Day 3 here watching his e4 rating climb, noticed my white win rate increased from 49 to 53 in just a week after learning this Vienna, ive been learning for 3 weeks now ,but now here learning with actual gameplay in detail and what to do in middlegame whixh improved my playstyle indirectly. Thanks Alex
Taking a longer break from chess can actually be a way to boost your rating. It has worked for me several times. I'm currently 1905. My next goal is 1950 and then 2000 and after that to try to stay at a stable rating a bit above 2000. I'm 44 y.o., but I think it is doable.
Something I've noticed in recent years is that low-rated players all seem to have opening theory. Years ago it seemed like most people under 1500 just played random garbage in the openings like Scholar's mate.
It seems to be the case that perhaps because of the surge of popularity of chess for the general public, opening theory is slowly becoming more common knowledge.
It's modern technology and the ease of access of opening theory at your fingertips. All you need is a smart phone whereas in the past you had to buy books etc
Think part of it is because it’s very easy to learn proper openings as a beginner versus tool assisted AI. New players are probably intimidated to play online so they play against the computer to get some practice. The starter bots are easy for beginners but the intermediate ones will punish bad openings (on the Chess app at least)
hey Alex, your videos are really well done, straightforward and easy to re apply. I can give you an idea for a video: can you explain how to get away from a cramped position? this is what happens to me almost everytime: either i starth with Caro-Kann , London, Vienna, I usually get stuck, and my opponent, same rating, the same... and then it becomes crazy difficult to make any further move .... so ya, any input on the matter is highly appreciated! :)
Tactics and puzzles have helped me the most. I've gone from 1800 to 2200 puzzle rating in a month by just trying, failing, and learning. Knowing tactics helps a lot with decision making and calculating. I think way too many new players are obsessed with learning openings, which are completely wasting their time
I’ve been doing Lichess puzzles for a month or so now and feel like I haven’t improved at all… I still can’t get out of the 800s-900s and reach 1000 Elo. Any other tips?
@@consciousmassofatoms First thing you do is look for checks. Do you have any? Ok what happens once you put them in check? Are they able to block it? Do you have any pieces pinned that would prevent it from defending? Go through all your checks to see if any of them lead to mate. If you have NO mate, then you need to look for easy captures. Is there a piece you can fork? Any skewers? What about if you put their king in check, would that let you fork anything? I used to have to think a lot about 1500< puzzles. Now I've seen them so many times that I can instantly get an idea of what the solution is. So make sure if you're failing a puzzle, that you figure out what the idea of the puzzle was. Was it a fork and you missed it? Well make sure you keep looking for forks. Was it a simple back rank checkmate and you missed it? Well make sure you're always thinking of backrank checkmate It sounds like a lot of work, but the more you do it, the more you recognize these patterns. THEN, when you're playing a game, you'll get into a position where your brain goes, "wait a minute.. there has to be some sort of tactic here.."
I’m sorry, I should’ve worded my comment more carefully. I mean that I’ve been doing Lichess puzzles to improve my tactical awareness but it just isn’t translating to my 800/900-rated rapid games. I appreciate all of the advice, though, and I’ll start trying to incorporate it into my puzzle practice because I definitely go about solving and “understanding” puzzles lazily
@@consciousmassofatoms Yeah it's probably not translating because you haven't beaten puzzles into your head. It's just like any other sport, you need a lot of repetition and practice. What time limit are you playing?
@@AiR1DaN I play a lot of 3+0 and 5+0 but I almost always play 10+0 as far as rapid games go. Could we play a few 10+0 games and you tell me what I’m generally doing wrong?
hey alex i love your videos, and your insights on the vienna and caro ( I have both courses) but I think you should specify in the titles what the video is about, for example speedrun and the rating it s at (kind of like naroditsky does it) you can keep the sensational title and also specify what it is about or I find it a bit misleading , I know it s how the platform works but maybe there s an intermezzo that works for both goals
I am confused as to how much theory I should be following when I play. There is a point in time when your move based on your opponent's doesn't really make sense.
I hate to say it but since switching to Caro-Kann and standard London (occasionally Jobava), my otb has been much more relaxing and fun and appealing to my lazy habits 😂
I've been looking for something like a tutorial on how to use an analysis board to study lines without going down a rabbit hole, and without memorizing specific move orders, just looking for recurring moves in various postions so i have a good general plan for how to use my pieces in most middle game situations. Maybe that would be a good topic for a video. I have a theory that people don't play like the computer, but they do play computer moves. Maybe someone can critique my approach to making plans. The analysis board shows me 5 lines with typically 4 to six moves per line, what I'm trying to do is find solid moves that won't blunder and I can play fast So on the analysis board I plugged in the Italian game and after 3. Bc4 I broke the moves down by pawn moves, knight moves etc per side. Alot of d3 d6. The general idea i gather is that black wants to strengthen e5 and castle short white wants to prepare d4 and caslte short. In 3 out of 5 lines white plays Nc3 though the top 2 lines have c3, so I would play Nc3, 3 of the 5 lines feature d4 but It's early so they're specific to move 3... most people in the database play Bc5 Nf6 so d3 wins over d4, this line of reasoning lead me to the giocco pianisimo and from what I see if both sides avoid sharp lines like the fried liver or 3..Nd4, it boils down to stopping Bg4 Bg5 pinning the knight and allowing Na4 Na5 trading knight for bishop or vice versa. I inserted Bg4 Bg5 as concerns on my own, because the computer doesn't have many plans early on that involve the queens bishop and eventually tells you to trade the pairs resulting in the weird bracket pawn structure. The computer refutes Bg5 Bg4 through some variation of rook pawn, knight pawn kicking it away making it "humanly" playable in many cases, Kg2 Kg7 is often played afterward, but I don't want to drone on if nobody's gonna read, like the comment if you think this is an effective way to make plans maybe the guy will do something like this on the channel
i had the same thoughts as you do only am not as good at the game, i think there is a lot of overlap after most solid openings and even in the openings in terms of ideas of play. both the caro and viena have somewhat similar lines concerning the early bishop moves for some positions. i think it would be very interesting to look deeper into general chess "lines" in a video rather than specific lines.
to be honest, I'm having quite a bit of prep for the vienna, caro and slav, especially for me rating of below 1000. but still I don't really play good and gain rating. this is perfect for me, I just suck at this. I probably need more help finding plans on what to do in general depending on the position we have
Great content. Thanks..I’ll be supporting you in the near future. If you think it’s an interesting topic, what are your thoughts on, at 28:51, the engine’s reco of Nf3>Bd4? Personally, I like playing Bd4 as it can lead to some nice lines, if they play Nc6, but it’s hard to argue with the engine…I think it’s a ~.25 difference, which isn’t negligible for one move. And then, even more interestingly, the engine’s recommendation of Na4 (after: 3. Nf3 d6)? Maybe an interesting topic to cover for Vienna enjoyers.
yeah i love this guy, funny thing is, i was like 1400 stuck so one day i thought lemme try something, then whenever i played white i played g4, and whenever i played black i played g5, and from that i gained 400 rating points
@@consciousmassofatoms can't do that, but in terms of playing G4, just know it is a terrible opening but can be tricky, you always put the bishop on g2 in the hope of taking the b7 pawns and later the a8 rook, you will fight for the light squares on e4 and d5 which means you playing Nc3 is generally good
Great vid as always! I was wondering, is the caro-kann a reasonable response to the English (opening, rather than British people in general) or is the Slav always the better option?
I like the idea that you aren't even looking at what your opponent is doing. I wonder how far you could get just with looking at your own pieces and constantly improving?
You will learn eventually that way because you'll get back rank checkmated so many times that it becomes instinctive when it's about to happen but it may be better to just evaluate the whole board.
@@darekisrael469 Well no because you will only make improving moves but never attacking plans so you generally don't get back ranked if you're improving. It's usually when my aggressive attacking plans fail that I get back ranked.
@@AlexBanzea Hehe but no it's Brits buying them, Dacia did a full on TV ad campaign for the Dacia Duster, with the song Another One Bites The Dust by Queen changed to Another One Drives A Duster 🫢😱🤣
the best way to boost your rating is to have more idiots to beat - just think about it - if there was no buddy else playing your stuck period end of sentence - even magnus cant reach 1 billion if no buddy else can reach 1 million - so mittens please live up to your rating
![[chess] puzzles, special rules, lessons|#chess](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qdH0M4I9FXY/mqdefault.jpg)
I learn so much from you! At 75 trying to improve doing puzzles. You are so encouraging
Day 3 here watching his e4 rating climb, noticed my white win rate increased from 49 to 53 in just a week after learning this Vienna, ive been learning for 3 weeks now ,but now here learning with actual gameplay in detail and what to do in middlegame whixh improved my playstyle indirectly. Thanks Alex
Taking a longer break from chess can actually be a way to boost your rating. It has worked for me several times. I'm currently 1905. My next goal is 1950 and then 2000 and after that to try to stay at a stable rating a bit above 2000. I'm 44 y.o., but I think it is doable.
When did you start?
@@sheikhfahad6478i got to 1900 in 1,5 year
Something I've noticed in recent years is that low-rated players all seem to have opening theory. Years ago it seemed like most people under 1500 just played random garbage in the openings like Scholar's mate.
Still happens to me. Idk if I should be annoyed or happy.
It seems to be the case that perhaps because of the surge of popularity of chess for the general public, opening theory is slowly becoming more common knowledge.
A lot more resources online too nowadays
It's modern technology and the ease of access of opening theory at your fingertips. All you need is a smart phone whereas in the past you had to buy books etc
Think part of it is because it’s very easy to learn proper openings as a beginner versus tool assisted AI. New players are probably intimidated to play online so they play against the computer to get some practice. The starter bots are easy for beginners but the intermediate ones will punish bad openings (on the Chess app at least)
Alex, your serenity is absolutely
commendable! You are helping me, even on 1800+ rating range.
You have a gift for teaching. I learn more from you than from other instructors
I just started playing chess a few months ago and your channel has been the most instructive by far. Thank you 🙏
hey Alex, your videos are really well done, straightforward and easy to re apply. I can give you an idea for a video: can you explain how to get away from a cramped position? this is what happens to me almost everytime: either i starth with Caro-Kann , London, Vienna, I usually get stuck, and my opponent, same rating, the same... and then it becomes crazy difficult to make any further move .... so ya, any input on the matter is highly appreciated! :)
Ti-am descoperit canalul de cateva zile si am explodat 200 de puncte pe lichess. Toate cele bune ti le doresc si multumesc pt continutul de calitate!
Thanks!
I just pick up all your e4 courses. Big thank you for this speedrun 💪🔥
Tactics and puzzles have helped me the most. I've gone from 1800 to 2200 puzzle rating in a month by just trying, failing, and learning.
Knowing tactics helps a lot with decision making and calculating. I think way too many new players are obsessed with learning openings, which are completely wasting their time
I’ve been doing Lichess puzzles for a month or so now and feel like I haven’t improved at all… I still can’t get out of the 800s-900s and reach 1000 Elo. Any other tips?
@@consciousmassofatoms First thing you do is look for checks. Do you have any? Ok what happens once you put them in check? Are they able to block it? Do you have any pieces pinned that would prevent it from defending? Go through all your checks to see if any of them lead to mate.
If you have NO mate, then you need to look for easy captures. Is there a piece you can fork? Any skewers? What about if you put their king in check, would that let you fork anything?
I used to have to think a lot about 1500< puzzles. Now I've seen them so many times that I can instantly get an idea of what the solution is. So make sure if you're failing a puzzle, that you figure out what the idea of the puzzle was. Was it a fork and you missed it? Well make sure you keep looking for forks. Was it a simple back rank checkmate and you missed it? Well make sure you're always thinking of backrank checkmate
It sounds like a lot of work, but the more you do it, the more you recognize these patterns.
THEN, when you're playing a game, you'll get into a position where your brain goes, "wait a minute.. there has to be some sort of tactic here.."
I’m sorry, I should’ve worded my comment more carefully. I mean that I’ve been doing Lichess puzzles to improve my tactical awareness but it just isn’t translating to my 800/900-rated rapid games. I appreciate all of the advice, though, and I’ll start trying to incorporate it into my puzzle practice because I definitely go about solving and “understanding” puzzles lazily
@@consciousmassofatoms Yeah it's probably not translating because you haven't beaten puzzles into your head. It's just like any other sport, you need a lot of repetition and practice. What time limit are you playing?
@@AiR1DaN I play a lot of 3+0 and 5+0 but I almost always play 10+0 as far as rapid games go. Could we play a few 10+0 games and you tell me what I’m generally doing wrong?
i fuckng love this guy
hey alex i love your videos, and your insights on the vienna and caro ( I have both courses) but I think you should specify in the titles what the video is about, for example speedrun and the rating it s at (kind of like naroditsky does it) you can keep the sensational title and also specify what it is about or I find it a bit misleading , I know it s how the platform works but maybe there s an intermezzo that works for both goals
Ooh, Westerinen is a finnish chess player! Learn something every day! Amazing video as usual.
I am confused as to how much theory I should be following when I play. There is a point in time when your move based on your opponent's doesn't really make sense.
Really enjoyed that! Thanks! Some great tips and insights delivered with humour and a fantastic accent. 😁
I hate to say it but since switching to Caro-Kann and standard London (occasionally Jobava), my otb has been much more relaxing and fun and appealing to my lazy habits 😂
Glad to help haha
Dude how in the WORLD do you not have 100,000 subs
I've been looking for something like a tutorial on how to use an analysis board to study lines without going down a rabbit hole, and without memorizing specific move orders, just looking for recurring moves in various postions so i have a good general plan for how to use my pieces in most middle game situations. Maybe that would be a good topic for a video. I have a theory that people don't play like the computer, but they do play computer moves. Maybe someone can critique my approach to making plans. The analysis board shows me 5 lines with typically 4 to six moves per line, what I'm trying to do is find solid moves that won't blunder and I can play fast
So on the analysis board I plugged in the Italian game and after 3. Bc4 I broke the moves down by pawn moves, knight moves etc per side.
Alot of d3 d6. The general idea i gather is that black wants to strengthen e5 and castle short white wants to prepare d4 and caslte short. In 3 out of 5 lines white plays Nc3 though the top 2 lines have c3, so I would play Nc3, 3 of the 5 lines feature d4 but It's early so they're specific to move 3... most people in the database play Bc5 Nf6 so d3 wins over d4, this line of reasoning lead me to the giocco pianisimo and from what I see if both sides avoid sharp lines like the fried liver or 3..Nd4, it boils down to stopping Bg4 Bg5 pinning the knight and allowing Na4 Na5 trading knight for bishop or vice versa. I inserted Bg4 Bg5 as concerns on my own, because the computer doesn't have many plans early on that involve the queens bishop and eventually tells you to trade the pairs resulting in the weird bracket pawn structure. The computer refutes Bg5 Bg4 through some variation of rook pawn, knight pawn kicking it away making it "humanly" playable in many cases, Kg2 Kg7 is often played afterward, but I don't want to drone on if nobody's gonna read, like the comment if you think this is an effective way to make plans maybe the guy will do something like this on the channel
i had the same thoughts as you do only am not as good at the game, i think there is a lot of overlap after most solid openings and even in the openings in terms of ideas of play.
both the caro and viena have somewhat similar lines concerning the early bishop moves for some positions. i think it would be very interesting to look deeper into general chess "lines" in a video rather than specific lines.
Best chess channel period !
Loving your content man!! Please keep it up!
Thanks a lot ❤️
Can you do a video teaching endgames? I really struggle with them
to be honest, I'm having quite a bit of prep for the vienna, caro and slav, especially for me rating of below 1000. but still I don't really play good and gain rating. this is perfect for me, I just suck at this.
I probably need more help finding plans on what to do in general depending on the position we have
How did it go? Any improvements?
Same here ! 😅
Great content. Thanks..I’ll be supporting you in the near future.
If you think it’s an interesting topic, what are your thoughts on, at 28:51, the engine’s reco of Nf3>Bd4? Personally, I like playing Bd4 as it can lead to some nice lines, if they play Nc6, but it’s hard to argue with the engine…I think it’s a ~.25 difference, which isn’t negligible for one move.
And then, even more interestingly, the engine’s recommendation of Na4 (after: 3. Nf3 d6)?
Maybe an interesting topic to cover for Vienna enjoyers.
Would love to see some smith morras when opponents play the Sicilian
thanks dude! i love ur videos keep it up!
I bought your London system course on Chessable. Wondering when you are going to be offering a Caro Kann Course.
Thanks a lot for that! Caro course should be up in April
@@AlexBanzea Just wanted to say that I really enjoy your youtube material. It's both informative and entertaining.
So consistent with content ❤
Do you have any video's on how to properly do puzzles?
game 3 was very fun to watch
Another amazing video :) btw what do you think of the Ruy Lopez opening? Is it good for beginners like under 1000?
Ruy Lopez is good but kinda hard
yeah i love this guy, funny thing is, i was like 1400 stuck so one day i thought lemme try something, then whenever i played white i played g4, and whenever i played black i played g5, and from that i gained 400 rating points
What’s your rating right now?
@@consciousmassofatoms 1800
@@jawindyu89 I’m stuck in the 800s-900s, struggling to reach 1000 Elo. Could we play a few rapid games and you tell me what I’m generally doing wrong?
@@consciousmassofatoms can't do that, but in terms of playing G4, just know it is a terrible opening but can be tricky, you always put the bishop on g2 in the hope of taking the b7 pawns and later the a8 rook, you will fight for the light squares on e4 and d5 which means you playing Nc3 is generally good
5:45 you could play kb5 Queen moves and white Queen gives check so he either loses knight for a pawn or Queen mates.
I think I mentioned that and then showed it on the board 🤔
Great vid as always! I was wondering, is the caro-kann a reasonable response to the English (opening, rather than British people in general) or is the Slav always the better option?
1.c4 c6 is automatically going into the Slav (it's only named Caro-Kann vs 1.e4 because the other things go into a different opening, The Slav)
Amazing, thank you!
At 36:16, just looking at it quickly, I think he has Qf5.
Edit: Ya..he has Qf5.
That's just blundering the queen and still leads to checkmate
I like the idea that you aren't even looking at what your opponent is doing. I wonder how far you could get just with looking at your own pieces and constantly improving?
At some point, you have to check what your opponent is threatening.
2k 😂😂😂
You will learn eventually that way because you'll get back rank checkmated so many times that it becomes instinctive when it's about to happen but it may be better to just evaluate the whole board.
@@darekisrael469 Well no because you will only make improving moves but never attacking plans so you generally don't get back ranked if you're improving. It's usually when my aggressive attacking plans fail that I get back ranked.
@@Chris.M At every point, you have to do that or you'll lose to anyone regularly.
those 700 players weren't that shabby
thank you!!!!
I like how slowly you are teaching. But, I already play like a 600 I don't want to see you play like a 600.
Everyone in the UK has a Dacia these days!!
Romanians are everywhere lol!
@@AlexBanzea Hehe but no it's Brits buying them, Dacia did a full on TV ad campaign for the Dacia Duster, with the song Another One Bites The Dust by Queen changed to Another One Drives A Duster 🫢😱🤣
Btw, Magnus haven't won against me yet
the best way to boost your rating is to have more idiots to beat - just think about it - if there was no buddy else playing your stuck period end of sentence - even magnus cant reach 1 billion if no buddy else can reach 1 million - so mittens please live up to your rating
gg
In your video you refer to a hook several times. Please define what a hook is in one of your future videos.
The idea of you blundering checkmate for the sake of content.... Lol I can barely adapt
How can an IM only get 53%? He has to try very hard!
My goal is to be 2000 Rating level in chess by the end of the year
I'm 1600 rn and I just picked up The Caro kann
Thanks
Looks like 2 much.
How long have you been playing? I am 1600ish and can barely get 50 points per year.
@@link5059 a few years now
Im 16 now about to be 17