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Berlin Defense · Complete Chess Openings — Transcript

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0:00Hi everyone, Stephan here. Today we are
0:02going to cover the Berlin defense, an
0:04opening I really don't like. I played
0:07against it once in a tournament game. I
0:10chose the anti-Berlin and and I lost. So
0:12I've been studying it a lot
0:18and I'm going to divide it into two
0:20videos. In in today's video, we're
0:22looking at the Berlin and focusing on
0:24the Berlin endgame and all the
0:26deviations white and black have. And in
0:29tomorrow's video, I'm going to be
0:30covering the anti Berlin, white's ways
0:33to avoid the Berlin endgame and
0:35everything connected to it by playing D3
0:37or knight C3 and defending the pawn.
0:39Now, the Berlin endgame has been
0:41relatively poorly explored between the
0:432000 match between Kasparov and Kamnik.
0:47And then Kik came along. He was playing
0:50against Kasparov who is one of the most
0:52famous E4 players of all time. and
0:55Kasparov never got a win with white.
0:59They played the Berlin end game over and
1:01over again. Kasparov couldn't break
1:03through. In the end, he lost the match
1:05because he lost the Grunfeld game as
1:07black and the Nimzo game as black. After
1:10the match, needless to say, the Berlin
1:14gained popularity. Every serious
1:17grandmaster has it in in the repertoire.
1:20And to be to be honest, after studying
1:22the Spanish a lot and going through 20
1:25or so books, I can conclude that the
1:27Berlin is definitely the safest weapon
1:30against Roy Lopez. So, I've divided the
1:32video
1:34into five parts. Firstly, I'm going to
1:37give you the resources on the Berlin.
1:39Secondly, I'm going to give you the
1:41history of the Berlin and we're going to
1:43have a look at some of the games played
1:45between Kasparov and Kamnik. Thirdly,
1:48I'm going to cover the basics of the
1:49Berlin, the strategy and the, you know,
1:52most basic ideas. Then we're going to
1:54have a look at the theory of the Berlin
1:56endgame. And then we're going to have a
1:58look at the theory of the deviations.
2:00And again, in tomorrow's video, I'm
2:02going to cover the anti Berlin
2:04separately.
2:10I've made two Spanish repertoars, one
2:12for white, one for black. The one for
2:14white is based on the exchange
2:16variation. So it's it's all about taking
2:20on C6 and avoiding a lot of the main
2:23lines. However, we can only do that if
2:27black actually plays A6 on move three.
2:29So the repertoire also covers all the
2:32deviations, the Schlean defense, but it
2:35also covers the Berlin, the Coio, the
2:38the classical, the bird, and basically
2:41anything black can do on move three. So
2:43my repertoire for white if black plays
2:46a6 avoids all the main lines of the
2:48closed Spanish open Spanish you know all
2:51of that but it does allow the Berlin the
2:53Schlleman the coio the classical the
2:54bird oldsteinit and and stuff like that
2:57the is is d6 the repertoire for black is
3:01based on the chigori and it's more
3:04mainline than than the repertoire for
3:06white both the repertoire for white and
3:09the repertoire for black are available
3:11in the same file in the same post on my
3:13Patreon page. So, if you want to support
3:15the channel, you can decide to purchase
3:17it separately or become a member on
3:19Patreon and gain access to the Spanish
3:21annotated repertoars as well as 50 other
3:24PGNs and posts. My Spanish repertoars
3:28are available on Noctti. So, if you want
3:30to actually learn an opening, you need
3:33to analyze it. You need to gain playing
3:35experience. The best way to do that
3:37would would be to have a human sparring
3:39partner. If you don't have one, you can
3:41use Noctti. Noct is going to play like a
3:43human against you. So my annotated
3:45repertoars I are divided into chapters.
3:49The repertoire for white of course
3:51focuses on the exchange variation. But
3:53since as white you have to be ready for
3:55deviations on move three. It also covers
3:58the Berlin and every other deviation. So
4:01let's say you want to practice our
4:02Berlin repertoire. Select play branch.
4:05Select the difficulty Noctti is going to
4:08u play at. Select the time control.
4:12Let's play. Noctt is going to take you
4:14to the starting position of the Berlin.
4:16And now you get to see my annotations
4:19and choose your moves. Noct is going to
4:21be giving you immediate feedback as
4:23well. And what you can do is you can
4:24tell it to include nonbook moves and you
4:27can deselect comments as well. So it's a
4:30great way to gain playing experience
4:33without having to bother another person.
4:35So you know castles
4:37knight takes E4. In our repertoire, we
4:39don't play D4. We play rook E1. And now,
4:42of course, we play knight D5. They go
4:45bishop E7. We go bishop F1 and so on.
4:48And this way, you get to practice an
4:50opening without having to study endless
4:52theory. If you decide to go premium and
4:54Noctti and unlock all the features, use
4:56the code HP year to get a 20% discount.
5:04Let's go over the history of the Berlin.
5:06So first of all there have been many
5:08games in the Berlin uh before 2000 but
5:12basically that's um
5:18same as with the Roman Empire or the
5:20birth of Christ 2000 is the decisive
5:24year for the Berlin and we can measure
5:27the time before 2000 before the Kiknik
5:29Kasparov match and after 2000. So first
5:32of all
5:34during the 90s Feday has split from
5:38Kasparov's PCA and we had weird world
5:42championships. So you know we had the 93
5:45and 95 world championships which
5:47technically weren't official and then in
5:50order to get a challenger in 1999 1998
5:55and 2000 Kasparov did extraordinary
5:59things. So first of all he said that you
6:02know Shirro is the is the best player,
6:05Kromnik is the second best, Anand is the
6:07highest rated and basically a match
6:10between Kramnik and Shirov was organized
6:12to see who was going to challenge
6:14Garrick Kasparov. Shidov won and Shirov
6:18won convincingly. However, uh there was
6:21uh an agreement to play the match in
6:23California in 1998, but it fell through
6:27and they never actually got to play the
6:29match. Kamnik was then selected
6:33to play the match against Kasparov and
6:34Shirov uh claimed that Kamnik is not is
6:39not the rightful world champion after
6:41having beaten Kasparov because he won
6:43the match to to challenge Kasparov. But
6:45that's a different story. Vishi Anand
6:48who had a contract with Feday had
6:50decided that even though Kasparov had
6:52extended the challenge to him that he
6:54wouldn't play because that would be
6:56unfair or breaching the contract of
6:58whatever or whatever. In any case, in
7:022000,
7:04a company called Brain Games uh was
7:07created by GM Ray Ray Keen Raymond Keen,
7:11an English GM specifically to organize a
7:13match between Krammnik and Kasparov. So
7:16since 1948 since the big uh Netherlands
7:21Hake tournament where Bvenic won the
7:23match usually a challenger for the world
7:25champion had been decided by a series of
7:28zonal interzonal tournaments candidate
7:31matches and so on. This time Kasparov's
7:34opponent was just picked by Raymond Keen
7:37and this is the quote I personally
7:40selected Krammnik as the most worthy and
7:42dangerous opponent to play Kasparov in
7:442000. We wanted the best opponent
7:46possible for Kasparov. We chose the
7:48highest rated opponent, Anand, but he
7:50refused. So, we went to the next man
7:52down on the ratings, KNik, who by the
7:55way overtook Anand ratings while the
7:58letter was considering uh whether to
8:00play or not. Kiknik defended his title
8:02in the classical world championship in
8:042004 against Peter Leo and so on. So,
8:08Ray Keen just said, "Okay, Anan doesn't
8:11want to play. Let's get Kamnik." Whether
8:14that's official or not, I think it
8:16isn't. I mean,
8:19I I have no opinion on Feday. It whether
8:22it's good or bad, I don't care. They are
8:24the organization and only their title
8:27was official at the time. Now, it's
8:29still the case. That might change, but
8:32in 2000, if you know, Kasparov said, "I
8:36want to play, you know, Yan Timman." I
8:38don't know why I said his name. I and I
8:41also I don't know if you heard Yaniman
8:43passed away a few days ago. He was a
8:45true legend of chess. But
8:49what happened in the '9s and until 2006
8:52resembles, you know, Capablanca and
8:54Dealin saying, you know, Capablanca
8:56saying, "Oh, come to New York. You have
8:58to play and then maybe you can challenge
9:00me for a match." It just seems strange.
9:03In any case, in 2000 they met. Now,
9:06after the match, Kamnik, of course, won
9:08the match. In 2004, Krammnik defended
9:11the title against Peter Leo, another
9:13unofficial match of course. And the
9:16world championship cycle remained split
9:19until 2006 when Kramnik defeated the
9:22Feday official champion Vesselin Topalov
9:26in a reunification match becoming the
9:29undisputed world chess champion. So the
9:32period between 95 and 2006 is strange.
9:37Now moving on to the match.
9:40So Kasparo was of course famous for
9:43being um one of the strongest E4 players
9:46and his E4 repertoire was very sharp. So
9:51Kamnik introduced the Berlin.
9:55We're going to have a look at the first
9:56three round uh or the first three games
9:59where Krammnik had black. So in round
10:01one, Kamni has black and after E4 E5,
10:07knight F6 is a surprise castles and they
10:11go into the Berlin endame
10:15and Kik played after knight C3 the move
10:18bishop D7. Previously king E8 was you
10:21know considered to be the best attempt
10:23but Kik popularized this idea of playing
10:25king C8 and B6 and king B7 and C5 and A5
10:30and so on. This game ended in a draw
10:33very very quickly.
10:35Kick played the main idea in the Berlin
10:38of transferring the knight to G6 and
10:40then he also played H5
10:43and C5 A5 and H4. And with this
10:48structure, white cannot expand their
10:51queen side pawn majority comfortably.
10:53White cannot do much. So in the next
10:56five or six moves, they drew the game.
10:59And then came round two.
11:02In round two, Kromnik had the white
11:04pieces. Kasparov played the Grunfeld.
11:06And Kromnik won what I believe is the
11:08most beautiful game of the match. You,
11:10if you are a D4 player or a Grunfeld
11:13player, you should study that game.
11:15Krammnik of course was famous for his
11:17past pawn on the D file in the Grunfeld.
11:20So he is one of the most famous Grunfeld
11:22killers in history.
11:26Along came round three. Once again
11:29Kamnik has black. Kasparov plays E4 and
11:33we get the Berlin. Once again we get the
11:36Berlin endame. And once again after
11:39knight C3 we get bishop D7. Now this
11:42game slight lasted slightly longer.
11:46It was the same basic idea of Kiknik
11:48playing for king C8. This time he
11:50developed the bishop to C6. So there was
11:53a lot more play in the position.
11:55However, they drew eventually even
11:58though I think as opposed to game one,
12:02Kasparov had a slight edge although
12:04never a decisive edge. So this position
12:07here you could argue is slightly better
12:09for white because of the E7 square. But
12:12as long as the knight covers the E7
12:13square, you know, black is going to be
12:16fine.
12:18Round three, draw. Then in round five,
12:22Kasparov doesn't play E4.
12:26He plays the English and it was a
12:28symmetrical English. And that was a
12:30surprise. Kamnik drew the game. In round
12:34seven, Kasparov plays the English again.
12:37And then in round nine, he switches back
12:40to E4. So round one Berlin, round three
12:43Berlin, round nine, once again Berlin.
12:47Kamnik persists. Let's see what Kasparov
12:50had prepared this time. Once again we
12:53have the Berlin endgame.
12:55Once again we have knight C3. And now
12:58Kik deviates. He plays the move H6.
13:02So Kiknik is the one who deviated. Now
13:04in this game Kasparov
13:07I don't think never really came close to
13:09an advantage. Um, you know, Kremling
13:12blocked the E6 square. Everything was
13:15fine. You could argue that this is the
13:17only position where he had a slight edge
13:18because of now knight knight C2 and
13:21bishop C5
13:23uh knight E6 where this pawn is
13:25isolated, but it's definitely not enough
13:29for
13:31um
13:33for a decisive strategic advantage. I
13:36think
13:37at this point once A4 was played I think
13:40Kramnik is is just equal. The game was a
13:44draw. Now remember Kik won in round two
13:48in that Grunfeld game. This is round
13:50nine. So Kasparov never won with white.
13:53In round 10 Kik has the white pieces.
13:56It's a nimo and Kik plays E3 and he uses
14:00very deep prep based on the fact that
14:02Kasparov's play in E3 in the E3 Nimso
14:06was unconvincing and Kik wins. After
14:09that all the games were drawn and a
14:11couple of rounds later Kiknik became the
14:13world champion. So
14:16it's very rare to look at an opening
14:18from from the perspective of it
14:21neutralized someone's E4. But on the
14:24highest level, on GM level and
14:27especially super GM level, being able to
14:30do that is extraordinary. And of course,
14:32since 2000, white came up with many
14:35different ways to fight against the
14:36Berlin. And people began playing H3 and
14:40rook D1 specifically to discourage
14:42Gromnik's bishop D7 idea. And now the
14:45result the results are more favorable
14:48for white than in 2000, but still not
14:50impressive.
14:52and it's one of the best defenses to to
14:55to the Spanish today. Now, let me
14:58explain the basic ideas of the Berlin.
15:06Let's begin covering the basics of the
15:09Berlin defense. So, the Berlin defense
15:11is basically a unique opening within the
15:14Spanish. After bishop B5, black has many
15:18ways to continue this position. The main
15:20one is A6, forcing the bishop to decide
15:23where it's going to go. If white takes
15:25on C6, then we have the exchange
15:27variation. And if the bishop drops back
15:29to A4, then that will lead to all the
15:32main lines of the Spanish. However,
15:34there are alternatives to A6 on move
15:37three for black. And we are going to
15:39have a look at the coio, the classical,
15:42you know, the fianetto. And there are
15:45other ways to play but the Berlin is the
15:47main deviation
15:50uh from the main lines and the main
15:53alternative to A6. Now the opening as we
15:57saw became popular only recently maybe
15:5920 30 years ago after 2000 but players
16:03with black had been employing it for the
16:05last 150 years. So it's a well-known
16:08opening. The idea behind it is pretty
16:10clear. You want to put pressure on on
16:12the E4 pawn without, you know, wasting a
16:15tempo on on A6. If we have a brief look
16:18at A6, then usually after bishop A4,
16:22black is going to play knight F6 on move
16:24four. This is 100,000 grandmaster games
16:28and black throws in this move A6 just to
16:31make sure that they have the option to
16:32play B5 later on.
16:36Now the move knight f6 is very concrete
16:38and you might notice that it leaves the
16:41e5 pawn undefended but the pawn isn't
16:44really hanging. If white wishes to go
16:47into a bad version of the exchange they
16:50can do that. Bishop takes c6 is you know
16:52a very rare move and it's not a good
16:54move. After dc6 this is the exchange
16:57variation in which the pawn isn't on a6
17:00but the knight is on f6. So, it's a way
17:02more useful variation of the exchange.
17:05And I should mention that knight takes
17:07E5 is of course a very typical blunder
17:09in the Spanish. Queen D4 wins the pawn
17:11back with dividends.
17:15So, after knight f6, white really
17:18doesn't have their normal Spanish u
17:22weapons at their disposal. So, what
17:25white needs to do since the e4 pawn is
17:28hanging, white needs to defend that
17:29pawn. And there are a couple of ways to
17:31do that. In tomorrow's video, we are
17:34going to look at the anti Berlin. And
17:36there are many anti Berlin. The main one
17:39is the move D3. This is literally called
17:42the anti Berlin variation. But we can
17:45also consider knight C3 and queen E2
17:47sensible alternatives. And we are going
17:50to look at all of those tomorrow. Today
17:52we are focusing on the Berlin where
17:55white castles defending the pawn
17:58indirectly and castles is a move that
18:01can lead to the famous Berlin wall, the
18:04famous Berlin endgame. Now of course
18:07black has alternatives to the main move
18:09which is knight takes E4. We are going
18:11to have a look at them in the
18:12theoretical section but let me just u
18:16focus on the basics of the Berlin
18:18itself. So the main idea in the Berlin
18:23is that black takes the pawn. White
18:25either plays rook E1 or D4. You know D4
18:28is slightly more common. It's a way to
18:30go into the end game. Black plays the
18:32move knight D6 attacking the bishop.
18:36White takes on C6. D takes C6. D takes
18:40E5. And now the knight must move. It
18:43goes to F5. And white trades queens.
18:47This is the Berlin endgame and this is
18:50the basic position in the Berlin we must
18:53understand with both sides. So now I'm
18:55going to explain the strategic basics of
18:58this. Once again in the theoretical
19:00section we are going to have a look at
19:02all the sidelines and in fact in my
19:05Berlin repertoire or anti- Berlin
19:07repertoire for white I don't recommend
19:10that after knight E4 white plays D4 but
19:12instead I recommend rook E1. I chose
19:14this move order because it avoids the
19:16Berlin endame. So after knight D6, we
19:19now play knight takes E5 and after
19:22bishop E7, bishop F1, we have avoided
19:24the queen trade. Again, we're going to
19:26have a look at all of that, but let's
19:28focus on the Berlin endame for now. So
19:31this has become one of the main
19:33positions in chess, not just in the
19:37Spanish, but in chess. So as as you
19:39heard after 2000 where when Kamnik
19:42successfully used the Berlin to dampen
19:45the power of Kasparov's E4 people
19:49started taking the opening seriously. Up
19:51to that point it had been a sideline. So
19:54what are the main features of this
19:56position? The main features are as
19:58follows. Firstly the black king is
20:00misplaced. And that might seem like a
20:04huge disadvantage to black but it's
20:06really not. the position is playable
20:09tactically and black's king is very
20:10seldom in in in danger. So that can be
20:14sorted out and I'm going to show you
20:15how.
20:18The second feature of this position
20:20which is maybe even more important than
20:22the fact that the king is misplaced is
20:24the pawn structure. And the entire
20:26premise of the Berlin for white and why
20:29this is playable for white is because
20:31white has a 4 to3 pawn majority on the
20:34king's side whereas black has a 4 to3
20:37majority on the queen side which had
20:39before kmnik su successfully started
20:42employing the Berlin endgame been
20:44considered a disadvantage for black
20:46because you know naturally black cannot
20:48create a past pawn there's no way to do
20:50that and white can however the
20:53development of theory since the Kasparov
20:56Kramnik match has shown that this pawn
20:59majority can be useful and it can be
21:02even decisive.
21:04So the main idea for white is to
21:06eventually push these pawns and create a
21:09passed pawn. So white's normal course of
21:13play is going to be to play H3 G4 F4
21:17create a pass pawn and win. Okay, so
21:19that's what white wants to do. For
21:21black, we have a different type of
21:23upside. In order to understand it, we
21:26must
21:28um question the name Berlin endgame.
21:31This is hardly an endgame. It's a middle
21:34game without queens. And I think that's
21:36a much better description. And we can
21:39see that
21:41basically because black has the bishop
21:43pair. And black has dynamic compensation
21:45for the ruined pawn structure. because
21:48black has two wide open bishops, a ton
21:51of piece activity, and the knight on F5
21:53is very well placed to cause trouble
21:56and black has many ways to fight against
21:59white's idea of playing H3 G4. So once
22:02again, misplaced king, four to three
22:05pawn majority, bishop pair for black.
22:08These are the main features of the
22:10position. There are many ways to play
22:12this Berlin endgame, but now I'm going
22:14to explain a couple of key ideas which
22:16are going to enable you to understand
22:18the theoretical section of this video.
22:21So first of all, black is going to have
22:24to decide what to do with their king.
22:27And during the Kamni Kasparov match,
22:31Kasparov played knight C3 in every game.
22:34So knight C3.
22:37And this move allows black to choose
22:40between two ways uh or two directions to
22:45take with their king. The first one is
22:48king e8. And this is what black is
22:51forced to play against the other moves
22:53for white on on move nine as we're going
22:55to see. But the second one is what
22:57Kramnik played against Kasparov. And
22:58that's bishop D7,
23:01king C8, B6, and eventually king B7, A5.
23:06And you know, you shelter the king on
23:08the on the on the queen side. And once
23:12this pawn advances to C5, perhaps let's
23:15say B6, C5, A5, the bishop from D7 may
23:19even come to C6. So king E8 or bishop D7
23:24and get the king over here. Now why does
23:26knight c3
23:28allow bishop d7? Well basically black
23:32has been given time to play the move
23:34bishop d7. Still king e8 is one of the
23:37most common moves but kramnik introduced
23:40this idea and in Michael's book uh
23:43grandmaster repertoire of Berlin he he
23:45follows on on on Krammnik's advice. So
23:48if white goes rook d1 now
23:51then after king c8 the bishop is
23:53unpinned and if white tries to move
23:56knight g5 putting pressure on the pawn
23:58then the bishop is in time to get to e8
24:01and you know everything is safe and
24:03sound. Now the alternatives to knight c3
24:07are h3 and rook d1 check and they are
24:10both designed specifically to discourage
24:14the setup with bishop d7.
24:18Why? Well, let's have a let's have a
24:21look at that. So, if for example
24:26H3 is played, this move has become
24:29white's most famous weapon against
24:32Berlin. Uh in some cases, it could
24:34transpose to the to the main line with
24:36knight C3 after white plays knight C3,
24:40but it limits black's choices.
24:43Okay. So if bishop D7 here, let me show
24:46you what happens. Rook D1 pins the
24:48bishop. Okay. So you you should unpin
24:52king C8. And now this is how Kamnik
24:56played against Kasparov. And we can we
24:59can see that it remains viable against
25:01knight C3, but it's more problematic
25:04against H3. And here is why. White is
25:07already,
25:09you know, able to expand with G4. So
25:12after G4, knight E7,
25:15knight G5, putting pressure on the pawn,
25:18bishop E8, F4, and now white has been
25:22given an opportunity to expand without
25:25effort, basically. So you might be
25:27wondering, why isn't rook D1 the main
25:30move? Why do people play, you know,
25:32knight C3? Well, the reason is you don't
25:35really want your rook on D1. You want
25:37your rook here supporting the pawn. So,
25:38as we're going to see in the knight C3
25:40main lines, usually the rook is going to
25:43be placed on the E file. Now, I should
25:46say that against H3 only this has been
25:49discouraged. Bishop D7 has been
25:51discouraged. Most people are going to
25:52play king E8. And now you don't run into
25:55trouble. If white, you know, wants to
25:58play the same thing like G4, black is
26:01immediately better because after knight
26:03E7, the black hasn't wasted the tempo on
26:06bishop D7 and and king C8. And if you
26:08try an I G5 now, it it simply doesn't
26:10work. And the point is this structure is
26:14if overextended without Tempe, without
26:18threats. For those of you who have uh
26:21read the name of the wind and uh the
26:23wise men's fear by Patrick Rothfus, it's
26:26always weird for me to say without
26:28Tempe, which is the plural of tempo, I
26:30believe. And Tempe is my favorite
26:33character in Rotus books. So for those
26:36of you who understand the reference, it
26:39will be weird to hear without Tempe.
26:42Okay. Uh in any case, you don't have
26:45time for this quick expansion with G4
26:48when black has consolidated and is ready
26:50to strike with H5.
26:53So against H3, all black needs to do is
26:58you know play it play differently.
27:03Now, another alternative is simply rook
27:06D1 check straight away. And after rook
27:08D1, this was considered, you know,
27:11previously this was considered an
27:13inaccuracy. And you know, of course, as
27:15I said, white would prefer a rook on on
27:18the E file. But now, if black plays
27:20bishop D7, let me show you why rook D1
27:23check discourages bishop D7. So, first
27:27of all, you can play knight G5 straight
27:30away. And as Michael Ruiz puts it, this
27:33spells trouble for black. Of course, the
27:35pawn is attacked.
27:37You don't have bishop e8. You could
27:39conceivably play king e8, but if king
27:41e8, then knight f7, king f7, rook d7. So
27:45say knight h6 defending bishop f4, a
27:48normal developing move. And now we're
27:50ready to play e6 and break through. For
27:53example, you know, if you if you play
27:55g6, then e6 is just the end of the game.
27:58Uh so you must play, you know, king e7
28:01or king e8.
28:03Why couldn't have uh white played e6
28:06here? Well, if e6 straight away, then f
28:08e6. And after knight e6,
28:11king c8, the king is ready to escape.
28:13After bishop f4 though, if you make
28:15another random move, e6, f e6, knight
28:19e6, king c8, and of course, this pawn is
28:23hanging as well. And you can also take
28:25on on f8. That's that's also fine. So
28:28takes takes the knight hangs.
28:33So we have three main ways for white to
28:36play against the Berlin endame. And
28:39those are knight c3 that allows black to
28:41play both with king e8 and bishop d7
28:45king c8. And we have rook d1 check and
28:48h3 which discourage the setup kmnik
28:52employed against kasparov with bishop
28:54d7. Now that's the basic stuff.
28:59Let's have a brief look at the
29:00structure.
29:02So as I said, this king could end up on
29:05B6
29:07or it could end up on E8. The knight
29:10that's on F5
29:13will have a major say in preventing what
29:16white's trying to do, meaning, you know,
29:18G4 and and and expansion on the king
29:21side. The usual plan for this knight is
29:24E7 and G6. And that way it discourages
29:29F4. Okay? Because the move is relatively
29:33difficult to prepare. But it also
29:35prepares H5 H4 if white isn't careful.
29:38And in fact in a Kiknik Kasparov game in
29:40round one, I believe Kromnik achieved
29:43the pawn on H4 and it was very very
29:45difficult for Kasparov to make any sort
29:47of progress. Now,
29:50an ideal scenario for white is a
29:53reduction of material where this pawn
29:56becomes decisive. In practice, that
29:59doesn't really work easily because black
30:01has too many pieces controlling the E6
30:04square. The king is especially if on E8,
30:06it's close by.
30:09So, white needs to support that pawn and
30:12cause trouble on the queen side. There
30:14are many development schemes for white,
30:16but one of the most common ones is to
30:18fianket the queen's bishop on B2,
30:22support the pawn with rook E1, and then
30:24try to expand with H3 G4.
30:28Now, once we've covered the basics, we
30:32are going to go over the theory of the
30:33Berlin. And I'm going to divide the
30:35theoretical section into two parts.
30:37We're going to have a look at the end
30:38game and then we're going to have a look
30:40at all the sidelines for black and for
30:43white. And once again, the anti Berlin
30:45are going to be covered in a separate
30:47video tomorrow.
30:53Let's cover the theory of the famous
30:55Berlin endgame. So after bishop B5,
30:58Knight F6, white castles, knight takes
31:01E4, D4, knight D6, attacking the bishop,
31:05bishop takes C6, D takes C6, D takes E5,
31:10forcing the knight to move. The knight
31:11only has one square. Knight F5, queen
31:15takes, King takes. And as I said, we're
31:18looking at three different moves. Knight
31:20C3, Rook D1, and H3. Now, let's begin
31:25with the least common of the three
31:26moves, rook D1, which even though, as I
31:29said, it discourages black from playing
31:32bishop D7, as we saw, bishop D7 doesn't
31:34work. It's a sub-optimal move. And in
31:38truth, black has simply equalized. The
31:41best move is king E8. Everything else is
31:43very close to losing for black. But if
31:45they play king E8, they're perfectly
31:46fine. And now, white continues with
31:48knight C3. And the point of this move
31:50order is, well, you don't play bishop
31:52D7. you have to go king e8 and then I go
31:55knight c3. So white's white is in no
31:58hurry to play knight c3.
32:01Now black has a couple of moves. Uh
32:03first of all there is h6 and the idea
32:06behind h6 is eventually firstly to pre
32:10prevent knight g5 but eventually to
32:12prevent a further expansion. And
32:14sometimes since bishop G5 has also been
32:17prevented. White if H6 had not been
32:20played had the option to threaten stuff
32:23on on D8 after H6. That's not possible.
32:26Now white can play B3 or H3. Both moves
32:29are eventually going to be played.
32:31So H3. And now black has bishop E6 or
32:35knight E7. Most commonly knight E7 is
32:38played. You know the knight's coming to
32:40G6. And white really should seize the
32:43opportunity to play bishop f4 if they
32:45want to develop this way which usually
32:47with rook on d1 is a very good idea
32:49since c7 is hanging and you might have
32:52e6 breakthroughs because once the knight
32:55has reached g6 you will not have bishop
32:57f4. So bishop f4 knight g6 the bishop
33:00drops back
33:02and now
33:04black doesn't have to play bishop e6 you
33:07know they can but they don't have to. If
33:10bishop E6, that's actually a mistake
33:12that allows knight D4. So you don't
33:14really have time to stop E6. Instead,
33:17black develops actively bishop B4. You
33:19have to, you know, un unpin. You don't
33:22want to have doubled pawns. And now the
33:24bishop has done its job. So, you know,
33:26it could drop back to E7. That's what
33:28most people do. But you can also develop
33:30with bishop D7. Another way to play is
33:33knight E7. That's a well-known mistake.
33:38you don't have enough influence over
33:40these two square squares and G4 could
33:43come. So most people if they want to
33:45read out the knight, they're going to
33:47going to go knight F8 and knight E6 to
33:49set up a blockade on E6 with the knight.
33:52However, what I think is the most
33:53promising way for black to play is
33:55actually H5. And this way we're
33:58discouraging G4. And we might be able to
34:00play H4 in the future. So say knight e
34:02d4,
34:04knight f8 fighting for the e6 square
34:08maybe rook d3 trying to double up knight
34:10e6 and as long as this pawn stays put
34:13and white isn't able to comfortably play
34:15f4 f5 then black is going to be fine.
34:21Now after knight C3, black doesn't have
34:22to play H6. You know, we can play black
34:26can play knight E7 straight away and the
34:28knight's coming to to to G6. Now, bishop
34:31F4 is playable definitely, but if H3
34:34hasn't been played, I think the best way
34:37to play is just to go H3 and then
34:40eventually prepare G4. You can play with
34:42bishop E3. You can play with B3. This is
34:45the most common way to play. Bishop E7,
34:49knight E2 fighting for F4 and F6. This
34:52is a very very important pawn break in
34:56the Berlin especially after B3 and
34:59bishop E7 because the bishop if this
35:01pawn is captured is is going to come to
35:04to F6 you know and you know black can
35:07also take with the G pawn to discourage
35:10uh to discourage knight E5 and knight G5
35:13but bishop F6 is also playable. Most
35:16people here play bishop b2
35:18and then king f7 maybe knight g3 you
35:22know and this is slightly different I
35:24think when black quickly transfers the
35:26knight to g6 it's very difficult for
35:28white to begin expanding so for example
35:31after knight g6 if white plays you know
35:34g4 as I said there is h5 you need to be
35:36really careful with this when you play
35:38moves like rook d1 because rook d1
35:41wastess time
35:45And another way for black to play
35:46against rook d1 knight c3 is simply
35:48bishop e7. And this is the slowest of of
35:51all the moves. I think bishop g5 is the
35:54is the is the best move here. You're
35:56just fighting to have a good square for
35:58the bishop. And you also don't want to
36:00allow h5. H4. Okay. So bishop takes g5.
36:04Knight takes g5. F7 is defended. H6
36:07chases the knight away. Now knight g4 is
36:10playable definitely. But it's more
36:12useful to have the knight on f3 to be
36:14able to fight for the d4 square and
36:17bishop e6. And this of course is very
36:19very equal especially with the dark
36:21squared bishops traded off. So bishop e7
36:23is a very comfortable move I think
36:26because you get to trade off the dark
36:28squared bishop and one of the main main
36:30benefits of that is that you eventually
36:32have the e7 square for the king. So for
36:35example, rook D2, rook D8, I don't know,
36:38rook A D1, rook takes D2, rook takes D2,
36:43and now you can continue with G5.
36:46King F7 is a mistake here because you
36:48lose a piece. You don't want to take
36:50away the only square from from your
36:52knight. But you can play G5, giving the
36:55knight a square, and then let's say king
36:57F1.
36:59Now king E7 is definitely playable. And
37:02you can challenge the D file. And of
37:04course, white hasn't made any progress
37:07and it should be a very very simple
37:09draw. Now, what I should have said in
37:13the basic coverage of the Berlin is that
37:16if both sides play correctly,
37:19the the opening is going to lead to a
37:21draw because the it has been so heavily
37:24analyzed that
37:26it's very difficult to to gain an edge
37:29in any line. Okay, H3 today is the is
37:33the most popular move. And once again,
37:35as we saw in the basic section, bishop
37:38D7 is playable here, but it's not good
37:41because rook D1.
37:43And if king C8, then of course G4, the
37:46knight moves away. Knight G5, you have
37:49to defend bishop E8 and F4. And white
37:53has an edge. So, bishop D7 is a move I I
37:57I wouldn't recommend against H3, which
38:00is precisely why people play either
38:01bishop E7 to discourage knight G5 or
38:04king E8. King E8 is the best move. So,
38:07after bishop E7, white just says, okay,
38:10I played H3 and we are basically going
38:12to to transpose to the main lines
38:15if white wishes to do so or if black
38:17wishes to do so. But black has a
38:20deviation here that's justified by the
38:23fact that there's a bishop on e7. So
38:25when you play bishop e7, you don't have
38:27that square for the knight to go to g6.
38:29So one of the best ways to play is
38:30knight h4. And white doesn't have a way
38:34to to avoid the trade. Basically you
38:36could throw in rook d1 or play knight
38:38d4, but that's that doesn't work well.
38:40Bishop h4.
38:43And now if white tries expanding
38:45rapidly, that's definitely possible. You
38:47could play F4, but G6 prevents a further
38:50expansion. And as soon as you play G4,
38:53black is better. Once again, H5. You
38:56need to be very, very careful about
38:58playing G4, especially when both bishops
39:02are close to your king. So, bishop E7 is
39:05definitely a viable alternative to the
39:08main move against H3. I should say that
39:11black also has the option to play H6.
39:14That's fine. Or H5. And H5 is a move I
39:17like a lot because you're fighting
39:20against G4 by force. Let's say Knight
39:22C3, bishop E7, maybe knight E2, knight
39:27H4. Once again, same type of exchange.
39:31And after say rook E1, you go king E8.
39:35You can also go king E7, but king E8 is
39:37better. And white now has to resort to
39:40different ideas. G4 does not work. So
39:44against H3, black has many ways to fight
39:47against white's main setup, which the
39:51idea of which was of course to
39:52discourage bishop D7. So the main move
39:55is king E8. Okay, king E8, knight C3.
39:59Now black once again has many ideas.
40:02Excuse me. But I think the best one is
40:04to go H5. And once again, why didn't
40:08white play G4? Well, white didn't play
40:11G4. Why didn't play G4? Because of an
40:13eventual H5. So, knight E7. I don't
40:17know. If you go Knight C3 now H5, black
40:20has an advantage. Your structure is
40:22getting destroyed. So, after king E8,
40:26white cannot continue with G4. They have
40:28to start developing and black should
40:31play H5 discouraging an an eventual G4.
40:35And white here has many moves. The most
40:38common moves are to develop the bishop
40:40to either f4 to g5 and bishop f4 is I
40:44think
40:45more useful because eventually you're
40:47playing for e6. Bishop e7 once again any
40:50bishop e6 now could potentially run into
40:53knight g5 or knight d4 if this knight
40:55moves. So bishop e7
40:59rook a d1. And this is how you want to
41:01place your rooks. That's why you don't
41:03want to play rook f1. Where's the other
41:05rook going? you're going to have to
41:06double up the rooks. Okay, now bishop
41:08E6. Of course, this bishop has prevented
41:12knight G5 at least from being
41:14comfortable. So, knight G5. Now, you
41:17don't have to take. You don't have to
41:19take, but you you can if bishop takes.
41:22White should have a slight edge, but at
41:24least black has some influence over the
41:26square. And black has a very useful idea
41:29allowed by the move H5, and that's to
41:32support the E6 square with the rook. And
41:35remember, white's ultimate goal is to
41:37push the pawn through. As long as black
41:40holds a blockade on e6, white's not
41:43going to be making any progress.
41:47For example, if black is careless, let's
41:50say, you know, G3. Let's say, well,
41:54that's a very useless move. Let's say
41:57rook D8. Knight E6. Rook E6.
42:02Let's say, oh, my mouse is just awful.
42:06Rook takes, bishop takes,
42:10and rook E1. Okay. Okay. Now, there's
42:13knight D4. I'm trying to come up with a
42:16with a position where white's able to
42:18play F4, F5, but I'm struggling to do
42:20that. Black's position is solid enough.
42:22In any case, white's goal is to play F5
42:26unimpeded. And as long as black
42:29maintains the blockade of E6, that's not
42:31going to work. Which is exactly why the
42:33move rook H6 is one of the main ideas
42:36behind the move H5. And with a king on
42:39E8, a bishop on E7, a bishop on E6.
42:41Black has time to do that. So that's one
42:43of the main ways of fighting against the
42:45H3 variation. You go king E8, knight C3,
42:49and H5.
42:51And the idea is once again bishop E7,
42:53bishop E6, rook H6. Now, you're not
42:56playing for a win.
42:58Let's get that straight. As was proven
43:01by Kramnik in 2000, you're not playing
43:03for a win.
43:05You're playing to prevent white from
43:07expanding. And if white overextends, you
43:10might be able to win.
43:12Okay,
43:14now let's move on to the main move. The
43:16main move is knight C3. And knight C3 is
43:20arguably the most useful move for white.
43:23Again, H3 is very useful. and they may
43:25transpose. So I understand what why H3
43:28is slowly becoming the main line.
43:31Now black has many many moves here. Many
43:34moves. There is knight E7. There is
43:36bishop E7. There is bishop E6. There is
43:39king E8 the main move. There's bishop D7
43:42which now works. And there is H6. In
43:45many cases they are going to transpose.
43:47But one thing we must understand bishop
43:50E7 lines are rare because they don't
43:52allow knight E7 anymore. and knight e7
43:55lines are committal because you don't
43:57have the option to go bishop e7.
44:00Now first of all black can play king e8
44:03and now we are transposing to h3 lines.
44:06This is just you know mainline stuff.
44:09It's just a different move order. If
44:11black is willing to to you know play
44:14king e8 instead of bishop d7 we
44:16transpose. So no risk involved for white
44:19if black plays king e8. However, the
44:21main move against knight C3 is bishop
44:24D7. And that's what Kamnik played
44:26against Kasparov. Now, it's not possible
44:29to punish black for for doing this
44:31because you still have to go rook D1.
44:33And when you go rook D1, king C8, the
44:36bishop has unpinned. If you go knight
44:39G5, then of course bishop E8 is possible
44:44and there are no ideas of E6. White is
44:46in time to do uh Black is in time to do
44:49everything.
44:51B3 B6.
44:54Bishop B2. You can go king B7 straight
44:57away, but you know, bishop E7 makes more
45:00more sense. Knight G4. King B7. And now
45:03you can see the idea behind black's
45:06bishop D7, king C8. The king is now
45:09safe. Black has the bishop pair. The one
45:11of the two downsides of the Berlin end
45:13game for black is completely gone. The
45:16king is very very safe. Something like
45:19rook D3,
45:21rook D8, rook A D1. You have to exchange
45:26takes rook takes. And now king C8. You
45:29can, you know, you can move back. The
45:31pieces have been traded off. You can
45:32also go H5 and play rook H6. But
45:36basically in the main lines, if white
45:38tries to play rook d1 and achieve the
45:41same type of pressure, they aren't going
45:43to get far,
45:45which is exactly why white doesn't play
45:47rook d1. White plays h3. Okay. H6.
45:53B3. As I said, this is the most common
45:55way to develop. King c8. Bishop b2.
46:00B6. Giving the the the king a square.
46:03Rook a d1. This is the rook you want on
46:06on D1. And now black can play several
46:09different ways. I like C5 best, but you
46:11can also go knight E7, knight G6. If C5,
46:15the idea is clear. You give away the D5
46:17square, but eventually you create a bind
46:21on the queen side. Sometimes even, you
46:23know, playing A5, A4 if white isn't
46:26careful. And then you can break the
46:28position open with C4 if you want.
46:32And if this pawn is taken, if bc4, then
46:35bishop a4 and black actually stands much
46:37better. So basically by playing this
46:40way, you are breaking white's
46:44queen side pawns up and ensuring that
46:47you also have a pawn majority. So for
46:49example, if white continues, you know,
46:51g4, very standard,
46:54and let's say knight f4, fighting for
46:57e6, you exchange on b3, cb3. And now the
47:01thing we talked about in the basic
47:04section about the pawn structure is
47:06gone. Black also has a pasted pawn on
47:08the C file. And you could argue that
47:10both past pawns have been successfully
47:12blocked and that's true. But both sides
47:16now have potential. Here is why white
47:18does want to play rook FD1. They want
47:21this rook on the E file.
47:24Of course, this position is completely
47:27equal. So that's what C5 gives black.
47:30And I think that's by far the best move
47:32to play. If knight E7 instead, then
47:35white can just continue doubling up.
47:39And if knight G6 now, then rook FD1 and
47:42white actually has an advantage. So
47:45playing this way doesn't really work
47:48because you're running into rook D8 and
47:50there's also knight D4 ideas.
47:54So C5 really should be the main way for
47:58for black to play. So after knight D7,
48:00rook E2, you still have to go C5. The
48:03difference with the knight on E7 is that
48:05you have a lot more flexibility. So
48:07after something like rook FD1, you can
48:09now go bishop E6. And after say knight
48:12D2,
48:13you can now go knight G6. You can also
48:15go G5 and then knight G6. So you can
48:19play G5 knight G6 or you can play C5 A5
48:23C4 to break open the structure straight
48:26away. Now this Berlin endgame has been a
48:29battleground for the last 25 years.
48:32There is so much theory that it would
48:34take me
48:36I did a brief calculation and I think it
48:39would take me about four hours if I
48:41wanted to show you all the variations
48:43which is why I was focusing on ideas
48:45instead of theory. And hopefully this is
48:49going to be enough for you to understand
48:50the Berlin.
48:52Once again uh books and courses that go
48:55into way more detail could be useful if
48:58you're higher rated. If you're lower
48:59rated, they might be overwhelming. So, I
49:03hope you understood the strategic ideas.
49:05Now, we're going to cover the sidelines
49:08outside of the Berlin end game.
49:14Let's begin covering the sidelines that
49:16aren't the Berlin endame. First of all,
49:18as I told you in the in the
49:20introduction, we're going to be looking
49:21at D3 and queen E2 and Knight C3, the
49:24so-called anti Berlands in a completely
49:27separate video. Today, we're just
49:29focusing on the move castles.
49:33And black has a couple of options. Of
49:36course, knight takes E4 is the main
49:38move, but they can decide not to go into
49:41that. Uh now ROI doesn't recommend these
49:44so it's very difficult to find resources
49:46on black's deviations in the Berlin but
49:48one of the main ones is the move bishop
49:51C5 and this is the so-called Beverik
49:53variation
49:55of course that leaves the E5 pawn
49:56hanging and it also gives white the
49:59option to play C3 D4. So you can
50:03literally take the pawn on E5
50:06and after knight takes E5 you can play
50:08D4. So that's one of the main downsides.
50:11And after a6
50:13chasing this bishop away, the bishop
50:16drops to e2 or to a4. And now knight e4
50:21is playable. But I think white just has
50:24an advantage. DC5. And this is the
50:27beverick. This is the beverick. If uh
50:31white takes on e5, if white wishes to
50:33play c3, this is also slightly better
50:35for white. castles and D4 unimpeded
50:40completely. Bishop B6. You need to
50:42defend the pawn. So, bishop G5. And this
50:44is going to resemble, you know, it it's
50:47basically not the Berlin anymore. H6.
50:50Bishop H4.
50:52If G5, this can be taken. And black's
50:56actually in trouble. Black's actually
50:58losing because the queen is already able
51:00to come in. So, I don't know something
51:03like A6. We can actually go queen F3.
51:07and the knight hangs. If king G7, bishop
51:10C6, D6, D5, the knight's gone. So, the
51:15Beravik is a very provocative variation.
51:18It's not bad, you know, black isn't
51:20losing or anything, but it's just I I I
51:24think it's the best way to avoid the
51:25theory. It's not great, but it's
51:28probably the best way to avoid theory.
51:30There are other deviations. Black can
51:32play D6 and this is going to resemble
51:35the the Steinets. This is just you know
51:38the Steinit normal Steinets.
51:42After D4 we we reach the the the
51:45Steinest defense. Uh there is bishop E7
51:49which I don't even know what to call
51:52this but it's very passive. It's an
51:53attempt to enter closed Spanish lines
51:55without A6. So, white goes rook e1,
51:58black goes d6 and white can now
52:01immediately go d4 as soon as d6 has been
52:03played because black hasn't thrown in a6
52:06b5 and the knight is still pinned. So
52:08once again if d6 is played we we
52:11transpose to a sort of
52:15but
52:1710,000 grandmaster games with knight e4
52:20prove that this is the only move we we
52:22have to focus on. Now we saw that D4 is
52:26an alternative is the main line. I'm
52:29going to introduce an alternative to
52:31this which can still transpose to the
52:33main line and that's that's rook E1.
52:37Now black plays knight D6. And now if
52:41white goes D4 of course that that simply
52:44doesn't work. This can be taken. The the
52:46bishop hangs. So the other move order
52:49doesn't really work as well. And this
52:52variation leads to a symmetrical pawn
52:54structure I like to call the prov or the
52:57French exchange
52:59depending on where the pawns are in the
53:02center. And the good news for white is
53:05uh is that white gets to choose where
53:07the pawns are in the center. The main
53:09feature of this position is going to be
53:11a single open file. So once again
53:13instead of playing d4 going for the
53:15endame, you go rook e1 and the knight is
53:17forced to move. The knight moves to D6.
53:20Now you don't exchange on on on C6. You
53:24play knight takes E5. And black can play
53:27knight E5 or or bishop E7 which is more
53:30common. We're going to get very similar
53:31positions. Bishop E7. Now, of course,
53:34you must be careful. You need to do one
53:36of those two things because if you make
53:38a random move, for example, the knight
53:40C6 just wins the queen. So there is a
53:43very concrete threat black must address.
53:45So either you take the knight or you
53:47play bishop E7 covering the check.
53:50White now saves the bishop. Okay. But
53:52also
53:54a more normal move instead of G6 would
53:56be knight takes B5 which is losing for
53:58the same reason. So the bishop is
54:00immune. I should have mentioned that.
54:03So bishop E7 covering bishop F1 saving
54:06the bishop. And now knight E5. You don't
54:09want doubled pawns. So knight takes E5.
54:12Rook takes E5 and black castles. This is
54:16the beginning of what I recommend in my
54:20anti-Berlin repertoire. Now,
54:23you might say this is equal, and you'd
54:26be completely right. It's it's
54:28absolutely equal.
54:31However, I still think white has better
54:33chances than in the endame. D4, bishop
54:36F6 chases the the the rook away. And one
54:40of the main ideas here is going to be to
54:42liberate the D pawn with knight E8. So
54:45black could have gone knight E8 straight
54:46away, but the main idea is you want to
54:49go D5 or if you're forced to D6. So
54:52bishop F6 forces the rook back.
54:55Rook E8. Okay, offering an exchange. C3
55:00definitely playable. Other than rook E8,
55:03black could go knight F5 or knight
55:06somewhere else. If knight E8, this is
55:08actually a slight inaccuracy because of
55:10D5, D6, and the knight is stuck. So,
55:13knight F5 is is definitely more common.
55:16Now, D5 can still be played. And this is
55:19what I meant by white decides what the
55:21structure is going to look like. If you
55:23play C3, then black goes D5 and we get,
55:27you know, provch
55:30one open file E file symmetrical
55:32position.
55:34If instead you go d5, we get a position
55:37where white's center is overextended and
55:39white's going to have to take care of
55:41it. Once c6 is played, black plays d6
55:44and now white's going to have to take
55:47care of the pawn for the rest of the
55:48game. In fact, after c6,
55:51the pawn is immediately under pressure
55:53and knight e4 is the is the best
55:55response.
55:57So after rook e1, black can move the
55:59knight straight away, but rook e8 is
56:01more common. And now if white plays the
56:04move d5,
56:06this is okay for black. They can play b6
56:08and bishop b7 and start putting pressure
56:10on the pawn. So it's not wise to commit
56:13to that straight away. You can exchange
56:15on e8. That's definitely playable. You
56:18can play bishop f4. That's also
56:20definitely playable.
56:23Or you can play the move c3. By playing
56:25c3, you're saying basically that you're
56:28not playing d5. So if you want to go for
56:30D5, I would advise you to play bishop
56:33F4. This is the second most popular
56:35move. Rook takes E1. Queen takes E1. And
56:38now black really should move the knight
56:40away. If they don't, you're you're going
56:42to take. This pawn is technically
56:44hanging. But after bishop takes, bishop
56:47takes,
56:49C takes, something like knight C3, these
56:52two pawns are going to hinder black's
56:54development. And white's actually
56:56better. Something like bishop E5, knight
56:58D5. Look at this tremendous blockade.
57:01You might be wondering about the B2
57:03pawn. Don't take the B2 pawn. Rook B1.
57:06Let's say you save the bishop. You know,
57:08you you go to E5.
57:11F4. Let's say bishop F6. Knight takes
57:15F6. You don't have queen F6 because of
57:17queen E8 mate. So GF6, queen H4. Look at
57:21this structure. How could it be
57:23prettier? So bishop F4 is a very
57:25interesting move. And after rook E1,
57:27queen E1, the pawn is immune. Black must
57:29move the knight back.
57:32Now just C3, normal.
57:35So you still could decide to eventually
57:38play D5. But if you want to play D5, uh
57:42that's going to be difficult because
57:43this pawn is hanging. So you don't
57:45really have an easy C4.
57:48Okay. The main way to reach this
57:50position is to play C3 straight away.
57:54Black exchanges on E1. Queen takes E1.
57:57And now they play knight D8. And here
58:00you have to decide once again whether
58:03you want to play bishop F4 or now that
58:06you've played C3 and the bishop isn't
58:09wide open, the bishop on F6, you can
58:12play D5.
58:13And
58:15black wants to go D5 and knight D6
58:17eventually consolidating. So, if you
58:20don't allow that, you're going to have
58:21to deal with the C6 pawn break. So, if
58:23you play D5, which I don't recommend in
58:25my repertoire,
58:27D6,
58:29let's say, you know, bishop E3, bishop
58:32D7, queen D2, maybe
58:37G6 for knight G7, C4 for knight C3,
58:42maybe maybe F3, you know, just trying to
58:46expand, trying to control the F5 square.
58:48This is playable but eventually once C6
58:51comes your center could crumble. So this
58:54is a very committal way to play even
58:56though it prevents black's immediate
58:59idea of playing d5. So what I recommend
59:01in my repertoire is actually to go
59:03bishop f4 allow d5 and then go knight d2
59:08bishop f5 queen e3 knight d6 and queen
59:13g3. It couldn't get more equal than
59:15this. I understand the the structure is
59:18symmetrical, but I still think this is
59:21better than going for the end game.
59:25So that's what I recommend in my
59:26repertoire. Now after castles, knight
59:30takes E4, if white does play for for D4,
59:36which leads to the Berlin endame, black
59:39doesn't have to allow that.
59:41Black doesn't have to play, you know,
59:43knight d6 going for the endame. So now
59:45let's look at some deviations for black.
59:49Uh first of all there is bishop e7 and
59:54this is called the rio de janeiro
59:55variation. It's weird but it avoids the
59:58endame. So you know white can play d e5
1:00:02for example and after castles white can
1:00:05play queen d5. So, white technically,
1:00:08you know, regains the pawn without
1:00:10without the queen trade.
1:00:13After bishop e7, white can also go queen
1:00:15e2. And after knight d6, black has
1:00:18successfully avoided the queen trade.
1:00:20So, let's say bishop c6, bc6 d5. I don't
1:00:25think this is good for black, but it's a
1:00:27way to avoid the end game. So, that's
1:00:30bishop e7. There is another variation we
1:00:33have to have a look at and that's A6.
1:00:35This is called the Rosental variation.
1:00:38Now, white has a choice. White can take
1:00:40on C6 or go bishop A4. Bishop A4 is a
1:00:45line I wouldn't recommend which
1:00:47transposes to the open Spanish. So now
1:00:49black plays B5. We are in an open
1:00:52Spanish main line. It's just the open
1:00:54Royal Lopez. So if you're willing to to
1:00:58play that, sure. I'm guessing since
1:01:00you're a Spanish player, you have a
1:01:02weapon against the open, but okay. It's
1:01:04it's definitely better to take on C6.
1:01:08And of course, BC6 is bad. Uh BC6, queen
1:01:11E2, and black collapses. So D6. And now
1:01:15after queen E2, black can defend with
1:01:18bishop F5 or with F5. So after bishop
1:01:20F5, D5 once again, we get the Berlin
1:01:24endgame structure, which is which is
1:01:27fine.
1:01:30Let me show you another line.
1:01:32So after
1:01:36D4,
1:01:38an attempt to go into the Berlin endame
1:01:40and knight D6, there are deviations for
1:01:44white as well. Okay, so white doesn't
1:01:47have to play bishop C6 and play for the
1:01:50endame. The main deviation is DE
1:01:54and DE I don't think has a name. It of
1:01:57course hangs the bishop temporarily. So
1:02:00you know
1:02:01black is going to take it. But there is
1:02:03a justification for that. Knight takes
1:02:05B5 and the knight is trapped. It has no
1:02:08squares. A4. So the knight is going to
1:02:10be lost. So knight B D4. Knight D4. And
1:02:14now black's best is to take on D4. If
1:02:17knight takes E5, this is actually a
1:02:20blunder. Queen E2. You're going to be
1:02:21losing a piece.
1:02:24So your best is to exchange on D4. Queen
1:02:27takes D4. And you know, it's it's
1:02:30roughly equal. Black plays D5. You know,
1:02:32if white does this, it's really no
1:02:34better than the endame. You don't have
1:02:36any more any more chances. So again,
1:02:38bishop takes C6 is the main move. DE is
1:02:42the first alternative. We also have a
1:02:44have a look at at at bishop A4. Bishop
1:02:46A4 is a weird move that just saves the
1:02:48bishop and it actually gives black an
1:02:50advantage after E4. So I don't think we
1:02:53should be considering this at all. And
1:02:56then the final deviation is the move
1:02:58bishop G5 which is also bad and it gives
1:03:02black an edge. So bishop E7, bishop E7,
1:03:06queen E7,
1:03:09bishop C6, D6. If BC6 D5 So once again
1:03:14you don't want to do that. And now the
1:03:16knight moves away to F5. So it's
1:03:17basically the endgame structure without
1:03:19the queen trade. So of course, black
1:03:22stands better. So those are the
1:03:24deviations. Now if you do play the
1:03:27Berlin as black, I think you should be
1:03:30allowing the endgame because the theory
1:03:33and the ideas have been developed to
1:03:35such an extent that it's very difficult
1:03:37to be worse.
1:03:39So I think playing the endame and not
1:03:41deviating is smart for black. As white I
1:03:45would advise you to deviate.
1:03:51I hope the video wasn't too difficult to
1:03:53follow. Again, I try to focus on ideas
1:03:56and strategy instead of theory. Uh if
1:03:59you have any questions, let me know. Uh
1:04:01if the question is what about the
1:04:03anterlands, once again, they're going to
1:04:05be covered in a separate video tomorrow.
1:04:08And I tried to focus on the Berlin
1:04:11endgame because that's the most likely
1:04:12outcome out of the opening. But I also
1:04:14attempted to show all the sidelines and
1:04:17to show the differences, upsides and
1:04:19downsides for for both sides. Again, I
1:04:23would like to say no amount of videos or
1:04:25books is going to help you play the
1:04:27Berlin well with either side. What you
1:04:29have to do is analyze games. So what I
1:04:31would advise you to do Kamnik Kasparov
1:04:332000, get all the games with the Berlin.
1:04:36You can get them on chess chess games
1:04:38com or on less or on chess base,
1:04:40whatever. Download them and play soliter
1:04:42chess. Pretend that you're playing for
1:04:44one side. If you want to play the Berlin
1:04:45as black, pretend you're kick.
1:04:47Understand the ideas. Understand the
1:04:49move orders. That's going to give you a
1:04:51lot of real life experience be before
1:04:54you actually play the Berlin over the
1:04:56board yourself. So, good luck and stay
1:05:00tuned for more chess. Bye-bye.

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