How I lost with the Kalashnikov in 22 moves | Andrew Smith - Daniel King, London 1974

[@krazychessplaya]

It takes real humility to show a loss in a game of a line one advocates. Always a class act and thank you for the wonderful analysis!

[@horvathliviu2101]

And Jesus said : "Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted".

[@jp_64]

Great courage to show a real bad loss in an opening you have a book and course on, I'd love to see a Kalshnikov Speedrun online with you crushing players with the opening now. Great analysis and amazing narration as always!

[@markjordan8919]

It's really sporting of you to share this loss against Andrew Smith and promote his book into the bargain! Instructive too, and I'm sure a lesson well learned by your 11 year-old self. Andy is an old club mate of mine against whom I must have played a fair few offhand blitz games, but I don't think I ever met him in competition in which case he would have been the clear favourite to win. The video also brings back memories of the Sunday Times schools knock-out competition which was my introduction to competitive chess beyond the school chess club. Crown Woods school had a remarkably strong team for a comprehensive and we did very well in the Sunday Times competition with a team that included Susan Caldwell, Stuart Fancy and Gary Clark. I usually played bottom board. I'll have to buy Andy's book, and yours, of course!

[@PowerPlayChess]

We usually lost against Crown Woods: very strong side. They were quite scary too!

[@markjordan8919]

@@PowerPlayChess Stuart, who really ran the club and team from the age of 13, had a rather piratical approach to schools chess and we tended to turn up at our opponents' schools like a boarding party. Somewhat embarrassing when I look back on it, especially since we were strong enough to do well anyway.

[@ga3680]

I'm loving reading your Kalshnikov book which was given to be as a birthday present. I plan to roll it out next season in my league games. Thanks for the great content, Mr King! 👍🏻

[@banjaxed555]

Andrew is brilliant. The book is equally as brilliant!

[@joseraulcapablanca8564]

Great attacking play by Andy. It shows your class showing your loss in a variation, where you literally wrote the book. I will just add I played in my local schools league in 1974, couple of years older than you. I would then have been proud to play as well as either of you then. Thanks Daniel.

[@prisonerofrocknroll8250]

I'm a little bit beyond studying opening theory and "repertoires", but I love historical/biographical books and game collections (tremendously enjoyed your book on Sultan Khan!), so I'm always happy to get a new recommendation in this area. Sadly I missed out on this one (sold out), but please keep 'em coming!

[@ricj441]

I totally agree with some of the other comments. Sheer class Maestro King!

[@southron_d1349]

I think we can afford to be kind to our 11-year old selves. I know a gentleman who always plays both Rooks' pawns regardless of need creating those "elephant's ears". He worries about possible pins but the cure is often worse than the disease.

[@PowerPlayChess]

‘There is a special place in Hell…’

[@joev3512]

great game, great story. The older I get, the more I enjoy blasts from the past such as these.

[@DG-ss2zd]

Great to see your past games thanks

[@andrewhaldenby4949]

Very enjoyable Daniel ty!

[@Sandro-tp8qt]

Pleasant, entertaining and instructive! 👍

[@TessaTestarossa]

Whoa. That looks like a ton of chess content in one book. And for mere 20 quid, wow.

[@djgresearch]

Guess what? I said Nf4. What a lovely game by Andrew. It must be slightly strange looking back that far. Thinking of young players, I was recently watching live coverage of The British Chess Championship and I was struck by the extent of young talent (and not just guys) coming forward. Maybe this would be a suitable topic for a video.

[@PowerPlayChess]

There is always young talent coming forward! But at the moment, past the age of 18, there is no one who is looking likely to make significant progress towards becoming (let's say) a 2600 player. This is the big cut off point. University and career; or throwing your lot in as a professional player.

[@djgresearch]

@@PowerPlayChess Yes, I can remember lots of highly promising young players since I started following chess around 1972, and very few reached 2600. It's quite a decision to give up university and career. In one of Vlastimil Hort's books, he makes the point that if you have problems, be it personal or financial, that will hold you back, even with all the talent in the world, as it will play on your mind.

[@brucelittleboy3594]

I've noticed that Nigel Short and some other strong players have sometimes tried 5. Nb3. Presumably they want a fair fight on neutral territory rather than face Black's computer-assisted and book-assisted preparation. And club players can think the same way. And I welcome the advertisement for Andrew Smith's book as I'd never probably have heard about it otherwise.

[@kevinwinter4514]

I have the book by Andrew from some years back. Some interesting opening schemes to say the least ! It takes up half my bookcase along with Lazlo Polgar’s monster puzzle book 😂

[@LateCloser]

My first ever chess tournament was an officially rated blitz tournament. I beat an IM, his only loss of the tourney. The game is embarrassing to look at, however. Your review of this game, reminded me of it. Even though I won the game (by checkmate), I can't stand to look at it. :)

[@PowerPlayChess]

You can buy the Sicilian Kalashnikov book directly from New In Chess: www.newinchess.com/king-s-kalashnikov-sicilian ON SALE NOW!!

[@PowerPlayChess]

You can get the Sicilian Kalashnikov Chessable course here, either the straight repertoire with annotations, or the premium version with video explanations: www.chessable.com/kings-kalashnikov-sicilian/course/78873/ ON SALE NOW!!

[@DarkSkay]

Ah, old games... gives me a sense of achievement when seeing how I was playing like a noob :)

[@PowerPlayChess]

You can buy Andrew's book here: chess.co.uk/products/off-the-board-chess-andrew-smith

[@zwischenzugblues7462]

Unfortunately it is already sold out! Hopefully it will be available again soon, it looks like a really interesting read.

[@matsnordstrom5987]

​@@zwischenzugblues7462Wow it wasn't sold out when I checked a couple of hours ago. I was considering buying it but thought I should mull it over for a bit first.. Seems I most certainly wasn't the only one getting the buy-impulse after watching this video then. Oh well I hope there will be a new edition at some point. 😊

[@banjaxed555]

I have it on good authority that it will be restocked very very soon.

[@TheGloryofMusic]

Danny has thrown down the gauntlet---how to lose with the Kalashnikov in just 21 moves. I need to study.

[@clarenceyee3529]

Viktor Korchnoi would have proud of a young Danny King after Qxc3.

[@kenspencer9895]

Entertaining! My early games were much worse . . .

[@michaelblankenau6598]

Very entertaining analysis . However , if just playing h6 too early in a reasonable position warrants a sentence of perdition , where is Tony Miles now after playing a6 on move 1 against World Champion Karpov ?

[@PowerPlayChess]

I don't think you are comparing like with like. Tony's ...a6 and ...b5 was a coherent (if somewhat flawed) flank strategy that actually aimed to put pressure on White's centre. On the other hand playing moves like ...h6 in an open position such as this is a waste of time, pure and simple. Every move counts. Trust me, I see this error so often at club level.

[@infernal314]

Actually, this is as much Kalashnikov as Sveshnikov. And good to see that nobody borns as a GM.

[@skakdosmer]

I've certainly kept all my scoresheets, regardless of the results. But then I didn't start playing cub chess and tournament chess until I was 28. What I would have done at 11, I'm not sure.

[@skakdosmer]

If I were ever to play a game against you, Daniel (not much chance of that, I know), I'd no doubt be completely demolished. But one thing I would strive to do: Make one of those "special-place-in-hell" moves with either my h-pawn or my a-pawn, or, who knows, perhaps with both. My idea would be to a) provoke you b) make you underestimate me c) make you try and punish it, in a hopefully still rather balanced position. d) try to follow in the footsteps of my great compatriot Bent Larsen who was known to play more with his a- and h-pawns than most other GMs - a fact that he was actually proud of. I'm sure I'd lose anyway, so why not try and have some fun in the process?

[@luigi777aa]

Mr King, what is the flag close to your name? I can see this is not English.

[@horvathliviu2101]

I got the course and the book. Two mice are chewing on a film roll One says, "I liked the book better"...

[@PowerPlayChess]

Lol. I'm not exactly sure what you are saying with this, but I like the image!

[@horvathliviu2101]

@PowerPlayChess I bought your chessable course on Kalashnikov last year. I love it. Last week I ordered your book with the same title. I loved it most.

[@pbrynild]

Why is there a Norwegian flag next to Daniel King's name? 🙂

[@PowerPlayChess]

The usual software glitch

[@paulgoogol2652]

With hair like this you will always just stand up and walk away from the board looking like a winner.

[@dedaapse]

A special place in hell for playing a certain chess move? What? Why would anybody say a thing like that?

[@PowerPlayChess]

Humour? Just a guess.

[@robinesperoza]

​@@PowerPlayChess I thought it was Dante's fifth or sixth circle, can't recall which.