New Series: 'How To Beat...' (Episode 1 - The Stonewall Attack)
Happy October to you, chess friend!
A new month is an opportunity to set fresh goals and move things in a new and better direction!
Earlier today, I played my first over-the-board blitz games in a year. They were just friendly games, but that feel of sitting at the board, and physically moving the pieces, brought back some of that old joy for chess.
I have some exciting news to share in this post...
Namely, I have started a brand new series on YouTube!
It's called 'How To Beat'..., where I show how to win against something.
That something includes:
- Openings/systems;
- Specific players (from Carlsen to old rivals);
- Players of a certain rating;
- How to beat specific pieces (like the knight, bishop, etc)
- How to win certain tournaments (be it the World Championship or your local club championship);
- Any other suggestions you may have! Let me know what topics you'd like to cover in this 'How To Beat...' series in the comments below!
The plan is to release one episode in the 'How To Beat...' series on YouTube for each day in October. (I already have the first four episodes scheduled for publishing). From there, we'll see how people are vibing with it, and pick topics based on my own ideas and what people want to see!
For Episode 1, I covered the Stonewall Attack, as that's what my FIDE 1700-rated opponent played against me in our first game.
Here's the video, showing the game and the step-by-step process of how to beat the Stonewall Attack:
For those who don't know, the Stonewall Attack is where White plays d4/e3/f4/c3, building a 'stone wall' of pawns on the dark squares to try and tie up the board. For example:
And here are the steps to beat the Stonewall Attack:
Step 1: Don't block in your queen's bishop - develop the bishop outside the pawn chain before playing ...e6.
Step 2: Exchange off their good bishop (the light-squared bishop on d3) for your light-squared bishop, so they are left with a 'bad' bishop on c1, stuck behind the pawns.
Step 3: Consolidate the position, neutralizing your opponent's attack while bringing all your pieces to good squares. (Such as the juicy e4-outpost left behind by the f4/e3/d4 structure). It's especially nice if we can get a knight to the e4 outpost (like I did in the game).
Step 4: Start creating and targeting the opponent's weaknesses, like the backward e3-pawn and White's queenside pawns. (The more pieces get traded, the worse their dark-squared bishop will be). Eventually, the opponent's position will collapse.
As a reward for reading this on Chess.com - by far my favourite chess server to play on - here is the full 3+2 blitz game for you to play through at your own pace, with my notes:
Comment below - What would you like me to cover next in the 'How To Beat' series?
