This reminds me of the video of the young kid saying i got a new girlfriend, my pizza rolls are ready, I'm playing Fortnite with my boys, life is amazing!
I cannot stress enough just how good these speedrun videos are. 15+10 is perfect, the calm board (yes, it really helps) and the entire layout is absolutely perfect for chess players of almost any level. Your commentary while playing greatly levels our understanding of these complex positions, even if by now we have arrived at a rating where games are sometimes about such subtle details that the average player can struggle to follow the flow of the game. Please keep making this style of speedrun videos, even if it will be a 1:1 same speedrun with just slightly different openings to this one. There is a chess content void left by a more flashy style of videos (Gothamchess) and the pure analytical videos that require multiple Harvard degrees to understand and this speedrun is perfect for the people with a decent attention span that want to improve their understanding of Chess. Thank you Danya 🙏
Danya, your teaching skills are amazing, and combined to your chess skills and determination to make these videos, this makes you an invaluable ressource for the chess community. Thank you again and please do not stop to create this godsent content.
56:13 You're never boring, you're awesome! 🤩 The lines are fascinating, and the depth of your knowledge and manner of explaining are incredible. Thank you for it all :)
Danya, listen: WE LOVE YOUR VIDEOS, NO MATTER HOW LONG THEY GET TO BE. (I actually would be onboard for a lot of other Najdorf lines). Sending you a lotta love from Brazil 🇧🇷
Wow, Danya went for a hat trick tonight! We've got three new words to add to the vocabulary list I've learned from watching his videos! Updated list: Audaciously Respite Apriori Assiduous Ensconce Circumspect Convoluted Endemic Revulsion Enthralled Gradation Phalanx Conflating Myopic Scant Crux Excoriate Peeve Foible Predilection Drab Compendium Vocab elo: 3225!!
It was my first time watching his videos and I was so impressed when he said "a priori"... I think it was originally coined by Kant in the "Critique of Pure Reason". Or at least that's where I first came across it.
Yeah his vocabulary is quite astounding. I knew most of these words although English isn't my first language, but I wouldn't be able to use them as casually as he does.
Opponent’s game history suggests that he stream sniped his way into this game (rarely does rapid and then plays a singular game in the middle of a streak of 30 blitz matches) - just a lil sketchy
his opponent repeatedly played moves that danya verbally suggested to him, up to a certain point when danya caught on and stopped suggesting/predicting moves for him out loud. then his opponent stopped playing the best moves and quickly collapsed and lost huh. odd case!
@@xNOTMYREALNAMExIt isn’t black and white as you suggest. Danya made some serious inaccuracies this game and a4 was a mistake. Moves such as b4 are natural to a 2100 player and i do think Danya played the opening and most of the middlegame game much below a titled player but he managed to slowly turn around his troubles in the end.
@@faznaz7455 No he didn't. He played book moves all the way into the middle game. Then he had a better position, playing very well up until he played 25.a4 which only landed him in a slightly worse position. Then he didn't slowly turn around his troubles. He actually let the position slip even farther until his opponent made a series of blunders. The turn around was quick. Your point would be fine if your argument wasn't completely false at every turn.
fun fact miguel najdorf largely stopped playing the opening by his name later in his career because the theory had expanded far beyond his grasp, if i recall right he recounted a specific few times he was caught in the extensive prep of much younger players and lost. not sure if danya mentions this because im only halfway through but still.
I think Danya, if you can find a way to teach us how to calculate and visualize complicated lines in games like this, we'd be veeeery much obliged. Because this is the real skill, like the actual chess skill. And I understand it goes way beyond solving mere 'tactical puzzles'. Oh I'd be so happy if this can happen. Or, if someone in your editing crew can help animate your real time calculation process on a separate analysis board for youtube, that would be great!
Most of it you can study when he does puzzles there all he does is calculate but still i would be very happy if he published a course or video on how to calculate and train calculation properly
I don't really think there is a way of teaching this (as much as I wish there was) besides recommending certain books and exercises. Your ability to visualize and calculate is directly proportional to the amount you practice and the quality of your practice, with a coefficient being your talent. I would just find and study chess books that specifically focus on those skills (of which there are many). I don't personally own any on the topic, but I flipped through Cognitive Chess by Chernyshov in a bookstore and it seemed promising.
Yeah. That’s because there isn’t really a way. Simply because everyones brains are different and everyone visualises differently. Like everyones minds eye has different levels of vividness etc. So the only advice anyone can really give you is how to recognise where to calculate, how deep and what moves to calculate first. With the rest of it coming from just practice. Or general mental wellness stuff like good sleep, exercise, diet, memory exercises etc.
There are a number of calculation courses on chessable and that would be the place to start. There's a new one by Gangly I just put in my wish list. He suggests it's for everyone but I suspect it has some incredibly complicated material too. I think the go-to course is from Azel Chua, Calculation, a complete guide for tournament Players. He did a follow-up to it and a third course as well. It nearly one course of the year.
Switching to the Najdorf back when I was more consistently playing in OTB tournaments really reinvigorated my enjoyment of the game. The positions are just so fun and dynamic, and it's really given me an edge to face 1800-2000 level players head on. So excited to see what I can learn from Danya :)
@daniel naroditsky I was considering taking the B on b6, Qxb6, Bd8 - if queen moves we go b5 and trap B. So white has to give up exchange on d8. Maybe insufficient compensation for black with exchange up or am I missing something?
I satrted watching chess vids with Gothamchess, I found you Danya and can honestly say, you sir are my favorite chess content creator. I recently purchased yours and Bortnyk's Jobava course. Your sub count does NOT say enough about your contribution to beginner and beyond chess players. Thank you, Mr. Naroditsky.
Six time Florida Champion Gary Sanders 2400+ USCF showed me the idea of a5 in 1992 from his own analysis. RIP Gary, you would have been a GM if you had been able to get to Europe. 😢
ohh i’m such an arsehole, once i’ve done all my jobs i just want to sit in the bath with a beer and watch the speedrun. love the analysis, i was a solid 1650 and since watching daniel i’m a solid 1800 on internet. I’m sure it’s because i hear you walk us through the moves so clearly. Thanks so much
Always great video's. ❤ Can you play evans gambit sometimes? I want to know what happens if you play evans at higher than 2000. With your explanations would be 👍
Ironically enough Danya had already played this opponent in another speedrun (Smith-Morra Gambit ACCEPTED | The Sensei Speedrun | GM Naroditsky - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-7ntWn4K1_E4.html) He played pretty well until he blundered and then resigned
This guy's recent losses are very sketchy. Literally blundering queens and bishops by placing them next to a pawn or directly in front of a capturing piece against 1900's. @@morenocroda3984
Really looking forward to this series you wanna make where you compare how chess players of different levels handle a position. I think you could introduce many high level and instructive ideas
At 16:00, you played Ra6. According to Stockfish 16NNUE, h6 or Rc8 seem to maintain Black's advantage in this position. I was wondering whether you would be kind enough to explain the reasoning behind the recommendation h6. I just don't understand it. It seems odd to take time out here to give the king some luft. Similarly, I don't understand the move Rc8, other than it claims a semi-open file and covers the c5-square somewhat. Thank you kindly in advance.
Daniel; great video! so much to unpack with this crazy opening. You mentioned you had problems in a game after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Qf3. After seeing this video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4ZYZkbFfS8M.html about oddball replies after 5 ...a6; and then running it through the engine it turns out the best reply and approach for black is to play a dragon type setup with 6 ...g6 which gives black an ever so slight advantage but enough to tip the scales if your ever likely to face it again :)))). Anyway hope this helps.
Well, I made it through the entire video! While I might have a headache from trying to follow all that deep analysis, I feel that even if I understood fully only 10% of the video, it must have had a big positive effect on my overall chess understanding.
I just do not understand what Danya means when he says "plus over minus" (to indicate white is better - but by how much?), and Google really doesn't seem capable to help. From sports commentary to mathematics pages on Wikipedia, I couldn't really find an answer. Help? =,) 1:12:10
I have never regretted a chess based decision more than when I choose Najdorf as a beginner 5 years ago. Now I have obviously spend dozens hours learning opening theory so I cant really switch the opening anymore. I play Najdorf for more than 5 Years and reached 2000 Rating with it but I still have absolutely no clue whats going on. Beginners and Intermediate players STAY AWAY from that opening. Its the worst opening choice you could possibly make below Master level.
Yeah this one played impressively well until the late middlegame. He rushed on some very important decisions that deserved a bit more time to examine, thus losing his chances to put pressure. Even the Queen and Rook position should have been a decent position but he played some slack moves and allowed black’s queen to infiltrate.
The unawareness of some people in the comments jesus. 2200s are patzers, why would you defend somebody when it comes to online cheating if he's playing like a GM for the first 15moves?
Ok, so most players would not even begin to have the time to learn the Najdorf well enough to play it, but you may have no choice but to play against it. It would be nice to get some general strategic advice for what to do if your opponent uses the Najdorf against you and you know little or no Najdorf theory. Funny aside, I was playing the computer at full strength for kicks, and it chose the Najdorf. I thought I got a strong position with both of blacks wings unsafe, and the king in the center, and I prepared to blast it open. I was shocked at how much latent power blacks pieces built up and unleashed! Thanks again for the best and most entertaining chess instruction on the internet.
This is fantastic stuff. I wish I could Like and Subscribe more than once 😅. Dedinitely going to go buy your course to support you (and bc the Jobava seems like an amazing weapon).
Most obvious cheat in the world but really impressive how you managed to fight back! Those people have no shame playing 10moves of precise theory even in unknown lines
What a video!!!!!! So entertaining that I didn't realise how long it was until you pointed it out. From a nail-biting game to such a bountiful analysis of all the mistakes and ideas in the positions and calculations. Keep it up Danya!
Wow. Those psycho complications in the a5 variation were fascinating to see. And I loved seeing the behind the scenes look at those grandmaster sidelines. Another masterpiece to be sure.
10:03 he archives the person lol then moments later says, "I am impressed with how our opponent is handling this line. He knows a lot more than even some gms [aka fabiano caruana]" lol
I tuned into the speedrun around 3 months ago and have been watching religiously. I love the content and I started liking opening theory because of you. My rating went from 1250 to 1400 !! It may not seem like a lot to some people but for me it means a lot. thanks danya !
1250 to 1400 is a big jump, especially in that low- intermediate ELO range that can be a minefield because you are usually good enough to know a move is bad, but not always how to punish it, causing you to lose rating easily (plus people still play weird stuff that is not in an opening course many of us are working through making them look like geniuses). It took me like the last 6 months to just consistently stay in the 1500's. Good luck on your chess journey!
