All Things Chess

Monday, February 19
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Attacking the Q-Side Castled King in the Jobava Attack | Opening
It is not often that you get to attack the opponent’s king when both sides castle queenside. Yet, in this game GM Perelshteyn finds a creative way to start the attack. The key elements are: half-open c-file and the b8-h2 diagonal for the bishop. However, things are not that simple and White needs to calculate an interesting sacrifice on every move! Can you find the main ideas? Can you finish off Black with the beautiful combination?

Tuesday, February 19
IM Bill Paschall – The Genius of Leonid Stein, Part 1 | Middlegame, Tactics
Grandmaster Leonid Stein was one of the strongest players of his generation. He was brilliant in attack, and had a flair for spectacular and overwhelming play. His career was cut short due to illness, and he joins Pillsbury, Charousek,and Schlechter as a potential World Championship contender who left the chess world far too soon. Who knows what he might have been capable of had he lived on. Because of his relatively short career, he is less well known than the other top players of his era. In this series we will see some of his most brilliant games.

Wednesday, February 19
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Puncturing the Pirc | Tactics
Chinese super-GM Wei Yi tends to play very aggressively with White, and this rapid game with Tigran Petrosian is no exception. He went for the Austrian Attack with an early e5 against the Pirc, a line that used to be considered harmless against a well-prepared opponent. No longer! Black has a critical decision to make on move 8(!), and while Petrosian’s choice is the second most popular move in the position and has been played more than 160 times, it doesn’t look like a move that will stand the test of time. The young Chinese player was soon winning, and although he got a little careless in prosecuting his attack at the end, Petrosian missed his chance and was quickly mated. An exciting and interesting game, and a theoretically important one as well.

Thursday, February 20
GM Leonid Kritz – A Magnus Masterclass: Playing the Spanish as Black – As Taught to a 16-Year-Old GM | Strategy
Young Alireza Firouzja, playing with white, started the game rather slowly – 4.d3 shows that he wanted to avoid theoretical complications – but eventually opened up his position and was outplayed by the master of the strategic game. Carlsen combined active play on the queen side with timely activation of his only passive piece – the darksquared bishop – and with perfect timing, he knew when to open up the position to create most trouble for his opponent. Overall another great example of strategic play by the world champion.

Friday, February 21 | Strategy
GM Robert Hungaski – Blunting the Catalan Bishop, Part 3 | Strategy
In this video I will talk about what has become far and wide the main line against the Catalan. That is 4…Bb4+. The point of this move is to lure the white bishop to d2 and then retreat our bishop back to e7. Thus, we will arrive at a typical “Closed Catalan” type of position, where White will not have the harmonious development with Nbd2 and Bb2. Moreover, I will explore a very particular way of playing this variation, championed by Polish GM and Anand’s second, Gregorz Gajewski.

Monday, January 27
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Petrosian Gives a Lesson to the Young Kasparov on Defense! | Opening, Strategy
It is not often that the attacking genius Garry Kasparov is stumped. Yet, this is exactly what happens to him in this game vs. the former World Champ, Tigran Petrosian. Petrosian plays a series of incredible defensive moves to change the course of the game in his favor. Can you find it? Hint: think outside the box!

Tuesday, January 28
IM Bill Paschall – Paul Keres Hidden Gems, Part 3 | Middlegame
Tigran Petrosian – a young future World Champion – is tested by top notch opposition for the first time in this Soviet Championship. This is a creative and impressive attacking game very typical of Keres at his peak. Petrosian fails to handle an unusual line in the King’s Indian Defense. A very instructive attack by Keres against a weakened young Petrosian who lost 5/5 to start this event !

Wednesday, January 29
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Another Masterpiece from the Carlsen Assembly Line | Tactics
When Magnus Carlsen plays “ordinary” grandmasters (or in this case, “mere” 2500s), he often makes them look like rank amateurs. His opponent in round 1 of the 2019 World Rapid Championship, Azamat Utegaliyev, seemed guilty of nothing worse than an inaccuracy on move 8, and the next thing he knew, he was lost. Carlsen prevented him from castling, opened the center, and won quickly and powerfully (though not quite perfectly). It’s an impressive and instructive game, and as with many of Bobby Fischer’s best games, you’ll marvel at how easy he makes it look. Alas…

Thursday, January 30
GM Leonid Kritz – Take Care When Defending Against the Quiet Italian Game! | Opening, Strategy
The Italian opening, played very often nowadays instead of the Spanish, seems very simple, but in reality requires a lot of attention from the black player. White does not put too much pressure on the position of black, but if Black does not take care then he can get in strategic troubles very quickly, and this game is one of those examples.

Friday, January 31
GM Robert Hungaski – Blunting the Catalan Bishop, Part 1 | Strategy
The Catalan is not just an incredibly popular opening at the moment, it is also a great tool for us to continue weaving topics of general strategy with the building of an opening repertoire. Just as we previously associated the Exchange Caro-Kann with the principle of the Sheltered Knight, now we will try to see ways in which we may blunt the Fianchettoed Bishop. Therefore, this series will focus on the Closed Catalan (when Black refrains from playing …dxc4).

In this first part we’ll look at Kovalyov’s attempt at shutting down the g2-bishop by means of 9…Na6!?

Monday, January 20
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Gelfand Gives a Lesson on Endgame Pawn Weaknesses | Strategy, Endgame
It’s not often that you see a SuperGM lose in such an instructive game. Yet, this is exactly how Chucky (Ivanchuk) gets schooled by Gelfand. Gelfand induces a tiny pawn weakness, which looks insignificant at first. Yet, with every trade we get to see his deep strategic idea come alive – the winning K+N endame! Who does he credit with this deep understanding of the game? Of couse, the classical games of Rubinstein! The lesson is quite clear: study your classics kids!

Tuesday, January 21
IM Bill Paschall – Paul Keres Hidden Gems, Part 2 | Middlegame, Endgame
Paul Keres is a chess icon for many reasons. He was famously one of the greatest players of all time not to become World Champion. His ability to attack was legendary, and his versatility playing with White particularly 1.e4 1.d4 and even 1.c4 made him difficult for even the strongest players to deal with. It seems that perhaps his greatest asset was his “universal” style. In this game we see not so much his menacing tactics, but a more or less perfect positional game from beginning to endgame. This game could have been played just as well by Rubinstein or Petrosian. Clearly Keres was not just a great tactician.

Wednesday, January 22
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Brilliancy Everywhere – Tactics
I had never heard of Vitaly Bernadskiy, and I’m guessing you probably hadn’t either, but wow! After this game, that should change. His opponent, fellow grandmaster Marc Narciso Dublan, didn’t seem to do anything too terribly wrong when he played 18.Nh1, aimed against the plan of …h4-h3, but with a series of spectacular sacrifices Dublan – and all of us – learned that this was not the case. Watch, and enjoy the ride.

Thursday, January 23
GM Leonid Kritz – Pawns Don’t Move Backwards, Part 3 – Strategy
A typical example of how moving forwards with the pawns and trying to capture short-term initiative can cost in the long-term because the squares that are being weakened by the pawn moves will remain weak for the rest of the game. In this game it was the square c5 that played the crucial role. Great demonstration of how to use strategic weaknesses in your opponent’s position.

Friday, January 24
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Meet the English with 1…e5 – Part 2 | Strategy
This is the second of two lectures in which we consider a pretty popular variation of the English system that arises after 1.c4 e5. Choosing this move order White, on one hand, avoids some classical variations that Black could play in the case of 1.d4 but, on the other hand, allows Black to take the center sooner. We will consider two different set-ups: one when White brings his light-squared bishop to the long diagonal playing g3 and another one when White keeps his bishop on the f1-a6 diagonal playing e3. Depending on White’s development, Black picks his plan: he either pushes one more pawn to the middle, playing d5 (which is typical for g3-Bg2 lines), or instead postpones pawn play and first brings his dark-squared bishop to b4 to attack White’s c3-knight. In many cases the positions that arise in this variation resemble the Sicilian pawn structures where White plays as though Black and vice versa. The game can be pretty dynamic compared to the closed positions with 1.d4 but not so concrete as we can see in the 1.e4 openings. As for me, 1.c4 e5 is the best move order from Black’s point of view to allow him to fight for the initiative from the beginning of the game.

Monday, January 13
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Masterful Endgame Technique from Rubinstein to Induce Weaknesses! | Endgame, Strategy
Take a step back into 1912 and follow the Polish genius, the great Akiba Rubinstein. While he never became the World Champ, his games and results impress us to this day! The endgame play he demonstrates is simply superb, and all modern engines agree with his unusual bishop move. The rest is just a masterpiece of inducing weaknesses, taking over space advantage, maximizing each piece to the fullest. He makes it look easy!

Tuesday, January 13
IM Bill Paschall – Paul Keres Hidden Gems, Part 1 | Middlegame
Part one is a lesser known game in the first round of the Olympiad pitting Keres against a strong master. Paul plays according to Petrosian’s system and also follows a previous game he had with the Yugoslav Grandmaster Matanovic. By modern standards, this is not a perfect game, but a good illustration of the danger of facing Keres. His style mixes positional play with incredible tactical vision. In the opening he was equally capable of Queen’s pawn or King’s pawn games but typically focused on an attack against the enemy king. In this battle, he capitalizes on a sacrifice to strip the opponent’s king of defense.

Wednesday, January 13
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Persistent Prophylaxis | Tactics
In the Saemisch Nimzo-Indian, one of White’s main plans is to achieve the e4 advance, and to then use the extra space in the center to drum up a kingside attack. In this classic game from the famous Moscow 1935 tournament, Andor Lilienthal tried and tried and tried to set up the e3-e4 pawn break, and Viacheslav Ragozin just as doggedly denied him that break. While White had an advantage anyway, he was unable to cope with his inability to achieve that break, and when Ragozin put a stop to it once and for all with a practical exchange sac (and then a second exchange sac to boot), Lilienthal was gradually outwitted in the ensuing complications. An imperfect game, but an instructive, titanic struggle.

Thursday, January 13
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Meet the English with 1…e5 – Part 1 | Strategy
In the course of the two lectures we will consider a pretty popular variation of the English system that arises after 1.c4 e5. Choosing this move order White, on one hand, avoids some classical variations that Black could play in the case of 1.d4 but, on the other hand, allows Black to take the center sooner. We will consider two different set-ups: one when White brings his light-squared bishop to the long diagonal playing g3 and another one when White keeps his bishop on the f1-a6 diagonal playing e3. Depending on White’s development, Black picks his plan: he either pushes one more pawn to the middle, playing d5 (which is typical for g3-Bg2 lines), or instead postpones pawn play and first brings his dark-squared bishop to b4 to attack White’s c3-knight. In many cases the positions that arise in this variation resemble the Sicilian pawn structures where White plays as though Black and vice versa. The game can be pretty dynamic compared to the closed positions with 1.d4 but not so concrete as we can see in the 1.e4 openings. As for me, 1.c4 e5 is the best move order from Black’s point of view to allow him to fight for the initiative from the beginning of the game.

Friday, January 13
GM Robert Hungaski – Playing the Exchange Caro-Kann, Part 2 | Strategy
In this video we will move on to what has become far and wide the modern main line. Black has begun to play 5…Qc7 almost exclusively. With this move, Black prevents our bishop from being developed to f4 and also prepares the exchange for light-squared bishops by means of …g7-g6 followed by …Bf5.

White has been having a hard time cracking Black’s idea, but in this game I will show you a novel approach that America’s newest star, Jeffery Xiong, played against me last year.

Monday, January 6
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Young Indian GM Gukesh Dominates in the Reversed Benoni! | Opening, Strategy, Tactics
We have seen a number of quite talented kids come up from India. Yet, Gukesh is something special. At only 12 he already has a deep positional feel akin to Rubinstein & Petrosian. Watch and learn how he sacrifices a pawn for longterm compensation vs. a solid French GM – and then proceeds to outplay him with subtle maneuvering. It is unclear where Black went wrong! Is this a young Karpov or Carlsen in the making?

Tuesday, January 7
IM Bill Paschall – Playing Dynamically with Opposite Colored Bishops | Opening, Strategy
Most chess amateurs understand that opposite colored bishops are well known for their “drawish” nature in endgames. This is the case if only the bishops remain, but it is certainly not true if other pieces remain on the board. In the following game, IM Paschall prepared a pawn sacrifice in the opening which was based on the concept that opposite colored bishops can create serious chances for counter-play on one color complex. In the following game even some weaker masters could be forgiven for not fully appreciating Black’s compensation! To the uninitiated it looks as if Black is simply down a pawn and with less space! The presence of opposite colored bishops increases the dynamism of the given position. Material is not as important in this sort of situation and one pawn is often insignificant.

Wednesday, January 8
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Blinding Tactics in the Poisoned Pawn | Tactics
Especially in his early career, Mikhail Tal’s chess was explosive in its energy, and few players could withstand the tension. In this game from the last round of the 1956 USSR Championship, Alexander Tolush – a strong GM in his own right – discovered this to his downfall (as he would three more times in his career, going 0 for 4 against the Rigan magician). Tal throws everything at Tolush, including the kitchen sink, and does it with such style and imagination that even a great attacker like Tolush was unable to cope. Note: This game was covered on ChessLecture a decade or so ago, but the game is so rich – and the improvement of chess engines so great – that a fresh look is merited. Have a look and see for yourself!

Thursday, January 9
GM Leonid Kritz – Don’t Stop Halfway! | Tactics
What looked like a pawn sacrifice for White turned out to be a pawn win. But only because Black was not brave enough to follow through with the main line and give up an Exchange in return for keeping a strong pawn on b2. The moral of the story is that if you start taking on risk, you should not stop halfway, but be brave enough to go until the end; otherwise it’s always a disaster.

Friday, January 10
GM Robert Hungaski – Playing the Exchange Caro-Kann, Part 1 | Strategy
In this video I will continue the discussion that began when I addressed the strategic theme of the Sheltered Knight. On that occasion I used the Exchange Caro-Kann as a jumping off point. This time around the focus will be on the opening itself.

I will begin by discussing the classical main line where Black plays 5…Nf6 followed by 6…Bg4 7.Qb3. Here Black has two main choices to defend the b7-pawn. He can play 7…Qd7 or 7…Qc8. The latter is the more ambitious (and riskier) move and will be the topic of the current video. Black’s idea is to play a quick …Bh5-g6 and trade off the light-squared bishops. After this trade White’s attacking prospects on the kingside will drastically diminish. So the question is, can White do anything about it?

Monday, December 30
Bill Paschall – The Challenge of Beating Your Own System | Opening, Strategy, Endgame
There are several challenges to facing your own favorite opening system. Firstly, we are used to looking at these positions from the other perspective. Perhaps more importantly, at the highest levels, it is critical not to give away good ideas as ammunition against your own defensive systems. In this encounter, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who is the heir apparent to the Najdorf “throne”, must face his own weapon. Kasparov has retired from chess and Boris Gelfand has moved away from the Najdorf leaving Vachier in charge of defending the most premium of Sicilian Defenses. Presumably, Maxime doesn’t want to give any ideas away in his favorite opening, so he invents a rather unique way of playing with White. The game features White’s focus on the pivotal d5 weak point, as well as a quite instructive endgame.

Tuesday, December 31
FM Dennis Monokroussos – New Ideas in the Moscow Sicilian from Magnus Carlsen | Tactics
The anti-Sicilian line 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ used to be a minor line, not considered anywhere nearly as dangerous as the related Rossolimo (3.Bb5 against 2…Nc6). But new ideas have been cropping up, and in today’s game vs. Ian Nepomniachtchi we see Magnus Carlsen demonstrating one such new idea. With well-timed opening play Carlsen rapidly whips up a strong queenside initiative, and by move 14 already enjoys a clear advantage, which he went on to convert into a full point with his characteristic excellence. It looks like a dangerous line, so players who could be on either side of the variation should know about the new plan. Besides that, the game is worth seeing for Carlsen’s terrific technique. Sicilian players, beware!

Wednesday, January 1
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Crushing Attack in 2…a6 Closed Sicilian! | Opening
If you love to play the Grand Prix attack, how do you handle the pesky 2…a6 in the Sicilian? Take a look at this amazing miniature where a young Chinese GM crushes a top Russian junior, Artemiev, with an odd-looking opening plan: Nh3!? Why would you develop a knight to the side of the board? Watch the video to discover the hidden ideas and crush 2…a6 once and for all!

Thursday, January 2
GM Leonid Kritz – MVL Attempts to Prove That 2+2=5 | Strategy
It’s a rare occasion today when White decides to go into the Spanish instead of the Italian. Black chooses a line where White has some theoretical chances to get an advantage after the opening. However, instead of choosing the principled line 10.a5, White goes into the old, known but unpromising variation and Black shows one more time that there is nothing to catch there!

Friday, January 3
GM Nadya Kosintseva – An Irregular Regular Dragon | Strategy
In this lecture we will consider a pretty unusual line of the Sicilian Dragon move order. The regular Dragon occurs after the following moves: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6. Then, the most principled continuation for White is linked to queen side castling: 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0. As in many other Sicilians, White brings the king to the side opposite of it’s Black counterpart in order to start a pawn storm sooner. For Black, it can be typical to counter play on the queen side. The most popular way to start such counter play is 10…Rc8. However we will consider another rook move – 10…Rb8 with the intention to push the “b”-pawn. The following variations seem to be extremely sharp and lead to a very complicated for both sides position, with an unpredictable outcome.

Monday, December 23
IM Bill Paschall – Realizing Latent Potential | Opening, Strategy
In every opening stage of each game there are trade offs of various advantages and strategic concepts. In this game, a Closed English – essentially a Reversed Rossolimo Sicilian – Black gives up his bishop for a knight and allows White to bring a pawn closer to the center for the sake of quick development. In many cases, the opponent cannot realize these latent or long term “advantages.” In this game from the 2019 Grand Prix, however, White was able to ideally use his bishop pair and realize the power if the central pawn preponderance.

Tuesday, December 23
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Spiderman vs. the Sicilian | Strategy
Mickey Adams (sometimes nicknamed “Spiderman”, in honor of his style of catching players in a slow-developing web) often plays secondary lines against the Sicilian, and has done so with great success throughout his illustrious career. It worked once again in today’s game, which (as of August 2019) made him the British Chess Champion for the 7th time. After 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7, the usual line for White is 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 a6 6.Bxd7+, but Adams played the odd-looking 4.Ba4. It has its logic, and has been played by other stars like MVL and Nakamura. We’ll have a look at some of the options for Black, and then enjoy how logically and powerfully Adams handled the position with a closed center – a kind of structure most amateurs have a difficult time navigating.

Wednesday, December 23
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Destroy the Solid Hedgedog with this London Attack Miniature! | Opening
It’s not often that you see a top 10 player lose in under 25 moves – the definition of a “miniature” in chess. Yet, this is exactly what happened to Giri in this game vs. Aronian. Giri used a solid Hedgehog structure vs. the London System and had a safe king … or so he thought! Aronian’s idea of provoking h6 with Ng5! is simply remarkable and can be used almost in any opening with the same setup. What follows is a swift attack with sacrifices! Can you find the killer blow?

Thursday, December 23
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Facing the Paulsen Sicilian as White, Part 3 | Strategy
In this third and final part, we will consider the variations that arise after 5…Bc5 6.Nb3 Be7. Black moved the bishop twice but at the same time it forced White’s d4-knight to leave the center and go toward the corner b3-sqaure. The key idea to remember for White is 7.Qg4 targeting the g7 point. It allows him either to provoke a weakening in front of the black king if he pushes the pawn or force the dark-squared bishop to f6 and so weaken the d6-point. In both cases White can get tactical and strategic benefits targeting the right squares.

Friday, December 23
GM Robert Hungaski – A Classical Repertoire vs 1.e4: Facing the Italian Game, Update #1 | Strategy
In this update I will discuss the Na3-c2 maneuver in the Italian. The point is to trade off the dark-squared bishops and place the knight on the strong e3-square. Moreover, there is an underlying theme that is paramount to the understanding of the Italian structures in general. Following the doubling of Black’s pawns on e6, is this change in the structure good for White or Black? Will Black’s kingside initiative outweigh White’s better structure? Hopefully after viewing this video you will get a little bit closer to answering this question.

Monday, November 16
IM Bill Paschall – Nakamura’s Modern Take on Larsen | Opening, Strategy
The greatest modern exponent of Nimzovich is considered by many chess scholars to be the late Danish super-GM Bent Larsen. The theory in the opening of this game is already fairly well established, but Hikaru adds a new Larsenian dimension with the hyper-aggressive g5 idea for Black. Black’s hippopotamus-like bishops and King’s Indian style pawn storm potential made this the perfect attacking scenario for Nakamura. Black uses every tactical and positional idea in his arsenal and never allows White to even complete his development!

Tuesday, November 17
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Tricky Aronian Catches Karjakin | Strategy, Tactics
If you’re following top-level chess, you can’t have missed the ubiquity of the Giuoco Piano the past few years. Most of the attention has gone to lines without a quick d4, but there is one exception. The line starting 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.Bb5 Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb6 is a big deal these days, and Levon Aronian has been leading the charge. In today’s game, a win of his over 1…e5 stalwart Sergey Karjakin, we take the opportunity to catch up on the theory while also enjoying a nice little tactical battle between the two super-GMs. Aronian is a tricky player, and on this occasion he outfoxed his opponent and won a cute battle. Come for the game, stay for the theory (or vice-versa)!

Wednesday, November 18
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Fresh Idea from Nepo in the Dragon! | Opening
The Dragon slayer is back, Russian super-GM Ian Nepomniachtchi – aka Nepo – shows off a fresh idea and delivers mate to a top Azeri blitz specialist, Rauf Mamedov. How did he do it? Well, with a novel approach that looks too good to be true. Trade dark square bishops, open the h-file and checkmate Black. Yet, GM Perelshteyn finds a spectacular defensive idea for Black to trap White’s queen. Can you find it? Mamedov missed it and ended up on the losing end of White’s flashy attack!

Thursday, November 19
GM Leonid Kritz – A Stubborn Defense, on the Verge of Success, Suffers a Surprising Calamity! | Strategy
Although it looked like White was exercising pressure all the time, Black managed to solve most of his problems and was very close to full equalization. However, a nice trick at the very end destroyed all his efforts. Overall an interesting strategic game and a good example on how to defend slightly worse positions.

Friday, November 20
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Play the Paulsen Sicilian as White, Part 2 | Strategy
We continue learning the Paulsen Sicilian with Black’s e6-a6 when White brings his light-squared bishop to d3. In this second part we will go over the lines with 5…Bc5 6.Nb3 Ba7. It’s not typical for the Sicilian Defense to have the bishop on the g1-a7 diagonal; however it can give Black some attacking resources against the f2-pawn. The main strategic idea for White is to trade the dark-squared bishops in order to stress the weakening of the dark-squares. What’s also important, White can castle both sides and chose to play mainly either in the center or against the enemy king.

Monday, December 9
IM Bill Paschall – Highlights from the 2019 European Team Championship, Part 3 | Middlegame
White faces a difficult task to gain an advantage with the Spanish Opening in many critical lines. Nisipeanu, being something of a specialist in side variations, chooses the relatively “harmless” Bogolubov system with 9.d4 instead of the main line. What follows is anything but harmless as “Nisi” first sacrifices a pawn with the wonderful strategic long term idea of a4 without recapturing. He follows up his initial pawn sac with a continued series of pawn sacrifices and eventually a piece sacrifice in a position where his opponent is restricted, basically playing on two ranks. The entire conception shows us a player with a very deep understanding of the game. Vitiugov is reduced to complete passivity and White’s coordinated attack on the Black king is irresistible.

Tuesday, December 10
FM Dennis Monokroussos – A Bad New Idea in the Catalan | Tactics
Israeli Tamir Nabaty is a very strong GM (2658 as of the game we’re reviewing here), and one expects strong play and great preparation from a player of this caliber. It didn’t happen this time, but his opponent, Greek GM Stelios Halkias deserves at least equal credit for the massacre. Nabaty uncorked a very risky idea against the Catalan, creating weaknesses and offering a pawn for play. Perhaps he would have found what he was looking for had Halkias accepted the offer, but he didn’t, and soon offered an even better sacrifice of his own. It could hardly have gone any better for Halkias if it had been his own novelty rather than Nabaty’s! It’s a very impressive game by Halkias, and I suppose it’s a theoretically significant game as well, though more as an instance of what not to do against the Catalan.

Wednesday, December 11
GM Leonid Kritz – More on How to Win Out of Nowhere | Tactics
On first sight the position after the opening was supposed to be boring, and indeed it would be if Black’s understanding of what to do would not be significantly better. Using small strategic nuances and slightly better calculation, Grischuk wins this game in a very simple way, although it was difficult to predict.

Thursday, December 12
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Facing the Paulsen Sicilian as White, Part 1 | Strategy
In this series of three lectures I will present how to play against the Paulsen Variation of the Sicilian Defense, which starts with the following moves: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6. In choosing this move order, Black avoids Bb5-Sicilians and also does not allow White to bring his knight to b5 followed by Nd6, as can happen in some systems. For White, I recommend to keep the queen side knight on b1 for a while and consider 5.Bd3-line instead. In doing so, White blocks the d-file but potentially can get more power for his light-squared bishop in the case he can push the e4 pawn forward. In the first part, we will consider 5…Nc6, 5…d5 and 5…Nf6 followed by 6.0-0 e5 variations to demonstrate tactical opportunities for White.

Friday, December 13
GM Robert Hungaski – A Classical Repertoire vs 1.e4: Steinitz Defense vs the Ruy Lopez, Update #1 | Strategy
As the year is winding down, I take a step back to look at the games I have played throughout the year to see if any interesting patterns jump out at me. One that caught my eye was my increasing reliance oo the Steinitz Variation against the Ruy Lopez. The reason for this is that the move 3.Bb5 has taken a serious hit in favor of the Scotch and Italian. White has been developing some sharp and practical new ideas in these openings, which have eclipsed the Spanish’s slow-burn approach.

Since I spend most of my time scratching my head trying to figure out what to do against these two lines, I find that doing the maintenance on the Ruy Lopez mainlines would be a misuse of my time. Instead, being able to throw White off balance as quickly as possible (move 3!) and with such a reliable line, has made it too good to pass up. As Abe Turner said about Salo Flohr (his favorite player), the Steinitz remains “simple,safe and sound.”

Monday, December 2
IM Bill Paschall – Highlights from the 2019 European Team Championship, Part 2 | Middlegame
The young rising star Danil Dubov is known for his creativity and energy in attack. In this battle from the European Team Championship he is paired with one of the most correct and solid young Grand Masters of the new generation, Rasmus Svane. Svane must play solidly and also look to cash in if Dubov gambles too much. It’s a match which draws obvious comparisons to Tal vs Botvinnik. The battle itself doesn’t disappoint, with incredible ups and downs and a beautiful finishing theme.

Tuesday, December 3
IM Dennis Monokroussos – Who’s Tricking Whom? | Tactics
Levon Aronian is known as a real trickster, always looking for devious tactical opportunities to sucker his poor, unsuspecting opponents. You wouldn’t think this could happen against his fellow super-elite GMs, but it does. Case in point, his victory over Wesley So in their rapid game from the Grand Chess Tour event in Bucharest in November of 2019. Wesley So had an advantage on the white side of a Giuoco Piano, and thought he found a neat way to win at least a pawn. And he was right: he did win at least a pawn – a full exchange, as it turned out, at the end of a complicated combination that went at least eight moves, maybe even longer. The problem was that he didn’t accurately assess the final position. Although Aronian lacked any obvious and immediate threats and So’s position seemed relatively stable, Black was in fact winning. The game ended quickly, and the sad irony for So was that it was all his own doing: he took the bait, and perished from the meal. Have a look: the idea was attractive and ingenious, and more importantly, learn the lesson: it’s not enough to calculate the variations accurately; the final positions must also be accurately assessed.

Wednesday, December 4
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Win as White with Classic Sicilian Pawn Majority | Opening, Middlegame
When you face the Sicilian Defense you have to understand the classic pawn majority that happens after White plays Nd5 and exd5. What are the plans for both sides? How does White break through on the queenside? Watch this game and find out! Black makes only one mistake but it’s enough to find himself in a strategically lost position! However, he finds some counterplay only to be surprised by a timely sacrifice! Can you spot it?

Thursday, December 5
GM Leonid Kritz – McShane’s Strategic Gem | Strategy
Brilliant strategic game from McShane! It looked like an equal position after the opening, but with the 11.Nd5 trick, White managed to get a clearly better strategic position. Later on, White locked the black bishop on h8 by sacrificing a pawn, and showed the optimal way to convert his positional advantage.

Friday, December 6
GM Robert Hungaski – Queen’s Gambit Accepted: A Simple System for Black, Update #3 | Strategy