Why Castling Makes You Lose (Ep. 5 - Logical Chess Move by Move)

[@frankmuldowney7839]

I have been playing chess now for 55 years. I did not imporve much during those years as I suffer with Wernicke Aphasia after a stroke, in that I do not understand sentences in a linear fashion, so I cannot be taught. 6 months ago, I found this link and for the first time, my Chess game improved over night, purely because the way this gentleman explain his moves as they happen. My speech therapist and psychologist believe that I cannot comprehend facts and figures, but I do when a person speaks from the soul, where this chess teacher is doing just that, a person who does not stick with narratives and says it at the moment. You may never know how healing these games are to watch and learn from. Thank you sincerely for your honesty.

[@JaydenSerra]

I hope you're fine! Stay strong and healthy

[@hoijanlai]

I can feel your resilience and strength! Stay strong!

[@bcsolorza]

I can't believe the content creator didn't reply to this wonderful comment

[@theliamofella]

⁠@@bcsolorzame too, however I suspect that Nelson himself might have some kind of autistic thinking due to his possible obsessive thinking about chess ( I suspect a high percentage of GM ate on the spectrum, and if so just my son he finds it difficult to react to comments aimed at him that contain a lot of emotional emphasis, he usually will just avoid the comment if it’s coming from a stranger, just a thought 💁‍♂️

[@theliamofella]

A very kind comment there and also very thought provoking and very relevant to my own circumstances

[@gordonallan2798]

I am living in the "old country"; the south of UK on the Isle of Wight. Combining these videos with a very readable book is brilliant. I've caught the chess bug and, at 82 years old, I've joined the local chess club. Many thanks for your efforts.

[@roblodocus2539]

That’s awesome. I’m very near to you. I was actually over on the IOW 2 weeks ago for a meeting. I love it over there.

[@arrowofkira5658]

Good showing of when is the right timing to do specific things on the board. After black missed the capture of the centre pawn the momentum of the game completly shifted. Even when you don't see the whole follow-up as white, just sensing that something was wrong can sometimes be enough to win the game. Also identifiing the weak squares in black camp really help to find the clutch move d6 because it piles up on f7 and g8 with the bishop and then you probably also see Qxg6.

[@freshtapcoke]

You are a great teacher. Most of the time I fast forward through chess videos. With you, I find myself rewinding instead.

[@JackDoesPuzzles]

Hello Nelson, great lesson and I learnt a lot from it, thanks! Just a 2 things I want to ask about: 1. 14:47 When you push your pawns so far up the board, will you accidentally over-extend? I know it helps in the endgame with pushed connected passed pawns, but just threatening a piece for a tempo doesn't seem worth it if you make weaknesses. 2. 16:22 Instead of Ng5, can't you play a3, the bishop must take for the knight, and you got the bishop pair. If the bishop retreats to Ba5, you can fork the pieces with b5. Thank you once again!

[@gaopinghu7332]

1) The problem is that overextension is a concern only if your opponent has the time and resources to make something out of it. Here, they do not. They are under serious attack, and thus they have no time. Their pieces are undeveloped and in suboptimal positions, thus they don't have the resources. And I'd like to add that part of the reason black's pieces aren't developed is exactly because of the pawns, and part of the reason black has no time is because their pieces aren't developed. All in all, everything bad in black's position was exactly because of the pawns in the center. When they are so well positioned like that, your opponent's pieces have nowhere to move, and if they can't move they also can't rescue the king easily. If they can't rescue the king easily, black will have to resort to the pawns, which is not ideal, compared to defending with a piece and developing it (that's where the waste of time comes from) and it creates weaknesses (like the book says). That's why attacks straight from the opening come often from strong centers, that's why gambits like the King's Gambit, the Evans Gambit or even the Danish Gambit can be so successful if not deal with properly. 2) Eagle eye on that tactic. However, here's the deal: you could play a3 now, or you could play it after Ng5. Think about it. Both moves are good. But if you play a3 now, they take the knight with the bishop, you take back and they play h6, stopping Ng5. You only got a3, out of the two good moves. If, instead, you played Ng5, then they can't play h6. Let's say they play g6 instead, inducing a weakness. Now, you can also play a3. In this case, you were able to play both Ng5 and a3, instead of just one of them. Ng5 is, for all intents and purposes, a free move. Anything you want to play, you can play Ng5 first, before playing the move you want to play. Ng5 is free. a3 isn't. I hope this comment isn't too long for your liking.

[@farouqbaiti4315]

You guys are very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very serious.

[@Michael-cz2rf]

Just gotta leave a comment because you are my favorite chess creator of all time. You are a natural teacher! Hope this comment makes your day slightly better as your videos always make my day better. Cheers!

[@oduorotisjnr.e5723]

@21:40 Great point Nelson. Thank you for this series. I also saw that h5, attacking the black night could have been a nice move.

[@richardlee-shanok5578]

What a great series! Learning so much and looking forwards to it every Friday!

[@iwishexamsneverhappened]

Nice lesson

[@prinitjain]

bro how come did you watch a 25 min video in under 5 min

[@Tocinos]

​@@prinitjainNice lesson

[@hinyuchin4724]

21:32 I am thinking of h5 not Nf3 because I just push the h pawn and well if I just move a piece to be ready to attack I usually would keep on attacking. Nf3 is just retreating and I am an aggressive player so Nf3 is just not my style, I would only play that if there are no option left. d6 is just look like it is just some random move because we are attacking the king-side not the center. 23:00 stockfish said Be3 is m4 while Kf1 is m8 because if black takes the bishop with their bishop which is not a check, Qxf7 is mate.

[@SparkSovereign]

H5 was my thought too, threaten to open the file while getting a very dangerous pawn in the game; if you trade knights and white takes your pawn with their pawn, D6 discovered check is crippling and at minimum you're up an exchange with the enemy king exposed and on the second rank. I had the same thought to block with the bishop too, although I didn't think about how trading bishops isn't a check. I just figured that it removed one of black's few developed pieces, giving you even more freedom to keep attacking, with an added tempo if they didn't take and you unpin your own bishop at some point.

[@bellfoozwell]

Just found this series Nelson. Thanks for doing this. It’s more fun to go through this book with your guidance. I have the book, but for viewers who don’t, it might be nice to mention who the players of these games are.

[@DerzhavnyBuduj]

Hi Nelson, on 20:23 moment what about h5 instead of d6? If black will capture our knight we will capture their knight and we still have very powerful attack

[@byakugan6493]

I thought the Same… seems better imo

[@konroh2]

The attack isn't as powerful, black can play d6 themselves and stop the main attack. It is still an advantage but black survives and the advantage can be lost.

[@bourbon_hound]

Hey Nelson, loving this series. First time I've ever sat with a physical chess book and worked through positions over the board. I've found myself itching to do more than 15 min once a week - would love to hear your recommendation on other chess books to start with.

[@roblodocus2539]

Thanks for answering my question! Really enjoying the book club. I’ve felt like I’ve been learning a lot from the book, but also when you do your commentary you manage to extract a lot of extra stuff on top of what the author himself brings up in the chapter, so it’s a great distillation of key points and principles. Keen to do more books in the future!

[@davidstrachan8912]

Well presented.

[@JBfromFL]

Dude, I really like your videos. Thank you.

[@davidfrench8922]

I'm enjoying this very much. When you announced that you were going to do this is when I decided to subscribe. Keep it up.

[@farouqbaiti4315]

Oooooh! There is more! This series is Every Friday.

[@KettlebellMaxxin]

This is my 3rd time watching this. I have been more aware of my castled king and my rapid rating finally got back above 1100... Incredible breakdown of the lesson.

[@bagelmanb]

I think a good variation on principle three is a more generalized "when you see an idea consider doing the moves in a different order". This is one I struggle with, seems like half the puzzles I get wrong I'll see the idea but then the solution is to do the moves in the reverse order.

[@dangervinz]

19:52 I really liked the sequence after 12 ... g6 13 Ne4 (attacks Black's bishop on c5 and opens up the line for our bishop) 13 ... Bb6 14 Bh6 (attacks the rook and chases the rook to a vulnerable square) 14 ... Re8 15 Nf6+ Kh8 16 Nxe8 winning the exchange. I liked the forward thinking of Ne4 attacking a piece while simultaneously opening the line for this tactic!

[@konroh2]

I like that too. Crazy thing is black d6 and not moving the R so Bxd8 Kxd8 and the advantage is pretty small. Early B for R sacs aren't fully an advantage until the endgame.

[@O8Xx]

Nelson, what if at about 21:55 we would play h5 instead of d6? Is it a good move to consider?

[@philippeklein7876]

I am wondering the same thing

[@opnop6881]

At 21:30 is it better to sacrifice the knight on f7 rather than the pawn push? If king recaptures, the pawn push comes with check. If the rook recaptures, you take back the knight immediately. Then the pawn move is still a threat. Doesn't look like it's easily defended.

[@cominoengenharia]

Hi! At 9:28 Would like to know what happens if, instead of taking f2 with the knight, black took with the bishop, delivering a check. After white king moves, black could defend the f7 paw somehow

[@MoHashish2]

21:00 why can't you pressure the knight by playing h5? it allows you to unleash the rook since they can't move the knight and you're going to capture it next move anyways.

[@Xxvier123]

Thank you for this lesson. At first i didn't know what the best moves are but now im better.

[@kamnasharma6143]

Great insights for us beginner-intermediate players here, had a question, why not h5 as white here at 20:44? If ...hxg5, we can just push with tempo and I don't see a good response from black.

[@chintanbarbhaya6857]

Was eagerly waiting for the episode 5🎉

[@Kennythepudding]

20:28 why did they play h5 and make those weaknesses around the king and not Re8. It let's the knight retreat to f8 if white does play h5 and it stop the checkmate on h7. As the saying with knight on f8, theres no mate.

[@TheRealChiults]

I felt proud i shouted "d6!" But actually I would have played it one turn before, instead of h4, so not bringing the rook into the game, which in fact allowed the checkmate Thanks for the great work, Nelson! I improved a lot and had a lot of fun watching you!

[@jonwill]

Great content Nelson; thank you for sharing.

[@張謙-n3l]

Be3 to block the check is also an alternative at 22:44

[@lethalty6055]

While you explained about the 4th principle, because the knight was pinned by the bishop, said pawn was not protected, but I did see the pin liability, but not d5 until after you mentioned it. I would've done Qd7, which i guess could be a blunder if white manages to form a battery, forcing a queen trade. One thing I also saw from Ng6 was Bd3, piling up attacks on the knight, but then saw it wasn't as good because the knight was defended by 2 pawns, so no real threat, but when h6 was played from the book, maybe that could've worked?

[@anandgau1]

17:00 why cant you position your pieces first then start attacking

[@ansgibson]

You are a great teacher 👌

[@ChelsieKho]

16:44 was there a fork when if you played a3, Ba5, b4?

[@rashee9352]

Well he can just take the knight

[@sarbartharoy6277]

During 13:00 what if I take the pawn and when the queen pins I castle. So if she takes I can pin her to the king and win material. Even if they block f3 knight I just win it by pushing my pawn

[@TottenvilleMiddleSchool]

Chess will always be my favorite game!!

[@jonasherman9195]

Still love this series!!

[@Raul_Reborn_Arc]

20:20 Instead pushing pawn to F6, why not Black push pawn to F7 to stop white pawn?

[@dew9103]

Well it does create a weakness and when white d6 then what would black do

[@LegendanyStati]

20:39 there is h5 hxg5 hxg6 there is now mate with gxf7 if king takes d6 is mate and if rook takes qxh7 mate FORCED

[@eliteteamkiller319]

I can't get enough of your outro music.

[@farouqbaiti4315]

The music is called: So Long Analog. Trust me.

[@cobradavid777]

21:26 can't you play h5 and kick the knight?if he trades we would have an open file

[@konroh2]

computer plays d6 and stops the attack

[@massimotoso6145]

Awesome. Tks a lot.

[@ManosErikosKlapsakis]

Well done mate ❤❤

[@memeguy6874]

22:03 Why not pawn to h5? If black take knight simply capture his knight then u get an open file and Queen is ready to acquire g6 position . Thats checkmate threat

[@Pistachios7]

12:08 is tricky. You don't have to defend your knight, but could just castle, sacrificing it. If whites queen takes the knight, black has rook e1 winning white's queen.

[@sumalathadp7587]

At 20:22 instead of h6 what would happen if black played Re8 with the idea that after h5 there is Nf8 and there is no mate on h7. Also, doesn't Nxf7 work? As after Kxf7 there is d6+ with checkmate soon and if Rxf7 then Qxg6 where his king is even weaker. Doesn't that also win or d6 is the only winning move in the position?

[@hunterstokes8577]

Is 1. A3 ba5 2. B4 better? 15:30

[@EXROthechoosenone]

20:23 can't we just play pawn to h5? It's really good becouse if white decides to take our knight we take their knight opens up the rook we got a solid pawn facing the king it's a lot good and I think it's better maybe ?

[@mattgiguere5638]

Thank you Teacher Nelson 😮

[@farouqbaiti4315]

Chill out bro. He's just a Chess KZbinr Gamer.😏😎

[@jaivanttitus]

9:59 Isn’t qd5 just better? You win a whole piece Edit: sorry, I didn’t see the next chapter 😅

[@gstringer7966]

HI Nelson, when you build the the threat in principle 3 and move the queen threatening checkmate, how do you deal with bishop F2 check.

[@SparkSovereign]

This is an excellent game with wonderful analysis and explanation. Loving these. I am curious; after white played h3, I agree that d6 is the better move (I totally forgot it was an option to get the bishop involved, easy to get tunnel vision and forget long range options), but my first thought had been to play h4 instead; you basically offer a knight trade, with the immediate follow up threat of tripling up white's pawns or using one of your long range pieces to dismantle the king's defenses. Was that a decent line too, or would it have given white too much counterplay since those pawns were also keeping their own pieces from getting involved? Are there situations where that would be better (such as if the queens had been traded off already)? Additionally, when white played h3, I was actually thinking h4 might have been alright too; it lacks pressure on the knight and has more long term weaknesses, but it prevents black from pushing that pawn to h4 and keeps the file closed. In retrospect, it makes d6 too dangerous of a threat, but I'm not sure what white could have done about that other than making pawn moves in the center themselves, which feels too slow. Once again, thanks for these, it's some of my favorite content on the channel. (The games where you discuss your thoughts as you play are my other favorite.) Excellent stuff, I look forward to the next one!

[@fayskelley]

Thank you. First time watching you channel. What is your FIDE rating. I’m not able to find it. Thx.

[@farouqbaiti4315]

Yoooooooo Nelson, I really want you to have a good day to see this: In 14:44, what if Black captures on e5 allowing White to take with the goal of taking the c3 Knight and opening the file for the Rook that's allowing to attack the King? Also also ALSO, in Game 4, what if Black plays Nc1 allowing Rxb7 to play Nb6 to trap the Rook?

[@NJDJ1986]

this Logical Chess series are interesting to learn so far!

[@dyukonsuku2335]

Any advantages on playing Pawn to D5 before Pawn to D6?

[@VooDooRuffus]

Is there a better move for white than than the pawn Gambit with Knight c3? I have tried to find something but can't really find anything significantly better.

[@sunsiddharajkarande2172]

While the princple 7 if the opponent let us kill their horse then what? I hope u answer😊.

[@zaidsilk6089]

9:10 instructions unclear, moved queen to d6

[@evergrey4life955]

Was that supposed to be funny?

[@ghulammurtazaqazi5507]

Time stamps please?

[@jeremymaciejewski5933]

Question after h4 h6 why not n x f7 threaten queen? Nutty.

[@Hhe_252]

pro make a playlist please

[@Craggie]

10:17 cant you just defend the pown with the night night:g5

[@Qwentar]

4 moves with the Queen lead to a check when the King takes Bishop on F2 /F7, not 6.

[@Deathwish3838]

That's why he said including the knight there 6 and then he proceeded to point out the 2 other checks from the knight with arrows...

[@Qwentar]

@@Deathwish3838 I must've misunderstood; I thought he was counting the checks with the Queen, rather than all possible checks.

[@dew9103]

d6 is such a clutch move

[@GreenRayJC]

Hey @Chess Vibes why not save your comments on a PGN that we can download from here?

[@allannortje6440]

Hey I got the book !

[@creatingonthemargins1089]

Beautiful win for white

[@Roohikhan804]

I don't think so that Chess is played on these rules! The black could have played different moves and the game could have turned up side down, the black could have used to attack on G2 and taken the Ruck so it's not always simple as it looks. Yes it's definitely good to remember all the tactics if needed play it.

[@trassage]

Even though sometimes i get 94 accuracy, my games aren't even close to the level of strategy you showed in this game)

[@shadeburst]

Just one problem. What the heck to do if opponent has also been watching your videos?

[@donniedarko4164]

Specially around 1000elo I won many games just because I delayed casting when possible

[@villfreddancel8243]

Good day NM Nelson,im a silent follower of yours,im here to ask you about how powerful chess engines are,its because during these past week i have beaten Stockfish when i set their level of strenght to 2100,i really can't believe this and i hope you can help me answer this,if needed i will send you the move list of my games in which i've beaten that engine,also at 2025 strenght,have a good day bro

[@jeroen3657]

Stockfish thinks the opponent is also Stockfish

[@caio5987]

Good thing to bear in mind if I drop 1000 points and go back at playing clueless people 😂

[@Hand_leodjdjdjdk]

These are not principles these are more like tips or concepts but nice videos

[@necrocleric13]

I'm not the greatest chess player in the world, but if your opponent's attack or his position is so strong that you have to use your queen for defense, it seems your opponent has the advantage. You want to force your opponent to use his queen for defense while yours attacks. Just sayin.

[@Michael-c6c9s]

Not bad is okay u

[@balajirengarajan]

second