New Chess Videos for June 22 – 26
Monday, June 26
IM Bill Paschall – Selected Games from the Carlsen Invitational 2020 – Part 4 | Endgame, Strategy
The final match of the tournament brought Hikaru Nakamura head to head with host Magnus Carlsen. Naka, somewhat predictably continues to play “solidly” with Black using the Queen’s Gambit Declined. Magnus is able to play his ideal type of technical position, without undue complications. Nakamura was unable to conjure up any sort of tactics and Magnus plays with almost perfect accuracy. An interesting endgame is presented in this video featuring opposite color bishops (a Magnus specialty) and competing pawn majorities.
Tuesday, June 26
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – How to Exploit Superior Pawn Structure in the Paulsen Sicilian | Opening, Strategy
Bobby Fischer popularized the g3 system for White and GM Eugene Perelshteyn shows you how to get the superior pawn structure vs one of the popular setups for Black. Notice how easily White obtains an edge and proceeds to methodically outplay an experienced GM. Remember, it’s all about good vs bad trades while keeping your extra passed pawn!
Wednesday, June 26
FM Dennis Monokroussos – A Short Lesson in Statics and Dynamics | Tactics
Nigel Short is a great specialist in the Tartakower Queen’s Gambit with the black pieces, and if you’re under the impression that it’s a dull opening this game will quickly reveal the opposite. Miguel Illescas – himself a very strong GM – thinks he can stay in positional mode, hoping to grind away at Black’s queenside. Black had some static weaknesses on the side of the board, and if Short played slowly he would have suffered. So, he didn’t! Instead, he went into active mode, offering a couple of pawn sacs, and then White’s pieces, which were placed sensibly for a long, slow, static game, were suddenly revealed to be badly misplaced in the context of the new, dynamic situation that resulted. Short headed straight for the attack, and Illescas was crushed in attractive style.
Thursday, June 26
GM Leonid Kritz – Candidates 2020: Yet Another Crazy Najdorf | Tactics
Just another insanely wild game in the Najdorf that has little to do with “normal” chess. It looked like White spent too much time to prepare g4 (Rg1-Be2 etc.), but eventually he started crashing into Black’s position thanks to extra-ordinary tactics. Black, for his part, reacted quite calmly, and the game ended in an unexpected draw. My main question is, did both players prepare all this at home?!
Friday, June 26
GM Robert Hungaski – Catch White Off Guard in the Advance French | Strategy
The Advance Variation against the French has always been underrated in my opinion. Just like in the Tarrasch, White avoids being inflicted with any structural damage and seizes the opportunity to gain space in the center, while securing the potential for a kingside attack, as the pawn on e5 leaves Black unable to develop the knight to its natural defensive post on f6). I will be advocating a sideline that will surely catch White off-guard since many of the arising structures used to be considered very good for White, but a lot of these evaluations have not withstood the scrutiny of modern engines. Let’s take a look…