Monthly Archives: December 2013

New Lectures December 30 – January 3

 in Chess Lectures / Lecturers by

This week we have lectures on middlegame, endgame, strategy and tactics. All of these lectures are intermediate. We thank FM Dennis Monokroussos and IM Bill Paschall for summaries of their lectures this week.

This Week’s Lectures
Dec 30   IM Valeri Lilov       How to Exploit a Better Development (Intermediate, Strategy)
 
Dec 31  GM Eugene Perelshteyn     Strategic Battle in the English:  Accumulation of Small Advantages (Intermediate, Middlegame, Strategy)
 
Jan 1     FM Dennis Monokroussos The Hanging Pawns Horror Show (Intermediate, Endgame, Strategy)
Sometimes “hanging pawns” – a pawn island consisting of two adjacent pawns – can be very effective. White pawns on c4 and d4, for example, control a lot of central and near-central squares, while even step-laddered pawns on c3 and d4 can be effective if they keep the center stable while White builds a kingside attack as in a typical isolated d-pawn setting. On the other hand, hanging pawns (e.g) on c3 and d4 can be terribly weak when White has no attack. Then Black can blockade them and use all the weak light squares, notably d5 and c4. That’s what we’ll see in this game, which is a salutary warning to lovers of the hanging pawns that if you don’t have an attack or if it isn’t good enough, your reward can be a strategically lost position.
Jan 2 IM Bill Paschall Polgar Punishes with the Panov (Intermediate, Middlegame, Tactics )
Judit Polgar displays the classic type of game typical for a strong attacking player seeking an open game in the Panov Caro-Kann. White keeps the lines open while using the isolated d-pawn as an influence in the center. Polgar then induces weaknesses in the opponents kingside and pounces at the right moment. An absolute must see game for those interested in the Caro-Kann or any isolated queen pawn positions.
Jan 3 LM Dana Mackenzie An Offer That Should Have Been Refused? (Intermediate, Middlegame, Tactics, Strategy)

The Millionaire Chess Open

 in Chess Events / People in Chess by

As the old year ends and a new year begins, I would like to call attention to an announcement made recently by GM Maurice Ashley, who is one of the most personable and media-savvy of the many professionals who both play and promote chess at a high level.

In 2005, Maurice organized and promoted an open tournament with $500,000 in guaranteed prizes, and proved his reliability by delivering the highest quality mass-participation I have seen in over twenty years. Now, Maurice has announced the Millionaire Chess Open and invites players to join him in Las Vegas October 9-13, 2014. Here are links to the event web site, and to some early discussion of the pros and cons of such events (including some of my own views):

www.millionairechess.com
www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2013/12/28/early-reactions-to-1000000-chess/

Tournaments like this are not for everyone, but I believe they have a valuable place in inspiring both ambitious players and fun-loving chess fans alike. Everyone who visited the 2005 event came away deeply impressed, and I am confident that this will be the case next October, too.

Best wishes for a Happy New Year to all of our subscribers – past, present and future – from all of us at ChessLecture.com.

December 23 – 27 New Lectures

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Dec 23 IM Valeri Lilov, How to Decide on a Breakthrough (intermediate, strategy)

Dec 24 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Instructive Play Against the IQP: Blockade (intermediate, strategy)
Black follows Nimzowitsch’s advice by blockading the isolated pawn, first with the knight rather than with the bishop. This creates a second weakness to cause White’s position to fall apart.

Dec 25 IM Bill Paschall, New Idea in the Panov Botvinnik Caro-Kann (intermediate, openings)
IM Paschall encounters a rare idea by White in the 5…Nc6 variation of the Panov. Paschall discusses new ideas for Black and proceeds to demonstrate how he went tragically astray in this new position which arose in the game. A very unusual and dangerous queen trap is on the menu! Don’t let it happen to you!

Dec 26 FM Dennis Monokroussos, Weirdness Works? Yes! (intermediate, tactics)
This game repeats Grandelius-Bok, seen in my previous lecture, up to White’s 11th move. Bok won a beautiful game, seemingly refuting Grandelius’s eccentric play in its totality. It turns out, however, that White’s concept was a good one, and with the right idea – the amazing 12.fxg5 Qxg5 13.g4!! – White’s strategy turns out to be the right one. Sometimes we’re inclined to dismiss unfamiliar ideas as bad ones, and while they can be – rules of thumb are “rules” for a reason – sometimes we need to revise our thinking instead. Case in point here: Safarli, who is a very strong young grandmaster, either didn’t do his research or trusted Bok, and learned a painful lesson.

Dec 27 IM David Vigorito Carlsen Makes it Look Simple – Again! (intermediate, tactics)

Returning to Chess

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It’s always gratifying for us to receive positive feedback from our viewers. This week, we were reminded of this by a new subscriber, who wrote:

“I am a complete novice to serious chess. Like many, I learned the moves 50 plus years ago and then over the years played a few games with friends who knew as little as I. Retirement and caring for my homebound wife (where I am home all the time) lead me to renewed interest in chess, but this time on a serious basis.

Being at home also lead me to Netflix, which resulted in watching Brooklyn Castle, which lead to a “fan” email to who I consider its star’ Elizabeth Vicary. Elizabeth highly recommended your site, and am happy she did. I just started watching a video and learned more in fifteen minutes than hours going through chess books and looking at other web sites. There was a tad confusion trying to get the video to play, but your FAQ section got me on track on my IPad. Your welcoming email got here right after I found the answer on FAQ.”

If any of you have testimonials to offer – or suggestions, or even constructive criticisms – we’d like to hear from you….in the comments here, on our Facebook page or via email.

Latest Lectures for December Week 3

 in Chess Lectures by

This week we have lectures on strategy, openings and tactics. All of these lectures are intermediate. We thank FM Dennis Monokroussos, IM Bill Paschall and LM Dana Mackenzie for summaries of their lectures this week.

Monday Dec 16 IM Valeri Lilov Opposite Castled Kings (Intermediate Strategy)

Tuesday Dec 17 FM Dennis Monokroussos Weirdness Works? No! (Intermediate Strategy)
Rules of thumb in chess aren’t laws, but they have their status for a reason. Developing towards the flank, keeping one’s king in the middle of the board and ignoring the center are rules that one violates at one’s peril, as Swedish GM Nils Grandelius discovered to his sorrow in this impressive game. His young, then untitled opponent (now he’s closing in on the GM title) played very energetically and crushed the higher-rated Grandelius, mating him in just 21 moves.

Wednesday Dec 18 IM David Vigorito Centralization (Intermediate Strategy)

Thursday Dec 19 IM Bill Paschall Classic Sicilian Exchange Sacrifice (Intermediate Openings)
Kasparov shows his understanding of the English Attack variation for Black in the Najdorf. Black completes development, castles just in time to connect his forces and shatters his opponents king position and pawn structure with the absolutely classic shot 13….Rxc3. White never is able to gain any attack before black’s threats take control of the board. An elegant and ironic game for Kasparov in his finest opening.

Friday Dec 20 LM Dana Mackenzie Help! A Knight Ate My Position! (Intermediate Tactics)
Follow the bouncing knight as Dana’s knight either plays or threatens one fork after another. Useful for beginners as training for visualizing forks. For intermediate players, a good example of how to beat an opponent who is rushing his moves.

Lectures and Labels

 in Chess Education / Chess Lectures by

As a service aimed at helping our subscribers improve your understanding of chess, as well as your enjoyment, I would like to make a few remarks about the way we label each lecture as being “beginner,” “intermediate,” or “advanced.”

In reality, there are things to be learned from every lecture, for every level of player, regardless of the main level for which the lecture is primarily aimed.

GM Yasser Seirawan first put an explanation of this into words for me, in the mid-1980s, as he spent several years creating his “Pro Chess Video Chess Mentor” video series for an experienced publisher of training videos. In every lecture, there are points of information which viewers are “ready to learn”, while some points can be taken for granted (such as when an advanced player pays no attention to the fact that in the Scotch Game, of course the number of attacks and defenses are equal when White plays 3.d4), and other points may be so “advanced” that we are not ready to really focus on them yet – but if we come back and watch the same video after improving further, we can feel like we are hearing this advanced comment for the very first time, because now we are “ready” to hear it.

This week we have lectures on strategy, openings and tactics. All of these lectures are intermediate – but in keeping with the above, please note that Friday’s description mentions information aimed at beginners, too. Whether such things are mentioned or not, though, they are almost always there.

AllThingsChess, the ChessLecture.com blog

 in Chess Lectures / New at ChessLecture.com by

The next time you visit ChessLecture.com, you’ll see our new home page with several new features, including a feed from our new blog, AllThingsChess, and a site tour for visitors and new users. We will be posting regularly, along with guests, so I invite you to engage with us in the comments section on those posts.

Our blog is part of an expanded mobile site we will be launching later this month in order to better support our mobile users and new visitors seeing us for the first time. We are busy expanding our outreach to inform more chess enthusiasts and players about what ChessLecture.com has to offer. If you have thoughts or suggestions to share, visit our Facebook Page, our blog or email me any time at dawn.novarina@chesslecture.com.

Catching the attention of non-chess players

 in Chess Lectures / Lecturers by

Several of our lecturers also share their thoughts about chess via blogs, and this week, LM Dana Mackenzie offers up a very interesting thought about how the recent world championship match has caught the attention of many people who don’t play chess:

“I just had a conversation fifteen minutes ago with my next-door neighbor Dave, who has never shown any interest in chess previously but had heard something somewhere about a new world champion. This conversation reminded me of an obvious fact: more than anything else, a world championship catches the attention of non-chess players. It’s the one chance we get to teach the rest of the world a little bit about our game and its history.”

Dana recounts his exchange as an FAQ for all of us to share, and also invites reader input – I think you will enjoy reading it all the way through, at this link: www.danamackenzie.com/blog/?p=2630