Here's a great tool for learning openings: chessbook.com/hanging-pawns Chessbook allows you to import and practice your repertoire. It focuses on moves people actually play as well as your mistakes. Connect it to your lichess or chess com accounts to correct the biggest gaps in your repertoire!
Man, you're crashing it! Your videos are by far the best chess openings lessons on YT. What I like the most about it is your no-bells-and-whistles style - straight to the point and yet comprehensive. Kudos!
I just discovered your channel now and after watching 2 videos on the Ruy Lopez, subscribed immediately. Pls do more quality content like this on other openings. Keep up the awesome work!
Thanks for saying that:) it feels great to hear such positive feedback. I will be doing opening series on all openings in the next six months. I'm finishing the Sicilian now and the Semi-Slav will be up next!
@@michaelhowell2809 Me three :-) Discovered it a few days ago and saved it to my favorites as I had a feeling this would be good. I was not dissapointed. One sub from me. Looking forward to dig deeper into your channel!
Thanks Hanging Pawns! I'm an amateur chess player, and today, I beat my first 2130+ opponent playing black in the Berlin Defense. Your chess principles really guided me well. Without your ideas, I would have blundered before my opponent, and subsequently, lost the game. You rock! I'm gonna keep on studying the Ruy-Lopez opening! I'm actually a queen's gambit, Latvian gambit, and English opening player, so I might not use the Ruy-Lopez a whole lot, but the ideas contained within them are immaculate! For instance, the move Rd1+ that seems to gain a tempo, but ultimately loses one because the other rook is trapped, and it takes two moves to reposition the rooks, leading to overall loss of tempo, is really eye-opening. Same thing with the knight on f3. I've learned to fear it, but intentionally running analysis on bad responses black can give, and seeing how deadly the rook knight combo on the e-file can be. Overall, I'm learning a ton from you, and hope to get better! It's a little embarrassing to say this, but I couldn't beat my 12-yr old self at chess today. I'm trying to get back into it and you're a massive help 😇💙🙏🏽🎉🏆☮️
Thanks for the video, i was really struggling and it actually help me understanding Berlin Defense, people usualy makes it overcomplicated when explaining. great work !
I really like the way you explain everything. Had been following many channel but so far yours is far more rich in info. New subscriber here. Please continue to share your knowledge, it's a big help to us who are starting to explore about chess. Thank you so much. God bless. Awesome job!
Thank you so much for this video. I have noticed that c3 by white has also another advantage. 1 is leaving the c2 square for the Bishop to scape. 2 is preparing the advance d4 and 3 is avoiding the black knight to jump to the center.
First time watching from your channel and I really find this channel very good . I appreciate the work you are doing . Explaining the real ideas behind moves
It is important to note that at 17:03, White does not make this move immediately, but we are simply seeing White's future plan. Here it simply drops a pawn.
I like your openings series and other videos as well, keep up the good work. I would just like to bring to your notice that, I think Rio Gambit in Berlin defense is missed in your coverage. I see few top grandmaster games playing that line.
@Trebt _ If white takes the pawn, Re8 pins the knight. d4 defends still but you can sac the exchange and attack on the dark squares with Ng4, leading to a dangerous position for White.
I was looking for the main idea behind the Berlin, I sometimes "play" it but just to set the fishing pole trap or the noah's ark if it fails, it's pretty great as a lot of people oddly enough don't know it. You gained a new subscriber thanks for the video and the crystal clear explaination !
So if one of the main assets for black in the Berlin defence is having the bishop pair, why the h6 rook lift allowing white to simply take black's LS bishop that soon in the game? After that recapture black is left with doubled pawns and with what compensation? An early doubling of the rooks? Might be that's considered enough, but it sounds like a contradictory way to proceed considering what's been previously stated...
Hmm, I like the Easy guide to the RL by John Emms. That's the one I learned from. Re1 is fine I guess. Nc3 is what0s supposed to be the best line for white though. And no problem:)
At 2:46 when white threatens Re1, why does the black knight need to retreat? Why can't we move a black pawn to either d5 or f5 to defend the knight against the rook?
I am a low skill player now (When I was in school I went to state for chess and got second) but I play as white ursov gambit a lot which once declined I go into a sort of a ruy Lopez esk game. And as black I usually play a Berlin defense or 2 knights defense As I come back to chess I see I am struggling with games I use to be able to handle quite easily. As I go threw these lines my trouble is most low skill players won’t follow a predictable enough line to anticipate I am very skilled in opening and end games but my mid game struggles now Any tips on mid game in these would be appreciated Oh and also great quick explanation of these
Playing the Berlin at the end black loses the knights pair in order to develop his rook and he has still a doubled pawn, what is the advantage for black ?
Black advantage -Bishop pair because Bishop are more valuable than knight in open games and take up many space especially in endgame. -queenless endgame (I don't know if this supposed to be an advantage) But if you play Berlin you will be going to an endgame. Also Bishop pair are better than two knights itself Not recommend to beginner player.
that seems to be the second most popular response. the theory seems to be 5.Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 and then it can continute as 10...Re8 or 10...Nf5 the 5Re1 line seems to be very likely to end in a draw though
really nice channel. hope it gets more popular because you make quality content. maybe showing your face or experimenting different thumbnail pictures will bring this channel along subscriber wise. would hate to see you stop, because unfortunately sometimes quality doesn't always translate to subs.sometimes people want a little bit of pizzazz as well, i myself, however don't care. keep doing your thing
I am recording myself now, been doing that for a while. I can't really say I'm doing it to get more subscribers as a primary goal. I want to create a learning library for chess players. Thanks for the feedback!:)
@@HangingPawns Thats good. I think it helps your chess, I was thinking of a similar idea with p;ogramming/chess but to just stream on twitch...holds yourself accountable. You've done amazing reaching such a high level in a short amount of time. Very rare to reach 1850 in even 3 years let alone 1.5. And yeah I've since watched a ton of your videos, now i wish you hadnt shown your face cus my girlfriend said you looked like brad pitt. The reason why I'm fed up is I've recently encountered a channel called the backyard professor that used to make a lot of chess videos back in the day. They were pretty popular - getting thousands and more often tens of thousands of views despite the fact that he was a sub 1000 player just because his personality and presentation style was so unique. I'm not trying to shit on an old man but if you were teaching someone how to play the ruy lopez than id assume you're at least competent at chess and understand tactics, unlike him. So it upsets me when I see much better quality not getting attention compared to what is honestly crap even tho i agree some of his videos are fun, maybe more funny though. if you ever want to see what im talking abt watch a bit of this - ruclips.net/video/BQwEyr5qwws/видео.html. its super funny.
I think I came across his channel at some point before. It didn't quite suit me though. If you'd like a combination of fun and mich higer expertise than let's say mine, Ginger GM and Ben Finegold are the way to go in my opinion. I find their videos very instructive and super fun. Brad Pitt? Haha. I look absolutely like him. Me and my girlfriend laughed a looot after reading that:D
Ruy lopez opening theory were explained extremely well sir. Which book do you refer to beginners players I have 900 rating on chess.com which is for 10 min blitz how can I proceed and where to start?? sir please help.
Something has been bugging me about the Berlin defense, and it has to do with the d4 move. I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out why this is considered white's best move. To me, I want to answer 4. ... Nxe4 with 5. BxN d7xB 6. Nxe5 with the threat of Re1 hanging and not having the d pawn over extended. Why is this the wrong play?
Congrats I just love it.I'm just struggling with the Berlin with white. So far I couldn't see any point in the white position. Maybe I'll do better now :-)
My guess is because it later allows the attack on bishop by Nd6 next move? He did mention toward the end of the video how if you were forced to move to Nd6 (e.g. white goes f3 or Re1) while the bishop is on a4, then you lose a tempo and white would be winning, but when the bishop is on b5, Nd6 gains back a tempo for black by attacking the bishop.
If rd1 is viewed as misplacing the rook, because white would prefer rad1, why does black play ke8 in many of these lines, well before rad1 is possible?
Dude, the pronunciation of MVL is fascinating but it also makes me feel bad for MVL as I know how to speak French. Correct pronunciation (With English alphabet characters) : Maxime Vachier Lagrave - Maxim Vashie'c'h Lag'c'hav (Letters surrounded by ' ' are silent but leave an effect over the sound.) I know this is a lot old video but I don't know if you still say this way or not. Whatever, if you want to pronounce what you do then no problem. Because the quality overwhelms every mistake to be ignored.
I just discovered at 11:00 that white instead of taking the light-square Bishop with a knight can also simply exchange Knight and a Bishop for an immobilized Rook and a Pawn playing Nf7. Only if he like to have and play with two Rooks :)
One rook for a knight and bishop is better in this position considering that rook isn't doing much. If you can get to exchange one of those pieces for a rook later on its a win. Depends on your strengths though.
@@ivica1942 I'm asking if it is useful to trade the knight to break up the bishop pair. It's a very simple question. It either is useful or isn't. It's not immediately obvious to me so I'm asking.
I've played the Berlin for a long time now and i always have trouble with Nxe4 Re1 Nd6 Nxe5, most of the time white plays Bf1 and avoids the exchange, does that mean the line is very drawish?
Here's a great tool for learning openings: chessbook.com/hanging-pawns
Chessbook allows you to import and practice your repertoire. It focuses on moves people actually play as well as your mistakes. Connect it to your lichess or chess com accounts to correct the biggest gaps in your repertoire!
I'm searching many channels for opening... This one is really good in explaining the basic idea 👍👍👍
I'm happy to hear that!:)
Man, you're crashing it! Your videos are by far the best chess openings lessons on YT. What I like the most about it is your no-bells-and-whistles style - straight to the point and yet comprehensive. Kudos!
I just discovered your channel now and after watching 2 videos on the Ruy Lopez, subscribed immediately. Pls do more quality content like this on other openings. Keep up the awesome work!
Thanks for saying that:) it feels great to hear such positive feedback. I will be doing opening series on all openings in the next six months. I'm finishing the Sicilian now and the Semi-Slav will be up next!
I second everything lol love to see your videos and chess skills grow
@@michaelhowell2809 Me three :-) Discovered it a few days ago and saved it to my favorites as I had a feeling this would be good. I was not dissapointed. One sub from me. Looking forward to dig deeper into your channel!
Thanks Hanging Pawns! I'm an amateur chess player, and today, I beat my first 2130+ opponent playing black in the Berlin Defense. Your chess principles really guided me well. Without your ideas, I would have blundered before my opponent, and subsequently, lost the game. You rock! I'm gonna keep on studying the Ruy-Lopez opening! I'm actually a queen's gambit, Latvian gambit, and English opening player, so I might not use the Ruy-Lopez a whole lot, but the ideas contained within them are immaculate! For instance, the move Rd1+ that seems to gain a tempo, but ultimately loses one because the other rook is trapped, and it takes two moves to reposition the rooks, leading to overall loss of tempo, is really eye-opening. Same thing with the knight on f3. I've learned to fear it, but intentionally running analysis on bad responses black can give, and seeing how deadly the rook knight combo on the e-file can be. Overall, I'm learning a ton from you, and hope to get better! It's a little embarrassing to say this, but I couldn't beat my 12-yr old self at chess today. I'm trying to get back into it and you're a massive help 😇💙🙏🏽🎉🏆☮️
i like how you explain the ideas in each move rather than making me memorize those opening moves without thinking. Thanks alot!
He speaks better English than any English or American comentator.
???
Thanks for the video, i was really struggling and it actually help me understanding Berlin Defense, people usualy makes it overcomplicated when explaining. great work !
I really like the way you explain everything. Had been following many channel but so far yours is far more rich in info. New subscriber here. Please continue to share your knowledge, it's a big help to us who are starting to explore about chess. Thank you so much. God bless. Awesome job!
What a masterclass... hands down the best Chess Opening content out there.
Nah I think Dereque Kelley is better
Best series on ruy Lopez out on RUclips! Keep up the good work 💪
Thank you so much for this video. I have noticed that c3 by white has also another advantage. 1 is leaving the c2 square for the Bishop to scape. 2 is preparing the advance d4 and 3 is avoiding the black knight to jump to the center.
I find this channel presents openings in an excellent and intuitive way
Thank you so much!! Maybe can you do some analysis on high level games from ruy lopez openings? Hehe
I'm doing opening series atm, but I plan do analyisis at some point in the future too;) And thank you for wtching!
First time watching from your channel and I really find this channel very good . I appreciate the work you are doing . Explaining the real ideas behind moves
Very good video… nice and clear, easy to understand and enjoyable… well done 👍
Thanks Stephen you do an excellent job!!!
It is important to note that at 17:03, White does not make this move immediately, but we are simply seeing White's future plan. Here it simply drops a pawn.
Thanks for this, I was confused why the engine was saying +1 for Black.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Bc5 5. Nxe5 is an interesting variation I thought you'd explain. Thanks anyway, appreciate your content so much.
Best explanation ever got.
thankyou for teaching
UR doing amazing.. its similar to the books.
Good explanation
Very good explanation.
Im a fan:)
This is very well done Stjepan!
great video for beginners and intermediate players!
I like your openings series and other videos as well, keep up the good work. I would just like to bring to your notice that, I think Rio Gambit in Berlin defense is missed in your coverage. I see few top grandmaster games playing that line.
top tier explainer, thank you!!
You're a great teacher, thank you!
Your channel is so useful! Thank you!
13:10 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
if you wants to learning opening just watch this channel helped my little brother he is getting more powerful
15:56
Sir,after c3 and black castling why can't white take the e5 pawn after exchanging the knight( supporting e5 pawn) with bishop.
@Trebt _ If white takes the pawn, Re8 pins the knight. d4 defends still but you can sac the exchange and attack on the dark squares with Ng4, leading to a dangerous position for White.
Who is the speaker? I love his Chess knowledge.
I was looking for the main idea behind the Berlin, I sometimes "play" it but just to set the fishing pole trap or the noah's ark if it fails, it's pretty great as a lot of people oddly enough don't know it.
You gained a new subscriber thanks for the video and the crystal clear explaination !
2:20 - Berlin Endgame/Wall - Idea's- White to trade down to push pawn majority on the kings side - Black- to attack in general.
Thank you for this video.
This is very good,
thank you
14:28 line is called Anti Berlin i think
BRILLIANT!
Thanks
17:04 White cannot play d4 because you lose one pawn and open the position making it very difficult for white to counter black's bishop pair
Thank you really amazing
Thanks sir
Please can you do an updated for this with the line that goes. 4.0-0 Nxe4. 5.Rfe1
I play the Rosenthal sideline as black, which avoids the Berlin endgame 😅
So if one of the main assets for black in the Berlin defence is having the bishop pair, why the h6 rook lift allowing white to simply take black's LS bishop that soon in the game? After that recapture black is left with doubled pawns and with what compensation? An early doubling of the rooks? Might be that's considered enough, but it sounds like a contradictory way to proceed considering what's been previously stated...
New Subscriber here after watching this video. I will check out your other videos. Thanks a lot :)
Thanks for the video.
Any book recommendations about Ruy for white? What do you think about Berlin Re1 variation?
Hmm, I like the Easy guide to the RL by John Emms. That's the one I learned from. Re1 is fine I guess. Nc3 is what0s supposed to be the best line for white though. And no problem:)
So when Black's knight takes on e4 what if white plays rook e1, wouldn't it be gaining tempo in future?
Amazing 😍
Good video!
Thank you:)
when I started listing to the commentator I felt Abdo from own age pranks making another chess prank !
Please upload queen gambit theory
Yes please I suck when my opponent plays d4
2:56 Is it also playable for white to take with his knight instead of pawn?
my opponent tried it and I chased him away with pawn f6
This is a very old video, but what are the lines after Nxe4 and white plays Re1?
Great content from love India 👍
Bxkf6 and kxe4 looks better than c3 doesnt lt?
Super good video! Keep up your AMAZING videos!
At 2:46 when white threatens Re1, why does the black knight need to retreat? Why can't we move a black pawn to either d5 or f5 to defend the knight against the rook?
Knight retreats to gain tempo over the bishop
The knight there was an easy target
I am a low skill player now (When I was in school I went to state for chess and got second) but I play as white ursov gambit a lot which once declined I go into a sort of a ruy Lopez esk game.
And as black I usually play a Berlin defense or 2 knights defense
As I come back to chess I see I am struggling with games I use to be able to handle quite easily.
As I go threw these lines my trouble is most low skill players won’t follow a predictable enough line to anticipate
I am very skilled in opening and end games but my mid game struggles now
Any tips on mid game in these would be appreciated
Oh and also great quick explanation of these
If white plays ba4 after nd6 then what is the continuation instead of exchanging
Hello I just started following your channel...so much knowledge thank you for sharing. Do you offer coaching sessions?
Hey. Thank you:) Unfortunately I don't. I simply have no time nor do I think I'm good enough to teach yet.
Playing the Berlin at the end black loses the knights pair in order to develop his rook and he has still a doubled pawn, what is the advantage for black ?
Black advantage
-Bishop pair because Bishop are more valuable than knight in open games and take up many space especially in endgame.
-queenless endgame
(I don't know if this supposed to be an advantage)
But if you play Berlin you will be going to an endgame.
Also Bishop pair are better than two knights itself
Not recommend to beginner player.
What happens if after 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.white plays Re1 instead of d4..? How wouldnthe game continue?
that seems to be the second most popular response. the theory seems to be
5.Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1
and then it can continute as 10...Re8 or 10...Nf5
the 5Re1 line seems to be very likely to end in a draw though
@@herrabanani wow thanks for that analysis broh.
I preefer Re1 instead d4 and by the stockfish is perfectly playable
really nice channel. hope it gets more popular because you make quality content. maybe showing your face or experimenting different thumbnail pictures will bring this channel along subscriber wise. would hate to see you stop, because unfortunately sometimes quality doesn't always translate to subs.sometimes people want a little bit of pizzazz as well, i myself, however don't care. keep doing your thing
I am recording myself now, been doing that for a while. I can't really say I'm doing it to get more subscribers as a primary goal. I want to create a learning library for chess players. Thanks for the feedback!:)
@@HangingPawns Thats good. I think it helps your chess, I was thinking of a similar idea with p;ogramming/chess but to just stream on twitch...holds yourself accountable. You've done amazing reaching such a high level in a short amount of time. Very rare to reach 1850 in even 3 years let alone 1.5. And yeah I've since watched a ton of your videos, now i wish you hadnt shown your face cus my girlfriend said you looked like brad pitt. The reason why I'm fed up is I've recently encountered a channel called the backyard professor that used to make a lot of chess videos back in the day. They were pretty popular - getting thousands and more often tens of thousands of views despite the fact that he was a sub 1000 player just because his personality and presentation style was so unique. I'm not trying to shit on an old man but if you were teaching someone how to play the ruy lopez than id assume you're at least competent at chess and understand tactics, unlike him. So it upsets me when I see much better quality not getting attention compared to what is honestly crap even tho i agree some of his videos are fun, maybe more funny though. if you ever want to see what im talking abt watch a bit of this - ruclips.net/video/BQwEyr5qwws/видео.html. its super funny.
I think I came across his channel at some point before. It didn't quite suit me though. If you'd like a combination of fun and mich higer expertise than let's say mine, Ginger GM and Ben Finegold are the way to go in my opinion. I find their videos very instructive and super fun. Brad Pitt? Haha. I look absolutely like him. Me and my girlfriend laughed a looot after reading that:D
Ruy lopez opening theory were explained extremely well sir.
Which book do you refer to beginners players I have 900 rating on chess.com which is for 10 min blitz how can I proceed and where to start?? sir please help.
Thank you very much for great videos! One question - In 17:07 is not possible to take the pawn on d5?
Yeah that move just hangs a pawn, not sure why he played it.
Something has been bugging me about the Berlin defense, and it has to do with the d4 move. I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out why this is considered white's best move. To me, I want to answer 4. ... Nxe4 with 5. BxN d7xB 6. Nxe5 with the threat of Re1 hanging and not having the d pawn over extended. Why is this the wrong play?
What happens if white decides to play Re1 instead of d4?
impressive
“why don’t you take the e4 pawn?”
“why don’t you take the d4 pawn?”
“why don’t…
What c65, c89 means
There was no piece exchange no capture and game was drawn still.
So what was that reply asap
Congrats I just love it.I'm just struggling with the Berlin with white. So far I couldn't see any point in the white position. Maybe I'll do better now :-)
Half a tempo down?
why is it ok for black to take the e4 pawn here but not in the 3...a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5 O-O line?
My guess is because it later allows the attack on bishop by Nd6 next move? He did mention toward the end of the video how if you were forced to move to Nd6 (e.g. white goes f3 or Re1) while the bishop is on a4, then you lose a tempo and white would be winning, but when the bishop is on b5, Nd6 gains back a tempo for black by attacking the bishop.
I plugged this into engine and apparently on move 10 of the d3 variation d4 is losing.
Edit- it blunders a pawn
What happen if bishop takes my knight after playing the Berlin?
at 10:09 why not we just push the g pawn g4??? as white we want to push over king side then let just start
If rd1 is viewed as misplacing the rook, because white would prefer rad1, why does black play ke8 in many of these lines, well before rad1 is possible?
Dude, the pronunciation of MVL is fascinating but it also makes me feel bad for MVL as I know how to speak French.
Correct pronunciation (With English alphabet characters) :
Maxime Vachier Lagrave - Maxim Vashie'c'h Lag'c'hav (Letters surrounded by ' ' are silent but leave an effect over the sound.)
I know this is a lot old video but I don't know if you still say this way or not. Whatever, if you want to pronounce what you do then no problem. Because the quality overwhelms every mistake to be ignored.
I just discovered at 11:00 that white instead of taking the light-square Bishop with a knight can also simply exchange Knight and a Bishop for an immobilized Rook and a Pawn playing Nf7. Only if he like to have and play with two Rooks :)
What if b pawn takes bishop on c6?
Around 14:47, Why cant knight on F3 take on e5 pawn after Bxc6, dxc6, Nxe5 ?
Qd4 (threatening Qxf2 mate also QxNe5)
in 12:42, isnt just rook in trouble after he move to H6? If NxF7, rook is exposed and unfavoure trade is incoming right?
One rook for a knight and bishop is better in this position considering that rook isn't doing much. If you can get to exchange one of those pieces for a rook later on its a win. Depends on your strengths though.
I have seen a started with ruy lopez.
3:29 can’t white do Bg5 check then if black does f6 ex f6? Cause if black doesn’t then Rd1 and Rd8 is checkmate
No
Is it optimal (or even useful) to sac the knight (as white) for the bishop, to break up the pair?
Explain yourself
@@ivica1942 I'm asking if it is useful to trade the knight to break up the bishop pair. It's a very simple question. It either is useful or isn't. It's not immediately obvious to me so I'm asking.
@@LaVieDeReine86 in doing that you're basically telling your opponent you wnat to draw.
@@hanifmiah2125 so maybe then lol. But thanks medium is still a clarification.
Good shit
I've played the Berlin for a long time now and i always have trouble with Nxe4 Re1 Nd6 Nxe5, most of the time white plays Bf1 and avoids the exchange, does that mean the line is very drawish?
Insteand of Nd6 you can return to f6 and have a nice game, but yeah its pretty drawish
What if white did not castle & did Nc3
Thumbs Up
what if he puts pawn to d3
Oh wait I hate this position, I prefer castling, not sure I m gonna try that
Why don't you cover the bird variation of the riy lopez
Cool...
12:55 Vladimir Kramnik