Why Daniel’s Speedrun is my favorite RU-vid chess channel? He brings us into his though process for every move. He is clear and concise. He teaches basic but strong smart moves. He does not say hello by name to each and every fans on his chat. He does not go down 17 lines, maybe just one or two. He closes his eyes when calculating complicated future moves and lines ;-D I learn the most from this channel. Thank you so much Daniel!
I am like 150-200 points above the level in the video and primarily play sicilian against e4, and I can also confirm that Bc4 lines are what I see most often from my opponents. It's not just luck, it's really popular at this level for some reason.
Lots of people just play the Italian moves against anything - even in the Caro-Kann I get “pre-move specials” very often (at least there the pawn on d5 makes them pause before going with Bc4).
I love how Danya, even now, still brings up Charlie every once in a while. The "Throbbing Game" is what brought me back to chess, and ultimately to this channel.
Yep, very common at our level. I don't play the Sicilian anymore, but even against the effing Caro Kahn, Bc4 is still somewhat common, leading to the Hillbilly attack, which is a toothless opening for White.
“This is where our opponents should resign” Danya I think you’re forgetting the influence of Levy amongst sub 1500s, NEVER RESIGN, hope your opponen blunders multiple major pieces instead :D
i mean, if it wasn't Danya playing then actually who knows. i myself have stalemated more games than i'd like to admit. but i also think there is other side of it - are these ~100points MAX worth it? most of the time you'll just end up more tilted and waste time. even at ~1200-1500 i think. it's rapid, let me remind.
If your not a professional chess player, I would advise to resign after blundering a piece for no compensation, it is not worth getting tortured for a normal player.
Had a game once where I (then 1400) blundered a knight straight out of the opening (1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 4.d4 g6 5.Ne4 Qe6 6.Bd3 f5 7.f3 fxe4), but then tricked my opponent into blundering their queen a few moves later (8.fxe4 Bg7 9.e5 Nh6 10.Qe2 O-O 11. Bc4 1-0). So yeah, if you're below a Master level, never resign. If you're bad enough to blunder the game to your equally-matched opponent, they're bad enough to blunder it back to you.
@@usageunit Actually I agree with you that at that rating level, maybe play on and play for tricks. I am about 1800, at my level it is highly unlikely that they will blunder a piece or more back.
The most instructive single video on chess that I have come across so far on RU-vid for intermediate players where virtually every sentence said is meaningful. Wow! Keep it up, super coach, David!!
I got into chess properly due to these videos from danya over the pandemic. Recently started playing otb at the local chess club. And this video helped me win my first otb match in the local league as I faced the bowdler. Thank you so much
hey daniel- jus wanted to say thanks man- your explanations and teachings thru-out your videos have single handedly helped me so much. im looking for tactics i used to never look for- im seeing better moves than i used to- playing a lot better than i used to thats forsure. recently climbed from 800 to 1200 (i know im still not very high rated lol) and your videos have bbeen a major major help man. appreciate you for putting so much effort into teaching and explaining things to your audience! theres a lot of good chess content creators but you are forsure the best! thanks brother
I am a sicilian player in around 1700 Elo. I actually stopped studying the main lines and started focusing on antisicilians and this Bc4 lines because everyone just plays them
Main lines will be played once you climb the rating ladder. The anti-sicilians give very comfortable positions for black because white makes concessions just to avoid main lines.
14:00 I have a tiny argument to make for a5 and developing the bishop to a6 because to me, e5 looks like it's ruining the scope of my dark squared bishop. Instead, A5 also comes with tempo because it threatens a skewer and we can further prepare a pawn push to A4 and subsequently A3. I'd pick a5 over e5
Seriously everyone plays the Bowdler. I remember an earlier video from you or someone that disregarded this as a fluke that no one plays. Glad to finally get some better tools and insights to fight it better.
You are the only chess channel I watch all the content of. Nothing against a certain more prominent chess influencer, but your commentary is just substantially more engaging.
(6:27) It amazes me how Daniel looks away from the board, or even shuts his eyes, when he *really* wants to think about a position. I've seen Nakamura do that, too. Beth Harmon used to look at the "pieces" on the ceiling. :) For me, I can't imagine how I could see a position more clearly by *not* looking at the position on the board, especially when calculating various possible continuations. I think truly brilliant chess players, like Daniel, simply "see" things differently than us duffers.
This is why it's important to do prep against alapin (and other sidelines) just as much as open sicilian. If played correctly then it's just an equal, passive position where it's hard for either player to get an edge. There is an aggressive line for black: 1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bf5 On the 5th move you are better developed and ready to castle. The queen can't be kicked because the c3 pawn cramps white's development. There are also a lot of traps that white can fall into. (That being said, I don't like alapin with either colour lol.)
And sadly it goes both ways. I usually play anti-Sicilians as white, but even when I do let black go for a main line they end up playing some garbage on move two or three.
After some days of rest I enjoyed so much watching Danya again!! Slowly but surely, I feel every time I understand more and I am able to learn more from your speedruns and lessons... thanks so much!
I suspect that most of these players that play Bc4 against the Sicilian probably also play some variation of the Italian game against e5. I've noticed that especially around the 1300-1500 level a LOT of players like the idea of having a "system" where they play similar moves regardless of the opponent's responses
It's crazy because sometimes there are in fact deeper ideas. I play the Italian myself and I also play the Smith Morra against Sicilian in which case the bishop also bites on granite. But it often plays a crucial role in keeping the tension, knowing that it's likely the diagonal will open eventually.
@@marcofrey2903 Fischer-Sozin Attack is like this but with the knight on d4, white can play f4-f5 to soften e6 and can often sac the bishop on e6 when the d4 knight can recapture. One of my favourite najdorf variations.
as a 1500 I personally find it better to delay the move e6 in the opening because it's like a 30% chance my opponent plays ng5 to go for some fried liver attack. I pause for a moment to let them think I'm worried, then play e6. Often the follow up is qf3 trying to mate me, but it blunders the knight. Won many a game this way playing the accelerated dragon.
Bro first of all you can take the knight instantly, If I understand correctly.. You dont need to wait for Qf3. Second, do you realize that after you play e6, literally all of his attacks in the fried liver / scholars mate type of plays get neutralized right? 😂😂 Also, after you do that and you opponent gets a mental breakdown because he went ooga booga and can't attack, you can go Nd4, threatening the queen AND if the queen moves to the wrong square than you fork the rook and king and win the rook. If he moves to a square to defend that, at least you have a strong knight on d4. You welcome 🙂
@@buzzer2231 what, no it doesn't. Let's say this situation : 1. e4 c5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Nf3 **e6** 4. Ng5 🙄 **QxN** . You can take the friking knight because it's not defended. Put this on a board you will understand
@@andremarques1088 I delay the e6 move to bait the fried liver, if I played it earlier then my opponent wouldn't go for ng5. 1. e4 c5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Nf3 g3 4. Ng5 e6 5. qf3 qxg5
Just dropping by to say, what an amazing game. Maybe it's the fact that the game rating was right at my level, or that Danya just kept predicting his opponent's play move after move after move! Just shows you how much these GM's really understand the mind of your average 1500 player. As always, a pleasure watching your speedruns, Danya. Thank you for the invaluable content you put out there for us. There's casual fun chess content creators out there, and there's seriously helpful chess content creators, who really help you climb the rating ladder, and then there's Danya: our Covid-Vaccine distributing Knight!
Best part when Danya showed the tactic from the Scotch. Every opening you learn, you are learning tactics and positions that will be found in other openings. So don't learn openings, that way I can beat you easier.
First time looking at the sicilian, i play the alapin against it as white, but feel like switching up my openings and expand my knowledge. I almost never see the sicilian playrd at 1000 and i know you need to kearn a lot of variations of it and i feel like i have learned how to study openings for me to finally dive into it.
I have made a ratings living off Bc4 early in the Sicilian. I play e6 and then d5 and as Daniel said, black is already slightly better because he has more space and easy development.
The most dangerous lines for white in the Nf6 alapin involve an e6 pawn sacrifice to damage black's king safety. It creates an unbalanced fun position.
well they play the dubious bowdler against it not the italian, Bc4 in the sicilian is more closer to the fisher-sozin but this version is terrible since the D pawn hasn’t moved for black.
Hey Danya, I was wondering if it was possible for you to ask one of your subs who plays D4 to challenge you to a speedrun game. I really love the speedrun so far as it has immensely helped me broaden my opening repertoire, but with D4 I am a bit confused against of what to do and almost always get complacent and default to a semi-terrasch-esque setup as black and nobody explains openings as well as you do, thanks!
BTW, anish in his najdorf course evaluated all that bishop c4 stuff as a sideline, but not that bad move. But i guess it works better aganst d6 najdorf setup maybe
Bc4 on move 6 is the Fischer-Sozin Attack. It's different on move 6 because the c and d pawns have been traded, the knight is on d4 and d6 has been played. Black plays e6 to blunt the bishop but, with the knight on d4, the f pawn is no longer blocked so white can play f4-f5 to soften e6. Also white is looking for a good opportunity to sacrifice the bishop on e6 as the d4 knight can come in and recapture and start an attack.
@@wildorca4500 Nono, it was in "24. Various 3rd moves" chapter and he talked about it like pseudo italian, refering to Aronian and other good GMs. Bc4 on move6 is totally different thing, I agree
@@aDushandrii Aah right, I thought you meant the Bc4 najdorf. I think Bc4 on move 3 is playable but just not good. Like it doesn't really do anything useful. The pseudo-italian setup is fairly common for black in the english but I think it's different because the pawn is on g3 so pushing e3 would create holes on the light squares.
GM Danya, as you point out, (beginner) players often incorrectly play the Italian (ie. Bowdler) against the Sicilian defense. However, computer evaluation gives a score of about zero in many lines of the Italian game against the Sicilian. While it may be easy to nullify the Italian game (with e6) when playing the Sicilian, can you please do a video on how to truly PUNISH white for playing the Italian opening (ie. Bowdler) against the Sicilian? thank you for considering !
Sorry for being late however I wouldn’t trust the computer evaluation, allowing c5 and d5 makes black somewhat better and his play and plans are easy and natural whereas white has to play accurately for the entire game just to stay alive. One single inaccuracy from white and the position turns ugly fast and one single inaccuracy from black and the position is equal. Computers do not see the horizon therefore it won’t appreciate black’s long term harmony until later.
i think you can waite long for the mainline. i started playing the classical sicilian some weeks ago and play it exclusivly i got one rauzer in like 40 games 1650 rating in rapid chess. tbh i dont mind i picked the classical because you get an assymetric position and only one theoretically challenging line in form of the rauzer
What happens in the game before this? Looking at FrankfurtAirport profile there was a game between the AnnekeO game (previous RU-vid video) and this Coincidentally that opponent was TOMO1216 who played in one of the previous videos too so I wonder what happened there.
Danya, I've always wondered how your vocabulary is so rich and god damn brilliant despite you majoring in History at university...not insinuating anything negative here but I must say I'm VERY impressed and I'm glad to have learnt a lot of new words from your videos, aside from chess! ☺️ I love what you do and you remind me of a mobile gamer on youtube who did a degree in business and has vocabulary almost as good as yours!
@Lucas Sipe yeah ik, i don't mean to come off as condescending, but im always impressed by people who have a large vocabulary bank, and danya is exceptional in the sense that he is the most eloquent person that I've heard speak so far...
In this interview, the speaker discusses how they have yet to get a 1d4 or accelerated dragon in their exploration of the Sicilian, and how they continue to get Bishop c4 instead. They explain how to meet the Bishop c4 system with e6, followed by Knight g8 to f6, and then the options available such as castling and knight c3. The speaker also suggests d5 as a counterattack to e5, and d4 as a way to force an endgame with white having to move their king.In this excerpt, the speaker talks about two different approaches to the game. The first approach is d takes e4, which can lead to a slightly better end game for black. The second approach is to develop pieces with bishop e7, which is seen as a better option than capturing the white knight as it would give up the bishop pair. The speaker then talks about a move by white of 95, which is not seen as a threat, and suggests a defense with queen c7, as well as an alternative of queen b6. The speaker explains that queen h5 is also possible, but it can lead to complications, and suggests an intermezzo move instead.In this excerpt from an interview, the speaker discusses the importance of being careful when playing with a hanging queen and the strategy of using a desperado sacrifice in certain positions. They then discuss the strategy for a Sicilian opening, noting that Queen d3 is an awkward square and that the pawn can be pushed to e5 to open the light-squared bishop. The speaker then advises to use the time while their opponent is thinking to discuss philosophical topics.In this excerpt, the speaker is discussing the chess move "bishop takes e6, bc" and explains that even though it is an ugly pawn structure, it is advantageous as they are up a piece. They then explain two possible moves to deploy the bishop away from c8 and recommend the move e5, as it comes with tempo. The speaker then explains that after e5, the white queen can jump to a6, but that can be met with rook f8 to c8. They then suggest knight g4 as a 1800-1900 level move and rook d8 as a 2300 level move, as it will force the white queen out of squares and potentially lead to a queen trade.White had to take back with a pawn after knight g4, and Black played bishop e6 first and then knight g4. White aimed at f7, and Black completed the development with bishop e6. Black then used a queen trade and bishop h4 to win a pawn and infiltrate the second ring with a rook. White's position then collapsed and Black used a trick with rook b8 to set a trap with rook f2.In this interview, the speaker explains how to transition from a winning position to a victory in a chess game. They discuss the importance of avoiding blunders, and recommend playing in a simple and clinical manner. They also explain how to use the endgame principle of using a pawn as a shield, and suggest the move of rook a3 to b3 to shut down any counterplay by the opponent.White was able to take advantage of their opponent's blunder, setting up a ladder with the queen and using it to checkmate their opponent on b1. This game highlighted the importance of being able to deliver a checkmate, as Charlie, from Moist Critical, had difficulty with this as a beginner