Sicilian Defense - Najdorf Variation

The Najdorf Variation is the most popular variation in the Sicilian Defense and is one of the most analyzed openings in all of chess. Black looks to thwart many ideas from white by playing an early a6. This passive looking move is actually quite aggressive as black has ideas to attack relentless on the queen side by stopping white from attacking.
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[@theseamusexperience]

I love the idea that everything you do in chess has a name associated with it, like an epic anime battle or some rpg. I am trying to get my friend to do a game and we shout out every move we make

[@scotchtape4885]

LOL this is so true

[@saydtg78ashd]

why do you have to associate anime here

[@anon6413]

It's time to d-d-d-d d-d-d duel! First, I push my d4 pawn in attack mode! Queenusu Pawnu openingu!

[@Seen420]

You fell into my trap, tut tut tut. IT WAS A GAMBIT!

[@amanchakma3615]

@@saydtg78ashd nah anime is cool but most fans are cringe imo

[@swclements1]

"Kasparov was pretty good at chess" ... Lol. Love the vids - helping my game! Thanks!

[@rajarajanperiasamy7474]

Man i love your commentary style, its fast, relevant, not overly philosophical and consistent! Its probably the best on the internet actually! Thanks bro,

[@ekarin7778]

Kevin you save my money since I can learn chess opening for free.

[@Nilgard]

My father always plays the Najdorf against me when I play my favorite move e4, and I've hardly ever beaten him when he plays it. But I think I'll have a descent chance now; thanks Kevin!

[@joeshmo546]

From the chess website

[@Safwan.Hossain]

@@joeshmo546 There's some magic behind replying to 9 year old comments

[@calebtaylor4153]

@@Safwan.Hossain imagine someone replying to you in 9 years

[@apexpredator36]

hey so did u improve ur rating with Najdorf? Beaten ur father yet?

[@Nilgard]

@@apexpredator36 Yes I did! A few times actually in the last decade 🤣

[@tennoheika94]

"He was pretty good at chess" That made me laugh

[@shubham8130]

8 year old comment i wonder if you still play chess

[@adjunctentobtuse721]

ShuBham lol!

[@sahilverma7045]

@@shubham8130 4 month old comment, I wonder have you been safe through out this whole pandemic and playing chess?

[@rv1111]

I didn't shit in the whole video, but i watched it anyway

[@jadonplox]

@@shubham8130 he died

[@truthtoldnotsold0129]

I watched this video 4 times!! Really trying 2 work on my defense & learn more variations& tactics!! I enjoy your videos!! Thx 4 the knowledge!!

[@NoName-tj8dm]

Do you still play chess ?

[@VladChess]

At last, a Najdorf video! I have played this variation since I stumbled upon some of the Fischer-Spassky matches from 1972, a few years ago (they really enjoyed that Poisoned Pawn!). In tournaments, I have not been very successful with it, but I hope I will get better after watching this video! ;)

[@fayskelley]

Hi Kevin, Your explanations are so very helpful. Thanks for going through the various combinations. So much easier and visually helpful than reading a book. Much appreciate the labor of love to post all of your videos! Thank you~

[@naskegaming9981]

are,so,very missplacement of words right there😂😂

[@tatendamadziba7026]

Thanks a lot Kevin...I have really improved my game by just paying attention to your channel.

[@NoName-tj8dm]

The way you describe the strategy makes it feel like I'm preparing for battle. I simply love your narration.

[@tamirpolyakov1122]

Just had a game against a 2000 where I won 2 bishops in 17 moves in my first time playing the najdorf. Definitely going to start playing it. Thanks for the video

[@chesswebsite]

@MrClosercloser comedic sarcasm ftw? i'm either getting leveled by this comment or you take every word you hear way too seriously. I hope the former holds true.

[@DiegoPisanty]

Great videos Kevin, I hope you keep teaching us like this.

[@mgst4699003]

I hated going to my chess classes as a kid. Now that chess has advanced so much from the time when I was a young kid, and I’ve been out of touch, coming back to your videos is helpful as it gives me a familiar teacher for review.

[@arrow-lt3uk]

Bg5 4:35 pinning the knight Be3 16:20 passive Bc4 22:45 aiming f7

[@pravinchandar]

Hey Kevin. I went so far away from the game I was so mad about. Thanks to you videos. I'm getting back on track and can't imagine a day without playin a game or two.

[@kimahri88]

I love what you said about G. Kasparov at 8:44

[@tastybrain]

Nicely done. Great introduction to the Najdorf. Thanks a bunch!

[@albinih]

actually he plays bb3 cause he wants to play f4 you ask why he cant play it right now cause after f4 Nf6xe4 and after the knight takes back there is a fork with d5 which gives an advantage for black or at least equalizes so thats more concrete ;)

[@sreejitnair9061]

Hey kevin der ... i find u one of d most happenin and infact one f d best chess analust in d videos dat has ever been posted on utube.. i jus wish u good luck and of course do keep up d good work!! I find u a really great CHESS MENTOR!!

[@GabrielRodrigues-gb5dt]

If you are talking about the 8:39 variation, well, not exactly. If bishop takes knight on f6, you may take the pawn on b2, threatening Qxe3+ (taking knight with check) and after white moves the knight, you may take the bishop on f6 with a pawn and be a pawn up. Note that if white defends after Qxb2 with any other move, there will be loss of material for white or loss of the ability of castling due to movement of the king. Immediately taking the bishop is also ok.

[@tjbanville]

The game between Giri and Vachier-Lagrave a couple weeks ago was a good example of the Bg5 line. I won't spoil the ending-it was a great fight.

[@chesswebsite]

@paulkiss1981 comments like this make me want to post more and more videos.

[@mushroombest2002]

Bb5 has roots in the Argentinian Disaster and is used to counter Black other move to protect f7. The variation is as follows: Ne5, Bg3 followed by Nc6 or Nd7, then the Bishop on b5 can take the Knight on c6 or d7. Obviously Black cannot take the Bishop on b5 because axb5 is met by Rf1+, Kg7, Qf7++ Fischer's reply of Rh7 is therefore the only sound reply.

[@Penguino1988]

I hope to see a video soon on the classical variation of the Sicilian Defense. I unfortunatly had to play against it recently and i got rocked

[@ErikKislikChessSuccess]

At 7:44 there is a big mistake. Black should not play 8. ...Qb6 because the only point of bringing the queen to b6 in this variation is to prevent queenside castling by attacking b2. In this case, White is even encouraged to castle queenside. In this case, the queen on b6 only blocks Black from playing ...b5 and and merely gets in the way, preventing him from obtaining queenside counterplay. This is why Black puts the queen on c7 in this variation and only plays ...Qb6 when White cannot answer with 0-0-0.

[@elainetan8742]

Thanks for the helpful comment IM Erik. I watched your video on the Najdorf and it was superb.

[@TheSurvivorjunkie]

kevin you are the man. thank you for all your videos. it has drastically improved my chess game. thank you very much, keep them coming. i would like to see more on the italian game if you get around to it. thanks again!

[@Blitz_Shorts]

The najdorf is the main variation I prefer in Sicilian, maybe it's very fun with Dragon, but Najdorf brings both attacking and defencive lines

[@2bsirius]

There is a great article in a recent New Chess Magazine ...It's title is something like "Dismantling the Sicilian" [2009? I think]. Another good vid. Thanks!

[@Pur3Blitz]

I really appreciate your guidance via commentary on the various matches you uploaded, I've learned so much from your vids. Keep up the good work :)

[@ngwanamama1572]

This is the 1st chess opening video I've ever seen🔥 revisiting since 2017

[@anbee8127]

Is it helping your game?

[@rishabhraj2332]

My uscf rating is 1212 and i used toplay the acclelarreted dragon but the najdorf has given me success on ICC. Thanks Kevin!

[@MrMartinmozz]

really enjoying these, you have a nice, enthusiastic way of explaining things, ty :)

[@SHAMSHERA-]

Hey bud thank you for this , These videos along with reading Jeremy Silman makes it extremely easy to visualise 😍

[@ilovemycornsnakes]

you have some of the best chess lessons on the internet even compared to payed lessons and yours are free! keep up the posts! Your awesome Kevin!

[@Bobby-fj8mk]

Hi Kevin - most text books advise against moving pawns out so quickly on the side where you'd like to castle. Pawns can't move backwards which makes it dangerous - say, 10 moves later.

[@SpiritualFox]

1:23 I finally figured out what the a6 move does. Well, immediately, anyway. After a6, white can't put his bishop on e3, because Ng4 kicks it... Normally the knight can't go to g4, to kick the bishop, because white plays bishop b5 (in response), check, and when black stops the check, the knight on g4 is suddenly unprotected, and dies against white's queen. With a6, the check is stopped, and so is white's intention of placing the bishop at e3, immediately.

[@Dragoncasp8]

17:55, did he really just say "weaksauce"?

[@Soulend1]

Thank you so much for posting these videos here and on your website Kevin, it is really appreciated. I think these are the best, most instructive chess videos on the web. I'm really happy that you are showing the various Sicilian variations, as I am having a real hard time playing from black lately.

[@MrDARKKNIGHT1000]

Awesome video.I was looking forward to playing the najdorf defense at my next tournament..... and this vidoe really gave me wings!.Thanks man u r the best!

[@MonkeyDLuffy-dx6ow]

hi 😊 are you still playing ?

[@MrDARKKNIGHT1000]

@@MonkeyDLuffy-dx6ow yes I do from time to time 😄

[@ChessKid29]

And Queens gambit, Sicilian which is all I watched as well as traps, other openings, strategy, tactics, etc.

[@sarahcrouch741]

Yes, if the tournament director isn't looking you can try that

[@IP0DzT0UCH]

LOL... Kevins intro to a video is just so entertaining

[@projectryan88]

well either one is a book move. but i prefer e6 to e5 simply because e5 is a little over extended in my opinion, if you look at the pawn on d6, it is now a backwards pawn after the e5 move, and it will be very difficult to get d5 in successfully, therefore white might have a good chance of piling up on the d6 pawn and winning it successfully due to the e5 advance. But like i said both moves are book, which means they are both played at all levels of chess.

[@sarahcrouch741]

Taking the knight with the bishop is thematic in Bg5; it doesn't "screw" anybody and black is actually ahead a bit after Qb6 Bxf6 gxf6

[@Ghazi_Al_Tamimi]

honestly love the video bro, i wanted to ask if this video covers all the variations of the najdorf

[@ChronicEdgeTV]

Thank you. Just some explanation of this very important opening.

[@tdavid8357]

I like very much the sicilian defence. before this opening I always lost with black pices. Thank you for your helping.

[@Ctrekt]

Zetul Zetulz anywhere I can find a way to play against queen pawn opening

[@chess_material]

Thank you so much Kevin ❤😊

[@kshitijrathod9802]

We don't have to worry about poison pawn as if we play pawn A3 the poison pawn can't be captured. Because after capturing it knight A4 gets the queen trapped.

[@KING20126]

@ps3notes I think that he did very good job. Discussing chess for 25 minutes straight is a tough thing to do without making a mistake. Give him some slack.

[@SkepticZaq]

It seems the answer to that would be knight to e5. The night then defends the f2 square while black's white-square biship defends the pawn on e6

[@mykonos466]

Najdorf is a very hard position for black. I recommend playing it when you have reached 1800 because if you don't understand the position it is very difficult

[@PixilistDesignStudios]

There is a possiblity of being checkmated for black when the pawn chain is created as the white bishop can deliver a quick check and mate him

[@PixilistDesignStudios]

I want to correct my comment and say that the bishop and queen can team up on the king and checkmate him

[@pianoplayer2744]

This is very helpful thank you

[@jamesnguyen9399]

I think Sicillian Defense is the most difficult to study and there are so many different variations for both side.

[@AvangionQ]

After black rook H8-H7, white should castle on the king side, bringing a check (black king has to move to G8 or its checkmate in one or two moves), then the next move would be to push that passed pawn and attack the rook ... though white would have both bishops in danger, black has to worry about not getting his king pinned down and can't waste moves capturing hung bishops ...

[@thisis675]

great commentary thanks for making these videos

[@zachhaywood1564]

I'm a huge Kasparov fan, my favorite chess player, actually, so suffice it to say, this is my favorite opening as black.

[@stickstone1]

Pretty sweet Kevin nice job.

[@fingerfeller]

awesome video, excellent narration, very intuitive

[@logictroll242]

great commentary and explanation.

[@afineassgoosebump1727]

Can you make a video on the Hyper Accelerated Dragon please?

[@guthax30]

What's your opinion of the poisoned pawn variation of the najdorf sicilian? I know it's been pretty much analyzed out to a draw but it seems like a really fun, confusing, crazy aggressive line.

[@realCevra]

no, only immediately taking the bishop is ok. qxb2 is answered with either nxe6 or ndb5 and white should be better

[@TheGonzaloMagic]

This is very complicated for someone who is just trying the najdorf because you really just explain a really complicated variation that almost nobody plays. If you are talking about the opening I think you should go over the main ideas, the main first moves after the najdorf setup and what to think about when you play them.

[@Corey-ld7os]

Well it's a very complicated opening that requires much study you must be willing to put in the time to play the Sicilian in general I wouldn't want to watch some half assed video that goes over only one line and the theory behind it

[@zuma5278255424]

I lost it at 18:00 when he said "weak sauce"

[@godsgeew]

thanks for this. i got to use this in a game today and it was the most exciting game ive had. lots of fireworks.

[@wariocheats9701]

When I struggle to understand videos like these it really makes me wonder why I picked up chess. I'll never be good at it

[@ckobo84]

Every move seems pretty natural and intuitive. I guess that's what separates the opening from the middle game, it officially becomes the middle game when sh#t starts to get real.

[@AleksandarDjurdjevic47]

In every chess tournament that I played, I was using some of the variations of Sicilian defense. Is there any chance to see Kan or Scheveningen variation of Sicilian defense, because I prefer to play pawn to e6, instead of d6. 1. e4, c5 2. Nf3, e6... etc. By the way, I really like your videos, and I hope you help me to study these variation.

[@genia10]

13:57 You didn't explain the rational behind the move Bb5. Kasparov explained it very very well in the video "How to play the Najdorf" here in the right side.

[@yenmonlala]

i admire ur tutor video,it helps me a lot.

[@sarahcrouch741]

You will also have to make sure that something "happens" to the other players scoresheet

[@quadrilasisi]

This video is for beginners not for people who spend their free time buying dozens of books about different chess openings. If you truly have done this then you don't need to watch this video. I understand that you may see this a constructive criticism but first you must look to see what his audience is made up of. You wouldn't criticize a Dora episode for teaching mediocre Spanish to four year-olds because you know their audience, so please make an effort to know the audience of his channel.

[@Xhaunderfr]

wht can i say everthying is perfect ur voice ur teachin style thnks a lot i wish u be 1 mil subs one day

[@chesswebsite]

Thank you so much 😀 1 mil subs would be incredible. I'm not even sure what I would do. Also planning to do a special video when we hit 500K. Hopefully soon.

[@yunngromeo6107]

@@chesswebsite you deserve it

[@zergisnotop]

Yeah, there is something about that. I didn't really see that reaction coming, it leaves no advantage for white. Also, if the pawn takes b5, wouldn't it allow white to do the check mate he was going for on the kings side? It would give him the move when he needs to move the rook.

[@realCevra]

bishop to b5 prevents black from supporting his later knight on e5 with his second knight coming in from b8 to c6 or d7. bishop to c4 would already be a mistake, bc after kg7 0-0 ne5 the move bg3 doesn't work bc of nc6, and white is running out of good moves

[@DadCanDance]

This was extremely helpful.

[@roxas2591]

"It's weaksause" LOL

[@woodrogue5498]

Move the knight as white and let it get taken at b-5 then resume Dragon. Black will have to choose knight, bishop, or queen. If knight, then retreat. I personally find knights to be useless cannon fodder so ya.

[@aniketkothawade5989]

Hi Kevin... One doubt... In the poison pawn variation, after Qa3 why doesn't white play Bxf6 ruining the castling for white also creating double pawns?

[@romarcabiedes4512]

I like the poison pawn variation better than the second

[@stickmanymickmany]

The bishop. You will get ahead in development if he takes your bishop afterwards as well.

[@spellinganimals]

LastSasquatch wasn't the hater... he was responding to a hater.

[@scamwitness6594]

Hey Kevin, you said in the first video series of sicilian your doing 80 vids. I can't find them. Could you point in the right direction. Ive studied first two. I want to watch them in sequence. Thanks Kevin.

[@danielmcgibbon8200]

5:49 e6 is played. Why not e5? It simultaneously defends your own knight and attacks your opponents knight

[@filipegomes8888]

A common theme in the sicilian is to play d5, I think e6 is trying to prepare d5! Besides that, i have no clue hahahahahah

[@filipegomes8888]

A common theme in the sicilian is to play d5, I think e6 is trying to prepare d5! Besides that, i have no clue hahahahahah

[@Rettihsllub]

I thought this was an excellent teaching video! Very clear explanations of why certain moves are played. I am helping my 4-year-old grandson learn chess, and the "poisoned pawn" variation is what we have been working on. Of course he only plays it by rote, but I figure that is a good way to work toward an intuitive grasp of the board. I am learning a lot by teaching him, as well!

[@troy852456]

25:28 was the best move

[@marcdellorusso180]

Why would white bring his bishop to B5? He's sacrificing it for no good reason... Wouldn't it make more sense to bring it to C4, attacking the E6 pawn?

[@togglebogle4366]

He's moving blacks pieces away from the Kings defense so he can swoop in with the rook and Queen for a mate

[@fmtoog4189]

After Bc4 Ne5 Bg3 Nbc6 is playable and the knight stays on e5. After Bb5 if Ne5 Bg3 Nc6 Bxc6 and white is winning

[@priapushk996]

@ChessTe4, "After Bb5 if Ne5," is a nonstarter for me. Both Bb5 Ra7 and Bb5 axb would seem superior to Bb5 Ne5.

[@priapushk996]

The narrator suggests Black immediately capitalizing with axb allows White to check Black's king. If the intention is to bait, narrator should probably say so.

[@mattcrouch9348]

Still don't get the Bb5 at 13:20 Bc4 accomplishes just as much without hanging a piece. You get pressure on the d6 pawn for free, too.

[@ThunderSnowTV]

At 6:00 min. Why pawn e6 instead of e5 and threatening knight? Still get the wanted benefits of e6 (allowing queen to defend knight).

[@ItsQuarz-]

Good content

[@quadrilasisi]

"We can all read a book and say exactly what is written in the book..." but some people don't want to read and or don't want to buy the book. If you followed his channel many people requested for him to go in depth when their opponents make mistakes (in other words they don't know how to capitalize on there mistakes) and because of this he made a video explain some mistake that mediocre chess players might make. Plenty of other KZbinrs do follow up videos with no mention in the description.

[@MrAndersonmm]

at about 14:30, instead of Rh7, why not Ne5? It protects the F7 square and puts the Knight into play. If after that on the next move you play Rh7, you now have two pieces defending the square and your Knight is again more involved. Maybe that's the 3rd move in the series anyways, Rh7, then eventually capture the Bishop with the pawn, then Ne5? BTW I've played chess for 18 years, and feel like I've learned more in the past week watching your vids than the whole entire time. Keep 'em comin'.

[@iCipher]

@thechesswebsite I hear Allen Cunningham is a avid and very good chess player.

[@Gabrielul7]

Great explanations!

[@leos.2322]

queen b6 is called "poison pawn" makes me wonder if kasparov ever played street fighter

[@user-ov2kx8ql5i]

I'll always go with Sicilian Najdorf or Petrov's defense. When I'm lazy to think, I'll just play french or some gambit