A Simple Mental Trick To Endgame Mastery

In this video I will present a method that will enable you to win endgames with a brand new mindset.
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What game is this?:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chess
Chess is a recreational and competitive board game played between two players. It is sometimes called Western or international chess to distinguish it from related games such as xiangqi. The current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from similar, much older games of Indian and Persian origin. Today, chess is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.
Chess is an abstract strategy game and involves no hidden information. It is played on a square chessboard with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. At the start, each player (one controlling the white pieces, the other controlling the black pieces) controls sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two knights, two bishops, and eight pawns. The object of the game is to checkmate the opponent's king, whereby the king is under immediate attack (in "check") and there is no way for it to escape. There are also several ways a game can end in a draw.
Organized chess arose in the 19th century. Chess competition today is governed internationally by FIDE (International Chess Federation). The first universally recognized World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, claimed his title in 1886; Magnus Carlsen is the current World Champion. A huge body of chess theory has developed since the game's inception. Aspects of art are found in chess composition; and chess in its turn influenced Western culture and art and has connections with other fields such as mathematics, computer science, and psychology.
One of the goals of early computer scientists was to create a chess-playing machine. In 1997, Deep Blue became the first computer to beat the reigning World Champion in a match when it defeated Garry Kasparov. Though not flawless, today's chess engines are significantly stronger than even the best human players, and have deeply influenced the development of chess theory.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockfi...)
Stockfish is a free and open-source chess engine, available for various desktop and mobile platforms. It is developed by Marco Costalba, Joona Kiiski, Gary Linscott, Tord Romstad, Stéphane Nicolet, Stefan Geschwentner, and Joost VandeVondele, with many contributions from a community of open-source developers.[2]
Stockfish is consistently ranked first or near the top of most chess-engine rating lists and is the strongest CPU chess engine in the world.[3] It won the unofficial world computer chess championships in seasons 6 (2014), 9 (2016), 11 (2018), 12 (2018), 13 (2018), 14 (2019), 16 (2019), 18 (2020), 19 (2020), 20 (2020-21) and 21 (2021). It finished runner-up in seasons 5 (2013), 7 (2014), 8 (2015), 15 (2019) and 17 (2020).
Stockfish is derived from Glaurung, an open-source engine by Tord Romstad released in 2004.
#chess

[@RaptureReady2025]

This was a big eye opener. I would never have considered switching mindsets. Very good video. 😀

[@SpaceCadet4Jesus]

Next video we need: A simple mental trick to whole game mastery.

[@Shellback13202]

Its unreal what you can teach in less than 9 minutes.

[@_v2.0]

I was a little confused at first, since the bulk of my attacks in games come about by targeting weaknesses around the opponent's king, in what looked like a similar targeting of a weak pawn or square in the endgame. As a result, I've had games where these endgame attacks still seemed okay even after a queen trade (the computer would strongly disagree afterwards). In those games, I guess I had overlooked the fact that my pawn storms were creating more weaknesses in my own structure than my opponent's. Even if was able to weaken the structure around his king, it was difficult to follow up decisively with my few remaining pieces before they started a counterattack against my own weaknesses. This video helped me to finally put those pieces together and cleared up my confusion from some of my endgames that I struggled to analyze, so thank you!

[@pushingyourownagenda9889]

My Move was Rhe1 , Damn C4!! is a real eye opener for me

[@bluefin.64]

Me too. In fact it's one of the most striking eye openers I've ever had. A great choice of example from coach Andras, wonderfully instructive.

[@adamsasso1]

This was great insight. I'm sure I'm guilty of wasting too many moves on attacks that are too late to actually work.

[@fbzz64]

dude your channel is so underrated... just awesome content, thanks a lot for sharing this instructive stuff!

[@ishanr8697]

Superbly planned and executed lesson! Very concise, with great examples. I appreciate the huge effort that must have gone into this, thanks!

[@ChessCoachAndras]

This comment means a lot to me. Recently I started planning my KZbin videos and paying a lot more attention to delivery. This vide was re-recorded 4 times, something I have never done before on KZbin!

[@ishanr8697]

@@ChessCoachAndras It really shows in the quality! Congrats and thanks again.

[@christiancoester2455]

I agree, while watching I also thought the quality was as high as in your Chessable videos. :)

[@bluefin.64]

@@ChessCoachAndras I was too focused on my pet peeve, but now that someone has pointed out the high quality of this video, I realize how much I felt it while I watched, what an organic effect it had. I think it's probably what caused me to make my first comment here. Very good stuff, very promising for your channel.

[@teocantsleep4611]

Andras you're the chess coach I never had. Thanks a lot man, I wish you tons of success, you deserve it.

[@ChessCoachAndras]

Thanks mate, very kind! Enjoy the channel!

[@vadimtigirlas771]

and the award of best youtube chess videos of the year goes to ...

[@raimondspauls]

Thank you, sir! This is a game changer for me. Theory is one thing, but learning the right mindset is usually a big revelation.

[@edmondzeldin7036]

Extremely clear and helpful! Thank you!

[@chessforfunonly1586]

Thank you, Sir Andras! Great tips, as always :)

[@southernrun9048]

Awesome input in a condensed manor. Applicable and great explanation. Thanks!!

[@chessbynabri]

This is a HUUUUUGE video. Thank you a thousand of times.

[@ChessCoachAndras]

Thanks man!

[@foolhardymcpain]

Very instructive content. Perfectly presented. Thanks Andras.

[@1985rostislav]

That was a great video. Short and straight to the point

[@treasonouspigeonpeckers957]

I don’t know how you do it but your videos open me up to ideas I never would have considered.Great content

[@loudfare8840]

Great video, very helpful!

[@AdiSings2023]

Super nice advice here! Thank you!

[@hawkmoon0302]

Typically the kind of thing only a coach can teach, looking at the engine would never lead to this understanding of the game. Thanks for the very clear and well explained video!

[@GibbyNoHeroes]

Great video. Really helpful for me as my endgame is something I am working on.

[@oneman49instruments]

Thanks, really nice to hear you

[@ChessCoachAndras]

cheers!

[@mercedonius]

So much information in 8 minutes, thanks!!

[@ahmedzeid4957]

Wow ! I love how you beautifully understand what amateur players lack and you just hit on the point , Your videos have been making me enjoy the game and have fun playing ! Thank you so much for your help !

[@SoulPredatorX]

Nice video Andras, love your content!

[@ericwagner7747]

another absolute gem. cheers chandra

[@Schnebbler]

Great video. Simple message, clear examples. After watching I checked some of my games and saw that I misplay endgames in exactly this manner.

[@gusserflys]

always on point coach..... thank you

[@alexf0101]

great stuff

[@nomoreblitz]

Always great!

[@christophrode7035]

Very helpful, thanks!

[@ChessCoachAndras]

My pleasure. glad you liked it!

[@RobFraser]

Thanks for the specific recommendations for shift in mentality. Sometimes I find I'm in puzzle mode and trying to solve each position, rather than respecting the phases of the game and implications in each.

[@ChrisCarries_EDC]

Super super helpful. As with many things in life, you are more likely to succeed if you have the correct mentality.

[@miroslavcebic7239]

Great lesson

[@rumpelRAINS]

Great Video!

[@basilisperis4651]

Im looking forward to an endgame course by you!! . I purchased center, development and king safety with videos.

[@emregeylani]

Wow, amazing lesson Andras, literally took notes from it. Thanks.

[@ChessCoachAndras]

Glad you liked it!

[@Socrates...]

Thank you for the great video

[@rotflolawlmao]

Short and sweet.

[@mf3960]

Excelent! First time I saw this guy..Trying to improve my endgame for quite some time..This is great lesson!..I am very often suffering of "endgame freeze" I have like +2 ..and very often proceed to ruin it..and now I know that I really have had wrong aproach..never trully aware that I entered in new phase of the game, where the aproach to the game should be different..tnx

[@ChessCoachAndras]

Thanks for the kind comment and welcome onboard!

[@timwoods3173]

Thank you

[@markhoulsby359]

Great video, thank you. I subscribed to your channel as a consequence of your raiding Jon Speelman's Twitch stream. I'm really glad that I did.

[@megagunner12345]

Wow. I already had much of the material here in my head but that explanation of why Re1 is bad and why you need to provoke a weakness with c4 was awesome stuff. Thanks Andras. I don't know how long it would have taken me to figure that out myself

[@ChessGrandmaster]

Moves like c4 are some are some of the differences betweeen strong amateurs and masters. Thank you!

[@mars4free]

Boomshki ! Sacarino

[@mastercontrol5000]

I like how your accent fluctuates wildly from English to Australian to Scottish

[@ChessCoachAndras]

That's remarkable, considering I am Hungarian:)

[@bluefin.64]

Andras comes from a special place in the middle of Hungary. It's known as the Centah!

[@LordSoviet]

Awesome video

[@ChessCoachAndras]

Thanks mate, appreciate it!

[@tochess-lj5sq]

Here's a video idea: GM Hansen needs a tongue lashing for his opening play in this game - 'gmtalks - Danish Championship 2021 Round 9'

[@badhombre2484]

Great lesson coach! Do you have an Endgame CPR course coming out any time soon?

[@connormonday]

He has a 1.e4 course coming soon!

[@tyrelljeffries2527]

Hi Coach, a very good video but I think you have to make a few more videos on this seemingly very complex theme.

[@ayushkumar-iz2hb]

very nice

[@aburayhankhanrana4836]

it is a very good game. it's change my mindsets

[@jefftheless]

oo this is a banger

[@markhathaway9456]

It's always about the biggest weakness target available and in the middle-game it's often the king, but when that goes away (often, but not always, with a queen trade) the target(s) change to pawns and sometimes badly-placed pieces. But, the goal is not checkmate, so what is it? It's material gain and pawn promotion for material gain.

[@christiancoester2455]

Thanks for the amazing video! How does this relate to your advice in the "development in the endgame" chapter of your Chessable course? It sounds like you're suggesting development should be a priority in only a minority of endgames?

[@ChessCoachAndras]

They walk hand in hand. If you look at what Karpov is doing with the rooks in that endgame...

[@fakefaker5822]

Would love to see videos on the dragon

[@ricj441]

Great video, very nice second example! I guess coach meant "a meaningful plan" at 7:45 ;)

[@kieran6330]

Nice video

[@ChessCoachAndras]

Thanks!

[@saintsaens21]

Lesson learnt.

[@roadrunner4800]

Such obvious concept once explained, but very easy to overlook when you never heard of it before

[@joeshmo546]

Why are you so good at teaching?

[@ChessCoachAndras]

I only hope I am...

[@user-ce2gl6ky2y]

After Karpov played instead of King b1 move a3 Blacks move Rfc8 is very silly)) because there is no threat of Nd5 Much more to the point immediate Rab8 to play quick b5

[@ChessCoachAndras]

Two different main lines.

[@tonyaldridge8917]

👍👊

[@TheBigGuppy]

Commenting for the Algorithm. The endgame is my relative strength at my age. It’s bringing a total change in my opening mindset aiming for better endgame positions. I’m unclear on the supposed disadvantages of the “Hanging Pawn duo” according to Steinitz like in the Tartakower defense. I play well with them usually but they are supposed to be weak according to KZbin guys. That makes no sense and isn’t related to the video but it’s good for the algorithm

[@darnpeach151]

Good idea for the next Guess the Opening video. Compared to the IQP, I (and probably a lot of ppl) know much less about the hanging pawns structure.

[@kangaroozwbas]

Hello, :) Not withstanding the quality of your examples, just to clarify your message; a queenless middle-game is an endgame. Does it turns back into a middlegame if both players managed to promote and bring queens back to the board? 😅😅

[@bustersbrain]

Yes... But... Is there not a question of style as well? Tal and Kasparov always switched gears like that too?

[@ChessCoachAndras]

Yes. It’s not a matter of style but a matter of how the game works.

[@ishanr8697]

Style comes in when there are several good options to choose from all of which are roughly equal in merit. (for example, 1.e4 vs d4, c4, or Nf3). When there are objectively good and bad moves, the professionals all make similar choices. e.g. no pro is opening 1.g4 or 1.h4 becasue "I'm an attacking player".

[@bustersbrain]

@@ishanr8697 So I guess the style choice in this case wouldn't be whether or not to go for a mate instead of a weakness, but rather where and what type of weakness to go for.

[@ishanr8697]

@@bustersbrain In that endgame position (Andras' creation) there aren't currently any weaknesses- the king is not weak so attacking it doesn't make sense. You could sacrifice to make a weakness, but without the queens on and with some minor pieces traded, you won't succeed in mating black so white will likely lose. c4! forces a weakness. All strong players will play this as it's the only way to play for a win.Tal, Karpov, Kasparov, Petrosian.... all would play to force a weakness in that position, not to attack the king.

[@bustersbrain]

@@ishanr8697 Okay, that makes perfect sense. Thanks.

[@dylan1663]

that is so frustrating. Mainly when you love opposite castle and Mikhail Tal's games. Do you really think we have to change our mindset? Does Tal could change this mindset to get an easy endgame or creates chaos in middle game to confuse the opponent? Endgame is not a big risk to a draw ? What's more if you are down with material do we have to accept the endgame? My questions are serious because i love attacking and sac but often I realise that there is no mate and I lose against lower elo than me ( I'm just 1426)

[@bluefin.64]

The only time I ever lost an OTB game a piece up was when I took the advice of a much stronger player to heart. Before the tournament, he said "Attack, attack, attack." I attacked, won a piece, and tried to keep attacking. In the complications, I blundered a rook. What I should have done was trade down to an easily won endgame. There is a right time for everything.

[@JanKowalski-je7qf]

Do you think that Kan Sicilian is good for 2200 lichess? I find it much more comfortable than the Najdorf or the Dragon

[@ChessCoachAndras]

All of them are fine!

[@JanKowalski-je7qf]

@@ChessCoachAndras thx

[@ChessCoachAndras]

@@JanKowalski-je7qf Any time!

[@dmitryyanovsky2426]

At 7:42 I wonder if anyone even noticed that Andras said meaningless instead of meaningful )))

[@australopigreco4225]

How many would have played the pawnstorm or rook e1 in the last position? Defenitely me. I felt busted!

[@BallisticaMetal]

no chicos and chicas? :(

[@bluefin.64]

I so often thought of suggesting and end to the cringeworthy "chicos", "chicas", "baby", hand clapping, etc. Glad to see they are gone. Your natural enthusiasm comes through without them. I thought when this video started that the idea of it was obvious, but I found out I didn't understand when it should be applied. Very instructive.

[@ChessCoachAndras]

As far as the chicos are concerned, one can never make everyone happy...

[@bluefin.64]

@@ChessCoachAndras I know, and I know that's the typical response when somone suggests a change. Also, whatever content presenters do fans will defend you and tell you not to listen. What's more, few want to be negative (I made my comment with discomfort), and negative feedback is seldom treated as useful information . Beyond having a preference satisficed, I think the motive for criticizing often is to help. It certainly was in my case. I believe the change you've made will give you wider appeal, and greater success.

[@ChessCoachAndras]

@@bluefin.64 I have no problems whatsoever with criticism. But there are some that you just can't do much about. Criticism helps me get better.

[@bluefin.64]

@@ChessCoachAndras I believe you, I just don't normally expect anyone to take a criticism like mine seriously when coming from the comments. Anyway, regardless of chicos, I appreciate your work.

[@gavincain9837]

I like the chicos and chicas, shows you are a fun person with a personality

[@kittysplode]

there we are, you have your three days of pity algorithmic praise. i'll be leaving now.