If you’ve ever found yourself half-asleep playing against the London System, you’re here for a good reason. The London is solid, safe, and boring enough to make you question why you even play chess. Here’s the funny part - I di...
This post may be interesting primarily to complete beginners, or to those who are just starting their career as chess coaches and want to learn how to do it properly. The Wrong Approaches Let’s start with the first point: there sh...
It’s been a while since my first post and video on the Reti Opening. Back then, I focused on the classical Reti setup, but these days, the name has been used for a wide range of variations that look quite different from the original. It&rsqu...
If you play the French Defense with Black, there is a chance that you’ve come across this weird move 3. Be3, leading to the Alapin Gambit. It’s strange because White is sacrificing the central e4-pawn and awkwardly tucking the bishop b...
Should Beginners Play the Sicilian Defense? Let’s talk about one of the most popular openings for Black: the Sicilian Defense. It’s a big name, right? You see it in all the grandmaster games, and it’s played at every level of ch...
The Caro-Kann Defense is known as one of the soundest openings for Black against 1.e4. While an opening suited for a GM or IM might not always be appropriate for a beginner, the question arises: How suitable is the Caro-Kann Defense for chess begi...
French Defense is known to be one of the soundest openings for Black against 1.e4, but is it suitable for chess beginners? An opening is suitable for beginners if the moves are rooted in fundamental opening principles. If the opening requires pu...
Here is a video presentation on the Morozevich Variation of the Tarrasch French (1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7). The goal is to explain why one might play this line as Black and what the unusual move 3...Be7 means. The video covers the most popular...
I stood confused after seeing the game played by Kasparov and Ivanchuk, where White, the best player in the world, got completely outplayed in only 30 moves — in the French Defense! I wondered, what kind of French Defense is this? Should I e...
This is one of the rare videos dealing with the main line (Dutch variation) of the Slav Defense. The goal was to present and explain the most logical possibility White has in the line, using a move-by-move method, while also analyzing pawn structu...
I recently published a video on the Maroczy Bind. It took me approximately two weeks to complete, during which time I utilized sources, including positions and examples, that have long been a part of my coaching program. It may be helpful for th...
The first step in preparing the Steinitz variation, whether playing as White or Black, is to examine the best model games. Among these, the match played between Steinitz himself as White and Alexander Sellman as Black is arguably the most instruct...
The setup resembles that of the Dragon Sicilian (with Black), and what White should do is simply check their pawn chain and follow the well-known guideline: play on the side where you have more space, where your pawn chain directs you, which, in t...
It was more of a guess, driven by curiosity. Or, to put it simply, I wanted to avoid the usual theory and dive into a raw, hands-on battle. The game took place in the European Youth Chess Championship in 1999, held in Litochoro, Greece, in a com...
These practical tips are tailored for beginners and intermediate players delving into the French Defense. You'll find two model games to depict the challenges Black might face when a basic understanding of this opening is lacking. By analyzing mod...
I was interested in making the French Defense and the Advance Variation easy to learn and simple to play with Black. Focusing on strategy, rarely seen ideas, and my own experience playing the French Defense, I present to you a line featuring an ea...
Most parents do not have the required knowledge to guide their child on their journey through the world of chess, so they often hire a coach to take care of that. With over 20 years of experience as a chess coach and more than 10 years as a profes...
In this video, for the first time, I got the opportunity to say something about Magnus's attitude towards his opponents, for which he is generally perceived either as a true gentleman or justified as a genius. While I can agree that he certainly p...
Bullet and blitz are by far the most played game variants (time controls) online. At the same time, those two are the most dangerous for every player trying to improve. It is easy to realise that the one who is trying to improve needs to spend tim...
This is (again) taken from the same online live chess lesson I made a video of couple of weeks ago (on Benoni defense). The idea was to discuss various pawn structures, possible pawn breaks, piece-setup, etc, so the next one happened to be the Bog...
A bit dry, but I still think this is good material for a player who doesn't want to devote a lot of time to this specific opening variation. Nevertheless, the content offers good ideas and main motives for Black in the Advanse Caro-Kann. Questio...
The video is made of an online live chess lesson, featuring a student with around 1900/2000 ChessCom/Lichess rating points, whose fascinating voice and comments add a special flavor to the session in general. By watching the video, you can learn...
Tartakower variation of the Caro-Kann provides a specific pawn structure that allows black to opt for many plans, among which in this video I am examining the following ones: b7-b5 pawn advance with an idea to control the d5 and/or c4 square (th...
Guide to the Chebanenko Slav (also known as Chameleon or a6-Slav) Chebanenko Slav, Chameleon or simply a6-Slav, is a great opening choice for Black against 1.d4, especially for those interested in getting into positional, strategic middlegame. Th...
This is a proper guide into the Reti opening when Black uses the New York system or setup. The content you can find here is going to explain you the basic ideas, pawn structure, main plan for White and Black, what is the Reti bishop and the Reti Q...
