How To Win At Chess, Step by Step

ladies and gentlemen welcome back to how to win a chess this is a series where I play against my subscribers and I go up the rating ladder every episode playing 10-minute games walking you through every phase of the game but this is episode 31 and things get boring all right it's a little bit difficult to make the same thing exciting every single week so today I'm trying something new today I am playing 10-minute rapid games against whoever I get paired against in the pool it could be low rated it could be high- rated it could be a cheater I have absolutely no idea what to expect so I am absolutely terrified for this episode uh and uh as always those of you that click on these episodes early uh just for today we have an Easter sale for all of my courses and they are 25% off also ending today uh is your opportunity to play against the Levi bot for free I made a video a couple of days ago uh where I told you about the launching of a new bot called Levi that will help you practice your opening courses and today is the last day to actually access a couple of those uh courses for free and um yeah here we go I have absolutely no idea what to expect let's play some chess uh we're searching for an opponent uh as you can see on ch.com I'm playing a 2300 rated player and I'm going to all right I don't play chest I try to be active on chess.com very cool all right so these are are these are real people we're playing is this an 1,800 Fay rated player um I'm going to play D5 we're going to see what my 2300 rapid opponent uh plays and this is a rapid game all right so this person is uh and and when I when I what I mean by that is it's a rap I meant to say it's a rated game not a rapid game it's been a rapid game the entire uh thing the entire Series so my my 1,800 ft that was what that said right my opponent is 2300 and 1784 standard Fay okay so playing a Scandinavian defense that is available as a sample for free and also otherwise Bishop to F5 now the big question is what happens with this D Pawn a lot of people they they wait a little while and then what they do is they play D3 which is fine but D4 is a bit more ambitious um we're going to see what my opponent comes up with but a lot of people also choose to play a little bit more passively it's a bit more boring if they do that I've had this several times already in this uh Series this this line with D3 but never against a 2300 rapid rated player this is uh this is very scary already I mean this is the highest rated player I think I have ever played in this series it's because I'm in the rapid pool now the truth is as you go up and up in in in rating in the rapid pool um it's life I mean there's a lot of people cheating I'm not talking about my opponent I'm talking for me personally and uh I don't play a lot of Rapid on ch.com at400 cuz you just have like these kids these kids make accounts and then they just play and then they they get banned and they like try again so I don't play a lot of online rapid even though to improve a chess and as an intermediate and as a beginner your player pool is massive so you should definitely play 10 minute 15minute games uh it's the only way to really sit and properly think I have played hundreds of thousands of chess games so I like to play one in three minute speaking of one in three minute my opponent has been thinking I think for over a minute at this point and um yeah I mean we are we we are pausing out of the opening maybe my opponent is going to my live stream and seeing if I'm live but I'm not live I'm just I'm just here okay D3 um the general plan when the pawn is on D4 is to play Bishop to B4 but with the pawn on D3 this doesn't really work as well because after this trade the dark squared Bishop that lands here is quite strong so I just like to play very Sol idly and then bring my queen back because most people will play Bishop to D2 uh a lot of my opponents in this series have like have been playing Knight to H4 to try to get this bishop that's a very decent idea and in now since I'm playing somebody very close to me in skill level I'm not going to take it easy against them I'm going to try to win at all costs and part of that is putting pressure on the clock being up a minute and a half in a game with s minutes on the clock is a is a big deal I also naturally might speak a little bit bit less and play a little bit faster and try to explain things a bit more quickly as today I'm I I mean I'm I'm just going to try to play people my strength but I have set the seek to everybody so I might get a game against whoever depending on you know their uh rating bounds um so two-minute time Advantage now I mean if my opponent spends a minute 20 second uh 20 seconds every single move it's going to be quite good for me okay so that's an interesting decision right is the idea to sacrifice um Bishop G6 Rook E1 well I am a step behind in development uh Bishop E7 I mean am I am I worried there the alternative is I can just play Bishop here and when Knight takes I can take with the queen and I can just try to get castled as fast as possible but I somehow have doubts that uh this is the best way of playing uh but it definitely looks pretty dangerous rookie one and then some sort of sacrifice here to make my king stay in the center it it's spooky it is definitely a little bit unpleasant I mean I'm I'm definitely going to be worried about this but again if my opponent's spending right so now the question is do I play Bishop E7 or do I play here I mean I I got to tell you I I I do like the prospect of protecting my king uh this this does strike me as a pretty natural move and I think if my opponent's going to take they have to go now if they wait wait I'm going to get castled so probably you got to go here if you take with the Knight and then the bishop the bishop doesn't threaten anything you know I I'm not convinced that's the best move but I might not know anything about Chess um I suppose I should be pre-moving this right this is a safe pre-move no reason why I wouldn't so if this gets really dangerous we're going to have to use the clock as a weapon and there it is there is indeed the sacrifice so now this Pawn is under attack um if I protect the pawn the Knight will try to maybe get in over here this is a major idea Bishop to F4 I have to be very careful uh maybe bringing a knight to the party is the best way and then just trying to maybe I can just move my king right now although that looks pretty awful I don't really want to move my king um also my opponent can play Queen E2 so maybe Knight A6 to protect against Knight C7 I mean I think I will have to lose the I will probably have to lose the G7 Pawn I just cannot justify this move it seems like a colossal waste of time this is a dangerous position um Knight bd7 how do I what am I doing against Queen here that was a big question nobody ever said this was going to be easy I think I might have to go here cuz I think I think I have to get my Rook to the center and and now Knight G5 oh I blundered something really unpleasant Knight to G5 check King f8 I was going to I was going to bring defense but I can't because the Knight can come back with a fork so oh my god oh this is horrendous uh yeah this was my big idea and I thought we could make a draw that's what I that's what I thought but Queen E2 looks very very dangerous cuz my intention was to bring the queen back yeah um okay there's Knight G8 can't bring my queen back Knight G8 looks miserable I mean there's no way that move is possible uh Bishop D6 there's Queen E6 I mean it looks proper losing but I think what I can do is after Queen E6 I can then move my queen back which I couldn't do because there was a KN check I mean there's even moves like Bishop F4 here which are I mean if what can if my opponent finds that like what can I do what can I do okay that doesn't look that smart because can't I just play King G8 here King F7 is a draw I can't walk into does this lose but why would my opponent I guess they're just going to move the Knight and rethread queen E6 like are they just going to go back but then I can come back and it's no longer a fork no but that still is a probably a problem oh my goodness this is very very dangerous I don't think 96 was right and again I'm I'm trying to stay up about a minute a minute and a half up on the clock otherwise I'm dead I I mean I'm very close to dead anyway but if I get this Pawn here and I kept my king to safety I'm up a piece like we got to realize you know my my king is in in a lot of trouble here but can't believe I'm losing to a dog just a cute dog staring at me and uh yeah in I'm in trouble but if I just get this one Pawn here because that stops anything from and that that gives my king this this balcony on H7 I'm so safe there the problem is I I I feel yeah so now this is a really strong threat so my original idea was Queen C7 Queen E6 and then King f8 and I mean maybe alternatively can no Bishop F7 is horrible and queen F5 stops Queen E6 but is it a bad move that's like the million dooll question he might play like Knight E4 I can take he might take with the Knight I mean it looks insanely dangerous I can't see anything wrong with Queen C7 which makes me kind of want to play it but I mean I I just Queen C7 Queen E6 I'm trying to stay all up also on the clock and am I am I fine am I like then he has Knight E4 I can take Knight takes E4 his Rook takes E4 maybe you know what why why would I allow any of that I think I'm going to go here I think I have to I think I can't let him get his Queen here so I'm still up by minute and a half I'm not allowing Queen there there's no sacrifice he can't sack the queen for any Checkmate this is next then I get my other Rook into the game either that's next or this is next so his next move needs to be impactful which is why I'm thinking this is the best move because it you know it's a very confrontational move it attacks my Bishop he he can't play a move like G4 because I'll trade the queens and probably that's just losing but this is probably the only remaining move for white and if I defend correctly he should lose because I think white might be out of weapons there but I don't know my original intention was to immediately take with the Knight but now I'm thinking to bring the bishop back because after a trade I attack the Knight which is what I want I can also cocoon I can go def that might that might be the way actually just to protect my king completely I hate that but that might be that might be the way I mean I don't know that might just be the way and he's down to below 3 minutes which is really good this is so uh okay I get it I get get it yeah I get it but I think H6 now is or Knight D7 I mean I can also play H5 but that seems I think I need to play H6 to get rid of the Knight that's probably what I need to do yeah I think this is very well timed now he can never go to G5 again and my king gets to H7 and I think if my opponent is going to weaken his King like this it's going to be really bad cuz I cuz I'm I'm coming now back to to a square that is defending against the queen which is very important but I I mean I I think this attack was very potent and this was a very good attempt that destroying the Scandinavian but uh yeah I don't know that was very stressful once I get my king to safety with a near 3 minute time Advantage this should be pretty easy but this was a lesson in King defense like this was a lesson in what does our opponent want how are they trying to get to us and um we'll analyze it for sure I mean this was very stressful but uh he's I mean he can't do anything with two minutes yeah he's he's gonna he's trying to go here I I I brought that move up already um I can just maybe come back to like C7 for example he'll take I'll take with the queen he'll put the Knight back on E6 but it's just not enough yeah it's just not enough you know what I blundered not that uh maybe that too no not that there was some he could have played Knight takes sacrificed this queen I mean my God this position is a nightmare we E5 maybe Knight takes Pawn takes that might be the way you really somehow mentally don't want to play this move is there F4 there can he play F4 we need seven no because oh my God oh my God it really is never over is it um okay let's see if you I mean he he has a minute 50 I thought it just weakens the king but then the bishop can get out but maybe the bishop getting out so F4 here here is he doesn't have the attack anymore his Bishop get despite getting out is actually interfering with everything else I could also maybe throw in this check but I don't yeah this was my master plan and now when he Blocks he's no longer on the queen and Rook straight away his Queen and Rook no longer have the battery yeah and so what if I just come all the way back now I mean it's it it's it's still a super goofy position like what if Queen D5 but at least this way I'm I'm trading pieces which is super important um but I mean he's going to take take and put the Knight back on e4 and it's still not over and then I probably have to bring my other Knight out and at I mean I'm up a piece which is winning but he also has a minute like the the very important part of this game is that we put a lot of pressure with the clock C4 yeah but I I don't think that's good enough oh I almost hung my queen oh I straight up almost won queen of it's unbelievable unbelievable um okay queen d8 or queen D7 if I go Queen d8 he might put the Knight on E6 and I don't want that I mean he's defending very well what can I say okay uhhuh that one he played real fast uh I I mean I want to take but then I'm I'm bringing his Rook like somehow nothing is Pleasant here and he's going to play F5 if I'm not careful so I have a really bad feeling I I have to trade which I really don't want to do because yeah he's just going to play a five I don't really see an alternative um wow and this does I was going to go here but then maybe he has some discovered attack do I play Passive do I play active I'm going to play active and try to bring my knight and my Rook okay uh Knight D7 F5 I'm I'm actually F5 I I can also put my knight which is very important yeah now I'm getting out now I've got a lot of pieces ready and he only has 40 seconds this is very good for me Bishop D4 I might snap that do I Snap it I mean it's free it is a free Pawn if I'm going to do anything in this game I I probably need to take a pawn and then I should bring my Rook I just need to make sure my king stays safe uh that's a good defensive move my knight is protected with my Rook I think to do anything with 30 seconds he's going to have to open up the position otherwise I'm just up too much time but I can always trade Queens yes I saw this let me take that at least opens my Rook so now I have very good chances of catching him over there yeah he does not have enough time this is a massive threat I guess he can go King G2 but then then I'm going to put my knight in the center and also my rook in the center he has 5 seconds I mean you just there's nothing you can do I can yeah he just going to lose on time okay wow that was uh that was a chaotic chess game that was a 20 minute game to start today's video um okay so Knight D4 was not best um and then here I should have went Knight D7 but why should I go Knight D7 isn't he still going to sacrifice ah this sacrifice is a lot less powerful when the bishop is not in front of the king because I can go straight to G8 that's very instructive I went here thinking there was no difference but now that he goes here and gets a brilliant move for it um yeah he actually had a had a very very strong attack it was this and right here I thought oh I'm in big trouble and yeah yeah Bishop Bishop F4 actually just straight up wins the game which is kind of insane I didn't see how but he has to deflect my Bishop from the defensive E7 of oh wow and then he just goes here he just comes back and I can't oh I was like where's the mate oh my goodness wow but we both missed that so me actually having an extra like this looks like defense but this is not this is actually safer for black than having a bishop in the front isn't that incredible that is uh uh wow that is really crazy that is actually fascinating that not having the bishop in the way is safer for black because the bishop is a Target and as we saw here all these different threats ultimately yeah my opponent went here that that was a miss and now they're losing and now the only move here is to play Queen F5 very instructive you have to stop the threat you can deal with the threat but I rejected it this because of this and uh it's equal but it's dangerous instead I went Queen F5 and queen E6 is stopped my opponent went H3 this is okay Knight E4 this is definitely a bad move uh this definitely gave him some chances for example I saw here that he could sacrifice his Queen which is absolutely ridiculous because that covers mate and after it takes takes takes he has a fork he wins my Bishop he wins my Rook which is just completely unbelievable um so what I should have done there is I should have uh taken probably I should have taken instead I I did all of this and got myself into a little bit of a mess luckily well timed and this looks scary but because my opponent just has a bunch of Pawns in the front black is winning notice how quickly I got all my pieces into the game like Queen up Knight Rook I just got it I didn't I didn't even take on C4 here even though it might very well be the best move I just wanted to get all my pieces in the game so that was an instructive game of how to deal with a massive attack early I felt like we handled the clock pretty well also uh I'm going to seek another 10-minute game oh this is kind of boring I don't I don't want to play the same person uh I'm not like worried about this person but I mean in an ideal situation I could play different people if that's is that okay with you chess.com can I uh if if I abort against the person uh and then I and then I like I'm going to be really annoyed if it pairs me with this person again I'm just trying to play a new person I just want to play different people I don't want to have a video where I just play Carlos the whole time you know maybe I'll have to all right kenosi another E4 okay I guess this time I'll play a caroon um and this person is is wow this person has an account that's 10 years old that's incredible there been playing chess for a while pretty cool I I I I I have no idea like who plays chess on uh I I mean I imagine this is a real person probably have no idea who who plays chess on chess.com okay exchange Caro con lot of lines here uh I'm just going to play Knight C6 wow so a 2300 chess.com rapid player is playing this which is not I mean it's nothing particularly special uh a lot of uh even a lot of beginner and intermediate players play like this um I guess I I don't know I mean I can do a lot of stuff I'll play Knight F6 I don't have to play like this okay Knight E5 yeah this is one of the ways to play and I me personally I I'm I'm completely fine giving up the bishop here I do not mind uh and then what I like to do is I like to quickly utilize the the empty kingside over there so uh this is a this is one of the ways of playing but but yeah that's all reasonable um I mean you can also go A6 because it's kind of a question of what the bishop is going to do since I don't have a light squared Bishop anymore I want to put a bunch of Pawns on the light squares uh in a perfect world white utilizes the E5 Square that's not not really a good move I don't think I mean probably but okay um this is a possibility to trade the Bishops what my opponent wants to do now and it's important to understand the structures of your openings what my opponent wants to do is play C3 put the bishop back and like I said ideally get a knight to E5 like that is what you're supposed to do in this position uh I could play Super aggressively although I think that's pretty flawed I don't think that is accurate I think the right way to play is castles but it's rapid chess and since my opponent castled I you know I might try to show you how to utilize you know an attacking mechanism like this oh by the way did my opponent just blunder a pawn I might have a little combination here uh how to use an attacking mechanism when a s has castled and you haven't so I can't take but I can go B5 uh and now I can either take and then take or and you know what I'm going to do I'm going to take because either my opponent goes here allowing an attack or that move which opens the rug but now there's a bunch of empty space so I'm just the pawn up that was a nice little combo and my opponent's playing super fast I mean I don't know they're playing as if this was all planned another important question is do I take the Knight or do I take here or do I not take anything and I go back um I mean I kind of want to take here but I also kind of don't want the Knight to survive so I'm going to take because I I'm not intimidated by this bishop at all maybe I should be and now I'm just the pawn up and it it feels pretty healthy now of course white is going to go A4 and white is not just going to sit around probably I mean I have no idea but uh now I would love the Queens off the board that would probably be perfect for me if I can get a queen trade so maybe for now we just continue with this H Pawn right we go for a little we try to open up the side of the board over there I think G4 might happen and then maybe even H3 and then we hit the pause button like [Music] maybe I also have a really nasty checkmating combination which I could uncork which actually begins with the move Knight E4 this is a really disgusting idea the idea is to go Queen A7 check and Knight to G3 which wins on the spot um that would be stopped by this but then I would still trade the Queens like I said I want a queen trade and I don't think my opponent saw it Queen A7 and Knight oh this is so beautiful now they have to go Rook F2 at which point I trade everything and I win the end game I mean that is that is a a beautiful example of how big the board is I mean queen A7 is Gorge wow oh my goodness that is I'm so happy with that game that was an 8 minute followup wow we got to analyze that that was uh that was awesome and that was instructive you know that was sort of punishing inaccurate play and this is a 2300 that was a Carl Khan and I'm just sort of playing you know the openings that are in that I recommend to you and I you know I didn't do anything special I played at 91% that game uh my opponent went E4 I played Caro Khan and you know sometimes a lot of you beginner and intermediate players you get a little bit scared uh when a person plays a slightly different move order the way you just play the caroan is if they ever take on D5 you're in an exchange caroan so if they play D4 D5 take take Knight F3 it's the same as if they play Knight F3 D5 take take D like it's the same position look I mean I'm just toggling but it's the same exact position so don't be spooked by Knight F3 the only unique thing about Knight F3 that they could do is they could play D3 which is called um Brier variation and then they could play the two knights but the two knights begins with Knight C3 and Knight F like it doesn't matter you know so um right my opponent went here played D4 and again there's a million options I went Knight C6 and this move is nothing you know no Masters play like this really rarely it's a really rare move it's generally considered better to put the pawn here and put the bishop on this nice Square on D3 but it's also important to understand the middle games and the structures that come out of the openings that you play and uh you know I I I was like well you know if my opponent is going to try to attack me like this I can defend with the queen but like I told you I actually don't mind giving away the light squir Bishop because as you saw this trade removes a a key piece of the white king side so without that Knight White's King is inherently a little bit weaker and since I traded the light squ Bishop right away I'm putting pawns on light squares right and I'm playing like this I put two pawns on light squares which actually brings me up to six out of seven pawns on light squares and if my opponent took both captures are fine but probably I would have went here this type of structure is called the queenside majority versus the minority my opponent has more pawns and I would just advance and try to open up those lines to put pressure in the long term okay that is generally how you play one of these positions you what's funny you remember when my opponent W Bishop A4 I was like wait I think that's a bad move and it is cuz the bishop is sort of going to get locked away if the bishop is going to retreat this is actually the better Square because then you can play C3 put the bishop where it wants to be so Bishop A4 I went here which is given an inaccuracy but it's just equal and so now um It's actually kind of interesting the top computer line here given by the engine is not to play H5 right away like I did it's actually to take on G3 why because that gives white what is called a hook whereas the way I did it in the game my opponent could have went oh they want to you know they want to attack me so now they can't and now the pawn marches down but you know even if the pawn makes it all the way my opponent will just go here they're not going to take obviously they're not going to take and allow my Rook into the position but I thought this was an instructive way of just handling a position where a sight has castled meanwhile you haven't so that gives you the fle ability to create a kingside attack um which is why I went H5 but of course I could have taken on G3 Etc uh I could have castled like make no mistake castling here is completely fine a move that's a little aggressive is committing your king it's actually funny attacking with the pawns here is stronger than committing your king first because if you commit your king here's what's going to happen you're going to go here and all of a sudden you're also under attack now I understand you know the computer is like saying Knight G4 and stuff but if your opponent defends the right way like Knight D2 Knight G4 Knight F3 quickly this is going to spiral out of control for black and you're going to be the one under attack which is why I didn't commit my king and then here I was like wait a minute you see it's given a blunder I've had eyes on that pawn since the opening that move blocks this I pause and my intention was of course to play H4 but here I played B5 I took and then I took and now I'm just up a pawn and the instructive thing that I set up here here is a tactical pattern you know that might have looked really genius what I did but what I set up here uh is a tactical pattern based on the color complex of the position so because I had all these pawns on the light squares already to repel the enemy Bishop my dark squares were very open like my queen could kind of zigzag on the dark squares when the King goes to the H file my Rook is right there so I just need to guarantee the H file opens which is why I played H4 and and now I went Knight E4 setting up this concept um of course like I said the most whenever you're up like this the scariest thing is the opponent's most powerful piece so had my opponent went Queen E3 the engine and I both said just trade the queen like you don't even need to think about this just trade the queen now white can't Checkmate you you put your Rook on the C file you Castle or you can even put the king in the center anchor your knight into the center of the board and very slowly make the trades simplify down but none of that had to happen none of that even had to happen because Rook D1 was played and my opponent resigned because after King to H1 this was the idea which is kind of insane that is Checkmate like the king literally is mated from the you you physically cannot get further from the King and yet it's made because my Pawn walls out the queen and the other two pawns wall out the other two pieces like it's a full wall so the alternative to this would have been to play Rook F2 and now I don't even have to take but I would have just done this and I would have went on to win the two Rook versus rook and Bishop endgame because I have more pawns I would trade Rooks and uh you know that would be that would be that so that was uh I I'm very happy with that one maybe a couple of more games today uh or maybe I don't know I'll play till I lose or something but uh hopefully again I I don't just play the same people over and over so Let's uh let's let's keep it going I've only played 2300s okay um this is a person uh with a with an older account now this game I'm playing with the white pieces let's play E4 play E4 and see what's up the French there's a lot of things that you can play against the French I'm going to play B3 might work a little bit worse in uh in in in uh in Rapid chess I I like to play this a lot in Blitz this is in my E4 course uh uh this person is a 2600 bullet which is quite impressive and 2500 blitz so clearly a a player that plays a lot and this is the idea this is just this is the Gambit you give up the pawn you play Knight C3 but in reality you actually don't want to take the pawn on e4 uh you just you you want to launch this attack with the with the pawns so the way I play this is I actually delay the capture on e4 okay my opponent is playing super fast uh I I delay the the attack and and uh rather the capture and then I play like this so against A5 which is a very good move I I personally just like to shut the whole attack down and I like to play A4 now I could have of course played G5 and taking the pawn back but then black is actually arriving on my Shore faster than I am on theirs so I like to play A4 and usually people pause here with black because it's kind of annoying so now they have to make a decision like do I go all in do I just try to sacrifice rip things open or do I play a move like Knight to C6 and Knight to C6 is just trying to put the Knight on D4 or B4 right trying to take advantage of my weaken squares G5 is a move but then there is Knight here um and then maybe I you know I'm not getting quite what I want if I take on e4 now my opponent still goes Knight D4 but then maybe I have Queen D3 and then after we trade I'm I'm still kind of targeting you know the knight in the center so I think now is probably the moment I should take because if I go G5 I'm getting into all of this one of the ways to kill my fun here is to take and trade this bishop which is actually one of the variations here black can play here here here like black can play a lot of stuff the idea of putting the bishop there is that in this position black will put the bishop on F6 and trade and the game is roughly equal so I did not get all of the attack that I wanted but and as we can see that this is exactly the line that my opponent is going for now I don't want to take just so you understand I don't want to take cuz there's no reason to put the queen out there although black will probably take and put the queen out there so I need to come up with something useful first of all I can play D4 which is a move that I like to play sometimes uh just to block everything in the center so I might do it now I need to think for a second if that's that's where I want the game to go uh another option is to play Pawn to F4 but somehow delaying my development without any real cause doesn't feel like I don't know my opponent will probably take and they could even trade the Queens somehow doesn't feel like D4 feels better because at least I'm taking Central space but there is the threat of a queen trade that could potentially you know ruin things and make things a bit less fun um but okay I mean let's let's do it and let's see and if my opponent plays this very slowly like I don't know how but you know then I'll play F4 then I'll threaten mate some of you may be wondering why I didn't just threaten matate cuz my opponent's not going to hang mate they're going to take like Queen F6 and probably here and I don't there's no reason to trot the bishop out here unless I'm guaranteed a Checkmate so I'd rather Trot the bishop out there behind a pawn because I also have to worry about things like this it's not just about what I want it's about what they want as well a move that is very annoying to me here is Queen D5 it's not particularly good but it kills a lot of my attacking prospects if I trade then my opponent is activating the bishop so I'm not going to do that I might play F3 or Bishop G2 or Bishop D3 so I might go here here or F3 so that we trade on my terms and at least my you know my position has a bit of pressure I think I'm going to have to try to win this in a late middle game endgame Style Just relying on the imbalance and maybe some of my space like I do have a lot of space right space is the concept of controlling squares uh controlling squares in uh in the opponent's Camp right so that's what I'm that's what I'm doing I'm I'm you know squares that you can capture on on your opponent's side of the board which in this case is a lot black has some space too though I mean it's not the end of the story okay Knight B4 um right away I'm thinking what could come behind the Knight but I'm also thinking that's not scary my first instinct is to kick out the Knight and put the Bishop there so C3 Knight D5 Bishop here go for check bait I mean that would be really nice I just don't know if it's going to be that simple another option is to ignore the Knight completely and maybe play something like H4 play something like H4 the problem with a move like H4 is that black still has this option to play Queen D5 and kind of realize you know what I don't want to get checkmated so I'm not going to get check checkmated it's unfortunate but they might reconsider so why don't I go here I'm very curious what my opponent's big game plan is after the move C3 because if they put the Knight on D5 which makes sense now I'm actually threatening mate like now we're we're we're we're playing a very different game um and that that's a game that could get very crazy especially if I play H4 first so if the Knight goes to D5 and I play H4 and the idea is to just give up the pawn in case you're wondering uh the other idea is to join with my G pawn and start attacking right away uh whichever one of these pawns walks forward to defend Checkmate will immediately become what's called a hook so I will try to Target it to open it up and by trading on the H file I will bring my Rook yeah I don't know why my opponent is thinking because certainly when they played Knight before they should have been ready for this move C3 yes I block my bishop and yes yes I am maybe weakening my king a bit for sure because this is weak you know now that I now that I said that out loud there is the move Queen D5 even here which I did not really think about because I didn't think it was good cuz again at Queen D5 I was going to go Bishop G2 but or Bishop D3 but this move now actually attacks this Pawn so if I go Bishop G2 they might sacrifice the Knight and take that pawn like a move ago Queen D5 did not have this idea now it does but I didn't even you know now what's the difference the difference on the last move after D4 was that I would not take because the pawn would take but now if I take the pawn cannot take because the Knight would hang you can sacrifice the Knight if your queen is in my territory you can't sacrifice the [Music] whoa uhoh that could either be a a good sign or a terrible sign for me wow whoa that is that is quite a move okay the idea is Bishop SE I did not see that okay that is so if I take the Knight if I take the Knight Bishop C6 right maybe D5 looks a little bit dicey I got to tell you now of course I I I can just develop probably like and not panic probably don't have to do anything too insane but Bishop C6 is coming and I I need a move I mean I need to do something I can't just the alternative is to put the pawn up but I and I and again I should play fast because time is time is quite important uh in a game like this but Bishop C6 is probably going to happen and then I need I need to come up with something F3 Bishop C6 uh Queen maybe E2 the Knight goes to D5 I'm not crazy about that position I'm I'm really not I'm I'm I'm not having a great time so let's do this I'm going to play Knight F3 here's why I think I need pieces in the game it's really that simple I think I need more pieces like playing Pawn F3 feels feeble I'm going to get my knight out now I got to decide if I go here or here or here but Queen F4 could run into some problems I feel like with not really but I don't want to go there because the Knight is going to attack me so I'm going to go to E2 as long as that's not losing anything there might be Queen D5 by the way again that move is haunting me I mean if there's Queen D like what can I do I'm just getting destroyed right I'm getting yeah that felt a little bit more more human to me but maybe there was Queen D5 and so now I was just going to go Rook G1 and the idea of Rook G1 is at least I get off the diagonal and maybe it's okay no promises but maybe am I losing and G5 is an idea in the future of course this is completely not what I wanted but at least now I can play moves like Knight E5 and I still have to worry about the queen side but a bit less somehow a bit less but maybe yeah maybe C3 was simply a bad move but this is what happens when the entire episode is playing against people that are you know Killers like these are obviously very good players play rapid a lot on ch.com so um yeah tough competition today B5 anyway well I have to take right I mean I yeah okay it's a Gambit of sworts and they're trying to you know go here o yoi this is crazy uh Knight E5 Queen C2 is an option as well Queen C2 kind of do I play C4 and create a Counterattack do I play G5 and shove the Knight backwards and then think of what to do next you know I I kind of like that I kind of like going for my own attack like Queen E4 Bishop here but I got to be really careful and I got to be faster Knight E5 and I can't tell if shoving the bishop back there is good for me or good for my opponent oh chess is a hard game wow G5 I don't know what there is to think about but maybe there's A4 that would be insane now this is going to be a uh gonna be a big battle here really want to go Queen C2 that move somehow feels correct to Me Maybe not going to go for my own attack get the bishop behind the pawn go for it I don't know what the followup is after something like G6 we'll figure it out we'll figure it out my opponent's trying to mate me I'm trying to mate my opponent but I think black's attack might be a little bit better as I don't see a way through this gun it's going to take a while and I don't have time for a while but what's making this possible is the fact that the Knight can't really moo moo moo okay well that's still mate so you can't move the Knight I mean I guess you could go to f six but that's terrible now maybe I just maybe I just rip the whole thing open no no no I can't rip the whole thing open unfortunately C4 Knight [Music] C3 yeah I have to respect this attack I think really unfortunate but I kind of have to I don't a force coming no question maybe C4 is what I play Just and D5 or maybe I play Rook G3 Rook H3 maybe it's Rook G3 Rook H3 but then there's H5 and I can't take on pant oh my goodness maybe it's Queen H6 maybe it's Knight E5 Knight G4 maybe somehow it's none of those things and I just like play defense for a second my knight is hanging by the way but I somehow don't think that black wants to get get involved in all of this I think the black should go here I think my opponent should just play A4 and not think they thought for 44 seconds so now I have to do something smart can I bring the Knight back can I play Bishop C2 and Bishop takes that seems slow do I just give up the Knight like do I just play Knight E5 I think I'm just going to go for it this is a huge Bluff but I'm giving up a pawn because I don't see a way in with the Rook yet yes but my Bishop is safe this is this I think is bad because how do you get my Bishop out of the way yeah but now this is this is feeling a bit desperate from black also I have on pant no but then I'm opening up the position oh my God Knight G4 CD maybe C4 yeah oh we're building this huge wall and also the move C4 opens up my Bishop oh my God this is nuts if Pawn takes maybe then I play like Knight G4 Knight F6 that's what I go for maybe I if Queen takes D4 there as well I have Queen takes D4 Knight B oh my God and I play like Knight G4 Knight F6 and I play D5 I can still go for this checkmate this is unbel and I'm always looking by the way just so I'm not taking my eye off the ball here I'm looking at all these checks monitoring my king queen H6 Knight F6 is mate I'm going to get there first it's just a matter of time also this can open at any moment that's the thing this is this bishop in the corner is a huge problem for black because of all the dark squ weaknesses near the king so it's very close to being game over for for for black as well and Knight A2 I just have King B1 like my king is okay and I've kept the position closed most importantly over here I've kept the position completely closed from the queen I've been expecting this move I've been expecting this move can I sack my queen I don't think so I don't think I can sack my queen take no I doubt it um but I can't play Knight H6 check I can also play Knight F6 check this feels better to me but oh it might have been a mistake because now I'm going to block my Bishop but I thought I'm getting my Pawn in which I thought was important now I'm like a moment away from winning if I can open up the position I thought this was smart like Queen H5 and stuff and my king is somehow safe uh Rook G6 do I have Queen no I don't have Queen takes H5 maybe I do this slowly like put the queen on F4 D5 Queen H6 that's the way we're going to win Rook G5 all these moves are like right there I'm right there also that's a free Pawn now I'm just super lowkey but I'm threatening this Pawn as well and I I definitely have a sacrifice somewhere uh that looks like a little bit of a desperation move I'm just going to take it there's nothing happening the Queen's not sneaking down here although it does get my Rook kind of off of where I want it but now I can wall out the bishop maybe unless the bishop is going to come around uh Rook E7 looks very good looks very good no queen move there's no infiltration that's a queen hang that happens yeah low time oh my that was a that was a crazy game uh we got to analyze that that was uh that was a Wild One wow I played 80% I didn't play that well yeah C3 was a mistake see3 was a mistake and I'm wow it was a mistake because of getting hit with with the move that I got hit I mean that was an incredible move I so here I should have kept developing and D4 is wrong I think in hindsight because of the whole idea Knight B4 and Bishop I mean I have never seen something like that that was really cool um I thought all of this was kind of okay uh my opponent played well and then yeah the computer here what why is it saying Bishop C4 doesn't that just blunder a pawn what I'm sorry oh the queen is just getting trapped in the white position like I I mean I thought I had to cover this concept of getting the queen to F6 but interesting yeah the computer likes F4 instead of D4 I did mention this move but somehow it felt a little bit stupid to have these two Pawn like I don't know it just didn't feel and then maybe Knight B4 is still possible but I guess it just likes the space but the way I did it was wrong because of Knight B4 now I should play Knight F3 to get another piece into the game Bishop D7 ah and I stopped this by going here that is the key idea yep that is the bishop takes Queen takes and now I have and at least now there's nothing getting skewered you know nothing's getting skewered and that's mate I did this in a very bad way I calculated Knight D5 at which point I was going to go H4 and yeah I mean it's equal but I think the position is very pleasant to play as white my opponent went here which got a brilliant move now I'm in trouble I went here here and here yes yes right away I spotted Queen D5 I thought I was in huge trouble oh my God now here I would have had to go for Bishop G2 sack my sack the Knight takes I think I would have lost this position I mean this is you know maybe Queen C2 but this is I mean this is so tough Knight D2 is the better move ah because you trade Bishops oh that's very look at this what you do here with white is you you put your knight on D2 because you're going to trade a piece and your opponent loses a lot of attacking potential without that piece and if you trade the Queens you trade another piece and all of a sudden you know this looks really dangerous but it's really only dangerous cuz black has other pieces like the queen itself is not the queen herself is not doing anything that scary but that didn't happen my opponent went here and suddenly we were battling so I went here this was a blunder because A4 was a good move yeah what should I have C4 what about this oh my God D5 wow takes impressive that is an instructive concept and the way you analyze your chess games by the way you should try to take General things out of them so this isn't destructive because there is a kind of a saying in chess when your opponent is attacking you on a side of the board the best way to strike back is in the center because in the center you can direct play to all three sides of the board whereas this is obviously directing side to one directing play to one side there's no way that affects this but this affects this like everything opens up I didn't go for this cuz I didn't see the idea I didn't understand why I would do this cuz I thought A4 was very strong the idea is Queen E5 and this is a much more direct Checkmate threat which can only be stopped by weakening the king even more and I would get a very good attack I didn't do that I thought I was going for mate this way but you you know you remember I was saying I thought I was not this was not strong enough this attack and it probably wasn't but I still managed to make it work so the critical moment here was my opponent defended their bishop and instead of doing that they should have just went A4 Because by the time I I I accomplish anything over here uh they got to take like that is another thing you're going to notice A4 I went Knight E5 positions in the balance maybe maybe again here the best move is C4 and D5 and try to do all of this um I didn't understand why but I guess it just has to do with this bishop yeah it has to do with the bishop it has to do with the fact that the dark squares are weak which is yeah I should have been faster with this opening of the position but the most instructive thing here is you have to take the pawn my opponent did not take because they did not see another way forward they didn't take cuz they were like I don't know what's next and they were probably a bit worried about my attack as well maybe for good reason I mean maybe you know the computer is now saying it's equal so maybe this was just fine um but uh but then what's kind of crazy about this position is there's no more attack and C5 is a nice concept but yeah I was very happy with this move this is the best move in the position I don't go here to open up the the Queen to my Pawn I don't go here to open up the Queen to my Pawn I go here which allows black to take my Pawn but now the queen cannot break through that was very important in this cobweb of Pawns you got to realize the queen is going to try to open up so don't take and give a Target don't activate the queen go here sneaky activation of the dark Square Bishop which we've seen already kind of instructive from the corner uh and [Music] um this is losing Knight G4 H5 okay this was the best move I thought it wasn't but this was the best move and then Queen F4 was fine I I I could have been more emphatic I could have went D5 faster I didn't go D5 because I was worried about D4 oh I just sack I just go here it's not even a queen sack it's how does this ah I didn't do this cuz I thought this is protected but yeah that's pretty brutal okay I played it slowly I did not have a lot of time I didn't want to blunder anything and yeah we're still winning and here we're definitely winning and we won that was wild uh three games Wow first game was like how to deal with defense and a massive attack the second game was um an instructive game I thought that second game with the pawn structure and the early mistake for my opponent and the color complexes this one was wild as well uh we're already at an hour and this will be a little bit of a shorter episode but let me know if you like the concept I mean let me know if you like watching me play people My Level and getting into these really close back and forth games uh I had a lot of fun today I also thought you know playing at this level forces me to raise my level throughout the hour and and I I stay sharp and I kind of stay you know calculating well and making good decisions on the clock making good decisions on the board managing chaos how to deal with you know like how to deal with when you get hit with a really good move you know right here I I I I knew I was in for it I I right away I was like uh oh but I managed to defend I I thought I did a nice job and maybe I'll throw these in there maybe you like watching me play against you know the rating ladder but let me know in the comments uh just for today courses are 25% off so if you like the caroan uh or you like this French Gambit that's the E4 course um and we got a very fascinating position very complex game um or in the first game the Scandinavian admittedly your games will be a lot less like these a lot less crazy a lot less uh you know your opponent's trying to take your head off but um yeah that's all for uh episode 31 get out of here

Channel: GothamChess

Views: 395,564

Keywords: gothamchess, gothamchess london, gothamchess caro kann, gothamchess openings, gothamchess vienna

Id: dO6K-F7eHpM

Length: 61min 51sec (3711 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 31 2024