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

Jul 15, 2025

01:11:18

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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