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.