Basic Openings for Black | Sicilian Dragon & King's Indian | Chess with David Pakman

[@treeinafield5022]

In my opinion, this is THE best and most valuable part of pogchamps. The 2-3 week period of training before and sometimes during the tournament. Pogchamps generates hours of chess lessons from multiple chess teachers that is viewed by thousands of viewers from different communities across twitch. The antics and the entertainment from the games of the actual tournament is just something extra, a cherry on the top.

[@surrender9001]

I totally agree. As a new chess player, these lessons have been invaluable for me.

[@midhunrajr372]

i agree

[@TrevorOFarrell]

Spot on, I dont watch the live tounry, but this was helpful for me, a 1700 KID player lol.

[@ber7129at]

So this was my favorite Rosen video ever. What other you tubers provide this type of deep opening analysis?

[@cannastartover1720]

Chess players 700-1200 are playing better and better, the difference is just time spent gaining points.

[@surrender9001]

"Alexa, stop it!" is the most verbally aggressive I've ever witnessed Eric. I appreciate his firm, but measured, response to Alexa's attempt at upstaging him.

[@puzzLEGO]

timestamp pls (I'm lazy)

[@surrender9001]

@@puzzLEGO 30:00 - 30:15

[@puzzLEGO]

@@surrender9001 thanks

[@mphenomenal]

😂😂

[@GriffonksxEX]

Eric: you need to hallucinate to see the dragon… Alexa: I’m not sure about that Lol

[@ber7129at]

Rosen, this type of content is fantastic!! Don’t get me wrong, I really do love the funny gambits and ooops I lost my queen. But real basic yet through analysis of basic openings - you just explain it so well. Please do more!

[@Leergutonkel_]

totally agree here. please bring something like this more often to youtube

[@Vernalobos]

I have to agree, I have learnt so much in this video

[@joewagner4593]

Search st louis chess club. He has a lot of instructional videos there.

[@aesaphyr]

I love Eric's lessons on chess openings and theory (as opposed to the wild gambits), as you say he's a great teacher and he's so systematic and thorough.

[@aesaphyr]

@clysses S Having seen how Eric gives lessons through his twitch account, what he usually does is start with the basic theory and most common lines, then next lesson he goes more in depth with the weaknesses and particularities of the openings - usually when the player has had time to encounter them irl otherwise I guess it's all just theory for them. I saw him do this recently with Andrea Botez, he has a first London System lesson with her that's already on youtube, and last week he had a lesson with her on Twitch that went very in depth into the London System and challenges her more.

[@HafusAndLegacy]

pretty much everything ive learned in a year with black was in this video lol

[@imamgiuseppe5103]

Why a year?

[@kiffy00]

@@imamgiuseppe5103 because

[@nyawho.]

Hey im a beginner and i wanna ask for your opinions, how long after beginning when you can actually win games? Im stuck with blundering at the middlegame, i just started 3 days ago

[@kbat]

@@nyawho. I suggest learning very basic openings to put yourself in good positions, focus on not blundering middle game. Focus on being careful rather than aggressive, at lower levels your opponent will make mistakes that you can exploit. Work on endgame and principles like forking and pinning to help you win even when you're down material.

[@nyawho.]

@@kbat damn thanks dude, i might try learning again after i learn coding for high school, i got a lot of things on my hands and i love it. Once again thanks for the tips!

[@houdinilinguine1073]

Its Pogchamps season boys, we get free in depth lessons from various youtubers again

[@centrelink6003]

This is nothing like cringe “pogchamps” grow up

[@astridwilde]

@@centrelink6003 he's literally coaching him for pogchamps though 6:02

[@centrelink6003]

Astrid Wilde ok I quit chess forever now

[@tamro9701]

@@centrelink6003 grow up

[@steggyweggy]

Centre Link “Other people play chess and I don’t like it so I quit.” What a baby

[@Blandified]

This is probably hands down the most instructional video from you, Eric! Absolutely loved it and really looking forward to more content like this.

[@BBeowulf]

I know this video is 2 years old and it's highly unlikely you'll even see this but I'd really love it if you could make more videos like these, this is one of the only videos I've been able to easily digest and learn a specific opening, it's the best video I have watched for this purpose. I think it helped you had someone else who was a relative beginner to explain it to also who could ask questions like "What if his pawn takes here..." for example. Some other IMs/GMs will just tell you specific lines that never get played at my level with little explanation behind the moves themselves and will say something like "every other move is bad" but then not explain exactly how to punish those "bad" moves because to them it's just obvious but in some cases is a complicated (or at least non-intuitive) set of moves.

[@snowpants2212]

This instructor has an egoless manner that I really enjoy

[@bagggg445]

this is why i watch eric instead of gotham chess

[@kyleangelocastro9460]

@@bagggg445 gotham isn’t like that though? It’s more sarcastic

[@soulreaverable]

@@kyleangelocastro9460 Yeah if anything Hikaru is the one that’ll draw arrows across the whole board just to flex. Not even Magnus does that.

[@jacksontrollinger876]

Thats why he's an IM instead of GM

[@4Mikes4Mindset4]

@@jacksontrollinger876 interesting

[@tizzlebub]

I never thought I’d learn the Sicilian dragon in under 10min! I love your pace in this video. David ask great questions too. He read my mind when he asked about what to do with the white bishop

[@naserznaserz]

Hi Eric! I'm back watching this video after watching it the first time around 4 months ago! Ever since, I started just playing Sicilian Dragon with black. Just that. I'm up from 600-ish rating to late 800s and sometimes venturing into 900s. Thanks for this. Watching now, I realise that half what you said didn't stick the first time, but the more I played it, the right moves presented themselves. It was interesting watching this now, and I've picked up few more tips! I'll come and watch it again when I hit 1000! Edit: hit 1,000 (2 months later) ✌️

[@KillasStayFly]

🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@iskandarahmad7177]

Letsss gooo

[@CarlosFloresP]

Nice!

[@nickknight8065]

This was my first ever video studying an opening for black. I couldn't have picked a better choice. So grateful for your channel, Eric!

[@telnarayanan12]

The best explanation of KI and silician dragon. Thanks Eric

[@juanbruce5981]

Levy said don't get into Sicilian until 2000, but he agrees that the Dragon is the only Sicilian for beginner level.

[@kmjaeger1970]

Levy actually said as a beginner/intermediate don't play the Najdorf. He was fine with certain other variations of the Sicilian (like the Dragon) at that level.

[@ilyayudovsky9393]

Exactly. He is firmly against most Sicilian variations for low levels but recommends Dragon and Kan.

[@yeetusdeletus5714]

Yea he says just the dragon or kan, but he shows the hyperaccelerated dragon instead of the normal one cus its a lot less theoretical and sharp than the d6 traditional one

[@Xaviercommentsection]

@@yeetusdeletus5714 the normal drag is more sharp cos ur a move down (ima learn the accelerated) btw to learn just go to chessable and use Giri's short and sweet dragon(its free btw) then go to yt and search difference between accelerater and non

[@ThePathOfEudaimonia]

This was one of the most instructive chess videos I've seen so far. It's great to have a good defense against both d4 and e5, with shared (and not too complex) elements. Thanks, Eric!

[@robtaylor9782]

I've learnt more in 30 mins than in 20 years, clear easy instruction, not overloading you with umpteen moves/variations, so to get you to a middle game in one piece Please give us more like this

[@peterritchie2990]

How cool that these two guys are getting together. Eric is a whiz bang player and teacher and David, deeply absorbed in the unfolding US calamity, takes a pause and asks the questions I expect many of us would like to hear answered. Thanks from British Columbia.

[@malachi4838]

Around 30:00 “I see it in the same way that I see a bear when I look at 5 stars on the sky” lmao, actual gold.

[@sleepy4x]

The problem is, that White has not to cooperate. Against the Sicilain very often the main open Variation does not appear and you get an Alapin, Closed Sicilian, 2.c4, Grand Prix or Morra Variation. Then you can get 3. Bb5 and so on. And the main plan agaist the Dragon is not short castle but long castle with a very dangerous white attack. Against the King's Indian you can get the London, Trompowsky, Torre and so on and the King's Indian has many sub variation like Fianchetto, Sämisch, Four Pawns, Awerbach and so on. It is an ocean.... Chess is not so easy.

[@Senny_V]

You have to keep in mind that this was for a tournament for "beginner" players against beginner players, most of whom aren't aware of all the variation possible and how to counter each thing - it's as Eric Rosen says towards the end of the video, when the tourney gets closer, people will need to prepare more specifically, including what to do when someone plays something that easily counters your opening

[@TheKrazyLobster]

The Sicilian Dragon is called the Dragon because the pawn structure supposedly resembles the Draco constellation.

[@LewConsulting]

Lol yeah literally neither of his reasons are correct but it was funny to hear his ideas :)

[@mika_the_cat2127]

One of the most precious chess opening lessons I found on YT. Thank you.

[@freetheorcas8509]

Eric is such a great teacher. And I love the king's indian defence

[@wakeboardfan0]

I only play the Hyper-accellerated Dragon Sicillian as my main e4 counter- LOVE to see this opening played by such a pro! Great commentary, thanks as usual Eric!

[@blahblah9707]

Hasn’t that been refuted by the popular Yugoslav attack?

[@toesdoeswhoknows704]

Blah Blah lol this idiot thinks the Yugoslav attack refutes the dragon

[@blackoutgenez]

@@toesdoeswhoknows704 i love yugoslav and have a very high winrate against dragon with it , dragon is definitely very sharp for black and they have to be super accurate against the yugoslav

[@jaxx3277]

toesdoeswhoknows actually it does. You don’t see the Dragon in any form anymore. Why? At best you’re beating someone who doesn’t know the theory but the minute you come across an opponent who does you’re done for

[@toesdoeswhoknows704]

Jaxx That’s because at top level the najdorf is better and safer, but the dragon is still perfectly fine. It’s the same reason why you don’t see the Italian or scotch at high level the ruy Lopez is better but that doesn’t mean the others are bad, they just aren’t as good

[@aGr3atD4y]

Eric is a such a fantastic teacher! YOu go through the different positions and are so calm and patient!

[@omkarpardeshi2640]

ERIC CAN YOU PLEASE DO THESE KINDA VIDEOS MORE OFTEN AS PER YOUR CONVENIENCE, PLEASE DO IF YOU CAN, IT WOULD BE REALLY GREAT TO LEARN ❤️BIG FAN.

[@davidwidzisz2643]

I support the caps. This is everything I tried teaching my chess students in two days in only 33 minutes ;).

[@at1as052]

this is the collab i didn’t know i needed

[@Witchblade112]

This is extremely useful, better than any tutorials I've found on black openings!

[@drawlzlolwlz5953]

Very instructive and on the point. Thank you sir! Learned a lot.

[@TheMcInator]

One of the best black openings I've been shown. Simple and pretty much universal in applying.

[@samain1804]

Thanks! Great vid! I also love the hyper accelerated dragon: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6, or Black wins the pawn after 5..e5 Qa5+

[@darkhorse2reign]

Wild and stimulating video. I have been teaching people how to manage anxiety and depression for 25 years. Playing rapid chess makes my thinking flexible enough to withstand any of the difficult "variations" I'm presented with in my practice. Eric Rosen, you and Gotham, your teaching styles are epic. Fun to watch. Specifically. I'm yelling "E-5!" at the screen for the King's Indian "idea" at that critical juncture. And then the expansion of the King side, is another important junction i used to get "stuck" with Sicilian, and now I won't. Thank you so much.

[@YannickDP]

Thank you so much for sharing! You really nailed the decision about how deep to go in this at the level of your student. I have learned so much from this. Would love a 1-1 coaching session with you, seeing how well you do this (and how great of a player you are obviously!). Great stuff!

[@derekwester121]

This is a very informative video. I've acually been winning games with black. It's really cool you guys are sharing the game with the world like this. Thanks, Eric.

[@rounak_Geologist]

Best thing to learn against e4!!! The video we need! Thanks 💓

[@kayrosas1473]

It's nice to see Eric get involved with this. I love his style and am looking forward to see his coaching lessons. Also make sure to convert David to lichess. ;)

[@leadnitrate2194]

He regularly donates to Lichess, I remember a David Pakman Arena there, so he's probably a Lichess guy

[@BeerBrandChoco]

Hello Eric. I use this opening now when I play black. I remember when I was casually playing in our school`s chess club, I always hate playing black but now I appreciate it a lot. Thank you very much!

[@rachelsiobhanjohnson161]

I have only just started learning chess in depth and these videos are so helpful. I love listening to Eric's videos he gives such great information and explains everything so well

[@Brainsucker92]

6:41 actually IMO after 2. d4 cxd4 3. Qxd4 there is this very sneaky move Nf6 (instead of Nc6). The point is to provoke the move e5. In case of e5, you play Nc6 and the queen has to move but there are already plenty of landmines white can trigger, because she has to stay connected to the pawn. Few examples: Qe3 is met by Ng4 (picking up the e5 pawn) Qf4 is met by Qa5+ (picking up the e5 pawn) Qb3 is met by e6 (threatening Bb4) Qc5 is met by e6 (gaining another tempo on the queen)

[@snekk9701]

Brainsucker92 thank you

[@ninjasource]

Learned a lot. I’ve watched quite of few of your videos. This one was amazing as far as knowledge transfer and me really understanding these two openings.

[@plagiats]

Damn Pakman got the dream team coaching him! I'm so jealous ☺️ Thank you for making this content public.

[@josim5290]

If I could only afford it, too...

[@benoittourangeau6248]

Amazing video for an experienced beginner like me! Lol. The questions were very good which lead to great teaching! This format is perfection

[@53n47]

Glad I found this, 1:54, 15:40, 18:00, 22:50, 25:20, 26:10... few of my main problems when playing king's indian.

[@jaimedelahoz9955]

love this type of content eric. All your content in general, but im sure newbies to chess like me appreciate your teaching!! keep it up

[@idenafshar3451]

I’ve watched you now for a minute and by far no disrespect but this is the best video I’ve seen from you

[@abhinavneet9238]

I really like how calmly you explain

[@emich34]

these david pakman videos are actually amazing. im kind of around this skill level too and these are SO USEFUL for my game. i feel like im getting personal tuition :D

[@Hasan...]

Hey Eric, this was very insightful, please do share more of such videos! Maybe a similar video with another opening while coaching Toggi?

[@matthewbaudhuin4728]

This video raised my winrate with black by 5% for real. Such awesome content for new players

[@JonathanGonzalez-bc6gl]

This video easily the best I’ve seen on teaching black for lower ranks!

[@stephenmcshane8768]

Thank you so much for posting a video like this. I was looking for this exact content and it’s amazing coming from you

[@topoisomerace]

Great instructional video! Accessible and realistic with regards to the level, while being both comprehensive and clear.

[@MrRop-yp3wt]

Eric’s explanation is so smooth and understandable compared to Levy’s rushed and yelled explaining then discourages you in the end by saying this is mostly for 1500 - 2000s

[@aesaphyr]

You are such an amazing teacher! I love watching the lessons you give. Thank you so much for sharing this content with us pretty much for free.

[@AdamBittner]

Definitely want to see more of this kind of content! Thanks Eric!

[@bmaxter]

Thanks for this video. I like how you explain the decisions behind the moves and strategy. Best informative video on chess I've come across.

[@davy1409]

19:37 - I may be missing something, but it seems like you need to take with bishop and not the knight? For example, what happens if you take with the knight and opponent plays G4 forking both knights with the pawn?

[@johndoberman4970]

I think you can then push the e pawn, which attacks the knight while having a discovered attack by the bishop on the other knight.

[@blueblimp]

If you are wondering, engines say that 12.g4 is quite a serious mistake by white (~200cp loss). But the only strong response is 12...Nd4, which discovers an attack by black's rook on the f3 knight, with the idea that the d4 knight can trade with the defending e2 bishop. If white keeps on with the original plan, 13. gxh5 Nxe2+ 14. Qxe2 Bg4, pinning the f3 knight, which is attacked by two pieces and defended only by the queen, and it will be captured, for example by 15. Qf1 Rxf3. Then material is even and white's kingside pawn structure is terrible. If white tries to trade off the f3 knight first, 13. Nxd4 exd4 and white's c3 knight is under attack by black's d4 pawn, which is defended by black's g7 bishop. I'm a bad player (worse than Pakman) and would not find all the ideas. There's some chance of stumbling into it by accident, since Nd4 puts the knight in a nice position.

[@Zenitself]

5:08 Dragon 🐉

[@NeyoBearGaming]

literally my favorite chess streamer and my favorite political commentator on the same team

[@josim5290]

I didn’t know that ER made his political-view public.. You’re amazing, Eric! 👍🏿👍🏿

[@fido03333]

29:20 Originally, the reason it is called a Dragon is because from the black perspective, the position of the pawns resembles the star constellation of Dragon.

[@kevingleave]

I am so new and getting back in to this, but this is absolutely amazing. Thank you.

[@nidhaanmaheshwari7001]

Wow now I have some decent opening with black against 1d4 and 1e4...with white I have settled with playing the catalan. Very helpful video.

[@angusbehm]

Big love to David after the news of Michael Brooks’ passing, which happened around the time of this stream

[@abhijitkambli2932]

One of the best explanations..... Thanks Eric for such a gr8 video.

[@ojasdighe991]

You're the best teacher eric and there's no doubting thay

[@JonathanGonzalez-bc6gl]

“You have to hallucinate” me high af watching this😂

[@MCRWV-bk1wf]

I'm very much looking forward to see more of such ''basic'' video's!

[@blmcar004]

This is a great instructive lesson, thanks Eric

[@Rommerio007]

I've see the same tactic in boxbox learning session with Hikaru just like Eric said in the 30th mn. If you're watching this to learn I strongly suggest to watch it too. Also, all board the hype train for the next pogchamp!

[@jeffronas9122]

Wow! I hope Eric can be more involved with PogChamps

[@Odrox]

The Sicilian Dragon is called that because the pawn formation h7-g6-f7-e7-d6 resembles the constellation 'Draco' (dragon)

[@ericharm]

For this reason I found it amusing that Pakman said "I see a dragon like a see a bear when I look at the stars" right after the explanation of the origin of the opening's name.

[@ivantolkachev4808]

"And I should be deploying opposition research on them" Aha! Opposition research. Pakman is putting it into the terms he's most familiar with.

[@josim5290]

Hahahaaa... turns it around 🤣

[@lucasburke8074]

Hey! Thank you for this kind of content. I really appreciate your other videos, but I think that you are an amazing teacher, and the educational ones, like the ones you have at the St. Louis Chess Club, are the best. Again, thank you and be safe.

[@macmillerppp]

This is so tight I watch both of them on a regular basis.

[@crushedscouter9522]

Lol bold to admit that

[@anvarjafarov3540]

I comment on youtube rarely but this kind of videos are very good. I wach games as well of course but here I not only enjoy but also learn.

[@RobotMowerTricks]

I like how this guy asks for a review. So helpful, and oftentimes, it results in exploring the alternatives white can play.

[@ianpan0102]

Great video Eric, I was faced with serious trouble when playing black against d4 because Sicilian Dragon was the only opening I know for black. Now I have King's Indian (fianchetto variation, super similar to Dragon as you said) under my belt too!

[@martin9857]

Thank you for showing some strategies in chess, your video is splendiferous..Keep up the good work and please make some similar videos like this one.

[@puNktumTV]

excellent video! I really enjoy your teaching methods and calm speech. Ten thumbs up

[@radiacto]

This is excellent teaching. Thanks for the video!

[@wingy6560]

The best vid Ive seen on kings indian thanks a lot

[@spyrojoe4721]

Such a good video well explained, very informative, easy to follow, linked this to my friends who have just started playing *blame queen's gambit xD* but im terrible at teaching/explaining, hopefully this will give them an excellent starting point to go from

[@henrywebstermusic1]

This is so useful to watch! Thank you!

[@TheDeluche]

Love David’s appreciation for chess

[@petefoulkes5382]

10:54 and what to do when white plays bishop c4 with knight g5 incoming?

[@Alpacastan21m]

Brilliant video, Eric.

[@ojaimark]

Is there a name for the Pirc "trap" where white pressures the knight before developing their own and black trades queens while taking castling rights, and then black forks the king and the rook? If he likes that modern setup I bet a decent amount of pogchamps would walk into that one. Plus even if white defends it properly it just ends up in a normal and playable pirc game.

[@cameronhendricks5967]

These are the two defenses I try to play as black, very glad to have the ideas be reinforced during pogchamps season

[@grannywalter]

I've always avoided recapturing on f5 with the knight if my other knight is on h5 because it looks like g4 forks the knights. A quick engine analysis showed that in the position from the video it's great for black, because there are tactics to regain the piece and white's king is weak. But I'm wondering if different setups for white are possible where it actually would lose a knight for black. Anyone know about this?

[@hotpepper684]

I learned chess as black many years ago and this is probably the best you can do. I do remember white being stronger if they go with the knight opening but it’s more complicated than learning black. Trade off for us newbies.

[@MrTATT-he5bm]

This was very helpful, thank you both :)

[@gbtennant]

Excellent teaching - thank you

[@thelegendaryphoenix6860]

David looks so wholesome and ready to learn

[@bradyswanson1041]

What is this. I watch David for his content, and Eric for his lessons...and now...wow

[@yakzivz1104]

This is really good stuff!! It will take me a long time to think 8+ lines ahead; however, this is a start.

[@myrdhina]

22:37 if white plays d5, wouldnt that be too supressive, for example preventing the Qknight to take its proper place? If white opens with c4 or d4.. should control over d5 completely be sacrificed to develop a sturdy Kings indian? Hoping for an answer..

[@sjk2cor517]

2:08 "You just don't want to subject yourself to such cruelty. " Quite so. 😂

[@nickolasscott6417]

thanks for the video Eric

[@JayonToutube]

I just watched this today, and I was able to do 5 connect on the queenside creating a very solid wall.

[@Xain_88]

love this channel

[@GrabnarMyers]

Oh omg it's Eric Rosen awesome!

[@ozzyozbourne4121]

What is this a crossover episode? Two of my fav youtubers in the same vid!