New Chess Videos for February 11 – 15
Monday, February 11
IM Bill Paschall – Crushing the Caro-Kann, Part 1 | Opening
In this series we look at modern examples of attacking play against the Caro-Kann featuring the dynamic Advance Variation. This battle from the 2018 European Championship highlights the difficulties which Black faces against this system. Gawain Jones is one of the best prepared up and coming grandmasters in modern chess. This game highlights his pinpointing a new idea and his use of classic advantages like space and development.
Tuesday, February 12
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Black Bamboozled in a Curious Catalan | Opening
Mickey Adams is a very solid player who knows his opening systems very well. And he’s a great player, too, but even those three characteristics were insufficient to immunize him against Radoslaw Wojtaszek’s ingenious opening idea in their game from the 2018 Isle of Man tournament. Wojtaszek’s pawn sac in a sharp Catalan line was rare but known – Adams had previously faced it a few weeks earlier, in the Olympiad – but his 15th move was something new. It was a tricky position, and surprisingly, it proved too tricky for Adams. See for yourself – and if you play either side of the Catalan, it’s a game you’ll want to be familiar with: for White, it’s another tool in the toolbox; for Black, you’ll want to make sure to avoid Adams’ fate!
Wednesday, February 13
GM Leonid Kritz – Strategic Excellence But Tactical Inability | Strategy, Tactics
This is another great example of what we can see today pretty often –
one side fully outplaying another strategically, but then suffering
because of tactical complications. Smirin controlled the game completely, until he overlooked the 19…d5 and 20…Na5 idea, which was very strong. Afterwards black should have overtaken the initiative, but luckily he played too passively and white came back and got the point.
Thursday, February 14
GM Nadya Kosintseva – How to Take and Hold a Pawn Playing Against the Catalan System with 5…Nc6 | Strategy
In this lecture, we will discuss a specific line of the Catalan system that implies sacrificing a pawn for white and accepting this sacrifice for black in hopes of keeping the material advantage at least for a while. The beginning moves for white are d4, c4 and then at some point g3 followed by Bg2. Bringing the bishop to the long diagonal, white puts strong pressure on the black’s queen side. Black, in his turn plays d5 and e6 to limit the white’s bishop. Next, if white does not guard the c4-pawn black can take it quickly and then hold it, for instance, by pushing the b-pawn two squares. What is interesting, white does not try to restore the balance immediately and instead focuses on his development and occupation of the center. As a result, the main question that arises here is what will matter more: black’s material advantage or white’s initiative? We will see.
Friday, February 15
GM Robert Hungaski – A Strategic Repertoire Against the Sicilian: Facing the Taimanov (…Nc6, …e6) | Openings, Strategy
The Taimanov Variation has become one of black’s most reliable Sicilians. Black adopts the inherently solid Kan pawn structure while restricting white’s options, especially with regards to the possibility of white placing a pawn on c4.
While it’s true that white’s options to put the pawn on c4 might have been restricted, they have not been eliminated! Here we will analyze 4.Nb5, popularized by Karpov. I believe this is not only a variation that allows us to stay true to our philosophy, but also one of the most unpleasant (though not necessarily the most theoretically challenging) lines black players will have to face. Now black will be basically forced to adopt a Hedgehog-type of pawn structure. A far cry from your typical Taimanov positions!