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The Caro-Kann is one of the strongest defenses against 1.e4 and has gained popularity in the past few years. The opening has various pawn formations resulting from the different variations. One of the richest variations for learning pawn str...
Lately, there has been a lot of news (drama!?) about Hikaru's interesting performances and the posts from Vladimir Kramnik. Hikaru has been a strong classical player and incredibly strong blitz player for decades. He was arguably the top online bl...
In a thrilling encounter during the Titled Tuesday international online chess event, Alireza Firouzja unleashed the rarely-seen Hillbilly Attack against Petros Trimitzios' Caro-Kann Defense. The game, played on February 4, 2020, displayed Firouzja...
Magnus Carlsen has made significant contributions to chess. We can see his influence across various openings. Today, I'm featuring the "Black Knights Tango." This is a rich, complex opening that promises an unbalanced game with a ton of tactics. ...
Welcome to this deep dive into the world of equal endgame, inspired by the legendary Magnus Carlsen! In this video, we break down a thrilling game from the Rochester Open to uncover the strategies that can turn seemingly even positions into game-c...
Welcome to my chess analysis video, where we dive deep into a fascinating game featuring a critical and often misunderstood move: "Pawn to f6." In this exciting encounter between National Master Kyler Weatherspoon and myself, Matt Jensen, you'll d...
In the first round of the Rochester Open, I had the privilege of playing the white pieces in what turned out to be an intense game. The event was a historic moment for my hometown, and I was determined to make a strong impression. I opted for the ...
In the final round of a challenging chess tournament, I aimed for a strong finish as Black. With four draws and three wins so far, balancing my rating against opponents rated 2000-2099 was the goal. I decided to play the Caro-Kann Tartakower Accep...
I kicked off as White with 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Bb4+, and instead of the conventional Bd2, I threw a curveball with 5. Nd2, raising a few eyebrows. Who said chess can't have its own plot twists? Navigating the game, I stuck close t...
In Round One of the Chicago Open, I played as White against Srikar, a 17-year-old with a 2022 rating from Arizona. We had 80 minutes for 40 moves, with a 30-minute bonus after move 40 and a 30-second delay per move. I kicked off the game with 1. d...
I recently did a live pawn structure lesson for the ChessGoals YouTube channel. At the end of the lesson, I showed this sample game I played from the Chicago Open. I had the black side of a Caro-Kann Tartakower that featured a pawn cube formation ...
Do you have trouble against 1.d4? Against 1.Nf3? And some of the other offbeat systems? Against 1.e4, most players have their favorite defense ready to go. The Sicilian, King Pawn, Caro-Kann, French, Scandinavian, etc. But what about against 1...
The final game of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2023 between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi ended in a draw, resulting in a tiebreaker. Ding played solidly with the Nimzo-Indian Defense, but Nepomniachtchi's active play in the center gave h...
The thirteenth game of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2023 between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren. The game began with the Ruy Lopez opening and saw both players making standard moves until move 10, when Nepomniachtchi played a new move, Be3...
Recap of Game 12 of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2023 between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi. The players started with 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 c5 4. Nbd2 cxd4 5. exd4 Qc7, leading to a Carlsbad structure. The game proceeded relatively qu...
In this FIDE World Chess Championship game between Ding Liren (playing white) and Ian Nepomniachtchi (playing black), Ding opted for an English opening with 1.c4. Early on, the game followed a reversed Sicilian with some tactical maneuvers, eventu...
The chess game played between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren in round 9 of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2023 began with a Ruy Lopez or Spanish Opening. White played 4. d3 to avoid the main lines of the Berlin Defense. Both players develope...
This is a recap of the eighth game of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2023 between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi. The game began with 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 d6. Ding sacrificed a pawn to create an aggress...
This was the seventh round of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2023, played between Ian Nepomniachtchi (playing White) and Ding Liren (playing Black). The game started with the French Defense by Ding, and Nepomniachtchi responded with the Tarrasc...
In the sixth round of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2023, Ding Liren (White) and Ian Nepomniachtchi (Black) faced off in a game that featured the London System. Ian went for an aggressive approach with c5, but Ding was able to control the boar...
The fifth round of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2023 featured a thrilling encounter between Ian Nepomniachtchi, playing with the white pieces, and Ding Liren. The game saw Nepomniachtchi go for a Ruy Lopez, a more classical approach compared ...
This is a chess game between Ding Liren and Ian Nepomniachtchi, played on April 13th, 2023, in the fourth round of the FIDE World Chess Championship 2023. Ding played the English System, and Ian responded with the e5 pawn push. Ding built a massiv...
Ian Nepomniachtchi follows the ChessGoals Queen's Gambit course recommendation against Ding Liren in game 3 of the FIDE World Championship. Does he have the course? Typically we see 1.e4 by Ian, and if he plays 1.d4, he goes for a Catalan. Ding...
Here's my recap of game two in the FIDE World Championship 2023 between Ding Liren (White) and Ian Nepomniachtchi (Black), without spoiling the ending. Ding Liren surprises us first with an early h3 in the opening. They head towards a Queen's Ga...
Round 1 of the World Chess Championship 2023. Ian Nepomniachtchi has the white pieces against Ding Liren. The players went for a Ruy Lopez, and this wasn't a boring old draw. We see some winning chances right out of the opening and pressure applie...
