Finding The Hippo Attack Annoying? TRY THIS!! | GM Naroditsky’s Top Theory Speedrun

[@Anon123454]

"I want to emphasize simplicity and straightforwardness in this game" 10 seconds later "Ah what the hell, let's do it"

[@arleyantes9321]

Exactly my thought process when I play. Except I lose.

[@Samuftie]

15:08 timestamp comment please

[@marcofrey2903]

But once you see it, you realize it really is the most simple approach, even if it's not straightforward.

[@ianerickson2210]

As chess players, sometimes we see an idea or a move that just looks too fun NOT to play :)

[@f.d.3289]

sounds like me xD

[@arleyantes9321]

Don't be disappointed with that sort of play by your opponent. We face those guys often, and it's terribly infuriating to lose to them from time to time.

[@gen_jose3380]

So true!

[@RobFlaxMusic]

Every now and then I get discouraged-“ugh, why watch the video on the Hippo”-and then Danya drops this GEM about the “Argentinian tragedy,” and goes on a historical tangent to showcase a tactical motif I’ve never seen before. WOW!

[@rrocham]

It's so satisfying watching Danya destroying dubious openings.

[@againsthegrainx7556]

The way his opponent played made me angry. Playing so quickly and moving like 6 pawns as their first moves. Looks so stupid.

[@tengu8560]

The hippo isn’t dubious…

[@armwrestlingfan6804]

Magnoose loves playing the hippo

[@Aarron-io3pm]

It's even more satisfying when youve been doing nofap in-between Danya uploads 🙊

[@textik5821]

@@tengu8560 was this the hippo lol? dont say it was, it wasnt, it was a tilted player playing instantly and getting absolutely demolished.

[@KF-gd5zt]

Imagine chessbrah meet him while doing their own speedrun

[@thorp6172]

That would be great haha

[@cz19856]

eric's hippo speedrun is blitz unfortunately

[@300mare]

Both: "this opponent might not be 1600 "

[@walterbrownstone8017]

Actually it felt like 30 seconds.

[@rmendeljacobs2832]

I was thinking the same

[@masone4718]

Welp guess I’m not actually going to bed yet

[@peterlafrance5392]

in the same boat

[@yugangstaz]

You should try watching it in the bed..it whips llama's ass

[@Dimbo4466]

Yeah, danya has really mastered the optimal video release time for his audience lol.

[@kesetokaiba]

“Argentinian Tragedy” I hadn't heard before, but this is a beautiful attacking idea (clearance with tempo) with an amazing story behind it. The hippo portion was good, but this story was gold! :)

[@BasedGob]

God give me as many videos of Danya destroying troll openings as possible

[@rizalkhafidin1471]

I love the story time at the end, hope Danya will do it more often

[@tuhaggis]

One of biggest lessons I'm picking up from these longer format speed runs, is to use my time to look for options instead of relying on my intuition for 'obvious' looking moves. If Danya spends time on moves where I thought I saw a clear way forward, I have not learnt to use my time effectively. I think I have focused too much on playing blitz and bullet and it's made me put too much emphasis on playing quickly.

[@minorasin]

It's a bit ironic that you learn this lesson from one of the fastest GMs alive

[@DanielKondratiuk]

@@minorasin the fastest GM alive is Rebecca Harris...

[@300mare]

@@minorasin ye but it also resonates more.

[@300mare]

@@DanielKondratiuk he said one of the fastest.

[@curtis4948]

my rapid rating jumped after i played a bunch of daily games that taught me to dive in and look for better no matter what i think its best

[@samanderson427]

Does anyone else describe the moves their making in their own games, out loud in Danya's voice, hoping that it will somehow make them the right moves?

[@JonathanS344]

Easily the most instructive chess channel on youtube! Love the videos Danya!

[@tmbhbnt8281]

so against dubious openings, how do we know if the approach is "go for the throat quickly before they consolidate and we lose our development advantage" or "squeeze slowly, if you rush it might backfire"? I feel in most speedruns the approach have been the former when the opponent misplays the opening, but here it seems you advocate for the latter. Any explanation?

[@yessir6427]

idk chess ishard

[@thatguy5233]

from what i understood from the video, it's all about when to open the center. against hippo it's quite different because it actually has solid defense, so you can't just open the center and expect to win - you'll actually lose the advantage, or be winning a lot less. other dubious openings are often not prepared for opening the center so you can strike immediately. anyway, that's what he meant I THINK

[@thatguy5233]

also, other opening often are considered dubious only because there is 1-3 moves that punish it and if you don't play them in time, you might even be losing. hippo is considered dubious because of how passive it is - you just let the enemy prepare and attack and hope for a mistake on the way, but there are no certain moves that'll give you an immediate advantage

[@spark5010]

most of the time u go for the throat only when your king is much safer than enemy

[@adamanonymous6885]

I'm far from a high rated player, but my understanding is that it comes down to thinking about *why* the opponent's opening is dubious... I play a lot of dubious trash in blitz, fishing for quick checkmates or big advantages, and against that kind of opening, you should probably strike back accurately and immediately to punish my ignoring king safety and development... Openings like the hippo are dubious for pretty much the exact opposite reason.. They aren't competing for space or advantage, they aren't trying to make threats, they are passively denying the other player any targets and hoping that the lack of obvious plans will frustrate or confuse them, and will trigger a premature attack. Against these openings, you have as much time as you need to set up your pieces however you like, and can slowly brew a devastating attack, free from the need to spend any moves countering threats from your opponent

[@tomdon84]

Once again, I really feel the urge to say "thanks", because this is the most instructive video series on chess I've ever seen and this video in particular, with all this strategic ideas, is top 5 in Danya's all time video collection. I really hope you get the same satisfaction making this series than we get watching it

[@jonhanlon9293]

One of these days Danya’s going to have to rediscover the wheel

[@andremarques1088]

😂😂😂

[@zackmulhollan6333]

Thank you Danya for these videos, it is my nightime routine

[@bry8120]

Breakfast with Danya is choice

[@SEAKPhotog]

You should do a series of instructive game reviews/analyses called "Story Time with Danya" 😉

[@PeteyPablo1]

I love you Daniel, God bless you for being so generous to put of such high quality instructive videos, better than that other dude, although i saw your reddit post.

[@yugangstaz]

Keep posting these sensei for as long as you can plz. You are the best

[@Oldlard]

This is all Eric's fault. It is amazing how much streamers effect the opening "meta". I'll never forgive Aman and Levy for the London.

[@dominykascyras4470]

You got that right about London… Fucking d4

[@Oldlard]

@@dominykascyras4470 I play d4 and go for the sharpest lines. It's not d4's fault!

[@beaut7811]

@@Oldlard all the more reason to blame eric, levy and aman for the london. Just for depriving me of the interesting D4 positions and forcing me to play only against the london

[@FmFpF1992]

As an e4 player as white and a caro player as black I am not a fan of d4 postions. They are just boring to me. I am not saying they are bad, but the grind of players just doing some variation of a "system" opening is not fun. I used to play london lol but fell in love with all things e4.

[@Oldlard]

@@FmFpF1992 what do you play against d4 when you arent facing some tedious system?

[@aaronspry4500]

Can't miss these speedruns.

[@owaisabdulmoeed7644]

That mate in 2 was... wow. I would never have found that in a real game. Key takeaway from this game for me was the idea of "shepherding" the king to the right square. What a teacher Danya is! Every video I learn something new. Thank you, Danya.

[@tacticalchunder1207]

I don’t know how people get to 1600 playing like this! I’m 1100 blitz now and never come across anyone playing this badly (in the opening at least).

[@kevinalexis5648]

That backwards move with the Queen was wicked 🥶

[@douggieharrison6913]

the only thing better than watching Danya crush these annoying ass openings is when he has like 10 seconds on the clock and goes into demon mode

[@disco_sugar]

THE Chess Professor 🤩

[@violetsweet1660]

"hopefully we get something more mainstrea..." [1.e3 is on the board]

[@i.g.l.z.9215]

Greetings from Gothenburg, Sweden! Thanks for the instructional video and especially for the "Argentinian tragedy" story - fun to learn some chess history that unfolded right here in my hometown. ☺

[@mrmacguffin6886]

The Argentinean tragedy story was the single best chess story bit I've ever head, and the game you showed is now one my favourite games of all time. I need to really look into it more myself. Just wow. I'm not usually particularly impressed with moves or combinations that others consider remarkable, but this looks mind-blowing to me for some reason. Keep it up Daniel!

[@juanb14]

Love your videos, Daniel. As an argentinian myself, didnt know the story. Thanks for sharing

[@nuismus]

So against 1. D4 do you recommend the Grünfeld or King's Indian defense this speedrun?

[@ironmaz1]

Vitctimize the b5 pawn !!! ;)

[@JB_inks]

Danya, please could you boost the audio a bit on your next video? My laptop's speakers are struggling :(

[@walterbrownstone8017]

Lol The Hippo is a great trolling opening! You can win a bunch of games just by being big fat slow and strong. Gives your opponent plenty of time to make a silly blunder.

[@ericzenk4404]

I like seeing how Danya analyzes positions. e.g., how does material compare with other factors? when should you sacrifice a piece?

[@JohnsonSmithson]

Play some more catalan. It's great to see the strategy and plans

[@MarkNoka]

Great content man, keep it up. I love you

[@doiknowmyenemy]

I have never seen a more thorough explanation of how to dominate passive play. Thank you again for your content Danya

[@morzineau8102]

Amazing Video ! Thanks

[@SabyasachiGhosh1618]

@43:47 I liked the part where Najdorf said it's Najdorfing time and Najdorfed all over the place

[@tarek9785]

The story time, it was so much entertaining and instructive at the same time, i loved it! I would love if there was a series like this, telling chess stories. I hope that you please consider the idea, you are really good at it and know how to make it sound entertaining and instructive

[@kantvishi]

The best way to actually play the hippo for my level is to not play the hippo.

[@notNights]

direct counter to chessbrah!

[@rodrigorosales5930]

This is one of my favorite videos man, love what you do❤️

[@micahclawrence]

How the hell did they get to the 1500’s

[@matesenelinsti]

Story time… sooooo great

[@OostyMcBoost]

Love these videos so much! Wish you were able to put out more but I’ll take anything I can get

[@seeess925]

Yes. This is what I need help with the most. Both colors do this type of opening at me. And sometimes instant move their pieces. It's really annoying. Where to get more info against both colors doing it?

[@tomgebel1128]

It's 7am now, I haven't slept all night I should probably MOM SENSEI DROPPED A NEW SPEEDRUN VIDEO

[@wunknownbeatbox7980]

50:59 This is a line I was actually calculating during the game and I was looking at Bc1 as a stubborn defense, and I thought you would like this little extra detail as I was trying to refute it, not sure it it's best. f3! if Bxf3 then Qxf3! Nxf3 Nc2#. Having our rook on d8 frees the labor of the queen and forever ties down the d2 Knight to the same mate on c2 (edit I see you go over Bc1 literally a few seconds later lol, I also looked at that line as well, but what do you think of just f3)

[@DaveCharbonneau1]

I mistakenly played the Hippo today. I realized I meant to fianchetto on the other side, so, bam! The Hippo! (I believe I lost that game).

[@FreeKingZeek]

This content has given me the chess mind. Thank you for opening my eyes to the beauty of this game

[@dave4468]

One of the best speed run videos yet. From start to finish, very well explained and entertaining. Loved the side story too to solidify some of the concepts/fundamentals. Great work danya :]

[@zeebest1004]

5:41 - If the player pushes to a4 the proper hippo response is to do nothing beyond having pawns at a5 and b5. THEN if the player pushes to a5 or b5 the hippo guy will respectively push to b5 or a5. This locks the a and b files, the attack black is trying in this case. This is true for black or white hippo players whether the opponent tries this attack on the King OR Queen side! AND if anti-hippo tries b4xc5, the hippo can freely …a6xc5 opening up the hippo rook file 3 more squares. If he tries to b5xa6 hippo guy can Rxb6 and have a partially open file for HIS rook! If anti-hippo replies with a4xb5… after …a6xb5 hippo guy can snatch the anti-hippo rook for free! Anyway, he meant to say white would move to b5 in response not b4 - he should at least get the moves annotated right!!

[@vigneshr8956]

Interesting story.

[@dadyasuo8151]

Love how much u extract out of a game! Very inspiring

[@matteopriotto5131]

My last game was against a hippo and it was quite annoying but I played well and also ended up winning in style with a knight sacrifice. However, it's never easy to play against it. So now Danya is not only a prophet but also a mind reader 🤔

[@marcofrey2903]

Yeah, I feel like you have to balance patience with tactical vision, waiting for the perfect moment to strike hard.

[@ukdirector85]

That play from a 1600!is pathetic, I know Danya is a GM but they didn’t even think about their moves when in danger. Absolute chancer

[@dav5593]

How are u so smart

[@roversfan1115]

Does Nf4 at 16:40 work

[@modolief]

34:12 "... because, as you guys know, engines are not always very good in closed center positions. They often suggest a strategy of just shuffling your pieces back and forth." Daniel, is this still really true?? I mean: You would know better than me, but nowadays, with all the neural net work that has been done to get a stratospherically good evaluation function, don't the engines just see things from a purely chessic point of view, not the old style engine play?

[@obscurelines]

To be honest. because I lack brain power I just grab the bishop and smash everything together till we are in endgame and win that way. What is this Mate thing you speak off?

[@antimatter2417]

Wow I loved the analysis today and the awesome storytelling, thx Danya

[@matteovrizzi]

49:49 "after 0-0, Ke7 and of course Bxe5 and the game is over because uh, because it is." 🎉

[@alexf0101]

good stuff

[@DaveCharbonneau1]

Is there an opening called COW BELL? Because... I NEED MORE COWBELL!!

[@chessify518]

That story in the end was one of the best historical story I have ever listened, also engine era destroyed the line calculation which was taken by so many gm together, in today's world no 10 gm sits together and decide to play same line , beacuse they can just sit alone and analyse the line on their own , and chess can't be interesting anymore because we don't have this type of story anymore, is this sad ?

[@leigh71able]

Thanks Danya

[@janakj2251]

I always wonder how to punish this kind of openings...it makes me angry to loose to this kind of stuff...thank u

[@danielfraser6193]

Daniel, this speedrun you are very good at explaining your ideas and its been the best place for improving your chess on youtube!

[@ptitmaxxx]

Just realized, with his "let's have some fun", that Dany is the Bob Ross of chess.

[@User-Mizoarchive]

Dear Danya, whenever I face stonewall setup, I'm in trouble. Please can you make a video about how to play against stonewall setup. Thanks.

[@philos9295]

I loved the story at the end! You're the best danya

[@gorryman]

I hate the hippo in 3 min because you are not even playing chess just the clock

[@coltgad4411]

I beat your danya bot 2650 after 3 hours of continuous slow analysis play

[@thesagapov]

KZbin notified me of this upload 3 minutes ago…wtf

[@Samuftie]

The most annoying opening. More on this countering this type please ):

[@ziyad7600]

It's a fun story, keep them coming 👍

[@Eidenhoek]

43:40 I believe you mean "we're playing the *me*"

[@lougaru2445]

"White has been very naughty*: LOL I love it

[@redcona]

Not first

[@f.d.3289]

49:50 "... and the game is over, because, er... because it is." Sorry Danya, but the correct formulation is "because I said so". Go Danya!

[@f.d.3289]

just noticed that i seem quite unable to chessify my brain, but i've been doing great at finegoldizing it with which i'm very fine

[@f.d.3289]

i do love this speedrun and Danya's explanations are incredibly interesting and fascinating, but I really wish that the editor would stop doing all these micro-edits which I find incredibly distracting. dude, let him cough or whatever

[@mono1813]

I guess the main parts he edits out are when someone subs and/or does a crazy dono danya has to acknowledge them. I don't mind it tbh if you watch the first speedrun half of the videos' length are danya thanking his subs which is ofc fine but this way's better imo.

[@dimitrakos131313]

shows how bad people who play these openings really are

[@XVRMEDIA]

❤❤❤

[@ShanomoBro]

"I won't need this info probably, I hardly play against the Hippo", gets checkmated Turn 16 against Hippo the next day.

[@f.d.3289]

i really like this anti-hippo setup. what i didn't like about my standard setup is it's symmetry, i felt there needs to be some asymmetry to create dynamics... and the c6/Ne7-f8-g6 seems to be exactly what i was looking for. plus the hint of playing a5 or h5 also makes a ton of sense. one of the most insightful videos because i'm an ideas guy, my brain just can't remember longer lines. but i will feel much more confident going against the next silly hippo.

[@WhiterockFTP]

I am very confused by your grünfeld recommendation. In a bunch of other older videos you say that the Grünfeld requires years of studying and is not suitable for beginners whatsoever. I think you are a very good teacher, but this is so conflicting.

[@PeterPerhac]

@1:03 "Scratch everything that I'm about to say" GM Naroditsky that's going to be a difficult lesson to learn

[@manemobiili]

23:36 So sensei Naroditsky recommends e4 for white due to c-pawn staying in c2, i'm contemplating should i learn more e4 stuff or keep playing 1. d4 🤔

[@jbrodie518]

“White has been very naughty” 😂

[@beautyorpower5288]

"do not be afraid of the move B4" danya how dare you, dont you know your words can hurt people? each time you say these awful things a piece of agadmator dies.

[@ChessJourneyman]

Hippo meets queencloud? Imo there's a difference between a Hippo player and a person making troll moves that happen to resemble a Hippo.

[@endtimerevelations6723]

Daniel still in his 20's. I'm convinced he's gonna be the best player in the world. He took me to 2300...

[@tengu8560]

Love your content Danya ❤

[@asansfakeaccound5466]

It's good to learn a new setup against such openings. I always played samisch with great success, cuz it allows tou to launch imidiate pawnstorm to any area on the board whenever is good moment but got bored of that already.

[@johndeaux8815]

This opening works a lot better in 3 minute games. It was over in 6 minutes, but if both players were low on time it would be a lot more playable

[@ToviaBehanu]

What about after …Nxd5, Bxd5 Qxd5, cxb4 Qxh1, white plays N(d)f3 trapping the queen?

[@fergs1561]

The Goteborg variation was played on 3 boards, not 2. Spassky - Pilnik was the other game

[@edwardwelsch5893]

This speed run has been so good, especially as Danya gets into my range. These are very typical openings and play I'm used to seeing. (Bowdler attack especially)