Revolutionize Your Chess Game: Learn With Neural Networks

Empower Your Chess with AI: Master Advanced Tactics, Innovative Strategy, Game Changing Evaluations, Pattern Recognition

What you'll learn

Ability to understand the concept of "installations" in chess and their practical application in improving gameplay

Ability to evaluate the accumulation of advantages versus the accumulation of installations

Ability to apply the principle of making positions "easy to play" in human chess

Ability to incorporate installation of long-term improvements into your chess strategy

Ability to recognize and leverage the strengths and weaknesses of neural networks in chess.

Ability to appreciate the strengths and limitations of traditional chess engines

Ability to critically analyze the differences between computers and humans in playing chess

Ability to comprehend how traditional computer chess programs work

Ability to understand why Monte Carlo Tree Search is an excellent choice for Neural Networks.

Ability to use a simplified robot metaphor to understand the workings of AlphaZero

Ability to explore how AlphaZero trains and improves its chess play

Ability to analyze opposite colored bishop endgames and develop effective strategies

Ability to navigate interesting material imbalances during gameplay.

Ability to apply the principles of the Evans Gambit and Queens Indian Defence - Polugaevsky gambit

Ability to understand and employ the tactics of attacking chess with pawn sacrifices

Ability to appreciate the power of the bishop pair "installation."

Ability to install opponent's bad bishop blocked in by its own pawns

Ability to develop an advanced pawn center in their games

Ability to manage and utilize passed pawns, especially connected passed pawns

Ability to install "Alekhine's gun" and use it effectively

Ability to exploit backward pawn weaknesses in their opponent's positions

Ability to install a Bishop without a counterpart

Ability to manage and use outposts effectively in their games

Ability to install and exploit thorn pawn installations

Ability to use prophylaxis to prevent positional plans of the opponent

Ability to implement thematic pawn breaks

Ability to employ positional gambits for pressure on both sides of the board

Ability to install a "Battering ram" to weaken an opponent's King

Ability to execute opposite side castling attacking chess.

Ability to exploit the backward d6 pawn weakness installation

Ability to create and manage an outpost "installation."

Ability to create and use passed pawn "installation."

Ability to understand and exploit the limitations of Neural Nets

Ability to analyze and learn from AlphaZero's fascinating losses

Ability to comprehend and apply the concepts of "restrain, blockade, and destroy" patterns

Ability to master the tactics of French Defence with AlphaZero as white

Ability to apply powerful exchange sacrifices to install weak pawns

Ability to use positional authority at the cost of material to install domination

Ability to neutralize dynamic play to head towards the endgame

Ability to learn from Stockfish 16 beta vs Lc0 games

Requirements

Know how the chess pieces move

Description

Welcome to 'Revolutionizing Chess Tactics and Strategy with Neural Networks.' This extensive course will introduce you to the exciting intersection of neural networks and chess, emphasizing the revolutionary AI engine, AlphaZero. Departing from traditional rule-based chess engines, AlphaZero uses neural networks to perceive the game, reshaping our understanding of chess tactics and strategies. This course is your ticket to discovering these unique insights and methodologies.Here's what you can expect to learn:Basics of Neural Networks and their application to chess: Grasp how these AI engines revolutionize traditional chess strategies with a unique learning-based approach.Handpicked AlphaZero game examples: Experience a profound shift in perspective as you discover the surprising, yet deeply insightful moves analyzed by AlphaZero.Detailed Game Analysis: A thorough, step-by-step explanation of AlphaZero's strategic and tactical decisions, helping you understand the neural network's 'thinking process.'Applying AlphaZero Insights: Learn to integrate the knowledge gleaned from AlphaZero's analysis into your games to enhance your intuition, positional understanding, tactical sharpness, and endgame skills.By studying this course, you'll receive a refreshing viewpoint on chess. Following the guidance of AlphaZero, we'll navigate the uncharted territories of the 64 squares, revealing profound concepts and strategies often overlooked in traditional chess teaching.The innovative playstyle of AlphaZero, frequently described as 'human-like,' allows us to relate more directly to its decisions. This connection can make the concepts easier to comprehend and apply in your games, regardless of your background in computer science or artificial intelligence.This course is suitable for chess enthusiasts across all skill levels. Whether you're a beginner seeking a novel perspective on chess understanding, an intermediate player aiming to enhance your strategic and tactical knowledge, or a seasoned player or coach in search of new inspiration, this course has much to offer.Embark on this thrilling journey through the realm of neural network chess, and prepare to perceive the royal game in a whole new light!

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Making positions easier to play through "installations"

Lecture 2 Accumulation of Advantages vs Accumulation of Installations

Lecture 3 Importance of "Easy to Play" in Human Chess

Lecture 4 Long term Planning vs Installation of Long Term Improvements

Lecture 5 Strengths and Weaknesses of Neural Networks

Lecture 6 Strengths and Weaknesses of Traditional Chess Engines

Lecture 7 Strengths and Limitations of Computers vs Humans

Lecture 8 Game selection, Index Abbreviation and how very long games will be handled

Lecture 9 Technical How #1 - How Traditional Computer Chess programs worked

Lecture 10 Technical How #2 - Why Monte Carlo Tree Search good choice for Neural Networks

Lecture 11 Technical How #3 - A simplified Robot Metaphor for Alphazero

Lecture 12 Technical How #4 - How AlphaZero trains

Lecture 13 Personal Trivia- Demis Hassabis, co-founder of Deepmind who created Alphazero

Section 2: Opposite colored bishop endgames

Lecture 14 Game 1: Berlin defence ending in 67 moves with last two moves being 67 Ra6+ Bd6

Lecture 15 Target rich pieces win in endgame one way traffic - Berlin defence - SF vs AZ

Lecture 16 Central file control creates pressure in opposite color bishop ending - AZ vs SF

Section 3: Interesting material imbalances

Lecture 17 Bishop for four pawns control squares for other pieces to target pawns- SF vs AZ

Lecture 18 Semi-Slav Botvinnik System causes very interesting material imbalance - AZ vs SF

Lecture 19 Queens Indian Defence - Two bishops for Rook and two pawns imbalance - AZ vs SF

Lecture 20 Two bishops vs Two Knights in endgame with better aggressive King - AZ vs SF

Section 4: Evans Gambit - a Gambit from the romantic era of chess

Lecture 21 Strong pressure with the bishop pair highlighting issues like K safety- AZ vs SF

Section 5: Queens Indian Defence - Polugaevsky gambit

Lecture 22 Game 3: Queens Indian Defence - Polugaevsky gambit - ending in in 60 moves 60.a4

Lecture 23 Out of this world game blockading, making Opponents Queen a prisoner - AZ vs SF

Lecture 24 Game 5: Queen's Indian - Polugaevsky gambit- ending in 117 moves with 117. Rd3

Lecture 25 Very dynamic gambit play showing amazing King safety implications - AZ vs SF

Lecture 26 Game 6: Queen's Indian - Polugaevsky gambit- ending in 70 moves with 70.Kg5

Lecture 27 Very dynamic gambit repeated again showing amazing K safety issues - AZ vs SF

Lecture 28 Game 10: Queen's Indian - Polugaevsky gambit- ending in 56 moves with 56.Kd4

Lecture 29 Amazing piece sacrifice to compromise King shelter and safety - AZ vs SF

Section 6: Two Knights Defence - Fried Liver Attack Special

Lecture 30 Alphazero tries out the fried liver attack and gets winning endgame - AZ vs SF

Section 7: Restrain, Blockade (all relevant aspects), the Destroy Pattern

Lecture 31 Berlin defence f5 square good for eventually winning the f4 pawn - SF vs AZ

Section 8: French Defence where Alpha Zero is White - e5 pawn chain

Lecture 32 Game 4: French Defence transposition ending in 95 moves with 95. Rf7+

Lecture 33 Miserable "bad bishop" of French and weak e6 square exploited slowly - AZ vs SF

Lecture 34 Game 9 - French defence transposition ending in 52 moves with hxg5

Lecture 35 Powerful advanced pawn installations and positional piece sacrifice - AZ vs SF

Section 9: Attacking Chess Pawn storm with same side castling

Lecture 36 Beautiful Attacking Chess with a Knight sac to overwhelm defence - SF vs AZ

Section 10: Attacking Chess with Pawn sacrifices

Lecture 37 Double pawn sacrifices keeps tension on board with lots of pressure -SF vs AZ

Lecture 38 Three pawn sacrificed for major attack involving 3rd rank Rook lift - SF vs AZ

Lecture 39 Shabalov Attack vs the Solid Semi-Slav with g4 pawn sac - AZ vs SF

Lecture 40 Keeping the king in the center with dynamic pawn sacrifices - AZ vs SF

Section 11: Queens Indian Defence with 5…Bb4+ - AlphaZero White to install domination

Lecture 41 Game 7: Queen's Indian Defence with 5… Bb4+ ending in 100 moves with 100.a6

Lecture 42 A positional grind with b6 a target and superior light square bishop - AZ vs SF

Lecture 43 Game 8: Queen's Indian Defence with 5…Bb4+ ending in 68 moves with 68.Be2

Lecture 44 Powerful positional sacrifice in opening gives Black very bad bishop - AZ vs SF

Section 12: Positional Authority at the cost of material to install domination

Lecture 45 Super-dynamic pawns sacrifices create strong positional authority - AZ vs SF

Section 13: Neutralising dynamic play to head towards the Endgame

Lecture 46 Simplification as a key tool to get endgame with faster passed pawns - AZ vs SF

Section 14: The power of the bishop pair "installation"

Lecture 47 Powerful exchange sacrifice for bishop pair and strong passed pawn - AZ vs SF

Lecture 48 Bishop pair combines with passed pawn potential for huge pressure - AZ vs SF

Lecture 49 Positional pawn sacrifice to install the bishop pair with weaknesses - AZ vs SF

Section 15: Powerful exchange sacrifices to install weak pawns and other stuff

Lecture 50 Installation of weak pawns through powerful exchange sac on d5 - AZ vs SF

Lecture 51 Dark square bishop without counterpart leads to R on f6 install later - AZ vs SF

Section 16: Installing opponent's bad bishop blocked in by its own pawns

Lecture 52 French defence "Bad bishop" amplified even more with pawn sacs - AZ vs SF

Section 17: Installing "Alekhine's gun"

Lecture 53 e5 pawn chain provides f6 support and later Alekhine's gun created - AZ vs SF

Section 18: Installing an Advanced Pawn Center

Lecture 54 Advanced pawns with tension of pawn captures leads to passed pawn - AZ vs SF

Section 19: Installing passed pawns especially connected passed pawns

Lecture 55 Two connected passed pawns emerge that cause major concessions - AZ vs SF

Section 20: Frozen pawn "installations"

Lecture 56 Frozen pawns lead to a powerful central pawn majority - AZ vs SF

Lecture 57 Frozen pawns close to near Zugzwang and leads to central passed pawns - AZ vs SF

Section 21: Undermining to install weak pawns

Lecture 58 Mating threat creates undermine point used to weaken pawn structure - AZ vs SF

Lecture 59 d5 pawn weakened improving bishop with threat of undermining with f5 - AZ vs SF

Section 22: Prophylaxis (prevention) of positional plans of opponent

Lecture 60 Blumenfeld Gambit- Early Nbd2 helps parry Blacks e5-e4 threat with e4 - AZ vs SF

Section 23: Thematic pawn breaks

Lecture 61 Thematic e5 powerful pawn break against Benoni structure - AZ vs SF

Lecture 62 Thematic looking e5 pawn break in the Pirc Defence Austrian Attack - AZ vs SF

Section 24: Positional Gambit for e5 advanced pawn structure

Lecture 63 Pawn sacrifice in opening helps create e5 pawn chain with pawn breaks - AZ vs SF

Section 25: Positional Gambit for pressure on both sides of the board

Lecture 64 Two pawn sacrifices in Catalan style position create pressure - AZ vs SF

Section 26: Installing a "Battering ram" to weaken opponent's King

Lecture 65 Four pawns down but battering ram has weakened King to compensate - AF vs SF

Section 27: Opposite side castling attacking chess

Lecture 66 Amazing piece sac for persistent pressure and install opportunities - AZ vs SF

Lecture 67 Pawn sacrifice for g-file pressure leads to blocked in bishop - AZ vs SF

Section 28: Backward d6 pawn weakness installation

Lecture 68 Weak d6 pawn falls eventually leaving White with central passed pawns - AZ vs SF

Section 29: Installing Bishop without a Counterpart

Lecture 69 Bishop without counterpart then thorn pawn then winning passed pawn - AZ vs SF

Lecture 70 Bad bishop but difficult to prove advantage until thorn pawn install - AZ vs SF

Section 30: Outpost "installation"

Lecture 71 Very logical flow of installations including a Rook outpost on g6 - AZ vs SF

Lecture 72 Bishop outpost on e5 supported by pawns on d4 and f4 helps attack - AZ vs SF

Section 31: Passed pawn "installation"

Lecture 73 Dark square bishop with h6 target useful to install passed 'h' pawn - AZ vs SF

Section 32: Thorn pawn installations

Lecture 74 Navigating pressure vs backward c-pawn to later install thorn pawn - AZ vs SF

Lecture 75 Installing pawn on d5 as prelude to thorn pawn of f6 then h6 - AZ vs SF

Lecture 76 Installing thorn pawn on h6 and later a pawn on a6 restricts black - AZ vs SF

Lecture 77 Vivid h6 thorn pawn installation and later great unblockade resources - AZ v SF

Lecture 78 Thorn pawn makes f5 pawn break more effective - AZ vs SF

Lecture 79 Caro-Kann Two Knights shows thorn pawn plan power - SF vs AZ

Lecture 80 Berlin Defence leads to a thorny pawn on g3 supported by a pawn on h3 - SF vs AZ

Lecture 81 Installation of a pawn on g3 from a symmetrical drawish position - SF vs AZ

Lecture 82 Sicilian Najdorf - counter exchange sacrifice leads to a thorn pawn - AZ vs SF

Lecture 83 French Defence Classical opposite side castling - thorn pawn helps - AZ vs SF

Section 33: Limitations of Neural Nets: Fascinating losses showing some of the limitations

Lecture 84 Dangerous Alekhine-Chatard Gambit is too much even for Alphazero - SF vs AZ

Lecture 85 Ruy Lopez tactical inaccuracy leads to major undermining opportunity- SF vs AZ

Lecture 86 Knight on e4 trapped and won for not enough compensation - SF vs AZ

Section 34: "If you can't beat them - join them! - NNUE of Stockfish used vs Leela NN

Lecture 87 Stockfish 16 beta vs Lc0 - Thorn pawn for endgame advantages

Lecture 88 Unbelievable game with Knight sac on g6 - Stockfish vs Lc0

Section 35: Conclusions and Philosophical points

Lecture 89 Conclusions

Lecture 90 Bonus Lecture

Beginner to Advanced chess players