Update 1: Using the ChessMood Opening Method (Change of Plan!)

You know what they say about the best laid plans...

Yesterday I announced my intention to learn GM Shankland's Neo-Catalan repertoire using the ChessMood recommended approach.  I fully intended to do that ... and then immediately changed it.  Why?  Because about two hours later, my friend NM Matt Jensen released a new course on the QGD Exchange.

I will thus be learning the QGD exchange instead of the Catalan.  Fortunately, this probably improves the experiment:

• The course is literally 10x shorter, 3.5hrs instead of 30hrs.  It's actually something I can complete before 2024;
• The course is primarily plan-based, which seems better for the "re-creation" aspect of the ChessMood method (admittedly, this is an assumption on my part);
• It covers the most common moves at club level, so it should be easier than the GM-approved mainlines from Shankland;
• If the Method works, I can then approach the Catalan with confidence.  If the Method doesn't work, then at least didn't have to bang my head against the wall with a much harder course to find out; and
• It supports my friend.

So, in short, I am still trying the ChessMood approach, but I'm doing it with a less-ambitious course.