Chess forum by Grandmasters

Moving towards a descriptive terminology system for King of the Hill (KotH) chess?

Moving towards a descriptive terminology system for King of the Hill (KotH) chess?

Operation: OFFSIDE (!)

In the much loved King of the Hill (KotH) variant of chess, available on Lichess (other sites available), the objective is to position your King into one of the middle squares (centre / center).

In so doing, the deployment of pieces may engender control of d4, d5, e4 and e5 (Queen's fourth, fifth; King's fourth, fifth).

For the illustrative Queen's pawn opening example, this can be repelled by various methods associated with that Opening (gambit, hyper-modern, hybrid benoni-type structures).

It is this that the post here focusses on.

If your opponent pushes an early King move (for example in the Bongcloud attack) tension arises.

Their King may venture beyond the middle demarcation line separating the two sides of the board (or digital surface platform).

The situation this described qualifies as: OFFSIDE!

Their King has strayed: OFFSIDE!

Please introduce this formative description into the lexicon of KotH terminology, please.

Replies

Here is an example game where the OFFSIDE precursor was not overstepped, of course.

<pgn>

[Event "Rated King of the Hill game"] [Site "https://lichess.org/5MEYG1nZ"] [Date "2024.11.07"] [White "healLan"] [Black "GrandDirk"] [Result "1-0"] [UTCDate "2024.11.07"] [UTCTime "06:11:26"] [WhiteElo "1448"] [BlackElo "1774"] [WhiteRatingDiff "+10"] [BlackRatingDiff "-10"] [Variant "King of the Hill"] [TimeControl "300+0"] [ECO "A03"] [Opening "Bird Opening: Dutch Variation"] [Termination "Normal"] [Annotator "lichess.org"] 1. f4 d5 { A03 Bird Opening: Dutch Variation } 2. d3?! { (-0.01 → -0.57) Inaccuracy. Nf3 was best. } (2. Nf3 Bg4 3. Ne5 h5 4. d4 e6 5. c4 c5 6. Nc3 Nf6) 2... Nf6 3. Nd2?! { (-0.20 → -0.90) Inaccuracy. e4 was best. } (3. e4 dxe4 4. dxe4 Qxd1+ 5. Kxd1 e5 6. Nf3 Bc5 7. fxe5 Ng4 8. Nc3 Be6) 3... Nc6 4. h3? { (-0.84 → -2.30) Mistake. Ngf3 was best. } (4. Ngf3 Qd6 5. e3 Bf5 6. c3 h5 7. d4 e6 8. Ne5 Be7 9. Ndf3 O-O) 4... Bf5? { (-2.30 → -1.03) Mistake. e5 was best. } (4... e5 5. fxe5 Nxe5 6. e3 Bd6 7. d4 Ng6 8. Qf3 Qe7 9. Bd3 O-O 10. Ne2) 5. b3?? { (-1.03 → -4.21) Blunder. g4 was best. } (5. g4 Bg6 6. Ngf3 e5 7. fxe5 Nd7 8. c3 Ndxe5 9. Qb3 Qd6 10. Nxe5 Qxe5) 5... h6?? { (-4.21 → -1.54) Blunder. e5 was best. } (5... e5) 6. Bb2?! { (-1.54 → -2.78) Inaccuracy. e3 was best. } (6. e3 e5) 6... e6?? { (-2.78 → -0.68) Blunder. d4 was best. } (6... d4 7. Ngf3) 7. e3 Bb4?! { (-0.91 → -0.15) Inaccuracy. g5 was best. } (7... g5 8. g4) 8. Qe2 a6? { (-0.60 → 0.61) Mistake. Kd7 was best. } (8... Kd7 9. a3 Bxd2+ 10. Kxd2 e5 11. g4 exf4 12. exf4 Re8 13. Qf2) 9. Nf3 Ke7?! { (0.69 → 1.37) Inaccuracy. Bh7 was best. } (9... Bh7 10. a3 Bd6 11. g4 a5 12. Bg2 g5 13. Ne5 Bxe5 14. fxe5 Nd7) 10. O-O-O?? { (1.37 → -0.69) Blunder. g4 was best. } (10. g4) 10... Qd6 11. Rg1 Ba3 12. Kb1?! { (-1.21 → -2.23) Inaccuracy. Nb1 was best. } (12. Nb1 Bxb2+) 12... Bxb2?! { (-2.23 → -1.28) Inaccuracy. a5 was best. } (12... a5 13. Ba1) 13. Kxb2 Nb4?? { (-1.76 → 0.61) Blunder. a5 was best. } (13... a5 14. a3) 14. a4?? { (0.61 → -1.89) Blunder. g4 was best. } (14. g4 Bh7) 14... b5 15. Ra1 c6?! { (-2.53 → -1.44) Inaccuracy. c5 was best. } (15... c5 16. e4) 16. g4 Bh7 17. Ne5? { (-1.40 → -3.35) Mistake. g5 was best. } (17. g5 hxg5) 17... Nd7?? { (-3.35 → -1.33) Blunder. d4 was best. } (17... d4) 18. d4?? { (-1.33 → -5.56) Blunder. Ndf3 was best. } (18. Ndf3 d4) 18... Nxc2 19. Ra2 bxa4?? { (-5.10 → -2.29) Blunder. Nxe5 was best. } (19... Nxe5 20. fxe5 Qb4 21. Nf3 c5 22. Qd2 cxd4 23. axb5 Qxd2 24. Nxd2 Nxe3 25. Rxa6) 20. f5?? { (-2.29 → -7.15) Blunder. Rxa4 was best. } (20. Rxa4 c5) 20... Rab8?? { (-7.15 → -3.23) Blunder. Nxe5 was best. } (20... Nxe5 21. Kxc2 axb3+ 22. Nxb3 exf5 23. Kd1 Rhb8 24. Nd2 fxg4 25. hxg4 c5 26. g5) 21. Kxc2? { (-3.23 → -5.94) Mistake. Nxd7 was best. } (21. Nxd7 Kxd7) 21... axb3+ 22. Nxb3 Qb4?? { (-5.87 → 11.91) Blunder. Nxe5 was best. } (22... Nxe5) 23. Rb2?? { (11.91 → -6.22) Blunder. Nxc6+ was best. } (23. Nxc6+ Kf6) 23... Nxe5 24. dxe5? { (-5.44 → -19.50) Mistake. Qh2 was best. } (24. Qh2 Nf3) 24... exf5 25. Qxa6?! { (-17.85 → Mate in 2) Checkmate is now unavoidable. Nd4 was best. } (25. Nd4 Qxb2+) 25... fxg4+ 26. Bd3 Bxd3+?! { (Mate in 2 → -26.49) Lost forced checkmate sequence. Ke6 was best. } (26... Ke6 27. Bxh7 Kxe5#) 27. Qxd3 Ke6 28. Qd4 Qxd4?? { (-23.38 → 0.00) Blunder. c5 was best. } (28... c5) 29. exd4 Rb4?? { (-0.15 → 10.95) Blunder. gxh3 was best. } (29... gxh3) 30. Nc5+ Kf5 31. Rxb4 Re8 32. Rf1+ { Black resigns. } 1-0

</pgn>

Scotch: How to counter centre pawn strike

Hi, I have been playing Scotch and launching kingside pawn storm. When Black strikes back in the centre with d5, should we change plans or continue with the kingside pawn storm? My kingside pawnchain became vulnerable after Black's centre D5 strike. Here is the game example, though I blundered in the last few moves, but my position looked difficult after 14…Qc7. 
Opening "Scotch Game: Potter Variation"
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nb3 Bb6 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Qe2 O-O 8. Be3 Bxe3 9. Qxe3 d5 10. O-O-O Re8 11. f3 Ne7 12. Qd2 c6 13. g4 Be6 14. Qf2 Qc7 15. h4 Qf4+ 16. Rd2 dxe4 17. Ne2 Qxf3 18. Qd4 Qxh1 *

Replies

Hey Luke,

In the given game, instead of going Be3 - you can play 8.Bg5 which prevents the idea of d5 😃

Blundered my queen. Won anyway.

https://www.chess.com/game/120687168938

Fear my deadly rooks!

Replies

Nice one! I wonder if an SLP dedicated forum would be useful, so we can share entertaining comebacks without clogging up the forum or Best Games category. Thoughts?

Target rating reached!

When I first started playing I set myself a development target of reaching 1,000 on Chess.com.  At the time I had no idea how realistic this was or how long it would take but since I was in no hurry that wasn't an issue.  (I realise most of you probably reached this level so long ago that you don't even remember it but for me, it feels like an important first step in my chess learning journey)

Well, today I reached my target! 😎

Thank you to the ChessMood team (especially Avo and Lily) and to everybody here who helps to answer my queries. 

Replies

Congratulations! What's the next goal?

Every goal is important , you should be proud of yourself for attaining it ! Congrats 👏 

The best games of September and the prizes

Hello ChessMood family, hello champions and future champions! 
Welcome to the "Best games of September" competition.
Under this post, we invite you to post your 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 August: 

1st-  Abhi Yadav
2nd- Edo Tokyo
3rd- Captain Hook
4th- Duncan Vella
5th- Kourosh Asgari 

Replies

A very nice win almost sacrificing everything against FM with 3.Bd3 in french 

https://lichess.org/YFJgUXZLL7ZV

Killer Tactic Game!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5382974226

Closed Game

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5383216515

Nice Game

But Time

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5383354630

Positional Exchange Sacrifice!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5383182780

Clean Game!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5383435376

Smooth Game!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5383462890

https://lichess.org/jFHYvAgs

Crushing Chigorin Defense

Long Castle idea in rossolimo with black !!

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

https://lichess.org/sE1eoSww5Vby Played the chessmood recommendation against the London and got a great endgame. Was a nice finish (though I almost gave away a draw unnecessarily).

Edit: scratch that, was played a few days before September. :( 

Positional Game!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5391863866

Funny Game!

5 Move  Game!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5391863866

"The Cooolest Game I Ever Game!"

https://lichess.org/nQ29S0xjtORK

Opponent long-castled in Maroczy and got crushed after Queen exchange

Recently thanks to ChessMood I found Benko gambit a very interesting opening for black pieces.
Here is one of my games for September:

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5401205867

https://lichess.org/ib4HAwqyyKLQ good and interesting game

Crushed the sicilian with 2..e6

I think this game deserves a prize

Here's the reason why?

- It was a serious rapid game with time control of 15+10

-I used the chessmood opening

-I beat a real FM rated 600 fide rated points above me 

https://www.chess.com/live#g=5409613159
Crushing Benko win!

Best Ever Game!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5411164535

And I Play A Brilliant Move

Using opponents mistake

Sacrified a pawn for attack in French

My opponent couldn't even breathe

Beating a FM with strategies

A fine win against a trendy line in the Pirc!

A little sloppy at the end, but always fun to feed the dragon!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5421833467

Won a good game against higher rated player,using Scotch-- chessmood opening,in 5+2nformat.

 https://lichess.org/9JJpYk2q

"Suffocation"

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5426083383

very aggressive grand parix attack!!

https://lichess.org/D7yluBhYdiOS

https://lichess.org/z13vFXCymPEg

Never give up..

Hi, new member here. Yesterday,  in my Lichess 45-45 game I had the opportunity to test my knowledge of the Maroczy Bind course I watched the day before.  I was black in the game.

https://lichess.org/0PwLK3Z8nJrb

Now I am winning almost every game with Scotch

This is earlier game against same opponent with Scotch.

again using our weapon against sicilian ( grandprix attack ) to beat a strong GM !

https://lichess.org/6VRvuZjCX05S

Scotch 4..Bc5

Beautiful Game!

https://lichess.org/ydCgVoP2ktaN

When you follow @GM_Avetik_Grigoryan's positional instructions, games get easier to play!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5437206501

Another quick win, this time in the Petroff!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5437282179

Great & Beautiful Game!

No Counterplay!

Clean Game!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5439555590

https://lichess.org/Y0iEgx9z

Just practicing chessmood openings..

Beautiful Game!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/5449442991

 Short Game!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5449504502

Crushing the Pirc.

https://lichess.org/itvW5Lqx/white#55

The first game I've shared, feeling like I'm starting to get the grand Prix 

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5450788827

#SLP - Whites King "Charge!"

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5451514360

https://lichess.org/NwkSDmnvcWJx

Play white Opening Scotch Game 

Smooth win,

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5458852499

I can not understand why my opponent resigned!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5458936890

Chess Academy Cup 2020

Anna Khachatryan 2224 vs Astghik Hakobyan 2168

1-0

A crushing win with another system of 2. Nc3 Sicilian

Typical ROok Sac.

Positional Crushed a 2000 elo player with Anti Sicilian!

https://lichess.org/WslvcUfysYuG

Beating 2100+ player..

Crushing Game!

https://lichess.org/l0H0FuFt7boX

Nice Game
!

https://www.chess.com/game/live/5463620161

Scotch Game 

Beating GM with Anti Sicilian !!!!1

https://lichess.org/uRupBMSIBBl3

i play black - Sicilian Najdorf

https://lichess.org/Y09ZesYa

Only 1 innaccuracy for me estimated by the engine as black

Just testing my positional and KID structural skills.

https://lichess.org/8c4CYQOi/black#55

Scotch Game 

Wining with Fd3 French against strong apponent!!

https://lichess.org/IsptYQQilajZ

Nice attacking game with white. Every move was a threat!

https://chessmicrobase.com/microbases/14167/games/1121629

please take a look

Killer Benko Gambit

https://lichess.org/xX9zjVP2Xx3y

Anti Sicilian -2...d6

https://lichess.org/mzo41NxEQBIj

#accelerated dragon

Textbook Scotch straight from the course  ... didn't even need to think myself!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5478551153

I won this Accelerated Dragon game thanks to a Chessmood stream. And it finishes with a beautiful mate!

Crushed a NM with GP

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5479489290

I play just simple chess, focus on just not to make mistake. In the end my opponent blundered.

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/5481149238

Another smooth win 

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5481258386

Perfect Benko

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5481309802

Another simple win

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5481360104

One of my first games with the chessmood French!

https://lichess.org/v4vFZjTj/white

I think decent positional game.

https://lichess.org/4Y5x2ACG1Onj

Passive Scotch Greek Gift.

https://lichess.org/RZgmvIYK/white#22

Anti-Sicilian part 3 2...e6 3.f4 d5 4.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bb5

Crushing whit scotch ! Crazy rook on a5 !!!

https://lichess.org/u1fY7wvopIwW

Tal!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5486789673

Smooth!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5486758892

One of my recent games with 98.2% accuracy. I missed mate in one but still it was winning position.
https://www.chess.com/live/game/5487137720

French Str. 

https://lichess.org/w2t4Fm2Z/black#44

Passive Stonewall Destroyed

https://lichess.org/JvrWoQa6Q3He

Demolished a 2200+ with GP 

https://lichess.org/LrtxDyqQUorS

Victory with Scotch

https://lichess.org/KKtXy0XYosWF

Nice win. During the game I thought about the super isolated LSB in a game in  the stream 1600-2400.

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/5490401913

Miniature against the Scandinavian 

https://lichess.org/HmmN4tYs/white

One of my best games so far.

https://lichess.org/eZ1wW0IU/black#72

Epic Mating combination

https://lichess.org/u4IJ6Rgz/white

Exchange sac and great interference tactic as in a game where I never took my foot off the pedal against a computer no less!

https://chessmicrobase.com/g/xuxfvmpf

Exchange sac and great interference tactic as in a game where I never took my foot off the pedal against a computer no less!

https://chessmicrobase.com/g/xuxfvmpf

This match is a part of my structural basics training. I am playing e4 and d4. e4 was a main chessmood weapon and d4 to practice my knowledge of KID pawn formations. Here is a game. Ignore openings because I am sure there will be tons of mistake there but final rook sac was nice I think.

https://lichess.org/Ps1pctgDITNZ

Played this today and it shows a great example of a kingside attack using knights! My proudest game thus far this month.

https://chessmicrobase.com/g/wqpltmvl

I am a big fan of Carlsbad Stru. so sometimes I try to play it online and in this game black was crushed like a melon. I don't say black's opening had issue. His one slight early c6 gave me a tempo so I castled long. Because in normal positions if I castle long with pawn on c7 then black can simply play Be6 Rc8 and direct c5. In this position he already committed that oh I have pawn on c6 so I said to myself let's go for long castle in tempo up line. 

This is what I learnt about it. I feel I am right. That's why I don't like this early commitment because of white's long castles. I like Re8 Nd7 Nf8 then c6 only if white castles short

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5494218858

Scandinavian Defense 

a nice win using accelerated dragon n*c6 and e5 variation

Crushed a 2200+ in 23 moves with GP.

https://lichess.org/kYyCdI47/white

I am not sure how to embed a replayer game yet.

This was nice attack versus some random double fianchetto in the modern.

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5453107180

I just follow the ChessMood openings, simple normal chess and some small tactics.

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5500444148

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/5500326381

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5500285495

Caro-Kann.
The rook endgame was over my paygrade, but anyway luckily I won.

A very nice game I played at a real tournament on September 5th.
Just creating attack from nothing, pawn storm on kingside.
I can send you a real batch record if it is confirmed as needed.



1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5
5. O-O d6 6. h3 O-O 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 a6
9. Bc4 Na5 10. Bb3 Nxb3 11. axb3 b5 12. Nc3 Bb7
13. Nh2 g5 14. Bg3 h5 15. Nf3 h4 16. Bh2 Nh7
17. Qe2 f5 18. exf5 Rxf5 19. Ne4 Bb6 20. Rad1 Qe7
21. Kh1 Raf8 22. c4 Qf7 23. c5 Bxc5 24. Qd2 Bxe4
25. dxe4 Rxf3 26. gxf3 Qxf3+ 27. Kg1 Qxh3 28. Qd5+ Rf7
29. Bxe5 g4 30. Qe6 dxe5 31. Rd8+ Bf8 32. Qg6+ Rg7
33. Qe6+ Kh8 34. Qf5 Qf3 35. Qxf3 gxf3+ 36. Kh1 Kg8
37. Rg1 Rxg1+ 38. Kxg1 Ng5 39. Re8 Nxe4 40. Rxe5 Nd2
41. Re6 Nxb3 42. Re3 Nd2 43. Rd3 Bb4 44. Rd7 c5
45. Ra7 a5 46. Rb7 c4 47. Rxb5 c3 48. bxc3 Bxc3
49. Rc5 Bb4 50. Rh5 Kg7 51. Rxh4 Kf6 52. Kh2 Ke5
53. Kg3 Kd5 54. Kf4 Kd4 55. Kg3+ Kc3 56. Rh8 a4
57. Rc8+ Kb3 58. Kf4 a3 59. Ke3 a2 60. Ra8 Kb2
61. Kd3 a1=Q 62. Rxa1 Kxa1 63. Kc2 Ka2 64. Kd3 Kb3
65. Ke3 Kc2 66. Kf4 Kd1 67. Kg3 Ke1 68. Kg4 Kxf2
69. Kh3 Kg1 70. Kg3 f2 71. Kh3 f1=Q+ 72. Kg3 Qf5
73. Kh4 Qg6 74. Kh3 Kf2 75. Kh4 Kf3 76. Kh3 Qg3#

Applying basics of positional play into practice in my training games sessions

https://lichess.org/VmKb3tjHoEE0

Here is a game I played with Scotch.

- This was one of the "good variations" where Black castles queenside and doesn't castle into White's attack.

-This was a 30-0 classical game in an online tournament.

Here is another game from the same online tournament, except this time I played against a higher-rated player than last time.  It's an Accelerated Dragon. I took all his pawns at the end :) .

Imp. of knowing opening. He missed Nge7 then I play imp. Bb3 not allowing any d5 and I will follow up with e5 after d5. then Be3 Bf2 and Bh4, But he forgot e5 is a blunder and I won.

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5504621603

ups and down and finally won

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5504539641

Sicilian Defense - Najdorf 

Attacks and counterattacks in scotch

https://lichess.org/EBafvwuyZLZU

SLP win 

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5507634115

Lost this one but I loved the concepts of dynamic. Applying basics here. Line of Bxd6 acc. to engine is lost for me but I loved to apply Nx6 concepts here

https://lichess.org/RCri8dn0/white#57

Caro-Kann 45m+45s game.  Used chessmood opening. Got advantage and won. Was a bit lucky as both myself and oponent have missed the intermediate Ng8 move, that would lead to drawish ending. 

My first ever Benko gambit:

https://lichess.org/vmx3KqgNm2er

Crushed Sicilian Sidelines

https://lichess.org/l4VOncFsFCEt

https://lichess.org/uApm1hddZCe4

Cool Finish!

Openings violation then win

https://lichess.org/5dH5rmCYbS8C

Demolished him with Kan

https://lichess.org/zXfID39RMBbn

My fav. Carlsbad Str. and I won

https://lichess.org/ui6d7PdIlPBT

Punish your opponents mistakes!

https://www.chess.com/a/2Kit4CmotZwLa

Hello Chessmood! I played a very good attacking game this month with king hunt involving a queen Sacrifice! This was a team match and I had days to prepare for my opponent but still this is a beautiful sacrifice!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5399112890

Total domination with GP

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5512477425

Greek Gift!!!

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5512465704

Yeah the combination of Nxg6 was not sound but black had to find only move to save his game  and get a winning advantage so I went for that in blitz. I missed his resource of fxg6 then Kh8 but still I am glad my intuition is improving now a days and once I will see more and more classics I will learn how to find opponent's resources well

https://www.chess.com/live/game/5512484398

Anti-Sicilian

https://lichess.org/8NkzfdwP

Beating the Petroff

Crushing attack against Black lonely king..

Chessmood Grand Prix!

A win against one of the best player from IRAN

Anti-Sicilian

I play White: https://lichess.org/CmF48vgylPo1

A win with the Chessmood Caro Kann!

Caro-Kann! 

I play Black: https://lichess.org/fonbwLUSUmyq

Rook endgame:

I play Black: https://lichess.org/jTljISBAo8bj

https://lichess.org/PWkAsGzT

Winning with the French (sorry no accelerated Dragon yet) in 23 move against the Tarrasch (and an IM).

Simple Chess:

Beating The Morra Gambit: 

I play Black: https://lichess.org/6wENevBM/black

French Advanced: 

I play White: https://lichess.org/DaheO5hP

Hello ChessMood Family! 
We are very excited to see, that each month the quality of the games are becoming better and better. 
Thanks for all the games you've posted! 

The 5th prize goes to @Abhi_yadav for his crushing the Caro Kann. 

The 4th prize goes to @Karl_Strohmaier for crushing the Scandinavian with his nice Nc6! 

The 3rd prize goes to @Ash_Pv for his brilliant game with Modern Maroczy.  The two breakthroughs d5 and b5 and the conversation of  2 bishops advantage was very nice.  The game will be added in the "model games" section of the course. 
(Here is the link: https://lichess.org/mzo41NxE/black#79) 

The 2nd prize goes to @Jaylen_Lenear for his nice positional game which he finished with two knight sacrifices. 

And the winner of this month becomes @Keok_Woltek who sacrificed almost all his pieces :) 

The guy who improved the most, comparing to the previous month is @Aayush_Shirodkar! 
For which he gets 50k. 

Congratulations, winners and everyone who raised their rating improved their game, or enjoyed playing chess this month! 

See you in the next month's competition. 

Scotch move order: 6.Nc3 vs 6.Qe2

Hi, in the Scotch course after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 ed 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nb3 Bb6 the recommendation is 6.Nc3 and then the main line is 6…Nf6 with theory to learn. I saw a suggestion on the internet to play 6.Qe2 instead: now if 6…d6 or 6…Ne7 then 7.Nc3 transposes to the course, and according to the engine 6…Nf6 7.e5 gives advantage for white. Is there a reason not to play this move order?

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Actually the resulting position after 7. E5 are not so good for us.

It is so really complicated, and it is much easier to play the main line for us.

SLP skills!

Pulled this off with two bishops bearing down on me!

https://www.chess.com/game/120656305496

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one question in the french Attack

in 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bd7 4. Nf3 a6 5. Bd3 Bb5 6. O-O   should we take opponents bishop as the cours say or wait and let our opponent take like in the model games?

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Well the opponent has already indicated they are not taking. We should take at some point, otherwise they may eventually tuck the bishop away on c2. And there doesn’t seem to be a good reason not to take immediately. After that, we continue the normal plan with c5, Nc6, and (if their bishop is covering h6) cd, Ne7, Nf5.

Tactic puzzle

Here's a nice tactic I got to play over the board yesterday. There's only six legal moves for White; can you choose the correct one?

(This is your spoiler warning, in case people want to discuss moves in the comments below)

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I'll take a shot 😀

• * Both Qd2 and Bd2 successfully block the check and threaten to take black's queen but they don't address the potential loss of our knight on b5
• * Ke2 seems pretty bad as black gets to take the knight on b5 and, as it's with check again, possibly looking to also capture the pawn on b2
• * b4 temporarily blocks the check but Qxb4+ puts us back in the same situation (king in check and b5 knight under threat) but a pawn down
• * Nd2 blocks the check but does not rescue the b5 knight
• * Ne3 seems the best option - blocks the check (and defended by the pawn on b2) and prevents the knight from being captured

That seems too easy so I'll wait to see what I've missed 😉 ….

b4!! looks like it works. The queen has 4 squares. If it goes to a6 or b6or goes back to d8 then Nc7 and the rook is trapped and If Qxb4 then Bd2 and the queen is trapped. 

This is a great puzzle. Thanks for posting!

1.b4 will be a good move I think as 1…Qxb4+ will lead to 2.Bd2 trapping the Queen and if Black goes 1…Qd8 then 2.Bc7 followed by Nd6 and the Queen will be trapped. Then only remaining is 1…Qa6 and 1…Qb6. In both the cases 2.Nc7 trapping the Rook will be a good option and White shall be winning. 

New article: How I Used the "Battleship" Method to Meet More Girls and Improve My Chess

It's lonely when you can't go out on dates with girls.

It's frustrating when your chess game isn't improving.

But there's one classic method to transform both your love life and your chess skills.😉

No extra talent needed. Just a bit of strategy. 

Discover how here:

https://chessmood.com/blog/battleship-method

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To Meet More Girls… 😏😂

Time to try out this method now for both reasons mentioned in the title lol 😂

Hi Avo I'm attacking  you and chessmood courses for a long time now……
hitting the opponent's pieces  during my game

😂

Cheers 

Was the part about meeting girls necessary? Can we not have a break from everything being sexual?

love the post bro!

Interesting idea about dating :) 
Though from my experience delaying never really worked. When it's too long, 2 weeks for instance, it cann't be nothing more than just a friendship in the future. Keep telling it one of my friends :)

benko gambit

I just faced this line in an online game and was wondering what the best continuation is here for black? (I don't seem to have anything in my pgn file)

https://lichess.org/study/3tQJPirX/UDWjH6Lw

Thanks, Samuel

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Its a good move for white, but we also have several ideas such as for example the usual Qa5-Nbd7-Rfb8 or using Avetik's Idea with Na6-Qb6-Nc7-Nb5 exchanging the strong knight on c3. Basically white played Nge2 so that if the c3 knight is exchanged the other knight on e2 can hop there.

A model game in this variation: https://lichess.org/6BoVCU2K#31

Hey Samuel and AK Chess.

This Nge2 is not a challenging move, and I can see AK Chess (thank you) shared a very decent game, showing how to play against it :-) 

GMC Hohvannes Analyzed Games Vol 2

Out of all the analyzed games presented by various Gms, Hohvanne's ( and Avo's) are definitely the BEST, analyzed in a way to offer maximum benefits. I'm on my 3rd time watching and learning from their games.

Can we please get a Volume 2 section from either one of them with maybe an additional 10 games? It would be MUCH appreciated!

Losing games are fine too and probably just as beneficial!

Thank you in advance!

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Dear Ovi,

Thanks as always for your very nice words :-)

As you know we are working on many different courses, but might have what you are asking about in future.

Thank you so much!

How many games have you played?

Recently I've started looking at the profile of my opponents after our game finishes.  I'm amazed by the variation in the number of games played.

The number of games that I've played on Chess.com so far is … 314!  (I know, that's not many.  No doubt some of you get through that many in a weekend!).  Some of my opponents have played tens of thousands of games.

So, my question is, how many games in total have you played (feel free to amalgamate if you play on multiple platforms)?   

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I started my chesscom account in 2013 and I have 10 800 games played ! Half are blitz , 10 % rapid , rest is bullet which is too much … 2300 problems , on lichess 800 games played but 2000 problems . I prefer lichess for tactics especially since my last coach asked me to do the 4-3-2-1 Methot everyday. It’s 4 puzzles that you set at -600 , 3 at -300 , 2 normal and 1 +300 .  

How is your number of games so low yet i saw you here in this forum since a long time ago

Anyway to answer your question i have 4,646 rapid + blitz game 

And bullet is 2,529

( i combined chess.com and lichess numbers since i switched from cc to lichess )

In my old account I played around 5000 games (I am only including rapid+blitz+classical) and in my new account around 400 games (rapid+blitz+classical) 

I have played about 6500 games on lichess,Rajat_2011 is the id

Tactic Ninja Errors

The app "Tactic Ninja" already has errors in basic exercises. For example, Section 3 Quiz 1. Is this the quality that is generally offered here? Hello ChessModd ... How about implementing a four-eye principle when creating tasks? Apparently, there are posts in the "Pro Member" area about these errors ... but why are they not being corrected, and why isn't the quality being improved? I am very frustrated. And for this, we are supposed to pay?

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What is the error that you are seeing. I'm looking at Section 3 ("Skewer"). In the quiz there is one exercise, and it seems to be correct?

FRENCH DEFENSE FROM BLACK SIDE

WHICH VARIIATION I SHOULD PLAY FRENCH DEFENSE AS BLACK   I COULD NOT FIND ANY IN OPENINGS COURSE

CAN YOU POST AN OPENINGS COURSE FROM BLACK SIDE

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Hey there,

If you are looking for the French variation, you can find it in the BlackMood course - here is the link https://chessmood.com/course/blackmood-openings

Good luck!

AI tools

I was really excited to join Chessmood after test driving in July.   I am curious of how the AI tools work or if there this a timeline for their implementation.  I really like the idea of this tool but cannot find any reference to dates. 

Thanks so much,

K

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Hi,

according to the latest newsletter (which was a week ago, on 2024-10-23): 

"Our game-changing “FixMood” feature is currently in beta and available only to PRO Members and Lifetime Students.

Good news!
While it's not a promise, we expect to expand access in about two weeks, so you can use it, too!"

Looking for Help with My Lichess Account

I hope you're all doing well. I wanted to reach out and ask for some feedback on my Lichess account.
I've been feeling a bit stuck lately, especially when I'm playing with the White pieces. i'm not really using whitemood repertoire something just doesn't seem to click, but I could really use some fresh eyes on my games. If any of you have the time to take a look and share your thoughts, I'd be super grateful!

Thanks a lot in advance, and I’m looking forward to any advice you might have. 😊

Here are some helpful links:

• https://lichess.org/insights/anis_84
• https://lichess.org/analysis#explorer/anis_84

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If I look quickly at your opening tree, you seems to have an acceptable rate winning with the white pieces with most openings, except maybe the french, but it's not a big proportion of your games. What makes you feel stuck? can you precise that feeling?

I had a quick look at some of your recent losses and it looks like you get fine positions out of the opening but you seem to allow your opponents a lot of tactics and even hung your queen in 1 move in one game. I think that solving tactics and having full focus during your games would help with this. I even tried solving tactics from the opposite side to help spot opponents resources during the game. Hope this helps, Samuel 

It has pretty much nothing to do with openings here, I would recommend to train your calculation (ChessMood course, advanced tactics, blindfold chess etc…) seeing that this could be your biggest weakness rn. This is what I did to reach 2500 blitz and I know nothing about openings, I just play moves that look good positionally. Hope this helps.

Events for ChessMood PRO Members

Hey champions! 

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Cool initiative,though I had to create a new _Chessmood account on Lichess.

Great initiative I was just wishing about this , I am so happy although i prefer 5+3 but i will join in both event. Thanks

Both of leechess and chess.com id is same Shahinur_chessmood. 

Just saw the message saying there is a tourney this evening - love the idea but I already arranged to be out tonight.  Is there a schedule for these, so I can make sure I’m free?

Dear CM family, it would be nice to have a tag or summary of the opening (especially when there was CM opening lines) that have been played in each event: so that we can consult them as a mode/typical games.

have a good day.

Dear Marius,

Thanks for your answer!

The request you have that way will be tough to make and extremely time consuming, as well again not always the games played during the streams are potentially model games - that’s why we stick around strategy of highlighting potentially good model games 🙂

New course: BlunderProof!

Champions,

It’s time to cut back on your blunders, shout less and and win more!

Today, the BlunderProof course is live on our website, waving and waiting for you ?
 

The first sections are there, and the others are being edited by crazy Lily ?

Enjoy and most importantly reduce your blunders! Start watching from below ?
https://chessmood.com/course/blunderproof

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What an excellent course - just what I needed! I was thinking this morning that if only I could drastically reduce my blunders (piece hang, missing a mate in one, etc.), I would lose less games. Then I got an email notification of the Blunderproof course. I've just finished going through Sections 1 to 3. Can't wait for the subsequent sections to open up. I've learnt that even the WC himself blunders. Of course, everyone. Good tips on how to be in the Hyperfocused Mode part. Thank you for this!

Excellent course ChessMood, thanks for putting this together! I look forward to the rest.

Nice course! Watched the released parts already and what helped me yesterday in my online session especially was the warm-up part - I solved like 25 tactic ninja puzzles fast and finally played a good 1st game, which under normal circumstances I often lose. So great advise, a lot of research went into this, it seems ?

So much wisdom in the course. I'm looking forward to reducing blunders under pressure. I play some horrible blunders in time pressure - and I mean horrible!!

One thing I've noticed about my chess (or at least when I was rusty a few weeks ago), is that watching a game and joining in the middle I get quickly focused on one thing, that I'm not taking in the board and the relationship between the pieces, except where the action is. That perhaps is less of a factor while playing as that gets built up. I'm wondering if there is any training for taking in all that's happening, starting from simple positions up to quite sharp one. That has to help the tactics. Doing puzzle rush helps somewhat, but the first 30 odd puzzles (and many of other puzzles) are about focusing in on the obvious point of action and sacrificing something (or back rank mate), nor do they have a good level of complexity increase so you can find where you currently are in what you can take in and train from there.

Half way through South Wales International Open at weekend and guilty of wandering eyes and watching/analysing other games. Concentrated on avoiding this in last rounds and was much calmer at board when playing a GM though lost badly. In brave chess what would be the result please in the position Kh2 if black to move and played Qg1+ as king cannot capture by your rules draw or win? Mike

I just did an interesting analysis of my last 30 losses on Chess.com. All were “rapid” (G/10) games against opponents rated 1900-2100. I made a chart of why I lost each game. Here are the results:

1-move blunder 11
2-move blunder 11
3-move blunder 2
Endgame Technique 1
Speculative Attack 1
Inaccurate Defense 4 

So I am making two changes to my chess training. 1. More time on simple tactics training, and less on openings. 2. I'm going to go through the Blunderproof course again.)

Watch me wreak havoc without a queen

This is my tilt account; I'm currently sick and my reaction time is down the toilet so I'm playing bullet on an alt

https://lichess.org/sQ9xj4jc

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