Don't Memorize Moves! Understand your Openings | Road to 2000 

Caleb: What move should black do Me: Bf5 Caleb: What is not an option is the move that Anand played which is Bf5 Me: hmm... at least i think like a former world champion

I feel like i was watching a Dora the explora episode the way he was asking a question and getting no response lol

I’m on the road to 1000 :’( Edit: Now on road to 1200. I haven’t been playing constantly unfortunately, as I get burned out after a couple months. But I always come back like a half year later then play couple months again. Lmao, I’m a mess!

Caleb Denby is, even at his young age, a great teacher; I can already tell. It's a combination of mastery of the material, and real, caring feel for what his students know and don't know, and a professorial handling of those awkward silences when students either have no idea what he's driving at or don't want to risk embarrassment by sticking their necks out. I love how Mr. Denby gently and patiently explains the thought process so nobody feels stupid, but at the same time is making it very clear that if you want to progress, make it your business to understand what's what; it's loaded with gentle admonition, exuding clear authority in everything he says. But above all, conveying deep concern that the students actually learn.

"Don't Memorize Moves! Understand your Openings" Me: Okay, the pawns can move 1 OR 2 squares, that's my strat

i feel like 30 percent of this video is waiting for someone to say something while he bounces.

Refreshing to see a super GM such as Anand blunder the opening like I do every other game. Apparently I'm in good company.

You almost feel bad for him. He looks heartbroken that the class continuously fails to answer his elementary questions.

Learned a lot from the two games, especially the questions challenging us to understand why a move, or moves, were made. Many thanks.

3:35, am I correct that he didn’t explain it completely? because after Qe2, black has Qe7 removing the pin and defending the knight (allowing the knight to move after d3), but it fails because of Nd5, threatening Nc7 fork (if black moves Qe6 to protect the knight). If I’m not mistaken it’s this unmentioned sequence which forced Anand to resign.

At the 4 minute mark it is not clear to me why it is a disaster for black. Obviously i am missing something.

What had I learned in this episode 1) Study for opening ideas instead of theory 2) Know what your opponent plans are good for you to stop the plan become truth 3) Natural moves and theoretical moves do not always correct in every chess game 4) Before you start on middle game, make a plan during opening 5) Clear mind in every chess game make us clear chess winning path Hope this comment helps you guys. Stay tuned.

Damn the live chat is way more accurate than the audience!

Now I realise how bad I am,I feel like he is speaking the language of gods

A very good question this kid asks is "What kind of a game is it if the kings are on the opposites sides of the board?" 7:45 Knowing the answer is important because if that situation arises players are better equipped to deal with the situation. Another good question that no one could answer 6:10 but not knowing the answer to this question would cost you the game.

Every class on opening ever - 1. Say the notations out loud while playing the moves very fast. 2. This is all theory. - I thought that the theory is what would be explained in the opening class.

I'm not sure how old this guy is, but his presentation skills are impressive for his apparent age

I thought my earphones stopped working at 11:58

27:54 knight d7 also kinda screws you in this case. edit: never mind chat told him later xd

Here I am just trying to get to 1,000 lol. Great stuff though.

With due respect man, your analysis and explanation are good without a doubt, but I came here to "Understand Openings" I wanted to learn the ideologies and strategies regarding the openings. I saw you analysing a game not telling the ideas behind it, by the way nice content I hope you make more videos on chess ideologies and strategies. I can't criticise you as I am a noob at chess but I want to understand the ideologies/strategies behind making moves. . The most 3 basic things I know are:- 1. Develop your pieces - Idea [ To activate the pieces into powerful positions] 2. Control the center - Idea [ Center control is important as that's the place where the pieces are super active and can do the most damage] 3. Castling - Idea [ King's safety is priority, if he gets attacked i.e checkmated then you lose] . I am a big anime and football fan, so I try to take ideas from them and apply it in chess. The style of chess I want to play is "Counter Attacking Defensive one" like how Borussia Dortmund played under Jürgen Klopp. Pressure, pressure, pressure the opponent & then countering with speed. Can you suggest some openings that I should study for both white and black that have this Counter Attacking Defensive Style? I am open to suggestions and comments.

"pawns dont go backwards" baaaaahahahahhahahahaa, love how the audio cut out and came back just in time to heard that. to funny.

Why c4 wins? ME: ITS EXPLOSIVE!!

People watching the Chess lesson "Don't use the word 'ideas' "... wow I think they need to leave the chat.

I never felt so bad at chess 😭, thanks a lot for this video. Really instructive.

Bullshit, most of the opening moves have a deep exploration behind them. Of course you need to understasnd what youre doing but you also need to momorize moves to not invent a bicycle every time as they say.

Im enjoying this series with this guy lol

Caleb doing a really good job, i think he`s style of teaching is effective. keep up the good work

I don't think you can get very far at chess without memorizing openings. In a way that is a shame, since it really is not chess ability, but rote memory to do this. Maybe the Fischer variety of chess where the placement of pieces is somewhat radominzed, sures that.

Saying "this question shouldn't be so hard" is unwise teaching technique because when student not know answer, then student he feel bad; good teacher build strong confidence in student......

Nice lecture! Its a shame the audience wasn't participating actively. Maybe next time make it more clear that you really expect an answer from them before you can continue the lecture. Let them think for 5-10-30 minutes (you can always edit it out) if its necessary. It doesn't matter what the level of the student is, they should always be able to come up with some candidate moves.

At 27:18 you proposed Queen takes pawn, but then wouldn't the Knight be able to fork the queen and the Rook on Nd2? Could you please explain how this is not problematic?

Loved the way u explained . I'm learning to play chess .Can u suggest how to go about it .

Study the middle game positions that come out of the game - one of the best lessons I have learned in my chess journey. 1600 rated now

I really appreciate that pace of teaching. I want to see more from Mr. Denby.

I believed memorise the first maybe 8 moves is impt., otherwise u can easily fall into a trap. And to analyse and avoid a trap u need to spend a fair bit of time and not to your advantage if playing speed chess. So I don't really buy the idea of this vid.

36:07 maybe he played Ng3 to move Bf4 against the black queen.. just saying

Is Caleb located in St.Louis? I’d love to have him give me chess lessons if possible.

Today I came first in the low elo section in a local turnament, some fms and ims were there and I was litterally thrilled. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

It's crazy how little people in the room are responding. I would cry

24:25 white could've instead taken your bishop and put you in check, correct? Why not that line of play?

I don't really see a lot of opening theory .... or how to understand your openings.

Nice analysis, Caleb! As a beginner, I think I learned to think more about the "why are you moving there?" instead of memorizing moves.

Black plays QE7 should save the black knight

These lessons are at the eactly level that my game is. Very nice, thanks.

“What do you think of this move?” “………………..” “Ya exactly”

34:56 So this is where Finegold gets it from. "There is a mate, but this move wins his queen"

Anand was still a young man and not yet the player he later became. Tony Miles played a prearranged draw and because the result was already determined he decided to play rubbish moves. Anand saw the short game in Informant and trusted the soundness of the game. You live and learn.

At 24:24, white has in between move. After ..Nxd8 white can capture the Bishop first with check. White is down in material but it is still playble instead of Nxb8 for white which obviously loses a piece.

25:35 some very nice asmr

Are the audience checkers players?!!! Like silence 😂

Im on the road to 2300. Wish me luck

I don't think that teaching this ideas to young players is the best way for keep them improve their ratings

Caleb you rock my socks keep it up man

At minute 27:50. In this position apart for the bishop directed to the king, doesn't Knight D7 win material?

The idea more important than memorizing

For the first example, with Qe2, can’t black play Qe7, Kg5, Kc5? Then isn’t the material even?

In the first example the first way to save the knight that comes to mind is Qe7 because it protects the knight and blocks the pin. I'm sure there are also good reasons not to do that but it would have been good to include it.

Props for showing and examining your own loss as well! I feel a lot of RU-vidrs (and chess personalities specifically) don't show themselves losing enough! Losing and examining why you lost is one of the best ways to stop losing! More people should do this! :)

Cute and super helpful! Like such personalities

you guy could show some respect what makes you think you can trash talk anand doesnt know what he is doing? anyhow anand could play after queen e2 he could play queen e7 and nothing is lost, knight is preserved.

At 27:30 another downside is Nd7

28:27 why not capture with the knight and gain a tempo on whites queen?

@17:15 an entire tempo? is possible to give up less than 1 tempo, that is non zero?

that was a very long intro, kinda need nachos since I was starving

Great presentation. Thanks for your detailed explanations. Too bad that the audience was not very responsive. You did a great job. Thanks again!

So I've heard since principles like, never move the same piece twice in the first ten moves, try to develop center, castle the king before move ten. I don't see any of that here. Can you explain?

What if at 24:24knight takes bishop(e7) check..then king h8 and then rook takes knight(e1)?should explain that variation also

'He's an up and coming kid"....says the 21 year old....

I just have a question in the first game of Anand, after Qe2, can't black respond with Qe7 ? It sounds okay to me .. i mean qe7, d3, and knight retreats ..

in the Anand game the commentator neglected to show what happens when black responds to the pin by going Q-e7, breaking the pin...white would then respond N-d5 hitting the Queen which is now overloaded, having to defend his own knight and the c7 square....

Two thumbs up 👍👍, Content worthy of your consideration and verifiable through your own due diligence. ✌😎

Caleb, you are an engaging presenter, but I, too, wondered if you were speaking to 5yo kids, or people who have never played chess. Maybe you just chanced to get a group with a lot of anxiety, fearful of guessing and being wrong. IDK, but it was odd. I would definitely watch more of your videos!

Seus vídeos são excelentes Caleb !! Continue assim.

Caleb started lecturing online long time ago because he knew

I'm new to learning the finer points of chess and I learned alot from watching this. Hearing hi explain the reasoning behind the moves and the strategy involved was eye opening. I will be checking out the other videos in this channel for sure. Is there any other study material you guys can recommend? I've also been using the Chessmaster program.

27:40 you gotta take back on c5 with the bishop..after that Qxc5 Nd7 looks very compensating for white...Qxf2 ain´t an option here either...

This guys is great!! I'm loving the long pauses actually it helps out a lot

Great information thanks

3 minutes in.."this tactics not so hard" Me 15 minutes later crying at my phone: ok...Nh4.... (resumes video) Me:.....Fml

27:16 ...after the good move of black...white can try if you want to gain some material Nd7 fork Queen and Rook...

Great presentation. Clear voice and lucid progression

Great lecture!) An hour passed just in one breath) But I feel that the title is a bit misleading (I'm just a beginner, but still) - the point was to show that learning the ideas was more important than to learn the moves; but in the end, I got the impression that the learning of these actually can't be possible without memorizing the moves, without the theory. So, how I undestand now - you can't really get anywhere high without learning the moves, because they form the ideas..)

You have to memorize moves AND strategies. The only reason you say you don't need to memorize moves is because you have a good memory naturally. But not everyone has a good memory. I have very good intuition but very bad memory, so I understand this more than anyone else. Every move in chess has a best counter move. You can avoid making the same mistake twice only by memorizing the best counter moves. This is especially important in the opening moves because of the time constraint.

Can someone explain why 6. ...Qe7 isn't an option to stop the pin? It stops the pin, adds an extra defender. EDIT: Qe7 gets attacked with 7. Nd5. If Queen moves to ...Qe6 to continue protecting knight, you get a rook-king-queen fork from 8. Nc7. If queen goes instead 7...Qe5 to continue protection, 8. Nxe5 is quite bad :)

32:27 It's explosive.

I'm questioning what am I even doing here, every time he ask what would/should I do "here" I freeze, I. have. no. idea. 800 forever bro

at 3:52 can't black play Qe7? Sorry I am not that good just wanted to see what would happen...

I felt like a dunce watching this video! It takes more than a notion to commit to a 50-min video, and I was going to watch passively. Yet, I did begin to play the game when he'd ask, "Any ideas?" Half the time I had none - and the times when I did have an idea, he always showed a better one! This was a good session, and I think my favorite part was when Master Denby showed us a game that he lost. I appreciated the humility and wondered if his exposure to Yasser Seirawan was a tiny factor. Nevertheless, I watched this through and it echoed what I heard GM Seirawan say in a previous video: "Chess is a battle of ideas...." Thank you for this offering.

Why not unpin the Knight by qe7

I think for his age, he did a great job with the lecture. No worse than many college professors ive had.

Let's look at the game between Niemann and Carlsen. 13. Rfd1 instead of the correct Bxf6 21 c4 - sacrificing a pawn for very little compensation 28 g4?? 30 a4 instead of Bxc4 Niemann also didn't play the most accurate moves to bring home the point. Carlsen lost because he played badly in this game and not because of any computer-like brilliance from Niemann.

Did Anand blunder because he thought that 6. ... Qe7 would save his knight? Because at first glance it looks like black's fine. But the following 7. Nd5 attacks blacks queen and she can't go anywhere without abandoning the knight. - I simply can't imagine Vishi didn't see the pin.

White player g3 bcus he think black play Rb8 hhh. if I'm white here. I play g4 not g3.. Then maybe if black take back. I play rook Rhg1 then maybe my bishop can sac on h6..

Instructions unclear: Stuck at 12% win rate with all matches using Hyperaccelerated dragon opening.

This is not the first time I've seen this 'advice' from master level players. The simple fact remains that, for the vast majority of chess openings, YOU HAVE TO MEMORISE THE CORRECT MOVE ORDER!. Its no good understanding the ideas behind an opening line if you then go ahead and play the moves in the wrong order!! Are you seriously telling me that you have never memorised an opening line or endgame pattern? Every chess master has memorised hundreds if not thousands of moves. They have to in order to compete on a level playing ground.

Memorize first, understand later. Get good positions. We don't tell NFL teams to go down 14-0 before they start trying to win. First mistake loses.

3:38 haha, I considered Q e2 but dismissed it because I didn't see a follow-up. What I think is baffling is why isn't the response ...Qe7 shown, a move based upon I dismissed the tactic. If there is a counter to ...Qe7, it should be shown in the video, not to be done in 3 seconds, just suggesting the absolutely idiotic pawn to d5 disaster. The "kid" in the audience suggested an absolutely idiotic Nh4, which would indicate it is not just chess geniuses he is talking to. Therefore it is false to assume they would just figure out the follow-up on their own. Why is Qe7 a disaster then? I am not seeing that. I am sure it is something very sophisticated, unless it is actually all bullshit and the position is equal. Edit: I have just used an engine to figure it out, and is indeed a much more sophisiticated tactical sequence than that stupid-ass pawn move. That's what Anand didn't see, not that stupid kid move. Anand isn't an idiot, give some credit to the guy.

@25:38 I have mostly been flummoxed trying to guess the reasons why and the moves although I did see moving the Rooks to the center D file. My guess about your Bishop to before move is: ... that his Bishop is more active defending his King than your Bishop is Defending Your King so let's get rid of it.

A GM once told me.... dont worry about openings until your rating is above 1700. Besides this.... How do know the idea behind the opening if you dont know what opening is played?