Opening Ideas/Theory - GM Yasser Seirawan - 2013.06.26

GM Yasser Seirawan presents a lecture at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis covering different opening themes including the Queen's Gambit Accepted and the Sicilian, Taimanov Variation. 12-year-old Wunderkind IM Sam Sevian introduces a fun variation at 27:00.

[@ΒασίληςΌμικρον]

In my opinion, GM Seirawan is one of the greater chess teachers, and one of his books i 've read, it was the best book on tacticks i ever imagine existed, it really amused me/ I 'm really happy i have discovered this.."Scolastic Chess Club.." wich allowed these lectures to go public and free. Good for the game, good for us all. Thanks, a lot.

[@jackf3619]

Store pølser - stor smag winning chess tactics or winning chess combinations

[@andyjames7665]

Is GM Ben Finegold talking in the background, too?

[@jessicashea7914]

I was watching this thinking, "Who is this kid who is just throwing out lines better than Seirawan was able to calculate?" Then I realized it was Sevian and it all made sense.

[@pedrosotelo4008]

Please more lectures by yasser. For Years I've been waiting for more of his. They are by far the best chess lectures online

[@Veaseify]

and because he's so unassuming easy to underestimate..this is the World Junior Champion from 1979 and top 6 player in the world for more than a decade just apparently shooting the breeze

[@bahaiguy]

This channel SHOULD be the most-watched chess channel on KZbin, hands down. Best chess lectures I've ever seen, and I'm so jealous I'm actually considering applying to St. Louis for my medical residency just to be closer to the club :)

[@a7a0000000000000]

It does feel bad when others best us, but others accomplishments should not be tarnished out of jealousy! Its best to keep an open mind and continue the journey of learning!

[@trevbarlow9719]

Step 1: See Yasser's name. Step 2: Immediately watch it 3 times. It's that simple!

[@STLChessClub]

Akobian will be here in Saint Louis for the Sinquefield Cup Septemebr 9-15 (featuring Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Hikaru Nakamura and Gata Kamsky) and he'll be conducting some classes and lectures after that, so more Akobian videos at the end of September!

[@CatRocketMoo]

These are an amazing resource. Thanks all involved.

[@leandroearth]

Great channel, great videos... this one is superb Seirawan is incredible....

[@alekspachalov1223]

Thank you for your answer, I am sure this will soon be the most

[@STLChessClub]

You better buckle up, Joel, because I was on paternity leave and I've got a SERIOUS backlog of Seirawan/Finegold videos. Also, I haven't even cracked into our archive of lectures from pre-2013 either, and there's an amazing one from Nigel Short with Kasparov heckling him from the crowd. Get. Ready. Spread. The. Word.

[@hili467]

favorite part of the lecture is at 38:45 when Yasser is exploring moves with the class, and the computer has a green arrow showing him there is a pawn fork at e5 forking the queen if he takes the knight - this would have forced white to move the queen and lose the bishop, yet Yasser still goes to capture the white knight on the b file. So he misses an obvious pawn fork even when the computer showed him it was there. I guess he was worried about the bishop letting the b knight to fork and take his rook, but if the white knight went for it, white would lose his queen when he took the rook.

[@joecressman3956]

I don't think he missed it. I think if his opponent plays d5, white responds Bxd5 and white wins material

[@Mudd0000]

I checked it with Houdini, white is almost a pawn up after Nc4!!!! what a smart kid

[@JohnnySkillish]

The kid smashed it with Nc4! Followed up by Nxe5 is best. That Knight will end up taking 3 pawns and BOTH of Blacks Bishops before its demise with a strong pawn structure and a pawn up. Great vid and insight! TY!

[@TheClassicWorld]

+JohnnySkillish Well, that kid is the youngest grandmaster in U.S history haha.

[@JohnnySkillish]

+The Anti-Theist Very cool!

[@platitudeomenw441]

Wow, great find by that kid. Computer recommended. But after rook takes a2 king b2 rather than bishop takes b5

[@renehenriksen1735]

Just to make a Little fun with Yasser Seirawan´s name. Yes Sir! Sir I won! :)

[@afsanhoque5592]

lol

[@TheClassicWorld]

They put the names backwards in Chess. Sir, I won! Yes, sir!

[@zealoussleeper4673]

Is GM Ben Finegold talking in the background, too?

[@matthiaszielinski2343]

Zealous Sleeper haha ye I thought its just me hearin him

[@AG-ld6rv]

Yeah, that's GM Finegold. You can even hear him say someone is thinking Arby's.

[@pedroakjr2371]

Actually, Na3 with the idea of playing Nc4 was the first sequence in my mind when he asked. :)

[@benoitb.3679]

28:00 that Nc4 suggestion was amazing

[@ZiggyZugzwang]

Yes, in my opinion it's the greatest chess channel and I've subscribed to a heck of a lot ;) (Chess Noir was amazing as well, but he doesn't seem to upload new videos; hey Chess Noir, make new videos please ;)).

[@travismiller7938]

i thought this was a Seirawan lecture not a Sevian lecture

[@chess6446]

Always much opening theory. Learning these theories helps improve my game.

[@gabrielcowger5797]

amazing teacher

[@Bobby_Hall]

It looks like Yasser will have to give up 6...Ne5 and play 6...e5 instead! It's a Sveshnikov-style position but at least a much better version for black.

[@ericnewbury4900]

The part where someone suggested the alternate move for white with the knight was interesting, but the majority of time the person just perpetually talking in the background was just distracting. They made it so the teacher could hardly finish a possibility move to end game without them making him backtrack to try another theory. Maybe it's good for that class, but it made it hard to watch. Just let him talk a bit.

[@tommydashed4205]

Eric Newbury you realize that the people analyzing in the background with Yasser are GMs right? Sam Sevian and Ben Finegold

[@CGoody564]

Tommy Dashed no, much if the time it was the kids (not Sam) throwing out bad lines as well as Ben and Sam contributing to the conversation

[@jeffgreen3376]

I've found that you can avoid these nasty, early attacks (by white) by playing the Najdorf or Sheveningan move orders. d6 and/or a6 before e6. I used to play the Taimanov, but switched the the Sheveningan, because of this early Nb5 attack.

[@STLChessClub]

Ronen just arrived to town yesterday and will serve as our Resident Grandmaster from now through the middle of September. We should get about 10+ Ronen videos while he's here. Stay tuned, and please spread the word! This should be the most-watched chess channel on KZbin!

[@thomasarneson4511]

At 28.52, Na3, followed by Nc7 check for white, looks good. Black could check with the bishop, but then its mate.

[@matjazstaner]

at 18:32 black has a strong attack with chasing a knight on c3-whites knight has no good square so black get the advantage also on queen side

[@animeeex4017]

nice lecture

[@La_sagne]

sevian and finegold in the audience.. what a lecture... rawr

[@cameronchristiansen2852]

At 14:20 what about bxe5 and after pawn takes back queen trade . Preventing black from castling and double pawning black

[@KagirinaiYonaka]

Black gets huge compensation on the dark squares. The black king could also castle artificially with Bc5 Ke7 Rd8.

[@tuoljg]

that g4 idea is pretty damn smart. It looks absolutely playable for white.

[@dznyc]

How about attending the class remotely ? It would be great just to listen in during live sessions. Don't even mind paying a fee for it.

[@דניאלאסרף-צ5ל]

amazing

[@twist2shout]

At 28:00 a chess star was born

[@paper_man]

What if white plays knight c7? 21:00

[@renehenriksen1735]

Yasser Seirawan is definitely the Chesshire-cat of chess.

[@Idontunderstandchess]

thanks for the vid

[@renehenriksen1735]

I bet he would like to hear that from his students when they´ve played in a tournament. :)

[@WillToWinvlog]

yes!

[@RealBenDufresne]

Can someone spell out the word he says at 10:00 , as in the thing he says he despises.

[@southeastasia43]

+Benjamin Dufresne Hi, Benjamin. I believe it was the Sveshnikov

[@samcosby3017]

+Benjamin Dufresne I believe he says "Sveshnikov".

[@rickkarras9708]

These gosh darn computers are to tricky to figure out After blunder so many moves with the stylist pen his holding

[@markphc99]

what a nice man!

[@stephenryan2676]

Queen captures?

[@theo0784]

Hello Mr Yasser! Your videos are great! The only comment I would have is why are you presenting black from a subjective point of view in the objective part of the chess board (in this video)? In my opinion it makes the game a bit harder to follow as it doesn't match the convention. Anyway, your videos are fantastic!

[@pphedup]

I'm used to seeing Black at the top of the board in presentations whether the presentation of White or Black, so it doesn't bother me - I'm used to it.

[@eshnar]

Best. News. Ever.

[@peristiloperis7789]

Sam seems to be a serious candidate for a new chess star.

[@Socialdogma]

What is the emoticon for drooling? :)

[@KingsExecutor]

after long-castle by white black must play Ke7 instead of Bd7, which is a mistake exactly for the reason of Nc4. Embarrassing :D I would check my games with Rybka before presenting it and its variations^^

[@alekspachalov1223]

Any GM Akobian video please answer

[@NotKingConn]

10:01 Are you ok?

[@n.a1441]

ASMR voice. Great lecture

[@gavikabb6121]

if you played bishop g7 and queen took it then knight c7 forks the rook and king

[@alekspachalov1223]

Watched chess channel on KZbin . I hope there are a

[@AsliAmine]

Good video again.. Except the part when students start coming up with Rybka ideas !! Such things can took hours and hours to analyze..

[@theonlyptrk]

this kid killed lesson by his nice ideas x)

[@connors2388]

Pretty sure that kid is a grandmaster now, so it was nice to hear from him!

[@talaalnasser596]

hahahaha and here I am waiting for some theory about the sveshnikov,the opening I play, when he says I hate it (I don't know how to spell the opening's name)(sorry)

[@Regular_guy]

Chess' Bob Ross

[@vincelviss]

Superdupernice ;)

[@MichaelMagill1990]

Who were the two people who thumbs downed this, and why did you do it? If you're thinking about disliking this, please message me with your reasoning.

[@MichaelMagill1990]

Still waiting...

[@jeffgreen3376]

My guess is that it had to do with the annoying kid that's in most of Yassar's videos. :/ I also gave it a thumbs down, due to Yassar's Ne5 blunder. He really should delete this from KZbin.

[@davehumphreys1725]

I have to agree with Eric Newbury below. I realise that you are in a classroom environment, and that you encourage the students to ask questions, but the constant jumping back and forth between variations in response to questions made it impossible for me to get anything out of this video at all, and left my more confused than ever as to what I was supposed to take away from this lecture.

[@bowskiechessplaya3337]

three lifetimes worth of chess knowledge in this room and some people just want to complain... you have two ears and one mouth for a reason

[@alekspachalov1223]

Tonn of Akobian and ronene vids

[@RRRaszkolnyikov]

I truly believe that kid is a very talented chess player, but he should learn some manner... first of all, GM Seirawan should be respected and not being interrupted at every move... I believe if he would raise his arm, GM Seirawan would give him opportunity to explain his ideas. It is obvious the kid is a great chess player, because he sees very reasonable lines, but he IS NOT the LECTURER! Also, this ruins the lecture for the internet audience... or at least, for me...

[@orionp.9476]

He's Sam Sevian. One of the youngest american chess grandmasters. You saw future, he eventually achieved it. (two years later after this lecture to be precise)

[@douwehuysmans5959]

Rather than be grateful they put their lectures online for free, you complain that some kid that actually does pay money to be there is asking questions during the lectures and not just any kid, he is a GM, so get your head out of your arse

[@dodgecoates8760]

That kid is 17 now and a 2645 :O, about as high as Seirawan's peak rating

[@BugTheRoot]

Robert, that wasn't a LECTURE. It was a class. And GM Sierawan is the leader who has chosen to treat his pupils with so much respect he treats them as EQUALS. We are flies on the wall, we are not the purpose of the video. We are observing how a humble master encourages his pupils to think and challenge him. And as we saw, his pupils saw opportunities he missed. So perhaps you might think twice before commenting just as you might think twice before making a chess move. In other words, chess discipline is life discipline.

[@jeffgreen3376]

Bc5 was the best reply to Nc4. Why couldn't anyone see that? Also, I don't like Yassar's Ne5 move in the opening, to begin with. I have played e5 against this line and won. I think Petrosian had it right. Petrosian lost because he was playing against Fischer, not because e5 is bad. Ne5 looks like a blunder in every variation. Why accept doubled pawns, move the same piece twice in the opening and use a knight to block an attack on a backwards pawn, if you don't have to? Yassar's novelty is busted (not just because of Nc4, but because it's bad in many ways).

[@stzu07rel]

all the interrupting was very distracting. He couldn't get a complete, coherent thought out without someone trying to go a whole different direction than the way he was going :\

[@jawidader8374]

But whhhy are youuu talkiiiiiing like thaaaaat

[@paraiso1972]

28.00, Some kid had a computer move there. Good move though, but if he made it up himself, he would have mentioned it waaaay earlier.

[@briangerra5236]

Mike Brouwer He is a GM idiot

[@madhavsanap6690]

He is too slow.

[@andyjames7665]

i thought this was a Seirawan lecture not a Sevian lecture

[@samuelrosenbalm]

Was that Finegold in the audience?

[@JackSprat2323]

Yes. Second half of the vid is basically a chess game post mortem between Seirawan, Finegold and Sevian