{"id":21892,"date":"2024-10-04T13:02:59","date_gmt":"2024-10-04T13:02:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/?post_type=product&#038;p=21892"},"modified":"2026-05-26T12:31:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T12:31:59","slug":"opening-principles-crash-course-with-im-bence-szabo","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/shop\/opening-principles-crash-course-with-im-bence-szabo\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening Principles: Crash Course with IM Bence Szabo"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding: 56.66% 0 0 0; position: relative;\"><iframe style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;\" title=\"Opening Principles\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1021068092?h=f05f45b50e&amp;badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/api\/player.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Principles of Opening Mastery<\/h2>\n<p>We offer courses on a lot of specific chess openings, and they are indeed <em>wildly\u00a0<\/em>popular.<\/p>\n<p>They provide the strategies and theory in all of the most popular openings, as shared by experienced, battle-hardened masters and even\u00a0<em>grandmasters<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>But there\u2019s also a BIG problem that causes many to struggle anyway\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The strategies and theory in the dedicated courses they study are like \u201cbooster packs\u201d that should be used in\u00a0<em>addition\u00a0<\/em>to your mastery of the \u201cThree Power Principles\u201d of Opening Play.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s right. There are just\u00a0<em>three\u00a0<\/em>principles that if mastered, will result in super solid, sensible, and strong opening play \u2013 without even knowing any theory!<\/p>\n<p>And you are probably\u00a0<em>aware\u00a0<\/em>of them too, you just haven\u2019t integrated them on a\u00a0<em>master\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>level.<\/p>\n<h3>The Three Principles of Opening Mastery (Without Needing the Theory!):<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Rapid Development of Forces (especially bishops and knights)<\/li>\n<li>Control of Center (whether by distant attack or occupation)<\/li>\n<li>King Safety (get that king to safety, usually by castling ASAP!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"padding: 56.25% 0 0 0; position: relative; width: 90%;\"><iframe style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;\" title=\"Opening Principles\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1021068006?h=9d2ed54a76&amp;badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>And sure, I can hear you shouting at me \u201cI KNOW this stuff, Yury!\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>But\u00a0<em>do\u00a0<\/em>you? I\u2019d wager that you know these principles at a vague intellectual level and try to roughly follow them, but you don\u2019t know the nuances, priorities, exceptions, and so on.<\/p>\n<p>This is what separates club players from masters.<\/p>\n<p>And this is where IM Bence Szabo comes in.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-21900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Chapter-1.-The-Importance-of-the-Center-part-I-low.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"413\" height=\"250\" \/><\/p>\n<p>His brand new\u00a0<em>Opening Principles Crash Course<\/em>\u00a0drills down deep into each of the principles above to expertly teach you to see them through a master\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n<p>A whole new world of knowledge opens up and you\u2019ll soon play the openings you\u00a0<em>do\u00a0<\/em>play with a new level of mastery and sophistication.<\/p>\n<p>His course is very comprehensive, giving you 6 hours of HD video training, detailed PGN files sorted by theme, as well as our online practicum.<\/p>\n<p>So if you\u2019re ready to build that firm foundation of opening knowledge that 90% of club players lack\u2026<\/p>\n<h3>What you will learn:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>You\u2019ll Dominate the Center!\u00a0<\/strong>You\u2019ll discover exactly when to play \u201cweird\u201d retreating moves like \u2026Bd8!! (<em>diagram<\/em>) followed by \u2026f5 and \u2026e4 rolling an unstoppable pawn center forward!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter \" src=\"https:\/\/videoapi-muybridge.vimeocdn.com\/animated-thumbnails\/image\/896a8a3a-07bc-498b-b7b1-468d4796bf70.gif?ClientID=sulu&amp;Date=1729344113&amp;Signature=4c85bf8153d518a58d882ca55f55ca227bb65275\" width=\"470\" height=\"258\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>You\u2019ll Develop Pieces at Lightning Pace!\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Ever wondered how masters are so efficient and seem to reach positions where they have ALL pieces out before their opponent and soon overwhelm them with attacks? All will be revealed by IM Szabo! Don\u2019t miss\u00a0<em>Chapter 4!<\/em><\/li>\n<li><strong>You\u2019ll Evacuate Your OWN King, Whilst Catching the Enemy King in the Center!\u00a0<\/strong>Get your king to safety FAST, get your attack started, and strike with moves like Spassky\u2019s \u2026Rh1!! (<em>diagram<\/em>) before your opponent even manages to castle!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-21901\" src=\"https:\/\/www.365chess.com\/view\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/opening-principles-crash-course-diagram-3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"275\" height=\"294\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Grab the course and make sure you KNOW these vital, foundational opening principles inside and out \u2013 THEN, go review all of the main theories in your lines.<\/p>\n<h3>About the author:<\/h3>\n<p><strong>IM Bence Szabo [2406 FIDE]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>is a Hungarian International Master and an active tournament player. Bence previously held the National and European Youth Champion\u2019s title. IM Szabo has over 10 years of coaching experience with some of his top students becoming National Champions in different age categories and claiming various international norms and titles. Bence works as a head coach in one of the largest chess schools in Hungary. He has worked with multiple medal-winning Olympic Grandmasters and other top talents.<\/p>\n<h3>Outline:<\/h3>\n<p>Chapter 1. The Importance of the Center (part I)<br \/>\nChapter 2. The Importance of the Center (part II)<br \/>\nChapter 3. The Importance of the Center (part III)<br \/>\nChapter 4. The Importance of the Center (part IV)<br \/>\nChapter 5. How to Develop Pieces (part I)<br \/>\nChapter 6. How to Develop Pieces (part II)<br \/>\nChapter 7. How to Develop Pieces (part III)<br \/>\nChapter 8. Castling (part I)<br \/>\nChapter 9. Castling (part II)<br \/>\nChapter 10. Castling (part III)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IM Bence Szabo&#8217;s brand new Opening Principles Crash Course drills down deep into each of the mentioned principles to expertly teach you to see them through a master&#8217;s eyes. His course is very comprehensive, giving you 6 hours of HD video training, detailed PGN files sorted by theme, as well as our online practicum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":31459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v16.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Opening Principles: Crash Course with IM Bence Szabo - 365Chess<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"IM Bence Szabo&#039;s brand new Opening Principles Crash Course drills down deep into each of the mentioned principles to expertly teach you to see them through a master&#039;s eyes. 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