvke"]
[Result "1-0"]
[UTCDate "2023.11.02"]
[UTCTime "19:20:47"]
[WhiteElo "1960"]
[BlackElo "1942"]
[WhiteRatingDiff "+5"]
[BlackRatingDiff "-5"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[TimeControl "180+0"]
[ECO "B13"]
[Opening "Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation, Rubinstein Variation"]
[Termination "Normal"]
[Annotator "lichess.org"]

1. e4 { [%clk 0:03:00] } 1... c6 { [%clk 0:03:00] } 2. d4 { [%clk 0:02:58] } 2... d5 { [%clk 0:03:00] } 3. exd5 { [%clk 0:02:58] } 3... cxd5 { [%clk 0:03:00] } 4. Bd3 { [%clk 0:02:57] } 4... Nf6 { [%clk 0:02:59] } 5. c3 { [%clk 0:02:57] } 5... Nc6 { [%clk 0:02:59] } 6. Bf4 { [%clk 0:02:56] } { B13 Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation, Rubinstein Variation } 6... e6 { [%clk 0:02:58] } 7. Qe2 { [%clk 0:02:51] } 7... Bd6 { [%clk 0:02:57] } 8. Bxd6 { [%clk 0:02:49] } 8... Qxd6 { [%clk 0:02:57] } 9. Nf3 { [%clk 0:02:49] } 9... O-O { [%clk 0:02:56] } 10. Nbd2 { [%clk 0:02:48] } 10... Re8 { [%clk 0:02:55] } 11. Ne5 { [%clk 0:02:47] } 11... Qc7 { [%clk 0:02:48] } 12. f4 { [%clk 0:02:46] } 12... Nxe5 { [%clk 0:02:37] } 13. fxe5 { [%clk 0:02:45] } 13... Nd7 { [%clk 0:02:35] } 14. O-O { [%clk 0:02:43] } 14... Rf8 { [%clk 0:02:33] } 15. Rf3 { [%clk 0:02:42] } 15... Qb6 { [%clk 0:02:32] } 16. b3 { [%clk 0:02:38] } 16... Qc7 { [%clk 0:02:30] } 17. Rh3 { [%clk 0:02:36] } 17... h6 { [%clk 0:02:23] } 18. Qg4 { [%clk 0:02:30] } 18... f6 { [%clk 0:02:18] } 19. Rxh6 { [%clk 0:02:25] } 19... fxe5 { [%clk 0:02:11] } 20. Bh7+ { [%clk 0:02:23] } 20... Kf7 { [%clk 0:02:10] } 21. Qg6+ { [%clk 0:02:22] } 21... Ke7 { [%clk 0:02:09] } 22. Qxg7+ { [%clk 0:02:22] } 22... Rf7 { [%clk 0:02:05] } 23. Qg5+ { [%clk 0:02:20] } 23... Nf6 { [%clk 0:02:02] } 24. Rf1 { [%clk 0:02:12] } 24... exd4 { [%clk 0:01:52] } 25. Rhxf6 { [%clk 0:02:09] } 25... Rxf6 { [%clk 0:01:47] } 26. Qxf6+ { [%clk 0:02:07] } 26... Kd6 { [%clk 0:01:46] } 27. Bg6 { [%clk 0:01:56] } 27... Qxc3 { [%clk 0:01:40] } 28. Qf8+ { [%clk 0:01:50] } 28... Kc6 { [%clk 0:01:32] } 29. Be8+ { [%clk 0:01:47] } 29... Kb6 { [%clk 0:01:31] } 30. Qd6+ { [%clk 0:01:42] } 30... Ka5 { [%clk 0:01:26] } 31. b4+ { [%clk 0:01:38] } 31... Qxb4 { [%clk 0:01:24] } 32. Nb3+ { [%clk 0:01:37] } 32... Qxb3 { [%clk 0:01:20] } 33. axb3 { [%clk 0:01:35] } 33... b6 { [%clk 0:01:17] } 34. Ra1# { [%clk 0:01:33] } { White wins by checkmate. } 1-0

Replies

Hi Joseph,

I think you are looking for this thread:

https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/the-best-games-of-november-2023-and-the-prizes

I found this explanation of chess.com accuracy here: https://support.chess.com/article/1135-what-is-accuracy-in-analysis-how-is-it-measured

“Your Accuracy is a measurement of how closely you played to what the computer has determined to be the best possible play against your opponent's specific moves. The closer you are to 100, the closer you are to 'perfect' play, as determined by the engine.” 

Having a very different accuracy on games is not very rare. Some games have very complicated positions, while some games have very simple ones. If your opponent just does protect their pieces and you take them, you also often get a higher accuracy. So your accuracy doesn’t really represent your playing strength 😃. 

https://www.chess.com/game/live/90067235301

Put pressure on my opponent in the opening till he finally cracked and I got to play a beautiful move!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/90080973263

Got a better position with a monster Knight! Caused my opponent to make a mistake and converted the ending well for the most part!

I trapped my opponents queen in the center of the board and then went on to win on time while still having a very big advantage.

https://lichess.org/bYxKuOLb/black#50

https://www.chess.com/game/live/90084087943

The tricky Schlechter strikes again!
My 2300 rated opponent fell for the best trap in the entire variation!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/90084535211

After an opening fumble, never let go of the advantage!

https://lichess.org/nJzEJB5q/black#3

My First Rapid Game with the French Attack. I played not that great in the opening but I played a nice rook sacrifice at the end.

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/90115171093?tab=review&move=24
i went for a quick attack in the grand prix and my opponent did not reacted well with 10…h5 ?? It was almost over after fxg6 !!( +6 )  Leaving my Bc4 unprotected but after taking it , it’s mate in 4 ! My most successful quick attack with that opening ! 

https://www.chess.com/game/live/90140941281

After getting an almost lose position in the opening, I recover well to launch a massive attack!

https://lichess.org/WLw1cto7/white#61

My first time playing this line of the Sicilian, I am sure I made some mistakes but I am super happy with the mating attack at the end. I would not have seen this before but the Chessmood tactics and mating matador courses are “opening my eyes”.

https://lichess.org/znqnS1hvdboS

The Sicilian destroyed in 16 moves in a 15 minute rapid game. The killer move was 15 0-0-0

https://www.chess.com/live/game/90248474007

Crushing my opponent in 20 moves with three brilliant moves, sacrificing a knight, a rook and a bishop. 

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/87144561835?tab=review

My opponent didn't have enough time to counterstrike on the otherside which led to a devastating attack on the opponent's king

https://www.chess.com/game/live/90318559915

A good game with an even better ending. especially liked the Re7! distraction tactic and h4! completely paralysing his king!

One of my best bullet games:

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/90268299135?tab=review

Well, my opponent was not very strong but made me happy the accuracy which I played, some 93% for a 5+3 blitz. I am also not strong at all in blitz as you can see in my ratings. I believe I should play more but always I find another more interesting, for me, to do. 

Is not the pure Scotch but its gambit. I learnt the game following Morphy and the result is that even if I don't want to, I am a gambiteer.

 https://www.chess.com/game/live/90097832555

My opponent thought he had a tactic but I found a way to save the game and get a crushing attack. this was a 30+20 game

https://lichess.org/jhZGrGj3

Nxe4!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/90415131317

Played this in an OTB tournament last weekend.

My opponent blundered a pawn and I wait until I have a chance to get a bigger advantage. This was a 30+20 classical game

https://lichess.org/8aQxM948#91

My opponent just has one mistake missing a pawn blunder. 30+20 game
https://lichess.org/Trdxczye

Lots of running by the opponents king….

https://www.chess.com/game/live/90448244303

Using the Chessmood line against the Caro Kann:

https://lichess.org/U58upxlk

https://lichess.org/Mpm4Dmwi/black

Positional game where I outplayed my opponent.

https://www.chess.com/game/live/90578317699

I know, I know not the greatest example of tactics or attack. Missed several oportunities during the game but you have to admit, The end is Beautiful!

Bd7!!!! Completely crushing the spirits of my opponent!
Definitely one of the best moves played in my entire chess career

going for a mate in 10 with Rh8 when you can play for mate in 2 :-)

https://www.chess.com/live/game/90583846609

A daily in the Caro-Kann exchange with 4.Bd3. We both scored surprisingly high but his last move blundered a Knight so he resigned. 

https://www.chess.com/game/daily/569001831

https://www.chess.com/live/game/90598740461

sicilian

https://www.chess.com/game/live/90613877387

Scotch game prepared by Avetik :-)….won in 13 moves .

A nice game played in the Anti Sicilian with white: https://lichess.org/9TtF8RHsdEoA 😃😃😃

https://lichess.org/J6Jpx2jn/white

A brilliant queen trap in the anti Sicilian!!!!.It really shows how vicious the line is!!.no mistakes no blunders.Absolutely smashed my opponent in 20 moves with 94% accuracy.  

https://www.chess.com/game/live/90754138863

My NM opponent plays recklessly and gets punished! He tried some tricks but I evaded all of them successfully!

Scotch. Missed a quicker win with 24.Qh8, but still good attack

https://www.chess.com/live/game/90760197733

Punishing dubious play against the Sicilian with a really clean win.

https://lichess.org/fD8ITI6A/white#48

https://www.chess.com/game/live/90808147175

My love Benko Gambit

https://lichess.org/study/tiqODXZC/uWlaYP6T and https://lichess.org/study/tiqODXZC/cMXa6NDT

I blundered once (22.Qc7) but my opponent missed it and I played a beautiful attacking combination with Rxc4(!!) and Bxe4.

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/90589725877?tab=review&move=59

https://lichess.org/9PgYGV6o/black#48

Nice win in the Dutch stonewall, a few sacs thrown in to get a winning attack

https://lichess.org/2lkrgfIk#59

pretty nice game

https://lichess.org/QzG31pTi

made a mistake with c4, my opponent could play nxd4

https://lichess.org/dUd8Je2I/black

Fresh french attack

https://lichess.org/dhbWsrXV/white#1

SLP for the win

https://lichess.org/KR9smgVw/black

Massaging the sicilian

https://www.chess.com/live/game/91298333807

Fast win on the chessclub thanks to the ChessMood course Caro-Kann

GP sicilian good opening prep

https://lichess.org/S0zaJ5fTeeHE

Scotch Qh4

https://www.chess.com/live/game/91392549239

Attacking with the French! https://lichess.org/jjcs6jTkM9Vx

https://lichess.org/study/zKxQfRFq/1avn9sKo

https://lichess.org/toYv2FAPMFJo

A Dutch Stonewall where I slowly build up pressure on the queenside until my opponent finally cracks and lashes out

Very nice win in the French Attack!: https://lichess.org/nNV8HfdP 😀😀😀

Anti sicilian p. 2, good e5 pawn. 

https://lichess.org/rowYWE8v/white#57

Dutch attack

https://lichess.org/Xbc28IpI/black#62

Have a good we cm family.

https://www.chess.com/game/live/91557046357

very quick game :)

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/91561170299?tab=review&move=50

Quick win , with sacrificing a queen.

Chess4Life_1979 vs Adlet25: Bishop's Opening: Vienna Hybrid • lichess.org

A beautiful attack on the uncastled king starting with the exchange sacrifice on move 11 and then finishing the game with another exchange sacrifice on move 20.

https://www.chess.com/game/daily/564714905

Epic game that involved a knight sacrifice and pinning down opponent's king, knight, bishop and queen with only a queen and rook and forcing his resignation :)

An amazing attack Chess: M4T30J4CKS0N vs Pokicelol5 - 91160899467 - Chess.com

https://www.chess.com/live/game/91706988575

https://lichess.org/Gibtk7Xo/black#7

Good week to all.

Attacking with the French Exchange Variation! https://lichess.org/aZTs4VWF/black 😃

I think I made some mistakes and I played very aggressive to compensate Vs a 2100-Elo.

https://lichess.org/GcJF6BnV#19

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/92144443025?tab=review

https://www.chess.com/game/live/91903227589

Manage Your Favourite Games (chessbase.com)

https://lichess.org/VNzZd7YY/black#0.

https://www.chess.com/analysis/library/3hFnxkdDHx

https://chess-results.com/PartieSuche.aspx?art=36&id=4964553

https://lichess.org/r0CLbXqu/white

Rook and bishop sac: white
https://lichess.org/y0ubrkQO8pEV

https://lichess.org/tl8A3fTj/black

Strange fork..
black

https://lichess.org/WcgIa4XH/white

Insane rook sac and king walk white

An intense battle:

Chess: Nintza vs johnnyweck53 - 92496147693 - Chess.com

 https://lichess1.org/game/export/gif/white/V4Pp3QvP.gif?theme=wood3&piece=merida

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/92499745843?tab=review&move=22

https://lichess.org/yu3Wv6ya/black

rook,bishop,pawn sacrfice: black

https://lichess.org/Tgi7Vw9O/black

satisfying win: exchange up black

A nice attack against Caro-Kann !

https://www.chess.com/game/live/92508670459

squeezing of the black queenside
https://lichess.org/7edXVepn/white#0

white

Caro-Kann exchange, Qb6, endgame 91.8% accuracy: https://www.chess.com/game/live/92508673683

A checkmate pattern I learnt from the Mating Matador course!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/92512872001

Another Exchange Caro-Kann - this time I didn't play h3 :)

https://www.chess.com/game/live/92529056471

No Inaccuracies ,no mistakes and no blunders .I became the tactic ninja that I had to become.when the opportunity arrived I immediately spotted the tactical opportunities that were there and after that execution is easy .

https://lichess.org/TAwlQfWn/white

Hello champions! 

How are you all doing today?

Thank you for sharing your games. It was a pleasure to go through them and see you applying the things you’re learning. 

Moving on to the prizes now…

The first prize goes to Manolis Kouk. You played a fearless attacking game! 13.Nxg5 and 16.Rxe7 sacrifices were well-timed and the finish with the Max Lange mate was very good! Nicely done!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/90248474007

The 2nd prize goes to Mateo Jackson for playing a fine attacking game! We really liked how you got all the pieces into the attack before crushing Black’s position with Rxg7! Well done!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/91160899467

Wim van Denderen takes the 3rd place. You played a great game in the Caro-Kann exchange. The quiet Qc1 was such a nice move to make. Then the sacrifice with Bh6 and the final finish was a treat to watch!

https://share.chessbase.com/SharedGames/share/?
p=Cb4xNRiffusMJsZZJ8NYBmRUyzaODp/l5w7H5PeyY0HHbt4lB6kVqIdJ4SrfqMjs

Regis H takes the 4th prize. You showed courage to launch a pawn storm with g4-g5 in a same-side casting position. Also, it was nice to see how you didn’t panic even after the opponent’s Queenside counterplay. Good finish too! Well played!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/90583846609

The 5th prize goes to Ovi Sacasan. In a locked position where your opponent had a bad pawn structure, you made all your pieces happy - Nc5, Ba6, Rf8. Then at the right time, you destroyed the opponent’s position with 29…Bxc4! and were rewarded nicely in the end. Well done!

https://lichess.org/ccATf85X/black#67

Congratulations to all of you. And thank you everyone for sharing your games.

Celebrate the wins and let’s keep the Cogro!

See you in the next month’s contest.

This french is a good one: https://lichess.org/LgbLRrVp/white#97

Nice french https://lichess.org/LgbLRrVp/white#97

Nice french attack

https://lichess.org/8ym1DGOa/black#126

Hellllllp I've got blunderitis

I have been constantly tilted on and off lately. I get huge drops in ability that happen completely independently of anything I'm doing such as sleep or nutrition. It frustrates the tar out of me because I know HOW to play properly - things such as scanning for checks and captures - but sometimes I'm just so hazy and forget every skill and make umpteen blunders.

Do I have a neurological problem? Perhaps I should get checked out but on the other hand ‘I keep dropping 100 elo points’ hardly counts as a medical problem. 

Replies

I think it must be contagious!  There have been a number of threads on this topic recently so you are not alone 😀

Have you read Avo's article here?: https://chessmood.com/blog/stop-blunders-in-chess

A common issue for many (and I've certainly been guilty of this) is that we get tunnel vision and become so focused on the cunning plan that we have conceived that we pay insufficient attention to our opponent's plan.  Each time our opponent makes a move we need to ask ‘Why?’ before we return to implementing our cunning plan.