Pregame tourney prep

I have to imagine there's an article about this, but I want the public's opinion. What do you do to mentally prepare in the half hour before a chess game? Puzzles? Opening prep? Clear mind of chess altogether? Got a big weekend tourney tomorrow, wish me luck!

-Jake

Replies

😀

Honestly, I try to relax before each game, maybe drink some water… Maybe also do some puzzles to get your mistakes in there, and don't stress too much about it.. Good Luck!

try reading these : 

https://chessmood.com/blog/grandmaster-tips-the-right-way-to-prepare-for-the-chess-game

https://chessmood.com/blog/how-to-win-chess-tournaments-7-key-principles

https://chessmood.com/blog/the-right-way-to-prepare-for-a-chess-tournament

there are some useful tips on preparing for games and also for preparing for the entire tournament

good luck!

Mistake in the France defence for white

Section 1

We got the following position and it was recommended to play, Bg6, which is lost after N:e5. According to the engine, correct move should be Qg6

Replies

How should I spend the money??

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30-day money-back guarantee

• Access to all 500+ hours of courses and weekly updates (value = $15,000)
• Downloadable PGNs & homework
• Access to all 10,000+ quizzes
• Access to all live training
• Access to all group lessons
• Access to the “Pro members” channel on the forum
• Access to the PRO Members’ community
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• Deeply personalized study plan
   

I am considering of bying one of the Pro Members, but it's a bit expensive. Is there anyone that can help me to consider what to bye?

All the best, Kingston.

Replies

Hi there,

Only you know your financial situation and how keen you are to improve your chess skills.  I'm afraid that nobody else can really help you to make this decision.

You could start off with the Essential subscription and see how things go - I'm sure you could upgrade to Pro at a later date if you decided that you wanted to.

Error on Quiz Tactic Ninja 21-Promotion

This puzzle is meant to be played with white, not black.

Replies

Yes! But before Nb7- this is the move to be found.

Doubt in the anti-Sicilian

Hello, I am not a pro member but I have a question about the courses, and it is against the Sicilian defense on the line with d6 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bc4 Nc6 6.d3 Nf6 7.0-0 0-0 8.Qe1 Bg4 9.f5 Bxf3 10.Rxf3 Nd4 11.Rh3 e6 !

Nxc2 but what happens against e6 , I played this position recently in an OTB tournament and in the game I thought it was a bad move because I did not know it but when I got home I saw the position with the engine and it turns out that it is equal ! Please wait for answers and thank you very much for providing such a high quality material, greetings from Cuba.

Replies

Hi,

you will find the answer in this video:

https://chessmood.com/course/sicilian-defence-part-1/episode/758

partner

hello, I am beginer around 900 rapid chess.com.

looking for training partner / scotch game & french defense // chessmood opening course…

Time zone: france

Thanks..

Replies

Hi,

Your best bet is to re-post this message in the dedicated thread for Study/Sparring partners here: https://chessmood.com/forum/main-channel/studysparring-partner-1362

How Often Should I Play Chess Games?

😨

I am trying to get to 2000 FIDE in the end of this year(I am now 1583 Fide), I wanted to practice playing on Lichess. I wanted all your help to suggest how many minutes/hours to play on Lichess and analzing my games.

All the best,Kingston.

Replies

There is no magic formula on how often you have to play ro reach FIDE 2000. This totally depends on how much free time you have per week for chess. But it is important that you not only play, but also study chess (and of course vice versa), there should be a balance between playing and studying. Please see the "Chess Improvement Roadmap for 1,500-2,000 rated players" at https://chessmood.com/chess-study-plans/for-advanced-players

Small quiz bug

🙂

From the excellent “Defend With Honor”, Blockade section, Double Block video course, Avetik's game .

Out of the two quizzes, seems like the first one will not accept the correct answer while the similar second will.

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NEW ARTICLE: Analyzing Blitz Chess Games: Why? And How to Do it!

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What an article! 

Agree completely but not bullet games. As a senior 5+3 is enough :)

Excellent Article !!

Great article.  I've never looked at my blitz games before but I will start now!    

I remember I used to play 3 min on Chesscube, save the instructive ones on Chessbase, analyze them, noting the big mistakes (tactical or strategical), saving the games to my phone, and looking at them from time to time. 

It really helped in winning my next tournament!

Hi, I am wondering How do i go about the Golden Rule and Anlayzing my Blitz Games? Do I play my 9 games an then I do start analyzing them, or do I start doing it as soon as I finish a game? Then What about if I follow the advice of taking a 15 minute break betwewen two 9 rounds? Should I analyze the first 9 games before moving on?

Hi everyone! Excelent article! The concepto of unconcius competence, etc, were very interesting. I'd start using them in my next Blitz analisys! Congrats GM and lets keep all cogrowing!

wow i will start doing it now

🤩

This is awesame! I am going to do it right now!!!!!

When to change from Blackmood to Sicilian??

Hey all, 
Since the Blackmood openings teach french, while the main courses go in-depth on the sicilian (and other stuff), at what level should i change my repetoire?
I'm not too worried about the whitemood stuff, since they are just simplified versions of the main courses (maybe except alekhine)

Replies

In general CM recommends for students below a rating of about 2000 to go through the Simplified ChessMood openings which are the WhiteMood and BlackMood courses (just have a look at the recommended study plans).

But if you are not too far away from this level and you are interested in certain variations of the main courses (e.g. the Sicilian), you certainly can get involved in these main lines a little earlier, at least when you have done the most important basic courses like tactics ninja, mating matador, must-know endgame theory U2000 and other rating booster courses.

Maybe there were another cource after you go c5 and i know some people will play c3, you better analyse that.

All the best, Kingston.

Middle Game and Endgame Training question

hi coach, In an article I read that we have to first study, then Practice and fix. In opening part I understood how to do that but for middlegames and endgames how am I supposed to do it? Should I like setup the position and play against the engine?

Thanks in Advance!

Replies

Hi Pranav, what's your rating online and OTB?😀

Hey Pranav, 

The question is very smart, this is how I would do this.
As you mentioned, if it's in the opening how to check it?
For the middlegame and endgames, you can check the blunders.
As well through different courses you acquire knowledge, imagine you learned an idea with Bishop pair, or about open lines, and after the game, you can try to look at details deeper. 
This is also a part, where having a chess coach can help, as more experienced players will point out your mistakes and provide a solution.

Also, as stronger you get with more and more knowledge as easier it will be to understand the mistakes after the game.

Good luck!

Dear cm family, in this game i miss to find (many times) the rook invading on 8th rank .. https://lichess.org/ayAgSz1M/white

Is there any videos on this matter?

How to fight c5,d6,e5 structure

I've played a notable amount of online games where Black quickly advances pawns to c5 and e5 and assumes a sort of mirrored Stonewall structure. What is the best way to combat this structure, and where are my pieces most happily placed? Let's assume I've already played e4 but am still looking to develop my pieces and decide on a pawn formation. Should I call Black's Bluff and play c3 and d4 anyways? Play c4 myself? Go for b4 or f4? Should I fianchetto my light squared bishop, or where else should it go? I feel the early c5,e5 combo should be positional suspect, but I don't know how to crack it. Of course I have similar questions from the black side, but for the sake of communication we'll say I'm playing White.

Thanks a bunch.   Jake

Replies

Hi Jake,

My visualisation skills aren't brilliant so I set up the position on Lichess assuming 1 e4 c5, 2 Nc3 d6, 3 f4 e5 - is that right?  https://lichess.org/editor/rnbqkbnr/pp3ppp/3p4/2p1p3/4PP2/2N5/PPPP2PP/R1BQKBNR_w_KQkq_-_0_1?color=white

I'd be inclined to go with 4 fxe5.  Yes, we have doubled pawns but they are both in the centre.  Black most likely then 4 dxe5 and we can 5 Nf3 attacking the c5 pawn and continuing our development - we now have 2 pieces developed and black has none.  On the downside I'm always a little concerned when moving the f pawn because of the king's exposure but I think f4 is a suggested move in the WhiteMood course when faced with the Sicilian.

Disclaimer: As you know from the help you've provided on my queries, I'm pretty new to this so take that into account when considering the above! 😉

If you don't provide concrete moves Jake, it's difficult to help. 
Also we are always talking about Chessmood repertoire, if you deal with Open Sicilians, this is out of our scope… 😅

This is not a mirrored Stonewall, the f pawn is still on f7.

This pawn structure could be hard to break with a early direct attack. My suggestion is that you should try to keep your pieces, avoid early exchanges and try to block black's b7-b5 and/or f7-f5 pawn breaks. After you have carefully placed your pieces you can start operations on the center and/or on the flanks.

Also look at the squares you can occupy with a knight: d5 and f5. These should be your target too (e.g. Nbd2-f1-e3).

Another plan could be to push your central pawns: c2-c3 and d2-d4, maybe not too soon in the opening.

And of course a direct attack with f2-f4, but only after you have a firm control on the center, otherwise a pawn break with d6-d5 and/or f7-f5 could be dangerous.

“Positional suspect”, well you should be very careful: black's pawns occupy the center, it's a solid position and a direct attack could backfire. Yet black had to spend some moves to do it while you develop your pieces, so you could start your operations first, when your development is complete.

(one of many) Dream position for white: a knight on d5 and/or f5 against his dark square bishop.

(one of many) Dream position for black: a knight on d4 and/or f4 against your light square bishop.

I suggets you play c3 and d4 no matter what. Because, once your opponent exchanges all, he will be left with a icolated pawn on d6 which you mite consider attacking.

All the best, Kingston

Tactic Ninja 17 Interference

Hi in the Training Level 2 set, puzzle #5: 1.Ne6 fxe6 2.Qh3 Kg8 3.Qh8 Kf7, the final move should be 4.Qh7# ? But this move is marked as incorrect.

Replies

Thanks for informing us! 😁

Hi Alex :) Thanks for letting us know!
Fixed!

Thanks all, sorry I didn't realize earlier I could have posted this in the “Puzzle-Fixing” thread.

Question about Sicilian grand prix?

If black plays like this 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. f4 Nc6 4. Nf3 g6 5. Bc4 Bg7 6. O-O e6 7. d4 should I try the gambit with 7 d4? I don't think there is anything about this in the whitemood course but I think its the move. Is that correct or if I am just learning from the whitemood should I play something else?

Thanks for your time and answers.

Replies

Yes d4 is the recommended move in the expanded course. Check it out. 
https://chessmood.com/course/sicilian-defence-part-1😁

How to train tactics correctly?

Lately, ive been trying to improving at chess, and the Tactic Ninja course seems to be very interesting, but what do i do after i finish it? how do i sharpen my skills more after that?

Replies

I think these articles could help you: 
https://chessmood.com/blog/improve-chess-tactics 
https://chessmood.com/blog/the-myth-about-chess-tactics-and-solving-chess-puzzles 
https://chessmood.com/blog/how-to-improve-your-tactical-vision
On your problem about the ninja course, just follow the guidelines at the beginning (1 section per day, no distractions, etc.) If it helps, i try to do atleast 20 min of puzzles daily (lichess, chess.com, wherever) and if you can, try to rewatch the course (or the ones youre having difficulties with) since most likely you may not get them all on one go.

Tactic Ninja - some errors

Pin

In 8. Double Pin - Training, position 8, it should be White to move, not Black. Cannot solve it.

Skewer

8. Test, puzzle 1 is unsolvable.

Fork

13. Training - position 10, In response to 1…Qa4 there seems to be 2.Nd4 defending the fork.

10. Training - position 3 is unsolvable, answer seems to be 1.f5+ but it won't let the move be made.

Annihilation

Btw, I remember having trouble with this word too, thinking it's pronounced anee-hill-ae-shon ;)

6. Training, puzzle 1 should be White to move.

Replies

Hi there!
Thanks for letting us know :) 

Pin ✅
Skewer - it seems the puzzle is solvable :) please check it one more time

Fork 13 - after 2.Nd4 we can simply take it with a queen or with a pawn

Fork 10 - ✅

Annihilation 6 ✅ (I struggle pronounce it too 😂) 

Thanks for your help!

Sicilian Nc3, 2...Nc6

Hello,

In these lines of the sicilian, after 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bb5, when black play other moves than 3…Nd4, I don't see any videos explaining the white plans for these lines, appart from the introduction video where it's said that we get a better version of the Rossolimo because we play f4 before Nf3. Is it possible to have some videos with typical plans on these lines please?

Replies

3…Nd4! is clearly the only good move for Black - CM provided a line with 3…g6?! 4.Bxc6!, dxc6 5.d3, Bg7 and then 6.f4 or 6.Be3/Qd2/Nge2, and in quite the same way you can also play with 4.Bxc6! against 3…e6 or 3…d6, giving Black weak doubled c-pawns

Hi Luc!

There are 2 hours 25 mins of variations explained against all the moves in sample games of https://chessmood.com/course/rock-n-rolling-with-white

4. Antisicilian part 2

And also 1 hour of videos of these variations in 

https://chessmood.com/course/whitemood-openings-model-games
section 5 sicilian variation
Please check them out. There a many, many games available already… 
Happy learning my friend! 

😆😁

null error when important Whitemood pgn files into Lichess

Hello, I do have null error messages when importing the WhiteMood pgn files into lichess. When clicking through I miss several chapters including French and Caro-Kann. Am I the only one with this issue?

Replies

I believe this is due to Lichess interface because it does not support the introduction of null moves.

With Chessbase there is no problem to open the file.

The only thing that you can do is to delete the part with null move(s) and then upload it again.😀

Importing pgns to lichess sometimes is not so easy as it seems…😀

I am on iPad and chessbase is not supported on it , but the app chess studio is doing almost the same for me and you can access it offline ( lichess online only ) . Lite version is ok but full version was only 5$ last year . 

How to prepare for a tournament

I have nationals next week and need advice how to prepare and be on my best form s that is a very important tournament for me

Replies

There is a whole section in the blog dedicated to this. Try reading some of these : 

https://chessmood.com/blog/category/tournament-preparation

Hope this helps. Good luck for the nationals!

Maybe these ones in particular :

https://chessmood.com/blog/the-right-way-to-prepare-for-a-chess-tournament

https://chessmood.com/blog/grandmaster-tips-the-right-way-to-prepare-for-the-chess-game

Positional Chess Course

Still no progress on positional chess course? So many new articles but still no progress on positional chess? why is that? 

Replies

Chessmood is currently working on many new courses in parallel and does not provide exact release dates, I guess we just have to be patient - let me refer you to another thread with a similar question, which was answered by chessmood odysseus, where he gives some more information and some tips in the meantime: https://chessmood.com/forum/pro-channel/positional-chess-course

We are on it, but it is not so easy as you may think… We already have selected and tested two big sets of quizzes ready and this is a very good news! 😄But in the meanwhile, check the model games and games collections. Plenty of positional wisdom all around… 😁