Grandmaster Speed Runs Chess – Making a Plan
Simon continues his now-famous speedrun series, tackling more tricky games on chess.com. Inspired by Hikaru, Eric Hansen (Chessbrah) and Daniel Naroditsky. Online chess speedrunning blitz chess on chess.com, video lectures, how to get better at chess and win with checkmate, attack tips and tricks!
In this video, we look at some typical mistakes that players make around the 1800-2000 level on Chess.com.
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Grandmaster Simon Williams is on chess.com, improving and learning chess openings with a world record masterclass blitz speed chess speed run!
[Music] GM Hello everyone we're continuing our Speed Run and we now got to 1900 so We're facing some good players Um with the black pieces here and it Started D4 E6 and we're gonna go for a Dutch uh one of my favorite openings Which you may or may not be aware of and Um at the start of the game it's often For a fight of this Square so our first Setup is these three moves to try and Control this square and you can see that My opponent is fighting indirectly for This Square maybe he wants to take it And play E4 So the standard response here is to pin This Knight Because again we're fighting for this Square and by pinning this Knight to the King we are effectively controlling this Square now in this situation I I should Certainly take the knight uh to double My opponent's pawns and again it's all About this Square so I could Castle but If you get a chance to finish Chateau This bishop you should often do so and Uh here again I've now got a great hold Of that square so I can be pretty happy With Um how this has gone and I will now Castle and I could play H6 when my opponent might Take that Knight but ideally I want to
Be able to recapture with this Knight so I'm going to move my knight to this Square and the point is then I can keep My knight coming towards the square but Let's have a look what my parents trying To do my opponent with his last move We've got to be aware of this is trying To cause a little bit of aggro over on The queen Side by opening The Rook so I'm gonna just stop that one in its Tracks and Um make sure you can't do that the next Thing he might be trying to do is play C5 so move the Knight here also helps me Gain better control just of that Square If he tries to get rid of it I can Capture and keep control there I'm going to connect my Rooks and also Keep an eye on that square and I'm now Ready to start asking his Bishop what to Do because if he takes my knight can Recapture if you ever play C5 I can take Once and I can take with a queen he Still has nothing really going on here So I think it's time to to kick that Bishop away and now Um I can break the PIN yes my king side Is a bit weakened but you don't mind Pushing Pawns in front of your king if The center is controlled and now that my Pin the PIN on my knight is no longer There again I can use this square and I Will come directly in there making sure I control here having some ideas against
The bishop and now thinking about my What my next step will be and what what Am I going to do well I I could Now okay well I think he should have Moved the bishop Because now I can do more damage to his Pawn structure and and to my eyes that That looks like a good starting point Um it may even make some sense to get Rid of his Knight because his Knight is A pretty good piece in closed positions But it's so tempting to double another Set of Pawns I'm gonna go for that one And yet again I I feel that this square Is key so yet again I'm going to move my Minor pieces just to have this little Battle for those squares and I I can now Potentially even move my knight into Into that that position in the center my Opponent is playing very well this is a Good move he he wants to open up ways And had I seen this before I might not Take in the bishop but I will continue By going forwards and I have to admit Now I'm not so keen on my position I've Realized that you can fight for control Of this maybe I don't know why he took There because by taking there he's Helped me defend that key square and if He does attack that one I can back it up And I will do so by just moving my Rook Had I still had a pawn blocking this one This wouldn't have been possible so he Released the tension a little bit early
There And I think exchanges now Makes sense But do I need to rush that could I Improve my king first because at some Point his Queen might threaten to come In here so I'm just actually going to Move my king just because a little bit Later on that square will be better to Defend it okay so he's made an exchange Now if I take with the pawn I'm not Really sure I like my Bishop so I'm Going to get rid of the bishop take here And I think I'm just going to keep it Quite safe by offering the exchange of Queens And let's keep pressure here yes my Opponent has pressure against F5 Um but you can see my king is maybe Reasonably well placed to defend that And I want to defend my weakness and I Need to find a Target to attack so I'm Going to try to Somehow defend this weakness and Pressurize this one My opponent is doing the same so very Good play from my opponent so far uh he Might even be wanting to play G4 at the Right moment I will get more control to G4 And if his Rook slides here I'm going to Use my king to defend that one And what is my next step well my next Step now is to try and take the pressure
Off this Pawn so I'm going to push that Rook away and he now has a problem this Is a terrible Square phrase Rook right And things are going very well now Because there's no pressure against my Pawns but there is pressure against here And I can now use a little tactic to win A pawn and and things looking very good So I just had to he played very well in This game And I just had to deal those little Threats this little king move of mine Waiting to see what my opponent was Going to do was key and my opponent Didn't make many mistakes Um but he's made enough uh to give me What should be obviously a pawn up in a Rook ending This move I don't like because it takes Away the possibility of him going there Let's move my king uh with ideas of Going F4 and G3 and my punch Rook is Very bad in Rook endings that is is key And I can even now threaten a Checkmate Idea with the check and my Rook coming Behind and Um he's fallen into that and uh we we've Managed to win this game with a little Check mate there so again it may seem Simple this one but that was a very Tough game and my opponent after I Played this move released the tension a Bit early and this is a key thing I I Guess that happens around the 1900 range
It's much better to keep the tension how Do you moved his Bishop here now rather Than what he played which was taking Here I I feel like I could be in a bit of Trouble even because if I take the Knight he might be to take my Bishop but He doesn't need to release the tension So that was really the the one mistake That my opponent played so let's let's Go into another game straight away and We'll go and stick with the Jabara London uh the Jabar of London is doing Very well it's very simple up to the Rating range of let's say we get to 2 000 I I think I'll stick with this so Then we might change openings he's Picked a pretty solid formation And Like in my previous Speed Run I'm gonna Offer the opening of the position Because I have two pieces divert my Opponent has played very solid pawn Moves but he hasn't developed any pieces So I'm naturally thinking okay well Let's open it up because I have two Pieces in the position so I I don't mind Opening the position up Um another poor move from my opponent so I'm just going to develop another minor Piece and Um here I'm going to develop my last Minor piece defend that Knight and Because I've got this much better
Development he's very solid but I'm Thinking about going for a very Aggressive setup with Queen side Castling because I I want to try and Take advantage of his move order but Let's just see what he's trying to do Okay I don't want that Knight coming There so I will secure my Pawn structure Whilst taking away that square and I Want to move my queen so I can castle And get my Rook lined up and then I've Got every piece in its ideal situation Okay He's hitting here now this does give me The chance to double his Pawns and I'm not going to overthink it I'm going To give myself the chance to ruin his Pawn structure I'm going to deal with This little fret line my queen up Against his King if he castles King side He's open over there if he castles Queen Side I have this very good attacking Bishop and but I haven't quite committed To going Queen side castling now Um But I think either side is okay and Let's go Queen side and now that I have Full development full uh range of the Position I I I I have to think about how To increase my positional uh my pieces Any way I can get through and I'm Looking at some of his pieces that might Be a bit exposed now my knight doesn't Really have a chance of coming forwards
My Bishops are good I feel but if I move My knight now I'm looking for weak spots And D6 seems like a very weak square and I can go via here gaining this important Tempo so this check at some moment could Cause him a lot of trouble so a nice Little bit of re-routing there I can't Open up his position yet which I really Would like to do But with the Knight coming in here which I think I'm going to play straight away If it doesn't capture I will win the Exchange and if he does capture my Bishop keeps his King Stuck in the Middle it can always come back here and With his King in this situation he has To be very very careful if I can at some Point open it up more maybe I now if you Can't open up your opponent's position Through pieces you should look at using Pawns so I'm looking at using this lever Here maybe I can bring my Rook into a Position to to add pressure but now with This move He has given me a chance to play Something like D5 but what happens then If he tries to kick this bishop away With Queen B6 Well this might be a good move the other Option is to Simply take the Knight and Play this And I quite like that because I don't Want that Bishop to be chased away And if I can get rid of this piece which
I'm Gonna Do by just simply taking it I now have This two Bishops now taking back would Be okay but I am a piece up and I think My king is quite safe after this move Because I can get rid of really the only Piece lined up against my king here and Um he can't save that rook and again my Opponent's position after 17 moves has Crumbled what did I do here I developed My pieces to good squares I opened his King when I got the chance and I've Taken uh pieces when they've been Available I haven't really taken any Risks I'm not going to expose my king I'm going to use my opponent's Pawn as Something that can defend my position Maybe my queen can safely take as long As he can't get his rook in the game Which he can't because of this fantastic Piece I think my queen will come here And my king will go in the middle and I'm going to do this now just because His Rook can't attack me and just Because my king on a dark square is Going to be super safe because he Doesn't have a dark Square Bishop And a king on a dark Square um means That then my Rooks can start thinking About coming in on the open file but my Bishop Reigns Supreme here and again uh Pretty pretty simple moves here have got Me a very good position and yeah I'm not Worried about him taking here there may
Be a check but let's play it super safe Put the King on a dark Square so he can Never bring a bishop or a queen to check It and Um if I go Rook here it'll take my Bishop but I can just defend that one And use my other rook and he's now I Guess trying to get his Bishop to a Better Square this check Does it achieve much I don't think so so Let's just get these two guys in if I Come across my Bishop is undefended so I'm just gonna make sure that one is Defended give room for the last piece to Come over and when that one comes over All my Frets are diving in are going to Be much stronger now I could maybe have Taken that pawn with the idea of coming In with the queen But because I'm a whole Rook up uh I Don't really see the need for that and Let's just get that last piece in now And with this idea on the cards he's Gonna have to move his Queen all the way Back here I could then swap Queens but I'm actually probably not even gonna do That here Um I can't see anything else except for his Queen coming back I might just try to Stop this Rook ever capturing that pawn Or even stop The Rook from coming around This way so I might just play F3 but my Opponent resigns before that's possible
So what what happened there well again I Opened the position at the right time I played very simple moves I developed My pieces I stopped any ideas that my opponent Wanted to try and play I took the chance to ruin his Pawn Structure I defended a threats improved my Position Completed my development and now I'm in The middle game I think about how my Pieces can improve which pieces are not Great well my knight can't really do Anything but then my knight finds this Very clever way to enter into the Position this forces me to get this real Fawn in his side and his position Already is very uncomfortable here he Has not many moves to play so again Simple chess we don't do anything Excessive and uh let's see if we can get Um a third game and a third jibava London Victory we're doing the first Three moves Amazingly my opponent has gone for the Same opening I will continue with the Same principles Um My opponent has put a knight here but This blocks the bishop in It doesn't look like a very comfortable Square and I don't want to I don't want To move this Pawn because again keeping
The tension seems correct and just Developing there's nothing wrong with Getting your pieces into the game before You think of attacking this bishop I Will just slide back And Um I can now develop my last piece But also because it's night okay well He's threatening with to take and take This Pawn so let's develop the last Piece I've got four pieces developed And he might double my Pawn once he put His Bishop there that seems like a very Weak move to my eyes because it doesn't Do anything it doesn't go anywhere and He blocks the knight in so now I can Really think about Peace placing pressure on him and when When there's this Knight is not greatly Placed and I'm drawn to using my H Pawn Which doesn't just try to force that Knight to worst Square But it means I can use this Pawn later On to keep pressuring him okay I put my Bishop here so I can respond like this No choice there yes I've doubled my Pawns but that doesn't scare me this Move I have to come back again I'm not Doing anything special And Um Like the last game I could use this Square now
But I'm thinking here I'm not going to Castle Queen side let's just Castle Kingside again I don't want to do Anything special until I see a big blow And Am I worried about this Pawn coming Forwards do I use my Bishop first I think I'm gonna Put my Bishop in here but then I just Got to be careful about what happens if He attacks it Uh let's first of all play this Pawn Forwards because then I can support a Potential Bishop coming into that square Now I'm gonna come in Because I thought maybe he should play F4 and the point now is I can support my Bishop and that Bishop like the last Game is key Okay good move pinning my knight Um Let's use all my pieces I see a pawn Let's attack it that's a backwards Pawn Simply put pressure on it and here I'm Going to play a bit of a whimpish move And I'm just going to break the pin Because the one problem in my position Is the PIN so I'm just going to break The PIN Swap off is one active piece here and Try to keep hold of these Central Squares uh in actual fact maybe he could Have gone Knight C3 there that would
Have been a much better move I missed That one Um my position should be okay anyway There but he should have tried that that Knight is good let's kick it away kick Away my opponent's good pieces And my queen is attacked I'm gonna use My queen attack that Knight try to force It to a worse Square And Um the one thing that I think gives me a Nice edge here is this lovely Bishop in His guts His Knights can't really get in so I want to really tie that pawn down And if I get my Pawn here it will stop That pawn from ever moving but first of All he is attacking this Pawn so let's Naturally use that pawn Uh to maybe force this exchange but then I will take with a pawn look at this Piece fantastic Okay but he's playing well he's causing Problems because now he has an idea the Queen coming in and taking here and some Frets Did I overextend that pawn maybe because His Queen can also come in here Um Let's therefore start creating our own Threats I don't have time to play this Idea If his Queen now comes in I'd like to Force the exchange of Queens I mean it's
Not going to be that scary Because I always have G free And that defends any checkmates so okay If it's not scary let's continue But you know he's created chances from Um I would say quite a bad opening Position but if I now take here his Queen will take and I just want I want Him to take the Rook because he's a Little bit more discombobulated isn't he There Uh so Let's try to get my last piece in this Bishop is good this Rook is good so Let's try to double up on this seventh Rank so I want to move this Rook move my Other rook in I'm not grabbing that pawn Because this potentially Queen takes Here now if he goes Queen H6 I have to Go G3 and I defend everything so I'll Continue with my plan Of doubling Brooks on the seventh rank And I'm relying on the Move G3 to defend My king Without this G3 move I might be in Trouble okay well that does nothing to Stop my plan so let's get this one in oh My god I've fallen for a check oh I've Lost I've lost I've lost I wasn't paying Attention ah I didn't see it he didn't See it unbelievable this was a killer This was an absolute killer uh Unbelievable actually Um that would have checked mate in two
Moves okay well what I was very lucky There uh I took my eye off the ball And now I'm gonna have to come back Because uh that that that was that was The end My opponent moved a little bit too Quickly okay well I'm relying on this One Uh and he still wins a rook so I've I've Really I've really thrown this one away He did these two pieces could be a lot Of trouble didn't didn't they and now Well I I'm I'm losing now clearly I'm Gonna be a rook down well played for my Opponent I mean I'm I'm gonna hustle now I'm a whole rip Down is there any chances my opponent Group you really caused me trouble I Mean I just got a little bit too carried Away I uh un underestimated my Opponent's threats And so I've got to now cause as many Issues as I can Uh but this position is is clearly lost I've got one chance this Pawn My only chance so I might as well use it I'm down on time I don't want to lose That pawn I've got to defend it I'm Going to now try to come in with a plan Like this maybe I can use my a pawn so I'm causing as many problems as I can is This night going anywhere no so let's Create this fret Of coming Rook B8 and I've got amazingly
Some okay chances here because how does He defend Um he has got Knight E7 This Is okay but he hasn't found it and we've Got him to an ending now which is equal But in endings Brooks pawns against Knights are very Strong and I'm gonna now just start Using this one And I think this one might be a game Winner so let's keep using this Pawn Can he swap off another as enough other Stuff before that I hope not he's gonna Have to give up his night for this pawn And I think this is actually I've been Very lucky to survive here haven't I Um very very lucky let's put the bishop That's not a very good Square because He's got this one that was a bit silly Uh I'm still making a hash of this I Have to say Okay this move is is quite Annoying And can I win this one and the time that I got left because this Pawn I've really Played like a bit of an idiot here it Has to be said I think it's just a draw I think this position is just a draw Okay anything I can do here I don't Think so I've really how did I not win This he deserves a draw I think from his Play but I can't believe I can't see Anywhere I can win this now because my Bishop can it get around to G1
Okay if I get my Bishop here I've got to try I've got to try Then is that a chance Okay he's going for this But he shouldn't be playing for a win Surely he shouldn't be playing for a win Not in this position surely not Ah Let's go get my king in My King has got to come And it's going to come for his pawns if I win this it'll be remarkable I've got seven seconds Seven seconds Oh what happened there Hahaha Okay I'm gonna try to take his last Pawn So I secure a draw Okay we've got a drawer that's good Can we win this I'm going to Queen the other Pawn Because it it's quick Come on Come on And now I'm gonna use these guys I think I'm gonna do it oh Well let's have a look at that game Because that game was uh remarkable Actually I mean my opponent He he has I mean how did I allowed to Have those possibilities that was Ridiculous uh bad play for me I mean Around here I've got a brilliant Position but I think my first mistake is
Actually and can you believe it pushing This Pawn because that pawn becomes a Real Target if I just play G3 in this Position let's say we have the same kind Of thing I just got to watch out for G5 But I can cover that with a move like This and then continue in the same way So my first mistake is allowing this Pawn to become a potential problem which I saw here it's not easy to defend I Underestimated greatly my opponent's Attacking ideas here and I should start Playing moves like G3 in this position And maybe even just trying to swap off a Rook or something so my next mistakes is Allowing this to happen and he basically Now has checkmate In two moves uh and you've got to always Keep an eye out for when your opponent Makes a move don't don't just look at What they're threatening but look at Anything they they've left left weak and I've left the back rank weak here this Would have been the first game I lose About playing a cheat and Um my opponent I have to come back I Can't see anything else well he does Now come and winner win a whole Rook but Funnily enough I have a little bit of Play here How did my opponent deal with this well Obviously he's winning but we get into This ending and I I played the ending Appallingly when I won the Knight so
This position is key and I should never Allow this Pawn to get to H3 so I should Put my Bishop here and then use my king To slowly come out so for example if I Go here If he comes this way then he doesn't Have this H4 move I simply take it and I Can get my king hopefully into the Position here it's not so simple a Shorter time if he plays here how do I Go about winning this I might have to Give this Pawn up so it's actually not Straightforward but as soon as he gets His Pawn here well this this is now I Think a draw as as as there's nothing I Can do the only thing I could think of Doing was to get my Bishop here to Control that square and then use my king But that's not going to work my opponent Did the unthinkable a bit later on he Gave up his one asset and now I can just Slowly get my King around even here he Has some drawing chances but he allows My king to get out of the box and as Soon as my king gets out of the box it's Obviously a win Close that was close uh well played to My opponent from what was a bad opening For causing me trouble if this guy uh Got a good opening who knows obviously He's got a lot of talent like And Subscribe people until next time Laughs [Music]
Foreign [Music]
