Ponziani Opening: Instructive Winning Strategy

[@brightmalsawma]

When I lose games, I resort to your channel and get inspired to play just to lose again

[@eric-rosen]

losing is one of the best ways to learn!

[@cloverthrill6708]

I am forever a 1100

[@Keerthivasan_Gnanaudayan]

@@eric-rosen "sometimes you win, sometimes you learn in chess" this is da way

[@RemyWillard]

The master has lost more games than the beginner has played. Don't ask me to name the wise man who first made the above statement. I couldn't do it. All I can do is make it clear that it's not an original quote on my end. XD

[@setagkeviv]

@@RemyWillard I saw this quote on Danya's channel

[@Shameless0101]

'I sleep when I'm not awake" couldn't have said it better myself

[@Samuftie]

3:33 timestamp for ur comment dude

[@remainconfident1]

I love it!!!

[@em3711]

That's... what sleep means 😂

[@toryshafer1961]

That got me so good 😂😂😂

[@Evangeliman]

Oh yeah? Well, I’m awake when I’m not asleep!

[@suleyman3998]

Eric is the kid in school who is friend with everybody (even with bullies)

[@dreamsnicer]

Yeah just look at all the Eric/Hikaru content

[@francorios5134]

the guy even befriended goats, it's just impossible to hate him

[@chrisko-pelago8753]

And would even be chill with the shady guy in the back of your campus, with/without knowing what he really does there.

[@Gerraint]

He would be the most chill guy in the school where everyone would be ok with him

[@DavidEmerling79]

I've often referred to him as the Bob Ross of chess. When he makes a bad move, it's only a "happy little mistake."

[@jimmyhuston7092]

I really appreciate Eric saying why he wasn’t scared about the bishop taking on H2 because you can trap the bishop. So obvious but I couldn’t understand why. Best channel ever.

[@MrCheeze]

Like he alluded to, that blunder is famous for the time Bobby Fischer made during his world championship match against Spassky. (It's not that he was unfamiliar with trapped bishops, but he miscalculated a line that he thought would free it again.)

[@DoenerDuesentrieb]

@@MrCheeze thx for the info

[@LanceRGoebel]

If you make a series on this opening, I will buy it if the title is “Eric Rosen’s Ponziani Scheme.”

[@LanceRGoebel]

Heck, I’ll take a dozen.

[@RemyWillard]

I'll only take 8. Gotta stay true to Zoidberg form, after all.

[@kingalonsoiv]

Invite friends to buy too and you get % lmao. I'd love to see this course though

[@sahlinegassi5456]

In case anyone was wondering about the puzzle at 14:47 the solution is to ‘stalemate’ the black king and promote, a little like Eric showed in the video. You have to underpromote to rooks to avoid an actual stalemate. Kb6 fxe6 f7 Kd7 f8=R Ke7 c8=R Kd7 Rc7#

[@Goodkindchannel]

Eric taught me this opening several years ago. The Ponziani is a great opening!

[@Goodkindchannel]

And I still play it to this day!

[@ranatha]

Eric taught women chess champion? How could you not be a GM eric

[@ericcolin1262]

All the way from South Africa saying howsit, thanks so much for the instructive end game. Please can we get more of this. Really appreciate it. You're content is amazing and love the humour. Frikin entertaining. Keep up the grind mate.

[@properdude_6866]

3:31 lmao how does he keep a straight face I’d laugh at my own joke

[@fabiobertoni2580]

This is one of the best opening, with a lot of trick and traps, and it's easy to understand and remember. You are instructive, and thank you for everything you are doing😁

[@silver1788]

Wow a normal video-title without caps Rare No fence Eric is my favourite chess-content-creator

[@sanjeevkhurana6628]

"I sleep when I am not awake" - 26 years old man, Eric Rosen, 2021

[@TtttTt-ub5xb]

He's only 26?

[@Samuftie]

3:33 time stamp for ur comment

[@Kichefski]

@@TtttTt-ub5xb 27, but I easily would have guessed 30-35 tbh

[@peep2268]

I was just learning the ponziani 14 hours ago through your old videos and you come out with another banger, great timing Eric!

[@achiyazigi3869]

"every decent chess player can beat a gm from this position." Me: can't mate with king and pown

[@nicolaidepue3970]

endgame chess player* I refuse to accept that I'm not decent at chess Edit: good endgame chess player

[@aranahjohnson9640]

@@nicolaidepue3970 im more of a first 2 moves chess player myself

[@shaihorowitz0]

I watch Eric at 2.5 speed and he still feels like hes talking in slow motion. Anyone else and I'd hate it but here its oddly soothing. Good way to relax after dropping 200 points in tactic puzzles.

[@mauricem7007]

Eric Rosen ASMR

[@ninopoker]

Hey Eric, at 4:58 taking the knight with queen is a blunder because of Qh4 that attacks your bishop, and if you move it, then rook xe3. If queen xe3 then the other rook can swing over to e8.

[@Gerraint]

What if light square bishop to e2?

[@saiprasadrakasi8442]

@@Gerraint Black will still take the dark square bishop and then after queen takes brings his other rook with tempo. At the end irrespective of what you do, the light square bishop will fall. I just analyzed with stockfish

[@BenjaJohnsonIII]

Don’t try to act like you know it’s a blunder cus of your own thinking Change your comment to “the engine says taking with queen is a blunder”

[@monarch9743]

I'm glad to see more ponziani, one of my favourite openings! :)

[@iansmith3698]

I love your explaining/ teaching style in your videos. Makes it so easy and enjoyable to follow & learn. Thank you.

[@LukePalmer]

I enjoy your instructive streams like this where you describe your thought process. I learned a lot, thanks

[@treedom5094]

0:10:00 - I was rather happy to discover that trapping possibility the first time on my own, following opponent bishop taking one of the outermost pawns ... there are many cleverer things to find out for yourself, still a modest confidence booster Knights trapped similarly - oh no my rook moment ...

[@hassaanrauf4349]

that bobby Fischer game reference is GOLD lmao

[@RahulSingh-zo7sm]

Thank you for the instructive endgame.

[@JohnVDenley]

Definitely handy, as im trying to learn the ponziani... Thank you (also the king pawn end game was handy too!)

[@akiyamach]

Eric: "KZbin, say hi to Twitch chat" Me: I guess we'll time travel...

[@NathanHarrison7]

I was just thinking before watching this video that I needed to improve my Pawn end game. Thank you!

[@sibam5092]

« We just traded everything except the kings and the pawns », ah yes, the king trade

[@sonofsamuel5693]

classic king sac

[@sajithbabu4237]

Ohh no my king

[@fallenskies3223]

*Vidit Gujrathi enters the chat*

[@sarthakkale7761]

When he said " apologies to who are colour blind " I laughed. Idk why bit I did and now iam sorry

[@almscurium]

Stronk.. hevign stonkr

[@yugen2811]

Hi Twitch people, love Eric's videos, very informative and practical

[@karlisbergs]

I am a simple man - i see ponziani, i press like.

[@honeybadger_sc9816]

The skewer mentioned at 8:05. I wonder if it would be better for black to give up the rook and keep queens on the board or give up the black bishop but also trade queens. After Rad8, Bg5 Black can play Bf4. If Bxf6 Bxd2+ Kxd2 gxf6 it is an even trade where black ends up with doubled pawns. So White has to accept the sacrifice with either Qxf4, Qxf4, Bxf4 trading the queens or with Bxf4 keeping queens on the board. White also has the option to, before taking the bishop, further simplify by playing Rxe8+ I would love to know if anyone sees a better defensive option for black after they get skewered on g5

[@mego7389]

This opening is actually incredible. I was stuck around 600 ELO for about a week and after learning this opening and the London system I went up to 700 in just 2 days and a few games.

[@couldntcareless7884]

16:46 for stile points, you capture fg instead of hg and promote to a knight, and checkmate them after they queen

[@kogureee]

pawn H1 would be check and a big throw

[@couldntcareless7884]

@@kogureee indeed, so you underpromote to a Knight only if black captured g pawn, so that it wouldn't be a check, or, even better, capture with the f pawn yourself, so that black has no chance of queening h pawn

[@dneary]

I wonder why Bxb5 to take the hanging pawn wasn't considered for move 18 at 9:28 - am I missing something?

[@joshtyler7999]

I know this is old but, you're right, I guess he just missed it. Trading the bishop actually weakens his position quite a bit

[@gboycalix8446]

@@joshtyler7999 he didn't miss it. If he did capture the pawn then the b file opens up for the rooks and the queen thus endangering the position of his king.

[@alejrandom6592]

it's so relaxing to listen to your games

[@dsspiegel]

Eric, love your content. Curious, at 9:38, why didn't you take the pawn at b6 with your light-square bishop?

[@huggyskyway]

Same

[@dsspiegel]

@@huggyskyway oops, looks like I meant b5…

[@MR__MAD__MAX]

He is a human , they make mistake

[@redrobsanthem9206]

@@MR__MAD__MAX or maybe there’s another reason which they wanted to know. They’re trying to learn

[@RyanEmmett]

Thanks for the great instructional content.

[@johnambers]

Great insight during this game.

[@physicsandpoetry]

🎶 Simple and smooth is the way that you’re making me feeeeel toniiiight🎶

[@francescovanspronsen404]

Thanks for answering my request Eric, of making a video about the Ponziani

[@NerveEnd]

Eric: Did you not take the pawn on b5 on purpose at 9:30 or was it just an oversight? Thanks!

[@nasirmustapha]

If he took the king would be easily exposed to the rock and eventually the queen. So, wouldn't be so protected. So I guess he didn't want to open up that space.

[@NerveEnd]

I put the position into stockfish and it seems that Bxb5 actually is the best move (+2.9) according to the engine. Bg5 is nearly as good (+2.7). Bxf5 is a blunder and you go down to +1.0.

[@cswess7256]

Nerve End thanks was wondering

[@SKyrim190]

"If you follow the rule always play f6!" Lmao

[@Hasan...]

9:33 I can't figure out.. why not take the free pawn on B5 with Bishop instead of trade❓

[@chinmayaprakash]

Sometimes, there is no deeper meaning to figure out... Life is random like that. Jokes aside, I think Eric did not spot it. He was already a pawn up and just wanted to simplify the position. Sometimes, even titled players miss out on free pawns.

[@gamergirl3726]

Opens the b-file, he was a pawn up so decided to play solid instead and trade.

[@chinmayaprakash]

@@gamergirl3726 Bxb5 will leave a semi-open b-file, not a completely open file, as Eric still has his b-pawn. That is an acceptable trade-off for gaining a pawn and disconnecting the queenside pawns of the opponent, which are then weaker in isolation, not to mention that Eric will be 2 pawns up with the move in the endgame. I think Bxb5 was the best move in that position.

[@isum9674]

@@chinmayaprakash i watched magnus carlsen get mated in 8 moves so everyone makes mistakes

[@chinmayaprakash]

@@isum9674 that was what I intended to convey in my first comment, "sometimes, even titled players miss out on free pawns." To err is human. Magnus Carlsen has made plenty of mistakes, no doubt about that, but only because he has played a ridiculously huge amount of chess. He is bound to mess up once in a while, but that is massively overshadowed by the instances when he hasn't messed up. And that is why, when he does blunder, it comes as a glaring contrast.

[@PlaylearnShare]

Eric great teacher 👍

[@TheReubenification]

Just wondering, at 5:05 did black have bf4? Seems like a strong move to me to win the bishop as whites dark squared bishop is pinned to the king, but I’m not very good at chess so I could be missing something obvious, would love if anyone had any ideas

[@calumglendinning7377]

I'm not great either. But I would be inclined to agree with you 🙂

[@eric-rosen]

Bf4 is very playable there! However, White has enough defenders on e3, so it would like lead to a simple trade. I would probably respond by castling queenside, with the idea to eventually put a rook on e1 and strengthen the center.

[@calumglendinning7377]

Ahh that makes sense, I was just looking at the damaged pawn structure, not at the latter moves. 🙂

[@jalalhamzah4938]

White would just ignore the bishop and castle anyway If black decides to trade then it is beneficial for white as it gets another pawn in the centre to support the strong d pawn. Hope that helped👍

[@calumglendinning7377]

@@jalalhamzah4938 thanks! that actually did help. I was just looking at the backwards pawn but I see now that it is still useful. Thank you!

[@Quitchess]

Why did you leave the night when you could have captured it I didn't understand the logic of it, if anyone can explain at 3:36

[@geocentricallysymmetrical3636]

I don't know what Chenz a menz is but Daniel has donated to you before with that message it might just be his thing Eric :D

[@magnafire1]

It's not that it is not funny when he says he sleeps when he is not awake, but he says it with no expression as if he just said I'm going to the store lol.

[@alwaysinout]

Beautifully done

[@Ethnmoreno]

Why trade bishops at 9:33 instead of taking pawn at b5 attacking e8 rook? Just curious

[@patbenvenuti7470]

I really like your videos and happened across your 80/20 tactical videos when I purchased a Club players bundle from Ichess. Studying along with you on the London system !!! I am looking forward to your other video lessons in the Club players bundle. Also, can you do a video on chess engines and how to properly utilize them. It would really help me. thanks in advance

[@tuddgrimley8532]

5:00 if black plays Qh4 here he attacks your bishop and also threatens to capture on e3 because f2 is pinned. Coulda been scary

[@santiagocarrillo7696]

Correct! Move 14: if black plays Qh4 Stockfish has black winning by 6 points.

[@TheChessGiant]

This might be my favorite chess opening!

[@davidnelson4960]

Press on young man, you are our soul. Last one on the rosen bandwagon is the oregano.

[@Mega-P71]

I was watching the live stream as you uploaded this lmao

[@julianzugzwang9677]

lmfao when he called out Bobby F. @ 7:26

[@vighneshs1444]

From Ponziani to pons only

[@dreamofsleeping1980]

Someone just played this against me. I honestly thought I was fine playing D5 against this opening, but then he did the queen move and I could not figure out what to do to keep the pawn. According to stockfish it's play f6, which I didn't think of. I was worse all the way through the game until the end game where he hung back rank mate.

[@tofinoguy]

" I sleep when I'm not awake". I can still hear the crickets.

[@joaquinromo6402]

Apologize to those that are color blind my favorite part 4:49

[@andres154525452]

KZbin loves Eric! Pawsiane is just an extra flavor

[@andres154525452]

Hi Twitch! Second time seing this game, Very goood

[@thejudge8691]

Every time I try the ponziani I mess it up and I watch every video of yours that talks about it lmao

[@xXNeoxLightXx]

I am wondering why u didnt take the pawn on the b file , when he wanted to trade the white bishops, wasnt it a free pawn?

[@dunerino892]

thought the same

[@gchifanzwa]

"F6 is easy to play when u follow the rule 'Always play f6'"

[@mistert780]

Will someone please tell me why he didn’t capture the knight at 343? Tying to learn the game. Thanks

[@wr9105]

Why doesn’t black just take the free pawn in the opening instead of unpinning the knight with the bishop? It seems better then losing the pawn... does anyone know?

[@007RussianMafia]

love your content and your style. Didn't love the coffee slurping sounds that are picked up SO well by your quality mic.

[@JazzieHERO]

2012 was not a movie, it was a documentary of how we survived 2012.

[@edmx]

At 9:26, why don't you take the pawn on B5?

[@willmchess6145]

He wanted to simplify but Bxb5 is perfectly fine.

[@andre_blanco]

Newbie here; at 3:39, why not take knight with queen?

[@Holphana]

Hikaru is entertaining but you are where the real education is at. GothamChess is educational but you are where the real entertainment is at. You’re like the cool high-school teacher. And I’m sorry if you find that insulting but I think it’s one of the most important personalities to the development and continuation of our species. Keep being awesome.

[@kevinmarkuskorrol7300]

Why not take the b5 pawn with your light-square bishop at 9:30

[@ssjamez]

I had the exact same thought. I still don’t understand haha seems really good to me

[@goldenauror]

You make your king weak after Reb8, maybe a4 and then a7.

[@JohnDoe-jp3oo]

9:26 is bishop g5 a bad move? It attacks the queen and brings a discovery attack on a bishop

[@filipkjellstrom8334]

Its impossible not to like this man

[@newyorkslim2001]

nice job. good instructional video.

[@enverhoxha2698]

Very instructional game. I learned how to draw arrows

[@caswir]

Eric talking to Alexa like she's the housekeeper who's in the early stages of dementia, and he's used to reeling in her rambling tangents.

[@AmineKhaldoune]

10:42 why didn't you take bishop with bishop ?

[@MrDlnggorton]

Can you make a video on the Locock Gambit? It's similar to the ponzioni but they make a slightly different move on the second move.

[@redshadow8072]

Can someone explain to me at 3:29 he didn’t take the knight with his queen? I’m genuinely confused and just wondering if someone can tell me

[@pearspeedruns]

If he takes the knight then Re8 pins the queen to the king

[@ilyaegoist6698]

why did he not take the knight on 3:40?

[@user-ez7ls2du9c]

At 3:30 , why not take the Knight that is hanging? Is an easy free piece??

[@goldenauror]

Rook to e8, and you lose your queen

[@barabooe]

Oh yes... After a couple of comments, Legend Rosen heard my call for the ponziani instructional. I can go in peace now

[@chandankumar-ir3cz]

I think he has video in the past as well on ponziani. May b u have missed it ☺

[@barabooe]

@@chandankumar-ir3cz yes yes true. He has a couple that explain the two main opening traps. Other than that he has no instructional on ponziani as he does for london, french and stafford. He does play ponziani very often though. And as always i would love to see more lesson from Eric

[@chandankumar-ir3cz]

@@barabooe ok👍

[@ripmeep]

i love the ponziani so much

[@OlimjonMatniyazov]

Why he didnt take the free pawn on b5? After black put their lighte square bishop on Bf5.

[@Samuftie]

3:33 "I'm sleep when I'm not awake"

[@Batmaximi]

3:35 Question: why didn‘t he attack the knight with his queen ?

[@Batmaximi]

@randomuser1261 If he would have taken it, the opponent would have played rook to e8 pinning the queen

[@josephtarantin1931]

Eric! on move 14 Qxd2 is a blunder! I was putting the game on stockfish for deeper analysis and it found 14. Qh4! as an alternative to 14. Qf6?

[@Vengaard]

I challenge you to the ponziani again! This time, I am a bit prepared!

[@EarlOfWarwick1561]

Okay but what *is* Eric's sleep schedule though? And what *is* chenz a menz??

[@davidm9342]

Chenz a menz

[@Hoop_Flower]

I'm trying to learn Ponziani and I noticed during analysis on move 14, eval bar is -6.6. Could anyone elaborate on why this position is still good for white?

[@logant6490]

Why would someone trade everything off then they're a pawn down? Crazy.

[@safe4547]

I'd pay a fortune just to have a tea talk with Eric.

[@clank1013]

great tutorial, thank you

[@TURNKEYiNK]

3:35 Why didn’t he take Black Knight with his Queen, was that a mistake?

[@stefbeast8028]

Yes then black rook pins the queen to the king

[@worldwidehappiness]

What's the best defensive opening for a beginner playing white vs a GM? I mean, is there an opening line a beginner to memorise that will keep the game going as long as possible, regardless of what the GM plays?

[@evanhansen5064]

have you ever covered the vukovic gambit against the ponziani? i’m sorry if it was in this video i haven’t watched the entire thing but i think it would be an interesting line to look at

[@bryceerickson1925]

I got my first oh no my queen moment yesterday. !!!

[@bryceerickson1925]

@renderinggg yes. I mated the guy.

[@00AGENT_]

Why he didn't take the knight at 3:40 with the queen?

[@master6702]

He didn't captured the knight because if he takes, his queen will get pinned after rook e8

[@manishbatta6603]

I think Qh4 is winning on the spot for black at 14 Qxd2 was mistake Kxg2 was good move . At 5:14 because of the variation .Qh4 attacking bishop only move be2 Rxe3 exchange sac Qxe3 Re8 now exchange the queen or put queen anywhere on board then Bb5 pin & win the bishop .White Piece down . That is why king should capture that .Queen & king should not be in same line bcuz of this tactic.