Fantasy Variation Crash Course! | Caro-Kann | GM Naroditsky’s Top Theory Speedrun

00:00 Intro
00:25 First Move
00:22 Game
30:05 Analysis
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Background created using Stable Diffusion V2!
Edited by ‪@ClydeBarber‬ (check out some of my original music on YT)
#speedrun #grandmaster #stablediffusion

[@tightwisecrack4141]

Getting 2-3 free 30-60 minute chess tutorials from a grandmaster every single week is a modern marvel that I doubt chess players of old could ever have dreamt of. Thank you Danya for your work - you are a huge asset to the chess scene.

[@kpdkchristian2570]

@ 26:30 "You guys were right, I was wrong, I apologize" This is why Naro is such a great teacher, so humble and willing to admit mistakes. ❤

[@andersstroem8310]

48:00 - "who can show me a move that shows black who the boss is". That got me rolling. Danya is quite often unintentionally funny

[@annekeoosten5698]

That was me! Thanks for the game!!

[@dimxhnb7932]

Actually?

[@ganesh221b]

Gg

[@freeEnd_]

Lmao you lost hahahahah

[@richardweddel3453]

Danya - I think a video that would be helpful for your intermediate audience would be you using Chessbase/opening explorer and teaching yourself that opening as if you were trying to learn it for the first time. You ask really good chess questions when you teach/explain things!

[@scheimong]

This one is super instructive. I see myself as a rather solid player, so it happens wayyy too common that I get great positions (according to the engine), but the material is still equal and I fumble about not knowing how to convert my advantage into a more tangible form. Eventually my opponent untangles and it's the most frustrating thing ever. I usually end up losing those games unfortunately. This game has the perfect combination of positional and tactical play IMO. Using tactics to make d5 work, so that black's queenside is kept bottled up has a lot I can learn from. And the critical knight manoeuvre to go to d6 is another idea I can put into my stash of middlegame plans. Hopefully I will screw up fewer great middlegame positions armed with these ideas. Funnilly enough it was about a month ago when I was playing a FIDE 2100 CM on the white side of an Alekhine when this exact thing happened. I got a great position (engine says +4) about 20 moves in with a stronghold on d6. But then I didn't know what to do; got myself into time trouble; my center broke down; then I lost on the queenside. That was a painful one; would have been my highest-rated win to date.

[@chow42]

Babe wake up, new speedrun ep just uploaded!

[@insertnamehere6280]

37:21 "God forbid, *god forbid* you play a move like Qxe4 and get into the endgame!" Me, who just happened to play this line in a game today: "Is this a personal attack?"

[@SEAKPhotog]

Wow, that was incredibly interesting/ educational! Thanks!

[@tysonyi9890]

You are amazing, if I come across some spending money in my adulthood, I will make sure to compensate the amazing work you are doing. i know it is your job, but you bring such excellence to it. Thank you, Mr. Naroditsky!

[@berkdemirozkaya]

Great educational video Danny. Thank you!

[@leohyams7986]

love your videos sensie! been able to improve so much in my games.

[@leo-um6yt]

omg sensie

[@TheKempaz]

Thank you Daniel. You are one the best chess content creators and teachers. Greetings from Finland!

[@desmundreid3368]

The tactics, amazing breakdown and reasoning are greatly appreciated. Thank you as always for the great content.

[@xXG3TPWNEDXx]

Daniel, I really enjoy this type of content. I am thankful for your knowledge and the "thinking aloud" commentary. This really helps me refine my own thoughts while playing.

[@ryanboyd4770]

My favourite so far, loved the analysis👍👍Cheers.

[@ryanboyd4770]

Loving the video’s and the teaching. See the fantasy takes me back to playing the Karo and being petrified -and the feedback that you gave after. Thank you. ❤

[@tiagohello]

amazing video, thank you so much

[@Suho1004]

That was an amazing game! I loved all of the beautiful lines.

[@peterclerkin906]

Thank you, Danya! Another year

[@mosalah6457]

we love you Danya!! thank you for such amazing content. rewatch your stuff all the time!

[@tekinay004]

Love these speed run games !!!

[@philipmaher2198]

Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New years Daniel Naroditsky. Thank you for all the brilliant chess content.

[@danjeory3659]

Profound analysis! Wow

[@leonilic908]

Thank you for your work

[@TeemuSintonen]

I'm speechless. These videos bring such joy and chess insight into my life not to mention historical tangents (I'm all for it). We love you Danya and thanks a lot for these educational videos! 🔥

[@bongcloud]

HAPPY NEW YEAR DANYA SENSEEEIIII 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳 WEE LOVE U SO MUCH!! 🥳🥳🥳

[@lilmentor3]

Danya you are such an amazing teacher because you demonstrate such great qualities such as being humble and admitting when you are wrong. a great teacher isn't only one with great knowledge but one that demonstrates that knowledge.

[@puzzician]

Love the mixed metaphor. Cakes by a country mile! Yummy run!

[@Ratatosk80]

Best chess channel on KZbin. I don't even play chess anymore but I still watch the speedrun series. For learning purposes they are of course amazing but the entertainment aspect is great as well.

[@sethdeneroff6490]

I think I’ve watched every speedrun video from the very first until now and really have enjoyed it all. I think it would be helpful to have a video to go along with this on how to actually study a repertoire. I know the speedrun goes over some openings/lines together but knowing I should “study the fantasy variation of the caro-Jann” and actually knowing how to go about that studying seem like different things to me.

[@chessshorts915]

The dedication from danya is too much, these are lessons you never find even from paid courses .

[@ignis6144]

Happy new years daniel im your biggest fan

[@aldogutierrez6637]

Hi Daniel. I’m too anxious to play vs other people, but I still enjoy the theory and explanations

[@cake77870]

Don't worry about playing others online. No matter how bad you are, you will be matched with people who are your strength. You will lose half your games and win the other half, just like the rest of us

[@HoarselyCry]

Same. My heart rate raises and I get cold sweaty palms whenever playing online. Nowadays I just stick to puzzles and chess videos cause I suck at the game lol.

[@danielonline7181]

@@HoarselyCry the only way to unsuck is to play people.... you can start by not logging in to your chess account and play anonymously, then play 14 day games and gradually get comfortable. Running from it won't help out. Imho

[@musical_lolu4811]

Just do it

[@lehmankulli69]

@@HoarselyCry same fr

[@fluffybear46]

This might be a bit advanced, but Happy New Year to you, Sensei Danya!

[@MrBorndd]

Ah the advanced variation of the new years opening?

[@brasileirokubrusly2]

watching your speedrun with a notebook by my side 🤓 thank you so much, Sensei 🧡

[@luisiano92]

HAPPY NEW YEAR DANI BEST WISHES

[@billmorrigan386]

That's just a superb chess lesson. It's way, way better than others do!

[@Piqqies_OwO]

happy new year!

[@brohooseurdaddy9522]

well done, thank you sir.

[@greenglade47]

29:10 "Not every piece needs to be distributing the covid vaccine" people give Gotham a lot of credit for comedy, but Danya is underrated, this was gold 😂

[@Ohramous]

nice video man

[@wildjames]

? it's 50+ minutes long. how do you know if it's nice or not? you posted as soon as it came up.

[@gizmo3728]

I come bach to this video every few months because i love these crazy lines

[@mikeshirley16]

Genius level content

[@calebbeecroft1373]

6:15 “…and what’s interesting… ayeeoo” That is pretty interesting lol Good video Danya thanks again bro!

[@NebbyG69]

Hey Daniel I got some books you recommended for Christmas, Chess Middlegame Combinations and Art of Attack in chess and have been enjoying them so far! Thanks so much for all of the instructive content

[@CSRunner7]

Loved the analysis on the Fantasy. I finally got one of these scenarios! The example on 39:00 happened and I won in about 13 moves!! 😄 At last I remembered what to do 😅

[@ZZuluZ]

These retreated tactics to F1 are fascinating and having the reasoning behind it gives me hope one day I’ll be able to find such moves in my own games

[@calebhall4722]

youtube algorithm is a chad "Fantasy Variation Crash Course!" - 2 minutes ago 😂😂 also thanks danya for the epic content 🙏

[@danielyuan9862]

Thanks for the Fantasy Variation Crash Course. I actually had trouble playing the exchange variation as white, so I might try this line instead!

[@maoropizzagalli4153]

Thanks for sharinh your knowledge Danya, this is gold for us chess noobs

[@jstgw2180]

Great thumbnail!

[@nomer440]

Ok one huge thing I learnt now which I must admit took me a while Danny looks at a move and assesses it. He rarely labels the move oh it’s a 1600 elo move it’s a bad move. He takes the move and makes up his mind about it. Which has been a big problem of mine. Whenever I jump to conclusions about a move and don’t address it that move eventually becomes a problem for me even if my opponent is a lower rated player or if it’s in fact a blunder. Now I will be focusing on the chess I’m playing instead of categorising my opponents’ moves based on a hunch and continue with my plan. Thanks Danny

[@benullery]

Danya always kills it, but every minute of this video was pure gold.

[@legendaryash5349]

when the analyse part time is more than the actual game lol, this guy is amazing

[@EscoPvP]

I do like the Apocalypse Attack against the caro-kann even at a Level of 2000-2100 Elo Not many people know what to do and at worst i usually get a solid position and the bishop pair that many times carries over to the endgame and wins the game for me But i‘m intrigued and i will have a deeper look into the fantasy Variation Thanks for learning new stuff 😁

[@infernalflamezz7480]

Ive been studying and playing the Panov Attack against the Caro, honestly so much fun. I'm glad when facing the Caro now because the game is often very attack-heavy.

[@thetransferaccount4586]

super interesting game

[@jessenicoletta4160]

I feel like I learn more about how to think about a game than how to play a line by watching these. Maybe I just don't think the correct way in my matches (beginner here) but it definitely is helpful learning new ways to look at different moves

[@alexf0101]

thanks

[@mariemjlassi723]

I'm going to make it my mission in life to leave a comment under every single danya video because I can't possibly thank this man enough for the insight he provides us with all while being one of the most graceful, humble and kind human beings. Thank you Daniel 🙏🏼

[@chessify518]

Best on KZbin

[@RossPacino]

Danya is a fabulous player and even more amazing teacher. Chess player in any other era would’ve paid a fortune to learn from him but now we can learn from him for free

[@Sbigsla]

I hope you will cover some analysis on 3..Qb6 in the fantasy as it seems to be the most challenging line right now :)

[@ropstensvaktare170]

nice

[@Foxtrot6624]

God damn it Danya I hate playing against the fantasy enough already, now everyone’s gonna do it.

[@st3vo126]

No matter how many videos I watch, when I play a game my mind goes blank.

[@marconardelli5538]

Fantastic content, getting all this for free is an incredible thing if I think that when I was 15 I used to pay the equivalent of 50 euro to get a 1 hour lesson

[@valentinleguizamon9957]

damn!! what country if I may ask?

[@patrickperlasjulian]

Bang 💣

[@beaumatthews6411]

something very interesting near 13:07 with your Qe1 move; Stockfish initially said it was the best move, but I actually left the d7 pawn there! When I took it off, it said Bd3 was the best move! Very interesting

[@thetransferaccount4586]

superb game x2

[@DonCh4oS]

Let's go on an adventure with the knight. Love it

[@marconardelli5538]

Grazie.

[@P.sherman45]

I feel bad for not subscribing to danya sooner

[@zjayt]

"I want my goddamn bishop" -Danya 2022 😂 great discussion as always

[@YtubeUserr]

Say f for fantasy Say f for f-file Say f for fans of Fanya Faroditsky

[@tonieprawda]

great hashtags #stablediffusion #speedrun #grandmaster - capitalising on the hype :)

[@zoranherceg7221]

I can't believe this. I just started studying it because of your game with the cheater and I was thinking man, wouldn't it be great if Danya played another fantasy in the next days. And now this!

[@BoringM11]

Hi Daniel! I'm getting back into chess, and your videos are my go-to for learning the game. I've seen in some of your videos that you don't recommend certain openings for someone trying to learn their first opening. I was wondering if you had a video where you recommend openings for someone trying to learn their first opening?

[@disco_sugar]

Thank you for an epic year of chess intelligence. Super love in the universe. 💜

[@skitzcunt4213]

very instructive

[@samuelgee6463]

BABE WAKE UP NEW NARO VID

[@ziyad7600]

Preparing the lobster pincer mate and blocking the f pawn with the bishop is going to stick with me.

[@izzymarz6788]

I want my God damn bishop!

[@JoeSorrentino-hu7zh]

As usual a masterclass on how to teach chess to the masses.

[@bradpaul1699]

25:10 : Me - "Nb5 looks like a good move here". Danya - "I WANT MY GOD DA*N BISHOP". Me - "yes, sir. of course....what was i thinking......". 😂love u danya you are undoubtedly the best!!!

[@muntoonxt]

With abundant clarity, Naroditsky imparts his infinite wisdom to us awestruck Alices on the white and black checkered fantasy wonderland of the 3.f3 Caro Kann.

[@qwertywarrior]

Thank you Based Даня.

[@misterunknown8923]

What about accelerated panov against Caro? A lot of fun :)

[@richardfredlund8846]

According to the thoughty2 video on the mechanical turk, Napolean played against it.

[@PaperTigerLive]

Why is there a stable diffusion tag on this video?

[@maikk28]

I have had a lot of games in the advance Karo, where I'm up a piece for 2 pawns or something like that, and it's very very difficult to convert, I usually loose anyway. 🤣

[@thijsbeentjes4008]

Decided to take a look at some fantasy lines. There's some crazy lines wow. I usually play a queens gambit (and play 2.c4 basically always even if black doesnt play 1. d5) but I'm considering switching to 2.e4 as a response to 1. d4 c6 to transpose into a Caro (thoughts on that?) For example one line I like was 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3 dxe4 4. fxe4 Nf3 (I know you said it's inaccurate, but most popular move in lichess database) 5. e5 Nd5 6. c4 Nb6 7. Nc3 Be6 (attacking c4) 8. Nf3 (ignoring the threat on c4) and then there's 2 options that feel human because black played Be6 with the sole purpose of attacking c4. Either 8. ... Bxc4, in which case 9. Bxc4 Nxe4 10. O-O e6 11. Qd3 Nb6 12. Ng5! Only clearly winning move because there's no way to defend f6 (engine gives about +8 and other moves are like +1.5ish) And if 8. ... Nxc4 simply 9. Ng5 immediately and white is already +3.5 despite being down a pawn and no obvious ways to win material immediately. (Notably if black plays 9. ... Bd5 there white must play e6 to keep advantage).

[@archiesinclair6252]

Bobby Fisher would have loved THIS. Sheer skill.

[@MrGrey64]

The thumbnail made me think, "Who's this trying to copy Levy with this crappy thunbnail?" Then I saw "Danya Naroblitzhy" and I thought a few other things. "Okay, I change the tone of my last thought" "Didn't he say he wasn't going to play the thumbnail game?" and again, "I thought the last thought in a joking manner, not trying to attack Danya in anyway" EDIT: completed sentence I forgot to

[@marshall9224]

why couldnt i see this a year ago

[@DasviWallah]

Today I win Bronze in a Blitz tournament of 2000s as a 1000 Thanks to Danya

[@cronoz-sensei4259]

I watched one vid bout the fantasy (the one against the cheater you did) and then I went online. Then the second I did, someone player karo. And I was like, wait a minute, lets try the fantasy. It worked like a charm. I even used the qe1 > qg3 idea you showed in the video, it ended up winning me the game. It was still a very sharp game though, I got nearly mated coz when I blew up blacks kingside he transfered his pieces to the queenside and got his rook there. So while staring down two rooks and a queen on my king, with one queen some pawns and a will of iron I somehow managed to not get mated. Then got a lucky rook on eight file with check, using my queen on then h1 to deliver mate. Whew, this opening is fucking nuts.

[@jonsnowsb_stard]

Arigato Gojaimasu Sensei 🫡🫡

[@Siderite]

Danya: here are these amazing chess ideas! Human: what the hell is wrong with his hair?!