HOW To Understand Chess Openings Instead Of Just Memorizing Them – Dr. Can’s Chess Clinic #5

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The paper describing the decomposition method and connection between the opening and the endgame:

I should also mention two effective methods to gain understanding of our openings:

– looking at model games from our openings – perhaps from chess classics where a middlegame plan was clearly illustrated.
– studying master games from similar pawn structures – even guessing the moves along the way.

28 Comments

  1. PERFECT VIDEO! I need this! Opening is my weakness. From now on, I will study the 12 openings I commonly use! It is important to have a strong opening, middle and end game training to become a tougher chess player.

  2. is there a resource that goes through the openings with their middle game patterns? preferably a resource that just covers the main openings and main middle game ideas for them, not a dedicated resource for just one opening.

  3. Waw, amazing explanation! Your videos are terrific! Can you recommend a book to study these ideas? Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge.

  4. Very interesting thought process w the "decomposition" method

  5. ohhh wow, that Alekhine game with the Tartakower pawn structure was beautiful to watch, pinning the rook, leaving the knight hanging, sacrificing the queen for mate! just stunning geometry!
    great vid once again Sir thankyou!

  6. Fantastic work!! Thank you Dr. Can!! 🙏🏻🏅

  7. keşke videolarınızda Türkçe altyazı olsa

  8. 👌👌👌👌❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

  9. Now the question arises: After we have built up an opening repertoire, where can we find the typical middlegame patterns? Are there any books that can help with that?

  10. My understanding is if black in the Karo can achieve the pawn cube he can generate a passer but don't know the specifics mechanics…

  11. Hello Can. Your videos have been so helpful and I'm about to analyze with ideas in mind (such as multi-purpose moves)… thank you! I'm starting to feel quite bored with the Italian, as if I'm making the same moves every game. I am also unsure what in analysis I'm doing wrong aside from the blunders. It'd be really interesting to hear your thoughts on this, if you get a chance. Perhaps I need to learn different variations of the Italian.

  12. Genius. Few other teachers explain so clearly and connect the dots.

  13. Thanks, this actually makes a lot of sense as a way to approach it. Traditionally I've always neglected studying openings, instead restricting myself to mostly to the Caro and Slav where I'm comfortable. Most of my 'study' of openings has been around dealing with Nimzo and Bogo lines which I don't play myself, but usually need to deal with. I think this is the first time I've heard someone approach openings as an organic area of study rather than a series of known variations someone stronger than you'll ever be developed.

  14. Is someone vacuuming in the living room? Haha sorry. You are a fabulous teacher.

  15. A great video. And a nice surprise to see 'my' Caro-Kann as an opening example 😀

    And I agree wholeheartedly. Most of my opponents (around my rating) leave the book opening early. Or worse, they play an incorrect move. With just memorizing it's really hard to punish mistakes or keep at least a good position. Besides, understanding an opening is much more interesting than the shallowness of memorizing.

  16. I appreciate the explanation on how to understand these chess openings, beautiful ,and it really clicked for me and made perfect sense. I’ve been playing chess for almost 25 years and sometimesI think I’m good, until I playa computer with a2k rating and I get moped like I’m just starting to play. So frustrating but yeah I get it now.

  17. Genius, my man, you are awesome

  18. Wow,what an idea,thanks I never actualy thought of this

  19. This is great advice, thanks Can! Very classy choice for the example opening. 👍

  20. sir..could u please make video or a series of videos on evaluation

  21. Grischuk, in a candidates tournament, said after a game he lost that he knew a certain move was good but he didn't know why. The move was recommended by the computer, he believed it, and when the game went away from the line he had memorized he didn't know what was going on and he lost. In another game (I don't remember if this was in the same candidates tournament or a later on) he did much the same thing.

    One of the best chess players in the world clearly believes that in the opening chess is a game of memory, not of understanding. How can we understand this?

    I think that ordinary players follow the moves of the grandmasters and the champions, even when weak players don't understand these moves, because they look up to the players identified with these moves.

    Even top players like Grischuk can be intimidated by the powerful computers, just as weaker players are intimidated by Grischuk and his peers. When a powerful program that could beat Grischuk ten times out of ten effectively tells Grischuk "do this," he does it, just as a club player who hero-worshiped Grischuk would do what he was told if Grischuk told him, "do this."

    If Grischuk was looking at theory from the games of players of his own strength I think he would be more critical and thoughtful. He would not be intimidated at all. As for theory produced by players weaker than him, he would take an independent view of all of that, based on his own, superior understanding.

    If one weaker chess friend shows another an opening move he has thought of, again the response would likely be critical and thoughtful. There would not be the feeling that "this is what Magnus plays so I want to play that too (even though I don't know why)." There would be estimates of good and bad points.

    Chess players may have a similar underlying attitude, but the stronger ones will seem more thoughtful and less reliant on memory just because the stronger players are outmatched less often and so they go into the mode of imitation and memorizing less often.

  22. Wow, really nice and clear video! I mean sure it’s a logical step to look at the pawn structures which could arise from one’s opening but for me it’s a really new way to look at my openings. Coincidence that I play this variation and I knew an endgame would be losing for me but I never thought on “don’t trade pieces”. So thanks for this video!

  23. Your tip that really helped me was memorizing things as soon as I see them. By trying to do that instead of mindlessly going through moves and planning to remember through repetition, I retain things much faster.

  24. 👏👏👏💯thank you so much for such lucid explanation,on this matter of the openings I am yet to understand , what is equality 😮no chess book I have come across so far has been able to give clear explanation,an How do I gain equality, what I have done in self coaching is I make a serious study of the first10 moves up to the point of castleing of with reason an logic for every move, then I move to another opening,is this a good idea ,?🤔 would like to know what is equality in. Opening

  25. Dude, are you awesome or what? (- ‿◦ )

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