Monthly Archives: February 2014


GM Ashley’s Millionaire Chess Open

GM Maurice Ashley continues to garner attention as he promotes his Millionaire Chess open, set for Las Vegas in October. As he does so, he is raising numerous ideas and starting debates on various aspects of how chess events are structured, promoted, and covered while in progress.
 
Most recently, he has sparked discussions on his blog and Facebook pages on two major issues: whether large prizes should be available to amateurs, and on how to improve coverage of events to the point where the public will really follow them (if that is even possible). ChessLecture.com members probably have many ideas on the latter, and maybe on the former, too.  I suggest that you check out these links, and weigh in:

New Chess Videos for February 24 – February 28

Feb 24, 2013 IM Valeri Lilov The Buildup (Intemediate, Strategy, Middlegame)
What is the secret behind a successful plan in the game of chess? The answer to this question is definitely complicated as there are many factors that matter.We have consistency, evaluation, calculation and many others which are key. Nevertheless, the most critical one is the Buildup. Understanding how to get the right buildup to our plan is often vital for its ultimate success.

Feb 25, 2013 LM Dana Mackenzie Double Vision: When Two Knights are Better than Two Bishops (Intermediate, Middlegame, Strategy)
Because bishops tend to be a little better than knights in a lot of positions, it’s natural to assume that two bishops would be much better than two knights. But this is not the case — in fact, two knights can sometimes dance circles around the bishops. Here, a bitterly fought game pits two knights against two bishops, in a position that first favored the knights, then favored the bishops, and then turned back in favor of the knights. I discuss the factors involved in evaluating such positions, such as outpost squares, forks (for the knights) and pins (for the bishops), and targets (for both pieces).

Feb 26, 2013 FM Dennis Monokroussos A Brilliancy vs. the Kan (Intermediate, Middlegame, Tactics)
Young Dutch star Benjamin Bok obtained his final grandmaster norm in this year’s Wijk aan Zee Challengers tournament, and with games like this it’s easy to see why. He unleashes a fearsome attacking masterpiece against the elite young Chinese GM Yu Yangyi, and in addition to the game’s being spectacular we can “borrow” Bok’s anti-Kan line for our own play.

Feb 27, 2013 GM Leonid Kritz Rare but Tricky Line in Spanish (Intermediate, Openings, Endgame)
The line chosen by my opponent surprised me a bit in this game. It looks like Black is doing a lot of strange moves, but surprisingly at the end all of them come together and make sense in an interesting variation. Also, the endgame is worth analyzing since it has many sub-variations that stayed behind the scene.

Feb 28, 2013 IM David Vigorito A Modern Miniature (Intermediate, Opening, Tactics)
Bartel plays an unusual but interesting move order as early as move 2 (!) and Giri chooses plays in romantic style sacrificing pawns left and right for an unstoppable initiative.

 


New DVD Ideas for Nimzo Indian Players vs 1.c4, then vs 1.Nf3

Ideas for Nimzo Indian Players vs 1.c4, then vs 1.Nf3 by IM David Vigorito

Recommended for Beginner – Intermediate Players

Content: 46 minutes of instruction and analysis in a series of 2 lectures.

A clear explanation of a plan for black against both the English and Reti Openings. David guides you into Nimzo-Indian type positions against these menacing Flank Openings.

Members of ChessLecture.com rated this series a 3.55 out of 5

Fans on Chesslecture.com said: excellent lecture really enjoyed it David

IM David Vigorito is the 2007 Massachusetts Champion. He has been the state champion of New Hampshire and Nevada. David rated at 2479 in USCF and was the Champion of the Boylston (Boston) Chess Club. He played in the 2006 U.S. Championship after finishing in a tie for 3rd place at the U.S. Open in Phoenix. David is a successful chess author – his Challenging the Nimzo-Indian is very well received by critics and players alike.

Two lectures professionally mastered by the publisher, released today – more details here.


Curt Brasket

Our free video of the week (actually, we’re keeping this posted for two weeks) “Awesome State Champions: The Classic Pawn Storm” by LM Dana Mackenzie, honors FIDE Master Curt Brasket, one of the greats in Minnesota chess, who passed away late last month.  He won the US Junior Chess Championship in 1952, and went on to win the Minnesota state championship a record 16 times, and in 2013, Curt received the U.S. Chess Federation’s Outstanding Career Achievement Award.  Despite having Parkinson’s disease, he remained active in Minnesota chess tournaments for many years (583 tournaments from 1991 to 2011) and was an inspiration to many. More details about Curt, his life and contributions to chess in Minnesota (and beyond) from the Minnesota StarTribune here.   You can watch Dana’s lecture on Curt on our home page or click here.


New Chess Videos for February 17 – February 21

Monday, February 18 IM Valeri Lilov Punish Your Opponent in the Opening (Intermediate, Strategy, Openings)
Have you ever been in a position where you know that your opponent is breaking the principles of development, but you aren’t certain on how to continue and punish him for his mistakes? That situation arises quite often in the games of players from any level. The correct approach in these positions mainly depends on a few concepts and proper steps you need to follow.

Tuesday, February 18 IM Bill Paschall The Key Square in the Sicilian (Intermediate, Opening, Middlegame)

Wednesday February 18 FM Dennis Monokroussos Remembering Vugar Gashimov (Intermediate, Middlegame, Strategy, Tactics)
Vugar Gashimov died earlier this month (January 2014) from a brain tumor at the early age of 27.. He had suffered from related health problems for almost a decade and a half, but despite this and the interruptions and challenges it presented he still became one of the world’s very best players when he was healthy, reaching a peak rating of 2761 shortly before his forced retirement in early 2012. He had a very lively and dynamic style and was capable of beating anyone and everyone, and he did. Here’s a sample win, a miniature, against the very strong, experienced and solid Boris Gelfand.

Thursday, February 20 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Instructive Positional Squeeze in the Scandinavian (Intermediate, Strategy, Endgame)
You won’t see any fireworks in this game. Black uses the better pawn structure in a closed position to outplay White. Inch by inch, square by square, Black squeezes White to passivity and with a timely pawn push wins material.

Friday, February 21 GM Leonid Kritz New Direction in French Defense (Intermediate, Openings, Tactics)
This is an interesting game that demonstrates a relatively new way of playing against French Defense 3.Nc3 Nf6. White chose a rare line, and black decided to counter it right away with a piece sacrifice. The game developed very dynamically thereafter and both sides had their chances.


New DVD a6/b5 Against the French Steinitz by GM Jesse Kraai

a6/b5 Against the French Steinitz by GM Jesse Kraai

Content: 54 minutes of instruction and analysis in a series of 3 lectures.

The Steinitz is a variation for white against the French Defense . The Steinitz is an attacking scheme in particular against the Classical Variation of the French Defense. Here GM Jesse Kraai gives a clear explanation of the plans for black and the pitfalls to avoid Recommended for Intermediate Players

Members of ChessLecture.com rated this series a 4.3 out of 5

ECO C11

Fans on Chesslecture.com said: I’ve been looking forward to the continuation of this series and was not disappointed! Great stuff, Jesse. .

GM Jesse Kraai resides in Berkeley, California. His most notable chess achievements are winning the Denker Tournament of High School Champions in 1989 and 1990, and competing in the US Championship from 2002-2006. Jesse received his final GM norm at the Foxwoods Open 2007 and has a Ph.D in Philosophy from the University of Heidelberg. Jesse recently released his first book “Lisa, a chess novel”. Jesse is an active chess coach.


Chess in Commercials

Our friends at ChessBase recently assembled a great set of links to television commercials which feature chess: http://en.chessbase.com/post/chess-in-tv-commercials.
Seeing these commercials – many of which are advertisements for major companies and products – is a reminder of the universal respect that the general public holds for chess in modern societies.  Not everyone plays chess, but chess themes would not be used in these commercials if everyone didn’t understand the positive associations being made when a company aligns itself with one or another of the virtues that people associate with playing chess well.  I think that these are a good sign for the health of our game.

New Chess Videos for February 10 – February 14

Monday, February 10  IM Valeri Lilov When to Calculate and When Not   (Intermediate, Middlegame, Tactics)
How do we know when we should calculate or not? Many chess players ask that same question in many different games, sometimes unsuccessfully. The key to knowing when to calculate or not, as well as how long to calculate lies in our ability to sense the position and follow the right methodology. This lecture presents an interesting example in an attempt to answer this question and provides good advice on how we can choose whether to calculate or not.

Tuesday, February 11 IM Bill Paschall A Classic Michael Adams Grind   (Intermediate, Middlegame, Strategy)
Adams avoids Sicilian theory in a relatively rare sideline of the King’s Indian Attack. After an interesting and imbalanced opening, white trades queens but , in exchange, gains a huge positional advantage and forces Svidler to cough up a pawn. The Endgame is a classic Adams masterpiece of perfect technique!

Wednesday, February 12  FM Dennis Monokroussos  The Real Sacrifice In Action   (Intermediate, Middlegame, Tactics)
A long time ago Rudolf Spielmann made a distinction between sham sacrifices and real ones. A sham sac is one whose payoff is immediate and obvious, like a forced mate. A real sacrifice is one where the compensation may be genuine, but it isn’t tangible and the payoff cannot be foreseen. The late great Ukranian grandmaster Leonid Stein was among other things highly adept at such sacrifices, and in this game against (then-future) grandmaster Nikolai Krogius he sacrifices first a pawn and then a knight (a full knight in total!) for long-term attacking prospects. While the engine has found extremely subtle improvements for both sides, the game is still a remarkable achievement and a great illustration of the power of an enduring initiative.

Thursday, February 13  GM Eugene Perelshteyn Spectacular Fight to the Death with Sacrifices Left and Right!   (Intermediate, Middlegame, Tactics)
In this exciting fight Black sacrifices an exchange to get a strong attack on the h8-a1 diagonal.  He follows it up with a pawn sacrifice and then a rook sacrifice! However, White is up to the challenge with his own counter-sacrifice to stop mate! The fireworks don’t stop there and both sides play the only moves to stay in the game. Enjoy!

Friday, February 14  IM David Vigorito Full Board War!   (Intermediate, Middlegame, Strategy)
Nakamura shows his tremendous creativity and calculating powers in an offbeat King’s Indian. White grabs space all over the board, hoping to suffocate Black, but trying to control everything is more responsibility than Svidler’s position can handle.