Mastering Chess: Tips to Beat Nelson in 65 Moves

If you’ve ever faced off against Nelson in a game of chess, you know how challenging it can be to outmaneuver his aggressive attack or strategic defensive plays.

In this article, we will delve into Nelson’s playing styles, common openings, and weaknesses to help you prepare for your next match.

Discover strategies to beat Nelson in chess, avoid common mistakes, and ultimately emerge victorious on the chessboard. Let’s dive in and sharpen our chess skills!

Who is Nelson in Chess?

In chess, Nelson refers to someone who is playing better than they normally do. In other fields and certainly in life, Feeling The Nelson (FTN) is the phenomenon during which people believe they are failing (or feeling Nelson) when they are not. The Chess Urban Dictionary highlights many chess terms, including the meaning of Feeling The Nelson. The term Feeling The Nelson was originally used when sailors would answer the call of nature by urinating off the side of the boat. Akin to stage fright but while wearing ocean-soaked clothing, strong fear or anxiety would set in which sailors attributed to their urination load, so to speak. To feel Nelson originally put sailors in a position where they felt they were losing control and about to be killed in battle, yet no such event was actually taking place. Not recognizing this, they put themselves in a mental predicament they actually did not warrant. Thankfully chess does not usually involve danger to life, but the same phenomenon of performance anxiety leading to feelings of losing or bad luck is quite similar in chess. To expand on the chess meaning of Feeling The Nelson, anyone who has ever played an intense and critical game of chess would know. From children playing a stressful tournament game to adults playing a crucial game of online or over-the-board chess, the phenomenon is common.

What are Nelson’s Playing Styles?

Dedicated chess communities believe that Nelson Freeman has three primary playing styles. He has master-level strengths in all styles. Nelson’s playing styles are as follows:

1. Attacker and tactical piece mover (open games): An attacking, tactically sharp style having a preference for open positions with the center pawns are exchanged early. Center pawns provide the three central spaces that have greater influence when filled by pawns and pieces. Open games usually lead to faster, more direct attacks on the opponent’s king. In general, Nelson will be at his most dangerous in tactical calculations against opponents who also strive for open games such as the Sicilian Defence and the open version of the Ruy Lopez.
2. Out-preparing his opponent and then winning technically (closed games): Most strong players tend to show modest patience when forcing a change of pawn structure. Nelson is indeed included among this set of strong players. He prefers such situations and pairs this patience with technical knowledge of the endgame to often come out ahead.
3. Reactive against hypermodern opponents not allowing them to take the initiative: Nelson uses his customary attention to every piece on the board to counter his opponent’s potential activities left and right. He doesn’t allow opponents you use hypermodern openings to build strong pawn structures and defenses from which to launch strong attacks.

Pros and cons of Nelson Freeman suggests attacking style: Nelson is most famous for his attacking play and best known for games like his 1977 defeat of grandmaster Samuel Reshevsky in the U.S. Championship which featured his abilities to calculate tactical possibilities of striking his opponent (most notably Reshevsky) with what he describes as ‘king hunting’. This is because open games generally lead to quicker, easier, and more direct attacks on the opponent.

Aggressive Attack

Oliver Nelson is a medium-strength player (FIDE rating of 2319 in September 2021) without any one particular glaring weakness. One common strategy to use against him is an Aggressive Attack. The assumption is that this will make him uncomfortable because he likely trains more for positional than attacking play.

How to carry out an aggressive attacking strategy in chess? Play for central control. There is a strong chance that Nelson may play some peripheral moves unaware of his opponents’ threat long term. Then engage the center of the board and use your piece activity to control the board. Remember breaks are necessary to ensure that all the positions shall not be closed. It is certain that if you have completely controlled the board and kept it closed, Nelson shall have a handle in central squares. Weakling your pawn structure must be avoided, because a strong defense in the center also dictates your offensive position.

Defensive Strategy

Against Nelson’s Opening, playing the 66-Direct Defense blocks any upcoming tactics of the Wormhole Variation. The play then revolves around trying to get out of the game with a minimal loss of material and an even endgame position. Nelson tends to become particularly aggressive after a failed attempt at teeing an endgame position immediately after his opening. As a result, early productive trades against this play can pay off later.

Tactical Maneuvers

Use the fork tactic against Nelson. In the image below it’s for a win; Nelson resigns if he loses his Queen through no fault of your error.

Standings: Magnus Carlsen 16, Levon Aronian 16, Hikaru Nakamura 15, Wesley So 14, Ding Liren 12, Fabiano Caruana 9, Le Quang Liem 7, Jose Martinez Alcantara 3.

Similar to the position below as Nelson’s most recent game, where Carlsen created a position to end with a fork. It’s for a win specifically for three reasons:

1. Magnus Carlsen either already sees or picks an opponent’s blindspot and weaknesses quickly, if not necessarily accurately, to gain the tactical advantage.
2. What actually came out of this fork was a forced trade of Queens rather than the closing of the American Bishop’s line to the White King. This scenario could have allowed for Magnus to have ended the match conclusively by making an easy forced win.
3. This rarely occurs even on Magnus Carlsen’s win-derived game-tactic forks, let alone forks to force a win because it is dependent on your opponent’s error.

Positional Play

Positional play is the aspect of chess strategy that deals with the evaluation of chessboard positions and the underlying characteristics both good and bad. These include king safety, pawn structure, piece mobility, etc. Nelson likes to get aggressive and outplay his opponents tactically, often leading to complex positions. The best way to mitigate this is to outplay him strategically. Develop a plan by looking for weak pawns or other positional flaws. And try for control of important diagonals and files on the board to reduce the power of his active pieces.

During the development phase, it is potentially effective to push him into positional errors by exchanging pieces off the board, as this takes away his opponents’ opportunities to demonstrate tactics. But be mindful as some pawn exchanges can blunt an opponent’s positional mistakes, as fewer pieces limit his ability to exploit bad pawn structure. Do not make Nash too strong by pursuing exchanges too much. For example, in the game Hong vs. Nelson 2001, Hong appears to recognize that he has fewer attacking pieces than Nelson, so he deftly prepared a pawn push on the queenside with a4. His show of force in the center with 11. d5!? put more pressure on Nelson and caused him to make errors under pressure, opening up opportunities for an attack so that Nash’s strategy backfired.

What are Nelson’s Common Openings?

Nelson’s most common openings in descending order of frequency are e5 (64-%), d6 (11.7%), c5 (5.1%), Nf6 (3.2%), and d5 (2.9%). His namesake opening 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 O-O 9.h3 Nb8 was used by Nelson himself (as Black) against Pierre Fressinet in a 2009 rapidgame and is also used against him by GMs in faster time controls.

It is a flexible, solid opening that gives control over the center at the cost of some attacks on the defense.

Nelson as White most frequently uses 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O and continues with the Anti-Marshall Variation 8.c3 d5 (Ruy Lopez: Berlin, Anti-Berlin) often entering sub-variations there.

Against Nelson as White, 1 e5 is the best move for the player. There are three goals while facing Nelson as Black.

The move 1.e5 covers two of these, as it vies for control of the center and develops a piece. The move 1 e5 has a 53% record against Nelson as White, which is better than any other move.

When playing Nelson as White 1.e4 has shown the greatest consistent advantage. Playing e4 does not blockade the bishops, brings another piece out aggressively, starts a fight for the center, and is among the simplest move. The move 1.e4 has a 67% win rate against Nelson as Black, with very few games ending in draws.

Sicilian Defense

The Sicilian Defense is the most popular opening against 1.e4 that allows Black to unbalance the position and create imbalances. The immediate 1…c5 was shown to be playable — and popular — by the 1880s by then-UK’s number one player Joseph Blackbourne (including in the 1894 World Championship against Wilhelm Steinitz) and was later independently invented in Spain by Andres Clemente Vazquez. Later Spanish, French, and Italian players adopted it, but the first Sicilian tournaments held in 1921 failed, and the opening had little effect outside the Mediterranean until mid-century.

However, the Sicilian became the most popular defense in international chess beginning in the 1950s and was immediately adopted as a weapon in their 1953 World Championship match by both players, the first time it was ever played at that level in their 1953 World Championship match by Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov. It has been later used by Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov. Average players past and present like Hikaru Nakamura, Viswanathan Anand, Ding Liren, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and Anish giri all use Sicilian on occasion.

Ruy-Lopez Opening

Ruy-Lopez opening is a very non-aggressive opening in chess. It was named after a spanish priest pronounced Ruy Letho who had written a book on the opening. One of the reasons it is good to gain the attention of an Al Nelson opening is this sensible but unexciting move.

Caroline Weihl, a chess player with a rating of 1837, further explains the Ruy-Lopez Opening and why it is regarded as one of the best ways for passive play via the description of its following key features.

• It gives white a small Gust center.
• White might be ready to assist his effort with moves to direct the strikes of his pieces more effectively in the future even if it doesn’t impair it yet.
• Giving up direct control over d4 and leading to the closed games after Bb5 which is the better of the possible challenges by the opponent.

Caroline Weihl’s analysis and some examples of playing Ruy-Lopez against the Nelson opening show it allows for development without losing the initiative, the ability to switch to strike rapidly in other parts of the board if the opportunity presents itself, and continues to force opponent strikes.

Queen’s Gambit

Nelson’s final game of chess on 21 April 1800 against De Lucena in the Frankfurt Chess Club ended inconclusively. Napoleon’s army broke through the city’s defences and into the room where they were locked in their game and arresting them.

In Queen’s gambit, White (you) sacrifices a pawn by moving c2-c4 trying to gain control in the center. Black (Nelson) usually accepts the gambit by moving d5 Excluding b6, Nf6, etc. These videos offer good tips for applying the Queen’s Gambit.

This opening named after the greatest chess queen in history, the opposite to the King’s Gambit, leads to a tight chess game. A parallel between the Queen’s character and her gambit on the board was drawn by a player named Frank Marshall.

Rah-rah should have brown hair (in this system black is the bottom fed, the costs of war — withdraw, daunt, cede the spoils up to the point of imminent devastation, then sign a peace treaty on favorable terms) (Dark and Smalt 2015) suggests Nelson. And exactly the opposite to this system could be a chuvano-brown-haired system. By starting with a queen’s gambit gambit, you can gain an early game lead and build on it to the strongest mid-game.

Though facing the moves of the opponent moves in such a way that dramatically forces the pace of the game is not sensible and could expose the exploiter to counterattacks. Forcing the pace of the game in the style suggests an actual queen is illogical. Also mirroring and keeping consistent dual notions is silly.

What are the Weaknesses of Nelson’s Playing Style?

The weaknesses of Nelson’s playing style that you can exploit according to seminar reports, are that he plays passively in the opening, and can sometimes struggle with opening development and getting the pieces from the back row. Nelson also overuses the attack as a form of defense, rushes to attack prematurely, and sometimes overconfidently takes foolish risks without considering the danger. He does, however, suffer when the occasional attack against him is accelerated whether or not it is actually winning for his opponent. When he sees an attack on one side, he pushes pawns. This works against him, even in positions that are not really winning for the opponent if he wasn’t attentive to these possibilities beforehand.

Vulnerable to Counter-attacks

Kevin Nelson is a former Norwegian chess player often playing in online chess tournaments that tend to have shorter time controls. Able to hold his own against even the most seasoned grandmasters, he has what is called a classical style which is solid in nature that involves safe central pawns, interconnected pieces, and strict attention to good positioning principles. They primarily focus on creating strong pieces, controlling the center, and developing a solid pawn structure.

All of the above is true except for the ultra-insulated pawn structure that creates significant blind spots around the king and occupies the center only to be cast aside if pieces get in its way. Against this style, two key strategic principles can be used to your advantage. Former World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik supports attacking c4 because Nelson is minimized, and challenging the pawn formation in the center such as c3 and e3.

Struggles against Solid Defense

Nelson occasionally struggles against solid defense. During the 2021 Superbet Chess Classic, he had a winning advantage in his round 8 game against compatriot Carlsen. He mentioned in an interview following the draw, ‘I just didn’t play well in the second part of the game but it should be very comfortable.’

Nelson can struggle with overestimating the strength of his position as we saw in the 2021 Tata Steel Masters when he attempted an exchange against opponent Alireza Firouzja which resulted in being worse off. Solid defense from his opponents is often the reason Nelson draws when in advantageous positions. Since learning from his loss to Wesley So during the 2020 Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge, Nelson has incorporated regular tactics and endgame training into his daily routine. This would explain his general mastery of the endgame phase, his ability to play solid defense to get a draw when at a disadvantage, and his ability to go after his opponents when they are vulnerable in the middle game.

Prone to Mistakes in Endgame

One of what could be considered Nelson’s strategic weaknesses is his endgame, in which he leaves time regularly and is prone to mistakes. In the third match against Hansen during the 2021 Champions Chess Tour shutout, he gave up a draw by reaching a relatively easy stalemate. Against Levy Rozman he overpressed an equal position assuming it was a win and thus lost. Despite knowing he secured victory, he lost a piece against Mitchell Young, ending the match in a draw instead of a win.

How to Prepare for a Game Against Nelson?

Because of his extensive knowledge of the intricacies in the middle and endgames, Robert James Fischer becomes a valuable study guide. Pay special attention to the following preparation advice for a game against Nelson:

1. Play strong theory-based opening moves
2. Develop pieces to active squares quickly
3. Connect the rooks during the middlegame,
4. Win material or look for middle and endgame complications that are not too complicated
5. Against a closed pawn structure attacking the king inside the final third is beneficial

Study Nelson’s Previous Games

A good way of improving and even winning against Nelson is to analyze studies of his pre-fight strategies. His previous games can be found at the site of the tournament where he will be participating. Open the tournament and you will see all his games as the tournament continues. It should be noted that not all games played are good examples of Nelson’s strengths as the video below shows his upset loss against a newcomer.

Nelson is considered to have poor knowledge of the opening lines of approaches, so it would not be a good use of time to focus too much on openings against him. Games that are greater than 40 to 50 moves are ideal as players have less time and thus their real abilities are shown. If the data is limited to only a few games, it might be worth analyzing his post-game strategies where his patterns may be elected. So most games played in the final run for his victories. Analyze these games to try and understand his moves and style as much as possible. If you prefer to spend less time watching his games, you can benefit from social media platforms that provide a short summary of major moves. This is known as GameCast.

Chess.com, FIDE and the official tournament site are some of the places to start your research. Have fun and learn from them without your opponents knowing that you have information about their abilities and games. A proactive tracking of his data will scare him.

Analyze Nelson’s Playing Style

Play a series of games against Nelson to determine strategy weaknesses. If Nelson’s strength lies in dominating from initial lead and his weakness in losing from behind, try to adjust the scope of your early game. If he is weak from initial lead, be cautious in the early game instead lean on the advantage of bonsai chess. If he is weak from behind, set up strong defenses during the opening and transition to a midgame of interspersing attacks and tactical sacrifices with protective strategies.

There are many ways to determine Nelson’s strengths and weaknesses in chess. The Joint US-China Algorithmic Research Competition, a Watson Research Chess study carried out by Beijing’s Tsinghua University, and a landmark 2015 Watson AI Research study of 850,000 online games have gone in depth into approaches involving machine learning and statistical modeling for chess player behavior. They have developed playing styles, opponent strategies, and even identifier algorithms based on ratings, piece advantage versus probability of win, and centralization around openings akin to the pond and bonsai chess strategies. However, it should not be that complicated for the average Joe, merely play a few games with your friend and lightly begin to analyze expected weaknesses from behind and strengths with an initial lead. One could even bring up the topic with the friend to see if your own tournament history aligns with your suspicions.

Practice Against Similar Playing Styles

Your playing style refers to how you open the game, how you build on the starting moves, and the type of moves you make during the middle and endgames. The only way to know against similar playing styles is to do so is to play a lot of games. Both Jeffery Xiong and Andy Gushue mention the importance of playing many games during the King’s Gambit: Chess.com Guide to Beating Nelson.

What Strategies Can Help Beat Nelson in Chess?

• The Sicilian Defense opens with the most common first move, that of a pawn in front of the queen by black. The purpose of playing this defense is to attack the opponent’s center, slow down white’s pawn advancement, and open up a place for black’s bishop pair.
• The Sicilian Defense is often chosen by players who are willing to sacrifice material if required. The game that Wilson played with a grandmaster named Marco at the Senior Center opened with 1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5!? Essentially fulfilling the four purposes of playing the Sicilian defense within five moves.

Exploit Weaknesses in Opening

Nelson’s weakness in the opening round provides a significant opportunity to gain a material advantage in the mid-game. Nelson is vulnerable with the Bird’s Opening (FIDE Cat. A00). Unconventional and speculative, but not bad by any means, Bird’s Opening gives opponents the chance to upset him with no effort due to his lack of preparation or experience against it. When Nelson falls into dangerous opening territory, aggressive move choices can provide an opportunity to hold on to the advantage and eventually prevail. If the exchange of several pieces is possible and safe, that should be pursued given Nelson’s partiality for short-castled scenarios which can be exploited to lead to the opponent’s king early in the game.

Create Complex Positions

The second best way to beat Nelson in chess is to create complex positions. This further exposes weaknesses in his chess endgame as well as making the part of chess he is best at, opening preparation and theory, less effective.

More pieces on the board add volatility and require more mental energy to assess. Here is Nelson’s recommended openings for making positions complex early: The Sicilian for black and the Trompowsky Attack for white. Additionally, you can study positional play in the endgame phase as ways to counter Nelson’s opening and early tactics advantages. Nelson himself admits his endgame needs work and getting to this phase while still ahead by creating complex positions is a way to challenge his later-game skills.

Use Counter-attacks

Counter-attacks in chess involve targeting your opponent’s position along with your own. While counter-attacks may not be used exclusively against those who use the targeted and isolated pawn strategy, they are particularly effective for dismantling a pawn structure that has been weakened due to this method. Much like a pincer maneuver in a military context, attacking the opponent’s weakened pawn structure while simultaneously attacking their other pieces can be crippling if done effectively.

Focus on Endgame Tactics

Nelson needs to work on their endgames, as one of the rare times they has not been able to convert their position was early endgame play. If you can study Capablanca – whose goal was always to simplify the position and transition into an endgame – or Harry Nelson Pillsbury, who always endgame strategies that gave him a winning advantage.

What are Some Common Mistakes to Avoid Against Nelson?

• Don’t engage in Kings Gambit. Nelson knows how to attack it, and the positions are more likely to favor black. Nelson tends to play the game out more so if he is ahead as it makes the defense process more valuable to the attacker. Offering an early draw interrupts this pace and can disrupt his thinking.
• Do actively look for situations where you can win material against Nelson. Nelson is less interested in playing out lost positions and will accept defeat if he finds his opponent has won too much material on him prior to reaching the endgame.
• Do prepare for a tough endgame against Nelson. Nelson excels in difficult endgame puzzles, so it will be challenging to outplay him in these types of situations.

Underestimating Opponent’s Attack

When playing against Nelson with white pieces, one common mistake is to underestimate the opponent’s attack, as demonstrated by his win against GM Vassily Ivanchuk in 2012, where Ivanchuk played inaccurately in the middlegame and Nelson went on to secure a win.

Furthermore, Ivanchuk mistakenly resigned after Nelson’s fantastic counterattacking moves. With the black pieces, he tends to pick up weaknesses at the wrong time. For example, against Grandmaster Azer Mirzoev at the 2008 Turkish Chess Federation Men’s Olympiad Selection, Nelson chose a very bad move order in the opening stage which worsened his position. Mirzoev then converted this from a deprivation of queenside space into a kingside attack to finish the game quickly.

Neglecting Development of Pieces

A notable bad habit in chess called development bottleneck is placing too much emphasis on one’s knights and bishops. This can be described as neglecting the development of other pieces for no apparent tactical reason other than because it is thought that more powerful pieces will naturally move from the back against weak opposition and to participate actively in the attack.

The following video describes in simple terms how to exploit Nelson (for white) or avoid being like Nelson (for black):

Ignoring Control of Center

Nelson loves when his pawns control the huge central squares e4, e5, d4, and d5 (centre of the board). In Nelson’s first three moves as both White and Black, Nelson moves the pawn in such a way as to help give him centrality. If he is able to keep this structure you will be in a losing position. Your first task as White is to aim towards a center-controlled position and as Black to disrupt it.

Falling for Traps and Tricks

Falling for traps and tricks is a common mistake made by many players who lose to Nelson in chess. Traps are defined by Magnus Carlsen in accordance with his winning against Sevian as two-move threats. A way to win a piece or checkmating the opponent within the next two moves. A trick is described by Magnus as a hidden threat where usually some material is won but there are also checkmating patterns. The Turkish Defense Trap and the Queen Lease Trap are two examples of traps and the Epaulettes Patter and Blackburne’s Mating Maneuver are two examples of tricks.

Turkish Defense Trap – How to Try to Recognize Tricky Moves. Easiest way to deal with traps and tricks is to follow a structured opening and early game strategy. You can adopt a preplanned set of moves for common positions labeled as traps in order to prevent falling into them easily. Another key strategy is practicing common mating positions on a large enough board, so you can recognize if any pieces can create a mate. You will also see a significant reduction in mistakes if you take your time to calculate the opponent’s plan and keep track of their last move and subsequent moves to avoid falling for any tricks.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Beat Nelson in Chess?

What are some tips for beating Nelson in chess? To beat Nelson in chess, it’s important to first thoroughly study his playing style and strategies. This will help you anticipate his moves and plan your own accordingly.

How to Beat Nelson in Chess?

Are there any specific openings or defenses that work well against Nelson? It’s always good to have a few go-to openings and defenses in your arsenal, but the key to beating Nelson is being adaptable and able to adjust your strategy as the game progresses.

How to Beat Nelson in Chess?

Is it necessary to have a deep knowledge of chess theory to beat Nelson? While a strong understanding of chess theory can certainly give you an advantage, it’s not a requirement to beat Nelson. Focus on understanding the fundamentals and being aware of your opponent’s moves.

How to Beat Nelson in Chess?

What are the biggest mistakes people make when playing against Nelson? One common mistake when playing against Nelson is being too aggressive. He is a master at defense and can easily turn your aggressive attacks against you. It’s important to maintain a balance between offense and defense.

How to Beat Nelson in Chess?

Are there any specific strategies that have been successful in beating Nelson in the past? One strategy that has proven successful against Nelson is to play a slow and controlled game, focusing on building a strong defense and gradually chipping away at his pieces. This forces him to make more defensive moves and can lead to mistakes on his part.

How to Beat Nelson in Chess?

Is there a psychological aspect to beating Nelson in chess? Absolutely. Nelson is known for being a master at mind games and can easily throw off his opponent’s focus. Stay calm, focused, and confident in your abilities to counteract any psychological tactics he may try to use.