I love when you compared the caro-kann to the london. i started playing chess 2 months ago (about 750 rated) and I've been learning the london for about a month now. last week i started learning the caro-kann b/c i had no good openings against e4. in my short time playing the caro kann i have had so many positions where it felt like i just ended up playing the london but with black. i started using my london tactics w/ caro and its worked ok so its nice to see my comparisons to the 2 openings werernt baseless
This is really interesting cause I’m trying to learn the London but I’ve played and really enjoyed the caro kann. I have noticed it does look like the London when you win the center.
Your explanation at 15:44 was so helpful. I get to that point often in the London but I do not often have a decisive plan to follow up. Great ideas, thank you!
Great video. I think it would be really helpful to review some of your students’ games. I find that I have a hard time coming up with concrete plans especially when my opponent doesn’t blunder.
This video was fantastic and extremely helpful to me as a London player. I enjoy your videos in which you play rapid games but I found this video much more instructive.
Finally a good course about the ideas and strategies of the London. Only finding videos showing traps ans explaining nothing was driving me mad. Thx man.
This video is a crime, simply too good to be free content! I think you did an awesome job explaining some principles to us in a way that we can apply it in our games rather than try to memorize a dozen different lines. In terms of the video, in a chronological order: I got more comfortable with the Berkes structure and with e4 pawn breaks in London, thanks to your videos. For that 1st position - was thinking Ne5 first, then e4, then preparing e4 with Re1, but in this case, it was unnecessary because f5 shuts it down. That f5 move preventing e4 felt super uncomfortable at first, but switching to c4 makes the game playable again :D For the 2nd position - Had that exact attacking dilemma but in a slightly different position. Was also debating between Qf3-h3 or h4-h5. So I opted to go for h4-Bg5 because I'm a curious cat but also a noob. But in your position, a move I thought you'd suggest was Bg3 followed by f4 because I've seen you play that in some of your games. Also had no clue about the X key in Chessbase, that's super helpful! Nc3+c4 synergy is also a cool tip. Thanks for the succint educational content as always!
As a new player, I decided to try and keep it simple by learning the London system. I can develop my pieces fairly quickly, which gives me more thinking time mid game. Your video has given me alot to think about, thank you.
9:48 Ne5 is tactically possible thanks to 1. Ne5 Nxe5 2. dxe5 Bxe5 3. Bxh7+! (not 3. Qh5 f5 which would allow Black to defend everything) 3...Kxh7 4. Qh5+ Kg8 5. Bxe5. Having said that, this ultimately just leads to an equal trade and a position where White doesn't have much going on, so not the best option, but a good tactical motif to be aware of.
Probably a total noob question, but at 29:38 for example, why would black not simply take the free pawn on C4? As white I can't take it back immediately. Is it because it leads to a positional disadvantage for black? Sorry if I missed the explanation.
Fairly new to this myself to take my answer with a grain of salt. I think you can blockade with Nc3, then eventually d3 and your light square bishop can take that pawn cuz it’s hanging.
What to do if black opens with e5? Push it ahead? Take it? Do you have any suggestions on this opening from black? I've read where some teachers teach that taking right away is a great choice, but some say otherwise, and pushing is best. Other say do not take or push and simply protect your own pawn with another pawn or knight. Thoughts?
16:36 I always confused if at this position, black jump his knight, Ne4. I usually take it with my other knight. What's the best response to that? Anyway, It's the best recap of your entire london playlist on youtube. Great content always, alex. Cheer!
Brother English is also my second language and I tend to also do what you when you are explaining things you keep saying Uhh or umm. Instead of saying those things try to take a small pause instead and you will definitely go to the next level!
41:11 - Wait, but that is in contradiction with what you advised before: you said you should slide the Bishop back to g3 when c5 has been played, but now after c5 you played Bd3 instead...
Remember the beginning of the video where I said the first 10-15 moves should be purely memorized? That's the small exceptional case when we break the rule. As I said before, sometimes the best move won't be the most logical one, therefore you need to learn the move by move stuff for the best results possible. Anyways from my experience this rule is super helpful both for myself and for the people I worked with. You can use whatever you want from the video, I am just telling you the way I see chess.
Are your recommendations in this video (specifically when to play c4) also in your course, or is this new material? If the latter, will it be incorporated into your course? Thanks!
Hey, quick question: in Minute 11:11 when you explain that one should go c4; Why wouldnt i go Ng5 instead, threatening to take the e6 pawn and forking queen and rook?
Crazy helpful stuff. Excellent. Thanks much. The one question I still had is black's lsB to f5, followed by our lsB to d3. Then a they fallback to g6. What are the ideas for resolving that tension? Also you provide a combat sport analogy. So hoping you practiced it and that a Gotham chess boxing match is in the works! Let's go!!
I guess you are talking about a position like this: 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 Bf5 4.e3 e6 5.Bd3 Bg6 now the point would be to play Ne5 followed by Nxg6 grabbing the bishop pair with a slight edge. Not sure about the chess boxing part, but I’m down to race him on the track haha
@@AlexBanzea Right. Specifically, we're happy (conversely) when our B is taken on g3 providing possibilities for rook involvement. Why do we not care that we just handed that same thing to black?
@@AlexBanzea True. Gotcha. Now more importantly...with your track stamina, all you're going to need to is some basic boxing techniques and you'll absolutely own old-man Levy. Two months of training and you can start setting up a match. It's going to be fun! Looking forward to it. Finally...Abby Steiner. OMFG...Abby Steiner. Nuff said right?
I don't know it its just because I'm working but does anyone find it hard do digest the whole idea? I get the general rules and concepts but not the big picture
The London is terrible for anybody under 1500 elo. It's not that it's inherently bad, it's the fact that to make it work YOU have to be good at chess. It's too neutral, so when you suck at chess, it's gonna suck for you. It's not trying to induce any mistakes from black, or give white any sort of advantage at all... in fact, the London will put you in impossible positions that your sub-15000 brain will almost surely fumble. I'm 700 elo and I have a 29% win rate with white when playing the London, yet I have a 52% win rate with black when playing the Caro-Kann. Queen's Gambit as white I win 58% of the time... (accepted and declined combined).
I came here undercover. I don't want to play the London system. I want to understand it to destroy it. Completely. From the face of the earth. Seriously though, thank you Alex for the kind subtitle "berkes". Since I asked you the spelling of another structure in a precedent video, I was surprised and elated to see you taking care of that here too. ( I still can't spell "Göergenitza" ???!! Damn ) Thanks a bunch
I continue to study the London but I don't really play it. I've noticed that no matter what black does, things will just get worse and worse for black as the game goes on. The only hope black seems to have is to hope that white makes mistakes it blunders. Under perfect play by both sides white increases its advantage. I haven't seen that before.
That's not true at all. Black has about 3 or 4 lines which equalise easily and in those positions it's white who needs to be accurate to get anything out of the opening. It's still fun to play but mostly you just get an equal position and play chess.
@@Heroball299 That sounds normal and sensible. But it really didn't seem that way. To put it another way, inaccuracies were more painful for black than for white.
You have good content but it's 45min of what should only be a 20min or less video. The final is summary is great. You could actually begin with that and then just go over each point, being succinct. Also please bookmark your positions so you're not replaying the entire game each time. Good luck with your teaching.
Is it just me, or every time you're about to explain the most common moves for white, you say "I've already covered it" and then reset the board? I didn't find this helpful at all.
I find your style of teaching by video to be very long-winded. 8 minutes in and it's all been meaningless chat so far, so I am checking out. I like Remote Chess Academy for concise videos. Good luck in your career.
heyhey! super chess beginner, very new, so im sorry if this is just a really dumb idea!! kind of difficult for me to visualize more than a few moves at a time. at around 8:45, would Bxh7 Kxh7 Ng5 Kg8 with the idea of going Qh5 work and looking for mate? im guessing there's ways to stop it a little bit but that's a lot of pressure and im assuming the tempi is definitely in your favor even though youd be 2 points down, and opp would need to use even more resources to stop mate? like knight would have to go Nf6 and youd be able to go Re1 to maybe even look for a rook lift or something similar? (edit-- to clarify also since i realized after i posted and ended up re-listening to what he said, i dont think its the BEST move to do, but i think especially for lower rated games it could be a really neat attack) also, thank you for all of these in depth vids alex!!! youre literally my go-to for learning chess, and i really appreciate the way you speak, youre able to simplify things and put it into a much better perspective
With the Black pawn on c6, why should White bother with c2-c3? Instead can we just consider a2-a3, holding c2-c4 in reserve ... On the other hand, if Black plays an early ...c7-c5, then c2-c3 may be more appropriate, when Nf3-e5, Bb5, even Qa4 may be more appropriate ... Finally, can we just drop the gimmicks of exceedingly low expectations of trying to win against 1200, 1300, 1500 players? Really., How ya gonna eat your pudding if ya don't eat your meat? Grow a pair, take your girlfriend to the restaurant and let her order the meat and pay for it herself. She will thank you. Then you eat the pudding. Just a thought.
Waitlist for my upcoming Jobava course: alexbanzea.com
This is the kind of content that makes Alex deserve at least double the amount of subs. Super helpful clarification of the commonly asked questions
Gotham having 2mil and Alex having 25k is a tragedy
@@isakdahl7875 tragic and ridiculous. I don't dislike Gotham but his clickbaity style can be a turnoff. Alex 's stuff is value-packed.
@@banzaiburger9589 I don’t dislike Gotham either but Alex seems like a much better teacher to me
You explain chess really well. You have now joined gotham and hikaru as my third chess youtuber
You should consider adding Eric Rosen to your list too
@@ZiRo815 Rosen and definitely Naroditsky!
willtaylorchess too
How can danya not be in there wtf
@@modestben I like Danya, but I struggle to engage with his content for some reason. Perhaps I'm too crap at chess.
I love when you compared the caro-kann to the london. i started playing chess 2 months ago (about 750 rated) and I've been learning the london for about a month now. last week i started learning the caro-kann b/c i had no good openings against e4. in my short time playing the caro kann i have had so many positions where it felt like i just ended up playing the london but with black. i started using my london tactics w/ caro and its worked ok so its nice to see my comparisons to the 2 openings werernt baseless
London + Caro + Reverse London = happiness
This is really interesting cause I’m trying to learn the London but I’ve played and really enjoyed the caro kann.
I have noticed it does look like the London when you win the center.
Your explanation at 15:44 was so helpful. I get to that point often in the London but I do not often have a decisive plan to follow up. Great ideas, thank you!
This is a fantastic video that clarifies the London system immensely. I seriously haven't found someone else explain the C4 push so well.
Thanks a lot mate ❤️
This guy is literally the most amazing chess coach I've ever come across!
Best of luck in your future chess career.
🧡🧡
He is absolutely the best, for sure. Thank you, Alex, for helping everyone become better at chess!
Great video. I think it would be really helpful to review some of your students’ games. I find that I have a hard time coming up with concrete plans especially when my opponent doesn’t blunder.
Great content as always. Best London Chessable course for sure
This video was fantastic and extremely helpful to me as a London player. I enjoy your videos in which you play rapid games but I found this video much more instructive.
Really helpful content cleared so many things about london and chess in general
You are a London genius. I learned so much from you since I started following your channel and studying your Chessable course.
Thanks a lot dude ❤️
I really appreciate to making these wonderful, helpful, lessons!
Thank you for another great lesson! These videos are awesome for those of us who want to take the London System to the next level.
Finally a good course about the ideas and strategies of the London. Only finding videos showing traps ans explaining nothing was driving me mad.
Thx man.
Mate you’ve made me reach 1200 within a few months.. thanks mate you’re a legend!
This video is a crime, simply too good to be free content! I think you did an awesome job explaining some principles to us in a way that we can apply it in our games rather than try to memorize a dozen different lines.
In terms of the video, in a chronological order:
I got more comfortable with the Berkes structure and with e4 pawn breaks in London, thanks to your videos.
For that 1st position - was thinking Ne5 first, then e4, then preparing e4 with Re1, but in this case, it was unnecessary because f5 shuts it down. That f5 move preventing e4 felt super uncomfortable at first, but switching to c4 makes the game playable again :D
For the 2nd position - Had that exact attacking dilemma but in a slightly different position. Was also debating between Qf3-h3 or h4-h5. So I opted to go for h4-Bg5 because I'm a curious cat but also a noob.
But in your position, a move I thought you'd suggest was Bg3 followed by f4 because I've seen you play that in some of your games.
Also had no clue about the X key in Chessbase, that's super helpful!
Nc3+c4 synergy is also a cool tip.
Thanks for the succint educational content as always!
Always free for my subscribers! Unless we fail the chess dream and I have to make an onlyfans, hope you guys will remember me then lol
Is the best video on the London I've ever seen! Theoretical w/o requiring deep memorization of multiple lines. Kudos, Alex!
As a new player, I decided to try and keep it simple by learning the London system. I can develop my pieces fairly quickly, which gives me more thinking time mid game. Your video has given me alot to think about, thank you.
The type of video no other channel does. His chessable courses are AMAZING by the way.
Thanks a lot Alex. Have been following you for the last couple months. Great content. Naroditskys and your videos is what brighten up my day
Honestly, this is the best video of london system explained. Congratz !
9:48 Ne5 is tactically possible thanks to 1. Ne5 Nxe5 2. dxe5 Bxe5 3. Bxh7+! (not 3. Qh5 f5 which would allow Black to defend everything) 3...Kxh7 4. Qh5+ Kg8 5. Bxe5. Having said that, this ultimately just leads to an equal trade and a position where White doesn't have much going on, so not the best option, but a good tactical motif to be aware of.
Very interesting. I’m learning the London and its variations
Best video I've seen from you I think Alex. Very clear and on point.
That’s what I thought too before posting so pretty happy you think the same!
one of the greatest chess videos on YT!!
11:51 in closed games like this. For a waiting move or prophylactic move, computer suggest to push the a or h pawns, also to gain more space i think.
Probably a total noob question, but at 29:38 for example, why would black not simply take the free pawn on C4? As white I can't take it back immediately. Is it because it leads to a positional disadvantage for black? Sorry if I missed the explanation.
Fairly new to this myself to take my answer with a grain of salt. I think you can blockade with Nc3, then eventually d3 and your light square bishop can take that pawn cuz it’s hanging.
SUPER HELPFUL. Thank you so much!
OMG, I watched this whole video waiting to understand what to do when black takes the C4 pawn with their D5 pawn, and it never happened!
Because youll just capture back with you light square bishop. Damaging his center and developing your bishop
Great video, answered a lot of my questions
A lesson like this on the Jobava would-be a true gift
look the pinned comment lol
YES. This is the London video I needed to see.
9:37 What about Bishop h7+ followed by Queen h5+?
That’s what I was wondering, too. Isn’t that the perfect position for the greek gift?
This is so well explained! Thank you Alex
9:06
Qc2 followed likely by Rac1 preparing c4 pownbbreak in a future
15:38
Nf3
The Bob Ross of chess instruction. 🎨
Very nice tutorial mate, love seeing your different opinion to people like chessbrah or Gotham when it comes to variations
you are the best coach ever.
Thank you Alex. Studying your London on chesable.
The day you cover the fianchetto opening is the day I will cry from happiness ❤️🙏
What to do if black opens with e5? Push it ahead? Take it? Do you have any suggestions on this opening from black? I've read where some teachers teach that taking right away is a great choice, but some say otherwise, and pushing is best. Other say do not take or push and simply protect your own pawn with another pawn or knight. Thoughts?
16:36 I always confused if at this position, black jump his knight, Ne4. I usually take it with my other knight. What's the best response to that? Anyway, It's the best recap of your entire london playlist on youtube. Great content always, alex. Cheer!
He can’t play Ne4 cause we win a pawn no?
Fantastic explanation, thanks!
@10:00 can the Greek Gift be implemented?
not really because Black will have ...Nf6 as a defense!
Your teaching is different class great way about you 👍
So basically, if they dont have pawn on C5 then you should push C4?
How is this free? So much information!
Brother English is also my second language and I tend to also do what you when you are explaining things you keep saying Uhh or umm. Instead of saying those things try to take a small pause instead and you will definitely go to the next level!
17:07 there is a mistake-black moves g6 and is better as per stockfish :) but great videos overall
Awesome! Now one for the Caro!
9:09 i would go pawn to C4 here. Supported by the knight who will attack the bishop after the pawn exchange
I like e4 best there
41:11 - Wait, but that is in contradiction with what you advised before: you said you should slide the Bishop back to g3 when c5 has been played, but now after c5 you played Bd3 instead...
Remember the beginning of the video where I said the first 10-15 moves should be purely memorized? That's the small exceptional case when we break the rule. As I said before, sometimes the best move won't be the most logical one, therefore you need to learn the move by move stuff for the best results possible. Anyways from my experience this rule is super helpful both for myself and for the people I worked with. You can use whatever you want from the video, I am just telling you the way I see chess.
9:06 I probably go for e4, always have Qc2 but easily parried by nf6 or something
Are your recommendations in this video (specifically when to play c4) also in your course, or is this new material? If the latter, will it be incorporated into your course? Thanks!
This is not a theoretical video, as I said c4 won’t always be the best move. In the course we usually focus on the best lines!
thanks for the lesson
How would you handle a game where black plays Bishop G4 with the intent to swap bishop for a knight?
Fantastic video !!!
Hey, quick question: in Minute 11:11 when you explain that one should go c4; Why wouldnt i go Ng5 instead, threatening to take the e6 pawn and forking queen and rook?
You gave us the London and the Caro Kann. Now we need videos as black against d4. Please.
The starting position already shows inaccuracys. First e3 then the other knight then c3 and only then comes the knight. Why is nf3 out already?
If you’d watch more on the channel you’d probably understand!
Fantastic content
What about Queen E3 15:59
Crazy helpful stuff. Excellent. Thanks much. The one question I still had is black's lsB to f5, followed by our lsB to d3. Then a they fallback to g6. What are the ideas for resolving that tension? Also you provide a combat sport analogy. So hoping you practiced it and that a Gotham chess boxing match is in the works! Let's go!!
I guess you are talking about a position like this: 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 Bf5 4.e3 e6 5.Bd3 Bg6 now the point would be to play Ne5 followed by Nxg6 grabbing the bishop pair with a slight edge. Not sure about the chess boxing part, but I’m down to race him on the track haha
@@AlexBanzea Right. Specifically, we're happy (conversely) when our B is taken on g3 providing possibilities for rook involvement. Why do we not care that we just handed that same thing to black?
@@AlexBanzea I guess you're saying having the B pair is enough compensation for giving up a half open h file.
@@jaybingham3711 we shouldn’t get mated on the h-file normally!
@@AlexBanzea True. Gotcha. Now more importantly...with your track stamina, all you're going to need to is some basic boxing techniques and you'll absolutely own old-man Levy. Two months of training and you can start setting up a match. It's going to be fun! Looking forward to it. Finally...Abby Steiner. OMFG...Abby Steiner. Nuff said right?
I don't know it its just because I'm working but does anyone find it hard do digest the whole idea? I get the general rules and concepts but not the big picture
Thanks!
9:00
Greek Gift!!!
Hi! What do you think about the b3 opening? Maybe worthy of a video??
To me it just feels like you are playing with the Black pieces right away. We could cover it at some point, but won't recommend.
Could you give me the link of the "in depth" video where u explain the moves vs the fianchetto?
ua-cam.com/video/YbdguiIBFc4/v-deo.html
@@AlexBanzea thank you!!
Wht about dxc4 after bishop d2 at 30:54
we just take back?
“but you know I have already learned all theory of chess” 😂
new to chess here, why is the night to E5 so powerful in the london system. hope someone can reply, thanks.
It’s hard to get rid of!
you stat the course in the middle
thank you
9:09 I would try Ba4 then greek gift possible.
Don’t forget black can play Nd7-Nf6! And protect against the mate threat on h7.
@@AlexBanzea Thanks Love your content and getting your London course soon!
The London is terrible for anybody under 1500 elo.
It's not that it's inherently bad, it's the fact that to make it work YOU have to be good at chess.
It's too neutral, so when you suck at chess, it's gonna suck for you. It's not trying to induce any mistakes from black, or give white any sort of advantage at all... in fact, the London will put you in impossible positions that your sub-15000 brain will almost surely fumble.
I'm 700 elo and I have a 29% win rate with white when playing the London, yet I have a 52% win rate with black when playing the Caro-Kann.
Queen's Gambit as white I win 58% of the time... (accepted and declined combined).
I came here undercover. I don't want to play the London system. I want to understand it to destroy it. Completely. From the face of the earth.
Seriously though, thank you Alex for the kind subtitle "berkes". Since I asked you the spelling of another structure in a precedent video, I was surprised and elated to see you taking care of that here too.
( I still can't spell "Göergenitza" ???!! Damn )
Thanks a bunch
My kind of chess video.
Thanks a lot buddy
@@AlexBanzea Thanks for taking the time to make nice content
I continue to study the London but I don't really play it. I've noticed that no matter what black does, things will just get worse and worse for black as the game goes on. The only hope black seems to have is to hope that white makes mistakes it blunders. Under perfect play by both sides white increases its advantage. I haven't seen that before.
That's not true at all. Black has about 3 or 4 lines which equalise easily and in those positions it's white who needs to be accurate to get anything out of the opening. It's still fun to play but mostly you just get an equal position and play chess.
@@Heroball299 That sounds normal and sensible. But it really didn't seem that way. To put it another way, inaccuracies were more painful for black than for white.
You have good content but it's 45min of what should only be a 20min or less video. The final is summary is great. You could actually begin with that and then just go over each point, being succinct. Also please bookmark your positions so you're not replaying the entire game each time. Good luck with your teaching.
🤯
Is it just me, or every time you're about to explain the most common moves for white, you say "I've already covered it" and then reset the board? I didn't find this helpful at all.
17:00
But Hikaru doesn’t teach he just plays super unusual moves only he can understand.
Can you do English please
ummaaaaa
pretend they do nothing? how about we pretend they do something
This is NOT an easy opening to play.. Especially when black brings the light bishop out early or the queen out early on the queenside...
@4.08 ambitious chess player? london? not convinced they go together to be honest
SO FUNNY
holy shit so much yapping its been 5 mins and youve actually done nothing
I find your style of teaching by video to be very long-winded. 8 minutes in and it's all been meaningless chat so far, so I am checking out. I like Remote Chess Academy for concise videos. Good luck in your career.
first 8 min u didnt say anything i this vid . maybe make a plan what you gonna talk in the vid for max success
Alex your offending a great number of people by taking the lords name in vane. If you stop you will gain a lot more subscribers and endorsements.
heyhey! super chess beginner, very new, so im sorry if this is just a really dumb idea!! kind of difficult for me to visualize more than a few moves at a time. at around 8:45, would Bxh7 Kxh7 Ng5 Kg8 with the idea of going Qh5 work and looking for mate? im guessing there's ways to stop it a little bit but that's a lot of pressure and im assuming the tempi is definitely in your favor even though youd be 2 points down, and opp would need to use even more resources to stop mate? like knight would have to go Nf6 and youd be able to go Re1 to maybe even look for a rook lift or something similar? (edit-- to clarify also since i realized after i posted and ended up re-listening to what he said, i dont think its the BEST move to do, but i think especially for lower rated games it could be a really neat attack)
also, thank you for all of these in depth vids alex!!! youre literally my go-to for learning chess, and i really appreciate the way you speak, youre able to simplify things and put it into a much better perspective
With the Black pawn on c6, why should White bother with c2-c3? Instead can we just consider a2-a3, holding c2-c4 in reserve ... On the other hand, if Black plays an early ...c7-c5, then c2-c3 may be more appropriate, when Nf3-e5, Bb5, even Qa4 may be more appropriate ... Finally, can we just drop the gimmicks of exceedingly low expectations of trying to win against 1200, 1300, 1500 players? Really., How ya gonna eat your pudding if ya don't eat your meat? Grow a pair, take your girlfriend to the restaurant and let her order the meat and pay for it herself. She will thank you. Then you eat the pudding. Just a thought.
You remind me of the bad guy in John Wick 4
Man, eight minutes in and not much yet. I would definitely cut/shorten these intros.
Great content!