EP 442- GM Johan Hellsten: Why Defending Is So Difficult — And How to Improve At It

EP 442- GM Johan Hellsten: Why Defending Is So Difficult — And How to Improve At It

GM Johan Hellsten returns to Perpetual Chess for a deep dive into one of the most overlooked yet essential chess skills: defense. Johan is the 2006 Swedish National Champion, and a renowned author and coach, best known for his Mastering Chess series. In this interview, he shares insights from his latest book and Chessable course, Mastering Chess Defense (also available in print,) reflecting on why defending is often harder than attacking, which players are best to study to improve your defensive play, and key concepts like “the lifeline.” Johan is a true professional, and always a pleasure to talk chess with. Timestamps of topics discussed are below.

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0:00- We begin with an impromptu discussion of obscure chess opening names including the Austrian Defense, the Tartakower Caro Kann, The Fegatello Italian, and the Polerio Italian Defense

10:00- Why is it harder for people to spot defensive resources than tactics?

15:00- How did Johan find so many good defensive examples?

Check out Johan’s separate course on defense for Chessmood members:

https://chessmood.com/course/chess-defense

21:00- Patreon mailbag question: “How should amateur players incorporate chess defense into their thinking processes?”

29:00- What is the definition of defense?

31:00- Did Johan ever meet legendary GM Miguel Najdorf?

Mentioned:

El Viejo by GM Zenon Franco

Najdorf X Najdorf by Liliana Najdorf

Kasparov vs. Najdorf Bugojno 1982

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1069983

36:00- If choosing between Kasparov, Karpov, Korchnoi, Spassky, whose games were the most instructive?

Mentioned: GM Emmanuel Berg

Check out Johan’s Youtube videos about Petrosian and Ulf Andersson here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYAkeoP9TTs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDo--EPHnfc

42:00- More book recs from Johan!

Mentioned:

Timman’s Triumphs:

https://www.amazon.com/Timmans-Triumphs-100-Best-Games/dp/9056919172

Speed Demon:

https://www.amazon.com/Speed-Demon-Fascinating-Tragic-Vyzhmanavin/dp/9493257819

GM Judit Polgar’s Quality Chess Trilogy

46:00- What is the chess defensive resource that is sometimes referred to as “the lifeline?”

Mentioned:

GM Hellsten’s Chessmood article about it:

https://chessmood.com/blog/lifeline-chess-tactic

Or move 32 of this Korchnoi-Fisher 1962 Curaco game:

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044560

49:00- What do the concepts of “Evolution and revolution” have to do with chess defense?

Mentioned: GM Josif Dorfman’s “The Method”

https://www.abebooks.com/Method-Chess-Dorfman-Iossif-Sarl-Game/31453994460/bd

52:00- More chess book talk!

Mentioned: Boris Spassky’s Best Games

https://www.amazon.com/Boris-Spasskys-Best-Games-Rising/dp/1784832006

53:00- Check out the two defensive puzzles we discuss in this Lichess study:

https://lichess.org/study/1AlpJ6gn/3b3ZdebD

Spassky-Geller move 35-

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1049395

Carlsen-Duda 2025 is included and annotated by NM Anthony Levin for Chess.com here (as well as in the LiChess study):

https://www.chess.com/news/view/2025-cct-chesscom-classic-playoffs-day-1

Thanks to Johan for joining me again, you can reach him via his Chess.com page:

https://www.chess.com/member/jhellsten

And check out his Chessable courses here:

https://www.chessable.com/author/JohanHellsten/

And his books here

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https://www.patreon.com/c/perpetualchess

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