Yuriy Krykun

I’ve opened a few coaching slots (private, small groups, or game-review plans). If you’re interested, fill this quick form—if it looks like a good match, I’ll invite you to a free 10-minute call to map next steps. forms.gle/xpGvm8LH6QqadToL8 (If this could help a chess friend, feel free to share.) #chesspunks #chess @chessable

Happy 4th of July! What an incredible country. So thankful for everything it gave me.

This is a really interesting conversation. Many people have the intuitive desire to take as much as possible and give as much as possible. But, every relationship has to be mutual. If you hire someone to work for free (or very cheap) and they agree, then what happens? Ultimately that person can’t pay their bills or succeed in life and can’t provide you a service anymore. So, any sustainable relationship (like having employees who don’t quit, so you don’t have a huge turnover and training expenses) requires being fair - at least to a reasonable degree. And, of course you want people who make your life better (coffee shop owners, car mechanics, lawyers, anyone) to have a good life too. Anyone who tries to only take, take, take doesn’t win in the long run. Anyone who only gives, gives, gives can’t succeed in the long run either. Chess always had this mentality “we love chess so we’ll do it for passion”, and it’s wonderful to have passion, but passion doesn’t pay the bills. Last decade has been amazing to chess professionals - not players, but content creators, coaches etc who can now make good money doing it - in many cases better than desirable 9-5 jobs. Nothing wrong at all with only consuming “free” content because you can’t afford paid content, or aren’t serious enough, etc. But it’s weird when people expect “free” things because it shows they don’t think for the other side - the person creating content. At the same time, nothing is free. You pay with time, attention, watching ads, etc. But, actually, in the prosperous western countries people are very willing to pay for enjoyment and quality. My advice to all coaches, authors, etc. Do not race to the bottom with pricing. Focus on quality. Find your niche. Find who you enjoy teaching. Kids? Adults? Amateurs? Serious players? Do that! Find what content you like creating. Only opening courses? Only TikTok? It’s not that hard to stand out. “Free” isn’t really your competition.

Chess is a game of thinking and decision making. You can’t replace thinking with knowledge. I remember talking to a friend in top-100 when I was pursuing my IM title. He asked if I had read a certain book, I said yes. He asked about a second book, a third one. I said yes. He then goes “I haven’t. But then if you have read them all, how come you’re still so bad?” It was a good wake-up call!

Yeah, 100% agree with this take. In the past, people rightly complained about certain world champions playing very few events a year and drawing fast. Isn’t a lot of dynamic games that don’t end in fast draws literally what every spectator wants?!

One interesting tip/obstacle I see with many adult improvers: reading books 1st to last page. Often, all you need is a few chapters! For example, the great book on pawn structures by Rios. Most club players could benefit from 20% of the book immediately and 20% down the line - but studying 100% is not effective! #chesspunks, what's your main issue with the books/courses/videos?

The most important tip in any activity? Consistency. Tip: solve one puzzle a day. At least. But with effort. If you solve one, chances are you'll solve more than one. Make sure one is a daily minimum. Anyone can do that! #chesspunks

This is by far the best line in QGD to play as a club player, in my opinion. By far - nothing comes close. A bit more problematic at 2000+ FIDE but still great. That’s why I chose it for my @chessable course!

ANSWER! 1. If we give Black time, he will go ...Nd7-f6, unravel and keep defending his bad - but holdable! - position. So we need to act now. 2. The d6-pawn is weak. Who's defending it? Queen! So, let's trade queens off. If we do, pawn falls! 1.Bxe6! fxe6 2.Qh4!, and no matter what, we'll win the d6-pawn and the game! It's hard to find such idea unless you think correctly - and understand the urgency of eliminating the only defender.

1...g6 turns out very strong! If the knight retreats, after ...Qxh4+ Black wins a pawn and gets a huge attack. After 2.Nxh6 Kg7, the knight is in trouble and we keep attacking! Good lesson here - the position was perfectly fine until the careless move 1.h4? ruined it!

This exercise is from my student's game. White to move. What are Black’s problems, and how do you exploit them? Give a plan/line, not just a single move. This came from a new student. In our very first lesson (and my prep), I was able to point out the main issue holding back his potential. There’s a lot of work ahead—but now he knows exactly where to spend his time. This is one of the biggest values you get from a coach: a multiplied return on your own study time!

Amazing responses to the last post! Here's the answer to the puzzle and the next puzzle from this game. White obviously has a large advantage. What's the right move and plan? What are the weaknesses? Concerns? What in the position could be improved? First correct answer - DM with any chess question/issue, I'll answer it in one of my next posts! #chesspunks @GMJacobAagaard @ozzers23 I’ve opened a few coaching slots (private, small groups, or game-review plans). If you’re interested, fill this quick form—if it looks like a good match, I’ll invite you to a free 10-minute call to map next steps. forms.gle/xpGvm8LH6QqadToL8 (If this could help a chess friend, feel free to share.)