Chess Opening TIER LIST for the Grandmaster Level with Hikaru and GothamChess

g3 g6 this is a dragon where black pushes the  pawn out very early to d6 and upon a g6 yeah   i i don't know compared to like the regular dragon  the accelerated dragon it's it's a very decent   opening for in a low rated players because the  structure is very simple but we're talking about   a grand master tier so how how how good is this  considering you allow a moroxy which is just not   optimal right right so what i would say is if  you play the traditional accelerated dragon in   this move order with knight c6 and pawn to  jesus now i know it's a little bit advanced   we are talking at a grand master level um normally  it's considered that white is significantly better   after pushing the pawn to c4 white gets these  two pawns on c4 and e4 and this is called the   meroxie bind so actually i don't know why i said  it like that but anyways sorry it's called the   roxy bind um and basically i think it's because a  giga giggle giga i forgot his first name um roxy   um giga yeah giga giga moroxy um came up with  this idea where white puts the pawns on a c4   and e4 and it prevents black or it's giza okay  but it prevents it prevents black from pushing   the pawn in the center and eventually long term  let's say bishop d7 push b3 knight f6 knight c3   um the pawns just control this critical square  on d5 and generally this is considered to be   a very difficult position to play as black  primarily because the pawns are on e4 and c4 now there are other ways of reaching this as  well so for example um another way is sometimes   opponents are worried about other setups  so they'll play knight c3 and then after g6   d4 pawn takes pawn knight takes pawn   bishop g7 this is also the accelerated dragon but  the difference being white has put the knight on   c3 instead of putting the pawn on c4 so there's  no bind in the center with pawns on c4 and e4 you had a very strong opinion about this  opening right so i mean i've had this with   the knight on c3 um against daniel dubob i had in  a couple events recently and i did uh i did um i   had some good results overall so what i would  say is my take on it and you can correct me if   if you think differently love you but my take on  the accelerated dragon is that generally it's an   opening that i think it's some of the lower  levels um it's a very simple concept you just   want to put the bishop bring the night out um  and the ideas flow very easily but i feel that   at the top levels especially when you end up in  the roxy bind um that it's a very tough opening   to play and it's probably considered slightly  inferior in my opinion yeah so i would say it's uh   it's definitely not unbreakable um it's either  legit it's probably more legit than really bro   right i mean it's not um hmm now i have to think  here what do i think it is what do you think it is   it's definitely not legendary it's definitely not  unbreakable it's definitely not tricks only um yeah i feel like enough enough grand masters  enough strong grand masters do play it from   time to time so i think the way that i  would rank it is um i think i would put   in legit i think it's not it's not garbage i  mean it is garbage but it's not garbage like   no i think it has to go in legit so i'm  going to put in legit for starters i i   check and tell me what they think differently but  i think it's got to be in legit um garbage garbage   garbage garbage oh sorry i didn't switch the scene  sorry so yeah so i'm putting it in um i'm putting   it in the legit category right here you guys um  so uh so yeah i'm gonna i'm gonna put it in the uh   in the legit category so let's keep going yeah we  have a i think we have over 50. so we we're going   to have to kind of hop back and forth between  uh live chest and just uh right right slotting   things in so the next one is is advanced car con  which is just three e5 right um so the next one on   the list as let me point out is the advanced car  con so now let's go back to the chess board um so   the advanced carl khan as you as you guys know  the karo khan is e4 c6 here um and now after d4   uh d4 d5 uh this opening is the karo khan here  white plays pawn to e5 so at the highest of   levels and just at the corocon in general this  is the most challenging weapon to the karaoke   so it's got to be unbreakable or legendary um  i'll leave it up to you because the thing is   we're talking about a response from white side  so technically isn't this the best thing that   white didn't go for against the car con so is it  legendary or is it unbreakable well it's funny   because when i play as black i'm ha if i play  as black and i want to win a game i'm oh right   and levy's bias of course he's biased because he  plays this stupid opening with black no wonder   um and with white by the way i play e5 h4 so right  so so what i would say is is yeah when i play the   car recon i'm actually very happy when people play  the advance because it is it is probably the best   line for grand masters to play but at the same  time it also gives black a lot of opportunities so   um one of my favorite games actually i won was in  the advanced carl con it's a game that i won in   bike on zay in 2011 um against yon napo miyachi on  the black side so while i do like it it does give   black a lot of chance i've had some very good wins  against it with the blacks with the black pieces   as well so um it's definitely the best i would say  the sharpest and most challenging reply for white   um so i am going to put it it's not i don't  think it's legendary even though gary kasparov   played it the last time that he played chas yeah  legendary is reserved for a tier of openings that   are truly truly elite and yeah um unbreakable  but it is breakable i'm gonna put it i think   i'm gonna put it in legit i'm gonna put it in  the legit category to me it feels like it's one   of those openings that i really do believe in  but i don't think it's it's i don't think it's   unbreakable i've won a lot of games i beat shira  i've beat nepo um i've won some i've won some uh   some some some good good games on the black side  so i think i think it goes in the legit category   oh put it in front of the accelerated dragon oh  yeah for sure right yeah the accelerated dragon   is legit but it's not that legit um yes it's all  right borderline so next opening is the advanced   french so let me go back um right so the advanced  french of course is pawn to e4 pawn to e6 d4 d5   and the third move pawn to e5 um i i'm just gonna  say right now i think that this is in tricks only do you disagree excuse me what i i i know gm's  played this gm's play knight c3 okay i'm gonna   go grab my phone i'm gonna give i'm gonna call  alexei shirov up um let me see if i can find his   number on my phone um ah whoops i don't have it  unfortunate uh yeah i feel like a certain grand   master named um named alexei sheriff has played  the advanced french mind you he played it and lost   to someone named takara nakamura one time when  he did it um but he played an elaborate setup but yeah he he he's played it um alexander  shabov he won a very critical game in the 2003   us championship the last round against varus and  okobi and to win the u.s championship um i feel   like timur rajabov has played it yon napo miyachi  actually amongst top grand masters definitely has   played it um quite a few times as is alexander  grisham um so you think it's garbage i said tricks   only garbage is its own it's not a trick though  is it i don't think it's a trick no but i feel   like there's a lot of like little tricky systems  with early queen g4s and some overly aggressive   stuff but i guess at the gm level i don't think  it's legit because i don't really see it played   that much anymore but you know is it a really bro  opening well nepal played in the candidates which   is true so like it's hard to rank these as because  we're looking at it's purely from like the grand   master level we're we're not looking at all the  levels um i would i would say is i am going to   let me think about this where would i put this i  think i am going to put the advanced french in um   yeah at the grand master level it's not that  probably considered the best try so i'm going   to put it in really bro that's where i'm going  to put it um i think that's where it belongs i   don't think it's in tricks only but i don't think  it's i would not say it's legit it just it isn't   played enough to to merit that um so i i would  put it in legit uh really bro yeah not not legit   no i don't i wouldn't say it's legit okay  so next up we have the aleppo sicilian   um so this is an opening that i have uh i  have very recent bad memories of let's be   very specific i'm not not gonna pretend that  i like it and the elephants are saying is e4   pawn to c5 and now pawn to c throughout move two  this is called the alepan or the c to receive both   names are valid um i recently lost the game in the  final of the lindoris abbey term to daniel dubob   when i played c3 um uh this is i i think it's  from whichever side initiates the idea so like   the accelerated dragon i think it's you think  about it as black what options do you have   you look at the advanced french what options do  you have as white on move three and so forth um   but yeah i have a lot of experiences  my brother actually played this for   his entire career from the time that he was uh  he started until he quit around master level   um it's very solid there's some people like  grand master like afghanistan who played it a lot   um i don't know what do you think i know i  know for sure where i would put it but i'm   curious what you i i would put this at the  at the highest of levels at the at the last   number of legit like everything else before  it and then this that's where you would put   it okay yeah or or it's gotta go in really bro  because when you when you're a sicilian player   at the grand master level and a gm responds with  two c3 you kind of look at them like right agreed   yeah it's got to be it can't be a main weapon  like you you're not going to play c3 forever so   right okay so yeah for me since i get to make the  decision i'm sure yeah you could actually do this   on your own at some point too um because we will  probably make this public everybody down the road   so everyone can kind of make their own list i'm  gonna put it in really bro i just it's an amateur   opening it's something that you can play here and  there uh mind you i'm not one to talk i feel like   i played it against a certain magnus carlson in  the london chess classic um but i didn't get a   great position i was lucky to draw the game so i'm  gonna put it in really bro yeah but you know the   mentality is is kind of everything we described  so just because you've played it it doesn't always   necessarily mean for a global ambassador of the  elephant sicilian right so so okay so next one is   the ali ekkins defense um so the ali atkins  defense it's very straightforward it's pawn   to e4 and knight to f6 um a lot of people have  watched my channel will know that that basically   there's uh alexander or alexander sorry bortnick  and his brother um uh oleg they both play this   all the time with black they love this opening  they they can't get enough of it um but they're   probably the only guys that play online who play  this so isn't this brother's name like mikola   oh sorry oleg i'm sorry yeah you're right it's  not old you're right it's alexander and it's uh   and yeah it's nicola you're right sorry okay  whatever ortnix made it into the video hi guys   okay guys uh yeah so okay so it's i mean  it's an okay opening um i actually played   it in a must-win game back in the 2004  video world cup against michael adams   because i lost the first game with white  so i played it uh to try and win um no   fabiano plays a different line which we'll  talk about later um what do you think levy   oh i am not i'm not a big fan of this uh  it it is probably even more surprising   to see this played than um than something  like the aleppin so is this a tricks only   or is this just is this a very bottom tier really  bro yeah i i think what i'm going to say um i think there are a couple lines i won't say  them because i've had i played i actually played   occasionally against certain people like parham  and other people i'm sorry but i gotta say i don't   like it i think at the top level it's garbage  um so i'm sure now that i put it in garbage   someone's gonna be like uh someone's gonna want  to play it against me in some rapid game somewhere   uh but i think it's garbage no disrespect to the  former world chess champion alexander aliyekin   um but i think it's it it goes in garbage   um all right and so now we should we start  getting to the fun ones right we get to the   ben oni also known as the benoni opening um yes  son of sorrow as yeah alexander grishook said   right so that goes d4 knight f6 c4 pawn to c5 and  i think specifically pawn to d5 here right levy   i think knight f3 on move three leads to something  slightly different um because the structure   changes but basically it goes pawn to d5 pawn to  e6 knight c3 trade uh d6 something like e4 or e3   but the structure where white gets these pawns in  the center relative to black having these pawns   on d6 and c5 um eventually black was g6 and bishop  g7 so it's it's a very set structure specifically   it's got to be tricks only right i mean white  has so many ways to get an advantage i know   that like the stronger of the two players will  get a a way to outplay their opponent but i   i'm not aren't you supposed to be friends with  fabiano i don't know just a question well they   do tell me that we look alike but i think we  both just have dark hair and glasses so i look   like every other male out there with dark hair  and glasses um so i mean look at the engine the   the freaking eval bar is something that is 1.3 all  right get it off the screen this is true plus 1.2   okay um this is a very valid point i would say  fabiano has played it not from the straight   order actually i think the straight order where he  plays where white can go like e4 and f4 and play   the mechanics attack is extremely dangerous if not  outright losing for black right so i i don't know   where am i going to put this it's definitely not  unbreakable it's not the top three really bro um i think it's i think i i think i have to put  it in tricks only that to me that seems like   the obvious uh the obvious one um i think it goes  in tricks only i don't think it's something that   you can consistently play and get away with it  there's certain people for example like wesley so   excuse me um and uh and he loves  playing against the benoni he   loves it like he he he there's nothing more  that he likes than playing against the bononi   yeah so if you could i mean hikaru if i told you  that every single time you played white you would   face the benoni would you play d4 every game  oh yeah of course i would yeah okay well then   that's that's right that's the status of the  opening totally and by the way some of my chat   asked this is um this is at a grand master  level that we're talking about we're not   talking across the broad range we're talking at  a grand master level we will do other ranks okay   so next opening is of course the berlin defense  so everybody knows what the berlin defense is   45 knight f3 knight to c6  bishop to b5 knight to f6   and so yeah so this is a system that was uh  invented many years ago probably in like the 1950s   i want to say by i don't know it was invented  by arthur biskeyer but there was an american   grandmaster arthur biskeyer who played a lot  many many years ago like in the 1950s and 1960s   and then it faded away until vladimir kramnik  played it in the 2001 match um uh against uh   gary kimovich kasparov when he defeated gary very  convincingly because gary was unable to uh was   unable to um yeah he was unable to break through  he couldn't break he couldn't tear down that wall   and uh i think we might have our first legendary  because to this day the the well truly like at   the highest of levels the middle games and  the end games that flow out of this opening   are fascinating like the engine analysis uh so  it's true it is unbreakable it definitely hits   that mark right there is no advantage and it's  just different middle games you try to get that   flow into different end games would you consider  it a legendary opening yeah i think the fact that   nearly 20 years later the opening is still being  played and it actually is the preferred defense   for a lot of the top grand masters including  myself against e4 um i i think for sure the fact   that it's still the top it's still so popular it's  probably the best defense uh it speaks volumes   about vladimir kramnik and his contribution to  the game of chess or the fact that everyone hates   him for creating it but mainly mainly that he uh  that he created this opening and so i think or not   create but that he has sort of uh revived it from  the dead and so for me i i don't think there's any   question that it's got to go in legendary because  to this day it still remains the the main defense   so okay so that that we put up there um and now  it starts getting fun next up we have le bon cloud   yeah um wow this is uh this is a tough one for  mihikaru because i you made a speed run where   you won 98 of your games right this is true so the  bond cloud as as everybody knows it's like black   can push the pawn but with your second move uh  you bring the king up one square behind your pawn   i mean you're looking at so many different ideas  you like king f3 you can attack with your king   you can also just continue regular development  um you can also play it if you're high as a kite   there are many different reasons  that you should play this opening   um because of course as we know one of  the basic principles in the game of chess   is that you want to develop you you want to  um develop your king early yes and directly   to the center of the board from where it has  the brightest view of the enemy pieces because   chess is about sightseeing at the end of the  day and why would you stay back with windows   closed right you need to get fresh air uh well  i i mean it's probably a legendary opening right   um yeah i think for sure uh i i've never seen  something so silly and so legendary at the same   time so yeah it definitely has to go in the  legendary category i don't think that's even   a question um yeah and if we you know if we if we  give ris okay and it is second to the berlin it's   it's right in that legendary category perhaps some  of the others that are still played in classical   you won't see a bomb cloud in a classical  game unless a person is paid off intensely so   yeah i think that's fair all right so next up  is the budapest gambit um so this is another   opening that was featured very recently in the  pogchamps tournament when the legendary god gamer   mr sebastian or sebastian fors also known as  forsen uh played this pawn move on e5 and so it's   a very strong game but black gives up a pawn um in  the center of the board and then he tries to get   some quick development bring out his knights and  his bishops to attack the pawn on e5 and to attack   the pawn on f2 so it's kind of a temporary game  but eventually black regains the pawn um so it's   it's something different what do you think levy  it's something different i don't see this a lot   at gm level but but i have seen enough budapests  that i don't actually think it's completely   terrible now you have told me that you you you  think it is quite bad so uh but i have seen   plenty of title players get totally okay positions  playing this opening so it's it's uh yeah it does   have to be in tricks only or really bro or maybe  garbage so you make the call you know what it's   just the bottom half you tell me right i i kind  of agree with that um so the only person who's   played the budapest with any success is richard  rapport the hungarian grand master um and someone   in my chat mentioned 94 the fujerowitz variation  that actually is losing by force if white plays it   correctly um so it's not that's not that's that's  an even worse word so worse idea on move three um   all right where do i rank it i i you know  the fact that forsen lost to somebody like   nim with it um i'm sorry it's got to go  in garbage it's just it's just garbage   it's just garbage i i have i have nothing  else to nothing else to say on that one um rough so next one is going to be the karo khan  of course um so karo khan as everybody knows is   pawn to e4 pawn to c6 and then white has many  second move replies but generally speaking   regardless of the reply black always plays c6  and pawn to d5 um so levy i'll let you talk   first since this is your opening that you play  um all the time this this is a great opening   uh for really anybody from like a thousand  to twenty four hundred honestly uh it is   it's honestly amazing it doesn't get played  at much at the highest of levels because   there is a very legitimate case to be made for the  advanced variation which we talked about earlier   so probably if we're talking at gm level this just  gets to be at the top of the legit category uh   because i don't think it's unbreakable otherwise  it would be as popular as e5 and c5 so you what do   you think okay yeah i mean i i kind of agree with  that i think where i would rank it is probably   i don't know i mean anatoly karpov s essayed it  for many many years with a lot of success but   even he eventually to go away for mixing started  losing a lot of games in the late 90s early 2000s   to gary kasparov so um i feel like at the grand  master level i am just going to put it in legit i   think i think it belongs to legit legit category  i can't really put it anywhere else because   while it's a good opening it's not legendary but  it's also definitely not unbreakable so i think   legit is where it belongs um but it definitely  belongs ahead of the accelerated dragon like   it just does it's that's pretty straightforward  um okay so next up we have the catalan   so the catalan generally speaking can occur in  many different mood wars but essentially it's a   position with um something like this and pawn  to g3 now you can do it with the knight on g1   you can do it with a knight on f3 you can also  do it with a knight on c3 but the main idea is   that you create this hat formation with the pawns  on f2 g3 h2 where you can put the bishop on g2   and you put pawns on d4 and c4 some combination  of the pawns on these two central squares   combined with this uh with this hat around the  bishop is primarily um what we would form as as   what's formed as the catalan yeah i  my thoughts on all this are the fact   that it feels weird because we're basically uh  ranking vladimir kramnik's opening repertoire   right like this is the guy that pioneered this  uh i mean not like pioneer is strong but won   so many games as we've talked throughout the past  week of commentary uh my biggest question is is   it unbreakable or is it legendary i'm leaning  toward unbreakable because it seems like black   has a lot of different ways to play and some ways  are you know maybe more solid more drawish more   boring has it cracked into legendary status  do you think um so i just made a joke i just   put it in garbage um just to be funny but oh yeah  what i would say in turn in terms of the catalan   um yeah i kind of agree i think uh catalan belongs  in uh unbreakable i would say i definitely don't   i mean it kind of belongs in legendary but it  also belongs in unbreakable um so i think it's   unbreakable just because you you aren't ever going  to lose but i i would say i don't think you're   going to win that often with it either so i think  it goes there i'm just going to raid or something   i heard some noise i think it achieved for the  host with 568 viewers thank you so much appreciate   it thank you um thanks for the host you hope all  as well those who are coming in we're doing an   opening tier we're ranking openings at the grand  master level right now um okay so next up we have   the closed sicilian um great graphic by the way  the pizza box yes the pizza box and it's closed   so the closed sicilian again another opening that  was featured very prominently in pog champs when   um mr gotham chess also known as my co-host levy  rosman showed it to uh showed it to albert albert   zhang also known as the box box of itch right i  like it so normally the way the close ceiling goes   white plays knight c3 on move two and regardless  of black's response let's just say knight c6   white plays pawn to g3 again creates this uh  creates the hat around the bishop um and then you   can follow up with like 92 d3 bishop e3 a lot of  different setups but it's uh it's something that   that has been played quite a bit so what do you  think levy so i'm actually i'll be pretty critical   at the gm level i don't think this opening is as  is as venomous otherwise it would be played all   the time everybody plays the open sicilian  or the rossolimo uh i actually think it's   it's a high tier really bro or a bottom tier  legit because black has a ton of ways to fight   and you know it's really broke because it  is easy for black to equalize right so true   that's what i think about it okay i i'm  pretty much in the same same spot i think um yeah again it's something that's not seen much so  i think i put it i'm gonna put it at the top of   the really broke category to me that just makes  the most sense i can't think of somewhere else   where it where where it belongs really um  that to me that seems like the most obvious   spot you think about it from the perspective of  your there's two gm's playing one plays e4 c5   the guy thinks and plays knight c3 and then  you look at it like for real right right so   yeah i think that's where it belongs i mean i it's  kind of legit but i think it it belongs and really   bro at the grand master level um so next up we  have the a danish gambit so let's uh let's go and   show everyone the danish the danish gambit is e4  e5 uh it's pawn to d4 pawn takes pawn pawn to c3   so this is where white basically  gambits upon if black takes back   white can either play knight c3 or bishop c4  but regardless you'll see that black is one two   three four five six seven white is one two three  four five six um and so white gambit's a pawn   now i when i think of scandi scandinavian  countries i don't think of like pure aggression   and being being like straightforward like that  so to me it's a little bit weird that this was a   a gambit that was uh invented in in in uh in  denmark but apparently it was and not to mention   the addendum which is the fact that after dc3  you can play bishop c4 and gambit one more pawn   right so if black takes and you take and and  white is white has given up uh one two three   pawns and a return has only gotten one pawn but  there is a lot of uh there is a lot of development   you have the two bishops on the long diagonals  targeting the black king so what do you think levy   gotta be tricks only i don't think it's complete  garbage but i think that it's it's a it's a tricks   only right so just to add on that also what i  would add you guys the grand master level is   normally after bishop c4 uh the grand masters will  know to play pawn to d5 here and after black plays   pawn to d5 um white generally is slightly worse  in all these variations whether it's d5 first or   takes on b2 as long as black plays d5 and gambles  upon back black is always doing quite well and i   actually the one time i played this in a in an  actual game in the new york state championship   against ildar ibra game up i did lose with the  white pieces so i would definitely agree with you   on that one i think for sure it belongs and tricks  only um and so that to me that's where it belongs   and uh the next number the dutch defense so the  dutch defense as i think you guys know is pawn   to d4 and now pawn to f5 by black you have some  history with this opening yeah so i mean i have   a lot of history with this opening i i it's one  of the very few openings where i was one of the   pioneers um not not in terms of the creation but  in terms of reviving it very much the way that uh   the way that kramnik revived the berlin defense  so in probably 2008 or 2009 i would say there   were not many people who played the dutch defense  at the top level of chess that kind of um kind of   faded away and not many people played it and then  i played it i think probably almost exclusively   from 2009 till about 2011 ish so probably for a  year and a half to two years i played the dutch   defense and after that many other players started  taking it up fabiano started playing it we saw yon   play it um of course i won the critical last round  game of the year 2019 us championship against   jeffrey zhang playing it so it's an opening that i  that i definitely have a lot of a lot of fondness   for um but you probably don't see it the same way  so what do you know i i well the dutch was one of   my main weapons for a few years so uh i tried to  i tried to play like you it didn't quite work you   know it's like when i try to play basketball  and play like the greats i i just kind of play   like the unathletic doofus who also can't shoot  uh so you tell me um it's it's legit for sure   is it unbreakable um i don't know really you  think it's those two i'm i'm stuck between   legit or really bro i'm not sure that i  would necessarily say it's legit honestly   on the right hand in the right hands it's  legit but in anybody else's it's a really bro   i think it's a really bro opening i think it's at  the top of really really bro i i mean i i love the   opening but to me it just strikes me as something  that i think is it's at the top of really bro i   don't know that's just where i land chad might not  like me for saying that but really bro really bro   yeah it's really bro chad is very offended  i even dare suggest that it was unbreakable   i mean i i did beat daniel dubob as well with  it but i think objectively there there are a   lot of issues um in the opening so i i think  it i think it belongs to the top of really bro   let's do it okay so the next one is of course  the english opening um so the english opening   is um by the way you guys just look at the bar  it says white is better by .78 at the bottom   um after d4 to f5 so i'm just gonna point that out  you guys that the computer does give this as a big   advantage for white um okay so the english opening  is pawn to c4 on move one um and actually it's   called the english no matter how black replies  pawn to c5 pawn to e5 uh knight f6 d6 and so forth   uh any pawn push to c4 on move one is considered  the english opening you know this one is uh   is it it's not legendary i feel like c4  nowadays does invite a lot of different fights   at the gm level um is it unbreakable you  know i one of the reasons why i don't   even want to call it unbreakable is like c4  e5 just always invites some sort of fight   there's it's really it can be a very fighting  opening uh so it's got to be bottom tier   unbreakable if it's going to be unbreakable but  it feels weird to put the english in like legit   you know because everyone's playing it nowadays  to get their opponent out of theory right yeah i   think for me where i put the where i would put it  it's it says it's so topical and everyone plays it   um i think for me it has to be an unbreakable i  don't think it i don't know it doesn't really fit   in with legit for me um it's definitely not the  catalan but i think it's i think it's probably   bottom tier unbreakables where is where i would  put it that's fair and uh somebody said there was   a comment that said something like alpha zero  played this opening i mean the thing is alpha   zero played a lot of openings we're talking  about grand masters we will do an opening   for computers should we do that that would be  crazy yeah yeah so i mean they they they're kind   of drilled to play other stuff so yeah  all right this next one's another caro   the next one yeah we're looking at the  exchange shahrukh khan um so that is pawn to e4   uh pawn to c6 d4 d whoops not d3 whoops so that's  e4c six pawn to d4 pawn to d5 pawn takes pawn   pawn takes pawn now there are many sub branches  within this obviously where you can place c4 which   is called the pan off while i can play bishop d3  which is the traditional exchange um or knight f3   many different setups but again you it's hard to  you know list every single possible variation um   so uh what do you think lovey it's this is legit  i mean it's it's it's a it's a middle tier middle   tier legit it gets played it was played at the u.s  championship um you know there there's moments i   do see this but and also there's this queenie one  wrinkle in the exchange variation where people   play like c3 92 castles queenie one it's been  pretty popular but overall gotta be gotta be legit   yeah i grew up playing the system actually  playing this bishop d3 knight two six   uh c3 trying to emulate cappa blanca who was  the first guy to play this like bishop f4   9293 castle set up um and then of course later  bobby fischer played it a little bit as well so   i definitely have an affinity  for the exchange in general um i wonder where it belongs so i i really don't  know um i think it's probably bottom tier legit   that's where i'm going to put it i'm going to  put it i'm going to put it in legit for now   yeah mid to bottom tier i mean if you're going  to get a karo khan and you're going to take on d5   nowadays you you mouse slip you're meant to  push you meant to push e5 yeah exactly okay um   okay so next up we have the exchange french so  the exchange french is pawn to e4 pawn to e6 here   pawn to d4 pawn to d5 now white plays pawn takes  pawn and black plays pawn takes pawn so what do   you think lobby uh this is a really bro you know  the exchange french with white actually does have   like like some tricks and traps it's it's not  as dead as it is uh but it's a really bro or   it's a garbage it's not a tricks only because  it's too it's too pathetic to have any tricks   so you either look at your opponent in the face  and go what is wrong with you so really bro or   it's just garbage and you castle queenside and  you just destroy them yeah um okay so yeah uh it's   you tell me what you think oh for me there's no  question it is hot garbage got it it's hot garbage   like if someone's gonna play the french defense  against you um grow up play play aggressively try   to win the game don't try to make a draw um for  me it's very straightforward it's it's garbage   it's unbreakable chat but with the white pieces  you don't try to make a draw you try to win the   game of chess yeah and there's enough weapons  with black like i said this long castles option   and if any of you play the french watching  and you need a weapon go castle long against   the exchange branch and you'll win 90 of the  time because people don't want to be attacked   when they get it on the board true true  correct um all right so next up we have the   fools mate so the fool's mate is um i believe  pawn to e4 pawn to e5 bishop c4 or no sorry   uh no sorry like queen h5 better order knight c6  bishop c4 black plays pawn to b5 and white goes   queen takes off seven or wait is this fools me or  is it scarlet no i actually think fool's mate is   is f3 g4 oh oh i gave the wrong one  whoops sorry so yeah i realized as   soon as i started doing that yeah this is  scholars whoops wrong one apologies sorry um   yeah here here comes the papaga yeah so pawn to  f3 pawn to e6 pawn to g4 and of course black was   queen to h4 this is a checkmate in two moves  sorry about that yeah i realized as soon as   i did it it was uh it was um that it was uh  the uh it was the other one um so yeah so uh i don't i don't know um i i feel as though  if this is played as some form of protest   at an event or something i think hui fan  played like g4 f3 several years ago i you   know correct i don't think it's quite as  legendary as i would never put this in   the category as the pawn cloud and it's also not  unbreakable considering you quite literally lose   but we could put it as legit maybe  or really bro you know i feel like um i think for me i'm sorry i'm just  gonna be brutally honest it's uh   garbage okay that's fair well i guess the other  question is which perspective are you playing from   uh also true good point yeah i think it's it's  it's uh yeah garbage it's still better than   the exchange friend no okay it goes at the  very bottom i can't move over anymore um but   yeah i'm just gonna be honest i think it's just  bad bad stuff all right okay so next up we have   the fred right and the fred is white and  black i believe right that's it's f3 and   king up two i believe um so it's pawn to f3  let's say black plays a developing normal move   and you start bringing your king out you try to  go like g3 and king g2 and follow up with some   knight h3 knight f2 now i was playing some  of this in the bond cloud speed run as well   um so what do you think chloe uh what's the  time control being played just regular chat   regular chess well i last time i made a joke about  putting an opening in legit uh it wasn't taken too   too kindly uh so this time i'm going to say that  this is probably garbage right um now if you're   playing this with the black pieces may you know  maybe there's tricks only but i think it's garbage   yeah i would agree not to be like too uh too  serious but i i agree it's um oh sorry i skipped   over one but that's fine it is uh it's garbage we  don't want to encourage we don't want to encourage   bad habits here you guys it's important that you  play proper chess that you don't um that you don't   make make make mistakes and play bad moves so it's  definitely garbage um all right so next up we have   the uh we have the four nights italian game so the  four knights italian game i believe is e4 5939 c6   and it is is it just knight c3 knight six d4 wait  yeah i i think the four knights given that it says   italian is with bishop c4 but we can just put  the whole four nights so bishop c4 yeah bishop   c4 knight f6 and then yeah and then knight c3  ah okay in this this order specifically yeah   um okay because normal this is not how you would  play it normally you do like knight c3 with bishop   b5 not bishop c4 but i'm not sure is that is  that called the rude lopez four knights or what   i think it's yeah it's the four nights spanish  with bishop yeah all these weird four nights   the the knights come out and then you put the  bishop on like b5 or c4 or you play d4 as well   so many different uh setups at gm level i don't  i think this is a this is right this is not good   so yeah because here black can play 94 94 and  pawn to d5 and black is significantly better   according to theory uh just to give you guys an  example of how bad this is after bishop d3 pawn   takes knight bishop takes black can go knight  to b4 and unfortunately i've had this position   um against uh i think it's robert chess mood  quite a few times online i've gotten a lot of   bad positions here so um definitely not an opening  that i'm a fan of so i i think i would agree with   you they're a lovely for sure it belongs in  garbage yeah um which garbage though i guess   which garbage yeah i think i put i think i put  it above the exchange front because the exchange   french you're playing with the white pieces and  you're you're trying to make a draw and really if   you're trying to make a draw with the white pieces  then you're doing something wrong in life um and i   i guess we should point out that if you play uh  if you play the this is the italian with bishop   c4 if this was just a four nights game with bishop  b5 or d4 for night scotch it would probably be a   little higher uh but at gm level even those lines  are worked out like 20 moves in so yeah this line   with the four knights and bishop b5 and spanish  are definitely are several four straws for black   um the scotch four knights is different i i will  always have a deep spot in my heart for the scotch   four nights that's what i grew up playing um  but yeah they are different they both would rank   significantly higher than the the italian four  knights that's for sure yeah okay next up we have   the french defense which is pawn to e4 pawn to  e6 d4 d5 and so before we looked at the exchange   which is pawn takes pawn pawn takes pawn now  we're going to basically discuss the opening   as a whole there are obviously many setups while  you can go knight c3 which is uh leads to winowar   y can go knight to d2 which is the terrish um  and why you can play e5 which is the advance   and we discussed earlier so what do you think of  the french defense for black it's uh it's it's   probably a really broke because you got to think  about it from the perspective of if i told you   at the gm level every game you played with white  you'd get a french would you play e4 every game   yes so i i would definitely agree um yeah i think  for sure the french defense like i i i feel like   so many people have said bad things about it  um and i i don't know i i like at times i've   loved playing against it but i feel like it's  one of those openings where unless you can get   your opponent to play a certain setup it's just  not it's just not a great great opening choice   and um i don't it's legit or really bro um i don't  think it's as legit as the carl khan right so   it's a low tier legit yeah i think it's  probably legit but it's at the bottom of legit   that's that's where i would put it  it's got to be at the very bottom legit   um and yes robert hess certainly does not like the  french defense um but when he did play the french   defense when he had to face the french defenses  white in the u.s chess championship he decided to   play the exchange french so for all his negativity  for all his negativity about saying how bad the   french defense is um he played the exchange when  he was white against it so um yeah yeah exactly   you

Channel: GMHikaru

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Keywords: Hikaru ranks chess openings, chess tiermaker, chess opening tier list for the grandmaster level with hikaru and gothamchess, chess tierlist, chess tier list, hikaru chess tier list, chess opening tier list, Hikaru and Levy do tiermaker, Tiermaker for chess openings, hikaru ranks chess openings on tiermaker, chess openings tierlist, chess opening tier list for gms part 3, Hikaru Nakamura, chessbrah, speedrun, tiermaker, hikarus friend levy, Chess opening tier list for gm, gothamchess

Id: glMp0dNGPN4

Length: 43min 32sec (2612 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 25 2020