The English Opening: Lecture by GM Ben Finegold

Рет қаралды 45,651

Жыл бұрын

Check out Ben's Chessable courses here! www.chessable.com/author/BenF... The English Opening is a chess opening that begins with the move: 1. c4 A flank opening, it is the fourth most popular and, according to various databases, one of the four most successful of White's twenty possible first moves.
04:00 Yasser Seirawan - Mikhail Tal, Olympiad 1980
12:32 Yasser Seirawan - Viktor Korchnoi, Wijk aan Zee 1980
19:49 Yasser Seirawan - Alexey Dreev, Wijk aan Zee 1995
26:25 Yasser Seirawan - Max Dlugy, World open Blitz 1989
33:06 Yasser Seirawan - Igor Ivanov, US Championship 1991
41:48 Yasser Seirawan - Tony Miles, London 1982
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Thank you Al Argento for sponsoring this video! This lecture was recorded May 8, 2023 in Roswell, Georgia.
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#benfinegold #chess #EnglishOpening

Пікірлер: 81

@SophisticatedBanjo Жыл бұрын

I thought it was a nice thematic touch that Ben delivered the whole lecture in English. Sort of makes his lectures on the French, the Dutch, and the Danish seem a bit low-effort though.

@road_to_gm123 Жыл бұрын

Funniest thing I've read in a while lmao

@younis24de Жыл бұрын

In one of Ben's earlier lectures at St. Louis he started out with "Bonjour to la classe" then followed it up with "Today I prepared you for French with the obvious opening: the QGD Chigorin variation".

@PlguDctR-yb7mi 11 ай бұрын

genius commtent

@miche1df 11 ай бұрын

Hopefully he doesn't do a lecture on the Budapest Gambit, that one might be tough.

@jamesbell1613 2 ай бұрын

But he is Ben and you are not.

@Insidia85 5 ай бұрын

Italian player here. Really needed this lecture to improve my english language skills

@Tocinos Жыл бұрын

The British attack

@ryankirsten2996 Жыл бұрын

Named after Mr Attack

@andrewcavallo1877 11 ай бұрын

The British are coming

@TrueBlueAndrew 4 ай бұрын

Beans on Toast is quite nice yea?!

@Antipodeano Жыл бұрын

Brilliant 👍 didn't realize how great Yasser was. Great opening, many thanks.

@tomswiftyphilo2504 Жыл бұрын

he was us champion a bunch of times

@Matute7231 11 ай бұрын

Love your t-shirt as well :D !

@cherubling Жыл бұрын

nothing better than a full english lecture

@kmarasin Жыл бұрын

1st game: the thing about the Reversed Dragon is that a lot of the hyper aggressive plans that white could normally use against a Sicilian Dragon aren't available to the black side of the Reversed Dragon. Black just doesn't have enough time to use them. Tactically there are refutations everywhere, and basically all exist because white has an extra tempo (sometimes two, if white can play d4 without playing d3, which can easily happen if black doesn't take care to prevent it.)

@OlgaZuccati 10 ай бұрын

basically the reason I dropped playing the reversed Sicilian. There's no castling opposite then pawn storming for black, simply not happening.

@serrie85 17 күн бұрын

Great lecture. I didn't know Yasser was that super strong. Great to see those games where he beats top GMs

@ArchitectGG Жыл бұрын

Huh, I just so happened to see if you had a video on the English and lo and behold, you've just made one! Thanks!

@tonysu8860 4 ай бұрын

This is an interesting approach to presenting the English. I wouldn't call this video an instruction how to play the English because there's almost no consistent structure to the moves, and in a way that's what makes the English so unique... The transpositional opportunities and that an entire White repertoire can be built on the English that supports a wide variety of styles and types of positions. The games Ben chose for this video are all open lines but there are also many closed lines. There are highly chaotic lines, there are lines for players that prefer a dominating center and there are lines that take the hypermodern approach that allows the opponent to take the center only to then be destroyed. There are lines that aim for every kind of advantage imaginable like good and bad knights and bishops, the bishop pair or even dominating knights. In general, the English is best suited for the player that believes he's the stronger positional player rather than testing theoretical preparation although there are certainly a number of forcing sharp lines that require home prep.

@MartinZanichelli 2 ай бұрын

You have also Carlsen-Nakamura from three years ago Tata Steel, Carlsen plays with d3, reversed Sveshnikov.

@richardlindquist5936 5 ай бұрын

Great review, Ben. Thanks. Great choice of examples.

@verstraetenandre Жыл бұрын

3rd game is so Yasser! Yasser the greedy pawn grabber! If you give him a pawn in the opening, he'll keep it!

@kmarasin Жыл бұрын

The Seirawan attack. Half of my opening repertoire.

@TrulyVerity Жыл бұрын

Damn Yasser really beats up on all the greats in this lecture. I always think of Yasser when I think of the english bc of your lectures and his lectures

@wouteroa424 Жыл бұрын

Great sponsor promotion

@nickf31 4 ай бұрын

Just loved A. Jazz music intro B. Sponsor dealt with, all with it 10 seconds. And all done with the usual good humour from GM BF!

@jtrails694 Жыл бұрын

Thank you, thinking about adding this to my arsenal

@davidmurvai40 7 ай бұрын

Wonderful lecture

@mikestubbs1708 9 ай бұрын

Very interesting - good coverage using some top games here!

@harri5475 Жыл бұрын

Why do I need to learn about the English? I already speak it!

@ralph_janoras 7 ай бұрын

Thanks man now i know my openings for the Intramurals at my school:)

@kmarasin Жыл бұрын

5th game: the e3 system is a flexible amalgam of classical and hypermodern ideas. Often white will defend the queen knight with 5.Qc2, allowing black the chance to trade, then fianchetto the QB. I played this opening once, losing a long game as a 14 year old against a 2100. This game reminds me why I liked it so much.

@arnislapsa1619 Жыл бұрын

oh wow... Yasser has a great taste! English is my favorite

@DocMC86 3 ай бұрын

❤ your shirt lol

@Demian_R Жыл бұрын

Thanks so much for the lecture. The English used to be my go to for white, nowadays it's Nf3, but I still use 1. c4 and it's ideas in many games. 👍

@atwarwithdust Жыл бұрын

Your shirt defines 'vegan' as a noun, but the definition provided suggests a verb. Should probably read: '*A person who is* asked where they get their protein like 20 times a day'.

@kioro4221 Жыл бұрын

Correct

@younis24de Жыл бұрын

Yasser Seirawan, our favorite chess player

@Owbly Жыл бұрын

Its good and all but I'm interested in where you get your protein from?

@BMWE-hm7uz Жыл бұрын

Supplements, like the majority of vegans probably. Because nothing says a healthy diet like needing tablets to make up for deficits 🤣

@B0xxar Жыл бұрын

A great selection of games, I liked the Dreev game especially. A really nice plan that shows there are just so many ways to play. Maybe I'll throw that curveball at some caro player in the future.

@tobelli 10 ай бұрын

Love the t-shirt 🎉❤

@stephenphelps920 5 ай бұрын

love your shirt

@kmarasin Жыл бұрын

6th game: this line is really fun to play against an unprepared opponent. It's not a gambit, but it plays like one, and you need that sort of mindset to do well. Don't play it against bots though, you'll get the wrong impression.

@SeriousChess2012 Ай бұрын

Your Shirt IS Good

@mosiyo9678 Жыл бұрын

i like how yasser peacefully playing chess and damn if his opponent make a strategic mistake even god with a gun can't save him from yasser ideas:))

@mauer1 Жыл бұрын

thats nice and all but where do you get your proteins?

@PlguDctR-yb7mi 11 ай бұрын

this might as well be "Great Players of the Past: Yasser Seirawan"

@inf0phreak Жыл бұрын

In the game vs Ivanov (41:00 ish) maybe it was a data entry error and black played Qh8? Then Rh6+ would make sense

@kmarasin Жыл бұрын

4th game: this is known as the Rubenstein system, against which White takes the drastic measure of giving up his fianchettoed king bishop. Now, Ben is always saying that if you play g3, you need a bishop on g2, and I agree. Giving up that bishop for a knight with no compensation apart from the doubled c-pawns is crazy. Seirawan always seemed to have a tactical resource in this game to save him, so brilliant play by him, but not a tightrope I'd recommend for the average player.

@malachickisawesome Жыл бұрын

Let’s go ben

@kmarasin Жыл бұрын

Why are there no closed games? The English is famous for things like the Great Snake variation, which is a reversed Closed Sicilian. I'm sure Yasser has a game or two in that line.

@SanyaJuutilainen Жыл бұрын

Why isn't this called The explosive opening?

@kmarasin Жыл бұрын

2nd game: there's a lot of theory on 4.d4, but it's all old. These days 4.d4 is just about considered an error. If white wants to play an early d4, e3 should be played first.

@krzysztof_puchta Ай бұрын

The first game ends with an assessment that White has a positional advantage, but as far as computer evals are considered black is doing more than fine. Sure, you have to follow up accurately, but I think it isn't an objective take. Black lost because he made a bad move later on.

@trent797 Жыл бұрын

Interesting opening, but does seem a little complex for me right now. Also, I was wondering why black doesn't push e5 to e4 and attack white's knight on f3. I'm sure there is a reason, but that is the move 99% of players under 2000 would make.

@DracoseandCO Жыл бұрын

If the opponents knight is on F6 then the queen is blocked and white can just play kG5 and attack the E4 pawn three times (knight on c3 + fiancettoed bishop)

@benjamiheras9294 10 ай бұрын

That move is pretty uncommon, actually. Black has some tricky tries after 3...e4 (for example, 4...c6 or 4...b5, and you need to be prepared against these moves), but most of the times, if some lower rated player goes e4 he will just lose a pawn and get no compensation whatsoever. There are many occasions in which black can play e4 a bit later, but white is always fine. E. g.: 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 5. Nd5 e4 6. Nh4 O-O 7. Bg2 d6 8. b3, and now 8...g5 traps our knight, but white has the strong 9. Bb2! When a delicate and sharp position arises; white may lose a knight, but black may lose the king.

@greytoeimp Жыл бұрын

What does that mean, ‘sharpest’?

@miche1df 11 ай бұрын

Go Yasser, but stay there

@RhettReisman Жыл бұрын

Great lecture. Where do you get your protein?

@tonimisetic Жыл бұрын

educate yourself so you will know

@davidkincade5360 11 ай бұрын

Thank you for making your videos Ben Finegold. Your content is far superior to gothamchess!

@elijahdonnelly2411 8 ай бұрын

Ben, where do you get your protein from?

@eliasalmaraz8894 10 ай бұрын

26:47

@Deucely Жыл бұрын

They shall come from the Sea, probably.

@prometheus91147 3 ай бұрын

I'm watching that while eating Chicken wings

@guaranagaucho3071 Ай бұрын

Enjoy the diabetes and cancer 👍🏼

@kugelblitzingularity304 Жыл бұрын

Where do you get your protein

@notdanroth 11 ай бұрын

The only time c4 is not explosive...

@jefftaylor1186 5 ай бұрын

Tal just didn’t seem to ever do great against the English. Dunno why.

@yellowdart6666 3 ай бұрын

Just look at all my English games and you will see why it is NOT a good opening 😅

@1c0nic_player Жыл бұрын

second

@kmarasin Жыл бұрын

3rd game: ew. Terrible. This is like what a pawn grabbing bot would play. Also, this is a Caro-Kann, not an English. Advice to the black player who likes the Slav systems but not the C-K: play Nf6 first.

@lewiscook3918 9 ай бұрын

so youre a vegan? that's mad usually they stay so quiet about such things

@russskidmore6893 11 ай бұрын

I was watching this and after a while started thinking ... why would anyone think to ask you where you get your protein from. Just saying, doesnt seem like an obvious question.