Monday, April 2
IM Bill Paschall – Disdain or Material Gain? | Opening, Strategy
Grandmaster Areshchenko uses a new idea in the trendy and critical Advance variation with 4.Nf3 against the Caro-Kann. Facing Mamedyarov’s favorite 6…Bb4, White turns the position into something like a Slav Defense. White passes on the chance to win an exchange and gives a master class on the power of the two bishops playing on both sides of the board. Black struggled to coordinate and develop due to his inability to castle.
Tuesday, April 3
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Semi-Bluff Attacking | Tactics
Alexander Morozevich has been one of the most creative super-GMs over the past two decades, and in this win over former FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov that creativity is on full display. Ideas with g4 have been around for a long time, and in this game Morozevich found a fresh setting for the idea. Was it sound? Not really, but it was dangerous enough to try it once, even against a great opponent. All it took was one natural, subtle error, and Morozevich’s attack went from speculative and unsound to overwhelming – thanks to his continued creative play. If Morozevich prepared the idea at home, he might have rejected it based on the engine’s evaluation. But it’s important to think practically: sometimes it’s right to roll the dice in a single game, trusting that if the path to safety requires a lot of unobvious only-moves, it’s unlikely that the opponent will figure it all out at the board.
Wednesday, April 4
GM Nadya Kosintseva – When is a Sacrifice Justified?
This video discusses three examples that provide good background on when a decision to sacrifice material is well justified. The first example demonstrates how a sacrifice can be used when the opponent’s king is weak. Two other examples show more of a positional sacrifice type from ex-world champions Petrosian and Karpov, players known for their outstanding strategic understanding. It is important to understand, that often material is sacrificed with the goal to get some long-term compensation, either in form of strategic aspects or direct tactical opportunities.
Thursday, April 5
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Best of the PROChess League 2018: Awonder On the War Path with 4/4 vs Montreal | Tactics, Opening, Strategy
How do you play against the Modern if you love to attack? Awonder shows you how to win with direct attack! Push your h-pawn, castle queenside, sacrifice a piece and checkmate!
Friday, April 6
GM Bryan Smith – The Battle of the Long Diagonals | Strategy
Whose apparently dangerous pressure on the long diagonal will turn out to be more relevant? In this instructive and exciting game, Black wages a fierce battle to tear open the long diagonal leading to the white king.