Thank you for this critical strategic lesson on one of the most practical positions faced by beginners/intermediate players. I think watching this video multiple times and then internalising it will help us play with more confidence.
I picked up at least three useful tactics. As usual you picked a great topic. This one is especially funny for me though because I have a friend that always plays the philidor defense... I guarantee I will get a checkmate out of those two knights at some point in the near future
Your lessons could be used not only to learn how to play chess, but also they give ability to study English listening. Especially for foreign people whose mother language is not English. Very nice. Thank you!
Yeah I was going to mention that as well, and if black plays Bh4 just go g4. It’s not pretty and you will lose a pawn if the opponent takes the knight immediately, but you certainly don’t lose a full piece like Nelson implied
it weakens the king side but you develop your bishop faster as black as no pieces develop i think you come out ahead and ready to attackif he goes for the captures with your half open file he will have to watch out for the rook dicover attack on the g pawn too when he develop his dark square bishop
At 11:30 , I think you have the option of Nxe5, if Bxd1, then Bxf7 is mate. If after Nxe5, dxe5, then you can just take the Bishop with the queen. If after Nxe5, d5 I think you can just do Bxd5 then if Nxd5, you can take the Bishop and continue from there
A key consideration is if the enemy is fianchettoing their non-pinning bishop. If so, it is often easy kick the pinning bishop back with A3 or H3 because, the bishop will be trapped by their own pawn if they try to retreat. The other consideration is with h3/a3 pawn pushes, a good player can and will sack two pawns for a minor piece to open up your position and unleash an often devastating attack.
Ome reason I really like your videos Is that technically after the first half of the video, I would know my options, but after you show positions and I can try to figure out which is best. You also teach things you wouldn't expect to learn, like when he said attack in the direction of your pawns. I had never heard that before, so that really helps
Two other common approaches is 1. Playing Qb3 to attack the b7 pawn - especially when the knight is still on b8. This is often a good option when your opponent's bg4 or his/her follow-up turns out to be a mistake. This might compromise your pawn structure, but if you win a pawn and gain the bishop pair in the process this is often bad news for the second player. 2. Putting a knight between your pinned piece and your queen (or rook). This is actually a theoretical move in some openings. Now your knight is heading for another square and you have dealt with an annoying pin. Capturing your knight and giving you doubled pawns is not always a good option for your opponent, since they will have to part with the bishop pair and giving you a file to work with. If they don't capture it your previously pinned knight is now free to move to a better square (even if that results in a new pin).
a neat corollary trick here with the first example, is that once you've protected the queen with the bishop block and the knight is no longer pinned, you can attack with that previously pinned knight and possibly pick up an unguarded bishop
Thanks, I figured most of this stuff out myself but I'll definitely try and see if I can incorporate that Philidor defense trap in my games. I'm starting to appreciate how important the F file is for tactics such as this.
My question is, how you can detect and work with pawn weaknisses. I know than doubler pawns, isolated pawns backwards pawns are usually weak but especially to detect them in a casual situation and work with them is a huge problem for me
Many times, after pushing both pawns to kick back the bishop, like at @18:06, moving the formerly-pinned knight to a5 traps the bishop, giving you the option of taking for a knight
I was a 1500 and still got stressed about this knight pin problem. This video helped me figured out what should I do next in some game maybe, thanks for the video anyways.
You should study some example games in your opening, and see how the masters deal with the pins on their knights. Nelson did a great job explaining the common themes 😃
In the first position shown where bishop g4 was the last move played by black I some times play bishop d2 with a cool idea. For example, bishop d2, knight f6 and then knight e2 attacking the bishop on b4, if the bishop trades then I recapture with the knight on f3, if they capture my knight on f3 then I take their bishop on b4 and if the bishop on b4 moves away then I play knight g3 and h3 next.
It depends on the player. Personally I value the diagonal walker more than the horse despite it havinf equal points. So i woikd chase them off with ur pawns. If they eat ur horse, their loss. If they run, also their loss as they wasted moves and you gained board position.
Well technically they don't have equal value. The bishop is actually worth 3.33 compared to the knights 3.05 I think evaluated by the engine. So a 1/3 of a pawn more than the knight which can add up quickly at the higher level
If I have the opponent's knight pinned, what factors should I consider to decide whether to take that knight in exchange for my bishop or not? Can you do a video on that?
It is a great channel. It is an helpful video. Can you make a video on when to take time and when to look for calculation because sometime we take time when not needed.
Uhmm can u make a video explaining how to fully utilize bishops like in high level chess sometimes players just retreat their bishops to the back ranks I would love a detailed explanation regarding proper positioning of bishops
Bishop video is coming soon although I think it will be more basic than what you might be looking for. Maybe I can circle back sometime with something more advanced
I am just started out. And my knights get pinned constantly. So after that show of the trap. I play a few rounds. And My Knight does NOT GET PINNED AGAIN AT ALL!!! WHY IS IT THAT WHEN I AM READY FOR IT. IT DOES NOT HAPPEN!!! Anyway. Thanks this helps a lot.
For one, play A3 and H3 before you bring your knights out. If you fail to do that, then all you have to do is bring your bishops behind your knights to un-pin them!
it doesn't seem the video is complete enough. When you play h3 g4 sometimes the opponent can sacrifice a knight on g4 in exchange for 2 pawns and a renewed pin. Also when your pinned knight is attacked by a pawn you often can play he to counter attack the opponent's bishop and not lose material
what about when you castle, they pin your kingside knight, you attack with h3 (or h6) and they protect the bishop with their rook pawn? Yeah you get a bishop but you open up your king to all kinds of nasty positions. What would you recommend?
9:26 if Black plays Knight d4 I'd ask myself why Bishop c5 wouldn't be a viable option. That puts Black's King in check, and suddenly your opponent is put on the defensive. He has to respond to that somehow, even though it's early game. Likely a pawn move or maybe he'd reconsider where he wants that Bishop of his! 🤣yes I know he could just take it with his Knight. The point, though, is does Black really want to lose a Knight for a Bishop? I could suggest backing it up with a pawn or something but the whole point is to say, hey, your King is open to check, do you really want to waste those moves you're wasting?
Never ignore such pin.. You can easily forget about it and lose the queen..just attack it with pawn and trade it..anyone doing that pin wants to take your knight
a 5th solution (this might be bad or good depending on the position): moving your F and C pawn one square (assuming you moved D and E pawns two squares) instead of using your knight, the pin can still happen, but there is almost no reason for those pawns to move, so it's fine unless they want to lose their bishop
Usually when I get this pin on my kingside knight I can develop my queens bishop to guard d4/d5 if they trade bishops on e3/e6 I take with the f pawn keeping d4/d5 covered and opening my rook to recapture my kings knight... but one thing I don't see much is when, instead of trading bishops on e3/e6 they play Bd4/Bd5, I know I don't want to trade bishops in that case, if opponents knight is ready to recapture I've been playing Qe7/Qe2 and moving my queens knight to play c3/c6 and attack the bishop. Did I manage to make sense there? Anybody have any other approach to deal with the bishop coming to d4/d5?
This guy videos are so underrated thats its sad actually...yea i know Gotham make more funny content and Naroditsky is way above us all, but im kinda sad that this chanel don't deserve the attention it should :(
Question: I’ve been experimenting with the Fishing Pole attack as Black when White pins my Knight with his Bishop on the Queen’s side in the standard opening position E4-E5. I thought I’d see it covered in this video but didn’t see you address it. So I’m wondering if attempting to launch the Fishing Pole attack is a good/sneaky response to the pin or if you recommend something better. Or maybe I’m misinterpreting the Fishing Pole as reacting to the pin on my Knight as the best moment to decide on launching the attack. I’d love some advice on when/how to make the decision to launch this attack or transition into something that helps me survive if my opponent understands the position and responds correctly. Appreciate your videos! Thanks for all you’re doing!
Bishops are better than knights generally speaking. If they trading a bishop for your knight go for it. You still have your bishop pair whilst they don't. Trade off more pieces and activate your bishop pair on an open board to cause havoc
