My FAVORITE Chess Openings by Rating

Summary

This video script offers chess enthusiasts a guide to selecting effective openings across different skill levels. For beginners, the London System and Stonewall Attack with white pieces are recommended for their solid development and control of the center. As players advance, the script suggests exploring gambits and more aggressive openings like the Vienna and Closed Sicilian. For black, the King's Indian Defense and Scandinavian Defense are highlighted for their safety and simplicity. The video also emphasizes the importance of analyzing personal statistics to refine one's opening repertoire.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker was a chess teacher before becoming a streamer and YouTube content creator.
• 🏰 The London System is recommended for beginners playing with white, as it follows basic principles and is easy to learn.
• 🔰 For beginners, the Stonewall Attack is another effective opening with white, offering a more aggressive playstyle.
• 🤔 The Fried Liver Attack is suggested for e4 openings, emphasizing the importance of controlling the center with pawns or pieces.
• 👑 The King's Indian Defense is a versatile choice for black against various white openings, focusing on safety and central control.
• 🇸🇪 The Scandinavian Defense is a simple opening for black that involves an early queen sortie, which can lead to straightforward development.
• 🐉 The Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defense is recommended for black, especially for those familiar with the King's Indian structure.
• 🤺 Intermediate players with white can explore gambits like the Danish Gambit and the King's Gambit for early pawn sacrifices to gain initiative.
• 🎓 The Vienna Gambit is highlighted as a favorite for intermediate players with white against the Sicilian Defense, offering high win rates.
• 🏴‍☠️ The Closed Sicilian and Smith-Morra Gambit are recommended for intermediate players with white, focusing on attacking the opponent's king.
• 🛡 At advanced levels, the Catalan and English Openings are solid choices for white, emphasizing long-term positional play and strategic planning.

Q & A

What was the speaker's profession before becoming a YouTuber?

The speaker was a chess teacher before they started streaming and making YouTube videos.

What is the main purpose of the video?

The main purpose of the video is to share the speaker's recommendations for the best chess openings for players of different skill levels, from beginners to advanced.

Which opening does the speaker recommend for beginners playing with the white pieces?

For beginners playing with the white pieces, the speaker recommends the London System, which starts with the queen's pawn and a setup based on the dark-squared bishop on f4.

What are the basic principles the London System follows according to the speaker?

The London System follows basic principles such as fighting for the center without the drawbacks, solid development of pieces, and ensuring the king's safety.

What is the game plan for a beginner playing the London System?

The game plan for a beginner playing the London System is to play regular recreational moves, then place the knight on e5 to create an attack, and vary the play between castling, creating a kingside pawn storm, or breaking in the center.

What is the Stonewall Attack and how does it differ from the London System?

The Stonewall Attack is another opening for beginners that starts with e3, bishop d3, and f4, with the dark-squared bishop staying home and the central pawn being advanced. It is more aggressive than the London System but has a positional drawback as the central square can be blocked.

What opening does the speaker suggest for beginners playing with the black pieces?

For beginners playing with the black pieces, the speaker suggests the King's Indian setup, which involves playing d6, knight f6, g6, bishop g7, and castling.

What is the main idea behind the King's Indian setup for black?

The main idea behind the King's Indian setup is to control some central space, develop all pieces safely, and navigate the middle game carefully to build experience and climb the rating ladder.

What is the speaker's opinion on the Scandinavian Defense for beginners?

The speaker thinks the Scandinavian Defense is a simple opening for beginners to play, as it involves getting the queen out early and then following up with easy moves, despite the queen being attacked.

Which opening does the speaker recommend for intermediate players with the white pieces and why?

For intermediate players with the white pieces, the speaker recommends the Vienna Opening because it is aggressive and can lead to a high win rate against e45 positions.

What is the key to the Dutch Defense recommended by the speaker for intermediate players with black?

The key to the Dutch Defense is to temporarily weaken the king to gain a strong pawn storm and central control, which can be advantageous because it is played less frequently by white, giving black an edge.

What does the speaker suggest for advanced players with white to take their game to the next level?

For advanced players with white, the speaker suggests playing mainline positions with e4, incorporating gambits, and considering the Catalan and English openings for solid play and long-term strategic planning.

What is the Trumpowski opening mentioned by the speaker and why is it effective at higher levels?

The Trumpowski opening involves playing bishop g5 after d4, knight f6, not allowing the opponent to play a King's Indian, Grunfeld, or Benoni. It is effective at higher levels because it creates a solid system with traded off dark-squared bishops and rebuilt light-squared pieces, leading to strong pressure.

How does the speaker advise advanced players with black to approach e4 e5 positions?

The speaker advises advanced players with black to approach e4 e5 positions by playing g6 systems, which can lead to King's Indian or Bird variations, and to consider sidelines of mainline openings to surprise opponents with less familiarity.

What is the speaker's advice on studying and choosing the right opening?

The speaker advises players to check their statistics to understand their performance with different colors and opening repertoires, to try new openings with a sample size of 5-10 games, and to be patient with the learning curve, which can take up to 30-40 games.

Outlines

00:00

🤔 Chess Openings for Beginners and Intermediates

The speaker shares their experience as a chess teacher, recommending specific openings for players with different skill levels. For beginners, they suggest the London System and the Stonewall Attack with white pieces, emphasizing solid development and control of the center. With black, they advocate the King's Indian Defense and the Scandinavian Defense for their simplicity and ability to counter various white setups. The Fried Liver Attack is also mentioned as a strong weapon for beginners. The focus is on openings that are easy to learn, promote good principles, and offer a solid game plan.

05:01

🎯 Intermediate Level Chess Openings and Strategies

Moving on to intermediate players, the speaker highlights the effectiveness of the Vienna Gambit and the Closed Sicilian Defense against the Sicilian Defense, emphasizing aggressive play and targeting the opponent's weaknesses. They also mention gambits like the Danish Gambit and the King's Gambit for creating early initiatives. The speaker encourages the use of an openings database and computer analysis to enhance understanding and success with these openings. They suggest incorporating tricky move orders and sidelines to catch opponents off guard and gain an advantage.

10:02

🏆 Advanced Chess Openings for Mastery and Dominance

For advanced players rated 1800 and above, the speaker recommends maintaining pressure with 1.e4 and exploring mainline positions while avoiding direct theory confrontations. They endorse the Vienna Gambit and the Catalan Opening for their solidity and long-term pressure. The Trumpowski Variation of the Grünfeld Defense is highlighted for its ability to create strong threats and damage the opponent's structure. The English Opening is also suggested for its positional play and reliance on strategic planning over immediate tactics.

15:08

📊 Analyzing Chess Performance and Choosing the Right Openings

In the final paragraph, the speaker advises players to analyze their statistics to understand their performance with different colors and opening repertoires. They stress the importance of not rushing to judgment about an opening's effectiveness and suggest a trial period of 5 to 10 games to assess its suitability. The speaker also discusses the importance of enjoying the positions one gets from the opening and the patience required to learn new openings effectively. They conclude by encouraging players to continue learning and adapting their strategies as they progress in skill level.

Keywords

💡Chess Openings

Chess openings refer to the initial moves of a chess game, where the sequence of play is usually established. In the video, the speaker discusses various chess openings that are considered effective for players of different skill levels, from beginners to advanced players. The London System and the Stonewall are highlighted as successful openings for beginners with white pieces, emphasizing the importance of controlling the center and developing pieces safely.

💡London System

The London System is a chess opening that begins with 1.d4, followed by a setup involving the dark-squared bishop on f4, pawns on e3 and c3, and the knight to f3. It is mentioned in the script as an opening that is easy for beginners to learn and execute, as it adheres to basic chess principles, such as controlling the center, without exposing the king to early checks or attacks.

💡Stonewall Attack

The Stonewall Attack is another chess opening that the speaker recommends for beginners. It starts with 1.d4 and 2.e3, followed by 3.f4, aiming to build a strong pawn structure and support the advance of the f-pawn. The script mentions it as an aggressive alternative to the London System, with the potential to create an open rook file and apply pressure on the opponent's position.

💡Center Control

Controlling the center of the chessboard is a fundamental strategy in chess, as it allows for greater mobility and influence over key squares. The video emphasizes the importance of center control in various openings, such as the London System and the Stonewall, where the speaker advises beginners to establish pawns in the center to gain an advantageous position.

💡Rating Ladder

The rating ladder in chess refers to the progression of a player's skill level, typically measured by their Elo rating. The video script discusses how different openings can be effective for players at various stages of the rating ladder, from beginners to advanced players, suggesting that the choice of opening can influence a player's success and improvement.

💡King's Indian Defense

The King's Indian Defense is a popular chess opening for black, characterized by the moves d6, Nf6, g6, and Bg7. It is mentioned in the script as a solid choice for beginners to counter various white openings, as it allows for piece development and control over central space while keeping the king safe.

💡Scandinavian Defense

The Scandinavian Defense is an opening for black that involves moving the queen out early, often with the moves d5 and Qd8. The speaker in the video suggests this opening for beginners because it simplifies development and can lead to quick castling, despite the queen's early exposure.

💡Sicilian Defense

The Sicilian Defense is a common response for black to 1.e4, starting with 1...c5. The script mentions the Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defense as a suitable choice for beginners due to its structural similarities with the King's Indian Defense, allowing for a familiar development pattern.

💡Vienna Gambit

The Vienna Gambit is an aggressive chess opening for white after 1.e4 e5, where white sacrifices a pawn to gain a strong initiative in the center. The video script highlights the Vienna Gambit as particularly effective at the intermediate level, where it can lead to quick wins against unprepared opponents.

💡Dutch Defense

The Dutch Defense is an opening for black that involves moving the king's knight to f6 and castling, aiming to control the center with the f-pawn. The script describes the Dutch Defense as a good choice for intermediate players, as it allows for a strong pawn storm and can catch white players off guard due to its infrequency of use.

💡E6 B6 Setup

The E6 B6 setup, also known as the Caro-Kann Defense, is a chess opening for black that involves playing pawns to e6 and B6, often followed by Nf6 and Be7. The video script recommends this setup for advanced players due to its flexibility and the ability to handle a lack of space, suggesting that it can be a strong choice for higher-level play.

Highlights

The London System is recommended for beginners with white pieces, starting with the queen's pawn and developing a solid position.

For beginners, the Stonewall Attack with e3 and f4 is another effective opening, focusing on central control and piece development.

Against e4, playing 2. Nf3 supports central control and is suitable for beginners looking to play principled chess.

The Fried Liver Attack is a tactical weapon for beginners, challenging opponents early in the game.

The King's Indian Defense is a safe and solid choice for black, avoiding early checkmate threats and controlling central space.

The Scandinavian Defense is a simple opening for beginners with black, involving early queen development and straightforward piece play.

The Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defense is recommended for beginners, with a structure similar to the King's Indian Defense.

Intermediate players with white can experiment with gambits like the Danish Gambit or King's Gambit to create early initiatives.

The Vienna Gambit is particularly effective at the intermediate level, offering high win rates against e4 openings.

The Closed Sicilian with g3 is a positional opening for intermediate players, building up a strong attack on the opponent.

The Smith-Morra Gambit is a daring choice against the Sicilian Defense, sacrificing pawns for central control.

The Dutch Defense is a strategic option for black at the intermediate level, allowing for a pawn storm and central pressure.

Advanced players can use the Catalan Opening to apply long-term pressure with a solid and space-controlling setup.

The English Opening is suitable for advanced players, focusing on queen-side advancement and positional play.

Advanced players with black can use the Karpov's Defense to fight for the center and create a strong pawn structure.

The Nimzowitsch Variation of the Sicilian Defense is a tricky option for advanced players, disrupting the opponent's preparation.

The e6 b6 setup for black is recommended for higher-rated players, dealing with a lack of space effectively.

Tracking personal statistics is crucial for identifying strengths and weaknesses in one's opening repertoire.

Transcripts

before i was streaming and making youtube  videos i was a chess teacher and over my  

years i've probably taught openings to close to a  thousand people in this video i'm going to share  

what i think are the best openings to play to have  success across the rating ladder for beginner is  

probably up to about 1200 intermediates about 12  to 1800 and the advanced section of the video is  

about 1800 plus of course if you like any of the  openings that you see you are welcome more than  

welcome to play them at whatever level you are  these are just the ones that i think are the best  

based on my experience so we're gonna kick things  off with beginners and with the white pieces now  

the opening that i think has the most success  at a very early level is the london system so  

that begins with the queen's pawn and then you go  for a setup based on the dark squared bishop on f4  

and then pawns on e3 and c3 and the knight  to f3 and what you do is you add layers to  

this you start learning more and more about the  london system the point of this video is to just  

get you thinking about the right opening why  do i think this is the best because it follows  

all the basic principles like fighting for  the center but without any of the drawbacks  

everything you develop is solid everything is  defended your king is very safe which can be  

different than playing kingspawn stuff because  there's all sorts of tricks and traps and the  

game plan in london as a beginner is honestly  not that complicated uh i'm just playing you  

know regular recreational moves that you might see  with black uh when you have the white pieces and  

the next step of the london is putting the knight  on e5 and creating some sort of attack on the king  

sometimes you castle sometimes you don't sometimes  you castle the other way sometimes you create a  

kingside pawn storm sometimes you break in the  center but the game plan is very easy and your  

position will look consistent every single  game that you play another opening after d4  

that you can try to go for as a beginner is  the stone wall with e3 something like bishop d3  

and then the move f4 and you go for the same  thing except your dark squared bishop stays home  

and the difference here is that this pawn  is advanced what that means is in the future  

you will have the open rook so in a perfect world  you still get the knight to the center just like  

in the london but in this version you also can go  here with the rook so it's a bit more aggressive  

it has a positional drawback in the sense that  your central square here can be blocked and if  

black is able to block it the position can get  closed but those two openings with white have had  

the most success over my years of teaching and if  you go for e4 and you play principled stuff what i  

would say is this uh play knight f3 on the second  move against e5 but e5 doesn't have to happen  

try to put a second pawn in the center if you  can and if you can't because it will get taken  

make sure you can at least take back with the  knight if not the pawns c3 and d4 pawn c3 and then  

pawn d4 is also very good uh you should definitely  bring out the bishop uh this to me has had the  

most success and now fried liver if possible check  out the fried liver video if you haven't already  

and maybe here you play c3 if you don't go for  a fried liver so that you can take the center  

i cannot stress enough how important it is  to have two pawns in the center if you're a  

beginner people will melt if you learn how to  control the center with pawns or with pieces  

and then push into your opponent's position  once you castle and everything is ready to go  

you will be very very happy and you will be  able to win a lot of games honestly so that's  

why i like london and stonewall because you lock  the center you take control of it and then you  

create an attack on your opponent and it's one  of the reasons i like this c3d4 idea in the um  

in the e45 positions or i mean fried liver right  those of you that have watched the fried liver  

video you probably understand the power of the  fried liver at this level so be challenging to  

your opponents within the first five or six moves  and if you can't take control of the center with  

what you can simple easy to understand openings  and then we you know we kind of push the advantage  

uh further that's with white though and i mean  half of our games we're going to be playing  

with the black pieces so we have to be gotham  subscriber and they have to be the no-name noob  

now to me i almost never taught students e4 e5 i  hated the early queen attack the scholars mate i  

didn't like the gambits so what i taught so many  students at this level was the king's indian setup  

which is d6 knight f6 you would be surprised  how many people lose this pawn by the way  

but let's say they protect it and then g6 bishop  g7 and castles you avoid all four move checkmate  

nonsense your king is safe you control some  central space and then you develop all of your  

pieces make this trade if you have to and then  play knight c6 and slowly build up for pawn to e5  

of course the middle game is difficult to navigate  just in general in the king's indian but you make  

it out of the opening alive and then after that  if you play safely you play solidly you take free  

pieces when they're available and that is how  you build your experience you will climb up the  

rating ladder the good thing about the king's  indian is it doesn't matter what they play  

if they play the london system you can still play  the kings indian if they play whatever d4 c4 with  

knight c3 you can still play the king's indian  so you can play the king's indian setup against  

anything but what if you don't want to what  if you're bored another one that i like is  

the scandinavian defense and you would say well  why would you tell a beginner to get their queen  

out early well my my what i told beginners  was that well if your queen gets attacked  

you have a choice move it all the way to the side  or move it all the way back and this is actually  

not such a waste of time if you move it all the  way back your next few moves are extremely easy  

pop out both knights put the bishop on f5 or  g4 and the the reason why you have to do that  

is uh let's just say bishop c4 castles why you  have to bring out the bishop is so you can play  

e6 and bring out the other bishop if you don't  do that if you just go like this you block in  

your bishop but development here is super simple  development here is you don't have to think really  

i mean you just play your pieces out and then you  castle short or long sometimes i would tell people  

to castle long to make the game more complicated  but that that's that right like the scandinavian  

defense is uh is a very simple opening to play  and for a last one you can play the sicilian but  

i would all limit it to one and one only sicilian  and that is the dragon sicilian which plays  

g6 and you'll notice the bishop on g7 just like  in the king's indian defense and i would do this  

because the structure is similar what does that  mean it means that you play pawn d6 you bring out  

the knights and then you castle so the structure  looks very similar the sicilian dragon uh  

the king's indian setup and maybe the scandinavian  but scanned uh the king's indian and the london  

at the beginner level uh are the two openings  that i would uh prefer for you to play the most  

now let's go back to the white pieces and we're  entering intermediate territory so you're like  

1100 1200 you're like how do i start beating  everybody this is where it gets the most fun so  

to me the most successful opening you can play  an intermediate level after e4 first of all i  

actually think e4 is great because now you're  studying more openings so you're learning theory  

you're learning the best moves you're using an  openings database you're using a computer let's  

say you're like 12 1300 1100 12 1300 now it's  time to start going for the good stuff first of  

all you've got your gambits you've got things like  the danish gambit or the king's gambit where you  

know that by sacrificing pawns early sometimes  as many as giving away three pawns for capture  

winning one back you can create initiatives and  you can create targets of weak squares definitely  

investigate gambits but the vienna oh it's just my  favorite my goodness the vienna is just the best  

go study the vienna i can almost guarantee that  you will win like 70 of your games against e45  

in a perfect world you play the vienna gambit  hoping to overrun them in the center like this  

in a another perfect world uh you get a copycat  variation with bishop c5 and go queen g4 and go  

for g7 so you're learning these kinds of systems  and punishing people for playing into them  

if you play into a sicilian a setup that  i really like here is the closed sicilian  

with knight c3 the point is that you go g3 kind  of like a vienna but you build up with the pawns  

and what that looks like way down the line is  something like this potentially this knight  

can go here here or here but what you do is  you play h3 g4 f5 and you attack the opponent  

that's what you do you slowly build up your  position and you attack the opponent vienna  

and close sicilian are fantastic not to mention  against the sicilian there's another gambit  

the vienna not the vienna the smith mora gambit  like this or even something as crazy as the wing  

gambit cb4 you take two pawns in the center and  you're very happy i love e4 at the intermediate  

level if you want to continue hitting everybody  not with d3 but with the london system that's fine  

you can consider incorporating this tricky move  order against the uh king's indian defense which  

is knight c3 and then castling queenside this wins  a lot of games at the intermediate level uh so  

consider incorporating that into your territory  as well but definitely e4 and d4 still at  

intermediate build on those fundamentals include  like some sidelines of mainline openings like two  

nights against the french or the advanced kara  khan like e4 c6 d4 d5 pawn up to e5 for example  

in the kara khan which is a very menacing system  that takes space and puts pressure on the opponent  

with black at the intermediate level things are  also very fun this is where against e4 i highly  

recommend you to learn the kara khan if you've  made it this far and you're like 800 consider the  

kara khan as a beginner the point is you fight for  the center like this and all you got to learn here  

is three things do they push do they take or do  they protect their pawn that's it and all of them  

have a very more or less straightforward game plan  if you learn it there you go beautiful you now  

know how to play against e4 and many players with  the white pieces don't face a lot of car cons my  

subscribers do but not everybody is a subscriber  still some people are no name noobs uh against  

d4 at this level c4 at this level and even knight  f3 any move literally any move that's not e4 and  

maybe g4 uh play the dutch so d4 play the dutch  the dutch defense is a reverse sicilian defense  

yes you temporarily weaken your king but what you  do is you play knight f6 g6 bishop g7 and castle  

and the position that you can get from the  opening looks really nice it looks something  

like this where you have the advancement of the  f-pawn and slowly you will build for this e5 push  

you'll play d6 you will play knight c6 or  knight d7 and queen e8 sliding the queen over  

to push the pawn into the center with e5 in a  perfect world you will create the same pawn storm  

that you would in the closed sicilian you remember  you were watching earlier unless you skipped that  

part go back to that part so the point of the  dutch is to just i mean people play it less than  

five percent of the time when they have the white  pieces so they've got the white pieces you have  

the dutch you played 100 of the time they play  it five percent of the time who has the advantage  

me because you're watching my video so queenie  ain't trying to push e5 and it's all good i  

love the dutch defense at this level and at  this level you can also start incorporating  

very tricky stuff like the traxxler of course  i made a video on the traxler but the point  

of an opening like the traxler is it's a it's  not necessarily a great opening according to  

grand master or engine games but it works  right it works the problem is at a certain  

level you'll stop having so much success  another example and again the traxler is this  

it's when you allow the fried liver but play this  very dangerous bishop c5 again the point of this  

open of the video is to point you in the right  direction it's i can't give you everything here  

but i'm trying to kind of stimulate the thought  process uh as you climb the raiding ladder um  

so knight c6 is an and then this whole thing  would be the traxler um but uh there's other  

things i mean you can play the stafford gambit  eric rosen's favorite opening right dc6 and now  

you've you've played a gambit you've given away a  pawn but you know the aggressive tricky nature of  

this opening and you can pick up some easy wins so  hopefully that's good for the intermediate level  

for the final part of this video we're talking  about about you know 17 1800 plus at this point  

you're quite a serious player you've really  climbed the rating rank so what do you need to  

push you to the next level so again with white i  love e4 and now i mean you gotta be putting people  

under pressure you can play the mainline positions  but you're still not gonna have a degree of  

mastery out of the game you've gotta be thinking  about it from a confrontational standpoint  

take people out of mainline theory vienna  continues to be good but for example if you  

want to go d4 knight f6 don't allow them to play  a king's indian don't let them play a grunfeld  

don't let them play a benoni trumpowski one of  my favorites an opening that single-handedly  

carried me over to master level territory i was  winning like 80 of my games here after bishop  

g5 the point is you're just gonna take and then  you're gonna rebuild on the light on the dark  

squares you've traded off your dark squared bishop  so you'll play bishop g2 c4 and you just create a  

nice and solid system uh if they play knight to e4  which is the main line you can play either bishop  

back or the raptor variation which was it's a lot  of fun the point is to open up this file for the  

rook and you're already creating menacing threats  like pawn g6 and they would have to take leaving  

them with a very damaged structure trumpowski  is fantastic at this level you can also consider  

uh the catalan which will be probably the most  solid opening you ever play knight to f3 and then  

g3 bishop g2 and castle with c4 super solid no  weaknesses long lasting pressure on your opponent  

the catalan oh fantastic and at this level i  will say that if you want to play in english  

now is the time i haven't shown this opening yet  but the point of the english is to play knight c3  

play g3 play bishop g2 and you can play this bot  vinix style which means d3 and e4 or you can play  

e3 knight e2 and d4 and in the english you  oftentimes try to advance on the queen side  

it's a very long positional opening and it  relies on your solidity and your long-term  

strategic planning rather than crazy  tactics in the first 10 or 15 moves  

so the english is also good at this level to kind  of push you over the top it's just going to be  

hard because again it's it doesn't have a direct  plan per se you just slowly improve your position  

to try to make it you know kind of maximum now  with black at the uh advanced level again kara  

khan oh my goodness i cannot tell you enough how  much i love it if you want to play e4 e5 what i  

recommend at this level is in some of these like  uh ruler passes or italians that you're gonna face  

a lot uh i highly recommend you to play g6 systems  so systems where you turn it maybe into a king's  

indian or just go to throw your opponent off  their game or play like a bird variation of a rue  

lopez i mean the birds variation is very tricky  again you'll have a hundred percent games here  

and they will have five percent 10 max so  you can play into the main lines of e4 e5  

with when you're advanced but just try to play  maybe a sideline of one of those openings because  

you'll be familiar and they won't so like a g6  or a bishop g7 check out openings databases uh  

and you will you will kind of know how to how to  pick things up there and the last thing with black  

at kind of this higher level is the trickier  sicilians so not the dragon not the night or  

necessarily but for example one of the trickiest  sicilians is like the nim switch where you allow  

e5 uh or you can play knight f3 uh knight c6 or  let's say e6 d4 take take and you can play for  

a two knight sicilian which is not a very not a  very theoretical line uh and then you can play  

bishop c5 bishop b4 there's sicilians where your  queen comes out and pressures on this diagonal  

so it's not a main main line sicilian but it's  very tricky the pin variation there's a lot of uh  

different sicilians which are non-like mainline  sveshnikov what does magnus carlsen play  

but just a little bit trickier so you  can throw your opponent off their game  

and then there's other things i mean there's for  example at this level the e6 b6 setup and the e6  

b6 setup you can play against really anything that  white plays but i would recommend it here because  

it has a little bit of a lack of space so at the  higher level you'll be better suited to play this  

because um you'll understand that dealing with  a lack of space isn't so isn't so terrible now  

i have an e6b6 course and uh what's interesting  about my e6 v6 course is that i recommend it for  

about 12 1300 plus and that's fine there's  a lot of tricks to it but i think that  

as you climb up the ladder and you're more  comfortable dealing with a bit of a lack of space  

you will probably have the most success i would  say uh and i believe that's basically it uh i  

mean e6 b6 is good the trickier sicilians the e4  e5 positions and really the question comes down to  

how do i study this and how do i like make it work  for myself well you have to go after this i want  

all of you to do this go check your statistics  i don't care what website you play on you will  

be able to track how you do with white and how  you do with black and that is the first step  

to improvement do i lose more games with whiter  with black and why what are my opening repertoires  

where am i usually getting into trouble okay  let me give this new one a shot but we have to  

remember statistics can also be skewed because we  could be getting good positions in the openings  

and then losing or getting horrible positions in  the openings and then beating our opponents on the  

clock so you have to figure out if your opening is  working for you and you're enjoying the position  

it's a game by game process sometimes it takes a  sample size of five to ten games to truly figure  

it out but the learning curve for successfully  learning a new opening can be 30 40 games and  

not all of us have the patience for us for that  right let's uh let's admit to that don't be so  

quick to judge an opening you have to be playing  it correctly before you can judge whether or not  

you are actually having success with it hopefully  this helps and i will see you in the next video