Monday, August 6
IM Bill Paschall – Botvinnik’s Best Strategic Victories, Part 3 | Strategy, Middlegame
Botvinnik demonstrates in this game some of his classic ideas about strategy. Firstly, we see him allowing the doubled pawns , something he used regularly to great effect. Also notable is his affinity for the bishop pair, which was of paramount importance in this game. The most striking idea from the battle in question is his key positional exchange sacrifice with …Rd4!, which effectively negated White’s initiative. Although hardly a perfect game under the microscope of a modern computer, Botvinnik’s creativity and adherence to his principles is quite instructive.
Tuesday, August 7
FM Dennis Monokroussos – The Joy of Creativity | Tactics
Few players in modern chess history are as stylistically distinct as Mr. Fire on Board, Alexei Shirov. In this game we see one of his most jaw-droppingly brilliant ideas – and the point is just as shocking as the move itself. I won’t give any hints about the move, but that the idea is to produce a minutely better ending than he could achieve by routine moves is amazing. Watch, and I hope you’ll be as thrilled as I was when I first saw this game and the star move.
Wednesday, August 8
GM Leonid Kritz – What Opening Is It?! | Opening, Strategy
A very unusual way to play against Sicilian was demonstrated by Harikrishna in this game. After an obviously sub-optimal opening line, White still got a playable position due to mistakes that Black made. Later on, a very important strategic plan for this pawn structure was shown – how to play on the c-file. For those who play this type of position with either white or black, this game is very instructive.
Thursday, August 9
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Instructive Way to Advantage in the Symmetrical English | Opening, Strategy, Tactics
Friday, August 10
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – I Try to Play Like Tal – But Lose! | Opening, Strategy
Have you ever played a brilliant sacrifice only to find out that it doesn’t work? Well, GMs do it too. In this game, GM Perelshteyn intuitively feels like he has to sac a piece but the logical move is refuted with cold-blooded defense! Instead, there’s a hidden sacrifice still present in the position. Can you find it?