The Importance of Playing it Safe

In this video analysis I look at what must have been a very frustrating loss for Pyre. He had a clear advantage and yet lost the game because he underestimated his opponent's counterplay.

This game is a dramatic example of the fact that when ahead in a chess game, playing it safe and reducing the opponent's counter chances are more important than greedily holding on to one's material advantage. In fact, when ahead it can often be very useful to sacrifice material to transition into a simpler, more easily won position. This is a concept I'll revisit in future lessons.

Starcraft 2 analogy: a player who is economically far ahead of his opponent can afford trading inefficiently because it hurts the opponent more.

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Part 2:



I'm still learning how to use the video recording and editing software. I think I'll keep recording clips like these. Though I honestly believe that progress in chess comes mostly from playing and studying chess over-the-board. Youtube and other multimedia content can help, but their entertainment value is greater than their educational value.

One does not simply get better at chess by watching Youtube videos