Monthly Archives: February 2015

Monday, February 23 IM Valeri Lilov The Strength of Piece Coordination (strategy, middlegame)
Understanding how piece coordination works is an essential component in every chess player’s preparation. Check up a brilliant game annotated by IM Lilov, so you can learn the secrets of a successful piece interaction!

Tuesday, February 24 IM Bill Paschall Mohr Flohr! Part 3 (middlegame, strategy)

Wednesday, February 25 FM Dennis M. Crushing the Berlin with 4.d3 (endgame)
The Berlin endgame has been giving White headaches for years, but lately Black has been suffering a bit due to 4.d3. It is by no means the refutation of the Berlin, but it seems that White is enjoying the positions more than Black. That was certainly the case in this game, a powerful attacking performance by India’s #2 player, Pentala Harikrishna. Harikrishna was surprised by his opponent’s novelty on move 8, but no matter: he refuted it over the board! His pawn sac 9.d4! gave him tremendous compensation in the form of long-term attacking prospects, and he delivered on those prospects in grand style. It was an inspiring game for the white cause against the Berlin, and an impressive example of how to conduct a long-term attack.

Thursday, February 26 IM David Vigorito An Accidental Novelty (opening, tactics)
In this game I end up in an opening that I play for both colors, yet my fuzzy memory meant that I was on my own very early. I came up with something new that was not particularly good or bad; it was just new. In new territory both sides have unusual problems to solve.

Friday, February 27 GM Bryan Smith Rubinstein’s Great Endgames, Part 4 (endgame)
In Part 4 of GM Bryan Smith’s series on Akiba Rubinstein’s endgames, we see a classic endgame against a young Alexander Alekhine. Structural themes, transitions to king and pawn endings, and the principle of two weaknesses feature prominently in this example.

Rubinstein and the Tarrasch

By IM Bill Paschall

UPC 885007541868  Recommended for Advanced Players        More                 

Presented by International Master Bill Paschall for ChessLecture.com

Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (1880 –1961) was a Polish chess Grandmaster at the beginning of the 20th century. In his youth, he astonished the chess world, defeating many famous players, including Capablanca and Schlecthter. .Rubinstein originated the Rubinstein System against the Tarrasch Defense variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined.                      

See Rubsinstein employ his system in games against Tarrasch, Marshall, Cohn and Capablanca.

The Tarrasch was originally advocated by the German master Siegbert Tarrasch who contended that the increased mobility Black enjoys is well worth the inherent weakness of the isolated center pawn. 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c5 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.g3 Nf6 7.Bg2 (Rubinstein– Tarrasch, 1912).

Content: 2.75 hours of instruction and analysis in a series of 6 lectures.                            

Members of ChessLecture.com rated this series a 4.04 out of 5

Fans on Chesslecture.com said:This has been a very enjoyable series! There is so much emphasis on the ‘latest and greatest’ that we forget to mine these classic contests of the past and learn from them. Well presented and nice touch finding the missing tactical means by which Capa may have extracted himself and not lost the game.

IM Bill Paschallcurrently 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. 

Monday, February 16 IM David Vigorito Calculation and Candidate Moves (tactics)
In an offbeat opening I make the decision to sacrifice a pawn for the initiative. This requires both good judgment and calculation. While the former was on target, the latter left a lot to be desired. this game is a good example of how it is important to be critical of not only your losses, but your wins.

Tuesday, February 17 IM Bill Paschall Mohr Flohr! Part 2 (middlegame, tactics)
The usual solid, positional Flohr goes on a sort of tactical rampage in his own variation of the English. White employs the brilliant strategic idea 12.Qa4 in the opening and then follows up with the messy pawn sacrifice 13.c5!? Both sides could have vastly improved their play in the middlegame. Flohr rushes the tactics a bit with an unnecessary yet interesting exchange sacrifice at d7. Finally the smoke clears and the black king is wide open in the center. A funny blunder at the very end by Flohr could have allowed Kashdan to save a draw. Not a flawless game, but a refreshing change of pace for the usually controlled Flohr. Definitely not a one trick pony !

Wednesday, February 18 FM Dennis Monokroussos The Strongest 15-Year-Old in History?
The 15-year-old Chinese grandmaster Wei Yi has just become the youngest player in chess history to achieve a 2700 rating, breaking the record formerly held by Magnus Carlsen. An incredible achievement! The game we’ll see here may not be the greatest test of his skill, but it’s very impressive, both as a demonstration of preparation and accurate – and imaginative – calculation. Moreover, it’s just a beautiful game, so enjoy it and prepare to see many more great games by Wei Yi in the years to come.

Thursday, February 18 GM Leonid Kritz Rainfall of Unpredictable Possibilities (openings, strategy)
A game that got out of my control pretty early because my opponent chose a system that surprised me a lot. Usually black does not play c5, but e5. A small mistake (Bf2) instead of healthy a3 allowed black to get some counterplay, and if he took on f8 with the bishop rather than with the rook, the game should end in a draw. Interesting endgame and many unexpected turns are the label of this game.

Friday, February 19 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Solitaire Chess: Understanding the Complex Hedgehog Stucture (middlegame, strategy)
Challenge yourself in this instructive game on the Hedgehog structure. White’s central grip and space advantage is counterbalanced by Black’s dynamic potential. An extra bonus is cool tactics throughout the game!

Monday, February 9  IM Valeri Lilov  Changing the Pawn Structure
How and when to change the pawn structure? This question is both very important and complicated. Many times it is the positional features that we need to assess pawn exchanges. Other times it is the positional outcome that really matters. See IM Lilov’s new video to learn more on this valuable topic!

Tuesday, February 10 IM Bill Paschall Mohr Flohr!  Part 1 (middlegame, strategy)
Flohr displays the power of the long diagonal against a weakened black kingside. The exchange in the opening by white 11. dc5 is paradoxical as it gives up the center, but critical here as it generates attacking chances for white. White makes great use of the open lines provided by black, especially the f-file becomes a valuable second avenue of attack.

Wednesday, February 11  FM Dennis Monokroussos  Winning With Nothing
Magnus Carlsen is known for winning games from positions where he seems to have absolutely nothing, and rightly so. But he’s not the first player with this skill; before him, there was Ulf Andersson. Andersson, like no one before and very few since, managed to win game after game from positions where the players would agree to a draw lest they fall asleep at the board or miss out on watching paint dry. His game with Laszlo Hazai is a beautiful example of this ability. After just 18 moves all but three minor pieces and seven pawns have been exchanged, the pawn structure is almost exactly symmetrical and neither side has any weaknesses. Black was almost certainly counting on an easy draw, and other players had in fact agreed to a draw in that position. Yet Andersson showed that there were problems for Black to solve, and in just half a dozen moves White was clearly better and well on his way to a win. So there are two sorts of lessons to be learned: chess lessons based on Andersson’s treatment of the position and his excellent technique, and psychological lessons for both the defender and the side trying to make something happen. Watch and see!

Thursday, February 12  GM Leonid Kritz  A Failed Attempt to Fight for the Tournament Win
The special thing about this game was that in the case of a win Giri would have shared the first place with Carlsen. So, he decided to go for Gruenfeld and get into hopefully sharp lines that would promise him enough counterplay. Wojtaszek played very solidly, though, and did not let Giri create anything really serious. The only chance to play for more was 10….f5, but it is a risky continuation and Giri did not want to go for it. So, it ended as a logical draw after all the pieces got exchanged.

Friday, February 13  GM Eugene Perelshteyn  Instructive Play Against the Karpov System in the English (openings, strategy)

Monday, February 2 IM Valeri Lilov Transforming the Advantage (strategy, middlegame)
Learning how to transform an advantage isn’t easy because it takes precision and time to find the right time for a breakthrough against your opponent. In this video, you will learn some of the key steps to help you maintain your advantage while you keep improving at the same time!

Tuesday, February 3 IM Bill Paschall My Best Hits, Part 2  (opening, middlegame)
Grandmaster Blatny plays one of his offbeat openings, but Paschall is well prepared. Black used the setup with 1..,d5 and 2…Bg4 which the author recommends elsewhere in his videos on the site. This particular line can be used against many systems such as 1.b3 , 1.b4, and 1.Nf3. 2. g3 . For the particular variation in question, the Bird-Larsen, Paschall has prepped the super-aggressive 5…e5 counter in the center. The game is like a good version of Staunton Gambit against the Dutch, with colors reversed. White makes too many pawn moves in the opening and black gains a huge initiative and even material. Ultimately, even the uber-resourceful Blatny could not hang on !

Wednesday, February 4 FM Dennis Monokroussos Don’t Give Yourself a Bad Bishop (tactics)
Most of us know a bad bishop when we see one; the trick is to avoid getting the bad bishop in the first place. Sometimes we can’t help it, due to our opponent’s superior skill, but you’d think we wouldn’t do it to ourselves, right? Here’s a game where an IM tries to engineer what he thinks will be a favorable exchange of one minor piece, only to discover that his opponent will swap off two sets of minor pieces and alter the pawn structure in such a way that our protagonist suddenly finds himself with a bad bishop and a nearly lost position. Have a look, and beware!

Thursday, February 5 GM Leonid Kritz Playing the Dutch Stonewall for a Win, Part 2
Again, I am defending the view that Stonewall is a playable opening, this time against a stronger opponent. The g3 line is amongst the most popular lines today. However, I believe that the bishop on g2 is as bad as the bishop on b7, and I don’t think that white can seriosly hope for an advantage here. As the time got sparse both playersv started making mistakes,and the game turned wild. My opponent played very creatively and indeed created some unpleasant threats agains black king. However, at the very end there was a nice tactical trick that he overlooked and that allowed me to get a full point.

Friday, February 6 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Solitaire Chess: Test Your Skills in a Complex KID Structure (opening, tactics)