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!
Your method of covering main lines and sidelines to the opening is superb, especially the part where you summarily recap how did we reach a position. Tremendous hard work behind each of your video. Keep up the good work. Regards.
@@HangingPawns Bogoljubov varition is not so good because after Black play cxb5!! Qxa8 Qc7! White have only move Qf3 Black plays Nc6 and Black gain advtange after some moves
Starting at (10:30) where white goes into the Bogoljubov Variation (8.Qf3), black actually *can* take the bishop with 8...cxb4. This can be very tricky for white if he doesn't know what he's doing. After 9.Qxa8, winning the exchange, white has to be very careful after the seemingly innocuous move 9...Be7. White can see the black is intending to castle and may not like that his queen is going to be on that back rank with a rook soon staring at it. Many white players go wrong with the natural-looking 10.Qxa7? After 10...Nc6 it is now *black* who has ceased the initiative. The white queen only has two moves: 11.Qa8 or 11.Qe3, both of which the engine gives black a near -4 advantage. 11.Qe3 is white's best move. 11.Qa8 turns out to be disastrous. I encourage players to check these lines out for themselves. In the master database, black wins most of the games when playing 8...cxb4. Also, among amateurs, after white accepts the exchange sacrifice with 9.Qxa8, the vast majority of them make the *huge* mistake of following it up by grabbing the a7 pawn. The bottom line is that 8...cxb4 (exchange sacrifice) is playable for black.
Also black has 9...Qc7 threatening to trap the queen with ...Nc6, so 10.Qf3 is more or less forced, and then black gets a dangerous initiative with 10...Nc6 threatening ...Nd4. I think engines consider it about equal, but it scores terribly for white.
The Polerio is such a beast. Black‘s piece activity and white‘s passivity definitely compensate the loss in material and as you said time and time again, if white isn‘t careful black can very easily convert that positional advantage into material advantage. A very competent alternative to the Giouco Piano main line with Bishop out.
I love these videos. I play the Two Knights against the Italian as black. I play both the Fritz-Ulvestad and Polerio lines depending on how solid I need to be. Another move of note after 8. Bd3 in the Polerio is 8...Ng4 which was suggested by Bologan in his book. White may get a small advantage in an ending that arises (minor + two pawns for white vs rook for black) in this line but needs to play very precisely and black can still hold with good play.
This is an amazing video that goes into incredible depth into the lines and themes. I am trying to build the knight attack into my repertoire and this is an incredibly helpful video. Just a side note: the Ulvestad variation is pretty good for black because white usually doesn't know how to respond to it properly, so the surprise element is almost always there (plus black can get a terrifying attack at whit'e king with the bishop pair eying down on him, a queenside castle and a kingside pawn push). However, i do agree, against opponents who have studied the ulvestad it is a slightly weaker option.
Thanks for the great videos! @06:34, the g2-pawn is not any more threatened than if the Bishop were on e2 (if White is going to capture on b5 anyway). Perhaps the reason one does not play Be2 @06:23 is because Black will capture it with the ...d4-Knight. At my level, only 13% of players play 7.Bf1 (1700 on lichess).
It will really help if you can put a separator between each variation. I am following your videos closely and sometimes i have to come back to a specific variation in an opening which you have explained but it is a little hard to find the exact point in time when it was discussed.
Amazing videos. Can you also go over why some moves would be mistakes or blunders it certain lines/positions? For instance after Qf3 why arent b7 or d7 good moves for black? How to take advantage
Just went over it with Stockfish on Lichess (I'm not a strong chess player myself) After 6.Bxb5 black can respond with 6...Qxd5, which is no longer defended. The difference is that he now takes with a tempo on the bishop, which then has to retrieve akwardly to e2, or white could trade away the bishop pair.(recommended). after 7.Bxc6+ Qxc6 8.0-0, stockfish evaluates white to an advantage of 0.4 pawns, in the Bf1 line, white has a +1 advantage according to stockfish.
brilliantly explained, as always. One doubt I had is how to play this against not so strong players. I mean i'm just beggining, so people at my level don't usually go that far in their study of opennings, but many times they've played that Ng5 move against me. now i know i only have to castle, and the threat is over. thanks!!
One correction Stefan (sorry for misspelling your name): You said you dislike the Be2 line in the Polerio defence because of the: h6, Nf3, e4, Ne5, Bc5, c3 sideline. That is because c3 is not the correct response. White should play O-O immediately and he's fine. Equal game.
I am curious why at 3:55 the white bishop doesn't take the black's b5 pawn? It can not only pin the knight to the king but also can capture it on next move and fork the black's rook and king.
4:15 what happens if Bishop takes b? Why can't bishop go to any other square except back rank? I would loved it if you explained these reasonings as well.
If you were to do only a very slight amount of thinking on your own or just put the moves into any number of free engines, which is very, very simple, you would notice that Bishop takes b is met with Queen takes d, which forces you to either play Be7 or trade the bishop for the knight on c6 as the queen now attacks the bishop. This is seen as slightly suboptimal since you're exchanging a central pawn for a flank pawn, and black gets better development. He doesn't need to show every single variation (bishop takes b) if it's immediately refuted by a single move (queen takes d). You should be able to figure out 1 move refutations
Hey I was wondering what you think of 6. d3 after 5... Na5. I use it a lot because either you keep the extra pawn after they trade on c4 or if they take on d5 then you have sacrifices on f7 again.
I'm 800 and I win most of my games as white with the knight attack. Definitely suggest playing this at my elo or lower. I never had an opponent safely get out of it, they always end up loosing something ( either a rook or a pawn and the right to castle ). It was good to know that there are ways out of it for black, I always tought that if you enter the knight attack as black you're simply worse
Really sharp lines here, definitely better to be well prepared! :) One question Stjepan: at 24:35 you go with d3, but I can't barely find any appearances in the databases. c3 looks like the most common move there. What are your thoughts?
#DaniisChessing they are both playable for white. After c3 - black will respond Qd5 or Qb6. Continuation is for example c3-Qd5, Qc2 and black castle, etc.
Apologies if this seems obvious to some but in 4:06 mark, why can't the bishop capture the pawn in b5? Just startin out to learn in-depth chess. Thank you! ☺️
I believe it's because you give up your central D5 Pawn for an even trade and your bishop is in an awkward position that the opponent can attack and force you to be down tempo. Once he captures the D5 Pawn the queen is also attacking the knight on G5 collapsing the whole initial plan for the knight attack. I'm not a high rated player or anything but I assume these are the reasons
Nathanael DuBose Qxg5, Bxc6+, Qxc6, 0-0 is the outcome. White is only 0.5 ahead, Black has a lead in development, Black has the Bishop pair, and Black is attacking G2 if White did something other than castle. It’s not a losing line for White, but it gives Black a much nicer result than other lines.
#HangingPawns in Ulvestad variation after Bd7 white could move b4 attacking the Queen instead of the castling. There is a very interesting continuation 10.b4-Qd6, 11.Ne4-NxNe4, 12.Qxf7+ Kd8, 13.NxNe4. There is a better response for black in move 10.b4-Qb6
#FarrokhGhorbani It`s the long one but after dxc, bxc4, castle - black will chase the N and for white is hard to find a good square. White will need to play f pawn and cripple castling position. Bf1 it`s the move;
After Qf3 then Rg8 Bxc6= Nxc6 Qxc6+ Nd7, I'm curious why you didn't explore d6 (defending the knight with a bishop) as an option instead of just retreating the knight and bishop. I'm guessing that if black then plays Bd7 the knight is force to retreat and lose the tempo, but I'm not sure how to read the game from there.
You can't play for us. What I mean this explanation is supreme in all aspects. Thank you very much. In my actual Polerio Dfence I continue with the match like this: 5. Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Qf3 (this is the variation you mentioned to move rook to b8. Well I did something different 8. Bb7 so Bishop attack directly his Queen after if exchange happen. I think he needs to return to the original scheem you mentioned bishop not to d3 but bishop to e2 . Thank you again. Are you German? or East European.?
Maybe it would make the video too long, but it seems that the Fried Liver Attack deserves, at least, a mention. Many black players, unfamiliar with how to handle the Knight Attack, will often play: 1.e4 e5, 2.Nf3 Nc6, 3.Bc4 Nf6, 4.Ng5 d5, 5.exd5 Nxd5?! which invites the Fried Liver Attack, 6.Nxf7. Many beginners do not play the Polerio, Ulvestad nor Fritz variation. They play 5...Nxd5?!.
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!
Thanks!
Your method of covering main lines and sidelines to the opening is superb, especially the part where you summarily recap how did we reach a position. Tremendous hard work behind each of your video. Keep up the good work. Regards.
I love those thumbnails! Do you design it? Nice content though, I am learning a lot!
Yeah, I design them myself. I'm happy to hear you like them:) And thanks for watching!
I also admire the thumbnails, I think they are unique and the most beautiful of all chess channels on RUclips!
@@HangingPawns Bogoljubov varition is not so good because after Black play cxb5!! Qxa8 Qc7! White have only move Qf3 Black plays Nc6 and Black gain advtange after some moves
@@HangingPawns Awesome , coolest chess player in the world
3:55 why white can’t simply play Bxb5?
3:54 Ulvestad Variation
6:11 Fritz Variation
8:25 Polerio Defense
10:32 Bogoljubov Variation
13:50 Bishop Check Line
22:08 Be2 Main Line
Fun fact black can actually take the bishop on b5 and sac the rook on a8 ,the line is slighty better for white but I am surprised he didnt look at it
taking the bishop with cxb5 is actually playable. Most white has is a draw in a line where white must find "only moves"
Starting at (10:30) where white goes into the Bogoljubov Variation (8.Qf3), black actually *can* take the bishop with 8...cxb4. This can be very tricky for white if he doesn't know what he's doing. After 9.Qxa8, winning the exchange, white has to be very careful after the seemingly innocuous move 9...Be7. White can see the black is intending to castle and may not like that his queen is going to be on that back rank with a rook soon staring at it. Many white players go wrong with the natural-looking 10.Qxa7? After 10...Nc6 it is now *black* who has ceased the initiative. The white queen only has two moves: 11.Qa8 or 11.Qe3, both of which the engine gives black a near -4 advantage. 11.Qe3 is white's best move. 11.Qa8 turns out to be disastrous. I encourage players to check these lines out for themselves. In the master database, black wins most of the games when playing 8...cxb4. Also, among amateurs, after white accepts the exchange sacrifice with 9.Qxa8, the vast majority of them make the *huge* mistake of following it up by grabbing the a7 pawn. The bottom line is that 8...cxb4 (exchange sacrifice) is playable for black.
Also black has 9...Qc7 threatening to trap the queen with ...Nc6, so 10.Qf3 is more or less forced, and then black gets a dangerous initiative with 10...Nc6 threatening ...Nd4. I think engines consider it about equal, but it scores terribly for white.
The Polerio is such a beast. Black‘s piece activity and white‘s passivity definitely compensate the loss in material and as you said time and time again, if white isn‘t careful black can very easily convert that positional advantage into material advantage. A very competent alternative to the Giouco Piano main line with Bishop out.
Hpy you are a legend. I've been working through your content for a few weeks and I'm still just scratching the surface. Thanks so much
You're a legend
Haha thanks:D
Došao je tiho i ušao u legendu. Doc Holliday !
I love these videos. I play the Two Knights against the Italian as black. I play both the Fritz-Ulvestad and Polerio lines depending on how solid I need to be. Another move of note after 8. Bd3 in the Polerio is 8...Ng4 which was suggested by Bologan in his book. White may get a small advantage in an ending that arises (minor + two pawns for white vs rook for black) in this line but needs to play very precisely and black can still hold with good play.
Hmm. Yeah, I know that move, but I've never studied it in depth. I'll study it properly now, didn't know Bologan suggested it.
This was gold. I was totally unaware of all the sidelines.
This is an amazing video that goes into incredible depth into the lines and themes. I am trying to build the knight attack into my repertoire and this is an incredibly helpful video. Just a side note: the Ulvestad variation is pretty good for black because white usually doesn't know how to respond to it properly, so the surprise element is almost always there (plus black can get a terrifying attack at whit'e king with the bishop pair eying down on him, a queenside castle and a kingside pawn push). However, i do agree, against opponents who have studied the ulvestad it is a slightly weaker option.
8:45 what is that in the window?!
Ikr wth
I guess well never find out
11:03 Taking the Bishop doesnt lose its one of the best, if not the best answer to this.
In classical, yes. In rapid, no
18:32 whats that out of the window
funicular public transport in croatia
Thanks for the info
@@gabigaming4550 no worries i think its Zagreb
Whats up with the floating houses in the window behind him at 18:31
Wth was that
Thank you so much for uploading these videos
No problem:)
at 8:45 min in the video, the houses are moving in the background outside the window
I SAW IT TOO WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT
TF 😂😂
Love these videos!! so well spoken and easily followed. subscribed!
I got destroyed on Lichess by White playing the knight attack on me - so thanks for this in-depth analysis of it!
Wow very deep in details
Good job thank you
Thank you. I'm glad you like the vid!
Reminder: Qf3 10:30, Bd3 21:00
Thanks for the great videos! @06:34, the g2-pawn is not any more threatened than if the Bishop were on e2 (if White is going to capture on b5 anyway). Perhaps the reason one does not play Be2 @06:23 is because Black will capture it with the ...d4-Knight. At my level, only 13% of players play 7.Bf1 (1700 on lichess).
It will really help if you can put a separator between each variation. I am following your videos closely and sometimes i have to come back to a specific variation in an opening which you have explained but it is a little hard to find the exact point in time when it was discussed.
This is honestly great stuff!
10:30 Qf3 variation of polerio defence.
Thank you sir !
Amazing videos. Can you also go over why some moves would be mistakes or blunders it certain lines/positions? For instance after Qf3 why arent b7 or d7 good moves for black? How to take advantage
Quick question. At 4:07, why cant white play Bxb5?
someone help us here pls! I don't get it either, isn't it a free pawn?
Just went over it with Stockfish on Lichess (I'm not a strong chess player myself)
After 6.Bxb5 black can respond with 6...Qxd5, which is no longer defended. The difference is that he now takes with a tempo on the bishop, which then has to retrieve akwardly to e2, or white could trade away the bishop pair.(recommended). after 7.Bxc6+ Qxc6 8.0-0, stockfish evaluates white to an advantage of 0.4 pawns, in the Bf1 line, white has a +1 advantage according to stockfish.
@@petarmilic6419 thank you!!!
it's theorical variation also but give changes for black after Qxd5 ıf you can't see Qxd5 move you need study tactics first not opening
@joseluielozanosalcedo7567 the pawn on b5 is not really free as after,Qxd5,black does have some compensation
brilliantly explained, as always. One doubt I had is how to play this against not so strong players. I mean i'm just beggining, so people at my level don't usually go that far in their study of opennings, but many times they've played that Ng5 move against me. now i know i only have to castle, and the threat is over. thanks!!
8:44 what the heck happened outside?
yes dude I also wanna know
A bus moved?
One correction Stefan (sorry for misspelling your name):
You said you dislike the Be2 line in the Polerio defence because of the:
h6, Nf3, e4, Ne5, Bc5, c3 sideline.
That is because c3 is not the correct response. White should play O-O immediately and he's fine. Equal game.
I am curious why at 3:55 the white bishop doesn't take the black's b5 pawn? It can not only pin the knight to the king but also can capture it on next move and fork the black's rook and king.
Sorry I’m late, but he can’t because queen takes d5 will attack the g pawn and the bishop at the same time
I just want to say Thank You So Much.
4:15 what happens if Bishop takes b? Why can't bishop go to any other square except back rank? I would loved it if you explained these reasonings as well.
If you were to do only a very slight amount of thinking on your own or just put the moves into any number of free engines, which is very, very simple, you would notice that Bishop takes b is met with Queen takes d, which forces you to either play Be7 or trade the bishop for the knight on c6 as the queen now attacks the bishop. This is seen as slightly suboptimal since you're exchanging a central pawn for a flank pawn, and black gets better development. He doesn't need to show every single variation (bishop takes b) if it's immediately refuted by a single move (queen takes d). You should be able to figure out 1 move refutations
@@Swagg0421 Thanks!
10:37 Bg4, Bb7 or Qd7 also are looking like good moves for black.
Hey I was wondering what you think of 6. d3 after 5... Na5. I use it a lot because either you keep the extra pawn after they trade on c4 or if they take on d5 then you have sacrifices on f7 again.
O9
4:06
isn't that a free pawn?
white can just take it, right?
If you take with the bishop, then black can take on d5 with the queen and attack the g2 pawn
@@maxturgeon89 but cant the bishop come back to f1
Bogoljubov variation 10:22
8. Be3 13:50
I'm 800 and I win most of my games as white with the knight attack. Definitely suggest playing this at my elo or lower. I never had an opponent safely get out of it, they always end up loosing something ( either a rook or a pawn and the right to castle ). It was good to know that there are ways out of it for black, I always tought that if you enter the knight attack as black you're simply worse
Thank you for those videos. I would like to learm more deep italian game and two knights defense. Do you recommend some books on these openings?
A cuber. Well hello there.
Really sharp lines here, definitely better to be well prepared! :) One question Stjepan: at 24:35 you go with d3, but I can't barely find any appearances in the databases. c3 looks like the most common move there. What are your thoughts?
#DaniisChessing they are both playable for white. After c3 - black will respond Qd5 or Qb6. Continuation is for example c3-Qd5, Qc2 and black castle, etc.
Excellent video!
8:44 what the hell was that on the window?!?!?!?!
Thank you sir
Sir... In the Ulvestad variation... b5... Why wouldn't the Bishop take b5 before retreating to f1??? Isn't that "b" pawn hanging???
Apologies if this seems obvious to some but in 4:06 mark, why can't the bishop capture the pawn in b5? Just startin out to learn in-depth chess. Thank you! ☺️
I believe it's because you give up your central D5 Pawn for an even trade and your bishop is in an awkward position that the opponent can attack and force you to be down tempo. Once he captures the D5 Pawn the queen is also attacking the knight on G5 collapsing the whole initial plan for the knight attack. I'm not a high rated player or anything but I assume these are the reasons
@@goldfishgallant ooohh. will check this out. thank you!
4:14 Beginner here......Why not Bxb5 ? It looks instinctive for beginners like me...it pins the knight
I saw the same move. Not sure why it’s not a good move.
Nathanael DuBose Qxg5, Bxc6+, Qxc6, 0-0 is the outcome. White is only 0.5 ahead, Black has a lead in development, Black has the Bishop pair, and Black is attacking G2 if White did something other than castle. It’s not a losing line for White, but it gives Black a much nicer result than other lines.
10:58 why not bishop b7
At 3:56 why does the bishop not capture the pawn at b5.
because after 6. Bxc5 you get Qxd5 which puts pressure on the bishop, black has a worse pawn structure but better development
#HangingPawns in Ulvestad variation after Bd7 white could move b4 attacking the Queen instead of the castling. There is a very interesting continuation 10.b4-Qd6, 11.Ne4-NxNe4, 12.Qxf7+ Kd8, 13.NxNe4.
There is a better response for black in move 10.b4-Qb6
As a kid we thought 4. Ng5 was unbeatable so we played 3...h6 to stop it 😂
This is still so common, even at 1600.
In the Fritz you only consider ...b5 after c3. Why not ...Nf5?
Have you ever had a chance to do a video on the knight attack (4d3)?
not much of an attack... at that point. black develops his bishop then castles after you play ng5 and it's over before it starts
Sir can you please make a video on traxaler counter play as a forced draw match
I will. It will be the next video in the series!
Hanging Pawns thank you sir
At 4.08 why bishop back to f1
Why not d×c and after b×c4 white can simply castle
Farrokh Ghorbani try it and see if somebody punish u for it
#FarrokhGhorbani It`s the long one but after dxc, bxc4, castle - black will chase the N and for white is hard to find a good square. White will need to play f pawn and cripple castling position. Bf1 it`s the move;
Which video has the d3 line covered in it?
After Qf3 then Rg8 Bxc6= Nxc6 Qxc6+ Nd7, I'm curious why you didn't explore d6 (defending the knight with a bishop) as an option instead of just retreating the knight and bishop. I'm guessing that if black then plays Bd7 the knight is force to retreat and lose the tempo, but I'm not sure how to read the game from there.
Great!
Hello, your video is good. Can you put an AI rating bar on the left side of your board, and you can see the AI's rating for each move?
You can't play for us. What I mean this explanation is supreme in all aspects. Thank you very much.
In my actual Polerio Dfence I continue with the match like this:
5. Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Qf3 (this is the variation you mentioned to move rook to b8.
Well I did something different 8. Bb7 so Bishop attack directly his Queen after if exchange happen.
I think he needs to return to the original scheem you mentioned bishop not to d3 but bishop to e2 .
Thank you again. Are you German? or East European.?
In Fritz variation white play after c3 Nf5!
4:8 why not take on b5
What about 6.d6 after Na5? Morphy seemed to like it
4:8 why not take on d5
Sir make a video pirc and modern defence too, plz
The series is starting tomorrow actually:D I've just finished the King's Gambit and tomorrow I'll make the introduction to the Pirc!
At 4:04, why can the bishop not capture the pawn on b5?
Ng5 is great for beginners and GMs but black gets too much counterplay between those levels
This is the PGN
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bc4 Nf6 {Italian game : Two knight defense}
4. Ng5! {Knight attack} d5
5.exd5 b5 {Ulvestad variation} (5... Nd4 6. c3 b5 7. Bf1 Nxd5 8. cxd4 Qxg5 9. Bxb5+ Kd8 10. Qf3 Bd7 11. 0-0 Rb8 12. dxe5 Ne3 13. Qh3 Qxg2+ 14. Qxg2 Nxg2 15. d4)
6. Bf1 Nd4 (6... Qxd5 7. Nc3 Qc5 8. Bxb5 Be7 9. Qf3 Bd7 10. 0-0 0-0)
7. c3 Nxd5
8. cxd4 Qxg5
9:35
whats this mans name ??
Maybe it would make the video too long, but it seems that the Fried Liver Attack deserves, at least, a mention. Many black players, unfamiliar with how to handle the Knight Attack, will often play: 1.e4 e5, 2.Nf3 Nc6, 3.Bc4 Nf6, 4.Ng5 d5, 5.exd5 Nxd5?! which invites the Fried Liver Attack, 6.Nxf7. Many beginners do not play the Polerio, Ulvestad nor Fritz variation. They play 5...Nxd5?!.
Would rather just learn to play Two Knights than go into Giuoco Piano and have to deal with Evan’s Gambit shenanigans 😷
18:40 wtf
I miss the "Hello every one".
Hello
Chess IS hardwork. NOT worth it for the time-strapped, casual player.
It is 31 mins wwwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Too 😕 confusing