Owen's Defense + Ruy Lopez (Morphy Defense) | The Sensei Speedrun | GM Naroditsky 

Danya, rather than taking this as a sign to not play openings you’re unfamiliar with, I think it’s quite instructive to see how you handle “messing up” an opening and then try to improve throughout the middle game. Love the content.

The thing is about the Lopez for 1700+ players is that it will likely be the ONLY opening they’ve studied, but they will have played almost every line within it multiple times. They will know it inside out and back to front 10-15 moves deep. So he actually had the theory advantage here and it’s not unusual for him to punish small mistakes. He’s likely had that position where Daniel played Bb4 a dozen times before. But once Daniel was into the middle game, GM experience showed through

You are solely responsible for the last 150 elo I've gained Danya! Best chess content on RU-vid!

I would like to echo other commenters who have already made this point. I personally don’t watch your videos just to see you crush all of your opponents. I watch your videos because you are such a talented teacher no matter the quality of opponent you face. The fact that you sometimes end up in losing positions by playing lines you don’t know perfectly is actually a positive thing in my opinion. Being able to see you make decisions in difficult situations is actually MORE educational than had you never made those mistakes in the first place. So in summary, please don’t apologize for ending up in a losing position during the second game. It was highly educational and I think seeing you in these situations makes your series better not worse.

This is a speedrun, yes, but this is also the Sensei speedrun! Trying out openings that you don't know about is IMO really convincing for new players to try openings and play them even if they don't know all the theories. The important part is to learn from that game through analyzing your mistakes and that will create knowledge that I like to call natural opening theory since you learned it by playing and analyzing and not because you read and memorized 15-20 moves deep into the opening theory. I hope what I am saying made sense lol.

You’d be surprised how much opening theory people know at that level especially with Chessable and opening databases

that second game seemed legit. Even I (a 1300) have had games that just are right into my prep and I play with like a 98% accuracy... then I get out of the prep, blunder and loose. lol

Love the speedruns, I think it's an absolutely stunning material for any intermediate player, and I wanted to chime in about the cheating accusations. I am about 1750 Rapid at lichess as an "adult improver", although I haven't played for awhile, but I love studying openings so that I could later check where have I forgot the theory. I prepared many quite deep lines against any e4 or d4 spending countless of hours writing them down from the books and YT videos. Ruy Lopez is my main opening for white, and although I play the anti-Marshall with 6.d3 and 8.a3 (Karjakin used that line against Carlsen in 2016 WCC match multiple times), knowing the first 10-12 moves against the Marshall attack is not that difficult. As Daniel said, the theory goes way beyond that, and in many cases of Marshall there is "the only move" or only a few moves, that does not screw the game up. It's understandable, that it looks suspicious, since few players at 1700 and even above that study the opening theory, but once in a while, there will be a weak 1700 who knows his theory. It's awesome, that Daniel gives the benefit of the doubt to his opponents. It would really make me puke and contemplate quitting chess altogether if I was accused of cheating by my favorite chess teacher only because I know some opening theory.

I honestly don't think Reg9999 did any cheating during your game. Jan Gustafason's (excellent and entertaining) e5 Short & Sweet chessable course gives easily digestible theory on the Marshall that I could grasp at a 1400 elo when I picked it up. Reg9999's play honestly came across as someone who wants to improve and has really put the effort into theory. Obviously I would still defer to your opinion on the matter, just thought I'd give insight as a 1500 rated player who wasn't lost at all while watching Reg's play in the Marshall (only because I consumed that specific part of Jan's course during an intense 3 day ice storm 😂).

Haha! Love this episode. Such honest and open brevity from Danya, whose instruction has helped me immensely.

Man, I'm always blown away by how deep Daniel's knowledge of the game is. Like, he doesn't really play the Owen's Defense, and I doubt he runs into it a whole lot in OTB tournaments, yet he still has a bunch of key lines committed to memory just in case. You could probably open with something crazy like the Ware opening or the Lemming Defense and he'd be like, "Oh yeah, here you made x move, but the optimal line is..."

Loved this set-up against Owen's defense. I'm thinking of trying a similar set-up against the modern defense. Thank you Danya for these amazing instructive games.

Between Danya and Agadmator, one could learn all they need to know to play chess well. Thank you again Danya! Very clear and in depth instruction.

That king move... amazing! Thank you very much! 💛

Wow - what a contrast in games! The sad truth of the first game where players with solid ratings choose an opening they don’t seem to know, and the second where the player knew a very common line. I gather this willful ignorance of a chosen opening is so common, even at this rating, that some in the live chat were rather suspicious.🤯 And GM Danya’s remarks about seeing when it’s safe and good to move the sacred guarding pawns forward… pure gold. As I organize how and what I’m going to learn (old beginner here) these videos are invaluable and thought-provoking. I’m so grateful to have them!🙏❤️

Omg how did I never think of Ne2? I love it, until now I always tried to come up with something imaginative. Very nice.

Danya shouldn't feel bad about having voiced his suspicions when he did: his opponent basically played perfectly up to that point because he knew the theory. He also stated exactly what he thought and why. He had incomplete information and made the correct decision in that situation. Further information changed the matter but that doesn't make his previous decision bad.

I play Owen's very regularly and it's cool to see it show up several times in this speedrun. Thank you for everything you do good sir!

Thank you, I drink your sacred chess nectar, master.

I love these gm videos it definitely changed my elo for the better

I learn a lot more from the videos where you don't know the opening theory that well. It's super instructive to see how you approach a position where you're slightly worse out of the opening.

God damn I will be using that setup for e4 b6 I normally always struggle against those openings because my centre seems to always crumble but the way you steamrolled that guy was truly beautiful

Its amazing how a dubious setup just becomes outright obliteration in the hands of a skilled player. Its like you guys are playing a different game, and yet we all have the same pieces. Amazing.

Your videos helps a lot sir.. It improves our thinking pattern during game.. Thanks..♥️♥️♥️

Thank you sensei!!! I hope you are doing well. Wish you an alround healthy and happy life.

16:54 bro, if i saw my opponent just moving his king in this position i'd laugh, and then i'd like to congratulate him. if i was the opponent i'd be SUS

Learn so much with this guy.

Thank you for your honesty! It’s not arrogance to know your strengths and weaknesses.

Merry Christmas Daniel Naroditsky 🎄

An in depth video on these pins in the opening would be incredibly helpful!

Danya: I am not an oracle also Danya: *plays king g7* rook d8: am I a joke to you??

I think the second opponent is legit - at minimum certainly not using an engine. Re8+ is a very reasonable human move to make and is consistent with the style they demonstrated. The idea of leaving the rook hanging on d8 and simply moving the king is almost unthinkable for a human, especially when calculating from a distance and for this rating range; but it's also the kind of response that a computer would never miss.

Danya is now officially my favourite GM

I havent finished the video yet, im at 13:42, but im 1737 (often getting as low as 1550 on bad runs) and i know theory like this. Some people just like theory. When people accuse me of cheating in the chesscom chat while the game is going I sometimes just tell them to look at my games in the line we are playing. Sort of an interesting tool. I crush people in a vienna sideline called the mietner-mieses gambit all the time (me as black), i know all the ideas very deep into the position even after the theory runs out, but my account reflects that knowledge, i have a ton of games there because its a pet line for me. I also know several ruy lopez lines as deep as the opponent in this game. I assume if they arent cheating they just have a lot of games in this line which is publicly visible. Great video as always Danya

Decided to eat like a slob today, and my door dash arrived the moment I got the notification, however it seems danya is the only one with hot delivery tonight.

The difference between a GM and a 1700 isn't always obvious in the first 20 moves of a random game. Differences include: consistency, knowledge of thousands of lines of theory rather than dozens of lines of theory, adapting and converting advantages into wins, and most definitely accuracy in the end game. You can be +5 for 60 moves and then make 1 slight error and be completely losing. That one slight error can sometimes be the difference between a high level club player like a 1900 and a master level 2300+ and a GM will consistently play high accuracy in complicated positions.

I play Owen’s defense as black. And this video showed how easy black can go wrong. I will have a look at that setup so as not to end up like your opponent. Thank you🥰

WE LOVE YOU DANYA

Nice!!

Thank you

I'm 1800 on Lichess Rapid and there's also a few lines in some openings that I know quite deep, if someone is unfortunate enough to go with me there I will get an advantage. Definitely very possible that you fell into the one of few lines that your opponents knows really well.

hell yeah

incerdible!!! great content daniel

7:21 Danya - "Easy... all this is very simple" Me: Thought this line would just hang the bishop. I would never go for it hahaha

Awww yeah new upload lesgo

Getting used to what time you post, I love expecting a nice new video for lunch.

Can't wait for more endgame videos

Thats a pretty famous opening, I wouldn't be surprised at all if he knew that much theory and even figured some of it out if he had forgotten it

For anyone curious about the "I rarely lose to anyone who isn't 2200+", that definitely isn't arrogance, that's just how ELO works. Danya has ~2600 ELO, meaning against a ~1700 player he has a roughly 97% chance to win statistically. And that's true for ANYONE who is 600 ELO ahead of their opponent more or less. Obviously quality of play can differ and that's only true if both people are playing to their ELO, but still. A lot of people underestimate how much a difference in ELO actually means. A 2200 playing Danya would have about a 9% chance to win, so definitely in the range of seeing it now and then (Especially since Danya isn't playing to his full OTB strength in any of these games).

For the first (and probably the last) time, I remembered a move (Bg4) that Danya didn’t.

I play the King’s Indian Attack against the Owen defense, because it does transpose to a lot of French positions. I don’t know if it’s theory or how sound it is, but it works for me. I struggled against both the French and Owen until I started playing it.

Great videos Danya, thanks to your help i managed to reach 2000 today at Blitz. Any chance you could make a video for black against the Bayonet attack in the Caro-Kahn please? I keep coming unstuck against it.

Proof is needed to ascertain if a player is truly cheating anywhere above 1500 because nowadays people consume tons of theory and know main ideas in the popular openings.

"Very dubious setup, and our opponent got punished. Any questions?" Another great video

it's the chessable effect, playing a gm opening and then blunder immediately

It just goes to show: even a GM can forget a line and even at 1700 level that can be very risky!! 1700s are good.

Whoa, that line in the Owens where after …Bf8 white plays Nb1! In the unlikely event that I ever face this I feel weirdly prepared

After black's Be4 in the opening, white played Ke2 but would this be notated that way since the other knight is pinned or would it be notated K1e2 (or Kge2)?

Great

"whats our move?.... yes, its a check" - The real scientist never thinks that something must be obvious to everyone :)

Embarrassed about forgetting a single bishop square 15 moves into theory. We didn’t know the move either so I think you’re good.

I don't really think it's arrogant when a GM says 1700s shouldn't beat me. You could probably easily use something like statistical analysis of both players games to for lack of a better term "prove" that it is highly unlikely to occur without computer aide.

As a Ruy Lopez player myself, I can garantee you that it is not quite uncommon to know at least a setup (and the ideas) against the Marshall, otherwise white just gets stomped by the attack. Typically, you decide to play the Ruy Lopez, you lose in 20 moves or so in the Marshall, and you decide to learn theory (to some extent) to counter this.

they had an opening book for sure game 2

Lesgo champ

Good example of a random HS varsity team vs a random NBA team I don't know what the Vegas oddsmakers would give but I would imagine the starting odds would be very high, 100-1 at least.

Chessable has changed the game so a lot of us intermediates know a lot of openings.

Whoever made Danya's intro deserves a raise. The flaming knight and pawn are incredible

I am less than 100 elo points away from this Rui Lopez match and this game just blows me away

Wow, 30 moves of theory!

I also play the Marshall vs this rating range and a lot of people knows the theory here

"Happy that i played a human today" - LOL! :)

some people do have their openings down massively through daily chessable training, but then suffer when dragged into an unpredictable middle game (even if it is winning)

The LeBron of chess

I'm 2000 and on the way to 2100.Thanks to you sir

The nba analogy is apt. There are roughly the same number of nba players and chess gms.

I'm only 1350 and have the lifetime repertoires gajewski's e4 which is ruy lopez based and e4 e5 by jan gustafsson, i would consider myself extremely booked up so to speak for my level. I use aimchess to track my progress and regularly have opening ratings of 96 percent accuracy or higher. Where you see my level come out is as soon as im out of book my play drops off rapidly. So i qould say with resources like chessable it is very hard to tell if someone is cheating just because of good opening theory.

im torn on the second game. there are so many player games in the lichess database so it's possible to know the theory but it's possible the opponent had the database up in another tab. when i was playing 3-5 games a day i used to report people i expected were doing this.

It will be funny if the opponent simply knew the variation because they watched Daniel's speedruns before and had seen him playing the morphy defense, inspiring them to learn more about the opening.

What could have happened is that the second player was using an opening library, and then when run out of book started playing on their own. But then again, the moves were nearly instant, so it still seems unlikely. Most probably he was legit.

What do you do in a tournament when your opponent plays something that is not your opening?

Marshall played Bb7? I was under the impression those old games had Nf6 in that position

I think the opponent wasn't cheating in the 2nd game.If you play the Spanish with white,the first thing you have to know is the Marshall,I've got mated dozens of times so I had to learn the theory pretty early,probably around the 1600-1700 level.

Don't premove Qxh6 in case they expect you to do that and play Qxd3 and can block with the queen. White should still be winning, but it's a lot harder. This is for the newer players and not Danya. I'd play Qxd3 hoping for the premove if I was black

Danya can you recommend a system against the ruy lopez which is more solid and more importantly *has less theory* to learn instead of the Marshall, wich looks very complicated and risky for black? Maybe in a future speed run game? 🙃

Hello Sensei! You keep saying "Type 1 undefended piece", "Type 2 undefended piece" etc. What do these things mean? What is a Type 1/2/3 undefended piece? Thank you!!

I think some openings are so sexy that you could maybe give 1700+ the benefit of the doubt deep into them, openings such as the Ruy Lopez, the Marshall attack and the najdorf

Hey Danya when will the next endgame video be uploaded?

Hey when is the endgame series returning

What happened to Endgame series?

Can someone refer me to a video where Danya explains tactics like he did in the video at 18:30

Wait wait… the Marshall theory goes to move 30?! Holy shit!

"All of this is very simple." Said the super GM, who has been spending his life playing chess since he was barely out of the womb. 😂

Owen's Defense seems like the kind of thing a GM would play to toy with an amateur. Not advisable to try and flip that script 😂

Please play stuff you don't know! The thinking processes in an unfamiliar situation are the most valuable.

What if the Qxf6 instead of g5xBh4?

Hi Danya, whens the nect endgame video coming?

i wish my games were this easy, dang

Can you do something with neighboring pawn tension

17:40 " I don't know what to make of this" it's simple. He got to 1700 via memorization. Eventually got out of theory and started missing basic tactics. Nothing more to it.