Chess Lesson with NBA Player Gordon Hayward

about an hour ago on stream i gave a chess  lesson to nba player gordon hayward you   might ask well how the hell did that happen  well we talked about it a little bit in the   intro to the video uh but basically gordon's been  playing a lot of chess over the past six months   and he came across my channel both on youtube  and on twitch and ended up getting my course   and that's how i got in touch i was like you know  what life is short might as well reach out and he   was extremely nice join me on stream for about  two hours and i cut out parts of the lesson   for this video you can use the timeline players  always to jump around and yeah let me know if   there's anybody else that you'd like to see  uh come on stream for a lesson who might not   be in chess right now with some sort of athlete  or actor or so on and so forth anyway this was   amazing i figured i'd share it with you guys and  as always enjoy and i'll see you in the next video   if anybody doesn't know i was literally  taking a walk in a botanical garden   uh and uh gordon got my e4 course i thought it  was like just someone else i just um so what's   been like your your chess journey because i saw  on chess.com your account was you know it's older   it's like five six years but you only really  started playing since april yep so basically i   remember playing chess with my mom um that's who  introduced me to the game way back when but never   really took it seriously you know it's just for  fun and it still is obviously just for fun but   um during the quarantine i needed to do something  other than just uh like play video games i wanted   to do something a little bit more challenging and  so i wanted to get into chess a little more and so   i started you know watching twitch and um then i  got to youtube and started watching youtubes and   you know your stuff was was extremely helpful  thank you and yeah for real it's just it's   really well done and um really really pretty easy  for beginners like me to understand and so then i   kind of just kept watching and kept watching and  then finally i was like you know what i'm i'm   just gonna buy his course and so i i bought the  course and um i pretty much solely have only done   i feel like i'm decent at the uh the gambit um  the other stuff i'm definitely still learning   but that's kind of what i play every time can you  explain real quick um like the difference between   open and closed yeah sure that's that's actually  most of it is what i just said it's just about how   many pawns are on the board um generally you'll  notice that with eight pawns each it's really   difficult to maneuver your pieces like what's that  what i don't just in open and close meaning open   meaning there's less ponds so it's just more space  like the space is more open is that just what the   terms are referring to yes yes so for example a  bishop likes an open position more than a knight   right right right because it you know it sees  diagonally whereas if you if you block a pieces   kind of diagonal vision and this is blocked and  the bishop isn't so happy a knight can maneuver   around blockades so i'll just give you kind of a  i mean let's just for example taking here would   be a mistake but just for the sake of learning uh  something like this like this position is a lot   more open right um and now this bishop has vision  but how would you close down this bishop's vision   you could just move the e pawn yeah to e6 and  then you would get the bishop here and you'll   notice that all these pawns complement the dark  squared bishop so you don't need to play the move   a6 but essentially because you have like a control  of all of these light squares you just need to   counterbalance that with a dark squared piece now  white would want to trade your bishop because then   you would now have a bunch of pawns on light  squares and nothing covering the dark squares   but in in a lot of king's indian positions  the bishop lives on g7 and is happy   we can put this into into like  practice so this game in particular   went like this so very quickly your  opponent trades his light squared   bishop right bishop for knight is that a  good trade for white or is it a bad trade um trade the light squared bishop yeah because  he you know he did he did like check you blocked   and then he took just unprovoked he just went  like this so i would say no it's not good and   you're right um it's it's there's no need  for it now your bishop is just very strong   uh i'll give you you know a fun example in this  game he castle but what if he had played d4   you can stop your opponent from castling here just  by moving to a6 yeah like normally this is not a   good move but here to castle white now needs to  drop this knight back and that's not something   that you want to do i mean it's prob it's the best  move because you literally can't make any progress   if you can't castle so giving up such massive  control of a of a light squared attacker is   is just not smart this game is really instructive  because right here uh you just went like   genius mode um and before we do that  luckily it went no it happens a lot uh   okay so is this position closed or open is  it more closed or more open i i should say   see it's hard to tell i would say that it has the  beginnings of being closed just because i've got   both my pawns there and this one could  come up and then really close it off but   i mean how many ponds i still have i have seven  ponds here seven ponds that's pretty closed right   it's pretty close and okay well now i'm gonna  now i'm gonna just kind of ask if it's if it's   pretty close but not fully closed what's open  what is what are the openings in the position   like on his side or my side or just anywhere yeah  like the prospect i mean start with your plan   but also where does he want to go  like where do his pieces want to go   um i mean i think his pieces want to generally  attack my king sure but at the same time i'm   pretty closed off over there so maybe he tries  to push up this side the right side you can also   uh right click for the squares and then drag if  you okay okay okay yeah um okay one very important   thing remember i said trading this bishop is  good trading the black bishop is good yeah like   your opponent should look for a way to trade it  oh for him for him for him yeah right okay so   one plan that white can play here which you know  now you are aware of and also you can do to people   is bishop queen behind it and then bishop yeah  yeah people do okay yeah i've had that happen   for sure but you're not supposed to take that  right and then they but then they just trade it   right it's better for to let them take you at  least your king then serves the the duty of yes   of protecting the dark squares so you don't want  to be the guy taking and then the queen comes in   like this uh you want to just leave that there  but okay that's one plan now you said attack my   king you have other weaknesses as well like this  pawn's not guarded so night there is a good move   right and i feel like that happens a lot yeah but  you did something you know you did something very   accurate in this game now i have a question  how do you prevent this bishop from moving   how do i prevent that bishop from moving  yeah what that means is that it's gonna be   able to move but it will be bad if i was to  move h6 that's what you did in the game and   then you did this and i and i like it but if  this bishop moves out it stops guarding this   and so now i have that diagonal oh i have rook  okay yeah and that's all because he made the trade   here so i have this open file right there yep so  rook b8 will prevent him from moving it's like the   the little things now as far as this position goes  is bishop a6 attacking the rook is it a good move   or has this only helped your opponent i feel  like it's probably helped my opponent and now   that bishop is just sitting over there on its own  hanging yeah it it's not attacking anything you're   basically relying for him to hang his queen which  is not going to happen oh it does sometimes but   it's the rook on e1 is yeah it's it's a good piece  um i like the plan that you came up with in this   game so h6 and then bringing your king like this  and then launching these pawns at your opponent   so so here's a question for you a general question  how do i know because i know that you have talked   about when you're playing king's indian really  taking control of these two squares with these   pawns but like in some of the games you do it  early and in other games you do it like late   and it's hard to necessarily know when to  do that you're not gonna like the answer   um it's really hard to say yeah honestly  sometimes are both they're both okay   so i would say that this king's indian is a lot  more open because a trade happened very early   like white doesn't have an e-pawn anymore whereas  sometimes there's like a lock in the center of the   board you know both of you still have some bonds  as far as this game goes it's probably actually   not great to launch a pawn storm because in  doing like for example a3 and then knight d7   which is what you did like to try to try to  do this he should probably stop that like   he should play bishop to f4 right like this and  he'll stop you from going here and you can play   f6 here to like really try to make this happen  uh and you know what white's best move here is it's it's this just literally  not letting you push your e-pun   right but that's not very practical  for the 900 1000 you know 1100 level   um it's just it's not gonna happen and so if you  want to play knight d7 f6 and and prepare that   like you have my blessing that's a great plan  for this position and you'll see for the game   you got a massive you know attack in the center  now this was going to be the instructive moment   that i wanted to pull up in this position okay  um do you want this trade or do you want to push i feel like i want to push you do doesn't that  look really aesthetic you just like yeah yeah   it looks great and then you then you go yes so  in in this game if you had if you had shut the   door down on this trade and then went on a big  attack you you just you pawn storm and you win   um when you played f5 you gave him one  last chance to make this trade and now   he's slightly better because you'll notice he so  the position is opened up right that makes sense   yeah because you traded what was it one pawn one  pawn and a knight and that's kind of what i'm   that's the decks those moments are the moments  where i like i have i don't know do i take it   do i push it do i leave it like those are the  moments where it's like that's exactly what i'm   talking about like you know exactly what to do and  it's like if i just push it that makes the game   way better for me probably but sometimes i take  it sometimes i don't there are rare moments   where i do push it and i make the right call  but i basically see what you're saying i see   now i see what you're saying i i would say  this like the the thing is and and the way i   kind of always say like what is chess  skill determined by i give you 10 positions   and you should you know based on the position like  for me e4 is automatic why because i've probably   played half a million chess games like but the  general rule of thumb here is if you want to start   an attack make sure they can't open the center if  that's wait wait wait let me write this down i did   see you were taking notes that is sick because i  have given a lot of lessons on stream and i think   only one person has ever taken notes if you want  to start an attack what'd you say shut down the   center close the center make sure the center  is locked preferably with your pawns okay yes and what's that my general thinking is usually  like like i'm think i'm sitting here thinking like   okay if he takes me i'm good like his i can take  back with the knight he can take back the night   i can take it back with the bishop i'm fine and i  think that ended up happening right and so then i   just like i'm like okay cool i have both centers  like i'm just going to chill there because i'm   i'm guarded i'm just not hanging yeah but i wasn't  thinking like if i push it then it's really closed have that all locked available um now   if he goes back here what is the follow-up to  continue to storm on this side of the board um more space do i just play here yes yes and  again at first glance that move doesn't look   like it does anything like you can't even go here  because he just takes it because it's protected   right right but this is the best move why um i  can give you all the reasons it's a good move i   don't know if i can explain why it's the best  move it's it's your take space and long term   when you start opening this king up you're going  to need as many pawns as possible right so g5   f4 um bringing in the knight when you bring in  the knight you open up the bishop to control   that side of the board as well um so that's like  the next step so like if he was just to play   just like there then it's just like the next step  is like bringing the not like because where do you   go from here is it like i bring this knight over  here but then it's like what did that do i guess   you're saying that opens up this yes  you're continuing to improve your position   on on the king side because your plan is to  create an attack right and open up the position   and then deliver mate now you know the worst thing  about chess is that you could do this right for   10 moves you do it wrong on the 11th you lose  because you blunder something right um that's   also the cool part about chess okay like you know  not everybody has that mentality i was gonna ask   like when you lose in chess like are you just like  ah [ __ ] you know whatever i'm gordon hayward   dude i get pissed okay okay  okay and do you analyze like   yeah yeah i go to the game report and like  look and when i do something really like   when i blunder it's just like dude  what am i thinking like that was okay yeah that's that's it's frustrating but  it's also to me it's really cool because i can   go back and see like oh yeah i mean that was  that was probably i don't know why i did that   like if i would have done that i would have been  good and then it like helps you kind of learn   like it's like instant  feedback which is really cool   but sometimes analyzing with a human  is even better than analyzing with   computers just because computers just gives you  these suggestions and you're like what like okay   i see why that's a good move but why is that  the best like why is that you know uh showing up   as like the top move of the computer but yes g5  would be right why what's the idea of pawn to   g5 here you've said knight f6 which is also good  but g5 is not i didn't say you said g5 you said g5   no you just say knight f6 but both but the plan  is the same keep bringing pieces to that side   but why is g5 the best because what's the next  move like again let's say i go here what's your   name i can just keep moving this up right like  what's yup what's stopping me from doing that   yep okay now i'm going to throw a little curve  ball what if c4 isn't that just a free pawn um isn't that just a free pawn it looks like it's  just a free pawn it is but why is it not the   best move so when you take and this is super  important we're going to have a lot of this   pawn stuff pawn dynamics over over the course  of today when you go here you win a pumbaa   what do you weaken you weaken something  this square yes how can he attack that um and bonus how can he attack that too you  can go here yes that sucks because now he's   actually counter-attacking you and you're not  gonna you know and he can also play knight to   c3 and all of a sudden he has two attackers on  this pawn and you you know from zero to two oh   sorry that was supposed to be right more dramatic  so and you took a pawn but your attack is gone   and he's gonna win this pawn and uh you can't  you like you can't get in um so it's almost like you know you got to be careful for  quote-unquote free pawns if it's weakening   where you're attacking and also if you  want to attack this has to stay closed   so it has to take take all good let me keep  bringing pieces to the side of the board knight to   f6 this is guarded the bishop is now open so like  be careful when opening the center basically yes   especially when you're attacking otherwise  it you know it's situational i can't say   right in all positions you  need to be careful but right   even here like okay which of  these two pawn breaks are better   is it better for you to go e3 or is it better  for you to go f3 and look elementary analysis   is take take take bad trade for me that's not a  good trade because i lose the pawn is that true   is it true if i go here to this spot yes it's  true that you lose a pun is it true that it's bad i mean i think the way i look at it it's  like you're you're you're opening up this   right in front of your king which is not  very good right also when that pawn moved   just like when this pawn moved it  stopped guarding that and who sees this   this guy yeah so you at least have an insurance  policy bishop takes h3 um and don't forget just   like in your vienna games when you play white  you open your rook like when the f-pawn goes away   there's a rook behind it you do this a lot when  you play white so you're saying it's you're   saying it's bad for white is what you're saying  right yes right right right right right yeah   now e3 it's actually probably also not the worst  thing but it's it's of course it's better to   play this move um and this is a this is a very  serious problem so if pawn takes f3 uh you can   take right away you can also go for this  now you have this but i'm not gonna let   you play it what is black's best move here think  aggressively like create a threat attack something um i have to attack not that pawn   i'll go here and now i'm attacking this my  man uh you're not okay so you're actually   so you what the way you can think you can think  about this is you have vision on these two it's   not a direct attack you're saying because it's  because somebody can take it back yeah but you   you are attacking something else by playing this  move has nothing to do with the knight think about   opening doors for other pieces yes that's a  serious problem uh it's really difficult to   defend now let's say the king comes to defend  okay there comes a moment in every man's life   he needs to learn tactics okay if this was me  my first initial thought is to move the queen up   and i'm threatening that that move probably also  wins but why don't you just take the pawn take   this pawn yes so you're saying the king would take  right yeah yeah yeah what what's the king guarding   king is guarding this so then  you take and now he's in check   and then the rook and the knight  and the queen you know what else this is not even the best  move i don't think it might be   if something even better another check that's even  more deadly uh oh yeah yeah a fork on the queen   yeah now i actually think that even bringing  the queen now is is absolutely decisive so   like afterwards or right away ah i'm  not gonna lie i think i think queen d7   and then just just hunting the the king down  but also i mean rook takes is it's all real it's   all good at that point it's all good yeah um but  the whole important thing was way back when that   that initial pawn yep this all comes down to to  locking the center now you'll notice in the game   you might look at this and go oh it's all good  it's a fair trade the problem is that this move   is actually seriously bad for black  why so evaluating a chess position   um number one material even right number two king  safety so who would you say has the safer king   it could be even you know just like material  i mean my my king's pretty safe the king's   pretty safe his king's pretty safe it's it's about  it's about even now third and fourth is uh peace   activity so who has more active pieces him yeah  i mean if this spot i have to try to guard yeah   i was just to say that and he's taking that too  yes yes i'm in a i have a minute issue yeah and   this is not a good trade for you because again  you don't want to trade your dark squared bishop   like unless you're that's actually something that  i need to so like so if if you have there this   is something that confuses me a little bit when  and you guys always like rush through this like   when you're you just like say it because it's so  obvious for you but like when you say like we have   that when we i have the light squared advantage  or whatever like he doesn't have anything on the   dark square and that's a little bit confusing for  me but like when if you break it down it's like   at the beginning of the game he lost his his light  squared bishop so that means what that like i have   what does that mean the the easiest way to think  about it i hope i hope this answers it a little   bit better is that so the bishops are like 100  on one color because they don't they don't see   half the board um a knight is 50 50. so when  you trade a light squared bishop very early   yeah you ideally want to balance your pawn  structure to to control the light squares   it's like earlier when i said we traded our light  squared bishop so we're putting a lot of pawns on   light squares um control the light squares  because they can't because well no because   we can't because we traded our light squared  bishop so when we give away our lights but   i'm thinking i'm thinking okay reverse this i'm  thinking of black because that's what happened   we got their light squared bishop oh yeah yeah  yeah then so for us we want to control the light   squares because they can't or yes and we're we  want to make advantageous pawn traits to open up   the position if you have two bishops and they  don't have any bishops or they have one bishop   opening the position helps you because the bishop  is a long range piece so because if it's closed   then you're not gonna be able to get anywhere  yes and like this position is open but in all   the wrong ways because your light squared bishop  is blocked in by a bunch of light squared stuff   um but i'm gonna give an example if  we go back in the game a little bit   um just let me know when i wrote it all  down i'm ready so here or like you know   we analyze this position so you see how our  light square bishop isn't even playing yeah   our rook was never playing either the whole time  yeah like our bishop and our rook aren't playing   but what counter balance is that there's  something more important going on   like the fact that we are dominating this center  and this almost like left side of the board yeah   like the king side attack is way more powerful  than starlight square bishop if you want to   spend the move to go here sure by all means but  we saw that later in the game remember later in   the game the bishop literally came alive  right right when we open the position so   you know it's it's a balance every position  is it's slightly different and dependent on   certain you know certain factors this position  is good for your opponent because you've put   so many pawns on light squares that his  bishop has no counterpart basically like   he just he has the open board and then  if this happens this is even worse   i'll give you an example what if the bishop  gets to this square who will ever challenge it   right right you can visualize that like what  happened like who the hell uh give you even worse   i've locked him in yeah you see like the power  here now where would you want your bishop to be   what's the best square to control everything   the best square to control everything you  could plop the bishop down anywhere you want   you could just right click it like to yeah you're  right but that's never gonna happen right no   that's that's the problem is that you don't you  don't have a way in because he he has sufficient   defense over here now you know a good option would  be that that's actually not a bad square at all   right for your bishop because uh you know just  again to visualize how does he kick you out by   the way so we're gonna we're gonna speed run some  concepts okay because we i'm gonna put in a game   now this one you had you had white so you can flip   it so that you are looking at it  from white's perspective okay so i love this i love that you attacked the  knight because he never put his deep on here   you know you're doing your thing um this  is great this like for example here this   trade isn't necessary you can go back but it's  good why why is that good because what is this   like what just because i'm doubling his pawns well  you're winning one of them right oh yeah okay i am   look at me and and this is good like even though  he can check you you just bring back the knight   that's not you're not missing anything okay  um but just like last game you traded off   your light squared bishop or they traded off  their light squad bishop in the last game   right because you don't have one but  your center pawns are on dark squares   okay that's not that doesn't go together very well  and his light squared bishop can become active   exactly so okay you guys are doing your thing here  he attacks you so he misses that he could go here   right and then so here now  important moment this aside   you have one bishop he has two right  yep do you want to open the position   no no what does that mean open the position that  means trade like a pawn pawn played c4 i know   why you played c4 because after takes takes you  attacking his queen 100 like you were like that is   definitely why but when this pawn goes here it's  not obvious right away but this bishop is open now   there's a knight in front of it but it's open look  at what that bishop had a life in blockade blocked   by its own pawns right when you go here all the  advantages out the window now if you just defend   the spawn like for example rugby one you're a  lot better let's say black i don't know plays   i don't even know what like knight a5 for example  just trying to i don't know bring the knight here   so why would i play reich or rook b1 and not like  pawn b4 oh you can you can i just yeah yeah it's   not that one is better than the other um okay this  is this is a perfectly good move let's let's say   you go b4 sure so now he can't even play knight  a5 and i don't know rook e8 okay give me a plan to do what to attack the king or to well  well well to improve your positions yes   to go attack the king yeah okay um maybe i might just move my rook over  to e1 just to be more active   rookie one is always a good bet what  about a plan to trade off his bishop on g7 oh i can move my queen over to e3 very good and  then we need three yeah and the reason why i would   want to do that is because i my light squared  bishop is gone so i want to get rid of his dark   squared bishop also his dark squared bishop  is the only the remaining guard of his king   right if you get your queen to that square  and then knight here you're it's over you win   because he can't get my if i get my queen here  or you're saying if i get my if he if i go here   and he takes and i take back yes i'm here which is  why you don't want to take yes and another thing   onto h4 which sometimes is uh again it's like  why would i do this my king is here how does   that help me it's again it's chipping away at  his defenses so sometimes when you have a same   side attack like that very rare but if he can if  he takes with the pawn who has he opened up now   like yes yes yes that's not good night g5 and  gg like literally i mean he can't stop this   does not have oh and if f5 on passant except this  time it's actually good it's not just doing it   for the sake of doing it yeah uh you  can also just play this it's also   but yeah pawn takes uh on poisson there  would be it would be the right way to go   so these are the things that i need to think about  like that position where i would generally just   move my rook over it's like now hold on a second  this is the only thing protecting the king   like does it matter if you move the  queen here or here nope not really   yeah not really another sneaky maneuver with the  rook can be like this it's probably something   that's not natural like that's not you need  to learn something like that that would i   feel like that takes like so many moves it does  but again if you scan the forcing moves for him   that's the that's like level two of forcing  moves you look at them for yourself but   checks captures and attacks for the opponent  if there are none it means he can't do much so like so you have that time to then  yeah like not over there when i look at   this position i'm looking at this that doesn't  work you know i'm looking at this that doesn't   work he can't move these three pieces that  helps me a lot that saves a lot of time   so this is where i feel like in my level if  i was to do something like this i feel like   one thing that they a lot of times people do is  they just you look for like pawn trades so like   people go here and now i'm stuck to where i'm like  okay do i take this do i leave it do i push it   yes and it's not always obvious if the if the if  the answer doesn't result in someone winning a   piece or something something like crazy happening  or attacking something yeah and it's like you just   like take take take i've seen you i've  seen you do this actually in a few games   like take take and then you know you'll just  move away that is good like what you're doing   is good because now in the resulting position they  just have really bad pawns and that's a weakness   so ultimately that really didn't it didn't even do  much though because he still had weak pawns before   yes actually if anything this  pawn trade helped your opponent   if if you're going to make the argument for  anybody because now he has an open rook he   didn't have an open rook right so in that  instance i just don't do anything i would i   so why not just do what our plan was that you  can also do with the yes bishop h6 so you have a   choice i mean chess sucks like sometimes it's you  can't tell which one is better they're both good   um okay go back to okay so i see that one  so go back to what you were saying so if you   and he takes and queen comes in that's  a that's this is this is very good oh   that is bad and the knight and then you know now  there's a wall where the pieces are for black and   they can't coordinate very well um so like what  happens if he goes what happens if he goes here   he's well first yes oh yeah he's got to move  the check so if he just goes back and you   know you do your thing and then this is the  only move that doesn't lose immediately so should you move your queen here or here um i feel like if i if i move my queen here i'm  i can attack this i saw i'm i'm pressuring   that a lot that i don't see anything wrong  with this unless it's like a trick question   no it's it's not queen h3 it's got to be  the best move he has to push this pawn   how else like he goes like here is that  a threat no we can't take it because you just you know maybe bring the rook in  do this or bring the knight back and now   that's a new attack on something wait  if you bring the rook in then he just what would he do whoops well actually rookie 6   could be brilliant because this knight is  literally holding black's position together so what you're saying like wait is it his move  or my move his move his move but let's say it was   you know let's go a5 yeah rookie six is  fantastic actually cuz you're threatening this   and if he takes uh i don't i don't uh probably i mean you  could take with i like knight i'll tell you   why i like it because now this and also  the bishop is the only guard of the king so the bishop is guarding this like you  want to play queen takes pawn well you can't   you can't because of his bishop and now you are  threatening knight takes bishop and now the queen   gets in and it's probably just over somehow which  i can't imagine him doing like trying to like   protecting this now you can take that is it but  you know now you have this right take that's mate   right which he wouldn't good luck avoiding  it yeah yeah yeah yeah i actually it's it's   it's uh i'll do you a word checkmate if this then  this is checkmate very pretty right right right   double check guarded okay that's all that so but  but the key there was basically the key there was   like this for this like that attacking thought  is like goes back to the whole when the light   squared bishop really control the light square  so you're trying to trade off his dark square   and then also that's the only thing protecting  his king so yep specific to this game he had   only one piece guarding his king so you you  take a moment and you go you go to trade it   another important thing the mistake really in this  game was the move c4 opening the position by me   yeah and even though you can end the thought  with fair trade and i'm attacking his peace   that's not always good because the resulting  uh position actually helped your opponent like   even though it's one for one and it comes with  an attack at the end it could be a bad move which   sucks because under you know normal thought did i  win this game or lose this game i actually don't   uh no your opponent won but again like there  were games that went back and forth so a lot   of these games go back and forth um and i did  notice sometimes you just attack but you're not   prepared like you don't have the infrastructure in  place to just attack so you just play an attacking   move and look like here d5 hits the knight but now  he goes here this is now attacking that and that   and this is now attacking this with this and it's  over right like one move and all of this happened   because of the move c4 like crazy but it's over  in two moves literally open the position and you   opened it where he has the majority does that make  sense he has four pieces on that side of the board   yeah it does make sense and you played into it  but here uh maybe you can argue he has one but   that's not the bishop is the what rook is blocked  you know so um you can maneuver in a more close   structure rather than opening the position really  because he had two bishops that's what that's what   like hindered you here this move c4 um right that  makes sense all right next one i the way i did   this is i i basically kept a list of the people  that you played next guy was blunder city 23. at least he's honest uh this one you you won  and that always in chess they say you should   prepare against people using games they  won because they won't analyze those games   people analyze games they lose a lot more so  you can flip this to your uh black's perspective okay so again king's indian oh his name was  actually blender city23 yeah i thought you were   nicknaming him because he blundered no and you  threw in like a michael jordan number or something   no no no he uh i i like this  game honestly so you okay so here   you mixed a couple of different ideas you played  h6 and rookie eight like you can just stick to   this plan and then but you know again you were  trying to play e5 here it's very it's very tough   what central break to make because under normal  circumstances you want the knight here right   you don't have that oh this  is this is kind of what i was   this is where i pressured that  bishop right and he just went back no actually okay this game was  very interesting you did this   traded and then blocked out his bishop oh  okay yeah okay but this game is unique because   he plays the move d5 and this leads  to total chaos like because i mean   but what you did here i like that you took  like this this makes a lot of sense now the   million dollar question do you take do you push  or do you ignore it and leave this open to him right what's the best move  for you well if i push it then   i'm threatening the queen and more importantly  what does that do to the structure of the position   like did you say and it kind of closes it right  yes yes because this bishop is bad and he can't   exactly because that pond is blocking him so he's  yes yes we just had an example a lot of people   make this mistake we just had an example last  game where i said just because you attack a piece   doesn't mean it's a good move so some people take  that into this example and they go oh well he just   said that just because i'm attacking a piece  it's not a good move yeah but that's not the   same the position is different right right  right yes it's very bad to take because he   just goes here now he's threatening this and  this is very bad no need you played king h7   which so i ignored it you ignored it but that  also that also there's a pawn here that we we   want to keep the position under control but  again like i don't know you could have it's   one of those situations you literally could have  looked down look up no no this was a moment where   i'm thinking what do i do here do i take it do  i not and i probably i think i just thought like   i need to get my king in a safer position and  so i just did i think i was worried about these   two things here and so i just probably didn't i  don't think i probably a lot of times i don't my   two thoughts are more of do i take it or do i  ignore it less of do i just go past it yes and   just see what happens and just so then i'm just  like let's just go here because he's i'm in some   issues here so like i just tried to avoid it  but anyway someone's asking about bishop's ac3   uh i was very concerned if i was reading  what they were writing so look this is uh   you know and and then this well first of all  that's bad because this has no guard anymore   but just in general i don't recommend making this  trade like ever in a king's indian i'm just gonna   say that right now computer is showing that  you can go here and start some sort of attack   it's better to just go e5 e5 and then fight on  the c file notice that like you can go knight rook   yeah and you know that opposite side castling is  is fun you attack each other and a6 b5 you know   in the future maybe e4 to open up your bishop  right now your bishop has some sort of scope   um but e5 there that that's literally all i wanted  to show is like pawn play in this position control   the movement of his pieces close the position  and then and then kind of kill his activity but   that's like a huge important piece for me and i'm  sure for a lot of beginners yes you mean like like   the bishop on g7 the piece or the piece of like no  the the information the information that you just   gave us yeah it's it's it's what do you do  with it and oftentimes it's not even about   seeing your prospects it's about seeing what it  does to the opponent's position like e5 is good   because it shuts out his pieces that's why it has  nothing to do with you like okay you can make the   argument well if his pieces are more active then  it's bad for me yes yes yes but in reality it's   it's just a matter of uh his pieces are  a lot less aggressive in this position   and that's why it's good um okay  we said we were speed running so i got another one you're still here right hmm yeah yeah yeah i'm still here okay okay so you  had another game with black okay king's indiana   stuff i was looking at these uh positions and  it was finding ah your worst nightmare d4 d6 d5   oh yes i've never seen that before my pretty sure  i just went along with what i was doing right yeah yeah yeah i did i remember this a little  bit you did your thing like all right this is   good i like it now you see the problem he  went long he went long and just just real   quick tobacco all the way up to the very first  move when you when he makes that move like it   is that just like a like would you see that and be  like i'm gonna win easily now like because i know   what to do to attack like punish that or no like  not really that bad of a move it's not that's the   thing like with white you could punch yourself  in the face a few times and still be okay okay   i was just i was just seeing if like i missed  something super obvious if they do that   but not really no no it's not like i said  you know it's just it's just a weird move   yeah for sure but okay i'm sorry after that he  went back to playing like a normal person yeah um   so like look as i'm navigating  this opening at this point   i would start attacking this pawn why right  like well what you did is also good i like this   but because i'm thinking he could go here  and then here and then he could also castle   long so i need to play the move that's the  most flexible and the most to the point   when you go h6 not a bad move i like this i  like this but now you see he's attacking you   so you respond now he goes long this position  is basically the final moment that you have   to do something before he gets to attack you  okay what do i do well how do you he just   showed you he's gonna go this way so how do you  start doing something on that side of the board nothing crazy you don't have something  winning but i said like this c6 even c5   i'll tell you why it has nothing to do with  the pawn who do you open when you go here the queen yes you're gonna get to him before he  gets to you yeah another another thing once you   get this you want to go b5 you can't so how do  you prepare the move b5 first off this is just   gonna on passant which then i just take with the  knight or take with the pawn uh actually both are   both are good uh i would take with the knight the  computer is telling me that bc6 is better but i   don't i don't care this is by far the more natural  move right yeah because you're just developing the   knight and you take it back yeah remember same  thing we had last game open c file remember it's   like the last position that we had the guy had the  bishop here we just looked at that position where   you had to play pawn up to close out his bishop  when that king is there that rook will go to c8   this could get very dangerous look got one  two two guys staring this way you get the   rook that's a fourth sorry the third that's  a fourth queen will come that's a fifth piece attack them before they can attack you right but  let's say they do attack me and they go here well   actually the attack the best attacking move here  is f5 e5 you gobble you good oh yeah okay well   i think it's okay because then i just take it  back okay yeah but if he does that is serious   that is a serious move yes um okay let's see how  what's our level of continuity should you take   and go back or should you just go back and let  him take and you take what's better i would say   i would say i just i'd say i go back if  he takes i take back and now i have this   first of all yes and second of all your pawns  are together which makes defending a bit easier   you're right bishop d7 is the best move take  take you leave yourself with one pawn ah   this bishop is the pawn can come up the bishop  is open now down to your king you're right yeah   see good like there you would you would drop that  back right um someone said this that's no don't   do that um but bishop e6 yeah is uh and then and  then you know bringing the rook for example but   opposite side castling is it's it's dangerous  it's dangerous you have a very legitimate chance   of losing the game which this game was pretty  chaotic like you did this this okay now c6 i   love it this is your evolution right here c6 big  brain stuff g4 very hostile i would have continued   on the queen side you see what you did here you  played c6 and then e6 but this is it it's not go   on the queen side so g4 how do you attack on on  the queen side now how do you get to this king um if i take he takes but then i open this up  yeah taking and then doing what we talked   about like putting the rook here by moving the  knight that's good yeah that is good or you're   just saying i can just start pushing these you  have b5 yeah b5 like this yes because this move   is like a little kind of yeah now i  have a question for you okay who's here   is this bad because you've now lost a pawn and  your knight is under attack i mean oh my god how   terrible well the way that you just said that  it makes me feel like it's not the end of the   world it's it's not because like that opened  up your b file i mean you don't want to lose   the knight too i'm not saying lose all your  pieces so you're saying you would just let   him take that if i if i do this yes yes wait oh  oh oh no i'm sorry i thought you meant take this   this yes i will let him take i don't want him to  take the knight i will defend the knight or move   it so you could go here yes like here first and  then this yes sometimes you can lose the knight   but in this particular case uh no don't it's  it's too much i think was that was i right about   what i had said or was there a better move  when you were like where how do you start   attacking it b5 all of this is good um i was  going to show you queen a5 because you don't   necessarily have to go with the pawns first  you can now you are attacking that twice this particular case taking  this would be fine because we   we looked at this before and i said so if i do  this and then he just ignores it and plays this yes so again take or ignore and then just go  for bishop takes knight what's more forcing i think bishop takes knight correct of course  now he's gotta i mean if it doesn't take   you just move so yes all  right you have a choice um   this looks good this looks good opening the  file for your rook or the other rook looks good   i mean probably the most human move is just to go  here really i would i would have just gone there they both have merit the reason why this one  i think is slightly worse than taking here   is because if the king hides behind these  two pawns it's going to be hard for you to   attack it now in this particular instance  you still have this but at this point this is   not like one is a hundred percent better than  the other you know what i mean like wait how   do i still have that doesn't he just take with  the rook where oh you mean like in this position like if i take and then where did you where did  you move him oh you're saying you moved him here   yeah just to show that i got  you yes i got you i got you okay   but you know if you take on c3 you can go for this  pawn later and go for that pawn later right take   it kind of at any moment uh most important thing  for you is you need the queen needs help queen's   not gonna win this by itself right and i feel  like i to start getting my knight involved somehow   yeah yep at a6 knight b4 uh pawn takes pawn  bringing in the rook like a probably the the it's   his move though there right like what would he do  in this position sure maybe would you take back um no no just leave it yeah yeah a  scary move here is this do you take dude these are like the hardest questions for me  man do i take but it's not good like it is good   it's great um if i take then he takes now this is  just open for him correct not great for me there's   literally no point for you to take just continue  to develop your position go get the queen some   help knight ace and if he takes then i just take  and now i'm locked and loaded down this file yep   plus your your king is still fine i mean he's not  actually creating any sort of right substantial   threat yeah if this pawn wasn't here and he had  a rook staring at your king this would be a very   different situation you would probably just be  completely lost it's amazing what one pawn does   right that pawn is preventing just  a devastating attack on your king so   uh yeah just ignore knight d7 notice by the  way that square how good it looks for the night yeah the night the night coming to e5 is uh it's very nice but the most important  thing is going to be the queen needs   a rook to help you need to open the position  at a good moment you could play cd5 here   definitely not bad and then play knight d7   but yeah again mastering kind of like in in these  kinds of positions what does the position look   like but if he if i do take and he takes are we  in the same boat like he still now has this whole yes like like we're like this  nothing's guarding this right now   you're right but if you play for example  let's say like knight to a6 and he goes down   here i gotta tell you uh the attack on him  looks a lot scarier than the attack on you   you are threatening checkmate knight to b4 is  threatening checkmate he's you still have a   degree of protection around your king so sometimes  i get i think i get caught up in like thinking   okay look at all that he can do and i almost  forget like all right look what i can do over here   the general thought process is like  okay place a move for example um f5   what's the idea i think his idea is that you know  he wants to come check me um how did that change   what else is like what else in his position  has opened up maybe he had a bishop you know   because of that move it opened up maybe  uh a piece sees something horizontally now   and you you look at that now you start going okay  checks captures attacks just scan the forcing   moves you have this you have this immediate  responses like queen here or queen here the   bet the most forcing move you have is this because  you know he's gonna go here hundred percent right   only move then your queen is hanging so you  look from there he said do i have anything um   i could take that pawn but then it's like so so we  have that leave that just keep it for a sec like   leave it you know queen a5 and then uh sorry queen  a1 and then take the pawn okay i see that now let   me just store that what else do i have well i can  take here um and just move my knight i can't tell   the difference you know between the two if this  this then he goes here why would i open that   for him you know maybe this is just better or i  could just go win his pawn and then you decide   right so you know you're magnus carlsen or  picaro you decide right most of the time   uh but unfortunately it's you know it's not  always not always that easy oh it was better   for me to get a piece in rather than just go win  a pawn because i need more pieces in the game uh   stuff like that it's like it just takes a while  um to kind of that's where the experience comes   in but certainly having the thought process  of like checks captures attacks scanning   what can i do as well as are there immed any  immediate dangers for me yes and then it's   idea calculate evaluate that's the last step like  what does the position look like the hardest thing   for when you're 950 it's not so clear what  the evaluation is but if you use that system   that system really helps material king safety  whose pieces are more active if you have one   active piece and he has four that's bad we  don't want that we don't want that if we're   up of night for up like three points but he  has four active pieces and we only have one   which one do we like more you know because you  can be winning by a knight and still have a   garbage position because nothing's playing yeah  so um i wanted to we looked at a lot of games   with black so you know who knows even within  a week you might be playing different openings   you might never be playing kings indian again but  it's good to have this kind of like information   there there's there's a game you played  with with white you could flip it to white's   perspective hold on before we switch off black  what would you recommend playing and learning for somebody that's my level besides kings  indian i think gambits are extremely fun   gambits are definitely fun but if you want  long-term game uh i would say karu khan   against but the problem with the  karo khan is that it's only e4   it's only e4 when they play e4 when they play e4  if you want to play something against the queen's   pawn or uh whatever else they might play against  you i would recommend the stonewall defense the stonewall defense you haven't seen that  video yet i haven't watched that one yet   it's uh it's it's a similar structure  so it's a similar pawn structure go ahead yeah what were you gonna say i said you  don't have to explain that when we can move on   i'll look into that okay great that's  jesus i wish people from pogchamps took my   advice this seriously why just real quick why  recommending the stonewall just because you   think it's fun or just because it's um and not  like the scandy or well the stonewall is against   queen's pawn so the scandinavian you either play  scandinavian or karo khan you can't play both   because it's only against king spawn e4  right when you have black um i like the   stonewall because people don't know what the  hell to do against it which is generally my   philosophy but also you take a lot of space and  you have a very straightforward attack and it's   different than the king's indian because the  position you get very frequently looks the same   very frequently and i don't think i think i  think yeah okay i i think to your point on   that i don't i don't certainly know what  to do nearly as much with the karo khan   or the scandinavian for that matter so  both of them would fit into that category   the thing is those so the carro goes into like  three branches and if you learn how to play   all three branches you know how to play the caro  it's not like well it depends where they put this   piece in this piece the game plan is kind of the  same like depending on what they do on the third   move that's how fast it is whereas white like you  said king's indian you played against everything   the issue is they could play whatever the  hell they want they're not challenged either   whereas the karo khan fights for the center on the  second move and then they have to respond to it   uh and you wouldn't recommend sicilian  because it's just so much theory for like   yeah yeah i mean that's that's my issue with it  people argue with me but like yeah white can again   do whatever and you could do whatever yeah that's  there's just a lot that i feel like that's one of   the reasons i stayed away from it initially okay  sorry let's move on no no this is this is good   uh you you had a game you did something okay so  this was like a sicilian opening honestly wasn't   the most significant thing okay this point of  the game white has a much better position why like borderline winning probably um use  the system i mean my pieces are just   a little bit better developed what what do  you mean use this system like well evaluated   position right right right right um so  king safety they're kings in the middle   right my king is already castled so it's safe if a  lot more development i have a lot more development   okay here's a hard question make a threat this is hard i'll get so you played  knight g5 but that's not that's not   what i'm thinking because if that  doesn't that doesn't have a threat this is a threat make a threat it's i mean  you can go here and you're threading this but   then he's taking that right so it's not  like your vision but it's not yeah yeah   i'll show you it's it's why is  it this what does that threaten i mean you're threatening you're threatening  this pawn immediately but certainly this is so it's not try to use like who's on the other  side you're queen so i guess it's threatening   you're pinning the queen to this pawn here so it  didn't if i take this he can't take back ah yeah   yeah yeah so now if your opponent were just to go  here bam all right they move the queen out of the   way of the pin bam this is how you destroy people  like in the opening you you find them but rook d1   is that's a brutal move that's a ridiculous move  like if it's you know i i would if you played b3   bishop b2 i'd be like dude but like by all means  night chief five i don't like only because you   don't it's not gonna accomplish anything yeah it  doesn't like but the thing is doesn't even improve   your position because he could just go here  and it's like yeah you gotta go back you don't   so don't just like stumble in with with  the horse i mean he didn't i don't know   he yeah this got wild because then you did this  which is like a pretty gangster he goes here you   go here so you're threatening mate i don't know  why the hell this guy's not castling but this   this now he finally castles okay we  have we have the uh we have the game   you played the best move here  according to the computer   b3 why why is that the best move because you  get your bishop to hit his biggest weakness   like right here i remember that  i remember this game a little bit   so f5 now remember our rule about on on passant  yeah i'm not very good at looking at on poissant   so it's but you're better  at receiving it than yes 100   yes like gf6 probably would have been would have  been good i mean you you just looked at this and   you were like if he takes i take and you're not  wrong uh that is that is totally within reason   and then rook f5 so he blunders rook disconnects  the bishop from the defense of the knight i missed   this no no you took it oh okay you took it the  problem is now he has like some annoying pressure   here right so you played queen h4 pinning his  rook to his queen that move looks freaking genius we had this pattern a few games ago   it's not genius because he can punish  you for it by playing what move um what's the most forcing move he has to play check and what happens when you take it i  lose my queen uh-huh there you go so so you could   avoid queen he didn't do that because he didn't  there's no way he would have seen that he'll have   a lesson with his coach after and then he'll  be back you know ready i'll teach him too no   um that's brilliant actually so but you see we  saw that twice today that's why tactics are good   because you'll just scan very quickly and go oh [  __ ] that's not a good move like i should i should   go here or something just so that i'm not i'm not  there and if you play queen f3 i think you're just   i think you're doing quite well he goes d4 not  a bad move um you go knight e4 so still it's   lost yeah it's actually still lost because  rook takes g2 and he goes here which is bad why um do i just move the queen back no why is  that bad oh i just take the queen you're   right continuity like it goes both ways you didn't  take a queen either nobody wanted to take a queen   um because it actually looks like he's  forking you like that's the thing it   looks like he's forking you right and  this sucks cause like if you miss this   and you move your queen he takes he takes the  knight is that that's what happened yes that's   exactly what happened which is why like okay but  you guys are gonna make mistakes like you know   that's is what it is but you don't have to move  your queen and forget for a second that you have   queen takes queen this is why chex captures attack  so important you don't need to move your queen yes   yes yes yes and it's guarded yeah knight f6 like  let's say you just don't have that for some reason   knight to f6 your queen is the most powerful  piece you have but you can give a check so this   game was all tactics right oh that's cool that's  really cool uh and i think it well it's not over   there's still there's still a lot of stuff here so  bishop e6 this was again like like brilliant like   you just bring the rook you attack this he goes  rook to h5 um you played f4 i love this move um he goes pawn takes but you were locked in  on this yeah i didn't take the bishop did i   yeah you played rook takes that f4 which is still  good because you're threatening rook to f8 check which was obviously your plan you don't need  to tell yourself short obviously this was   this was the idea by the way the best move here  for him how does he create a very dangerous attack   on your king if he just moves the queen over to  h4 yes like visualizing that that is possible   that takes time because you're like why is this  rook on h5 that's so weird it's like when have   you ever had a game with a rook on h5 like this  so rook f4 queen g5 um and like he's he's doing   some stuff okay so you can't take because this  right correct but you're queen's guarding this right so you went up he took i'm gonna  chalk that up to kid distracted you   let's do that yeah what do you do here how do  you go after him what's your most forcing move most forcing move maybe check right there right  so rook here he's gonna take you're gonna take   with the rook right things only move us here let's  keep it going what's your next most forcing move   nice yes king only has one square now is  rook g8 a good move to threaten checkmate   and also that checkmate he still has checkmate  here good yes don't just forget about that so   you actually have to play defense for a move  you have to play you know queen back or rook   back or something to just protect that square  which one is bet which one is more forcing   that's which defense is more  forcing which defense is more forcing um which defense creates a threat  right right hold on a second i'm gonna get this if i move this here then i can move this here  it's mate which is a pretty nasty mate yeah   yeah and look i i actually don't  even know how he stops this frankly   some people hear oh no i was going to suggest  queen c1 but then you literally just take   it's getting late for me too um i don't know what  you do like if look look rook to h4 attacking   your queen and freeing up a space for the king now  bishop f8 here i don't know what the hell is going   on anymore i mean it looks like you should be  just winning here but like with check but he just   blocks and somehow his king is completely safe  right uh probably the best thing for you to do   is to create a checkmate net so this is like  again a small tactical uh theme you don't want   his king to escape so if you check him then he  goes here then you check him he blocks right   we just looked at that so switch the move  order this is something called like a move   order tactic a move order trick rather  than letting the king even come up to h5 you go here first now his king can't even go there like he can't  he can't escape and um like getting my queen out   of the way yes yes uh and the difference with  this move order is for example if he does the   same thing he tries to attack your queen yeah  you have you know you slide over for example   you are threatening this but notice that  your bishop is also threatening this   which is kind of mean so you have two threats now   right i like that that's cool i mean but like th  this is nuts like there's all these hidden gems   in in in these games the simplest thing to to  to do though just the one movers so the checks   like the forcing attacking moves the captures  right like oh my queen's hanging i gotta move   it wait a second hold on i'm missing something  um this thing that he could check you and then   and then win your piece once you start seeing  tactics for your opponent that's when you start   evolving you'll stop yourself from playing certain  moves because you'll realize that right and you   you know you could be making like some sort of  uh big mistake um i mean i had a few more but   this is probably good it's it's been it's been a  lot dude i seriously appreciate this so much this   is this is really cool and to watch your videos  online and then have you here virtually in person   that's that that's been amazing so thank  you so much for taking the time man   i appreciate i mean i i think it's i think  it's cooler from from the other perspective   i feel as though like you guys are all in  this world and we just watch on tv mostly so   it's cool to see that you guys have like time  and uh and and hobbies outside of all this um   can i ask can i ask a question i  haven't asked you this yet just for sure   everybody talks about jaylen brown have you played  jalen no i have not i haven't played him in chess   no is it true that he plays he says that he's  play he plays i i've never seen him play um   so i don't know uh i'm sure he does play  i i haven't seen him play i don't know   i don't know i haven't seen him play so  i'm sorry i cannot answer that question   no all all good but i'm sure he's he's decent at  chess are you the uh are you the best in the nba   are you setting me up here for i  don't know because like we don't know   we know steven adams plays a little bit in klay  thompson that's the name names i hear all the time   does anybody like is there anybody else  that you know do you play against anybody   um i don't play against anybody on the team um i  didn't even know steven steve adams or clay plays   how and by see it like it's so relative right like  how are they really good are they like i wouldn't   say that i if you were if someone was to say hey  do you play chess i'd be like yeah i play i'm   not very good you know you play and you're  pretty good okay so it's like i would say   that you're pretty good you know what i mean  like i would say that i'd say it's pretty good   exactly exactly yeah there was a very interesting  question like we'll sign off on this is it harder   to become a grand master or play in the nba i  actually don't know the answer that question

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Keywords: Gotham Chess gives lessons, Gothamchess lessons, gothamchess openings, gothamchess caro kann, gothamchess guide, caro kann defense, queens gambit, kings indian defense, gothamchess kings indian, gothamchess rating climb, gordon hayward, boston celtics, gothamchess pogchamps lesson, chess lesson for beginners, chess lesson for intermediate players, chess strategy for beginners, chess for beginners, beginner chess strategy, chess lesson, chess strategy lesson, gothamchess

Id: xiKxjL-HPSM

Length: 77min 38sec (4658 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 29 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/basden05]

This is cool good find. Been back into chess for the last 6 months or so.

[u/UNCWFootBall]

If you aren’t using a Ruy Lopez opening what are you even doing

[u/TheMoistiestMonk]

GothamChess and Hikaru are my guyss

[u/AirOn_23-9-12-45-35]

Like they say He’s playing chess not checkers, folks