Some ideas for educational content- 1) Understanding the balance between tempo and threat (gaining tempo via gambits and losing it for a necessary slow move) 2) Making quiet moves in attacking positions (Switching between attacking and positional moves) 3) Sacrificing pieces in a closed position at the correct time 4) Common traps in the opening and how to defend against them 5) General opening ideas to advance into the enemy position once the pieces are out 6) Identifying moves that look dangerous but aren't and moves that don't look dangerous but are 7) King safety in the center (When castling isn't necessary) 8) Difference in play at different time controls (Why a strong bullet player doesn't necessarily translate to a strong rapid player and vice versa) 9) Engine games and learning from their restricting style of play even at the cost of material 10) How to better evaluate game reviews, learn from your mistakes and fine tune your repertoire (understanding your style of play and your weakness) Ps- I'd also enjoy watching opening and endgame theory and puzzles but that's fairly obvious.
I’ve been playing without knowing any openings and this video helped me a lot I like instantly went from 800 to 850 winning 5 games in a row. I’m still going up
0:00 Intro White openings: 0:45 Vienna 3:57 Against Scandi 7:33 Against Caro 10:37 Against Sicillian Black openings: 13:44 Against e4 with Caro 16:27 Against e4 with idk 21:04 Against d4 23:49 Against London 27:45 Outro
Timestamps for the lazy = White Openings = 0:45 - Vienna Gambit 4:03 - Against the Scandinavian 7:34 - Against the Caro-kan 10:37 - Against the Sicilian = Black Openings = 13:44 - Caro-kan Defence 17:23 - Yanish Gambit against the Spanish 18:14 - Against the Fried Liver Attack 21:08 - Dutch Defence 23:47 - Against the London
Levy: As Black, play 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5, the Caro. Levy: As White, play 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 e5, the Advance Caro. Only at the next plies do his recommendations for White and Black split.
To be fair, there are scarier lines black can play against the London than the one suggested here. This one gets black a nice looking center IF white cooperates, but white can still undermine it pretty easily later. There are larger pitfalls that Levy neglected to mention. If you blindly go about your Nc6, f6, e5 thing you can get hit with 1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nc6 3. e3 f6 4. Bd3 e5 5. Qh5+. White is now +2, you have to make a choice between moving your king out to d7 (best move by the way) or losing your rook and knight to a double bishop sac. The best case scenario Levy showed is still +1 for white and there are some nasty traps there again involving bishop sacs. Moving that f pawn is extremely dangerous for this reason.
Levy I’m 1600 rapid and I know you say to look elsewhere at a certain level but the way you explain things is the best. Can you please make more content for intermediate/advanced players? I’d watch every minute!
@C beginner to compared to masters but you obviously know what I mean lmao… 1600-1900 level tips is what I’m looking for mainly, and I think Gotham explains it in a way that is very easy to understand
I'm 2100 blitz and most of the repertoire displayed in this video is still playable. I think the best way for you specifically to improve would just be studying at your own pace using an engine or opening book, etc. You'll easily improve once your opening foundation is solid.
@@Sheep. yes, totally agree! Just saying that id perhaps like more videos that break down specific variations and what the positives/negatives are, for example. Engines are good too, but I like Levy’s explanations.
Levy is literally reading my mind. I just looked up yesterday what the best openings are and I also looked for some endgame courses. Thank you so much gotham for this educational content.
Same, actually. I was trying to find reputable openings to study that fit my particular style. (In fact, I was specifically looking at openings that often have Qh5+ check tactics in the opening, for those curious.)
@@impishlyit9780 exactly, we've all been asking the same question for a moment, and here's gotham answering it, it's what makes him the best chess content creator on the platform, making the sport as fun and entertaining as possible for everyone.
Trust me, you found some insane openings. I 100% recommend his lines. I play them since about 2 years (since his channel started growing basically) and I've won alot of games very easily at about 1900-2000 lichess when people play into the dangerous lines (vienna gambit, copycat variation, tal variation caro etc.)! You will checkmate people in 6 moves with the Vienna lol
Chess really is the most beautiful game ever created by humans. Whoever created it was a true visionary because it's an incredibly complex and fun game that requires creativity
Bro I’ve played this fianchetto Dutch for years and now it’s no longer secret! Got me so many beautiful wins. Simultaneously happy that it’s getting recognition and sad that people will know how to play about it!
It’s been 11 days, and I don’t doubt with results like that you’re *AT LEAST* 700 by now. If not, you’re only being held back right now by not playing lmao
The london weapon is perfect. I’ve always wanted something solid against london that doesn’t lead to the ultra boring positions (in my opinion) that london usually does. That actually looks like quite fun to play.
Levy!! Thanks so much for the educational content! I've been watching it bit by bit cause half ill (hope the algorithm goes well), I just really want to say that yes, the combination of recaps + educational + guessthestuff is perfect, and yes, I already was missing the educational! Slowly but surely we will get better!! Gotta digest the video, still watching it, here we go!
I've been playing the Ulvestad variation my whole life and i was so happy that you mentioned it, but i'm kinda upset at the fact that everyone will study it now. By the way, after O-O by white, I like Bb7 first more because if they play f3 you can get the bishop to c5 instead, and if they play Qf3, you can play e5 and there's an insane amount of traps there, for example: 10 Qb3 O-O-O 11 Nxf7 e3 12 f3 Bc5+ 13 Kh1 Ng4 14 h3 Rd3!! 15 cxd3 Qxf3 16 gxf3 Bxf3#
My dad been a pretty dedicated chessplayer all his life and i havent played that much but today on christmasday i won my first game against him thx to the scandic open you showed. Im so happy atm🤩
@@lyacinthum5299true but OP said “dedicated chess player” if you really have been dedicated all your life it’s very very unlikely he would lose to a Scandinavian defense to his son lol
*_IMPROVED TIMESTAMPS (from @decoy):_* *= White Openings (recommends 1. e4) =* 0:45 - Against e5 (Nc3, the Vienna) -- 1:12 - (if Nf6, then f4) The Vienna Gambit 4:03 - Against the Scandinavian (Nc3) -- 4:42 - (if Qa5, then b4) The Leonhardt Gambit 7:34 - Against the Caro-Kann Defence (d4, Advance Caro-Kann) -- 7:49 - (if Bf5, then h4) The Tal Variation 10:37 - Against the Sicilian (a3, the Mengarini Variation) -- 11:34 - (if Nc6, then b4) Alternate Universe Wing Gambit. *= Black Openings =* 13:44 - _Against e4_ -- 13:53 - [c6] The Caro-Kann Defence -- 16:23 - _If you want to play e4, e5_ ----- 16:39 - Against the Vienna --------- Play the Main Line, d5 ----- 17:23 - Against the Spanish --------- Play f5, the Schliemann Defense; Jaenisch Gambit ----- 17:54 - Against the Italian --------- Play the Fried Liver Invitation -------------- 18:14 - Against the Fried Liver Attack (Play d5) 21:03 - _Against d4_ -- 21:08 - [f5] *The Dutch Defense* -- 23:47 - _Against the London_ ---- Play Nc6
If you are someone that likes to play gambits, and you get hit with the scandi after e4, then consider the Tennison gambit, which is Nf3 after d5. There is a cool trap line that ends up winning a queen if your opponent isn't aware (however, just remember no one forces your opponent to play the following moves): 1. e4 d5 2. Nf3 dxe 3. Ng5 Nf6 4. d3 exd 5. Bd3 h6 (h6 is the blunder that your opponent might miss, the correct move here is Nc6 defending the queen if you perform the sequence) 6. Nf7 Kf7 7. Bf6+ Kf6 8. Qd8 Nc6 (Congrats you're queen up)
Fellow dad here, learning chess teach my super interested four year old. Also, trying to postpone him beating me for another year or so. Some of our games are embarrassingly close 😂
That recommendation against the London is similar to the one used by an IM from the Netherlands (Stephan Kuipers). He plays c5 immediately, trades on d4, and then Nc6 with the same pawn storm idea on the kingside. I suspect if that kind of play catches on at the club level, people will stop playing the London completely as their whole idea is to not have to think for the first 10 moves or so, and the pawn storm makes that impossible.
Hey levy I just wanted to say recently I used ur panov recommendation with black in your caro kann course and crushed a high rated Russian uscf player in my tournament thanks a lot dude
The 3 knights petroff defense is a really good opening for black in e4 e5, especially after 3. Bb4 4. d3, d5. I'm 2000 blitz and have like a 75% win rate with it, because it forces the opponent to play sharp moves which they won't be comfortable with and they will have to deal with a lack of space.
The second one, the variation against the Scandi, the Lionheart gambit, I came up with independently while trying to play like Alphazero. Good piece activity and all that. I eventually stopped playing it because I thought once black defended the fork I had no more play, so good to know that it's Gotham-endorsed!
Appericiate the effort you put into these, even if the videos don't do as well as your others, people like me still find these super helpfull and I hope these comments will discourage you from not making them. You explain these openings in an easy to understand and intriguing way, making me wanna try new things in chess and I'm sure there are more people like me that feel the same way Keep up the great work and I'll be looking forward to the next one ;)
Levy, a month ago my mother passed away and in sorting through that I really struggled to stay interested in chess. I haven't been back to the club, I keep resigning games after 5/6 moves. I couldn't focus on videos or the recaps. Still can't. But last night, I got to play against a Scandi and for the first time in a month I got super excited about chess again because I just watched the first few mins of this video. Was good to feel positive again about something. Thanks for the videos. Also I don't want to tell you how to run your channel or anything but surely the natural progression is to wear a tank top/shirt hybrid?
Pretty sure Ben Finegold recommended a similar London counter a while back where you can fork their knight and bishop somehow with the f6 e5 maneuver. Can't remember the exact sequence though.
Im very new to chess and watching your videos has really hoped. Every time Ive plateaud I keep playing and I watch your videos and really try to understand and eventually theres a break through. Just yesterday I had a 12 (2 weird early resignations) game streak and I jumped up to low 700's from high 500's. Main difference has been just slowly but surely developing and taking up space with pawns. What I used to do is just try to get the pieces out and hope for the best, and Id often end up with most pawns still on the second rank in early mid game. Just taking space with pawns has made a huge difference lol. Love the game excited to learn more and THANK YOU for the knowledge
Thank you so much, Gotham! I just won a game in 6 moves thanks to your Scandinavian line in this video! it went: 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. b4 Qa6 5. Nd5 (not a great move) c6 6. Nc7+ and black resigned
Gotham, I love you!!!! As you were talking about the Scandinavian defense, I was in a game where he played it. With some minor adjustments, I won his queen on the 10th move!!!
✦ The Vienna Gambit is a popular opening with multiple options for white to exploit black's moves. 00:02 ✦ Vienna Gambit is effective even if opponents know what they're doing. 01:51 ✦ Bishop c4 can lead to a winning trap against the opponent's queen. 05:31 ✦ The advanced variation with h4 is recommended against the Karo Khan. 07:32 ✦ The a3 Sicilian is a unique and uncommon opening with interesting gambit and winning potential for white. 11:14 ✦ The a3 Sicilian is recommended as a fun line to beat the Sicilian Defense. 13:21 ✦ Recommend the Schliemann or the Yanish Gambit as black openings 17:10 ✦ Playing b5 in the opening can lead to quick development and strong attacks for Black. 18:54 ✦ Laser attack on g2 gives black an advantage 22:35 ✦ Game plan: Direct central assault with f6 and e5 24:15 ✦ 8 recommended chess openings for better positions Click to expand 27:4700:02 The Vienna Gambit is a popular opening with multiple options for white to exploit black's moves. 01:51 Vienna Gambit is effective even if opponents know what they're doing. 05:31 Bishop c4 can lead to a winning trap against the opponent's queen. 07:32 The advanced variation with h4 is recommended against the Karo Khan. 11:14 The a3 Sicilian is a unique and uncommon opening with interesting gambit and winning potential for white. 13:21 The a3 Sicilian is recommended as a fun line to beat the Sicilian Defense. 17:10 Recommend the Schliemann or the Yanish Gambit as black openings 18:54 Playing b5 in the opening can lead to quick development and strong attacks for Black. 22:35 Laser attack on g2 gives black an advantage 24:15 Game plan: Direct central assault with f6 and e5 27:47 8 recommended chess openings for better positions Crafted by Merlin AI.
Levy, do you plan on making a video on the Jobava London? I know it’s part of your repertoire and I’m sure everybody would love to learn at least a little bit of it
Yes! As someone who just started going back to chess . Love these videos! Especially the low ELO videos. Not enough of those out there. Mostly are for 1000elo. Which is my goal to get one of this day. But it's like Hideo Kojima says " hey bro, one day at a time , chill"
I do this all the time when I look at an opening, if I keep getting a weird move that i don’t know how to deal with then I look for the line that has the highest win rate and i play that.
With Gothamchess i got from 0 to 1800 and won my chess teacher. *There is some grandmasters who will never be legend, but there is legends who will never be grandmaster* - Stockfish
Against the london, I've found great success with d4 nf6 bf4 c5. there are a couple lines you have to know involving a queen sacrifice but it's a vicious system based on a few key ideas: If pawn is taken, na6 and e6 to scoop it back up. It can't really be defended. If pawn is defended, Qb6: If c3 and Qb3, trade, take on d4, and occupy b4 as an outpost. If e3 and Na3/Nf3, this leads to the queen sac lines and a violent attack down the queenside. Or a forced draw. I've won most of my games in the queen sac lines because the attack is so strong. If e3 and b3, play it like a king's indian defense/reversed Catalan to take advantage of the weaknesses on the a1-h8 diagonal. If c3 and b3, take in the center, and e5 to give a nasty bishop check is a lurking idea. If white pushes pawn to d5, play d6 and e5, and e4 if they allow it. Obviously it's a bit more intricate than this (especially the queen sac variations) but that's the general idea. Of course, if you do this, you have to play nf6 vs d4 c4 lines as well, which isn't a problem for me but it might be an issue for some who already have established preferences.
A video on different endgames would be great. Studying endgames really improved my rating - before this I would have winning endgames and just throw them away cause I pushed the wrong pawn.
Levy, even when you're doing recaps and comic series, I always learn a lot because you're always an educator! I'm glad to see straight-up teaching content, but I'll always welcome everything you do.
In my opinion, Scandinavian opening is good for black(I always play this opening with black pieces). Just retreat queen back to d8 if white move Nc3,then follow by Bf5 no matter how White's play. Because white would normally castle king in the next 2~3 moves, you can catch up developments by not to castle king. Move the remaining knights and bishop out to attack White's castle king. Then Black's win rate is higher than white. If white move Nf3 in 2nd move(to seek for even faster short castle king), then I can beat the white in 10 moves, first Bg4, pining White's queen, then Be7 for white, Nf6 for black,o-o for white, e6 for black, Nc3 for white, at this point white think that his development is much better, but the next moves shock white and white is losing or the game will end with draw. Black moves Qh5, white move d4, black moves Bd6, game is almost over now because black is threaten either Qh2 mate by taking White's f3 knight. The game can continue in many ways but black emerged with 75% win rate. This is one of the famous way to beat early castle king.
For the english I recommend the Nf6, c5, d5 variant. I use this and it's pretty simple and equalizes relatively quickly. Do a lichess study/research maybe to find out how to play it. Example: c4, Nf6, Nc3, c5, Nf3, d5, cxd5, Nxd5 and you are fine basically. Works the same against g3, Bg2 lines
Levy! You are an inflection point in the chess teaching world…!! There’s a lot of content out there.. but you make it so easy and digestible. All material is great! Thank you!
14:55 can someone explain, when we play bishG4 then white can just play H3 and win our bishop AND open up its rook if we just leave our bishop there. Am i missing some basic logic by any chance?
Have been messing around with the Ulvestad Variation (the 2 knights defense he recommended against fried liver) and I have checkmated at least 5 people so far the first day with the queen bishop battery after they move the f3 knight, it is now my favorite weapon against fried liver (behind traxler of course because traxler is goated)
Great video, Levy! Could you also do some d4 and Nf3 positions as well since you mostly focused on e4 for white here. And since I play Sicilian and Grunfeld in most of my games, the black opening choices were a bit redundant. But, nevertheless, I can still use them in my blitz games so thanks for this video! You're incredible!
Hi Levy, can you do a video on attacking ideas? I.e. some common examples of attacking ideas and how to come up with them, how to execute them, and how to counter them?
Me after watching 5 minutes of the video: "Ja, Now I will go and play a 10 minute rapid game and nobody will defeat me" Clicks out and loses in the first 10 moves.
Against 4. d3 Italian if you want to play aggressively there is 4. ... d5 move, it´s extremely double-edged but it leads to quite an interesting and unbalanced game, it doesnt have its own name though and, of course, computer is able refute it, though none of my opponents have ever done so (I score 60% winrate in that variation)
* Hates on Lichess almost constantly during his streams * Uses a Lichess database for the research for this video No need for the Pin Of Shame btw I actually love your content
I've been messing around the the Vienna after playing the Scotch for ages. I see why he likes it so much. So, so many tactics. You get a lot of fun games. It's risky and you can get destroyed if you are not accurate, but damn, it's a fun way to to play, even if you lose.
levy loses against players 1800-2000 FIDE. People talked how Hikaru cannot play classical but it's Levy who cannot play it. That's also why he teaches how silly gambits are so great when people don't have time to think in blitz and counter them without knowing theory
