Beginner To Master | Chess Speedrun | Najdorf Sicilian | Grandmaster Naroditsky

- Follow Daniel on Twitter at / gmnaroditsky
- Daniel streams regularly on Twitch at / gmnaroditsky
Part 1: • Beginner To Master | C...

[@animantus4293]

Literally what I've learned today is that hypermodern opening is letting your opponent come to papa, but papa is waiting with a belt.

[@tom199725]

lmao

[@DMSBrian24]

dead

[@evanhansen5064]

lol but sometimes opponent has a bigger belt

[@dieterroeser9321]

@@evanhansen5064 they only think they do, otherwise they would not in fact come to papa

[@zaidbenson3932]

instablaster

[@prinon8162]

"I dont want him to come to papa, I want to be the one coming to papa" - GM Daniel Naroditsky

[@MustyRusty5]

I was dying laughing when he said that lmao

[@FrancoisTremblay]

I have some suspicions about our favourite GM... this only confirms it XD

[@TheMaciekm]

This was soo good lmao

[@prinon8162]

@@MustyRusty5 same, I played it back to see I heard it right

[@alexmarothy8715]

😂

[@elanrotenberg4763]

I've been watching these speed runs for only a few months and my rating has gone from 1160 to 1470, love these vids

[@kristofmni5300]

Congrats!!

[@DonFreeq]

nice

[@matto6858]

Great job, I’m stuck at 1250. How can I get that good?

[@dexterlawliet8521]

@@matto6858 stick to 1 or 2 openings. Study it deeply. Play a lot of rapid (10mins)with Increment or 15 mins. I guarantee you if you this for a month everyday you'll get a lot of ratings

[@linalizardi5948]

I went from 850 chess.com to 1900 lichess ( I switched at around 1330 chess.con)

[@ianlynch5880]

So wholesome how he thanks all his opponents for the game:)

[@DanielNaroditskyGM]

Thanks for you comment!:)

[@Edamori]

Thanks for the free lessons and general chess knowledge Danya. I've gotten a lot stronger in no small part because of you, and I recently defeated my first titled player - a CM from Brazil - on Lichess. Thank you for helping me get to this point.

[@simonmurray3884]

So early here I'd be made fun of for playing a hyper modern opening for not controlling the centre with pawns

[@fujiapple9675]

The joke never gets old. Still waiting to see black attack the center "from a distance."

[@SNEEDANDBREED]

@@fujiapple9675 I always seem to attack the center from so far away all of my black pieces are on whites side of the table.

[@johannesborchgrevink9629]

I know the pressure of playing against Danya and knowing that thousands of people will be watching you has to be a terrifying experience and significantly affect your play. But at this point it is quite frustrating when interesting positions I feel I can learn something new from (I never play the Sicilian myself) get instantly ruined by early blunders and hanging pieces...

[@ammster1234]

Especially in a 15 min + 10 s rapid game with around 15 mins on the clock

[@weltgeist.]

I feel the same

[@upenditv731]

Just dropping in the comments to express my appreciation for these instructional videos and my growth as a player as a result. You're the best!

[@mrmacguffin6886]

His 'I want to be the one coming to papa' reminds me of 'I am the one who knocks' from Breaking Bad. :)

[@alexf0101]

awesome, I've been hearing a lot about the Najdorf, and this is a great intro into it

[@Chicabaduk]

I don't know why but I love how he says "Sitzilion"

[@lazarbozic1499]

So tru haha

[@whatwouldjesusdo7961]

its the correct pronunciation

[@giuseppecappelliPSRL]

@@whatwouldjesusdo7961 its not

[@alexf0101]

it's the russian pronunciation, heh

[@Gaggio23]

@@whatwouldjesusdo7961 yeah it's the russian way of pronouncing it, they have a whole letter for the sound 'ts'. Correct way in English is just to say normally 'Sisilian'.

[@fujiapple9675]

Yay! My favorite opening for black after 1. e4! Absolutely stoked to see what I can learn! Thanks Danya!

[@E11imist]

Hey Daniel big fan keep up the awesome work!

[@CubingDude]

Thanks for that great e6 Najdorf explanation. I've Always been scared of pushing that pawn to e6, (I usually play e7) . Now things are clear, and I underdstand more about that position. Thanks Danya.

[@TheDestroyer7102]

Danya just want you to know that I really love and appreciate all the content that you put out to help beginners and intermediate players like me. Please never stop making these videos! Stay safe.

[@armwrestlingfan6804]

Dropping knowledge faster than I will ever absorb it aye!

[@mrjohnadams620]

One of the most wholesome channels on the internet.

[@phothar93]

Thanks Daniel for making my pub games harder these days.

[@DudeTastic13]

Another great lesson from Danya. I think we've all experienced the same thing, with an opponent's knight sitting somewhere pretty and we're just a bit too late in kicking it out ... then later on paying for it. Lesson learned. Kick out nicely posted knights ASAP.

[@ChoTakahashi]

I like this guy. Learned alot from him

[@CitricAcid13]

For those interested in trying Scheveningen Sicilian/Najdorf positions, try Nbd7 instead of Nc6 sometimes (only after Qc7). Jumping to c5 could be helpful and when you move the dark-squared bishop back to f8 you have an extra defender on the f6 knight. It also has the subtle advantage of not blocking in your fianchettoed light-squared bishop. - a lowly patzer

[@YaroslavNechaev]

"I am not in danger I am the danger! I'm the one who knocks" - GM Daniel Naroditsky. Oh, wait, the wrong citation, same vibe, though.

[@improvechess]

You are perfect :) You will keep rocking All the best 😊

[@akshaymaheshwari1101]

I am addicted to your videos..

[@RaptureReady2025]

Danya asks ALL the questions that I’m thinking lol ... he’s a mindreader as well as a wizard 👏👏👏

[@cyb3rtooth199]

Danya: "I'm not really going to go deeper into this variation" Me: ... but that's the variation i face the most ;(

[@ahmadamini5466]

In the second game, when she lost her queen, I would have said "now you resign", definitely most instructive

[@mufaromandaza]

Thank you Daniel

[@marcosaloy6728]

Daniel could you please make more videos like the one you did on how to play against the stafford gambit but on the gambits which are known to be risky or easy to punish like the king's, danish and other gambits? I really love that video and now I actually enjoy when people try to play the stafford against me.

[@smrtfasizmu6161]

King's gambit is equal, it is not losing for white as far as I know. Danish gambit also isn't losing for white as far as I know. Stafford gambit on the other hand is losing for black, it is a trick only opening, if your opponent responds correctly you are in a losing position. This is not the case with the King's gambit.

[@MartinLambertDoc]

Superb!

[@Marshall7593]

I watched this when it was first published here. I watched it again today after trying out the najdorf myself as black. I learned so much the first time. I learned even more today the second time i watched it. Ill be back in another month to see if more is learned a 3rd time. Thank you Danya for the informative series.

[@Marshall7593]

Well im back for another learning round

[@robertr7923]

@@Marshall7593 did you learn even more? I'm thinking about rewatching other speedrun games as well. Do you think it is a good idea in general?

[@legionary1656]

@@robertr7923 Of course it is!

[@fujiapple9675]

28:26 "Amazing Grace." 🎵🎶

[@bjordsvennson2726]

Danya I know you were worried about doing another speedrun in terms of quality, but I just want to say that I've enjoyed these longer games a lot more. They are much more educational for me when you can explain things more deeply during the game, the after game analysis isn't as helpful to me, because during the game I can think about how I would play the position without knowing what you would do specifically.

[@YellowSpaceMarine]

As a Dutch person hearing Daniel say 'Scheveningen' is really odd. So familiar yet so different

[@robertr7923]

this guy is from 1995. HE was rated over 2000 in 2006. That means he is only 11 years old. Amazing. And he just kept training and learning chess. This puts in perspective just how strong GM's are.

[@thetransferaccount4586]

very instructional

[@emjhaybondoc2477]

my idol.

[@SahnigReingeloetet]

Always salivating at these comfortable Najdorf positions 🤤

[@akshaymaheshwari1101]

Can you please tell..How are we supposed to make chess notes.. And all the major opening and midgame principles a 1700 must know to reach 1900.. Some tactical patterns or formulae which works more often than not

[@khnj173]

Very nice that the opening is written in the (thing, can’t remember what it’s called haha) so you know!!

[@Socrates...]

Maybe Daniel can try what chessbrah is doing and that is modelling what a person plays at certain rating ranges with certain restrictions applied... would really be cool and add an extra dimension.

[@flavory9891]

I don’t really like that series because I want to play like a gm not a model 800. Daniel touches on those beginner principles and adds more to them. Great if you like that type of style of teaching but it definitely isn’t for everyone.

[@Socrates...]

@@flavory9891 if you look at the series, they model it right up each rating range, look at twitch. And the rules change as you get higher.

[@rondid]

I don't see any reason to oppose Danya vs Aman. Both guys are great teachers with a different approach, I've personnally learned from both.

[@couldntcareless7884]

31:15 but it allows Evan's gambit, which is also a ton of theory and very dangerous for black

[@fujiapple9675]

Danya was on a roll at 34:32.

[@pathwaytousername]

GG Danya

[@jacokyle0160]

Naidorf!!!

[@retrospect]

Tickle the bishop

[@kylefinnegan3445]

Ngl I always thought it was spelled Knight Orf and not Najdorf lmao

[@mufaromandaza]

I thought Knight off

[@inafridge8573]

Omg lmao

[@BryanJorden]

"I want to be the one coming to papa"

[@N4SixString]

So he's been moist/charlie the dragon? Can that be found in his recent twitch vods?

[@lowellmeyer7410]

I saw this on stream in the middle of January lol

[@MichelNabil]

The e6 Scheveningen is a shenanigen variation

[@barrachinasanernest]

Hi Daniel. Do you recommend any books or resources that have helped you become a better player ?? Thank you for the awesome content!

[@musique-ef3rz]

He's recommended several in past episodes of the speedrun, one that I remember off the top of my head that he recommended to those above 1300 is "The Art of Attack in Chess" by Vladimir Vukovic

[@syauqiachmad]

at my rating point 1300ish... i dont need GM level games, because i barely can't catching up the moves and quite unrelated to my level. but more basic intsructional video like this helps me improvr A LOT

[@yosefcohen483]

Finally someone explains the ideas of the Najdorf! I'm 39 - I don't believe in dragons anymore.

[@loganodinson4661]

What do you think about the dutch defense stonewall variation?

[@tanya8628]

one of the trash openings

[@wingo99605]

can you play the vienna game opening?

[@fujiapple9675]

The prophet channels Allen Iverson at 4:32. #NotAGame #WeTalkinBoutPractice

[@mcraescott5133]

Danya is chess papa

[@alessandrodimeo6570]

What is the theory after Pg3 and Pg6 in the Italian?

[@prithvisinghpanwar6609]

what if black plays Bb5+ instead of Nc3

[@Xbotto]

GIVE ME MORE NAJDORF

[@TheSoulBlossom]

"Sitzillian" ®

[@brianb.2316]

Has anyone else caught the iverson meme @4:35

[@kparvez16]

If possible, play with GOTHAM or Eric during your speedrun.

[@glenncross956]

What is a sichillian

[@lukacalov1988]

Bc5 safer? Im scared to death with jerome gambit bruh

[@lukacalov1988]

Wait daniel is pronouncing sicilian with hard c not with s What is the correct way to say in english?

[@erric3375]

Can you explain why Grandmasters always play h4 and a4?

[@user-lt9oc8vf9y]

There are a couple of reasons depending on the position: 1. Just grabbing space on that particular side of the board. 2. preventing a move like b5 from the opponent which would grant them space. There is a common plan to attack your opponents queenside majority with your b-pawn to disrupt the structure and a move like a4 prevents that for the moment 3. Weakening the opponents structure. For example when you have castled your king and fianchetto'ed a bishop on the same side as black than the move h4 threatens to break open that structure. Often times Black will have to respond with h5 which leaves behind weak dark squares 4.carving out squares for potential outposts. Before pawns have moved its unclear who will control which squares so by playing a4 you basically contest the b5 square and could drop knight there if possible 5. Controlling the pawn majorities. If you have only 2 pawns on the queenside whereas your opponent has 3 that could become dangerous once those pawns start marching down the board. So a move like a5 slows that down. And prolly even more....

[@DonFreeq]

Because it's just so fucking good xd If you want to get free win against KID on lower elo what do you do? h4! (1. e4 d6 2. d4 g6 3. h4) Black has to play there either h5 themselves which will transpose to some odd Dragon due to complications (where you play h4 anyway, so it's advantageous for you) or Nf6, rest moves is losing. Opponent plays Caro with Bf5, what do you do? Advanced variation with 3. h4 aka Tal variation. If they don't play 3. h5 or 3. Qc7 they practically speaking lose as h6 comes with g4 and e6 to follow and it's really bad in practical terms. e6 loses bish. c5 is super unpleasant due to dxc5 and loses a pawn in long run. You don't know how to complicate matters and finish develope in KG, what do you do? You play h4. You want to do some fishing in Sicilian, what do you do? You play h4. You do opposie site castleing, what do you do? h4 once again. And so forth... h4 has insane dynamic benefits while a4 usually very strong positional ones. Latter you have listed above. I would only add 3-rd rank rook lift possibility which can be very useful for example in Modern Benoni. Only issue is weaking b4 square where landing a knight might inflict some heavy headache, especially if you traded c pawn or have it already advanced.

[@brooo4219]

The short explanation is that engines have popularized it so they inplemented it in their game

[@inafridge8573]

@@user-lt9oc8vf9y also sometimes you move the A or the H pawn to add the rook as a defender to the a3 or h3 square

[@devthakkar3765]

Can you explain the difference between KIngs INdian and Modern.....They look the same but the MOdern has been very risky for me...Love your videos!!

[@karthiktadepalli7560]

Modern is riskier because white hasn't committed c4, making queenside castling much more feasible so white can storm you before you storm them. Compare to the king's indian where white almost always castles kingside, so you can storm them on the kingside with e5. That's why they are so different in practice even though they are superficially similar.

[@user-lt9oc8vf9y]

The Modern is basically the KID but without the knight on f6 (at least on the very first moves). Meaning that you are further away from castling and you allow e4 on move 1 or 2 which the KID prevents.

[@hippolotion3057]

Yo

[@DanielNaroditskyGM]

Yo

[@wisecraftlive]

@@DanielNaroditskyGM danya i got a tourney in a couple of hours pls bless me

[@kylwerty]

@@DanielNaroditskyGMYo

[@dominiks5068]

@@DanielNaroditskyGM gg yo

[@hippolotion3057]

@@DanielNaroditskyGM Hey man I just wanted to say I have been watching all your videos since 70k. Your videos are very entertaining and have improved my play a ton! I was 1200, now I am 1650. Thanks a lot and don't stop what you are doing!

[@riqzo]

I also hate the ”come to papa-line” but not due to the reason you might think. My dad actually left me as a kid so I never had a papa to come to….

[@noahlorin4911]

The n in the intro is backwards

[@sourandbitter3062]

4.Ng5 is not the Fried liver smh

[@viciogamergd8061]

3:05 need a clip

[@someone-en1gg]

D5 square is a problem in almost every Sicilian variation 😢

[@456death654]

Moi moi

[@santinosartoris]

nobody else watch so i beat you if we ever play!!

[@apenasmeucanal5984]

night orph...an

[@MrSlowrolla]

Ngl I thought it was "knight orf"

[@pavlenikacevic4976]

Can Najdorf also be considered a hypermodern opening? It's true you trade the white's d pawn so he doesn't have the full center, but you also end up controlling the center with pieces only, until the timely break in the center

[@linalizardi5948]

It’s not really hyper modern because you play with pawns in the center from the start

[@pieter7947]

They say Levy is a content machine.. BUT DAMN

[@Mati-zc2ym]

This speedrun is getting slower and slower

[@RaxflexCA]

Any hypermodernist here wanna talk about bishops biting on granite?

[@henrylocker9558]

I haven’t watched the video yet but pretend this comment is funny and witty

[@luketufts6827]

Five likes and no views lol

[@elliottabibian4152]

i love your videos, but you played a 1400 and a 900 in a 1700 rated video. this is my chess rating and was a hit disappointed to see such low rated opponents

[@fakereality5204]

Opponent has 15 min on the clock and blunders knight for free, what kind of joke is this?

[@VVeZoX]

how about in the last game where rook and queen are forked and opponent moves neither of them (hence blundering the queen and walking into a check at the same time)...and then instead of capturing the checking piece, the knight in this case, the opponent moves the king. a 900+ rated player should know better

[@toplel7677]

The grandiose sphynx unexplainably tumble because scorpion wailly tremble amongst a wide-eyed cooking. bloody, actually caravan