Any opening is good and effective if you know it inside out and understand the middle game plans and endgames arising from it. Deep knowledge makes all the difference.
I would like to thank you for your great contribution to chess education and promotion. I have found your chess DVDs a very effective tool for getting the upper hand against players of all levels. Your DVDs are very in-depth covering almost every variation and your explanations are very lucid, candid and comprehensive.
Within 24 hours of watching this video I smashed a 2150 in the exact same tactical way you showed with Bxh7+ followed by Qh5. This simultaneously brought me revenge against him and got me above 2300 on lichess. Later on I smashed a 2250 in blitz with it. Amazing stuff, I love this system
In fact I bought the DVD because I like the Koltanowski System. Koltanowski is from Belgium (like Colle himself) and later emigrated to the USA. The d4,e3,c3 structure cannot be so bad, because in fact it is a kind of Triangle Slav with a tempo up. In the Koltanowski White plays for a later e4, when his position is already solid and gets attacking chances. There is a third System, called the Colle Phoenix, based on d4, e3, c3 and later dxc5 and then b4, like in the Slav Meran Variation. It is all a matter of taste. Lakdawala in his Colle books shows all 3 systems. But of course your DeeVeeDee is good.
Really appreciate your advice - I've stuck to London for a long time and looking at Colle now.. The first opening I learnt as a child was Kings Gambit, but in those days we had no internet. Might look at Torre too.
I think the best way to get the colle is to play the nimzo Larsen with 1.Nf3 move order. Against Nc6 you play the reversed nimzo and when they avoid it you get your colle.
I play mostly e4, but every now and then I play d4 and the Colle-Zuckertort I learned from a Susan Polgar DVD a while back. Cool, that I can start opening up my d4 repretoire with London, Jobava, and Torre.
This video is fantastic, thank you Simon. You are a great teacher and chess player. Love your stuff, I'm going to play this system and see how it goes! I also like your video thumbnails, very original. Cheers!
I have just about every one of Simon's DVDs. About the only one I don't have is the one on the Dutch just because I don't play the Dutch. All of them are good. Simon explains things so well.
I see no one decided to comment on that last game or plug into a computer and post the winning solution. After about 2 years, this game should get some closure. It's actually a pretty incredible position and shouldn't be just left hanging. Probably the big hint is that Simon says although he couldn't find the solution, the computer rated White up only 5 pts. That's not winning by checkmate(typically 9 points leads to a likely checkmatebeyond the horizon) but White has a big advantage. So, the first big hint is that there is no forced mate within the computer's horizon... maybe 20 moves or so. After instinctively trying Qg4 and not finding any continuation, I came up with what I think is the answer... Qxh6! That forces Nxh6 (or it's mate in 1) Now, Rg3+ ! Followed by Rg7+ and then mowing down the entire 7th rank with see saw attacks... Finally Rd7+, taking the Qd8 and then the White B takes the pawn on e4. Result is that White has the 2 bishops, up 2 pawns but might have to give the e3 pawn back, the superior position and the Black king still vulnerable. 😀
@1:09:51 "...sensible moves are not for us." And this is why we love Simon, lol, a GM that has fun and isn't afraid to just play for fun. ;} (*Well, play for fun while also playing to win, see how things work out... like a mad scientist.)
Very interesting, i had this played against me in a district league game and my opponent was 60 ECF points lower than myself. I managed to eventually win on the endgame and due to time pressure (in a classical) but he had the advantage on me (for overpressing) for most of the game. I wanted to win with black so i tried to force mistakes but it was not easy at all. It was one of the toughest games i've had in the league.
I really like the zukertort opening but what if black fianchetto his dark squared bishop in 3rd or 4th moves after we play e3? Since we block our dark squared bishop with the pawn, i generally have a problem in that kind of situation. And also our valuable light's squared bishop's diagonal is closed in that way. What should be our response?
I'm an 1,000 rated player. Is it okay for me to stick with the Italian game (usually fried liver attack off of it) and the Sicilian defense for white and black respectively?
I play the colle exclusively unfortunately a lot of the time you get an early nf6 , bg4 , bf5 where you can’t play it so you need to look at c4 , nc3 qb3 ideas but when you get it it works really well, the tricky thing is when you get a disguised kings Indian , grunfeld ie when you’ve trapped your bishop then your opponent tricks you and fianchettos any ideas on this Simon ?
There is a book by GM Aaron Summerscale called A Killer Chess Opening Repertoire featuring the Colle-Zukertort, along with other options, with common ideas: The Barry Attack against the KID, the 150 Attack against the Pirc and the Modern, an Anti-Dutch, an Anti-Benoni... :)
@@Hybridman7 cool I’ve tried the jobava London against the Bg7 lines which can work well but is too double edged for my taste so I’ve gone for a more 150 attack kind of system now and I’ve come full circle with c4 after the variations I was talking about and thinking about going back to the colle ( I know c4 is objectively the best move in a lot of cases but it’s so different to that closed colle style that I can go too all in )
@@tunaficiency Then, the Barry Attack might be something you want to explore! Really exhilarating, with a lot of lines similar to the London System! Here is the introduction for the opening on good old Wikipedia ;) The Barry Attack is a chess opening for White that usually arises via the move order 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4. Black usually plays 4...Bg7 after which the most popular continuation is 5.e3 0-0 6.Be2; however, 5.Qd2, the "Tarzan Attack", is also playable.
The people who recommends the Colle-Z, never mention what to do if Black gets his light squared bishop out of the pawn-chain. - it ruins the whole system now does it... why on earth, would you assume, that Black would play e6 - blocking his own bishop like a 5 years old?? if he plays the Nimzo-Indian, or Q.I.D, fine, but then you already played c4, and that is not a Colle-Z at all, now does it. Same goes for the London System - your main cannon is the d3 bishop, what if Black plays 2...Bf5 - like Anish against Carlsen? no d3 bishop... it all failed...
Just found this. Feedback: Twice as long as it needed to be. Just tell us the move order pros and cons, tricks and a sample game. No need for all of extra banter.
Great video Simon, but you should have edited out that last blitz game. Now everyone knows that your Colle Zukertort System can be beaten. I also discovered another variation that works well against it, after watching this video and playing around with Stockfish. I won't post it here though. But thanks for teaching me how to beat the Zukertort, as I was having trouble with it before. :)
If you meant Bf5, I used to play that line as black (the Anti-Colle Variation). White can still maintain a slight advantage by playing 4. c4 e6 5. Nc3. It definitely avoids the pitfalls of the Colle Zukertort though.
Typical Simon not to know chess history and give the wrong title to his DVD. Hopefully the poor players buying the DVD hoping to learn the Colle-Koltanowski will get their money back - or even better a refund and learn to put their Bishop at b2 ;) This is probably a reminiscense of England being the last country to get a GM. Simon, you should take a look at the old British Chess Magazine. It is a goldmine. You can read back to 1881 online. The expression "A pawn is a pawn" comes from a sketch published in British Chess Magazine. I will leave it as an exercise to find out when ;)
With all due respect - the original colle, the reason blocking in your bishop and c3 is okay, is because you have a pretty much unstoppable developmental plan of going e4, striking the center and liberating the bishop. The dark squared bishop is much safer on c1 than it is on f4 in the london - and this is what enables another very thematic plan in the original colle system, which is the greek gift sacrifice - as the bishop is completely undisturbed and able to support your knight in the attack. So your explanation sounded quite biased, and you didn't really do it justice imo. Both versions of the colle are absolutely fine and viable. They just have very different approaches. Comparing it to the london, the classic colle has early and much more explosive attacking plans, but you simply can't play it against everything, namely it's much worse against 1. nf6 without d5, reverse london and g6 fianchetto - that would be fair criticism :D The zukertort suffers much the same lack of versatility across the board. If you're going for a one system fits all, london is pretty unavoidable. But so boring, and even scrubs know theory because it's too trendy for it's own good. I have also been looking into the catalan recently, another "cousin" of the london.. Yet it lacks clear cut plans, and is very theory dense.. i find it incredibly intimidating lol. It's just too mysterious. What's so likeable about the colle is a very clear plan.
@@VillainousShow It's a great off meta opening imo. Bg4 is very annoying and reason why I stopped playing colle. I've opted for London as I've bought an in depth course, after spending a bunch of time on the Catalan which I found a bit too positional - eg less cheese wins at lower level compared to London which is very agressive. Colle has similar flair so I'd recommend trying it even though I've personally strayed away from it, especially zukertort variation is very unusual for people to meet. I think the standard colle is a great opening for learning kingside attacks and calculations with Greek gift ideas.
Half an hour in not even showing move 4 but the move you should not play. And then starts a rant about how he gave his own dvd the wrong name while still showing a different opening. How did this guy become a GM 😂😂😂
Talks about london system and selling a dvd on the torres attack for the entire first 10 minutes of a video that is about an entirely different opening. GL selling dvd's on a subject your viewers didnt click on in 2025 sir 😂
THIS WOULD BE A GREAT VIDEEO IF DUDE WOULD JUST GET TO THE POINT. GUY TALKS ABOUT EVERYTHIMG BUT WHATS GOING ON ON THE BOARD .GEEEZ CAN WE GET TO THE POINT PLEASE
Good god, Simon Williams; I wish you would stop beginning a sentence, then cut it off to talk about something totally different. That is incoherent, and unbelievably annoying.
![Colle System Chess Opening [Colle-Koltanowski System]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/IjDs1qLm-DM/mqdefault.jpg)
@11:34 Colle lesson begins. Your welcome
Thank you
Any opening is good and effective if you know it inside out and understand the middle game plans and endgames arising from it. Deep knowledge makes all the difference.
It is rare that I 100% agree with comments here, but Kevin I totally agree with you!
I would like to thank you for your great contribution to chess education and promotion. I have found your chess DVDs a very effective tool for getting the upper hand against players of all levels. Your DVDs are very in-depth covering almost every variation and your explanations are very lucid, candid and comprehensive.
the lower rated you are tho the more other aspects need to take priority
Even the bongcloud? :)
@@NicholasKlacsanzkyICM set up the bongcloud position and play as black against Stockfish and see if it is good or not.
Within 24 hours of watching this video I smashed a 2150 in the exact same tactical way you showed with Bxh7+ followed by Qh5. This simultaneously brought me revenge against him and got me above 2300 on lichess.
Later on I smashed a 2250 in blitz with it. Amazing stuff, I love this system
"It would probably cost you a lot to get this thing for free" - Simon Williams
In fact I bought the DVD because I like the Koltanowski System. Koltanowski is from Belgium (like Colle himself) and later emigrated to the USA. The d4,e3,c3 structure cannot be so bad, because in fact it is a kind of Triangle Slav with a tempo up. In the Koltanowski White plays for a later e4, when his position is already solid and gets attacking chances. There is a third System, called the Colle Phoenix, based on d4, e3, c3 and later dxc5 and then b4, like in the Slav Meran Variation. It is all a matter of taste. Lakdawala in his Colle books shows all 3 systems. But of course your DeeVeeDee is good.
Which Lakdawala book are you talking about? Colle move by move?
Really appreciate your advice - I've stuck to London for a long time and looking at Colle now.. The first opening I learnt as a child was Kings Gambit, but in those days we had no internet.
Might look at Torre too.
just bought the Jobava London system DVD! Its been fun testing it out at my local club- winning more games than usual. Cheers!
I think the best way to get the colle is to play the nimzo Larsen with 1.Nf3 move order. Against Nc6 you play the reversed nimzo and when they avoid it you get your colle.
I play mostly e4, but every now and then I play d4 and the Colle-Zuckertort I learned from a Susan Polgar DVD a while back. Cool, that I can start opening up my d4 repretoire with London, Jobava, and Torre.
This video is fantastic, thank you Simon. You are a great teacher and chess player. Love your stuff, I'm going to play this system and see how it goes! I also like your video thumbnails, very original. Cheers!
I have just about every one of Simon's DVDs. About the only one I don't have is the one on the Dutch just because I don't play the Dutch. All of them are good. Simon explains things so well.
"It's basically a winning opening. Go and buy the DVD!" :)
dee vee dee
@Ken Puresilver daye V Dee
Facing Problem with early bg4 or bf5
@@ShubhamGupta-ep7wt If they go Bf5 I still do Bd3 because the doubled pawns help me control the center with ideas like e5
I see no one decided to comment on that last game or plug into a computer and post the winning solution.
After about 2 years, this game should get some closure.
It's actually a pretty incredible position and shouldn't be just left hanging.
Probably the big hint is that Simon says although he couldn't find the solution, the computer rated White up only 5 pts. That's not winning by checkmate(typically 9 points leads to a likely checkmatebeyond the horizon) but White has a big advantage. So, the first big hint is that there is no forced mate within the computer's horizon... maybe 20 moves or so.
After instinctively trying Qg4 and not finding any continuation, I came up with what I think is the answer... Qxh6!
That forces Nxh6 (or it's mate in 1)
Now, Rg3+ !
Followed by Rg7+ and then mowing down the entire 7th rank with see saw attacks...
Finally Rd7+, taking the Qd8 and then the White B takes the pawn on e4. Result is that White has the 2 bishops, up 2 pawns but might have to give the e3 pawn back, the superior position and the Black king still vulnerable.
😀
I really love your general attitude!
The best colle video I've seen
Thank you Simon. It was a very intructive video. It will help me :)
Absolutely peak GingerGM on so many levels
Fantastic video!! Thank you Simon.
Great video, Simon!
Great great lesson! Thank you very much!
@1:09:51 "...sensible moves are not for us." And this is why we love Simon, lol, a GM that has fun and isn't afraid to just play for fun. ;}
(*Well, play for fun while also playing to win, see how things work out... like a mad scientist.)
Very interesting, i had this played against me in a district league game and my opponent was 60 ECF points lower than myself. I managed to eventually win on the endgame and due to time pressure (in a classical) but he had the advantage on me (for overpressing) for most of the game. I wanted to win with black so i tried to force mistakes but it was not easy at all. It was one of the toughest games i've had in the league.
14:50 this greek thing will not work here, sorry.
Black just play Kg8 and Qf6 if white queen comes to h-file.
But the rook sac was an nice idea :)
thank you ginger gm
I really like the zukertort opening but what if black fianchetto his dark squared bishop in 3rd or 4th moves after we play e3? Since we block our dark squared bishop with the pawn, i generally have a problem in that kind of situation. And also our valuable light's squared bishop's diagonal is closed in that way. What should be our response?
Really good lesson thanks!
Next video a blitz one please
Might be the first time I've ever seen a game where Simon swapped of all the pieces and won a king and pawn ending :D
I'm an 1,000 rated player. Is it okay for me to stick with the Italian game (usually fried liver attack off of it) and the Sicilian defense for white and black respectively?
Awesome!!!! Def will study this system and start mating!
Even your cat is a ginger - love it!
I play the colle exclusively unfortunately a lot of the time you get an early nf6 , bg4 , bf5 where you can’t play it so you need to look at c4 , nc3 qb3 ideas but when you get it it works really well, the tricky thing is when you get a disguised kings Indian , grunfeld ie when you’ve trapped your bishop then your opponent tricks you and fianchettos any ideas on this Simon ?
There is a book by GM Aaron Summerscale called A Killer Chess Opening Repertoire featuring the Colle-Zukertort, along with other options, with common ideas: The Barry Attack against the KID, the 150 Attack against the Pirc and the Modern, an Anti-Dutch, an Anti-Benoni... :)
@@Hybridman7 cool I’ve tried the jobava London against the Bg7 lines which can work well but is too double edged for my taste so I’ve gone for a more 150 attack kind of system now and I’ve come full circle with c4 after the variations I was talking about and thinking about going back to the colle ( I know c4 is objectively the best move in a lot of cases but it’s so different to that closed colle style that I can go too all in )
@@tunaficiency Then, the Barry Attack might be something you want to explore! Really exhilarating, with a lot of lines similar to the London System!
Here is the introduction for the opening on good old Wikipedia ;)
The Barry Attack is a chess opening for White that usually arises via the move order 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4. Black usually plays 4...Bg7 after which the most popular continuation is 5.e3 0-0 6.Be2; however, 5.Qd2, the "Tarzan Attack", is also playable.
can you make one for the queans gambit
The people who recommends the Colle-Z, never mention what to do if Black gets his light squared bishop out of the pawn-chain. - it ruins the whole system now does it... why on earth, would you assume, that Black would play e6 - blocking his own bishop like a 5 years old?? if he plays the Nimzo-Indian, or Q.I.D, fine, but then you already played c4, and that is not a Colle-Z at all, now does it. Same goes for the London System - your main cannon is the d3 bishop, what if Black plays 2...Bf5 - like Anish against Carlsen? no d3 bishop... it all failed...
Hey si ! You are the best !
Please do consider making few videos on Christmas Dutch as well .
How can I buy this DVD??
I would have bought it if i had known it had the wrong name! Next time i have some spare cash although the Jabavah London might come first.
16:08 why wouldn't black move the king back to g8?
Then white queen comes to h5
Just found this. Feedback: Twice as long as it needed to be. Just tell us the move order pros and cons, tricks and a sample game. No need for all of extra banter.
21:49 If Black plays ... Ke5, I would prefer Nf7#.
@21:51
Qe4+ Kf3
Qxe6#
What do you play against 3.. c5! not e6 ? your getting into a queen gambit decline reverse type of position
4.b3 might be a good choice. An extra pawn move but one that aids development of the dark sq bishop.
Stockfish suggests 4. c4 or 4. Be2 in that line. You might be able to get away with 4. b3, followed by 5. Bd3 though.
Why doesn’t this work against the kings Indian?
Sorry Ginger, but at 21,54.. in stead of bishop Nf7 is check mate. VTY for youre videoes and have a good day - evening
All the distractions from chat, subscriptions, Charly... decreses tge quality substantially
If Ben charges US$150, how much would you charge?
Great video Simon, but you should have edited out that last blitz game. Now everyone knows that your Colle Zukertort System can be beaten. I also discovered another variation that works well against it, after watching this video and playing around with Stockfish. I won't post it here though. But thanks for teaching me how to beat the Zukertort, as I was having trouble with it before. :)
Just play the queen's gambit, and you will always get an advantage.
It really sounds like you're the grandmaster here
@@connorjordan7194 What? Simon agrees with me, his main opening is the queen's gambit
@@ym276 I think most people would agree with you.
You won't beat Anand with 1. d4 2. c4 though. lol
Thank u for this, Im gonna stick to the colle I promise I wont try the English
why are you in a stream?
36:30
@31:46. Are you making these videos in your underwear? What the devil?!?
What to play against d4 d5 Nf3 Nf6 e3 Cf5? It crushes all white plans , you cannot develop white square bishop on d3 because of the exchange!!!
If you meant Bf5, I used to play that line as black (the Anti-Colle Variation). White can still maintain a slight advantage by playing 4. c4 e6 5. Nc3. It definitely avoids the pitfalls of the Colle Zukertort though.
lol, i totally thoguht Charlie was going to be your child
given the ginger hair it took me a minute it to realise it was in fact a cat
Hi
The Coca Cola and Sugarcakes opening
Im totally stealing "mummy bishop" as my next username 😄
Commit yourself to playing a opening at least 200 games before switching
"Not a Border Collie" HAHAHAH!!
Typical Simon not to know chess history and give the wrong title to his DVD. Hopefully the poor players buying the DVD hoping to learn the Colle-Koltanowski will get their money back - or even better a refund and learn to put their Bishop at b2 ;) This is probably a reminiscense of England being the last country to get a GM. Simon, you should take a look at the old British Chess Magazine. It is a goldmine. You can read back to 1881 online. The expression "A pawn is a pawn" comes from a sketch published in British Chess Magazine. I will leave it as an exercise to find out when ;)
"You can't mingle with your potential victims" Stealing that lol
Everywhere lenskart
With all due respect - the original colle, the reason blocking in your bishop and c3 is okay, is because you have a pretty much unstoppable developmental plan of going e4, striking the center and liberating the bishop. The dark squared bishop is much safer on c1 than it is on f4 in the london - and this is what enables another very thematic plan in the original colle system, which is the greek gift sacrifice - as the bishop is completely undisturbed and able to support your knight in the attack.
So your explanation sounded quite biased, and you didn't really do it justice imo. Both versions of the colle are absolutely fine and viable. They just have very different approaches. Comparing it to the london, the classic colle has early and much more explosive attacking plans, but you simply can't play it against everything, namely it's much worse against 1. nf6 without d5, reverse london and g6 fianchetto - that would be fair criticism :D The zukertort suffers much the same lack of versatility across the board. If you're going for a one system fits all, london is pretty unavoidable. But so boring, and even scrubs know theory because it's too trendy for it's own good.
I have also been looking into the catalan recently, another "cousin" of the london.. Yet it lacks clear cut plans, and is very theory dense.. i find it incredibly intimidating lol. It's just too mysterious. What's so likeable about the colle is a very clear plan.
So colle for the win 🏆 or 🗑️
@@VillainousShow It's a great off meta opening imo. Bg4 is very annoying and reason why I stopped playing colle. I've opted for London as I've bought an in depth course, after spending a bunch of time on the Catalan which I found a bit too positional - eg less cheese wins at lower level compared to London which is very agressive. Colle has similar flair so I'd recommend trying it even though I've personally strayed away from it, especially zukertort variation is very unusual for people to meet. I think the standard colle is a great opening for learning kingside attacks and calculations with Greek gift ideas.
Someone really needs to talk to Ben about down-voting every video...
Half an hour in not even showing move 4 but the move you should not play. And then starts a rant about how he gave his own dvd the wrong name while still showing a different opening. How did this guy become a GM 😂😂😂
yep I win xDDD just like that
Talks about london system and selling a dvd on the torres attack for the entire first 10 minutes of a video that is about an entirely different opening. GL selling dvd's on a subject your viewers didnt click on in 2025 sir 😂
No comments...... hehehe
Simon does a lot of London opening things because he is from UK 🇬🇧 where London is Lol 😂
I don't watch you because you always show what the title doesn't promise
THIS WOULD BE A GREAT VIDEEO IF DUDE WOULD JUST GET TO THE POINT. GUY TALKS ABOUT EVERYTHIMG BUT WHATS GOING ON ON THE BOARD .GEEEZ CAN WE GET TO THE POINT PLEASE
too many asides, diversions and distractions in the video....eliminate them, stay focused and stick to the instruction......
Good god, Simon Williams; I wish you would stop beginning a sentence, then cut it off to talk about something totally different. That is incoherent, and unbelievably annoying.
Why you Talking about the London System🤷🏻♂️ don’t waste My Time