the kocon defense room temperature IQ or a crippling lack of female attention tonight we investigate the source of all your frustration as an intermediate chess player sharpen your Tactical awareness and teach you how to actually play the kocon defense by analyzing three highlevel games with only one thing in mind pawns when to push them when to trade them and when to sacrifice them but first let's take a look at the basics of the carocon defense E4 is the most common first move in chess and the reply C6 the carocon defense is one of the best openings to master the art of Pawn play because according to classical principles the opening is a stage where both players fight ruthlessly for central control and the best pieces for that mission are the pawns D4 is the most common move you will see and if left unchecked white will play moves like C4 F4 and have total Central domination but why is that important exactly think of it this way if none of Black's pieces can occupy these Central squares how are they ever going to get to White's king or worse if pieces can freely occupy these squares what gruesomeness will happen to Black's King something very similar to what would happen if you try to escape the friend zone by public display of affection that's why D5 is the most important move in the kocon defense an immediate challenge to White Center how white responds to this thrust will determine the pawn structure for the rest of the game if white pushes it leads us to the advanced Pawn structure and the deadly ideas we will study in the first game but if white captures on D5 it will lead us to one one of the two most important Pawn structures in all of Chess so if you can stay till the end of this video you will appreciate why pawns truly are the soul of Chess but more importantly you will learn how to use them as a deadly weapon regardless of the chess opening you play English or Spanish E4 C6 is the kocon defense and This brilliant 2200 rated leeches player with a sketchy username is about to put on a master class on how to break down Pawn chains after D4 D5 3 E5 is the advanced variation of the kocon and quickly attacks the center with the move C5 this is kokon opening principle some players prefer to develop their pieces first control the square and then strike at White Center with the c Pawn but this seemingly premature Pawn thrust works just as well because if white captures this Pawn after moves like Knight C6 and E6 he will have a very tough time holding on to these two Pawns in fact up to 2200 rating level the move C3 is played overwhelmingly the idea is to keep White Center intact by Taking Back on D 4 with the C3 Pawn protecting E5 but that creates a unique Pawn structure in which the square D4 will be the focal point of Black's early middle game plans the move is Knight C6 putting pressure on D4 and white responds with the move Knight F3 but Bishop G4 pins the Knight to the Queen the threat is simple if white were to play a normal looking move like H3 a blunder Bishop takes F3 forces the queen away from her original square and the party on the D4 Square begins takes takes and night takes destroys White's Center wins a pawn and threatens the queen but white still has to be careful here in chess it is very easy to go from an unpleasant position to dead lost because for some reason the most natural response to this threat for a lot of players is to instantly threaten the Knight with a move like Queen E3 after which a simple Knight C2 triggers an instant bowel movement but white was a 2,000 plus rated player so after Bishop G4 he responded correctly with Bishop E2 leaving the queen on D4 do black plays E6 locking the center a very important kocon move because while white is one move away from King's safety Black's King on the other hand is stuck at the center until further notice so if the center was to be opened black would be in serious trouble that's the one downside of the kocon every chess opening has a downside except for one my own creation the nimzo Zimbabwe in defense undefeated but hey this is a video about the kocan which fortunately I'm somewhat of an expert in this this Knight belongs on F5 and the queen is great on a square like B6 all pieces focusing on the key D4 Square that's the advanced kocon plan but mind you it must be executed while keeping an eye out for your King still stuck at the center White Castles and the Knight begins its journey to F5 but H3 was played by white a sneaky move because if the bishop retreats to F5 it's in the way of the knight's Mission but if it retreats to H5 Knight F5 will be met by the devastating G4 forking the bishop and the Knight so black has only one logical move in this position and if a tiny voice on the inside has been screaming about these two pawns just staring at each other without capturing that's the 100 rated ADHD at the back of your brain try meditation it will also cure your insatiable thirst for Samoan men canalyzing anyway takes takes takes takes and now it should be clear why black is focusing all his energy on D4 this is what we call a backward Pawn weakness in chess it's a pawn that can never be protected by another Pawn but if white can somehow hold on to it and maintain this structure what does he have in return kingside space Advantage the bishop pair and moves like F4 F5 leading to an inevitable attack on Black's castled King in this game however Queen B6 proved to be an annoying threat for white to deal with Bishop E3 defends the threat but creates another weak point in White's position that's the art of attack two annoying Jabs to the body a faint and then a clean right hand to the chin your grandma will never touch your food again Queen takes B2 and after the only move Knight D2 you may be tempted to capture the D4 pawn and you will often get away with it but remember what I said execute your plan but always keep your king safety in mind this is one of those times because after Knight takes D4 moves like Rook B1 and queen A4 check you will die with a belly full of Pawns so black played Knight F5 and after Rook B1 takes and Rook takes I personally would not feel very comfortable with my king at the center but black had calculated everything to a t Bishop B4 and his King is one move away from safety white played Rook C7 trying to be as much of a nuisance as he can to black but he missed a minor detail most players would be worried about their King safety or thinking about their Knight in this position but Knight E3 by this Brave 2200 a brilliant move because it has removed a defender of the Knight on D4 but it also threatens the queen and the Rook if it's not addressed a long series of captures occurs at the end of which white has a painful realization if he captures this Knight he will likely lose all his Central pawns this is why you must train your calculation skills in chess above a certain rating level it is almost unacceptable that white does not see this before playing Rook C7 the engine suggests the move King F2 accepting your mistake and holding on to your central pawns but if you know anything about human beings you know that we would rather lose the game then admit we made a mistake that is why people will still vote for you know what let's not go there I need all the likes I can get Rook takes was played stubbornly but after these captures what we see is the result of a well-executed pawn focused kocon strategy White's Pawn formation went from this beauty to this Rook E1 was played protecting E5 and finally on move 21 we see the move Castles by black it takes a bit of Bravery to play the kocan but if you execute the plans well you are usually rewarded with simple and straight forward positions like these ones where all you have to do is just push your pawns make five queens and win high level chess knowledge I'm delivering to you from the thick jungles of Zimbabwe after wiping my ass with a dead baboon and the next game is just as instructive if not more E4 C6 D4 D5 is the kocon defense but in this position instead of the advance E5 and all the ideas surrounding the D4 Square the 1800 on the white pieces went for Pawn takes Pawn the change variation of the kocon defense a totally legit way to play White's only problem was that on the black pieces was my favorite YouTuber a 2400 plus International master who knows exactly what to do in these exchange carocon structures and what happens next is exactly what would happen if any of you guys ever challenged me to a game in the comments I'm a different breed I don't mind unleashing the nimso Zimbabwe and on my subscribers anyway Pawn takes Pawn as played by Alex and in this position white can do one of two things with the pawn on C2 C3 like what was played in the game protecting the D4 square or White can play the explosive C4 leading to an insane Pawn structure which we will study in the final game black develops his Knights first and then his Bishop to F5 all in line with kocon principles after he plays E6 a key kocon move we will have what is called the Carl's Bad Pawn structure it is characterized by this four versus two Pawn battle on the queen side the plan here is in Three Stages St stage one involves pushing these two pawns all the way up to these four pawns and then in stage two initiate trades which will leave white with two weak queenside pawns the final stage of the plan will be to use your minor and heavy pieces to attack these pawns after which if all goes well you will be rewarded with a simply winning endgame the chess name for this plan is the minority attack a 200 plusy Old chess strategy that has nothing to do with law enforcement or anything like that anyway this is the position we are currently studying lots of minor and heavy pieces on the board but now you know that the pawns are the backbone of all chess plans Bishop D3 and the following move by Alex is why it's not always a good idea to study Master Level games on your own G6 why the Simple Plan would have been takes takes E6 and then Kickstart the minority attack Alex is an international Master he knows this but he is trying to entice white to capture this bishop opening up the G file which will in a few moves be used by this rook in a surprise King side attack sneaky but fortunately for us white rejects the offer by castling after Queen C7 he rejects It Again by playing the move Rook E1 so Alex goes back to the original plan of the minority attack and after a few moves we get to this position Alex has played A6 preparing B5 White's pieces are also locked and loaded for an assault on Black's King side but look at this marvelous defensive formation the battle lines have been drawn kingside attack versus minority attack A4 is played play by white delaying B5 but there is no stopping the minority attack Rook B8 and B5 is only a matter of time Knight takes E5 is played by white and even if it's not threatening anything yet if there is one piece you never want to have just lingering in your position it's a knight so Knight takes E5 but the recapture by white is somewhat surprising Rook takes E5 your Tactical senses must be tingling right about now this Rook is in the path of the bishop and a move like Knight E4 traps the rook and opens it to The Bishop's line of fire but is it a good move this is where chess tactics meet chess intuition calculation meets understanding it might not seem like it but this dark squared Bishop is one of your best pieces when firing a queenside pawn storm of this nature because say in a few moves the minority attack has landed you have a position like this and you want to pick off these weak pawns with your minor pieces that's when this bishop comes alive but that's not all it's also the glue holding this entire defensive structure together so if it were to disappear and your opponent has a dark squared Bishop of his own it takes losing a ton of games like this to learn that gaining an exchange in the short term may bite you in the long-term butt so Alex plays Knight D7 and after The Rook Retreats B5 is played triggering the minority attack takes takes and this move will always create some type of Pawn weakness a weakness on which black will focus all his energy in the middle game and when it's captured holding on to this one isolated Pawn will prove to be a very tough assignment Rook C8 is played by Alex with very clear intentions but white plays Rook A3 protecting his weakness a blunder can you think of a simple move that will displace this Rook from the third rank yes bishop f8 and this Pawn is gone but Alex did not play it why in his video linked down below he says he wanted to teach us how to win these positions if the opponent made good moves instead I'm assuming that's a better use of his time than finding a girlfriend for example but hey to each their own Queen C4 offers a trade and binds the weakness to its square a concept you'll appreciate more in the next game because if your opponent has a pawn weakness you do not want to allow him to push it and trade it for one of your Healthy pawns so if you plug a piece in the square in front of it while you mobilize your attackers you are playing chess well above 2,000 rating level Queen D2 white declines the trade but Rook B3 offers another trade and cuts off the rook's view of the pawn take takes and look at the pressure mount on this backward Pawn Knight F2 defends but black has another attacker on the way Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication that's the motto of the kocon no flamboyant Rook sacrifices no fancy tactics just a simple plan executed with machine-like coldness in the following moves black maintains pressure on the C3 Pawn while maneuvering his pieces and creating multiple little threats forcing white to respond that's how these positions are won because between trying to hold on to this pawn and responding to all your annoying little threats at some point they all blunder Knight A4 and the pawn is gone the rest is a matter of converting this endgame advantage to a win which admittedly is easier said than done and if you were wondering it's also exactly what makes this guy arguably the greatest chess player of all time playing the white side of this end game against Magnus Carlson is a nightmare of Epic Proportions he has an unnatural ability to play 30 correct moves in a row in these positions accumulate small positional advantages for every tiny mistake you make and when you get to such a position where you need to switch to tactics to finish the game Magnus saw that tactic 10 moves ago and credit to Alex he saw it too Bishop F4 check and its lights out because if King takes then D2 and there is no stopping this Pawn from queening a brilliant example of a minority attack in the Carlsbad Pawn structure but this in the form of a game between a 2,400 and a 2,700 on Lees is the isolated Queen Pawn structure I feel like I should be making you guys pay for this knowledge but anyway y'all know the best way to show this video some love takes takes is the exchange variation of the kocon but unlike the previous game with C3 and the Carl's Bad Pawn structure this player goes for C4 the panova tech the trick here is you don't want to capture this Pawn until this bishop moves can someone explain why in the comments and I'll pin it for everyone to see the knights are developed with this Central tension in mind until after Bishop E6 a critical move asking white to resolve the central situation the D Pawn is captured the bishop recaptures leaving white with an isolated deep Pawn the source of the greatest debate in chess middle Game Theory the question is is it a weakness or is it a strength the closest answer to the truth is that it is a weakness if and only if black can fix it to the square trade pieces and then focus on capturing it in the end game but it can be a strength for white if after captures captures he can find a way to push it and open up the position for his very active Bishops and knights to maneuver and create problems for black those are the two plans at battle in isolated D Pawn positions Bishop E2 is played preparing castles and E6 an important kocon move in general is extra important in this line because it Stakes claim on the Square in front of the target Pawn making sure it doesn't move but also opening a path for the bishop to be developed both sides develop their pieces until after A3 black plays Rook d8 making his intentions clear white was a decent player as well so he puts his Rook where it belongs that is on an open file after A6 he uses a combination of the rook and this bishop to remove the queen from the path of his Pawn to D5 but this move is still unplayable it's two attackers versus four Defenders white would just be giving away the pawn so he plays Queen E2 connecting his Rooks and preparing to swing this one to assist efforts at the center of the board but again black plugs this D5 square with a knight and the next few moves are a mixture of black putting more pressure on this pawn and also fighting for control of the D5 [Music] Square until after Queen d8 black has created a special piece formation known as alin's gun aimed at the D4 Target the Knight is also aimed at the Target but it's four attackers versus four Defenders white is holding on to his Pawn marvelously his problem however is is that he cannot make any progress he is stuck defending this weakness and can never hope for a win unless black makes a mistake so in the next few moves White sets a nasty trap Queen E2 and now this Pawn has three Defenders versus Black's four attackers can it be captured pause the video and try to find the sneaky move white was banking on chess is a brutal sport you can play the opening like a book follow your middle game plan like a machine and then a series of captures followed by a nasty surprise move Queen E5 check King moves and your opponent emerges a whole piece up from the whole ordeal brutal it's the equivalent of being a good Christian your whole life honest God-fearing kind spiritual forgiving but on your deathbed you can't help but lust after your caregiving nurse and that's enough to send you straight to hell like is that a good example I don't know but black was A600 so he wasn't going to fall for that sneaky trick he played Queen F6 instead and now this Pawn is about about to fall because the nasty Queen E5 move is no longer playable white is forced to bring back his Queen to protect the pawn psychologically this is a nightmare position for white black wasn't Magnus Carlson but he did grind his opponent down by maintaining pressure on the weakness and maneuvering his pieces creating multiple annoying little threats all over the board until White made a mistake Knight D2 after which Knight E5 makes use of the pin on the pawn to remove a defender of the pawn and then jumps to C6 making it three attackers versus zero Defenders the pawn drops and black immediately starts seeking trades because the fewer pieces there are on the board the stronger your Pawn Advantage becomes and the less likely you are to get surprise M by your opponent surprise M tell me why that sounds like a crime anyway after Queen takes and takes this is now a pure Rook end game and black start showing Master Level technique something you can only attain after 10,000 Plus hours of Pure Chess Focus zero entertainment zero females or in your case Zero men because take this position for example the only way to win is for black to move this Rook but do so without losing this Pawn impossible right watch this F4 sacrifices the First Pawn and then G3 sacrifices yet another Pawn the intention is to just go G2 and G1 Queen but after takes and Rook H1 guess what this Pawn is Untouchable because check and The Rook is gone white resigns a brilliant Brant end to a very informative chess video but if you think you've mastered Pawn structures think again in our next video we'll explore the banic triangle a deadly Pawn structure that can turn your games upside down leave a like and let's meet on the other side