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I taught myself chess at the age of 8 and 9; I'm now 70. Your videos have taught me more about chess strategy than my lifetime of playing. Thank you, Igor!
2024 is a great time to be a chess player. The Internet gives us access to high quality chess lessons from GMs and an endless supply of opponents of all skill levels
► Chapters 00:00 Unusual & Aggressive chess opening for White after 1.e4 00:31 1) Halasz Gambit Main Line (Center Game) 01:51 2) If Black plays 4...Bb4+ 03:51 Can you find the winning move? 05:46 Dealing with the Bg4 pin 06:48 3) If Black plays 3...c5 to protect the pawn 10:00 4) If Black plays Bg4 when your bishop is on d3 12:42 5) If Black delays castling
Igor, I cannot understate how much I've been learning and improving from your instruction! You're my go-to guy for Chess mastery. In particular, I've gotten much better at looking for counterattacking opportunities (rather than retreating or defending). That said, the application of that same concept may present an issue with your strategy for variation 4, at around 11:20. You assume that black will continue dropping back as you advance the h and g pawns. But what if he plays ...Nxg4. White recaptures with the h pawn, but then Bxg4 restores the pin on the f3 knight. The next move, black can play h5 and that bishop is practically untouchable. Meanwhile, black sacked a knight for 2 pawns (so a slight loss of material) but now has a passed and very well-defended h pawn that you'll need to contend with the rest of the game. I haven't seen used that particular counterattack in this exact situation, but I have used it before, as both colors - usually with a win in the end. Is there a solid refutation of that counterattack in this situation, or in general? Also, in this instance and some others, black could sack the bishop first, then recapture with the knight instead, preparing for Ne3, which would fork White's queen and rook (or at the very least, have itself a lovely outpost). Or again, follow the recapture with h5 to create an outpost for the knight at g4. Any suggestions for repelling these threats, as well?
You are so thorough and yet you have the humility to admit that you can't cover every line .. this makes you the best on UA-cam .. keep up the fantastic work - just love your expositions - learning so much, thank you.
i (1510) just beat a 1528 player in 17 moves in 45 seconds off of my clock (15/10) using this opening! If I had the money I'd definitely give you some, Igor!!!! You are an EXCELLENT TEACHER! Thank you for all you do!
hello igor, i have been watching your videos since December (circa) and i would like to say that i got actual motivation to play chess since you have an easy way to explain and dont feel bothered at same time. i knew how to play but i never got into theory or advanced tactics. i like your channel and i wanted to express my gratitude, thank you, you are my inspiration
I saw it but when I saw it I slightly dismissed it just because of the number of things that get in the way of the queen. Serves me right for not calculating it all the way through.
at 2:55, please note the greek gift does not work in this position unless black takes on e5 before moving the knight. (This allows the rook to control the f5 square.) If black plays Ne8 immediately, they are still slightly worse, but if you respond with Bh7 as white, you will be completely lost.
One variation you don't talk about, but seems like a logical move for black, is to play Kn-c6 to b4, attacking your light bishop. the light bishop has then nowhere to go than leaving its diagonal, and additionally, it would enable a fork of the queen&rook at c2 in the next move. at about 10:23
I recently started playing the Center Game often with an early f4 by white. Black playing Nb4 threatening a white bishop on d3 is a very *common* move. Nothing objectively wrong with it except that I do not move the bishop. I simply castle and bet that my better development and mobile central pawns will cause havoc. Often, they do. Now if black plays ...Nb4 in the Halasz Gambit as you suggest, Stockfish recommends a3. Maybe that is a great chess engine move, but my preference would still be to just leave the white-squared bishop on d3, and just castle. Again, as in the Center Game, white bets on better development and a mobile pawn center to cause problems for black. I do think the video would be improved by considering you ...Nb4 move because a lot of club players (and maybe even much better players) will play ..Nb4. So white needs to have a plan against it.
I don't know if there is a link but an "Halasz gambit" exists in the Caro Kann by Blacks. After 1) e4,c6, 2) d4 d5 3 Nc3 Black plays ...b5, intending to attack the knight.
In the second line, I can't imagine playing 6... Bxc3 (capturing the knight), but I see it is indeed black's most common move at that point, barely edging out the more principled 6... d6. My preference would be 6... Nf6, attacking the pawn on e5. Getting to e5 would also mean adding pressure to c3, and I would rather make the capture with the knight. If black's knight captures at c3 and white recaptures with the b pawn, then Bxc3 wins the rook (unless white has positioned his queen or dark-squared bishop to defend c3 or has castled). Of course, white could respond (and does 40% of the time) with 7. Bd3, but then black has d5.
Only problem is that I really like 2 pawn saccrifice danish gambit, so now I have to decide between danish gambit and this every time they accept center game :(
3:55 Rf8+, because Qxf8 loses to Qb3+, and Kxf8 loses to Qf1+. In both cases, Black has only useless interpositions. In the latter case, the king can run, but all of its flight squares are covered by Qf7#.
TBH, on my extremely low level, 99% of the time there's no way we can get anywhere close to getting set up in any of these wonderful gambits. The low level beginner opponents are so unpredictable. They rarely do what the videos say are expected.
before you tell us what the hard move is, I would probably sack the rook for a check. But if you did not say there was a better move I would have probably taking with a queen. Once you gave me that hint I got it instantly. That is my problem, I don't think deep enough.
Best plan is for black to strike back early with ...d5. 1. e4 e5 2. d4 ed 3. f4 d5!. Stockfish already gives black a slight advantage. Far worse is that the game tends to simplify with black retaining or enlarging his advantage. Black's game is easier to play! On the other hand, a *lot* of players will NOT do play ..d5 on the 3rd move.
Thank you GM Smirnov! Your videos are gold, like always! One question: Does this gambit has a declined variation? That is, if Black plays anyhing besides 2...exd4.
Those are some very interesting moves. However, I've found that in my games, as soon as I advance that king's pawn to f4, my opponent immediately responds with Qf4, check. So you block with pawn g3, but then after you castle, your king is wide open. If your immediate attack doesn't go as planned, there are all kinds of ways your king can be attacked.
Okay I think I found the move at 4:10 It's Rf8+. if King takes then Qf1+ ends the game quickly If Queen takes Rook, its Qb3+ which cant be defended properly
I capture it and just play a wild open game where you usually castle Kingside and pray you don't F it up because Black is going to have a very slight edge.
This seems to be a theme with many white gambits. Just like the Danish Gambit, King's Gambit, etc, if black just plays d5 after accepting the first gambit pawn, then it takes white out of their tricks and usually equalizes for black.
@rbbecker73 An early d5 is black's best answer to many openings and gambits. It's also useful to keep in mind an early d4 when playing white and running into reverse gambits, like for example after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 f5 4. d4
This is the 2nd video I've watched of yours and I must say your an excellent teacher and I already feel more prepared for my next game....Thankyou Igor I've just subscribed
Well, your giving that move such a preface did help me find it, especially after recently seeing a similar idea from the "Magnus reacts" shorts series.
Thats actually a bit wrong in the first example, black can still win.After white plays knight to g5, black can play king to h6, stopping the Queen to come to h4.Then probably white will try to push the h pawn, you play pawn to g6, so you can run with the king and cover h8 with the rook. Plus bonus pawn do d3 chess. 1:19 min
Georgy [ pronounced Jorj but more accurately written in Hungarian as Gyéorgy the gy sound is like J in English] - a Hungarian English way to write George (Gerge) is in Hungarian Halász (Fisher). Just a fun fact.
A little bit of my story. After many years out of chess, i picked it up last year. I began to steadily increase my elo, getting pretty good for someone who hasnt played in about a decade. I even started going to play otb chess in my community. After reading books and finding resources online, i came across this channel. Very interesting openings, rarely see them. Seems interesting, i subscribe. I watch some videos, try some openings, doesnt seem to be working. No biggie, maybe im doing it wrong. I buckle down and try harder, study these moves more. Nope, now im dropping elo, oh no. But the win rate cannot be lying, im just an idiot, doing these lessons incorrectly. I double down once more. Now I've dropped 150 elo in 2 weeks after steadily climbing for months. Just completely stopped playing. Chess isnt fun anymore. Fast forward 2 months, and now I'm a personal mission. Do this over and over again until people actually play like they are "supposed" to in thr video. I've dropped 300 elo but I no longer care. I dont play chess to win anymore or enjoy it. I play chess trying to find the elusive person who actually plays the most popular moves like in these videos.
It's normal for chess Elo to fluctuate, and your journey is a testament to that. If you persist your Elo will go up. Here is a free masterclass that will help. chess-teacher.net/improve-chess-instantly/
It's funny to see "my" 800 elo gambit get featured. Of course it's not my gambit nor something I invented because it was just some random moves to me without much thought or complexity behind but I wonder if it's possible some low elo players' randomness can sometimes generate real strategies used by the masters.
15mins on the Halasz-McDonnell Gambit and not a single mention of the most common black response (3...d5)? This must surely be the lowest-quality video you have ever done Igor. :( In the chess database I see results for 3. f4 of +31 =12 -57, which is nowhere close to the claimed 89% win rate. The only higher-level game this side of The Great War is Zubritsky-Zarnicki (2024), which resulted in a black win in 24 moves. Pablo Zarnicki played 3...d5 in this game.
lol... yeah this only works on maybe 300 to 600 rated players and or speed chess. This isn't a great video but I can see how it helps new players to start to think and use tactics.
Actually, I played this 16 times at 1800 - 1950 level to see how effective it was on 10 minute blitz... It's not devastating but white has a positional advantage but black can defend the position
at 2:56 after black castles and white plays e5 you say black falls into the same motif with Bxf7. Not true. Just dxe, fxe then Ng4 and white has to play Bf4 to hold the pawn.
Interesting, but surprised that you didn't consider the move d5 for black at several points in your analysis - it's the old standard idea in e4 e5 openings for a reason.
Every time I play this the opponent castles queen side and my attack fizzles out. Can we get a video that shows an attacking plan to stop this from happening?
If black has their pawn on d6 and don't take the pawn on e5, but just move the knight - the sacrifice with Bh7 will not work. There will be move Bf5 for black which defends from the mate and white in this position significantly worst.
My opponents push the queen-side pawns first to protect their pawn on d4, instead of bringing out the knight and bishop, and c4 becomes the focal point. You have to fight for that square to be able to put your bishop on c3.
i got checkmnated in about 10 moves by a guy who played this against me, ive never seen it before and it was the only time where i was completely surprised and crushed by an opening
I let Stockfish continue such opening with white against itself, and it says about -1 and white has lost the game after 70 steps. The key of black is to set Nh6 and to attack on the queen side.
Hey, Igor! Im absolutely shocked this logical, agressive and surprising opening was never well known and played often. Its a mystery. In my first chess seasons I always loved f4 move. But not in the first moves. Kings gambit is so risky and well known, Bird goes against all principes of chess and there is a problem with Froms gambit. I tried many openings after e4 e5. In some of them I tried to prepare f4 move. There is so much theory, Spanish, Italian game, some opponents played their own gambits with f5 here. So I tried to play e4 e5 d4 game as well. Its not very correct and I stopped using that soon, but im sure I had position with e4 e5 d4 exd4 at least 50 times on board, But i never had the idea to get my f pawn and move to f4. Why? Its so logicall! I want to play agressively as white, and there is a problem after taking on d4 with my queen, and c3 gambit is also very risky. So why not f4? I want to thank you to show me this. The possitions are very similar as in other e4 e5 openings, but. I have f4, i can play knight to f3 soon, so its safe. There are many traps, but the possitions are quite easy and typical. And the best... my opponents will be not prepeared as well, can be often very surprised and lose their time. Im so excied cause I was sure after 5 seconds, it will be my main line in e4 e5. According your opinion, why this opening is not often played and whats the main problem there? Thank you very much!
When I know that there's a winning move, I am pretty good at finding them, so it took me about 15 seconds to find that Rc8 (at 4:33), after checking some other possibilities in the position, that weren't as good. I don't know if I would see it in the actual game without knowing that there IS a winning move, especially in the heat of the moment, and God forbid, run into zeitnot (time trouble).
shown in the video I believe, block the check with the pawn and if he takes recatpure with the knight and it just helps ur development, from there you can follow the usual ideas of the openings
I just tried it in my bullet game, and won with checkmate, i didnt get the greek gift, but I still sacked my bishop for a lethal bullet aggressive attack, he stood no chance
You're pretty much forced to take the pawn and Black gets a very slight edge with control in the center and you don't get to have fun with all those sacks and mates. This opening should only be used for some speed chess fun. The ideas in it are good to know.
Hello Dr igor, my elo :900 1000 and I want to be gm will this books help me :my system aron nimzowitsh, 100 end game you must know, the woodpecker method, pump up your rating,!? Will this book can help me to upgrade my. Elo to 2200 2300
Hey I’m not Igor but I can help Just don’t make mistakes and play 15min 10sec increments for the most improvement just following this wil get you to 1800 which is where I am rn
Listen to what fishoutofwater said, play longer games. Also, make sure you read your books clearly. (Quality over quantity). Better to read a few pages and know them well than reading like 40 pages and not learn anything.
@@fishoutofwater.5882 Great tip from Botvinnik also: Review every game! Learn from your mistakes AND your opponent's, or else you are doomed to repeat them. Gothamchess has a great video on how to analyze your games independently.
![Surprise Sicilian Players On The 2nd Move [TRICKY Gambit]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YyNmLypTbDs/mqdefault.jpg)
![Surprise Sicilian Players On The 2nd Move [TRICKY Gambit]](/img/tr.png)
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What if in the Bb4+ line black plays Bc5 and not Bxc3 cuz now the bishop on c5 makes it imposible to castle
I taught myself chess at the age of 8 and 9; I'm now 70. Your videos have taught me more about chess strategy than my lifetime of playing. Thank you, Igor!
2024 is a great time to be a chess player. The Internet gives us access to high quality chess lessons from GMs and an endless supply of opponents of all skill levels
we should play chess sometime i rlly wanna learn from you
I want to learn
Naw its all stockfish carrying@@worsethanjoerogan8061
I´ve been playing chess for 35 years and never heard of Georgy Halasz, this lesson is absolutely brilliant, thank you very much!! 👏👏👏
Hungarian master, rating around 2350
Thanks Igor, now delete this video 🤣
why
@@galkondric5364 so no one knows how to handles this opening lol
@@galkondric5364 Because Rockerkunal wants to abuse this knowledge without others knowing it. (It's a joke.)
😂😂😂😂😂
Yes please!!
I am Benefited now and desire no one else know it to increase the competition.
► Chapters
00:00 Unusual & Aggressive chess opening for White after 1.e4
00:31 1) Halasz Gambit Main Line (Center Game)
01:51 2) If Black plays 4...Bb4+
03:51 Can you find the winning move?
05:46 Dealing with the Bg4 pin
06:48 3) If Black plays 3...c5 to protect the pawn
10:00 4) If Black plays Bg4 when your bishop is on d3
12:42 5) If Black delays castling
explain if black plays a6 before castle
Igor, I cannot understate how much I've been learning and improving from your instruction! You're my go-to guy for Chess mastery. In particular, I've gotten much better at looking for counterattacking opportunities (rather than retreating or defending).
That said, the application of that same concept may present an issue with your strategy for variation 4, at around 11:20.
You assume that black will continue dropping back as you advance the h and g pawns. But what if he plays ...Nxg4. White recaptures with the h pawn, but then Bxg4 restores the pin on the f3 knight. The next move, black can play h5 and that bishop is practically untouchable. Meanwhile, black sacked a knight for 2 pawns (so a slight loss of material) but now has a passed and very well-defended h pawn that you'll need to contend with the rest of the game.
I haven't seen used that particular counterattack in this exact situation, but I have used it before, as both colors - usually with a win in the end. Is there a solid refutation of that counterattack in this situation, or in general?
Also, in this instance and some others, black could sack the bishop first, then recapture with the knight instead, preparing for Ne3, which would fork White's queen and rook (or at the very least, have itself a lovely outpost). Or again, follow the recapture with h5 to create an outpost for the knight at g4. Any suggestions for repelling these threats, as well?
Your enthusiasm and rapid pace continue to delight us all.
You are so thorough and yet you have the humility to admit that you can't cover every line .. this makes you the best on UA-cam .. keep up the fantastic work - just love your expositions - learning so much, thank you.
Glad to help!
The random guy gambit!...... I like it.
king's gambit but with the wrong pawn sacrifice
King's Bastard gambit
@@Caseyuptobat You know nothing, Jon Snow
@@stbauch1 Wear it like armor and it can never be used to hurt you.
I cannot get people to take that pawn to save my life.
i (1510) just beat a 1528 player in 17 moves in 45 seconds off of my clock (15/10) using this opening! If I had the money I'd definitely give you some, Igor!!!! You are an EXCELLENT TEACHER! Thank you for all you do!
hello igor, i have been watching your videos since December (circa) and i would like to say that i got actual motivation to play chess since you have an easy way to explain and dont feel bothered at same time. i knew how to play but i never got into theory or advanced tactics. i like your channel and i wanted to express my gratitude, thank you, you are my inspiration
Igor not alone, but is prolly G.O.A.T. for Xplaining.
I can't believe that I found RF8!, I was looking at QB3, but found that it can be blocked, but when I see the QXR leads to a brilliant combo.
I saw it but when I saw it I slightly dismissed it just because of the number of things that get in the way of the queen.
Serves me right for not calculating it all the way through.
at 2:55, please note the greek gift does not work in this position unless black takes on e5 before moving the knight. (This allows the rook to control the f5 square.) If black plays Ne8 immediately, they are still slightly worse, but if you respond with Bh7 as white, you will be completely lost.
At 13:55 , regardless if black captures the pawn, it seems he is completely fine after Ng4
One variation you don't talk about, but seems like a logical move for black, is to play Kn-c6 to b4, attacking your light bishop. the light bishop has then nowhere to go than leaving its diagonal, and additionally, it would enable a fork of the queen&rook at c2 in the next move. at about 10:23
C2 then blunders the knight, without moving something up to protect the space white takes with queen
I recently started playing the Center Game often with an early f4 by white. Black playing Nb4 threatening a white bishop on d3 is a very *common* move. Nothing objectively wrong with it except that I do not move the bishop. I simply castle and bet that my better development and mobile central pawns will cause havoc. Often, they do. Now if black plays ...Nb4 in the Halasz Gambit as you suggest, Stockfish recommends a3. Maybe that is a great chess engine move, but my preference would still be to just leave the white-squared bishop on d3, and just castle. Again, as in the Center Game, white bets on better development and a mobile pawn center to cause problems for black. I do think the video would be improved by considering you ...Nb4 move because a lot of club players (and maybe even much better players) will play ..Nb4. So white needs to have a plan against it.
I like this a lot! It's like a better version of the King's Gambit. Thanks GM Smirnoff for showing us this great opening!
I don't know if there is a link but an "Halasz gambit" exists in the Caro Kann by Blacks. After 1) e4,c6, 2) d4 d5 3 Nc3 Black plays ...b5, intending to attack the knight.
In the second line, I can't imagine playing 6... Bxc3 (capturing the knight), but I see it is indeed black's most common move at that point, barely edging out the more principled 6... d6. My preference would be 6... Nf6, attacking the pawn on e5. Getting to e5 would also mean adding pressure to c3, and I would rather make the capture with the knight. If black's knight captures at c3 and white recaptures with the b pawn, then Bxc3 wins the rook (unless white has positioned his queen or dark-squared bishop to defend c3 or has castled). Of course, white could respond (and does 40% of the time) with 7. Bd3, but then black has d5.
dont just trust the computer evaluation . . .lets all remember that going forward
It looks like a more aggressive Scotch game, it's pretty funny
Only problem is that I really like 2 pawn saccrifice danish gambit, so now I have to decide between danish gambit and this every time they accept center game :(
Love this, combines so many attacks from other lines!
8:56 Bxf7+ is playable, because Kxf7 can be met with Ng5+. When the king moves, White has Qxg4.
3:55 Rf8+, because Qxf8 loses to Qb3+, and Kxf8 loses to Qf1+. In both cases, Black has only useless interpositions. In the latter case, the king can run, but all of its flight squares are covered by Qf7#.
4:38 play made gotham's day better 😄
sacrifice the roooook
3...Qh4+ seems like a tricky response from Black: 4 g3 Bb4+ 5 c3 dxc3 6 bxc3 Qf6, meeting 7 e5 with Qc6.
TBH, on my extremely low level, 99% of the time there's no way we can get anywhere close to getting set up in any of these wonderful gambits. The low level beginner opponents are so unpredictable. They rarely do what the videos say are expected.
before you tell us what the hard move is, I would probably sack the rook for a check. But if you did not say there was a better move I would have probably taking with a queen. Once you gave me that hint I got it instantly. That is my problem, I don't think deep enough.
Best plan is for black to strike back early with ...d5. 1. e4 e5 2. d4 ed 3. f4 d5!. Stockfish already gives black a slight advantage. Far worse is that the game tends to simplify with black retaining or enlarging his advantage. Black's game is easier to play! On the other hand, a *lot* of players will NOT do play ..d5 on the 3rd move.
Thank you GM Smirnov! Your videos are gold, like always!
One question: Does this gambit has a declined variation?
That is, if Black plays anyhing besides 2...exd4.
Those are some very interesting moves. However, I've found that in my games, as soon as I advance that king's pawn to f4, my opponent immediately responds with Qf4, check. So you block with pawn g3, but then after you castle, your king is wide open. If your immediate attack doesn't go as planned, there are all kinds of ways your king can be attacked.
...Qh4+, you mean.
@@ems3832 Yes, that is what I meant to say, thank you.
lul you better figure out how to long castle when that happens!
Okay I think I found the move at 4:10
It's Rf8+. if King takes then Qf1+ ends the game quickly
If Queen takes Rook, its Qb3+ which cant be defended properly
I love that you described so many lines thank you
What to do about an early d5. For example:
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. f4 Nc6 4. Nf3 d5
just simply push e5, the purpose of the Halasz gambit is to block the d column and play around it, then block the d4 pawn with Bd3
I capture it and just play a wild open game where you usually castle Kingside and pray you don't F it up because Black is going to have a very slight edge.
This seems to be a theme with many white gambits. Just like the Danish Gambit, King's Gambit, etc, if black just plays d5 after accepting the first gambit pawn, then it takes white out of their tricks and usually equalizes for black.
@rbbecker73
An early d5 is black's best answer to many openings and gambits. It's also useful to keep in mind an early d4 when playing white and running into reverse gambits, like for example after
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 f5 4. d4
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at 5:37 , black can sacrifice the queen on f6 to prevent the mate.
It's a very difficult position for black, but I can't find a forced mate.
exactly.. a knight and a rook and a pawn vs queen is not the end of the world..
This is the 2nd video I've watched of yours and I must say your an excellent teacher and I already feel more prepared for my next game....Thankyou Igor I've just subscribed
Welcome aboard!
What a fantastic video, great tutoring skills. Thanks!
5:40 I think black still has Qf6 and is completely losing but there's no immediate mate.
What if black play KB4 as soon as the can, threatening both white's white bishopd and C2 ?
I try using this concept against Sicilian and seems working, do you have more games on this topic from Halasz?
Love odd ball unknown gambits. Will definitely add this to the toll box. Thanks Igor!
I've tried this gambit, but black plays other moves that aren't even mentioned here..
Well, your giving that move such a preface did help me find it, especially after recently seeing a similar idea from the "Magnus reacts" shorts series.
even though d5 is inaccurate can you kindly show some good line against d5 after e take d pawn
one of the most interesting gambits i'm still studying and using.
before I used to have people play into that opening all the time, but now that I learned this, nobody wants to play against me this way ...
Thanks! :) This was a really good one! :)👍👍👍
Thats actually a bit wrong in the first example, black can still win.After white plays knight to g5, black can play king to h6, stopping the Queen to come to h4.Then probably white will try to push the h pawn, you play pawn to g6, so you can run with the king and cover h8 with the rook. Plus bonus pawn do d3 chess. 1:19 min
It's a joy to watch your videos. I wish there is variation where instead of black bishop c4, black goes with pawn on d5
pawn f4 to g5 check is such a reality smack with the back of the hand lol.
OMG this is beautiful! *goes off to play and try all this*
I love gambits and this looks like the most fun (and unexpected) one yet
6:05 u can nf6 to d7 and both knights protecting each other
Georgy [ pronounced Jorj but more accurately written in Hungarian as Gyéorgy the gy sound is like J in English] - a Hungarian English way to write George (Gerge) is in Hungarian Halász (Fisher). Just a fun fact.
What if in some line black decides to do long castle with Bd6 and Ne7 , Qd2 ?
White can always play e5 gaining space
A little bit of my story.
After many years out of chess, i picked it up last year. I began to steadily increase my elo, getting pretty good for someone who hasnt played in about a decade. I even started going to play otb chess in my community.
After reading books and finding resources online, i came across this channel. Very interesting openings, rarely see them. Seems interesting, i subscribe.
I watch some videos, try some openings, doesnt seem to be working. No biggie, maybe im doing it wrong. I buckle down and try harder, study these moves more. Nope, now im dropping elo, oh no. But the win rate cannot be lying, im just an idiot, doing these lessons incorrectly.
I double down once more.
Now I've dropped 150 elo in 2 weeks after steadily climbing for months. Just completely stopped playing. Chess isnt fun anymore.
Fast forward 2 months, and now I'm a personal mission. Do this over and over again until people actually play like they are "supposed" to in thr video. I've dropped 300 elo but I no longer care. I dont play chess to win anymore or enjoy it. I play chess trying to find the elusive person who actually plays the most popular moves like in these videos.
It's normal for chess Elo to fluctuate, and your journey is a testament to that. If you persist your Elo will go up. Here is a free masterclass that will help.
chess-teacher.net/improve-chess-instantly/
This thing falls apart if they play king's indian, which all my opponents seem to be doing :(
Yeah... it's good to mess with but you probably want something more sound to focus on.
I should think you shove your pawn to e5 before Black plays his own ...e5.
It's funny to see "my" 800 elo gambit get featured. Of course it's not my gambit nor something I invented because it was just some random moves to me without much thought or complexity behind but I wonder if it's possible some low elo players' randomness can sometimes generate real strategies used by the masters.
15mins on the Halasz-McDonnell Gambit and not a single mention of the most common black response (3...d5)? This must surely be the lowest-quality video you have ever done Igor. :( In the chess database I see results for 3. f4 of +31 =12 -57, which is nowhere close to the claimed 89% win rate. The only higher-level game this side of The Great War is Zubritsky-Zarnicki (2024), which resulted in a black win in 24 moves. Pablo Zarnicki played 3...d5 in this game.
lol... yeah this only works on maybe 300 to 600 rated players and or speed chess.
This isn't a great video but I can see how it helps new players to start to think and use tactics.
Actually, I played this 16 times at 1800 - 1950 level to see how effective it was on 10 minute blitz...
It's not devastating but white has a positional advantage but black can defend the position
What if queen h5 in the opening?
Yeah what about it
Someone respond soon lol what happens if Queen h5???
at 2:56 after black castles and white plays e5 you say black falls into the same motif with Bxf7. Not true. Just dxe, fxe then Ng4 and white has to play Bf4 to hold the pawn.
this opening is considered like a mistake
Might be a noob question but at 4:00... why not Queen to b3 first? Then there is no way to move and black is out?
Interesting, but surprised that you didn't consider the move d5 for black at several points in your analysis - it's the old standard idea in e4 e5 openings for a reason.
Every time I play this the opponent castles queen side and my attack fizzles out.
Can we get a video that shows an attacking plan to stop this from happening?
This may be a stupid question but what if black wants to castle queenside?
If black has their pawn on d6 and don't take the pawn on e5, but just move the knight - the sacrifice with Bh7 will not work. There will be move Bf5 for black which defends from the mate and white in this position significantly worst.
Excellent video! Fun interesting opening. Will have to share this with my friends.
@Igor Smirnov. You are such great teacher in explaining chess concepts. So why you don't paly anymore in OTB chess tournaments?
I like this openning!
Very good class!
Thank you
grandmaster igor is such a wonderful teacher ❤
Amazing, Igor - your videos always make me think and consider new approaches that on initial blush seem patently silly!
Stockfish IMMEDIATELY calls f4 inaccurate. For anyone sick of the typical Italian game lines, I recommend the "Boiled liver attack", on UA-cam.
My opponents push the queen-side pawns first to protect their pawn on d4, instead of bringing out the knight and bishop, and c4 becomes the focal point. You have to fight for that square to be able to put your bishop on c3.
if black blocks his KB with d6, forget the greek gift sac h7. Just develop normally.
i got checkmnated in about 10 moves by a guy who played this against me, ive never seen it before and it was the only time where i was completely surprised and crushed by an opening
I let Stockfish continue such opening with white against itself, and it says about -1 and white has lost the game after 70 steps. The key of black is to set Nh6 and to attack on the queen side.
Hey, Igor! Im absolutely shocked this logical, agressive and surprising opening was never well known and played often. Its a mystery. In my first chess seasons I always loved f4 move. But not in the first moves.
Kings gambit is so risky and well known, Bird goes against all principes of chess and there is a problem with Froms gambit. I tried many openings after e4 e5. In some of them I tried to prepare f4 move. There is so much theory, Spanish, Italian game, some opponents played their own gambits with f5 here.
So I tried to play e4 e5 d4 game as well. Its not very correct and I stopped using that soon, but im sure I had position with e4 e5 d4 exd4 at least 50 times on board, But i never had the idea to get my f pawn and move to f4. Why? Its so logicall! I want to play agressively as white, and there is a problem after taking on d4 with my queen, and c3 gambit is also very risky. So why not f4?
I want to thank you to show me this.
The possitions are very similar as in other e4 e5 openings, but. I have f4, i can play knight to f3 soon, so its safe. There are many traps, but the possitions are quite easy and typical. And the best... my opponents will be not prepeared as well, can be often very surprised and lose their time. Im so excied cause I was sure after 5 seconds, it will be my main line in e4 e5.
According your opinion, why this opening is not often played and whats the main problem there? Thank you very much!
When I know that there's a winning move, I am pretty good at finding them, so it took me about 15 seconds to find that Rc8 (at 4:33), after checking some other possibilities in the position, that weren't as good. I don't know if I would see it in the actual game without knowing that there IS a winning move, especially in the heat of the moment, and God forbid, run into zeitnot (time trouble).
I think this is also known as the Vampire Gambit. I used to play it years ago.
I’ve been experimenting with this opening against the Chess app on the iOS, at level 12, with similar results
What if Black doesn't defend the d4 pawn but instead attacks the center with ...d5?
14:00 why can't queen just go there and not sacrifice the rook what am I missing
I have used openings with 100% win rate (I played random moves once and sheer luck led me to victory)
At first when he said "it doesn't do anything, it looks like a tall pole" I thought he said, "It doesn't do anything, just like Tom Holland"
after i watched this video i tried out this gambit in blitz and rapid, after 8 games with it i collected 7 wins and 1 draw. works very well for me :)
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. f4 Nc6 4. Nf3 Bb4+
what do I do if black does this? it feels pretty awful to play it
shown in the video I believe, block the check with the pawn and if he takes recatpure with the knight and it just helps ur development, from there you can follow the usual ideas of the openings
If Black plays Bishop f5, and our pawn on f4 prevents us from capturing it with a rook, what should we do?
What if knight goes to G4 when you push pawn instead? Still protected by white bishop
I just tried it in my bullet game, and won with checkmate, i didnt get the greek gift, but I still sacked my bishop for a lethal bullet aggressive attack, he stood no chance
I love to play Vienna Gambit, and this gambit line looks interesting to me haha 😂. Will try
What happens if the bishop first goes to e6 or f5? I got screwed with that response
Thanks a lot for the clear direction. But what happens if black castle king side?
In other versions of this gambit, I see that a3 is often one of the early moves for white; why is this?
I get a similar position with the vianna gambit sometimes
What if black counters with C5 followed by D5?
3. d5
Every. Single. Game. How do you play against this?!?!!
You're pretty much forced to take the pawn and Black gets a very slight edge with control in the center and you don't get to have fun with all those sacks and mates. This opening should only be used for some speed chess fun. The ideas in it are good to know.
Hello Dr igor, my elo :900 1000 and I want to be gm will this books help me :my system aron nimzowitsh, 100 end game you must know, the woodpecker method, pump up your rating,!? Will this book can help me to upgrade my. Elo to 2200 2300
Hey I’m not Igor but I can help
Just don’t make mistakes and play 15min 10sec increments for the most improvement just following this wil get you to 1800 which is where I am rn
Listen to what fishoutofwater said, play longer games.
Also, make sure you read your books clearly. (Quality over quantity). Better to read a few pages and know them well than reading like 40 pages and not learn anything.
I haven’t read it but I think it’s more for beginners
@@fishoutofwater.5882 Great tip from Botvinnik also: Review every game! Learn from your mistakes AND your opponent's, or else you are doomed to repeat them. Gothamchess has a great video on how to analyze your games independently.