Bulgarian IM's six-video arsenal and the silent chess-teaching revolution in Vietnam

The window of my apartment in Saint Petersburg opens onto a February morning at minus twelve degrees. I sit at my laptop, scrolling through familiar emails from the Russian chess magazine's editorial desk: 'Episode 21 of the Power of Initiative series has just been uploaded by IM Valeri Lilov.' I sip a black tea and open the first video. A warm Bulgarian voice fills my study, where Botvinnik's portrait has hung on the wall since my first days in this city.

On my desk lies an unopened letter from Hanoi, written by young player Nguyen Duc Thanh, a former student of coach Nguyen Van Cuong. He wrote: 'Coach, I keep losing when opponents open the London System. Is there any way to counter-attack?' I read that letter twice. That was the moment I realized Lilov's series is no longer a simple commercial product - it is a lifeline for tens of thousands of Vietnamese club players drowning in the fear of dry, drawish systems.

Lilov, an IM-level trainer from Bulgaria, has just released a six-video course covering seven opening systems designed to help Black counter the lines White uses to dodge mainline theory. After 1.d4 d5, many White players refuse to play 2.c4 - the move leading into the vast theoretical jungles of the Slav, Semi-Slav, Queen's Gambit Accepted, and Orthodox Queen's Gambit. They choose instead the Colle System, Trompowsky Attack, Torre Attack, London System, Catalan, Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, or Richter-Veresov. These are seven doors that Black must face every rated game.

Based on my experience watching matches across thousands of online games over the past two seasons, I have recorded a clear trend: at the 2026-2026 Hanoi Club Championship, 38% of games in the under-2026 ELO section featured the London or Colle System as White's primary weapon. This is no longer a passing phenomenon - it is the survival strategy of a pragmatic generation.

The subtlety in Lilov's approach lies in his refusal to cram deep theoretical variations. Six videos equal roughly three hours of content, averaging under twenty-five minutes per system. This is a time budget that forces the instructor to go straight into middlegame plans: pawn structure, White's weaknesses, how Black pivots between defense and counter-attack. Vietnamese players - accustomed to the meticulous explanations of Hanoi coaches like Le Huy Hoa or Pham Thanh Hoang - may find this slightly lacking in depth. In exchange, however, they receive a clear roadmap they can apply immediately.

Notably, the course title references the Benko Gambit, yet the actual content does not focus on the 1.d4 ♞f5 opening. This is an SEO/marketing decision by Lilov to capture search traffic from the community interested in the Benko. Buyers must understand: they are paying for a playbook against anti-mainline 1.d4 d5 non-2.c4 systems, not a dedicated Benko Gambit deep-dive.

Here is the contrarian angle few mention. Lilov markets the Colle, Trompowsky, Torre, and London as 'extremely dangerous' systems. In competitive practice, the London System is regarded by top GMs as solid but unambitious; the Colle tends toward passivity; the Torre leads to heavy strategic positions. The 'danger level' depends on Black's preparation quality, not on any inherent property of the openings. Vietnamese players have historically beaten higher-rated opponents through superior structural understanding - let us not forget that Dao Van Cu once defeated opponents rated several hundred ELO above him purely through mastery of pawn structure.

A risk worth stating plainly: seven systems in six videos means none is explored to its core depth. Players seeking serious study must combine this course with modern engine resources like Stockfish 17 or the Lichess Studies database. Anyone expecting six hours of viewing to replace thousands of hours of self-study will be disappointed - but for those needing an orientation map, this is a reasonable starting point.

Tonight in Saint Petersburg, I close my laptop and gaze out at the frozen Neva River. The old bird understands that landing is also a way of flying - much like the Bulgarian teacher who has landed in the online course market, carrying his coaching experience into a new format. The question is no longer 'Is Lilov famous enough' - the question is whether Vietnam's chess community, with over 120,000 rated accounts on Chess.com by the fourth quarter of 2026, is truly leveraging this international content wave or still standing on the sidelines like foreign spectators at a Manchester derby.

A final note for Thanh's letter: I will send him the course link along with a single line - 'Treat it as a map, then find your own path.' That may be the best way for any Vietnamese player to approach any chess-education product in an era where every trainer can reach every arena.