Chess Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan presents an intermediate-level lecture about opening ideas and the Pirc Defense at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.
I love Yasser Seirawan! Not only does he describe very simply and instructively the complex intricacies of positions, he does it in such a calming and relaxing way. It's like being at a chess club and a meditation retreat at the same time, all while sitting at my PC eating pizza. Thankyou, Yasser.
I just came here from a Ben Finegold lecture in which he claimed that, right now, Yasser Seirawan is outside picketing and telling everyone not to play the Winawer French, which is the most hilariously incongruous idea ever.
@@stopwritingthatreplyjohnat6638 "he's beaten Kasparov, Karpov, Anthony Miles" One of these players is not like the others. One of these players isn't the same. I'd've gone with Korchnoi, Tal and Spassky, ahead of Miles, and likely Gligoric, Polugayevsky and Portisch, too.
I really like this guy. So humble and kind. I've been watching all of his videos and Kummer's. Used to be really into chess when I was younger but lost the taste for it. Over the past month I became severely addicted. I've been reading Silman's 'assess your chess' book and some terms he was using led me to stumble on these videos. I didn't realize how stupid I was until I started playing chess again. It's just amazing how rusty the brain gets when it rests on its laurels. Please keep up the great work, I enjoy these lectures very much :)
0Pr0ph3t0 My story is almost exactly the same as yours, although mine mebe a little differeny depending on how old you are. I learned to play chess when I was 12 and immediately started playing scholastically. When I was 14 I actually played for the national scholastic championship in my division (which was the lowest rated division LOL) in 1997. It was a 7round tournament and one other player and I were 6-0 g6oing into the final game. I lost to my unrated Cuban opponent who played like a 1900, weaving a beautiful mating net in the middle game. But back then, Kasparov had beaten Deep Blue and computers aren't what they are now. a 333mhz processor was a big deal. So when I stumbled onto the videos I was amazed. I was lucky enough to play GM Dzhidzhihaschvilitz (I know I butchered that) in a similar, but that was it. I couldn't believe I could get free lectures from Yasser, someone I had never heard speak, but I owned and read all of his books. I was stunned. and then when I discovered how chess computers had progressed and how chess engines worked and could evaluate positions and games, I couldn't believe what a fantastic resource they were. So now, after listening to all Yasser and Finegold's lectures, I can honestly say I'm a better player now than I've ever been and I'm improving every day. I played on chess.com and analyze almost all of my games after, even though I'm just playing 5 minute blitz. I'm just trying to get in as many games as I can to try and get a grip on the opening. And it's the computer and these lectures that make that possible. it's truly amazing.
@UCfs7QhlqGI26HgBa51n6JgQ kummer is actually pretty good you dont have to learn from a god always...do what makes you love chess more, even if it means watchig and learning from someone you find funny...not everyone has to learn from hikaru so stfu soyboi
It's amazing how he his able to explain the logic and thought-process behind each move. It's even more impressive when you see how he is able to respond to the suggested moves and questions.
Awesome teacher! Yasser is so easy to understand and very thorough. I can't help but smile when he smiles from the excitement. I could watch Yasser for hours! I can't wait to start using the Pirc defense...
Seirawan used to own or co-own a chess shop in Seattle. They sold a really good low priced tournament chessmen set. I've never found them anywhere else since.
Amazing man. Both a gentleman on and of the chessboard. I visited the scholastic centre and by chance he was there. Very humble behind great coaching tips. Great hospitality by ALL and by luck a grandmaster there gave me the great chess tip . . " Its not often WHAT chess books you study but HOW you study the chess books that will aid your chess development"
On a rainy day and my best chess buddy has been hospitalized for nearly 11 months, I find listening to the Gentle Giant of chess most comforting. Thank you, Lord, for this angelic human being!!!😇
From about 15m... "And the amazing thing is I usually won against myself, which is (like) really hard to do..." I do enjoy listening to Yasser's lectures.
I watched this vid cause this guy is hilarious . I tried to apply his ideas in my online games , i lost one game in two days won over 100 online rating !!! From now on Yasser is my guide !!!
I think that what makes this lecture great is that it is very personal to the yaz. He also puts the opening into a teeter totter analysis which is fun.
This class was very good. I'm a Pirc player and I have to say that in some parts the Engine has better moves for both White and Black. And through my analysis of all the variations of the Pirc, I have to admit that Pirc is a suboptimal defense, however, that also means it is made for those who love to rack their brain. If you really prepare this defense, I assure you that a lot of victories will come to you.
I just followed chess principles and really started playing this opening. I thought i invented something which gets me thru the faster time controls. I was so surprised to know that there exist an actual opening. So i wanted to explore this idea even more and that is how I ended up being here.
Part of the history of Northwest chess was Duncan Suttles in Vancouver who played the Modern defence a close relative of the Pirc. A lot of players were influenced by him in that part of the world. Yasser in Seatle was part of that history.
Its a good opening for patient counter attacking players, which is exactly what Yasser is, you don't see it too often at the highest levels because White has such an initiative for a long time straight out of the opening.
@@biffslamchunk5055: Really? I did not know that. I am Dutch myself, and i can't hear the least trace of Dutch in his accent. Actually, i do not think he has any Dutch roots at all (he was born in Damascus, Syria). The only information i could find, that links him to the Netherlands, is that he is married to Woman FIDE Master Yvette Nagel, daughter of Dutch politician Jan Nagel. And that also surprised me, because i was quite convinced that he was gay :-) Just about everything about him seems to say that ... probably my prejudice. Anyhow, no matter what, i like him and his lectures a lot.
This could be a turn in my hopeless-feelings with black as i resigned to play Pirc-Ufimzew. I never had an idea of a counterplay with black and the queen. And for sure, it looks very scary also. I've played very passive and "save" in my younger years, but figured out, there is no hope then and gave up the Pirc. 35:30 Happy about e5, because it is losing a tempo...OK, let's do look at blacks first row. ;-) I think this is very instructive, very good descriptions, i think i will study more of Seirawan's Lectures. Really impressing.
Yasser moves around so much that it's impossible to leave the camera stationary and keep him in the left side of the frame so the end product looks good. Otherwise he'd be much too small and keep disappearing behind the board we transpose on the video. Alternatively, you could just move to Saint Louis and start watching these lectures live in person, and the whole problem would be solved for you!
Yasser is great teacher indeed i purchased a course on chessable it was great, here my concern is the camera operator was probably sleeping and pointing camera some where else away from the action ...after the computer board disappeared it became clear the angle of shooting is very bad.
Really appreciate the explanation, but why was the chess board taken down after 38:30? It was somewhat difficult to follow after this point-especially when someone suggested moving the queen side rook to b1.
Instead of pawn e5 at 33:24, wouldn't it be possible for bishop d4, forking the queen and the bishop, gaining the missing tempo GM Seirawan mentioned about the pawn move, forcing a trade of black's strong dark squared bishop and weakening black's fortress? Sure, there's a check, letting black's queen slip away from the rook b1 trap (which happens anyway), but that seems like a fairly okay trade, considering black's queen is basically chased all the way back to start, leaving white with a vastly superior development? I have no idea if it'll come back to bite white in the a** or not, but I'd love to hear what GM Seirawan would think about it :)
11:39 castles recommendation is the only one given in Seirawan's Winning Chess Openings. I wonder if he later changed his mind to c5 and if so, at what point in his career he did that.
13:00 instead of capturing the pawn on g6 with h pawn u can capture it with f pawn and u open lines for your rook without being worried about whites rook open h file because now it would be closed because our h pawn is there
Could you do the lecture about clumsy rooks? I exactly know what you're talking about and experiencing what you're talking about. I feel like whenever I move my rooks I loose a tempo because it is really unnecessary to move rooks in many situations. I feel like that at least for me. So I stopped moving rooks unless I really have to. I'm not talking about in the endgame. In the endgame you have to move your rooks. I'm talking about in the middlegames and openings. I'm not good at writing, but I hope you know what I'm talking about. Thank you Yasser always. You are an awesome GM. Every lecture really helps my chess and my interest in chess. Best wishes. :)
Black wouldn't be a piece down. Black is a pawn up in that position and white's knight is pinned and their light square bishop isn't really accomplishing much. Black has plenty of time to develop his pieces on the queen side.
Nothing is more embarrassing to me than to mispronounce a key chess term or Grandmaster's name at a tournament and be called on it. It's just "my bad" I guess and shouldn't be a bigger priority than playing well.
When yasser says that the chess engines don't like his exchange sacrifice, he means that they evaluate it +0.8 for white (I put it on lichess analysis, and it evaluates +0.6 if White plays the line Yasser showed with Nc6 Be3 exd5 fxd5 Nxd5, which is more human than Nc6 Be3 exd5 Rab1 Qd6, the line recommended by the computer). But be honest, if you sac a rook for a knight and your opponent is only "slightly better" then in practical play you should be able to come on top. I think that's another reason he still likes to play that position with black.
At 18:35, rather than bd3, what if black plays b4? This breaks the pin on the knight, defends the pawn on c5, and threatens the queen. How does white continue after this move?
