Chess Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan presents a lecture at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis that covers how to hold a draw against a higher-rated opponent.
This is known as the Riga Variation of the Ruy Lopez. The analysis has been around for many years (I first saw it in the 1970's). Kudos to G.M. Seirawan for presenting it.
Wow, this is great :D. Just played this against a higher rated opponent, he didnt want the draw, played kf1 and resigned few moves later :D. this is a really good weapon on my level (1900 elo)!
Yasser is fantastic he can explain in detail easily very nice example of Spanish game i wonder if white play at 9 move g3 to block black plans it 'd be better than anything else?
Believe it or not, 5. Nxe4 (Open Ruy Lopez: Morphy Defense) is Stockfish 10's top move here. 10:28 So, I'd be surprised if it isn't the main line now. Yasser is correct that 10. Kh1 is indeed the only way for white to try for a win, as KxB draws and Kf1 loses for white. 22:38 Your student's suggested move 9. h3 is a blunder, according to Stockfish., after Qh4 or just 0-0. But it's a move that one might very well see, as it just feels right for white.
Not sure what you're talking about FearDeniesFate, knights use N as the symbol. Cory: I'm a bit of an amateur too, but here's my reasoning- You'd notice a minute or two later, that Nxd4 is indeed inevitable- but Re1 is better because it directly attacks the knight, requiring an immediate defense (the best of which is d5, which leaves the knight on c6 more vulnerable after Nxd4). If the white knight were to take on d4 before the rook move, then black would have the initiative- however, placing the rook on E1 means white still has a tempo whilst assuring a better square for the rook.
Wouldnt it be great to held an online tournament in wich none of the GM's are aware of whom their playing against? I believe it could improve their powers, without the psychological implications of respect for the higher elos or having a bad record with one particular player....
You can't win every game, its more satisfying to get a draw from a bad position against a better player than to crush somebody who doesn't have a clue.
37:18 lets imagine that white knows this critical line. This endgame looks difficult for me. If black plays b5 there might be a whole on c5 and a knight there would be a really strong piece. However i will try that line ones because i always play stronger opponents.
First of all I did say I was a beginner, I have not used annotations before. Second I see those letters in annotations in other comments below. Third, do you have an answer for my actual question about the moves?
If you just want pure gold analysis then Andrew Martin's channel 'Yateley Chess Master' is the best but I like Seirawan's dumbed down approach as a change of pace, he knows that reams of variations mean nothing unless you understand the basic reasons for the moves and that's what he tries to get across...
Maybe... Qf3 0-0 With the threat... -- Nxf2 Qxf2 Bb3 Qd2 (Qe2 is begging for more pieces to join in with Bg4) Looks really complicated and exactly what we strive for. Or... Qf3 0-0 -- Bg4 Not... Qf3 Bg4 Witch will likely lose to Ne5+
Nice video, I like his lectures even though they progress a bit slowly for me. In this lesson it seems that the only hope is that white makes the mistake of playing the more natural Kf1 vs Kh1 move to give black the advantage, otherwise black takes the risk of having to play the endgame against a stronger opponent who more than likely will be the better endgame player, but a good lesson in this line for sure.
Around 16:13 why not play NxP NxN QxN... I'm a bit of a beginner, so maybe my annotations are wrong, but I can't see why this is so bad for white, that he plays Re2 instead. Perhaps it's just because his Queen is now open in the center and easily attacked, and other reasons for bad positions for white, and good positions for black. I'm not sure though :)
after 10 Kh1 what about this line trading two pieces for the queen? ...Nxf2+ 11 Kxh2 Qh4+ 12 Kg1 Nxd1 13 Rxd1 0-0 does this make Kh1 a blunder or is it still better than 10 Kf1? My 9 year old Tristan saw this combination while we were watching this great vid. Probably my favourite Yasser vid to date
Actually the ending does not look good at alll I have looked at it with engines and although they show only some advantage, it is difficult to do something about it, it seems that white can easily develop and the bishops are very good. It obviously depends on players' strength, but I would not play it except in blitz or rapid.
The point would be... Use offensive sharp/tactical lines against stronger players. Basically, give the stronger player an possibility to make bad moves. Me (about Elo 1800) against an IM Elo 2450, the IM will win if we have an "calm" game. The IMs understanding of the games strategy will have him outmanuver me. However, using an somewhat obscure opening line that creates a lot of tactical complications will minimize atleast one advantage the stronger player has, probably two. It is likely that you are more familliar with the opening as well.
Vojtěch Drábek You're right. Actually all the "tactical, crazy" parts of the game are basic theory that even I (not even a club player, just casual) knew. Once the smoke clears, it's just a complex endgame that the higher-rated player would usually win even if it wasn't better for white
Sure, but the problem is all those moves are hard to come up with. To play the move Kh1 you already have to have seem the whole line with Rxe4 and Qd8+ and correctly assessed the endgame. I actually had this line in a game before, i took over 30 minutes on move 10, managed to play the correct line of Kh1, then after 14...Be6 was all happy congratulating myself on my cleverness, thinking "i'm ready to outplay this fool", then after 15.Nc3? c5 i found my light squared bishop was lost. Had to sac it for 2 pawns, still had chances latter but with the clock running short i blundered the game away. So it comes down to this: does white know the theory of this line? I didnt. Thats what makes it a great surprise weapon, this is a sideline that many books brush aside and many people dont know, and your opponent needs to calculate and assess the danger super precisely to come up with the right approach, and even then you still come out with a fighting chance.
Wow. The black queen threat to the f2 pawn supported by the pinned knight. i have just discovered that the white king can not go to f2 and take the queen despite the fact that the knight in f4 is pinned. i am not sure i see the logic on that rule.
Let's assume that kings actually get captured in chess. Ok, now the black queen takes on f2 checking the white king. The white king captures the black queen, (ignoring the normal rule of chess of course that the king must not move into check). Now black's knight captures the white king and even with the modified rules black has won the game because he/she captured the white king before the opponent captured the black king. Now do the normal rules make sense to you?
This is an awsome chess channel! And most of the instructors are great. With the exception of Seirawan and that French dude (who I can't even understand). Seirawan tells too many painfully slow/pointless stories and his "flamboyant style" is a bit annyoing. Seems like a nice guy, but I don't care for his videos at all. Varuzhan Akobian is the best of all the instructors on this channel IMO.
Just would like to point out a Mistake.. at about 35:38 Seirawan says that Kh1 is the best move but it is losing on the spot after N*f2 + forking King and Queen. K*h2 is forced and after that Qh4+ forcing Kg1 and after that N*d1 and white is losing.. The rook is attacked so is the bishop on a4 and white has an unsafe king and absolutely no compensation for being down material...in fact this variation is worse for white that the other variations Sierawan showed.
