Simon Says: The Queen's Gambit: A life-long love affair
11/9/2020 – The Netflix series "The Queen's Gambit" continues to be popular with critics and public alike. For Simon Williams, the Ginger GM, the title of the series evoked memories, and in this "Simon Says" show he looks back to his experiences with the Queen's Gambit, an opening that has been part of his life. | Watch "Simon Says" on-demand and with a ChessBase Premium account). (Normally 18:00 UTC (19:00 CET / 14:00 ET).
A dynamic weapon against the QGD - 5.Bf4
This DVD concentrates on the increasingly popular 5.Bf4 variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined and gives White a dynamic and aggressive weapon against Black's set-up.
The Queen's Gambit
Simon Says: "In this Simon Says I look at how the Queen's Gambit has been a part of my life and how I have incorporated different ideas in this opening to become a more successful player. The main concepts that I have used are very aggressive in nature, involving Queenside castling and then throwing the g- and h- pawns up the board. To learn more about these ideas please do watch the show!"
Here's the warm-up: "What did White play in this position?"
(See the full game and the solution below)
This week's show
You can also watch the show in the archive with a ChessBase Account. Don't have an account? You can register a free 90-day account to watch!
Chess Endgames 14 - The golden guidelines of endgame play
Rules of thumb are the key to everything when you are having to set the correct course in a complex endgame. In this final DVD of his series on the endgame, our endgame specialist introduces you to the most important of these rules of thumb.
Previous shows on-demand
View all past shows, with a ChessBase Premium Account.
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About Simon Says
In early 2015 Simon Williams launched his own show called "Simon says" after producing the first of his ChessBase video series. On a weekly basis (with breaks for tournaments and chess events) Simon entertains the chess world with attacking ideas, play strategies and witty manoeuvres on the chess board.
ChessBase Premium members have permanent access to the videos in the archive. Over 60 shows and counting have been published to date. Their lengths differ but most of them run for about 60 minutes.
Read more in Meeting Simon Williams.
Much more from Simon's shows in the archive at Videos.ChessBase.com
Opening with the Chigorin shows your intention to play for a win right from the outset. After 2...Nc6 Black's pieces fly into the game putting pressure on White's position from a very early stage. This opening is ideal for the type of player who strives for an unconvential yet attacking game right from the start.
Still more Simon
Simon's latest DVD series, "The Exciting Budapest Gambit" is now available. Check it out, starting with the sample below:
Video sample
Williams main teaching method behind this set of two DVDs is to teach you some simple yet effective set ups, without the need to rely on memorising numerous complicated variations.
Karpov attacks
London System with 2.Bf4 Reloaded and Tactic Toolbox London System
Simon Williams presents the London System, providing the theory you need for your games (7 h 16 min). In addition Williams also introduces into typical tactics and patterns in a seperate product. (53 games, 96 training questions and 3h 14 min)
Links
Discussion and Feedback
Join the public discussion or submit your feedback to the editors
@Karbuncle
The technical details we see in "The Queen's Gambit" (as they relate to chess itself) are above reproach - both Garry Kasparov and Bruce Pandolfini acted as consultants. It's difficult to understand why the Farcebook GMs had a problem with it. And the opening scenes were wonderful!
The film contains many astute insights into chess and the emotions it arouses. It is blessed with superb actors and rivetting special effects. Certainly the non-players who watch it will come away with a new awareness of the game, including the stresses that players have to cope with.
We should simply acknowledge that "The Queen's Gambit" will likely bring many newcomers into the game, whilst re-kindling the enthusiasm of any chess players presently suffering from a bad patch of mediocre results!
The technical details we see in "The Queen's Gambit" (as they relate to chess itself) are above reproach - both Garry Kasparov and Bruce Pandolfini acted as consultants. It's difficult to understand why the Farcebook GMs had a problem with it. And the opening scenes were wonderful!
The film contains many astute insights into chess and the emotions it arouses. It is blessed with superb actors and rivetting special effects. Certainly the non-players who watch it will come away with a new awareness of the game, including the stresses that players have to cope with.
We should simply acknowledge that "The Queen's Gambit" will likely bring many newcomers into the game, whilst re-kindling the enthusiasm of any chess players presently suffering from a bad patch of mediocre results!
I liked the series, but I have noticed a lot of GMs on Facebook saying they didn't like it and thought it was stupid after the first few episodes. It's one of those series where it's worth watching the complete set before forming an opinion on it.
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