Pawns Can't Move Backwards! (#1) | Secret Life of Pawns - GM Sam Shankland

Grandmaster Sam Shankland previews his book "Small Steps to Giant Improvement: Master Pawn Play in Chess." Shankland demonstrates a key point of his book: pawns cannot move backwards. Buy his book at SamShankland.com.
2018.03.15
Judit Polgar vs Garry Kasparov, Linares (1994)
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Samuel Shankland vs Georg Meier, 45th Biel Masters Open (2012)
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Levon Aronian vs Vladimir Kramnik, World Championship Candidates (2018)
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Samuel Shankland vs Jonny Hector, Politiken Cup (2015)
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[@fienddube]

Wow. I never heard of this guy until he won the US Championship today....but MAN, is he a born teacher.

[@jimmyalderson1639]

Shawn Roberts i've heard him mentioned a few times by Ben and Yasser

[@isaacstevens5415]

Shanky Shanks has always done a solid job inside the US, but I'm glad to see he's made some breakthroughs into the world top scene.

[@Grandcapi]

@@isaacstevens5415 He won the Continental Championship the same year he won the US Championship (2018).

[@MrSupernova111]

Absolutely amazing lecture!!! I think a key reason why countless intermediate players are stuck is because they simply don't understand positional advantages especially as they relate to pawn dynamics. Shankland just got himself a new customer! I will absolutely get his book. Thank you so much for this lecture and fantastic job to Shankland on all counts! Cheers!

[@gregmartin3425]

I remember playing tournaments with this guy in Berkeley. He was always on the top boards. This was only when he was an A player. He became insanely strong pretty quickly. What a chess monster!

[@Tulio_Fonseca]

The guy is a machine gun of pawn knowledge. Nice one!

[@benashley2955]

great speaker. rattles through his points succinctly illustrates them great. you should get him in again

[@mikejohn1978]

Congrats Sam on winning 2018 US Open

[@wfcyellow]

Congrats Sam on your amazing win

[@loluoresegun5844]

CONGRATULATIONS SAM SHANKLAND!!

[@ajarnray4115]

I learned a few new things I didn't know what a hook was so thanks for this lecture. Pawns are maybe the soul of Chess, but they are also the most complex thing to understand in the game.

[@adamadam6351]

Great lecture, I think.

[@DekarNL]

Indeed great.

[@The_Invisible_Man]

Sam is a fantastic teacher!

[@yosefcohen483]

Way to go! One of the best chess lessons I've seen in quite a while. He's also a genius (or closed to it) - as one needs to stop and rewind, because there's lots of important info that he says. (as oppose to all these slow lectures, without much contant..)

[@tommonk7651]

Good stuff, Sam. Look forward to grabbing your book. And a big CONGRATS on your US Championship!!!

[@peterwalters3019]

Superb lecture and well done Sam on winning the US chess championship.

[@Grandcapi]

The book is great. I hope he writes another one.

[@Thaumazo83]

GM Shankland is an amazing teacher here. Thank you very much for uploading this video!

[@PeterSodhi]

What a great ambassador for chess. Brought his book it arrives tomorrow!

[@V8SupersQirreL]

Everybody was talking about Sam Shankland, now i know him(?!) nice video!

[@misanthrop1958]

Well done, Mr. Shankland! However I still have one question: Would your Golden Retriever beat me in a chess game?

[@tonysu8860]

Top notch concept.

[@danielmanahan692]

The sequel to his book should be King's can't uncastle not so bad to make pawn hooks if you could magically switch your castling to the other side of the board.

[@andrewcady9443]

Kings can uncastle. It just requires a lot of moves.

[@MrSupernova111]

Very catchy!

[@alhfgsp]

I'm absolutely going to buy his book.

[@Bhartiya__Nari]

sir when we ll get Volume 2. I'm eagerly waiting for it

[@jampubharadwaj6930]

22:48 Nxf7 is a bad move because of Bxg3 first and let's say Nxh6+ gxh6 fxg3 and black is better despite a weak king since he is a piece up

[@rabranch32]

SS is on an absolute tear right now! I think he's playing better than ANYONE right now. Doesn't seem to matter whether he's white or black, he is a WRECKING BALL!

[@nomophobe]

Does anyone know when his book will be generally released? All I've found is his website, which IIUC only ships inside the US. Not helpful for me within the UK :(

[@Zeddicus1976]

In the UK, get it right from the publisher www.qualitychess.co.uk/products/2/316/small_steps_to_giant_improvement_by_sam_shankland/

[@davidblue819]

My problem with rules for pawn play is that the exceptions are so common they really are the rules. Maybe Sam Shankland addressed this in his book; I don't know. But we all know you shouldn't create a "hook" on the side where you're being attacked, except that you have to do that in the Closed Sicilian or the same English position with colors reversed. We all know not to create backward pawns, except that in the Sicilian Black has thrived on doing so for most of a century. And so on.

[@realCevra]

if chess could be expressed by unproblematic rules it would be really boring and not np hard

[@jimmyalderson1639]

David Blue that's why there are no rules. If you hear a strong player lecture and he says a rule it's because he's talking to kids and low rated players. Higher rated players understand that nothing vomes for free and that you need to weigh what you could have in your wallet with what you could lose instead. In the scililian, the bishop is more powerful than the g6 pawn is weakening, and such

[@zacharysolis1808]

I have he's book and I was trying to go through the move for this game in the introduction part before chapter 1. But it's really confusing because he is hoping around from one line to the other with out a clear starting point. Then remembered I watched this before I bought his book. And it help . but does anyone here could give me some tips on how to read a chess book because they all for the most part do that . I can read a game sheet from start to finish but when I read a chess book it's what the F### is going on here.

[@AdiNeedsSleep]

21:07 what about Nc6??

[@sainanan]

You can't be afraid to push pawns - can't just play Nf3 Nc3 Rg1 Rb1 😂😂😂😂

[@christopherjohnson1873]

Around 9:42, the position is actually a tablebase draw. Instead of Kh6, white can play Kg4 and draw

[@joddle23]

Yeah, Sam went back to explain that a couple minutes later. Even though Kg4 instead of Kh6 saves white in this line that he incorrectly rejeceted, Sam wouldn't have been put in the position of needing to find this drawing resource had he not pushed f4-f5. The unnecessary pawn advance made white's task of drawing way more difficult than it needed to be, and in fact, lost him the game

[@doofuszoro6773]

When is the next tactical challenge with Jonathan ?

[@markdstump]

If this guy, whoever he is, manages to win a big tournament ahead of Fabiano, Nakamura, and So...then I guess I will listen to him :D

[@vidanovicd]

He just did it :)

[@xfilesmanson]

Mark Stump I don't see any 2800 players giving lectures.

[@jimmyalderson1639]

Justin because they're busy figuring out how to keeep their lower lip permenantly pertruding in a condescending stare

[@musical_lolu4811]

Way to be facetious.

[@thomasbauer6118]

and now he is US CHAMPION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@xfilesmanson]

Thomas Bauer well yeah theirs not many 2700+ players in the world

[@ChessSociety]

This video is truly underrated.

[@bjorntorlarsson]

Messy stuff. I hate it! So this is the stuff I have to take a close look at, this is educational. Great lecture!

[@MrSupernova111]

I thought the lecture was very straight forward. Perhaps, if you're a beginner, the tactical combinations might be beyond your current ability but that's not the point he wanted to focus on. He's showing us partial games with the tactical combinations to enforce the important of pawn dynamics.

[@aronpop1447]

I woud have bought that book instantly if I was there

[@drumcircler]

Listen up, this is the US Chess Champion teaching us.

[@jampubharadwaj6930]

at 9:40 why is that losing for white when he can simply play King back to g4??That's still a draw,ain't it?*Explained further in the video

[@juanjuzgadoibiza558]

When i dont know what to do in a position i always move a pawn.

[@MrZluvu4ever]

US Champ now!!!

[@MillionairesClub2023]

Instructive but perhaps emphasis was more on selling book /promoting rather than making a hit video.

[@chuckeysalvatore]

Leonard from big bang theory :D

[@SathvickSatish]

The king has to play to i5, but the board ends xD He has a nice sense of humor

[@kervanyoldauzulur6066]

"That's what he played" lul

[@Pinzote]

9:39 Kg4 is a draw. No need to chase the pawns with Kh6. Ok, he says it later.

[@teo5146]

Its a great lecture and I haven't even watched yet

[@danielmanahan692]

I predict he will win the US Championship

[@tomsmith4452]

U can't predict something that already happened...

[@danielmanahan692]

so he won? awesome. I should play the stock market.

[@danielmanahan692]

what do you mean you can't predict things that already happened? The bible does that all the time. That is how the know the bible is true. by regressing their predictions.

[@tomsmith4452]

Daniel Manahan U wrote the coment when the winner was already known .

[@danielmanahan692]

thank you captain obvious kind of like how the bible works

[@mister.snrubb]

Dude can't even keep his finger out of his nose while on camera during a 44 minute lecture. That's some serious compulsive behavior.

[@elche752]

too fast

[@aydenlee3721]

sam shackland was my neighber

[@eduardovasquez2689]

mine too

[@AbhishekKumar-uu4uj]

Mine as well

[@cutiecutie8609]

first

[@AhPhoey]

Samuel Shankland and Samuel Sevian are technically the USA's only up and coming American GM's. The rest we import in.

[@steelyspielbergo]

where was fabiano borm?

[@AhPhoey]

You mean that Italian guy??

[@steelyspielbergo]

how is he italian?

[@anandhrajan99]

If someone is born in the usa they aren't "imported in". They are completely America.

[@anandhrajan99]

*american