Whenever i watch yours or chess network videos, chess becomes so simple, i play 200 points about my level. But when start thinking on my own, i play like a total 800.
I used to be extremely materialistic. Thanks to your videos, I've gotten much better at this, which makes my chess much better and much more fun. In your second example, I quickly looked at castling, not to get the queen, but to get a mate threat. What I neglected to look at was the queen sac, which shows me that I'm not there yet. I think this video will help me. Thank you.
Brilliant! Who else is talking about the mindset of the amateur player and shocking us out of our preconceptions and bad habits--and doing it with passion? No one. I, for one, am inspired. Thank you.
Recently I beat the pulp out of a player taking piece after piece an spent so much time calculating these beautiful captures that I lost on time. Going over the game I seen I even missed a checkmate.
Your videos are very unique and valuable. You teach about the heart of the game. A lot of youtubers just draw arrows as fast and as often as possible and expect you to get in 2 seconds what took them more time to calculate. You're a very good coach.
This is why chess book primers are good, they typically start with instructions, mates, endgame, middle game, opening principles. the aim of the game is mate, not material. Material advantage helps accelerate mate. Great lesson!
Frankly the moment I saw that Queen-Bishop-Rook alignment in the Réti game, I knew the answer immediately... because it's in the Checkmate Patterns Manual course on chessable. I solved that puzzle so many times, that I started suspecting the right way even before O-O-O was made.
Another great tip. I like playing chess because it’s fun to move all the pieces and win tactical battles but I really need to start seeing checkmates more
I love your videos. I'm very much an amateur and an old man but I really enjoy watching chess videos for some reason. You have a very straightforward style of instruction with no nonsense and clear objectives with practical observations and suggestions for improvement. I love the positive attitude you bring to chess and the way that you help and encourage players of all levels, treating everyone with respect. I feel like you're one of those people who always makes another person's day a little better. I just wanted to take a moment to say Thank You and that I really appreciate your content.
Instructive indeed! I often focus too much on material gain or creating weaknesses in the opponent's position. This is a good reminder to go for mate, as this is obviously the goal of chess!
The (apparently) easiest winning strategy and one of the first you learn as a beginner is winning by gaining material and trading down into a won endgame. Additionally it seems to require less calculating and is less committing than sacrificing stuff. I guess that is why many ppl subconsciously forget that there are other winning strategies like mating attacks which often times are way more effective faster and most importantly more fun. Sadly learning this stuff is way harder than memorising London System lines.
ONe has to start from somewhere, and if the piece values are given in the booklet that came with your chess set, then that becomes your guiding principle for evaluating trades. It does work to get you to a certain level, above which you need a more sophisticated approach.
From a total neophyte: I really appreciate your focus on not only playing the game but on creating something of beauty in the process. It's such a good attitude to have. I take it that one should strive for this beauty even if one's rating (speaking for myself here) will never exceed that of your average high school chess club player! :)
At 11:24 , am I confused somehow, or does white's pawn to f4 totally negate the potential for a mate threat? Regardless is this exact play was effective or not, the mentality to seek mates over material is indisputably good advice. However, this illustrates why amateurs like myself are insanely materialistic - it's a guaranteed 'win' if I take that rook on f1, vs the high chances of me not seeing good counter play (ie white playing pawn to f4) and now, a) I have no material advantage, since I didn't take the rook, and b) I have no mate threat either. Whoopsie for me... :)
If white responds to h5 with f4, exf3 (en passante) doesn't really leave a good response for white. Bxf3 drops the rook on f1, then an h5 followup by black tears open white's kingside while up material. Rxf3 and black can play h5 immediately, then after Ne4, white doesn't really have any good moves. Nxf3 is probably the best response, but black simply defends with Rc5. White's R on f1 is still hanging, and a strong kingside attack is incoming after Ne4. Yes, f4 stamps out the immediate mate threat, but white's position is torn apart and black's game becomes very easy to play. Disclaimer: I am not a master, so please correct me if I've miscalculated anything.
There is a strong tendency for beginners to be hyper-focused on grabbing as much material on the board as possible because they do not understand the purpose of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king. With intermediate players, I think the tendency toward materialism originates from a different mistake in thinking - the belief that by increasing the margin in material, we can "ensure" the win. In other words, we want to be completely confident of the win. One antidote to this mindset is to get in the habit of asking two questions every time it is your turn to move. The first is "Why did my opponent make his move?" and "Do I have any forcing moves?" The first question helps to avoid losses caused by paying too much attention to one's own plan and neglecting what an opponent is trying to do - a mistake I have admittedly made far too often!! The second question keeps one focused on applying continuous pressure on opponents by making every move count. Asking these questions naturally leads to the process of calculation - identifying candidate moves and then evaluating each one of them. Applying these principles will avoid the materialism trap because often moves which result in the gain of material or the avoidance of material loss will be discarded because they are not optimal.
Georg Marco wrote about the famous Réti game: ‘Als ein Unikum aber muss die nachstehende Partie gelten, in der sich Dr. S. Tartakower, einer der glänzendsten Repräsentanten der Gegenwart, vom Jungmeister Richard Réti in zehn Zügen überrumpeln liess. Dabei muss betont werden, dass die Partie nicht etwa im Eilzugstempo - “Zug-Zug” -, sondern mit vollem Ernst, mit Uhrenkontrolle (15 Züge per Stunde), um einen Einsatz von 10 K. gespielt wurde. Natürlich hat Dr. Tartakower in der nächsten Partie Satisfaktion gesucht und - wie wir zur Beruhigung seiner Freunde hinzufügen - auch gefunden.’
the more I play chess the more I like thinking about sacrificing my pieces or allowing my opponents "threat" to happen anyway for my plan which I think is stronger. although sometimes it can be too fancy but when it works it's great
I think it's a symptom of our society being very obsessed with metrics and measuring things. You can count up the pawns and pieces and arrive at a simple number that tells you what the material balance is. You can't do the same for all the dynamic factors, and so people avoid thinking about them.
Thank you for this. I have admittedly ignored this type of moves before out of fear that my opponent will end up winning an endgame but I now know what to do. I need to face a very risky playing 1700 for a tournament soon and am training my best to defeat them in this tournament as it isn’t too insane as I’ve managed to beat him before
Interesting video. Obviously, if you don't look for it, then you won't find the checkmate. However, I'm not so sure that you don't overestimate the ability of lower level players like me to be able to see the checkmate, even when looking for it. Grabbing extra material in a move or two is much easier to spot. So, you're certainly correct that this is a mindset problem. But, it's also a calculation/tactics problem. Changing the mindset without the ability may not help much. Having the ability without the mindset also does not get there. It seems to me that the two go hand in hand at least to some degree.
Great video as always!! I have a suggestion for a future amateur’s mind video : could you make one about the king safety for black in the sicilian? When it’s okay to keep the king in the center, and when it isnt… I kinda have trouble to understand the king side pawn push that we see in some sicilian game, like when to play h5, or h6-g5… that would be great if you explain that to us!! 😊
Hey Andras, I wrote you on the green site, but I know you are a busy man. I wanted to ask, how do you recommend finding a coach to give a profile and identify weaknesses for a 10-1100 player?
@@ChessCoachAndras Thanks for that. I’ve been doing weird things like pressing like twice in quick succession, and had ended up thinking it was just another way of saying like.
A certain Gotham pronounces Réti like "ready" - Americans... As far as I know Réti did not speak Hungarian - as Franz Liszt. You certainly know better.
You know it's going to be a good video when it opens with 'Hello to the chicos and the chicas'
It's a highly material world coach. Spiritual considerations like Checkmate is not immediately urgent.
THIS was a crazy lesson. The wit was next level😭
Whenever i watch yours or chess network videos, chess becomes so simple, i play 200 points about my level.
But when start thinking on my own, i play like a total 800.
When Andras gets offended by a move I always remember the lesson.
I used to be extremely materialistic. Thanks to your videos, I've gotten much better at this, which makes my chess much better and much more fun. In your second example, I quickly looked at castling, not to get the queen, but to get a mate threat. What I neglected to look at was the queen sac, which shows me that I'm not there yet. I think this video will help me. Thank you.
Brilliant! Who else is talking about the mindset of the amateur player and shocking us out of our preconceptions and bad habits--and doing it with passion? No one. I, for one, am inspired. Thank you.
Best chess teacher on UA-cam…it’s a crime he doesn’t have several million subscribers.
Recently I beat the pulp out of a player taking piece after piece an spent so much time calculating these beautiful captures that I lost on time. Going over the game I seen I even missed a checkmate.
Your videos are very unique and valuable. You teach about the heart of the game. A lot of youtubers just draw arrows as fast and as often as possible and expect you to get in 2 seconds what took them more time to calculate. You're a very good coach.
Thanks TJ, appreciate the kind words!
In a few of my recent games, I missed precisely this...Great examples!
Good stuff!!
Guilty as charged
The Coach delivering Gold again 💪💪
I don't think I would have found that Reti-Tartakower combination if I hadn't seen it before. Great lesson.
This channel is pure gold. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
This is why chess book primers are good, they typically start with instructions, mates, endgame, middle game, opening principles. the aim of the game is mate, not material. Material advantage helps accelerate mate. Great lesson!
Finally a great Thumbnail, not that i care, but i do wish for your channel to do well. Thank you for everything, Coach.
I like how you pound the message into our heads the correct way to play chess. Repeating the idea sticks in my head. Thanks
Frankly the moment I saw that Queen-Bishop-Rook alignment in the Réti game, I knew the answer immediately... because it's in the Checkmate Patterns Manual course on chessable. I solved that puzzle so many times, that I started suspecting the right way even before O-O-O was made.
Do u want a medal?
yes
Another great tip. I like playing chess because it’s fun to move all the pieces and win tactical battles but I really need to start seeing checkmates more
Good lesson!
Guilty. will work on improvement
I love your videos. I'm very much an amateur and an old man but I really enjoy watching chess videos for some reason. You have a very straightforward style of instruction with no nonsense and clear objectives with practical observations and suggestions for improvement. I love the positive attitude you bring to chess and the way that you help and encourage players of all levels, treating everyone with respect. I feel like you're one of those people who always makes another person's day a little better. I just wanted to take a moment to say Thank You and that I really appreciate your content.
Thanks for the lovely comment, you also made my day! Enjoy the channel , and please drop a comment whenever you can, to help the algorithm!
Instructive indeed! I often focus too much on material gain or creating weaknesses in the opponent's position. This is a good reminder to go for mate, as this is obviously the goal of chess!
This is one of the most valuable chess lessons I have ever watched. Thank you Andras.
Completely agree with this video. Exchanges are also massively overrated by intermediate players.
happy to see +20k subscribers
The (apparently) easiest winning strategy and one of the first you learn as a beginner is winning by gaining material and trading down into a won endgame. Additionally it seems to require less calculating and is less committing than sacrificing stuff. I guess that is why many ppl subconsciously forget that there are other winning strategies like mating attacks which often times are way more effective faster and most importantly more fun. Sadly learning this stuff is way harder than memorising London System lines.
ONe has to start from somewhere, and if the piece values are given in the booklet that came with your chess set, then that becomes your guiding principle for evaluating trades.
It does work to get you to a certain level, above which you need a more sophisticated approach.
Brilliant lesson coach. I’m super guilty of this.
I think the reason for this mindset is that being up material makes people feel safe and people just LOVE to feel safe
From a total neophyte: I really appreciate your focus on not only playing the game but on creating something of beauty in the process. It's such a good attitude to have. I take it that one should strive for this beauty even if one's rating (speaking for myself here) will never exceed that of your average high school chess club player! :)
My favourite comment for a long time. Thanks so much mate!
2:17. "...is a mate in one threat." A smite.
At 11:24 , am I confused somehow, or does white's pawn to f4 totally negate the potential for a mate threat? Regardless is this exact play was effective or not, the mentality to seek mates over material is indisputably good advice. However, this illustrates why amateurs like myself are insanely materialistic - it's a guaranteed 'win' if I take that rook on f1, vs the high chances of me not seeing good counter play (ie white playing pawn to f4) and now, a) I have no material advantage, since I didn't take the rook, and b) I have no mate threat either. Whoopsie for me... :)
If white responds to h5 with f4, exf3 (en passante) doesn't really leave a good response for white.
Bxf3 drops the rook on f1, then an h5 followup by black tears open white's kingside while up material.
Rxf3 and black can play h5 immediately, then after Ne4, white doesn't really have any good moves.
Nxf3 is probably the best response, but black simply defends with Rc5. White's R on f1 is still hanging, and a strong kingside attack is incoming after Ne4.
Yes, f4 stamps out the immediate mate threat, but white's position is torn apart and black's game becomes very easy to play.
Disclaimer: I am not a master, so please correct me if I've miscalculated anything.
Superb lesson, thank you
There is a strong tendency for beginners to be hyper-focused on grabbing as much material on the board as possible because they do not understand the purpose of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king. With intermediate players, I think the tendency toward materialism originates from a different mistake in thinking - the belief that by increasing the margin in material, we can "ensure" the win. In other words, we want to be completely confident of the win. One antidote to this mindset is to get in the habit of asking two questions every time it is your turn to move. The first is "Why did my opponent make his move?" and "Do I have any forcing moves?" The first question helps to avoid losses caused by paying too much attention to one's own plan and neglecting what an opponent is trying to do - a mistake I have admittedly made far too often!! The second question keeps one focused on applying continuous pressure on opponents by making every move count. Asking these questions naturally leads to the process of calculation - identifying candidate moves and then evaluating each one of them. Applying these principles will avoid the materialism trap because often moves which result in the gain of material or the avoidance of material loss will be discarded because they are not optimal.
Amazingly helpful once more!
Andras is Tal of Coaching! Super stuff 👌🏻
11:43: What if they play f3, Be1, and try to run with the king?
Heard you on The Perpetual Chess Podcast... alors je suis ici. I'm at the point where I tend to leap before I look.
Georg Marco wrote about the famous Réti game:
‘Als ein Unikum aber muss die nachstehende Partie gelten, in der sich Dr. S. Tartakower, einer der glänzendsten Repräsentanten der Gegenwart, vom Jungmeister Richard Réti in zehn Zügen überrumpeln liess. Dabei muss betont werden, dass die Partie nicht etwa im Eilzugstempo - “Zug-Zug” -, sondern mit vollem Ernst, mit Uhrenkontrolle (15 Züge per Stunde), um einen Einsatz von 10 K. gespielt wurde. Natürlich hat Dr. Tartakower in der nächsten Partie Satisfaktion gesucht und - wie wir zur Beruhigung seiner Freunde hinzufügen - auch gefunden.’
the more I play chess the more I like thinking about sacrificing my pieces or allowing my opponents "threat" to happen anyway for my plan which I think is stronger. although sometimes it can be too fancy but when it works it's great
Boomshkiiii
I think it's a symptom of our society being very obsessed with metrics and measuring things. You can count up the pawns and pieces and arrive at a simple number that tells you what the material balance is. You can't do the same for all the dynamic factors, and so people avoid thinking about them.
Thank you for this. I have admittedly ignored this type of moves before out of fear that my opponent will end up winning an endgame but I now know what to do. I need to face a very risky playing 1700 for a tournament soon and am training my best to defeat them in this tournament as it isn’t too insane as I’ve managed to beat him before
Good luck in your game and also glad the video helped you to rethink your chess!:)
@@ChessCoachAndras thanks
I saw the mate idea, but didn't see the threat to the queen at all. I might have a more serious problem than the target audience, lol 😅
amazing video as always, NOBODY Talks about this stuff except you Andras! You are amazing
Awesome stuff! Keep up the good work, Andras!
another banger from the legendario himself
Cheers
Again you dam play in my mind best positional teacher ever
Interesting video. Obviously, if you don't look for it, then you won't find the checkmate. However, I'm not so sure that you don't overestimate the ability of lower level players like me to be able to see the checkmate, even when looking for it. Grabbing extra material in a move or two is much easier to spot. So, you're certainly correct that this is a mindset problem. But, it's also a calculation/tactics problem. Changing the mindset without the ability may not help much. Having the ability without the mindset also does not get there. It seems to me that the two go hand in hand at least to some degree.
That is most of my mistakes. Thank you for pointing it out.
Thanks Coach
Another great and informative video, thanks
stellar lessons, thank you so much
Great video as always!! I have a suggestion for a future amateur’s mind video : could you make one about the king safety for black in the sicilian? When it’s okay to keep the king in the center, and when it isnt… I kinda have trouble to understand the king side pawn push that we see in some sicilian game, like when to play h5, or h6-g5… that would be great if you explain that to us!! 😊
Incredible video
Best coach of the week
King safety over material, watch magnus defending you'll see what i mean
Hey Andras,
I wrote you on the green site, but I know you are a busy man. I wanted to ask, how do you recommend finding a coach to give a profile and identify weaknesses for a 10-1100 player?
Going to TAKE a valuable lesson... Nice try making me think of material... 😂
Fantastic video, I appreciate your cognitive insights. =D
I have a book suggestion for you: Mastermind - by Maria Konnikova. Cheers!
OMG I made the newb mistake every time I paused the video! Great content though. Thanks
U r the BEST
Love it
Chess should be exactly how u said ! U opened my chess third 👁️🙌🙌
What does “super-like” mean on UA-cam?
If you look right under the video there is an option for "super like" which is a way to express your gratitude by donating whatever amount you like.
@@ChessCoachAndras Thanks for that. I’ve been doing weird things like pressing like twice in quick succession, and had ended up thinking it was just another way of saying like.
1:09 I feel called out :P
What does chicos and chicaa mean 😊😊
Algorithm comment
Correction on the goal of Chess: Checkmate your opponent's king as fast as possible.
A certain Gotham pronounces Réti like "ready" - Americans... As far as I know Réti did not speak Hungarian - as Franz Liszt. You certainly know better.
Neither did as far as I know, bnut the name is Hungarian
Excellent lesson. Thank you.