Chess Lesson # 101: Middlegame Strategy Playing VS The Isolani Pawn Structure

[@NMRobertRamirez]

We finally have a strong and well organized opening course for White and one for Black. With these and the FREE beginner to master level playlist from this KZbin channel, it’s all about consistency over an extended period of time 😎💪 ⬇ Course on Black Opening (Counterblow) www.chessable.com/ramirez Course on White Opening (First Strike) www.chessable.com/firststrike Free Playlist (beginner to master level) rb.gy/hw61wt All the Endgame Knowledge I have rb.gy/zels9y All the Strategy Knowledge I have rb.gy/g1iqro

[@darklord9025]

I can't still believe you doing these videos for free.

[@damianoterrone7276]

No previous lesson on the isolated pawn was ever more useful than this one, especially because you show the path to handle it till the actual material gain. Thank you for the precious advices.

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Hello guys! Take a look at the entire games I left for you in the description of this video. You can see the games corresponding to the positions we analyzed in this lesson plus two other games corresponding to the homework exercises. Hope you find them useful 😎💪 Also, don't forget to hit the 👍 button :)

[@mehdila6144]

hello master, first of all I want to sincerely apologize for my long absence, I had to go through many difficulties and I lost my motivation and energy; with the death of my uncle who was also my best friend and problems at home at home, with the noises and arguments, I could not concentrate, I gave up my training when I was well started, and my level had arrived if you remember well at about 2100 2200 elos, thanks to you, to your daily help, your generosity without asking for anything in return, I now feel generous to send you this message after all this time, because I left you fallen in its difficult times, I started playing again two weeks ago, reviewed all the old videos and reviewed my notebooks, and it is again thanks to you that the motivation and love of the game has returned, watching the lessons, I play every day I resumed my 10k hour program, I have been training for two weeks at least 8 hours a day, luckily all my problems are behind me thanks to god, I joined the chain, I hope to be able to pay more in the future even though i already know your mentality you do this for the sake of the game not for the money you deserve a lot my level now i think is around 1800 1900 i play with stockfish and people of this level and I win so I think that I am now at this level, I have to train hard, I had lost hope before because as you know, I have fun and at the same time I count on this game so that it saves my life, and the life of my family, that's why I will give all, coming across a video from you, the love of the game returned two weeks ago, I do not think to stop in the future because thank God our problems are behind us. So thank you again and again for all that you have taught me, for your generosity, your mentalities, I hope that all is well on your side, and as I told you, I swear it on everyone's head what is dear to my heart, I will be there for you my brother and it will make me happy if you ask me something. good evening master and brother

[@NMRobertRamirez]

@@mehdila6144 Hello! It is so nice to hear from you. I figured you were working on your situation back then. Welcome back 👏 It feel good to know you are enjoying Chess again. Thanks a lot for your support and hope to see you playing over the board tournaments soon 💪😎

[@mehdila6144]

@@NMRobertRamirez thank you so much master. I hope not to disappoint you and show games up to what you teach me :)

[@manuelfuentes4509]

How could I have missed this? Unbelievable und unbelievably detailed content of how to play against IQP. I usually like to play with the IQP (Alapin etc) but Black's pieces were just way too passive. Cool to see how white attacked on the king side using the Second Weakness principle!!!

[@benjaminzelahhoward430]

I'm on my road to 2000... Thanks sir.. you have brought us from 1700 to 1900 in just a month and few days...

[@NMRobertRamirez]

That's all you, Benjamin! You must be training consistently and sooner or later, it pays off 💪

[@benjaminzelahhoward430]

Yeh... I play puzzles at day and play online games at night..

[@Factsnotfox]

This is the best video I've ever seen on the IQP and the concept of creating and exploiting second weaknesses.

[@milelile9358]

Very good lesson! This channel is best place for those (like me) that want to learn chess online... Keep up excellent work RobRam!!!

[@kenstephens7747]

We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and with me, the fact that I'm over 60, have a poor memory and can watch endless hours of instruction and not remember any of the moves they show, and can't calculate more than a couple of moves ahead serve to place me at a big competitive disadvantage versus other players in the intermediate level, however I do have a real advantage as as far as knowing how to get better the right way. So I wanted to share a few things on here to try to give back a little in appreciation of the very good instruction that Robert is providing I've been playing chess off and on casually since the early 70's although I never really got into the game due to being so disenchanted with the way the game is taught. It was only when I started watching chess videos on KZbin that I really got serious about learning the game more, and I'm 5 months into this revival and am making some real progress finally. The concept I want to talk a little about today is what I'm going to call velocity, and here velocity refers to the speed at which we may expect to improve on a given course we take. This is the reason why getting more relevant instruction is so important, where we select material that is most relevant to our plan and benefit more. There's lots to discuss here but I just want to focus on one element, our game experiences. Watching videos is like the theoretical side, where actually playing chess is practicum, and we need both. Just playing against other players does provide practicum but we need to look at this as far as presenting enough velocity to drive improvement. At the stage I am at, 5 months into this, I have only played one game against a human opponent believe it or not, and the reason is that when playing against bots I get to have my coach Stockfish by my side at all times, providing real time feedback and coaching. I don't want to wait until the end of the game for this, I want it during the game, and have found this to be a greatly accelerated way to learn. This isn't about winning or losing, it's about learning, at least given that this is my goal right now. What could be better than having a 3200 rated engine at your side every moment, pointing out your mistakes during the game and suggesting better moves, allowing you to take back moves and even get suggestions when you're stuck? This is like the best video you've ever seen and you're in it, where it's your moves under examination and the advice is completely tailored to you. I don't expect people to spend as much time on this as I do but for those who don't play this way, you may want to give this a try as it is at least a great adjunct to whatever else you're doing. It's all about the velocity baby, the speed in which you learn, and this in itself turns up the speed considerably.

[@dhruvdust1812]

Hey, I am 14 years old and getting back to chess, I started playing chess when I was around 6 years old (I was very bad at chess at that time), and your chess journey was really inspiring for me. I left chess after a month or so because I had to go to another country, and now that I am back to chess after 8 years, and started playing chess again. I'm now at 1.6k lichess rating in rapid and your video series helped me all the way from 1.2k to 1.6k. Thanks a lot for the free lessons, your 100 episode video was inspiring to me as you too had left chess for a long time. Anyways, thanks a lot for everything you have done yet, all the content you provide is extremely helpful. The detail in each video is amazing. THANK YOU

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Hello! You are more than welcome. It's great to see you are enjoying Chess again and congrats on your jump to 1600. You must be doing something right 💪 So, keep it up and feel free to ask me any questions you might have 👍

[@mehdila6144]

keep training the most important things is loving chess and be patient . practice all lessons with your chessboard and write all ideas in a note book and you will see you will understand quicly and enjoyin so much, good luck boy :)

[@dhruvdust1812]

@@mehdila6144 ill keep that in mind, thanks

[@mehdila6144]

@@dhruvdust1812 your welcome dud good luck for all and keep going i swar this channel is the best just make an importance for every information and good luck dud :) ps sorry for my english im living in morocco heheh

[@dhruvdust1812]

@@mehdila6144 your english is great, and yea, im trying to follow each video in as much detail as possible, the channel is amazing.

[@dennisnashville7114]

Thank you Robert. I am now working my way through all your videos.

[@NMRobertRamirez]

You are more than welcome, Dennis! Let me know if you ever have any questions 👍

[@JM-gz1cp]

Amazing detail in this middlegame lesson. I see many who cover similar topics but never in as much depth. Thanks for these lessons.

[@manuel278]

Hello Robert, thank you very much for posting this and many other videos - they're really helpful for improving the ability to play chess. This video is very important to me because I finally learn how to play positional games. But I have one question in the minute 30:46: Why does white not trade the black-square bishops? It should be the same thing as in the game before because black has the bad bishop again and trading is helpful for weakening the pawn I thought. I am looking forward to your answer. Thanks!

[@MiltonRivers-i3t]

The game never became boring but enjoyable.I love games that go deep and hold to simplicity and achieve the desired results just like the grand masters do.😊

[@NoExitLoveNow]

This is my favorite chess channel so far! Keep up the great work.Thanks!

[@fredbanon3314]

One more very interesting lesson, thank you. For exercice 1, I suggest to create an isolated pawn in d5 by taking dxc5. Then control d3 with kgniths in f5 and e2, and finally search a second weakness I haven't found yet 🤗

[@fredbanon3314]

Correction : control d4,sorry

[@NMRobertRamirez]

💪👏

[@mehdilolar286]

looooovvveeee reviewing your lesson especialy when you show us the important of the subject you show us also the contunuation until resignathion or mate ,,, its veryyyyyyyyyyy heeeelllpful for me having a maximum of ideas with explanation and learning games on chassbases too befor opening in middle game thats what i need espacialy sooooooooo thannnkk you masterrr !!! i know its became difficult bcause the channael begin to grow up and you need help buutt im with you annnndd never i will quit and if you need help im here and the quality of each lesson grow up too and its rare (quality, hulimility and generosity younever change with me) just continue and i hope you the best with you family and thaaakkkkkkk you againe my brother thank you

[@dhruvparmar5126]

Great teaching skillss... and still can't believe you're posting this videos for free... god bless you😇😇

[@preetham3193]

your channel is best . I got to know your channel today morning and I subscribed you..

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Hello and welcome aboard! Thanks a lot for your kind words 😎

[@sadboisushi]

at 36:40, or we could check the black king by capturing the pawn on f6 and taking the black queen by the rook. it's a much deadlier tactical combination

[@dragadeyt]

#1 - 1. dxc5 I think the goal here is to create isolated pawns for the opponent. If Black takes back with Q or N then we attack and block the d pawn, double rooks on d. If then 1. ... bxc5, 2. Nxd5 attacks the queen so 2. ... Bxd5 3. Qxd5. That creates isolated pawns on a and c for Black. Then we block and attack that c pawn, double up the rooks on C. #2 - Nd5 blocks the isolated pawn and attacks White's rook, and I think given that the B attacks d5, it would get traded with the N soon anyway. It seems like a good outpost for N. If Bxd5 then Qxd5 then we can slide Rbd6 then Qc6, and then slide it under the rooks for Alekhine's gun. I did look at the games after thinking this, and see they slid Qd7 first to pile the rooks on it.

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Excellent! I see you will not have difficulties next time you are playing against the isolani structure. It's great to see you studying these lessons like this 💪

[@חגיהשינג]

The move that we were supposed to find 1st 36:25 is b3 right? And black can't even take the pawn

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Absolutely! 👍

[@chessnikova]

very informative lesson .i didnt know what to do after putting pressure on isolated pawn as opponent could defend that pawn

[@vinothindrakannan2240]

Excellent video to move towards the advanced middle game. :). All i wanted to hear is at 45:41 :)

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Thank you, Vinoth! Glad you liked this one 👍 Hope you get to use these ideas soon!

[@vinothindrakannan2240]

@@NMRobertRamirez of course.. Let me share the game. :).. Two good news. 1. Our channel reached 11.6k subs. 2. I have reached 2300 rating in lichess rapid.. All credits to you😇

[@NMRobertRamirez]

@@vinothindrakannan2240 Ufff 2300 is already serious stuff. Congrats Vinoth! 👏

[@vinothindrakannan2240]

@@NMRobertRamirez i am happy that we are going to learnn QGD.. I had been playing QGD though out my life till you taught KIA 😇.. Now i am glad to learn QGD professionaly..😇

[@kaamusiaaapa7802]

Very interesting for starting play chess, thanks Master

[@dammydigitals22]

Your lessons are very insightful

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Thank you! It is a pleasure to hear that! 👍

[@GETSETSHOOT]

Thanks ramirez sir now I am 2000 rated in lichess ... The journey from starting to learn abt how do different pieces move from u to here... All thanks to you sir.. 😊

[@Voicemasterm]

I have always been looking for such content. These are the openings that i always face. you are an amazing coach. Thank you very much for bringing such contents

[@NMRobertRamirez]

You are more than welcome, Shugri! Glad to see you are finding these lessons useful 👍

[@benjaminzelahhoward430]

Work # 1 d4xc5, QxC5 Nf3-d4(as white, i want to get my Queen on the King side and in the future my rook could join via the d4 square and my plan is not to take the isolated pawn yet because the bishop could be used as an attacker against my king. So I will keep putting pressure on it while carrying an attack on the king side), anything logical by black Qf3(in the future i get the queen to F5 or h5 to keep putting pressure and also getting ready to put my rook(f to D1) behind the isolated pawn)

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Thanks a lot for sharing your answer, Benjamin! After doing this, you will not forget how to play against the isolani structure 💪

[@tarekfakhoury2401]

Great video Coach. At 22:30 why don’t white play Bg4 and trade bishops. Is it bad in this position ?

[@NMRobertRamirez]

It is just that White is attacking and when we are attacking we want pieces on the board. Also, Rh4 allows us to activate the rook quickly at the expense of the black bishop.

[@carlbinch898]

The best advice I have seen for play against an isolated pawn. Loved the Queen moves especially the first example. Only spent a minute or two on homework moves(like a blitz game). 1. dxc and after Q x c. Saw 2. Nd4 but then had doubts, Qd4 trying to exchange queens. Which Alekhine did a few moves later. 2. I had the wrong plan instead of karpovs Qd7. I put my knight on d5 straight away.?

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Excellent Carl! Thanks a lot for sharing your answers. The fact that you are putting time into studying this lessons is going to make it easier to remember the main ideas when you face it in a game 💪

[@TheMichiganFishHunter]

Nicely constructed and very instructive. I've been studying Pawn Power in Chess by Hans Kmoch and it is nice to see some of the ideas explained by a person because this stuff is hard to figure out by yourself. I've also been studying Art of Attack by Vuković and that stuff is deep also. Thanks for everything you do.

[@vijyantmehrotra8119]

Very well explained dear

[@vrebds2484]

Thank You Coach, for lot and lot of great contents...

[@NMRobertRamirez]

You are more than welcome! Hope you like this long lesson 😎

[@vrebds2484]

@@NMRobertRamirez Yes! I always love the long lessons 👍

[@nourhassanibrahim4634]

You are the best teacher, thank you❤

[@growwithsomangshu1463]

30 mins in , some of the moves i could guess, .....at 30:00 in the karpov game Rd3 had another reason to protect the bishop from my idea , while seeing the video I saw a idea of saccing the dark bishop on a3 and busting open the queen side and creating counterplay gonna watch it a couple of times to get these into my subconsious mind .Actually these videos help a lot in analyzing my own games .

[@NMRobertRamirez]

💪 excellent! Also, feel free to review the full games I left in the description. It's great to see you are putting the time to study lessons like this one!

[@dasemaw1862]

Good lesson, thank you.

[@davidesuriano9836]

Hi coach! I have to thank you for sharing these knowledge, because no one makes things easy like you. Btw, I thought a lot about the last two positions. In the first one I would like to play dxc5 and Black is forced to take with the Knight. Then I would like to put my Queen on d4, play b3 so the queen can move on the long diagonal, and simplify the positions (putting pressure on d5 with rooks) to an endgame where White has the Knight (ideally on d4) and Black has the Bishop (that will be bad). But after 1.dxc5 Nxc5, 2.Qd4, if Black plays Ne4, I don't know if Qd4 is correct. I know that I want to exchange one of my Knight, so maybe I will play Nxe4 and the Black Bishop will be still bad. About the second positions, I think that the best setup for black is to put Rb6-d6, and Qb7. The control of the d5 square is essential. So a first move for Black could be Qb8, and then Rbd6, b7, Qb7. As soon as I can I will compare my plans with the games you linked. Hoping for a feedback. Bye!

[@Charles-Windham]

I assume that at 27:00 if black did push the pawn then rook takes, rook takes, rook takes, rook takes, Queen takes, Queen takes, pawn takes back Queen leaves white with a winning isolated passed pawn. Thanks for video.

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Hello! Charles! You are welcome. And you asked a great question actually. At that point, if Black had done d4 instead of h6, white's queen would be attacked by the black queen and hanging, so they had to do Qxc5. Then, after bxc5 and the trades on d4, Black keeps an isolated passed pawn on d4. I think it would have been better than what Black got in the game 👍

[@Charles-Windham]

Duh, I was asking myself why black couldn’t or shouldn’t push the pawn and missed that. I’m better than that but wow - maybe not. 🥴🤣

[@NMRobertRamirez]

@@Charles-Windham lol I know the feeling 😜

[@Redx-er2rb]

Thank you M.Robert Could you answer my question please , How can we promote in physical chess should we have extra pieces ?

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Hello! You are more than welcome. When playing in person, you can use a spare queen or the queen you captured from the game. If you do not have spare pieces and the piece you want to promote into is still in the game, you can do this: a) if you want to promote into a queen and there is none available, you can use a rook and put it upside down. b) if there is nothing out, simply say out loud the pawn is promoted into X piece and it should be respected. This option (b) might not work in official tournaments, but in such tournaments, you can grab a piece from another set. Hope this makes sense 👍

[@mehdila6144]

@@NMRobertRamirez its very helpful for me too thank to abdelghani and you master :)

[@mehdila6144]

i love the strategic lessons and the positional subject too thank you so much master :)

[@NMRobertRamirez]

You are more than welcome, Mehdi! 👍😎

[@mehdila6144]

​@@NMRobertRamirez :D i lost all my games today :( but i did lot of puzzles tactics etc :) you asked in a video to the member of the channel to create accounts on (lichess and chesscom) so that we can play but not now xD I have to find my level before and review all the videos of the channel :). here is my nickname (mizio11) on both websites. I have another question master, can you do more lessons (strategy, positional games etc) soon please. but it doesn't matter because I know all the work you do for us, and your availability answered every question with humility and kindness, and you help me a lot I will never forget that, so if you don't have time its okay, and i undersant that, and my other question, you sent me the name of a kramnik book 6 mouths ago, that talks about positional play and i forgot the name of the book, because i love to play strategic and positional and if you see my games i miwe between positional and full tatics attack. otherwise I wish you a very nice evening and I hope that you are well and that your family and your wife are well, it makes me happy when I receive good news from you dear brother

[@NMRobertRamirez]

@@mehdila6144 do not worry too much about winning or loosing. What matters is that you are slowly getting back in shape. Regarding the strategy lessons, I am trying to do one lesson about strategy, one about endgame and one about opening every 5 lessons or so. I wish I could do more lessons a week, but for now, I cannot dedicate more time to it. I hope soon I can do more 🙌💪 In the description of every video, you will find my book recommendations. There, you will see Kramnik's book too. He is one of my favorite players because of his exceptional technique! Hope you enjoy it 👍

[@mehdila6144]

@@NMRobertRamirez thank you very much that encourages me a lot, if not for the lessons, one per week is sufficient, because as usual, when I study one of your new lessons, I study it for example today and I continue to revise it all week which makes that I understand it very well and that I learn new things because I see that I missed a thing or two in my first viewing, and therefore one lesson per week, adds quality to your lessons and I love it, quality for me is better than quantity, one video per day as a lot does just by playing games etc, that's why I consider you the best. otherwise thank you very much for telling me where to find the links to the books. before i didn't like kramnik very much but when you sent me his book i found now, kramnik move by move, woooww, it changed my game, he's a wonderful player, especially me who likes to play start and very positional middle game as he influenced me and finish in attack as influenced me by vishy anand that I love his style too, it's a wonderful book that has helped me a lot, otherwise I won't miss the books in the descriptions again, thank you very much for sharing them that helps a lot :). otherwise I didn't regret joining the channel, because at the beginning I just wanted to donate. nothing in return. to thank you for all you do for me, but I found more in-depth lessons on everything and really I advise people to join the channel they will not regret, it is very complete and normally we have to pay a lot for its information, as in the repertoire openings kia or other secret on opening or other ideas when you play games agaist poeple etc etc etc, but your generosity exceeds you and I consider you as a brother and a friend above all, I hope you will visit the country one day with your family and you will be welcome dear friend. a great respect for you, for your personality, education, humility, generosity and all, really respect, I spent 12 hours now on your channel to study today and last night, even if I lost all my games because my brain was tired of puzzles and lessons, but once again you re-motivated me, you have the gift to be a master, and a coach, and also as I told you before you have a talent as a player too, on the head of my parents, I think every word I say and I swear it to god, I have great respect and I would like to thank you by doing something for you in the future brother

[@NMRobertRamirez]

@@mehdila6144 enjoy! It is a great book indeed! It deserves to be read more than once!

[@riswandirasyid1743]

Master, can you using a track audio for the others language?

[@87rtlandry]

Reading up on Alekhine. Wow, who knew he had such a tragic end. I’m surprised there hasn’t been a movie about him.

[@X00000370]

Good analysis. Black (Zagoriansky) maybe should have sacrificed D-Pawn to try and activate his pieces but it wasn't obvious to me how he could do that without worsening his position. It was amazing how quickly White (Botvinnik) executed the King Side attack and black fell apart.

[@shanthahm21]

Thank you so much sir.. :) you are the best chess educator... :)

[@NMRobertRamirez]

You are more than welcome! And thank you for your nice feedback 🙌😎

[@SheldyM]

30:35 black Rc7 could have been sneaky. Bc4 after a pawn push looks scary, my mind keeps looking at that idea of blacks

[@tarekfakhoury2401]

Coach at 36:26 is Rd4 a good move ?

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Hello Tarek! I think it is, but they could do Qe2 and even though you would still be winning, b3 seem to be more accurate 👍

[@tarekfakhoury2401]

@@NMRobertRamirez thx a lot for ur replies Coach🙂

[@joseb6068]

Wow. This was incredibly helpful and instructive. U and daniel naroditsky (his speedruns are very good for beginners) Have alone helped me to 1200. Thank you so much coach. Pls do more videos on the middlegame.Also a question for you: Do u like playing against the isolated pawn or with it?

[@joseb6068]

Also in the title u have misspelled isolated in the title and one of the chapter names. Hope u correct those

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Hello! Glad to see you liked this one! And yes, we have a lot to talk about regarding middlegame. I personally prefer to play against it, but I used to play the Alapin where I would get the isolani structure often. So I learned to enjoy the perks of it. Regarding the misspelling, what word are you referring to specifically so that I can fix it. Thanks a lot! 👍

[@joseb6068]

@@NMRobertRamirez u have written isolated as isolani in the title and in the 6:06 chapter name as well

[@NMRobertRamirez]

@@joseb6068 yes, "isolani" is the term used to describe the structure where there is an isolated queen's pawn 👍

[@joseb6068]

@@NMRobertRamirez ahh. I thought its a spelling mistake haha. its also called as iqp am i right?

[@smar1k359]

#1. I am thinking of dxc5 Nxc5( if bxc5 then Nxd5) and then Qc2, Rfd1, maybe double the rooks on the d file, Nd4 and we may be able to go for f3 and d4 later on...

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Thanks a lot for sharing your answers! 🙌👍

[@Charles-Windham]

Homework #1: Piece placement: 1st move: fR-e1 xraying the Queen, then Queen to d3 more centralizing, then perhaps f5 provoking weakening KS pawns, centralize knights. Maybe rook lift over at some point to attack KS. Plan is to keep d5 closed to black's bishop diagonal, maybe exchage knights, and start pushing KS pawns to attack. Homework #2: Move: Queen to f4 (still pressuring pawn), fR-e6 replacing Queen pressuring isolated pawn e4, Nc5 pressuring pawn. Plan is move King to a8, e8rook later maybe to b8 after pushing a and b pawns for King attack. Now on to look at games to see how it worked out.

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Thanks a lot for sharing your answers, Charles. Helps me a lot to plan future lessons, but it is also great to see you are studying these lessons the right way. I hope you get this kind of position soon 💪

[@veeranvanti7453]

Sir please can u make videos on nimzo larzen attack and its stratigies

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Yes, they are in the oven 😎

[@gm2407]

So bring all your pieces to one weakness then transfer to another. Systematically create multiple weaknesses until the defender's capacity to hold the position falls appart, all the while creeping closer to the king.

[@snorlax-x2o]

from 800 to 875 in 2 hours after this video. Tks good sir.

[@NMRobertRamirez]

💪👍 keep training consistently! Soon you will hit 1000!

[@snorlax-x2o]

@@NMRobertRamirez Yessir I'm doing the homework right now.

[@Charles-Windham]

Question: - fianchettoing when castling, like the King's Indian - is this done primarily to better protect the King (making it harder to get to him) thereby meeting the goal of King safety? I realize also how awesome the diagonal is when it opens but was wondering if King safety was the main purpose of fianchettoing. Got me to thinking when I ran across the move and saying " Knight f8, impossible to checkmate."

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Hello Charles! It is said in many books that the castle with the fianchetto is the safest since in addition to the pawns, we have the bishop to protect the king. With that said, I think the fianchetto is primarily about the effectiveness of the bishop more than anything else. I might be wrong though.

[@ryans9094]

Should black not sacrifice the isolated queens pawn (iqp) to get his pieces more active and look for counterplay from there? (In the Botvinnik example, but I suppose for the side with the iqp anyways)

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Hello Ryan! Many times, that is better than staying quiet indeed 👍

[@growwithsomangshu1463]

Yup totally works!! Recently defeated a 1500 in a positional struggle when he ended up with a isolated queens pawn from the opening.... I was + 2 on the 5 th move.... Then little by little his kingside became weak and I was giving mate threats and he was tied up... That gave a huge dopamine hit 🤣 was +13.2 on the 21 st move with material equal( he tried to complicate my catalan and I was white) BTW I am on 1386 , about to break into the 1400s 😉

[@NMRobertRamirez]

I know you can smell that 1400 💪 Keep it up!

[@חגיהשינג]

But after b3 Qxb3 Bxf6+ is better then what you showed right?

[@deansupreme1379]

This is a complete sugsquank Position 😛😂 what i unfortunately did not understood 100% from this very helpful Video is, is to know whats more important, to put pressure on the isolated pawn with my pawn and Bishop or to put it on the Field in Front of the pawn (from white Perspective) i also havent build this structure on lichess to Test It but if the Black pieces are Not Defending their isolated pawn and instead trying creating something, with lets say putting their rook on Open Files to attack, It is tough also Not recommended to attack their isolated pawn if we have more pieces on It Right? Btw your Videos are awesome, im Right now playing Chess for around 4 months and im around 1500 at lichess with help of all your Videos, greetings

[@mrbreezenc]

Hello Robert I'd like to ask your thoughts on a game of mine It is 60+ moves with no end i sight I have a Knight and 2 pawns He has a Rook and 2 pawns I say this is a draw what do you think? Thx for your videos!!

[@manuelfuentes4509]

Do you by chance give private lessons to either adults or my kid/kids?

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Yes, feel free to send email 👍

[@vijyantmehrotra8119]

Your fan from India

[@joemarlayos4832]

Thank you for these very informative video

[@Charles-Windham]

There are so many lessons (thank you) but which one do I need to review for this?: I’m trying to play the Pirc or KID and White plays the 1st 3 moves of the Fried Liver and continues with really aggressive play. This really throws me out of my system and I need to figure out how best to refute this.

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Hello Charles! Can you share the specific move order, If they do 1.e4, d6 2.Nf3, Nf6 now they should not do 3.Bc4 since we are attacking their e4 pawn. Is this what you mean?

[@Charles-Windham]

Yes, exactly. But I used Shredder after the game to find my answer. I should do that rather than post. In the game instead of taking the pawn I pinned his knight with Bg4 (then took it). I should have took his pawn, go back after he played d3, and then 5. Ng5…d5. - after his bishop moved back. Shredder suggested e5 putting 2 pawns in center. What move do you suggest if not e5 at this point? Sorry overall, just got frustrated not forming my pirc the way I wanted out of the blocks but I do realize that’s the way Chess goes.

[@NMRobertRamirez]

@@Charles-Windham no problem at all! Do not hesitate to ask any other questions you might have. After, your d5, if they retreat their bishop, I like e5 as you mentioned, but I personally would also consider h6 to kick their knight back and then continue normally with a move like Bf5 and play Chess with an extra pawn and a nice position 💪

[@sabahdeanatassi8292]

At 12:05, I would do 4

[@gemmalyncacanog6143]

OMG A VIDEO 3 MINS AGO? WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO FINALLY YOU CAN SEE MY COMMENT Anyways i luv your vids!

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Hello! I always see your comments 😎 I hope I have not missed any before 😬

[@חגיהשינג]

O you showed it

[@abneraclao819]

Direct to the point pls

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Use the skip button please 😜

[@joseb6068]

position 1; dxc5 and take on d5 position 2; Qd7 to make alekhines gun Am i right?

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Nice! Feel free to check out the entire games to see how those great players dealt with it 👍💪

[@XFlyingDutchmanX]

High qualility content

[@growwithsomangshu1463]

Ok I have reached 1344 , I am losing way more now 🥺 , I gain a positional advantage in the Catalan till it's +2 to 3 then it's just all going away opponents are complicating the position way too much 🧐 then I am losing in the endgame(against the 1350-1550)

[@growwithsomangshu1463]

I am not able to hold

[@joseb6068]

How did u break 1200? I read ur comment a few days ago about being stuck on 1200. Im stuck too please tell how you broke 1200

[@growwithsomangshu1463]

@@joseb6068 tactics on lichess and playing longer time control 15+10 , and catalan theory , pirc and kid theory .. Basically everyday around 1-2 h.

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Nice! Now, your Chess needs to continue to evolve in order to earn your spot in that new rating range. I think you will appreciate tomorrow's lesson although you are already doing great. It is a matter of time before you find 1500s easy 😎💪

[@growwithsomangshu1463]

@@NMRobertRamirez ok ☺

[@karanarora1468]

👌👍

[@Redx-er2rb]

how old are you

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Hello! Here is the specific part where I mention it and you can learn even more about me and my Chess journey 👍 kzbin.info/www/bejne/ine8f32AoL2Spbc

[@Speedster___]

So you keep insisting to practice middle and end games not openings. SGM MVL said in a Reddit AMA that his studying/prep was over 3/4ths openings. Is that due to SGM status or in short why do you and MVL differ so much?

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Hello! Good question. I think it is important that we try to do what players like MVL did when they were our level and not what they do now that they are SGMs. At the level MVL plays, he might get punished for not being well prepared in a specific line and that's even more delicate since these guys play so many different openings. Also, SGMs have already spent a lot of time on middle and endgame so they can dedicate more time to opening prep now. I will be asking this to everyone later, but think about this...people who are 200 points higher than us defeat us consistently because they know more opening or because they know more middle and endgame? 🤔

[@ryans9094]

That's the difference in being a super GM and not being a super GM. You can make openings 10% of your time and that's enough unless you're about to go for a title, even then it's only like 20 or 30%.

[@Speedster___]

@@NMRobertRamirez that’s kinda what I thought. How much would you say to excitement with openings? Specifically new ones

[@FloatingSunfish]

10:11

[@riptide1889]

I feel like I should be paying for this…

[@NMRobertRamirez]

You will 😅💪

[@riptide1889]

@@NMRobertRamirez alr bet wats ur paypal?

[@NMRobertRamirez]

@@riptide1889 😂 once you become a professional player, I will send bill 👍😎

[@RobertSmith-gl5vs]

Repetition is good…..I learn by hearing and doing many times, then it becomes natural…..

[@abneraclao819]

It makes me boring in a long way

[@NMRobertRamirez]

That makes two of us 😜

[@phillipramirez7145]

You talk to much get to the point

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Hello Phillip! Maybe this channel is just not for you. I'm sure you will find better videos out there. Just keep walking 👍😎

[@v.l.2819]

Hi Robert ! Again, thank you so much for this incredible channel, it really is amazing ! There is really few critics we could do to improve your course which is already amazing, and free ! A friend of mine whom i suggested your channel to the other day made an interesting remark tho. I thought I would share... he was complaining about the 'audio quality'. Lets be clear, it's okay to me (especially for such content) BUT right now, i have to admit there is this roomy reverberant tone to your voice which is kinda annoying, I guess you are recording this in a pretty big, or empty room; I am not a pro here but I feel like a better mic with a proper filter would do a lot and for acoustic treatment for your room, check for acoustic panel - or blankets, cheaper... ; anything that can absorb sound reverb. I thought I would share because this would really bring your channel to the next level if you go the extra mile with this - actually, tbh, I am pretty sure this is one of the explanation as why your channel still doesn't have millions of subs, which is a big mystery to me but anyways. Wishing you the best

[@NMRobertRamirez]

Hello! I really appreciate you bringing this up. I will certainly look into it. I have already bought so many different microphones and I thought I had found the one, but now I am not sure anymore. I will try to use a different one for next lesson to see how it goes. It might also be the software I use to record and edit the videos. I don't know much about all of this, so I might have to do some more research. Again, thanks a lot for passing your friend's feedback along 🙌