When my Opponent Knows the Stafford Gambit Refutation…

In this video, I play the Stafford Gambit against an opponent who is clearly well prepared...
0:00 The game
11:11 Takeaway lessons
13:02 Chess & Tea vs Chess & Alcohol
14:39 I played the same opponent in the same line before...
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Eric Rosen
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#chess #ericrosen

[@DylanYu99]

16.Kg1 is my critical error. It is a huge blunder because it is much harder for the king to walk out of the bishop pin (like Kf2, Ke1). Bf2 never works because the queen can check on the g-file. And Black's light-squared bishop blocks the king from f1. At that point I still could've saved myself from cxd4 tactics but it was much harder. Good game, and I will be looking for my revenge some day!

[@cringeconnoisseur6037]

You're the guy who fought Rosen? Good job!

[@jaidenvandenbergh9111]

Wow

[@christopherw1248]

Amazing job dude. Even from a very prepared opponent, its still a very thin line to play the position.

[@liqritrs8391]

你是中国人吧，你下棋的技术贼牛逼

[@TheDannytaz]

Yeah definitely. Must have been frustrating to realise Bf2 wasn't working when it was the reason you played Kg1.

[@dannthegentleman4261]

1:27 "I know Bishop f4 is a good move" "Or is it?" *Vsauce music starts playing*

[@germanfan6481]

Always love a good vsauce meme

[@Sghead]

9:34 Eric up +15: "Well this is pleasant" 😂

[@12jswilson]

Note to self: be up 2 queens to zero

[@MrLimon27]

"I can still legally castle both ways. Except this way".

[@NotQuiteFirst]

That was brutal, going from +4 material count to -15 in just a couple of moves

[@antonherder1628]

i do that all the time

[@danny208YT]

I don't know what I just watched but that was actually a cool game of chess

[@maniniescobar244]

That's what you watched I guess

[@Mahmoudery]

Me too :')

[@grisfest2000]

Few things makes me feel as stupid as when I try to follow Eric’s arrows illustrating 10 moves ahead

[@_FranekDolas]

10 moves ahead you said? Try to follow Hikaru 20 -30 arrows where you can’t see pieces and squares xD.

[@juneguts]

@@_FranekDolas but that's exactly why i prefer to be here than there, i can follow this one easier XD

[@Valjean96]

Thats not that hard,just took me 5 minutes undertand it totally xD

[@nickfazzio5277]

This comment is spot on…. All those arrows just help me confirm I have no REAL future with chess other than beating up on complete newbs.

[@ramachandra776]

Stafford Gambit for future generations will be known as the Eric Rosen Defense . 🙂 .

[@LafferStyle]

Stafford Gambit Refutation for future generations will be known as defense against Eric Rosen.

[@pandemonium214]

Calling the Stafford gambit a defense feels somwhat wrong to be honest

[@Vasycss]

would be cool if Eric develops some kind of new theory around the stafford

[@aranahjohnson9640]

maybe Eric Rosen Attack, named after mister Attack

[@georgegreeniv9599]

@@aranahjohnson9640 Or maybe just Rosen Attack, that sounds right

[@RainingArtillery]

if eric ever plays the petrov instead of the stafford, I'm sure he will baffle his opponents beyond belief.

[@MrJsintic]

I do this verse my teammates, sometimes they'll play right into a Stafford after learning some refutation, and I bring them into a classic Petrov where they know actually 0 theory

[@TheDannytaz]

@@MrJsintic That feels evil somehow. Can imagine your opponent preparing for a highly tactical and messy game only to have an Eric Hansen's "Is this theory?" moment on move 3 lol

[@JimmyBoosterCrate]

@@MrJsintic I once joined an Eric Rosen tournament and purposely played into the Stafford because I know a simple refutation. Both of the opponents I did that against blundered their knight immediately, and one then blundered a pawn, bishop and king in two moves LUL

[@bryanledfird731]

The thing about Stafford Gambit is the evaluation will show +2 or +3 for white and then all of the sudden white gets mated

[@connormonday]

It helps when Black is an IM constantly playing weak opposition

[@bryanledfird731]

@@connormonday when you're an IM, it's hard to not have weak opposition isn't it... his opponent was rated well above the bell curve.

[@Teece007]

9:00 “It’s slightly cruel and unusual, but it’s also cool and unusual”

[@inthefade]

T-shirt material!

[@thejason5276]

I can answer the GM chess with alcohol question. I took lessons from an Israeli GM that was an expert on 1. d4 openings. He told me that I play so well for about 20 or 25 moves and then I lose my nerve. He recommended that I take a shot of vodka before each game as a method of settling my nerves.

[@ironlionzion1380]

Sounds about right. Nearly all Israeli GMs have origins from the FSU.

[@Luaporleafcutterant]

Imagine playing a simul against 10+ people

[@rafaelescamillaR]

The tittle should have been "refuting the stafford gambit refutation"

[@themondei746]

...again. Because there's already a video called like that 😆

[@jonbisset3811]

"It's kind of cruel and unusual, but it's also cool and unusual". Classic Eric!

[@sanatanify03]

12:59 Eric remembering where was he on Nov 14. Meanwhile me not knowing where did i keep my specs 15 mins ago

[@SebastianBohn]

Queen battery... Eric still finds new creative ideas to finish in style. 👍

[@jimmymcnulty4759]

Its been almost 2 years that I am a sub and it still cracks me up when you start your calculations and at some point you go "...and you say Oh no my Queen..." with a dead serious look on your face! Never change Eric Rosen, you re one of a kind!

[@SteveAbrahall]

Thanks for the tea tips and discussing how one can be 1 or 2 hundred points up or down, depending on your mental state! It helps explain those bad chess days! LOL :-)

[@thebigpicture2032]

And I thought it was just the bong hits.

[@SteveAbrahall]

@@thebigpicture2032 Yep any more than 2 glasses of wine the night before and things are not that good the next day! That and playing one more game before going to bed - all bad chess strategy!

[@craigmacinnis2402]

My take away from this video is "two Queens are typically good at checkmating". That's revolutionary thinking right there. Great game! And as always great content.

[@bhspenceryt]

5:35 "looking at a funny line" 10 moves deep!

[@cdorresteijn]

Still don't know where the opponent actually went wrong. 😭

[@Justchillin145]

Should have played 11.fxg4 followed up with Be3 after he takes on g3

[@Uriakatos]

He didn't. He was +3 the whole time. Even when he got mated.

[@aranahjohnson9640]

@@Uriakatos lmaoo, correct!

[@eragon78]

@@Justchillin145 im pretty sure the blunder was 17.Bf1. it lost a very important Tempo in a dangerous situation. You can see on the engine eval bar it went from +3.9 to -8.

[@ivan_9386]

Mistake was playing stafford against Eric 'Stafford' Rosen.

[@arya6085]

Insane how quickly he tears apart a 2000. If I faced white in an arena he would beserk just to save time before wiping the floor with me

[@nickfazzio5277]

Yea I’m pretty Sir Eric would have me losing material by about move 5… maybe sooner than that.

[@monkeywrench2800]

I always enjoy your calm demeanor, Eric, whether you are destroying your opponent, or digging your way out of a hole.

[@addisonmerryman6541]

"It's slightly cruel and unusual. It's also cool and unusual." - Eric playing with his food

[@yeshayazweig1869]

This was awesome. Love the content!

[@ironlionzion1380]

5:38 when Eric plans 8 moves ahead and I'm like "whaaa?"

[@juhasiren2771]

He miscalculated the line though, the bishop on f6 is covering b2 so you don't win the rook on a1 in the end.

[@riseofthebon3951]

“That’s cruel and usual, but it’s also cool and unusual.” - quote of the month

[@dinokoenoko7842]

if anyone wants to refute stafford in the simplest way, after 1.e4, e5 2.nf3, nf6, 3 nxe5, nc6, just play d4. A position without you being up a pawn but very simple position with +0.8 advantage. no need to learn 10 moves of theory for each variant, you just need to know if they play qe7 you play nc3. Other moves are very intuitive. Have been playing this line and i have a great score and i suggest this to everyone else.

[@peterlustig4300]

Or Nxc6 dxc6 f3, White has a +2 advantage and there is Qe2 and d3 after Be6 and g3 after Nh5 to memorise, that's it, the rest are natural moves

[@dinokoenoko7842]

@@peterlustig4300 i also was playing nxc6 bxc6 qe2 and after that c3 which is another great line but if eric rosen, someone who has played more than 10k stafford games and studying stafford for such a long time is playing you, getting a position of +0.8 advantage is much better idea both practically and psychologically rather tahn +1.8 or +2 with him having easy counterplay and easy to play moves

[@peterlustig4300]

@@dinokoenoko7842 I don't even play 1.e4, but if I were to play Eric, I'd go for it because the chance of converting the +2 would be higher. Also, he only played around 20 games in this variation which isn't an overwhelming advantage in experience while the position is quite solid for White

[@tellahsage6477]

You can also just take the knight and play f3 afterwards. It's kind of a secret refutation i've learned. Yeah yeah, i know, "never play f3" and all, but doing that here is actually a top 3 engine move and it stops almost EVERY single trick black may try to play on you. They can't even do the "damiano defense knight sac and wins the rook" because there isn't a pawn to block your queen and he'll just be down a piece for no compensation. Many, many stafford players blunder the game away after 5.f3, the win rate on lichess is about 64%. They can't even play 5...Bc5 because c3 afterwards is just crushing.

[@coosoorlog]

"Queen batteries are really rare" and usually completely unnecessary too :)

[@nio21gr3]

Incredible, well done!

[@perhultman-boye2858]

The long line at around 6 minutes into the video, if the king were to go to f2 and then ultimately Eric wins the rook with the pawn, doesn't work since white's dark squared bishop is on e5 and just takes the pawn on b2.

[@melle7505]

The fade out really is the cherry on the cake

[@ManjaroBlack]

I really enjoyed this game above and beyond just watching chess on a normal basis. I honestly didn’t see what was going on when you sacked the knight. That surprised me and made me realized how small I am in the chess world.

[@ryanlind5239]

feel like we didn't get closure on the game that was just played, analyzing the opponents blunder :(

[@jedinxf7]

I cannot believe what you managed to pull out of that crap position. once that white king made its way into the path of your b6 bishop's broken diagonal this became a thing of beauty. I really was not expecting any hope from the position a couple moves earlier.

[@BunnyTwist]

Most fun chess match to watch that I’ve seen in a while

[@l4te4oot91]

Such an exciting game, thanks fam!

[@theguy9067]

I thought it was just me. But when I'm tired and depressed my rating actually drops 300 points. When I'm rested and feel good, it's rapidly increases again. Also noticed I win most games in the morning after waking up. Question is how do I increase the range or baseline?

[@mbrusyda9437]

My rating goes up when I only played 3 games a day.. after that it's skydiving

[@zevialtus4757]

if you want to be good at chess, play slow time controls, do puzzles, and read chess books. if you want to not be depressed, then accept that chess is just a game that has no bearing on your worth as a human. Take a break from the game and try some other hobbies. Games are for fun, so it shouldn't be more stress than fun.

[@theguy9067]

@@zevialtus4757 cheers for the advice on chess! But don't worry, I don't get depressed from losing at chess 🙂

[@asliuf]

Eric goes up two queens.. "well this is pleasant"

[@clawnor3880]

Yes, I like the staffordshire bull terrier as well :)

[@martindeewan686]

6:06 - That's insane!

[@JasonKaler]

The last words I expected to hear Eric say: "lets not fool around"

[@xaptive7458]

"Let's play this and see what happens". That's about how I play chess too, but it rarely works out so well for me.

[@St3.]

The question at the end 😂😂😂

[@SylarTheBest]

"queen battery" killed me lol

[@prieten49]

"This is pleasant..." when Eric has two queens and his opponent has none.

[@simonscherer2821]

Loved it!

[@sashagorbenko12]

Wow, what a game, what a turnaround!

[@tristanrujano]

That was a really crazy game of chess

[@courtneykachur9487]

His mistake was before move 10. By move ten he was so extended and undeveloped that his king was destined to be hunted.

[@ryans450]

Just finished Dubai round 6 and thought we were being treated to the next game right away

[@bikalmorhanglimbu8705]

1:59 no my queen😹😹😹

[@Snowy123]

Legend has it Eric cannot sleep if he doesn't play the stafford that day.

[@christopherjohnson1873]

Is the Maginot Line an actual thing in the Stafford, or did you make that up?

[@choco_addictee]

Woo new video!!

[@sparksdrinker5650]

takes the guys queen then makes his own, savage

[@hasanalifayzan]

I used a Eric Rosen Stale Mate and my opponent was my cousin. He pulled his hair out. He had 2rooks and a Queen and still brought himself to that position because he was being a smart arse. LOL good that I watch your videos

[@Chris-cs7nv]

Once out of preparation your opponent self destructed...

[@colegieseking5136]

I like the way Eric will be up 16 points of material and will keep analyzing the position.

[@abrahamovalle5320]

When Eric got asked about alcohol and chess performance, he definitely wanted to throw chessbrah under the bus lol

[@CurtTalksSports]

He's been studying for this moment

[@Mahmoudery]

I just love thé disceplane hé puts into the calculations.... 💓

[@rasmusbalsrd3293]

Brilliant game

[@RockClimberAlex]

0:59 Bf3 is best at +4.7. f3 is third best with +3.7.

[@kaz_breaker]

Eric Rosen is always in search of "oh no! My queen))"

[@minhas__ali]

I was drinking tea when the conversation came to that

[@BlaqRaq]

Queen battery. Yes, Mr Rosen, queen battery is quite rare.

[@Cl0ne66]

Possible low budget spoof of a Jackie Chan movie… Janice Chen: Drunken (Grand) Master

[@octomancer]

"Uh ... this is pleasant." LOL

[@joshharrison619]

1:31 After stopping the mate threats why did his opponent play bf4 and not take the bishop on c5?

[@mateo1466]

Eric do you have a stream schedule?

[@SkaptorZ]

13:10 to Answer the guys alcohol and chess performance question, Eric and Aman from Chessbrah are pretty much doing shots every stream and are both superGMs

[@xofu5821]

they are not super gms

[@eragon78]

Magnus won a big lichess titled arena drunk out of his mind recently. Forgot which one it was, but it was pretty big. But this is also magnus so, if he lost like 50 rating points from being drunk he'd still be world #1.

[@themondei746]

@@eragon78 It was the last Titled Tuesday

[@sumnerhayes3411]

Eric's 2600, which would've been considered a Super GM in the 90s but you really have to be 2700 nowadays for people to call you that (it's not an official title, it's a colloquialism). Aman's nowhere near Super GM status.

[@EllisFretwell]

Oh no my Stafford gambit

[@flyandshy00]

Hw was definitely using the stockfish. Nobody can be so precise.

[@peppy_pepper_player823]

Very instructional

[@anissegmane7657]

I wnna ask someth, why the white didn't take the bishop on c5 early ?

[@jeremyhuffman101]

+15: "Oh this is pleasant" 😂

[@Santinas]

What do you do for black at 1:02 if they castle king side instead of pushing pawn?

[@rubenpuchler9846]

Probably just save the bishop on c5

[@krcn00b]

3:12 plans 10 steps.. hm idk let's see what happens ;D that's me at every move

[@TheTntbomber]

When the onion makes you cry at tenth layer 😂

[@Barbutt]

12:28 Very memorable game! “You don’t remember where we met?!”

[@mikaal7774]

What do you stream on mate

[@1.4142]

I like how Eric always makes it work no matter how dumb it looks.

[@cronosx6174]

At 3:12 misreads it for MC bananas when It only says MCABANAS. lol

[@RaymondBCrisp]

Eric: Oh no...my gambit...

[@dasemaw1862]

Awesome game.

[@JTAPtv]

Oh no! My Stafford

[@Ben-15]

The Queen battery should be known as Rosen’s Gun

[@johnmcdonough955]

6:13 Kg1 c5, Bb5+ C6, e5 Qg6, Bd3 Rh6, BxQg6 RxBg6, Kf2 O-O-O, Ke1 Cxd4 and blacks bishop h3 when threatened retreats to e6?

[@Belinera]

*up 15 points of material* "Well, this is pleasant"

[@larsvandewouw55]

How do you make the red arrows?

[@eric-rosen]

Right-click and drag while holding down shift! You can also make blue/yellow circles/arrows while right-clicking and ctrl or ctrl+shift

[@paulgoogol2652]

This game is weird. I thought it had to be +6 but after Bh3 Kg1 c5 I saw no good defense for white. Kg1 just looked like a safe move but the king really had to run from the monster bishop on h3.

[@juhasiren2771]

The computer likes c4, with the idea of cxd4 Qd3 (where the earlier c4 now prevents dxc3+), blocking the diagonal and basically all the lines, stopping the attack.

[@usualhumanxd353]

Beautifl stafford once again :)

[@Xmask19]

Ooh I played a game like this , but with f4 instead of f3 on the black side

[@profribasmat217]

At least you used your rooks well!

[@betazep]

This was great live. If you are not subscribed to Eric on Twitch, I highly recommend it! :)

[@rafaex913]

Love the games. They are so funny.

[@jamesp6376]

Whenever someone plays the Stafford refutation against me, I end up getting smoked. I guess that’s why I’m not an IM lol.

[@eragon78]

Especially an IM who has devoted a large portion of your study to specifically the Stafford gambit lol.

[@thatguy5233]

i'm 90% sure the game shown at the end of the video is on yt, no?

[@angelasenov6173]

For Alcohol and chess, you should ask Hikaru

[@seanbailey8545]

Nah he tends to try to fight Chad Canadians and lose.