New Chess Videos for April 10 – 14
Monday, April 10 IM Valeri Lilov Analyse Your Own Games (strategy)
Many players realize the importance of analyzing their own games as a tool to understand the mistakes and key weaknesses in their play. It is however, not so well known how to do it successfully. What are the core mistakes in our games and how to avoid them? Check out IM Lilov’s video to learn more!
Tuesday, April 11 IM Bill Paschall Essential Strategic Concepts, Part 3 – Playing Against the Isolated Queen Pawn (strategy, middlegame)
World Champion Karpov essays his favorite Tarrasch Variation against the French Defense and a classic isolated queen pawn or IQP position is reached. Karpov blockades the black pawn on d5 and then works to trade his “bad” dark squared bishop for Black’s “good” bishop. Eventually Karpov exchanges his structural advantage for activity and eventually prevails in an epic game against the strong French Defense expert Uhlmann.
Wednesday, April 12 FM Dennis Monokroussos Who is Reti to fight for the d4 square? (tactics)
When Black meets the Reti with 2…d4 3.e3 Nc6 a battle over the d4 square is in prospect. If White wins it, he’ll have an edge, but thanks to Black’s nice plan on moves 7-10 he won that battle instead. White was left with a hole on d4 and a backward pawn on d3, and Black did a great job of suffocating White’s position in the remaining moves, almost winning a miniature.
Thursday, April 13 GM Nadya Kosintseva Tactical Motif of Rook Sacrifice at the Corner of the Board (tactics)
Some experts suggest that solving puzzles is the best form of study for the purpose of improving tactical skills in chess. But for me, it only attacks the problem from one dimension. You can solve a variety of chess puzzles, but if you do it chaotically it will not really help you to recognize a tactical pattern in a real game. Personally, I believe that systematization of tactical patterns and creating one’s own classifications of chess combinations can seriously improve one’s technique of calculation. Thus, in this lecture I am going to show you how the separation of the tactical motif of rook sacrifice at the corner of the board from other types of sacrifice helped me to be more precise in the process of calculation.
Friday, April 14 GM Eugene Perelshteyn How to Win in Chess Using Understanding Alone (opening, middlegame, endgame)
What do you need to win in modern chess? A killer novelty? Amazing calculation skills? Not necessary! As the big Vlad shows you in this game, understanding alone is sufficient to win a game! Watch and learn how easily he beats a solid GM with simple concepts where at most he had to calculate 3 moves deep! Understanding still matters!