Just got your Killer Dutch Rebooted videos Simon, really liking it so far. I also was looking back through my old chess books and realized you were the author of my first opening book on the a6 dragon. Great read when I was 12 or 13, same kind of teaching with key ideas and rules over move order repetition. It got me my first OTB win over an 1600 way back then
in positions where you have some advantage it's often pragmatic to exchange Queens, but the computer has no concept of the need to simplify. It prefers to play the more 'accurate' move (with no concern about the complexity of the position). Thing is though practically if you have a concrete plan of how to convert the position, so long as it's winning, the slight dip in eval observed by the computer might be much less significant than the clarity achieved in the position by getting the queens off.
This is what I find frustrating about online chess. Does anyone believe that Simon's opponent is 1120, or that a GMs rating is 2200? This isn't about marrying your rating, but that these online rating systems, make no bloody sense If this is the case why have any ratings at all? By the way Simon I've seen you complain about losing ratings. In the real world, 1100 players don't even come close to giving experts, masters, and Gms a close game. I still find you very informative, and I learn a lot from you, so thank u, and you are very funny and love your personality.
He knows his opponent in real life and in the description says he's 2200-2300. Also i'm pretty sure this wasn't a random pairing and they decided to have a friendly long play game.
It seems like the Colle (not Zukertort) is simply the Semi-Slav, as White. And what does White do against the semi-slav? puts out his bishop, closing with e3 (in This case, it's Black, so closing with e6). and how does Black develop the bishop in the semi-slav - he waits for White to develop the king's bishop, take the pawn, push the other pawn, so do the same here... you Can get your bishop out to b2, even if you play c3: c3, wait for Black's bishop to move, play dxc5, his bishop will take on c5, you play b4 - kicking the bishop, a3, Bb2, and at some point, c4. - exactly like in the Semi-slav. (assuming Black will play c5 - like White is doing in the Semi-Slav)
In this game, we hear you give a piece of advice on several occasions ie stop your opponents plans. But, if I'm playing a stronger player, one of the countless reasons I lose is because I can't SEE what my opponent is planning until its too late!! In order to do that, I would have to be at least as strong as he is. So it seems to me that this particular tip is only valid if you are playing someone of your own strength or weaker.
But surely you have a much better chance of beating a stronger player if you are trying to stop your opponent's plans (which evidently you are doing) even if you miss things. You can learn from what you missed afterwards and this will also help you improve. It's a principle for playing better chess and it always applies no matter the strength of your opponent. Your stronger opponent will also very likely out-calculate you but you're still going to try to calculate, right?
Well, I come back to my original statement. If I can't see what my stronger opponent is planning, how on earth can even try to stop it? On the general idea of playing stronger players to improve your game, this is one thing I have never understood. If I play 100 games against a 2000+ player, I'll lose 100 games. Now, that might make me a very good loser, but how on earth does it make me a better player???
@@oliver3989 Great point!! I do understand Dave's point, but to improve you must try to understand your opponents' plans. This will help teach you your weaknesses may it be opening plans, middle game end game, or calculation.
@@davehumphreys1725 analyze your game with your stronger opponent afterward, but usually, workes better when playing in Tournaments, or playing online with a friend that is a little bit stronger than you
When I started playing chess, the Colle was my pet opening with white. Nowadays it's the Italian. But my rating is not improving like I expected. Maybe I should try the Colle again...
Not sure how much that will help with the rating... I mean, sure, studying openings can be fun, but in general, tactics training as well as learning about strategic ideas helps more. But *if* you wanna learn openings, then optimizing your black repertoire probably helps more... In a way, that's more critical as that's where you get worse positions after all. With white you can play 1. a3 and still get better positions than in your black games.
