Chess Lesson # 81: Magnus Carlsen Plays The Pirc Defense

We finally have a strong and well organized opening course for White and one for Black. With these and the FREE beginner to master level playlist from this YouTube channel, it’s all about consistency over an extended period of time 😎💪 ⬇️

Hello students! In this Chess lesson, we will do an exercise together, which is designed to help you improve your middlegame play. If you do it properly, you will learn much more about the middlegame positions coming out of any opening you play and of course, your Chess in general will improve. I picked a game where Magnus Carlsen played the Pirc defense and won in eighteen moves. Hope you like it.

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Chess is an intellectual battle where players are exposed to numerous mental processes such as analysis, attention to detail, synthesis, concentration, planning and foresight. Psychological factors are also present on and off the board; playing Chess stimulates our imagination and creativity. Every single move a player makes is the result of a deep analysis based on the elements presented on the battlefield.

Chess in its essence teaches us psychological, sociological and even moral values. In a Chess game, both players start with the same amount of material and time. The fact that the white pieces move first is considered to be practically irrelevant —especially because a player typically plays one game as white and one game as black. Consequently, the final result of the battle solely depends on each player. It doesn’t matter if you win by taking advantage of your opponent’s mistakes or by simply avoiding mistakes yourself. Truth is that Chess is an extremely individual sport and our defeats can only be blamed on ourselves and no one else. And this, in the end, only benefits us because we learn to be and feel responsible for our actions and never come up with excuses to justify ourselves.

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Robert Ramirez was introduced to the fascinating world of Chess when he was 5 years old and has participated in prestigious tournaments such as the World Open Chess Tournament and the Pan American Intercollegiate Team Championships. Thanks to his performance, he has earned his National Master title from the United States Chess Federation.

Currently, NM Ramirez and his carefully selected team teach at several private schools in the counties of Miami-Dade and Broward and they also offer private lessons. He says the key to their success as Chess coaches is their ability to adapt to every student and to make lessons fun and interesting for students and even their family members.

[NMRobertRamirez]

We finally have a strong and well organized opening course for White and one for Black. With these and the FREE beginner to master level playlist from this YouTube channel, it’s all about consistency over an extended period of time 😎💪 ⬇

[rainerausdemspring]

The Carlsen game is Jon Ludvig Hammer - Magnus Carlsen, played on 23. Oct.2003 at the Under 14 World Championship in Halkidiki, Greese.
Carsen already had an ELO of 2450 - almost 400 higher than his opponent.

[laugro]

Great thematic lesson, I love the approach and how confident MC had to be to play as he did! Got 5 moves correct, but many others as candidate moves. Then I got tunnel vision with the trapped knight as I noted Nxc1 as a move twice then when black bishop moved, I looked for ways to use it in a combination, missing the obvious mate in 2!

[johnd.hathcoat]

I like your training method! I will definitely use this method for openings that I have been studying. Thank you!

[dragadeyt]

The pronunciation thing with Pirc is funny. I noticed it too in your earlier videos and was also one of the people saying "hey it's Peertz not Perk" But it's funny how no one says hey it's "Mahg-noos" not "Mag-nus". So if you can say "Mag-nus" then you can say "Perk" :)

Your lessons are totally awesome. I've learned a lot from them. Easily the best on youtube IMO. And honestly much better than Kasparov's Master Class. It's crazy how calm and cool you are explaining your thinking in a 3 min rapid game while the clock just ticks down as you mess with settings or something. If I have a minute left I start blundering left and right :(

[kenstephens]

When I look back upon my journey so far, what stands out the most for me is the appreciation I've gained of the value of tactical skills. This is the sort of thing you don't get much of when your coach is Mr. Stockfish, who has taken me from being a tactical player to a much more positional one, that's how Stockfish plays and wins. As important as this is, it's great to see your more tactical approach and this has gotten me back to doing more tactics training seeing how well you use this and now wanting to get better at that, devoting a higher percentage of my training time to it again. We really need to be good at both and both are supremely important I'd say.

[blbreptiles]

I like these shorter form content, it's easier to understand

[lonewolf]

Would love to see more of these. A great workout for your brain.

[wolfson]

You are the best in explaining lessons!😆🙏

[daanraven]

A very nice and motivating way to study chess games and openings! Thank you very much Robert.

[andrewwilliams]

4/12 including the check mate :-). Love your classes !!

[mychessnotebook]

I think we have to allow for different pronunciations of foreign words. GM Yasser Seirawan played the Pirc during his career and he usually pronounces it just like you (even though he sometimes pronounces it "correctly"). As another example, consider "Alekhine." Most people say "Al uh kine, " even those who know that it is more closely pronounced "al ee yek in."

[anoukadel]

I love this method. Ever since I saw this video, I use it all the time to analyze... YOUR sample games. I pause your videos after every move of the opponent, then I try to come up with the best next move myself, before watching your next move... And so on...

[shikharbaral]

NM Robert. You are the best. I am following all your chess lessons.

[CMik]

Great format ! I tried it and got these results below with a magnificient blunder in the 7th move ... I would have never dared letting my knight that much advanced, that's a great way to learn ! I'm 900.

#1 e5 :D
#2 Re8 --> Ne5 :(
#3 dxe5 --> Nf4 :(
#4 dxe5 --> Ne5 :(
#5 Qg5 :D
#6 QxBb5 :D
#7 Re8 --> Ne2 ~ blunder :(
#8 Bg4 :D
#9 Rfe8 --> Rae8 (count as correct)
#10 Rxe4 :D
#11 Qh5+ (only after mate 2 announcement)
#12 Rh4#

Results: 6/12

[emmanuelisrael]

I would like to ask you that is 12 divided by 3 =4 and X100 is 400 then which column would i be 40 or 100

[fisstaschek]

Wow this is such a simple and ingenious method! I’ve always been hearing that to learn opening you need to study how misters play it, but watching games and trying to explain their reasoning was so boring. Your method brings so much fun into the process. Thanks from Poland

[carlbinch]

Watched several of your videos and enjoyed them all. I play the Pirc black and white. In the game after Nc6. Players at my level are mostly going to play d5. Guess I would be looking for the f5 break after blocked centre?. Where would you suggest I put the Nc6 Knight?. I got 6 by the way. I would be worried about trapping my Knight and would have exchanged it for the white Bishop.

[MarcelArtsCW]

I love this method. I will definitely use that exercise in the future. Thank you!

[PiotrButryn]

The idea with the knight on h5 is very interesting and unusual I think. It makes sense with your explanation 😉