Levy Rozman: Chess Romanticism or Tactical Chaos?
Part - 1 (0-800 ELO)
Each piece on the chess board should be regarded from three perspectives. First, as an active tool that we can use to achieve our goals. Second, as a vulnerable and valuable creature which requires care all the time. Third, it is important to see it also as a ‘piece of wood’, which is standing in the way of its fellows.
What is checkmate?
Checkmate is a threat to attack and capture opponent king, where no barrier can stop you from capturing The King. Yes, Chess is so brutal, no mercy. If you do mercy, it will draw. That mean, if you have power to capture, but opponent has no legal move, your power and his power is same.
SOME CHECKMATE EXAMPLES:
SOME STALEMATE POSITIONS:
In chess, a stalemate occurs when a player has no legal moves left to make and their king is not in check. This situation results in an immediate draw, meaning neither player wins the game.
King has no space to move.
Resignation:
When you or opponent surrender without being checkmate, knowing that you or he/she has more power and ability to checkmate is called resignation.
Note: According to Levy’s book, Levy Rozmann in his all games, 55 percent of his games by resignation. The rest were won by time (24 percent), checkmate (20 percent), and abandonment (1 percent).
The idea of resignation is for master class, when checkmate is inescapable, surrender else, it shows disrespect for opponents. Below master level Levy said, don’t resign.
Look at one of my game:
Black could have a chance Mate in 2(M2). But, after, I mistakenly, took the queen by white rook, avoiding back-rank-mate (Will discuss later, what is back-rank), he resigned with a rocket speed and started playing another game.
Abandonment And Timing out
When a player stops playing or gets absorbed in something else—like watching an interesting program on TV—and forgets to make a move, it's called abandonment. This often leads to timing out, That basically, more common in online chess, it happened OTB(over the board) also, in the year 1895 Wilhelm Steinitz vs Curt von Bardeleben
Why Learning an opening is important?
1. Controls the center
2. Helps in fast and efficient development
3. Ensures king safety through castling
4. Saves time on the clock
5. Leads to favorable middle-game positions
Fun Fact: As a White player, At first white has 20 possible first moves, also black has same. Just one move each opens 400 possibilities. The American mathematician Claude Shannon calculated the number of possible chess games. According to Shannon, after both sides have played four moves, there are 84,998,978,956 possible positions. So, every move matters.
White:
GOLDEN MOVES:
Imagine our opponent not moving anything.
e4 d4 Nc3 Nf3 Bc4 Bf4 O-O (king side castle)
With our pieces arranged this way, we’ve taken control of the center and brought out our knights and bishops to active positions where they cover a wide range of squares. When we say a piece is developed, it means we've moved it—starting with knights and bishops—from its original square to a more active spot, usually aiming toward the center.
e4 openings for beginners aka kings pawn opening:
e4 e5 is very common, according to database 40% → 1,433,395,696 game played.
Nf3 (attack e5 pawn) in response black plays Nc6, almost 63% game black played like this.
Bc4 and we reached the Aggresive Italian opening
Bb5 instead of Bc4 is called Ruy Lopez or Spanish opening.
Another common pattern exist, some alternative move black can play.
e4 c5 to prevent white to play with their ideal setup.
A knight in the center is no longer just a horse—it transforms into an octopus, reaching out in all directions, controlling up to eight key squares around it.
Black plays Nf6, white Nc3, to defend e4 pawn from Nf6.
Black play a6 to prevent bishop to b5. Almost 61% played like this
This position is called Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defense
Another Opening For White
London System Opening
Why play London Opening?
Solid and Safe – It builds a strong pawn structure and avoids early weaknesses.
Easy to Learn – Follows clear patterns, great for beginners and club players.
Flexible Setup – Can be used against many different defenses with minor tweaks.
Strong Center Control – Uses pawns and pieces to firmly hold central squares.
Quick Development – Develops pieces quickly.
Hard to Refute – It’s not aggressive, but also not easy for opponents to break.
Endgame Friendly
Netflix opening → Queens Gambit
After watching, the web series, 90–95 percent online audience got into chess—or came back to it.
If black takes the pawn on c4, called queens gambit accepted, else called queens gambit declined.
White’s bishop targets Black’s pawn on c4. Though White appears to temporarily sacrifice a pawn, in return they gain strong central control and rapid piece development.
Note:
At intermediate level, accepting the Queen’s Gambit (2.…dxc4) is actually the most popular move. But, White’s win percentage immediately jumps up to 56 percent because the position is difficult to play for Black.
Play with Black
Dutch Defence:
1. d4 f5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O
Building-Block Openings
- Caro-Kann
Black used c6 pawn to make a building-block for d5 pawn to control center.
- Queen’s Gambit Declined
Here White plays e4 but this time Black’s first move is e6—the e pawn becomes the building block. Then, when White moves their d pawn to the center, Black plays d5 and again the central pawn is protected by a supporting pawn.
The Queen’s Gambit Declined is another building-block opening.
FACTS:
According to online databases, at the 1600 and below level, responding to White’s e4 with e5 (symmetrical) has been played 62 million times and scores 51 percent for White. However, Black responding with c6, the Caro-Kann Defense, has been played nearly 10 million times and drops White’s win percentage to 47 percent. This shows
that “mirroring” White allows White to strike first with various attacks, while the Caro-Kann catches players off guard and allows them to respond to us instead, leading to an initiative for Black.
END OF PART 1
Book: How to Win at Chess: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners and Beyond by Levy Rozman
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