How to WIN against the Philidor Defense

In this video I will show you an aggressive, trendy system against the popular Philidor Defense.

[@golos9]

I swear you are one of the top 3 chess KZbinrs. Your videos are so informative and detailed, and you legitimately teach a lot about chess instead of the common trend of just feeding people trappy sidelines. I hope you keep making videos, and I hope you get the attention you deserve. Can't wait to try this line out! Edit: I already have a high win rate against the Philidor, but I haven't lost a game since studying this line.

[@mohamedayaan2220]

Yeah, him and Volcus

[@poojakapdia6149]

My teacher played philidor against me... I learnt a lot from this video... Nd also managed to win.. Thanks a lot

[@bobbyc2768]

This is awesome, I literally just started playing chess this month and am under 400 rated but this was very easy to learn. Thank you!

[@alexastaneh]

Oh wow, I'm glad that this was able to help you even as someone new to the game. Thanks for the feedback.

[@marklono134]

how much elo you are now ?

[@piraudbenjamin5928]

Thank you for these great videos !

[@pradeepnag363]

Fantastic ,Yes I want more videos like this.

[@avinashkashyap4162]

Fantastic line and great presentation as usual Alex!

[@alexastaneh]

Thanks Avinash, glad to hear! Good luck playing the line :)

[@chriscarpenter5688]

This is superb. Lovely ideas very well explained!! Thanks

[@anotherdude4180]

So the English Attack Setup (with Bf4 instead of Be3) works fine against Philidor. Good to know, thank you Alex!

[@mdshihabkhan4808]

Excellent brother. Please continue giving new video.

[@gossedejong9248]

excellent, as always!!!!

[@francianavarro7137]

Tnx!, for sharing.bless you.

[@graccusbro2061]

Thank you Alex. I have been struggling quite a bit at the 1600-1700 ELO with this opening as white. While until my 1500 ELO I was able to roll over the Philidor with the LeGall trap, after a certain level, it just does not work anymore, unfortunately.... And knowing this opening is sub-par I can't resist the urge to play hyper-aggressive to punish them, and end up defeated more often than not: my win rate against the Philidor has dropped to 43%. I hope this will change now.

[@binaryvat]

Great content, Alex!! I just saw the video...

[@kevinwinter4514]

Thanks for the video. Played your suggestion and Black played the Nxe4 , falling into the trap of Nd5 winning a piece. He staggered on but his position fell apart. Game lasted ten minutes at Benidorm Open Group B 😀👍

[@veteran_dino]

thanks, I've been facing a lot of Philidor defense recently and this is really helpful

[@Petrov_78]

Thank you, you are amazing

[@geethuvarghese9103]

On the other hand, I loved how our light sq bishop came fully alive n became our most key piece.. 😊

[@ChessJourneyman]

Awesome video! So many ideas nicely covered. I've been looking for ways to play against Philidor in "Jobava London" setups vs. Pirc but instead of g6, they play e5. So instead of getting the usual e4 d4 Nc3 Bf4 Qe2 type of setup vs. Pirc, you transpose early into Philidor early - either 1. d4 d6 2. e4 e5 or 1. d4 d6 2. Bf4 Nd7 3. e3 e5 (or Nf3 stopping e5, but Black goes for double fianchetto and typical London ideas go outta window 😂).

[@geethuvarghese9103]

1st tym listening to u.. U r doing a good job. I really feel good that u go all the way to middle game in each of the lines u explain making it practical n useful to us of biginner n mid rankings.. 😊 I specially like ur use of key terms (that intrensically holds key ideas). Like. Outpost, focal point(drk squared pawn).. Etc!

[@berndkuppinger3633]

Very helpful and well levelled for me (rating 1700). Thank you very much.

[@alexastaneh]

Glad it helped Bernd, and that you're enjoying the content :)

[@trira1171]

Thanks

[@justinanderson4046]

Thanks for the video. I have seen you say in some places things along the lines of "This scores best in my database for club players." What database do you use to get information on that level? Everywhere I look its all masters games.

[@alexastaneh]

Glad you're enjoying them - I use the Lichess database where you can filter by different rating bands.

[@justinanderson4046]

@@alexastaneh Gee thanks! I hadnt played with that one. Its perfect.

[@BAMBAMBAMBAMBAMval]

Wait a minute are you not thar guy who made the italian game guide playlist?

[@lassesolbu1360]

Hi, very interesting video, and clearly presented. I was just curious about what you would recommend against 7...d5, which according to Ben Finegold is the most played at top grandmaster level. It challenges in the center immediately, before white gets to castle. The computers top choice Ndb5 seems very risky.

[@alexastaneh]

There's no way to avoid complications in the 7...d5 line, although the good news is it's something you'll see very rarely at the amateur level. A promising approach is to play 8.0--0-0 instead of 8.Ndb5, which seems to be less risky. Here Black has mostly continued with 8...Bb4 at the master level, when after 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Ndb5 White has a strong pull. Alternatively if Black plays 8...dxe4 (most popular at the amateur level) you can continue with the interesting move 9.h3! (to control the g4 square). The intention is to follow up with moves like 10.Bc4 and/or 10/11.Ndb5 and use your greater development and piece activity as compensation for the pawn. Sorry it's not possible to provide a more comprehensive explanation by text, the lines inevitably get pretty complicated no matter what White does. But I would recommend these suggestions as a starting point for analysis, it's a rare approach from White but it's quite promising.

[@lassesolbu1360]

Thank you very much. I really like your first suggetsion to go long castle, the computer also gives white a clear edge in that line. I will analyze it more closely.

[@giri8034]

It would be very helpful to make video about scotch gambit also

[@alexastaneh]

good suggestion! not sure that I don't think I will add it to the win with 1.e4 series but I will think about doing one as a standalone vid as I think that's a great choice that scores quite well

[@checkanr138]

Why are you not playing in this Olympiad? Great video as always :-)

[@alexastaneh]

I'm more or less retired from competitive chess for now. And thanks, will be making more visa when I get the chance!

[@eternal4079]

Hi, I remeber watching your video on sozin-fisher variation of the najdorf sicilian, which I really liked. I heard you set all of your videos from past on private status. Is there a way I can still reach them?

[@alexastaneh]

Sure, I've converted them to only 'unlisted' so that you can view them: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5DGio15gdKmask kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z6bTf2mjpM58f5Y

[@eternal4079]

@@alexastaneh Thank you very much, I am preparing for the tournament and your films are very valuable to me.

[@Ali-kk6vd]

Can you make a video about beat the Sicilian defense,for example alapin defence?

[@alexastaneh]

Yes, for sure at some point I'll cover the Sicilian, still deciding what I'll recommend. One of the possibilities is the Alapin, but I'm not sure yet as there's a few ways that I feel Black can easily equalize...but if I find some good ideas for it I'll make it on that.

[@SIGMAxMAGICIAN]

what if they move the pawn to attack the knight at the strating

[@Ali-kk6vd]

Why the new videos are not coming :/ ?

[@alexastaneh]

Hi Ali. To be honest I was in not-great health for a few months and the little energy I did have needed to be channeled into work stuff, so I had to put it on pause for a while. I'm giving the channel another push now, we'll see how it goes!

[@geethuvarghese9103]

Hi! I feel at 10.22mins black can actually attack our N on4th rank wd his queen forcing us to push the b-pawn n make a weakness there once forcing an exchange of light sqed bishop from a6-F1 digonal.. This line i fear.. Giving black nice tatics to attack our king after a sacrifice!! 😮

[@EdricScherpen]

works on 1000 elo

[@Ducksaregreat]

Looks like an English attack from the Najdorf, but just worse for black than normal.

[@boobslover]

Thanks this is so helpful!!!