Monthly Archives: May 2014

New DVD Worlds Apart By IM David Vigorito

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Worlds Apart

by IM David Vigorito

Recommended for Intermediate – Advanced Players

Content: 48 minutes of instruction and analysis in a series of 2 lectures.

IM David Vigorito analyzes the decisions in games of two masters. One master a world class GM and the other an IM and illustrates how a difference of two hundred points in ranking becomes exponential in terms of game play. More

Members of ChessLecture.com rated this series a 4.5 out of 5 ECO E94, E97

Fans on Chesslecture.com said: Quite an interesting topic and delivered in your usual flawless manner! The difference in rating points may not be a linear effect – but more like exponential. We have all been at one time or another the ‘mouse’ in a cat’s game. Only Ivanchuk is more like a lion! Thanks David! IM

IM David Vigorito was 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 book “Challenging the Nimzo-Indian” has been well received by critics and players alike.

 

New Chess Videos for May 26 – May 30

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Monday, May 26 IM Valeri Lilov Positional Transformations (strategy, middlegame)
In many games, chess players from different levels find it rather difficult to convert an advantage in an easy way. For this reason, they tend to look for quick tactics that often result in unexpected complications and the advantage being lost in the process. The key to increasing our advantage lies in the ability to make correct exchanges and positional transformations at the right time. Check out IM Lilov’s suggestions on how you can use this technique like a master!

Tuesday, May 27 IM Bill Paschall Exploiting the Central Pawn Majority (middlegame, strategy)
The world champion achieves a preponderance of pawns in the center, after a successful opening, where Black plays the somewhat risky Cambridge Springs variation of the Queen’s Gambit. Carlsen gains huge control of the open central file and key central squares.  Black is completely paralyzed in the endgame and tries a desperate rook sacrifice to go for perpetual check. White marches his king and avoids the checks threatening unstoppable mate.

Wednesday, May 28 FM Dennis Monokroussos The Queen’s Gambit and Friends. Part 12: A Rare but Potent Way to Meet the Semi-Tarrasch (openings)
With this video we conclude our examination of the Semi-Tarrasch and our series on the Queen’s Gambit. In it we take a look at a game that starts off following the main line of the Semi-Tarrasch, but then Vassily Ivanchuk varies with the less known 11.Rc1, which is designed to impede Black’s queenside development. It’s a very interesting plan, and one which may also take Black players by surprise, used as they probably are to setups where White puts his rooks on d1 and e1. Beware, Semi-Tarrasch players!

Thursday, May 29 GM Bryan Smith The Best of Lone Pine 1979, Part 5 (opening, strategy)
In Part Five of the Lone Pine, 1979 series, GM Bryan Smith looks at GM Walter Browne’s win against Janez Barle. The theme of this sharp game is central counterattack.

Friday, May 30 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Remember the Center! (middlegame)
White plays an offbeat opening, Kopec system, in the Sicilian. Black reacts well, however he forgets about the center and gets overrun in just a few moves. The lesson: Remember the Center!

Chess Video Lecture Topic Feedback

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We would like your feedback on lecture topics – what you would like to hear more about, both general areas and specific topics.  It is just four questions, and your input would be very helpful to our lecturers for use in planning videos for upcoming months.  AND, if you’ll take the survey and leave your name, then we’ll enter you in a drawing for the DVD Collection of your choice. Here’s a link to the survey:  ChessLecture.com Lecture Topic Survey

Winner to be announced next Sunday, so get your feedback in now!

New DVD of the week – Who Needs Openings?

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Who Needs Openings?

By IM Bill Paschall

Recommended for Intermediate – Advanced Players

Is opening theory out of control? IM Bill Paschall takes us through a series of games where he used sound chess principals but stayed outside conventional opening methods. This confused his opponents and took them outside of their game. See his examples and learn how once you know the rules, you can break them and win! More

Content: 1.25 hours of instruction and analysis in a series of 3 lectures.

Members of ChessLecture.com rated this series a 4.13 out of 5

Fans on Chesslecture.com said: Bill you keep this up and all those authors cranking out books on opening theories are going to go broke! Really enjoyed this positional struggle and learned a lot. Thanks!

IM Bill Paschall currently resides in Budapest, Hungary. Bill was the Boylston Chess Club Champion 2002, finished 1st at the Foxwoods Open 2002, three time New England Open Champion, and has defeated more than 20 IGM’s in tournament play. Bill has extensive experience training both adults and children privately and in the schools.

New Chess Videos for May 19 – May 23

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Monday, May 19 IM Valeri Lilov   Taking on Closed Positions (strategy, middlegame)
Many chess players like to play opened, highly tactical positions in which they can look for attacks and create most threats against the opponent. Nevertheless, there are some games in which the opponent chooses to avoid exchanging pawns in attempt to block and close the position. When that happens, we find ourselves in the so called closed positions. The ability to evaluate and correctly plan our pieces is all that matters in these kind of positions. Learn how to play them with IM Valeri Lilov!

Tuesday, May 20 GM Leonid Kritz   First Loss of New World Champion (opening, strategy)
An important game from the theoretical view point. Not because white managed to come up with anything new, but rather because black did show how you should not play this line. The most interesting aspect of the game is that Magnus Carlsen lost – it happens so rarely that any such game is worth looking at. Obviously, if black played normally with h5 and Bd8 instead of trying to bring his king to c8, his position would remain very solid. One more example to remind you how you should play to keep the position drawish.

Wednesday, May 21 FM Dennis Monokroussos  The Queen’s Gambit and Friends. Part 11: Sokolov’s Slimy Semi-Tarrasch (opening)
Many chessplayers are unaware of the Semi-Tarrasch, and those that know of it generally don’t know much about it. It is coming back into fashion, at least somewhat, so it’s worth taking a little time to know what’s going on. In this video I go through some of the moveorder issues with this variation, and then cover a razor-sharp gambit idea Ivan Sokolov employed to easily defeat an elite opponent. Beware, 1.d4 players!

Thursday, May 22 IM Bill Paschall  A Thematic Pawn Sacrifice Against the Sicilian May 22 (middlegame, tactics)
White essays an interesting pawn sacrifice against the Sicilian. Black’s queen is drawn out of position and the game becomes very sharp. Black sacrifices a piece, but loses his way in the complications. A fine practical idea by Motylev brings home the full point.

Friday, May 23, GM Eugene Perelshteyn In the Steps of Petrosian: Positional Exchange Sacrifice May 23 (tactics)
In a super-solid Queen’s Gambit Declined, White uncorks a typical exchange sacrifice a la Petrosian. Superior pawn structure and strong knight dominate the rooks. Just as it seems that Black is able to consolidate, White plays a powerful fork with Ng4-f6! winning back an exchange. The attack on the king decides the game.

New Chess Videos for May 12 – May 16

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Monday, May 12 IM David Vigorito An Expert Refutes a King’s Indian (opening, tactics)
My lower-rated but experienced opponent makes me rethink an old pet line of mine in the Samisch King’s Indian. A sophisticated strategic plan brings me to the brink of disaster but I manage to turn the tables in mutual time pressure.

Tuesday, May 13 IM Bill Paschall Karjakin’s Classic Nimzo opening (strategy)
Karjakin plays black in a Nimzo-Queen’s Indian hybrid. White plays an old line with Bg5 and Qc2, but varies for the standard line with the highly unusual move 9.Be5.  White plays an interesting plan with d5 and Nd4, but fails to kick the e4 knight out at the right moment with f3. The position is a dream for Black with 2 well centralized knights against 2 inactive bishops. A classic Nimzo where Black had to be careful with his king in the center. Karjakin navigates well and calculates the final combination brilliantly.

Wednesday, May 14 FM Dennis Monokroussos The Queen’s Gambit and Friends. Part 10: The Not-So-Harmless Queenless QGA (opening)
With queens coming off the board and an almost completely symmetrical position it would seem at first glance that the Queen’s Gambit accepted line with 7.dxc5 is both dull and insipid, and a prescription for a short draw. It is more drawish than some other lines, that’s true, but a lot of life there. White is playing for two results, and some great players have been unable to neutralize White’s pressure. In this game, we see very convincingly how easy it is for White to whip up some serious pressure, as Carlsen crushes Nisipeanu in just 31 moves.

Thursday, May 15 GM Leonid Kritz The Game That Decided the Candidates Tournament (opening, endgame)

Friday, May 16 LM Dana Mackenzie Terrific Teens, Episode 2: Attacking in Slow Motion (strategy)
One of the hardest things to do after sacrificing material is to play slowly and patiently. In this remarkable performance, the young Polish GM Dariusz Swiercz plays a fascinating slow-motion attack. The game nicely illustrates the concept of paralysis. After completely tying up White’s pieces, Black can take all the time he wants to bring in the reinforcements – in this case, a pawn that strikes the decisive blow.

New DVD of the Week A System Against the French by GM Jesse Kraai

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A System Against the French

by GM Jesse Kraai

 Recommended for Intermediate- Advanced Players

Content: 2.25 hours minutes of instruction and analysis in a series of 6 lectures.

GM Jesse Kraai, an expert on the French defense, demonstrates and gives excellent advice on how to deal with multiple variations of the French including Classical, MacCutcheon, Winawer, Burn and Rubinstein.

More

Members of ChessLecture.com rated this series a 4.27 out of 5   ECO: C00, C14, C12, C15

Fans on Chesslecture.com said: I have studied Alburt-Dzinzi-Perelshteyn’s book and I was having exactly this problem Against the French, with my opponents smashing me in the queenside. Your plan of reaching a better endgame with c3 is very clear.

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.

New Chess Videos for May 5 – May 9

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Monday, May 5 IM Valeri Lilov Morphy’s Opening Initiative (Strategy, opening)
Paul Morphy was the first player ever to combine strong positional sense and fantastic tactical vision. One of Morphy’s greatest skills was to utilize opening initiative. In this lecture, IM Valeri Lilov presents the correct steps to help us get that initiative when our opponent chooses to break the rules.

Tuesday, May 6 IM David Vigorito Caught off Guard in the Opening (opening, tactics)
It is always unpleasant facing a player that one has worked with before. In this game my lackadaisical attitude on move 1 (!) allows my opponent to drag me into an opening I had not studied for years – the Modern Benoni.

Wednesday, May 7 FM Dennis Monokroussos The Queen’s Gambit and Friends. Part 9: Death by Double Blockade (opening)
When Black has an isolated pawn on d5, it’s very common to see White blockade with a piece on d4 (usually a knight). If Black’s b-pawn captures and moves to c6, then there’s a danger of a double blockade, on d4 _and_ c5. In this game we see how bad this can be, but also see that Black can put up a fight even when the double blockade is in place.

Thursday, May 8 IM Bill Paschall Candidates 2014: Aronian Crumbles(opening, endgame)
Aronian uses 2.g6 against the Trompowsky. Black manages to equalize after a strange sequence in the opening by both sides. Instead of forcing a drawn position by grabbing an exchange and defending, Aronian leaves white with an active queenside majority and his own bishop out of play. A masterful endgame, instructively played by the young Andreikin.

Friday, May 9 GM Eugene Perelshteyn The Principle of Two Weaknesses in Practice (middlegame, strategy)
In a seemingly equal position White finds a way to exploit slight weaknesses, first on the queenside and then on the kingside with a timely f5! break. Black sacrifices a pawn to get counterplay, however White continues the same strategy of distracting Black by giving up his extra pawn and breaking through on the kingside.

New DVD of the week Awesome State Champions

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Awesome State Champions

by LM Dana Mackenzie

Recommended for Intermediate Players

Life Master Dana Mackenzie introduces us to the amazing games of some regional legends, including FIDE Master John Curdo, best known for winning the Massachusetts State Championship 17 times; FIDE Master Curt Justin Brasket, sixteen-time State Champion for his home state of Minnesota; FIDE Master Orest Popovych, 4 time New Jersey State Champion; International Master William Martz, the highest rated player from Wisconsin for almost 20 years and holds the USCF record of 104 for the most consecutive rated games without a loss; and Life Master Brian Wall, 5 time winner or tied for the Colorado State Championships. More

Content: 2 hours and 39 minutes of instruction and analysis in a series of 5 lectures.

Members of ChessLecture.com rated this series a 4.86 out of 5

ECO B52, B09, B18, D95, E80

Fans on Chesslecture.com said: Really outstanding lecture and a very interesting topic. I like seeing non-GM games because they are imperfect… the games are more representative of what you see in clubs or weekend tournaments.

LM Dr. Dana Mackenzie is a USCF Life Master, a PhD mathematician, and an award-winning mathematics, science journalist and author. Champion of North Carolina in 1985 & 1987, he became a master in 1988. Mackenzie now lives in Santa Cruz, CA and runs a chess club for kids at the local library. His passion for chess and his enthusiasm for teaching is unmistakable.