Dawn Novarina

Monday, December 19  IM Valeri Lilov Getting the Space Advantage (middlegame)
Getting the space advantage is known to be the highest priority and most important task in every opening or middlegame. How to acquire a strong space advantage brings up an important theme to learn from this lecture!

Tuesday, December 20  IM Bill Paschall European Club Cup Part 2 – Benoni Knightmare (opening, tactics)
White plays a not-so-surprise variation against Benoni that has long gone out of fashion. Lupulescu innovates with the novelty 13.Qc2 and simply loses time. It’s possible that he was inducing black to play play 13…Bf5, but this plan of Qd1 and Nh4 proves a costly waste of time for white. Black demonstrates incredibly the power of quick development and centralization. The sacrificial attack which follows is quite natural, given that the white king is trapped in the center. The finish features an original mating attack by GM Papp Gabor.

Wednesday, December 21  FM Dennis Monokroussos Facing One’s Favorite Opening (opening, strategy)
Nikita Vitiugov has written a couple of fine books on the French, and he is or at least was a consistent practitioner of that opening. So what does he do when he faces it? In this game we can see for ourselves, as he wins a model game against Michael Feygin.

Thursday, December 22  GM Eugene Perelshteyn When Two Knights Are Better Than Two Bishops (strategy, endgame)
We all know about the advantage of two bishops. But what about two knights? When are knights better than bishops? Watch as GM Perelshteyn explains the key factors that make the knights more powerful! Bonus: practice your endgame skills as well!

Friday, December 23  GM Bryan Smith Kramnik’s Irrepressible Tactics (tactics)
In this game, we see an example of Kramnik taking on the …Bf5 system against the King’s Indian Attack. He manages to create an attack that won’t go out.

Monday, December 12 IM Valeri Lilov How to Punish a Bad Opening (openings)
How to punish your opponent if he plays badly in the opening? IM Lilov tries to provide some good suggestions on how you can acquire the important qualities you need to get an advantage if the opponent makes the wrong opening moves.

Tuesday, December 13 IM Bill Paschall European Club Cup 2016 Part 1 – The London Strikes Again (strategy, tactics)
Grandmaster Romanov gives a powerful display of positional chess in the London System. Black makes several positional mistakes in the opening, including an early exchange on d4, releasing the tension too early, and later playing the weakening 16…g5, loosening his light squares. White breaks through via a sacrificial attack on move 24. This game features good play by white both strategically and later exploiting his advantage by tactical means.

Wednesday, December 14 FM Dennis Monokroussos The Not-So-Safe London System (openings, tactics)
In a way, this was one of the strangest games of the year. In late 2015 Sergey Karjakin showed how to handle the London System with Black, and in our main game, played at the start of 2016, he played the London with White, and was crushed by the same system he used in the earlier game! Of course Karjakin varied from the earlier game, but the change wasn’t for the better, and he was crushed. In this video I try to offer an overview of some of the most important ideas in one of the main Anti-London Systems, so that you can play either side of the opening with some degree of confidence.

Thursday, December 15 IM David Vigorito Going to the Well Once Too Often (opening, middlegame)
Facing my nemesis Alexander Ivanov for the sixty-something time, I go for a solid-looking line of the Najdorf that I had previous success with. The middlegame that arises was considered to be equal or just a sliver better for White, but this latest game shows that White has a bigger advantage than theory had considered.

Friday, December 16 GM Bryan Smith A Sharp Answer to the 4.Qc2 Nimzo-Indian, Part2 (tactics)
In this video, GM Smith shows one of his games where he met the 4.Qc2 Nimzo-Indian, and used the sharp but classical response 4…d5. This game will focus on White’s move 5.a3.

Monday, December 5 IM Valeri Lilov Attack in the Opening (strategy, openings)
Attacking in the opening is very tricky. Everyone wants to attack but what are the right features to setup an attack early on? Check IM Lilov’s videos to study more!

Tuesday, December 6 IM Bill Paschall Sharp Struggle at the Russian Superfinal
Grandmaster Tomashevsky deals with the Classical Variation of the Nimzo-Indian (4.Qc2) using a relatively new and successful system. Black plays an early b6 , allowing white to set up a strong pawn center, in order to counterattack with a quick c5. White’s play is non critical. The best line of attack seems to be the alternative, the sharp 6.e5 leading to complications. Bocharov’s quieter approach with 6.d5 gives black good counterplay along the e-file and seems to leave white slightly overextended. The game becomes insanely complicated later as both sides play sharply for the win. Tomashevsky finds an inventive queen sacrifice and Bocharov matches him blow for blow until mistepping in an objectively equal position.

Wednesday, December 7 FM Dennis Monokroussos A Wild Modern from the European Club Cup (opening, tactics)
Super-GM Dmitry Andreikin was a heavy favorite against Marco Baldauf in their game from the 2016 European Club Cup, and he did go on to win the game. Along the way there were many adventures, though, and while Baldauf didn’t make the most of his opportunities he did take advantage of enough of them to give his elite opponent a fright. It was an entertaining game, and an instructive one for those who play either side of the Modern or the King’s Indian.

Thursay, December 8 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Accelerated Dragon: Tricky Tactics in the Middlegame! (tactics, middlegame, endgame)
White makes some positional concessions early in the game, but what follows next is instructive tactical melee that requires both players to be extra accurate. The resulting endgame is easy to misplay. White’s knights get carried away with too much pawn grabbing, allowing Black to set up an elegant trap. Can you find it?

Friday, December 9 GM Bryan Smith Coffeehouse Chess, Part 5 (openings)
In the fifth video of “Coffeehouse Chess”, we see an old king hunt played between two famous study composers.

Monday, November 28 IM Valeri Lilov Pawn Structure in the Opening (opening, strategy)
Pawn structure is all that matters when it comes down to a successful opening. Setting up a better structure is always a challenge. Let IM Lilov teach you the keys to making a better pawn structure in the opening.

Tuesday, November 29 IM Bill Paschall Provocative Play in the Classical Pirc (opening, tactics)
Jakovenko turns to the classical variation against the Pirc defense. Black plays a very risky system involving an early nc6-e5, allowing the pawns to be doubled at e6 and e5. The game transforms into what is basically a King’s Indian, with Jakovenko maneuvering Na4 and playing 14.c4. White balances a queenside attack with timely kingside defense. Of special note is the beautiful plan of 21.Nb1 followed by the “river guarding” rook maneuver 22.Ra3. In the end, Black’s attack falls short, and his kingside is left weakened. Jakovenko picks up the pieces in a better endgame as well as a full point!

Wednesday, November 30 FM Dennis Monokroussos Kramnik Busts the Najdorf? (opening, endgame)
Vladimir Kramnik has avoided 1.e4 for most of his career, but whenever he plays any opening he ends up making a valuable contribution to theory. This game was no different, and his achievement is all the more impressive for coming against Boris Gelfand, who is not just an elite player but one of the all-time great Najdorf specialists. The whole game is noteworthy, culminating in an instructive opposite-colored bishop ending. As Kramnik very clearly shows, there are plenty of cases where they aren’t even drawish – something worth keeping in mind.

Thursday, December 1 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Instructive Battle in the English, Statics vs Dynamics – Grandmasters Blunder, Too  (strategy, tactics)
In this game White avoids main line KID to steer the game into the English, or Closed-Sicilian with reversed colors. Watch and learn how Statics and Dynamics play a vital role for choosing White’s moves and notice the shift in strategy once White has won the positional battle and left Black with a poor pawn structure. A nice bonus: can you spot the tactics that a strong GM missed at the end?

Friday, December 2 GM Bryan Smith Coffeehouse Chess, Part 4 (tactics)
In part 4 of his “Coffeehouse Chess” series, GM Bryan Smith covers an epic battle from 1924 between David Janowski and Edward Lasker, where a queen sacrifice leads to a really fantastic and unusual position.

Monday, November 21 IM Valeri Lilov What is Key to Initiative (middlegame)
Initiative is known to be the highest most important bit of attacking. How to acquire a strong attacking initiative brings up an important theme to learn from IM Lilov’s new lecture!

Tuesday, November 22 IM Bill Paschall Bundesliga Apocalypse
Grandmaster David Navara is known for his attacking play. In this game he imbalances the game early , giving up a bishop for knight to prevent his opponent from castling. Later, he sacrifices a rook for only 2 pawns and an attack against the opponents king. Black finds it very difficult to coordinate and his extra rook is out of play. The finish of the game is extraordinary, with Navara calculating a decisive king walk into his opponents’ territory , despite both queens still being on the board!

Wednesday, November 23 FM Dennis Monokroussos Dig a Deeper Hole (openings)
One of the first things we learn in studying positional play is to avoid holes, and with good reason. But as Bobby Fischer famously said, “you’ve gotta give squares to get squares”, and if one can create an even more worrisome hole in the opponent’s position by creating one of our own, then it’s worth it. Salov-Spassky is a great example, and even a great – a former world champion – failed to appreciate the danger.

Thursday, November 24 IM David Vigorito A Strong Novelty Turns the Tables in a Quiet Sideline (opening, endgame)
A few weeks before this game was played, Ivan Saric got ground down in an endgame that arises in a sideline of the King’s Indian. In this game he unleashes a wonderful novelty. Black sacrifices the exchange and opens up the game to any result. Note especially the use of Black’s rook pawns to squeeze White’s position on both sides of the board.

Friday, November 25 GM Bryan Smith Coffeehouse Chess, Part 3 (tactics)
In the third episode of “Coffeehouse Chess”, GM Bryan Smith explores a beautiful sacrificial attack by attacking legend Viktor Kupreichik.

Monday, November 14 IM Valeri Lilov Carlsen’s Ruy Lopez (openings)
Magnus Carlsen is one of the history’s most brilliant positional players. His ability to handle the opening structure and prepare a powerful piece domination have inspired many. Study IM Lilov’s new lecture to learn how to world reigning champion tackles the oldest chess opening with finesse!

Tuesday, November 15 IM Bill Paschall Bluffing Like Tal (opening, strategy)
The legendary World Champion Mikhail Tal was knows for his ability to bluff opponents with sacrifices nearly too complicated to calculate. His tradition has been carried on by fellow Latvian GM Alexei Shirov. In the following game, Shirov borrows the element of bluff , so typical of Tal’s style. On 2 occasions white offers the sacrifice of his c-pawn and then invites black to gain a tempo and space with his provocative move 17.Nh4, practically inviting the logical move 17..g5 from black. Shirov’s opponent, Harika, declines all 3 offers from Shirov and plays in an extremely passive and meek style. Harika should have accepted the first pawn sacrifice, and she even missed a miraculous chance to draw the game by force near the end. Perhaps the idea of active play was never on Black’s mind, who was intimidated by the aggressive style of Shirov.

Wednesday, November 16 FM Dennis Monokroussos The Makings of the Man: The Early Karjakin (opening, endgame)
With the World Championship upon us it makes sense to have a look at the participants in action. In this video we take a look at an impressive victory by a young (17-year-old) Karjakin over Alexander Grischuk, and even in this game from nine and a half years ago we see some of the virtues that have propelled him to a world championship match. His opening preparation was remarkably deep, and ability to fight and persevere was also noteworthy. In this game we don’t yet see him put his best foot forward in the endgame: some parts of it were played very well, but there were some inaccuracies and errors as well. But in the end he kept at it, and the final phase was handed magnificently.

Thursday, November 17 GM Bryan Smith Coffeehouse Chess, Part 2 (opening, tactics)
In part two of his series “Coffeehouse Chess”, GM Smith shows a creative, exciting, but also flawed encounter between two unique players from Georgia: Baduur Jobava and Tamas Gelashvili.

Friday, November 18 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Instructive Way To Meet Early Bb5+ in the Nf3,c3 Setup vs the Accelerated Dragon (opening, middlegame, endgame)
Pay attention to White’s opening play after the Bb5+! While …Nc6 is more popular Eugene believes that …Nd7! is better as it prevents White from damaging Black’s pawn structure with Bxc6 later on. Black was better prepared in the opening and could have won material with a nice tactic early on. Can you find it?

Monday, November 7 IM Valeri Lilov Build a Skeleton (middlegame)
Setting up the right pawn structure and backing it up with a good piece skeleton isn’t an easy task. In this lecture, IM Lilov will teach you how these two work perfectly together in the hands of the first world champion Wilhelm Steinitz!

Tuesday, November 8 IM Bill Paschall Giri Starts Hot at the Tal Memorial (middlegame)
Giri faces the super solid Gelfand, as black in a fianchetto King’s Indian. Black trades his strong point, the e5 pawn, for some freedom of movement, and then provokes Gelfand with Nc6-e7-f5. White plays well, albeit becoming slightly overextended with 13.g4, he reaches a better position, but blunders a crucial tempo with the mistaken 18.Qf4, Gelfand indeed becomes overextended and grabs a rather risky pawn on offer by Giri. White could have saved the game with perfect play, but collapses due to pressure on the board and the clock after a key Giri sacrifice. The entire concept of Giri’s advantage and sacrifice depended entirely on the power of centralization of the pieces.

Wednesday, November 9 FM Dennis Monokroussos Dvoretsky v Pohla (openings)
The famous author and trainer Mark Dvoretsky just passed away, and while his literary legacy will live on for a long time (and rightly so), his abilities as a competitive chess player are likely to get short shrift. So we’ll take a very small step towards remedying that with a look at a nice win from one of his tournament successes, an event in which he finished ahead of Mikhail Tal, among others. Dvoretsky won a good game, but it has to be admitted that it could have been even nicer, as Tal himself demonstrated. You’ll want to watch the video, if only for the Tal anecdote!

Thursday, November 10 GM Leonid Kritz Punishing a Passive Caro-Kann (strategy)
A game from the last round from the Olympiad where Bareev obviously was too focused on playing safe. This resulted in Caruana outplaying him in a typical, strategic way. This game is a very good example of how to play 3.e5 system against Caro-Kann and what to do if your opponent plays to slowly.

Friday, November 11 GM Bryan Smith Coffeehouse Chess, Part 1 (tactics)
The purpose of this series is to entertain you with wild, somewhat flawed but beautiful games. Through enjoyment, however, you can learn a lot. Part one covers the game F.Perez-J.Durao, a wild King’s Indian where the board becomes spectacularly lopsided.

Monday, October 31 IM Valeri Lilov Pawn Restriction (middlegame)
The restriction in chess is a key topic that everyone should master. How does it work and what are the important aspects of pawn play, when restraining our opponent? These are IM Lilov’s lessons in this lecture.

Tuesday, November 1 IM Bill Paschall Battles from Baku: Part 3 (opening, strategy)
The challenger of the upcoming World Championship match faces a player whose star has been rising in the chess world; Pentala Harikrishna. Pentala plays the Italian Game, which could become more popular for white due to the problems of having to face 3…Nf6 in the Spanish. The move order in the opening is a bit unusual with white playing a very early h3; something of an Indian GM specialty, black then playing the suspicious looking 8…a5. The move a5 restricts white on the queen-side, but seems long on negatives, as it seriously weakens the b5 square. White plays d4 in the center at an opportune moment and simple gains the advantage. In the end, the future challenger simply blundered, but his entire position was short on space and white had a strong king-side attack.

Wednesday, November 2 FM Dennis Monokroussos Technique and Tactics (endgame)
Now retired from tournament play, Judit Polgar was best known for her lively tactical style and for many brilliant attacking games. So to show her winning in an endgame might seem beside the point somehow, like attending a concert to see Yo-Yo Ma play the clarinet. It can’t be denied that her greatest fame will always be due to her middlegame prowess, but to oppose tactics and technique is a mistake: it’s just about impossible to have the latter without the former. Just how great a weapon tactical skill can be in the endgame is put on beautiful display in Polgar’s win over Bu Xiangzhi in the 2010 Olympiad. The game went 58 moves, but Polgar’s brilliant and deep idea way back on move 37 essentially finished the game.

Thursday, November 3 GM Leonid Kritz Theoretical Fight in the Open Spanish Game (strategy)
The Open Spanish is a pretty popular opening today. Many players play it with black not to just equalize, but to get potentially some chances to win. However, against Caruana it is a dangerous choice. In this game, White shows a couple of interesting ideas how to play against Open Spanish and gets an advantage right after the opening. The rest is straightforward – Caruana converts his solid advantage into a relatively easy point and shows his brilliant technique once again.

Friday, November 4 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Instructive Endgame Play: Domination (endgame, tactics, strategy)
Black plays into a forcing line in the Nimzo g3 that goes directly to the endgame. But is it a draw? Not quite, watch and learn how White manages to restrict his opponents pieces with precise play. Classic domination as Black runs out of moves and has to lose material!

Monday, October 24 IM Valeri Lilov Attacking Chess – Open Lines (middlegame)
Some of the greatest players in history proved how important it is to open lines in order to strengthen your attack. Watch IM Lilov’s new lecture to see how Garry Kasparov himself utilizes this concept to punish Vishy Anand in a great style!

Tuesday, October 25 IM Bill Paschall Battles from Baku Part 2 (strategy, tactics)
Kramnik plays a technical and safe type of variation with White, avoiding any sharp complications against a weaker Grandmaster. In the past he had played 10.Nc3 but makes the strange and harmless deviation with 10.c4, which goes unexploited by Vocaturo, who plays rather routinely. Kramnik goes into somewhat interesting complications with the deep and complex move 17.Be7 !? At first Kramnik sacrifices two pieces for rook, and eventually a piece for several pawns to cause serious problems in Black’s coordination. It seems that with perfect play black could hold on, but this would take a superhuman effort and Vocaturo collapses under the strain.

Wednesday, October 26 FM Dennis Monokroussos Giri’s Olympic Adventures with the Najdorf (strategy)
It’s interesting to see when super-grandmasters play their rank-and-file counterparts, as it shows that even “ordinary” grandmasters can be outclassed by the world’s very greatest players. This game is a case in point. Every experienced player knows that the d5 hole is a potential issue for Black in the Najdorf Sicilian, and one would expect an experienced grandmaster like Yehuda Gruenfeld to avoid any
serious problems with it. (An aside: this is not the Gruenfeld of “Gruenfeld Defense” fame. That’s named for Ernst Gruenfeld.) That’s what one would expect, but against Giri it happened anyway, with predictable results. As a bonus, there’s a fair amount of general Najdorf theory included as well.

Thursday, October 27 GM Leonid Kritz The Game That Decided the Olympiad Winner (tactics)
A very interesting game in which Wesley So won and brought the US team the first place in the Chess Olympiad. However, at some point Black could not only equalize, but indeed get a decisive advantage and win this game. Very tough fight, typical for the last round.

Friday, October 28 GM Bryan Smith 5.c4 Against the Paulsen (openings, tactics)
The Paulsen/Kan is one of the trickiest variations of the Sicilian. Here we will see a positionally-sound method of establishing a large space advantage, limiting Black’s counterplay, and beginning an attack.

Monday, October 17 IM Valeri Lilov Attacking Chess: Bringing Pieces (middlegame)
The key to being successful when attacking has always been the ability to bring more pieces in. How to do this timely and successful is the topic of IM Lilov’s new lecture. Tune in and learn from the new lecture on attacking chess!

Tuesday, October 18 IM Bill Paschall Battles from Baku, Part 1 (opening, middlegame)
The following game took place in the 2016 Chess Olympiad in Baku, during a critical test for the Indian team against England. The young GM Sethuraman plays the Scotch game and play is standard until GM Short plays the creative , but objectively dubious 7…h5, breaking from fundamental principles. Black clearly wishes to play aggressively for the win, but ends up with serious problems due to his exposed queen and lost time. White plays well, until one slip with 15.e6 ?! which gives GM Short some practical counter-chances. Despite the black queen being pushed to the edge of the board on h8 in the middlegame, white must be accurate and finally achieves victory in the end due to his superior king safety, and an amazing display of the power of centralization!

Wednesday, October 19 FM Dennis Monokroussos The Power of Regrouping (endgame)
In 1974 Anatoly Karpov had a big obstacle on the way to a hoped-for world championship match against Bobby Fischer; namely, ex-champion Boris Spassky, who seemed to be in very good form. After five games the match was even, and although Karpov was already the higher-rated player Spassky’s experience looked to compensate for his opponent’s youth. Game 6 was crucial. Spassky got nothing from the opening, but then decided to sharpen a level position by creating a passed pawn that could prove to be a strength or a weakness, depending on who handled the position better. At a key moment Karpov found a brilliant regrouping idea, and although Spassky should have saved the game the trend in Karpov’s favor carried him to an impressive victory in the game, and ultimately in the match.

Thursday, October 20 GM Leonid Kritz Nakamura’s Style (tactics)
Another game in which Nakamura shows that certain variations just shouldn’t be played against him. In this sharp line he outplays his opponent in just 28 moves. Black did not understand all the subtleties of the opening and was destroyed in best traditions of tactical play.

Friday, October 21 GM Eugene Perelshteyn What Happens When You Forget To Develop One Piece or The c8 Bishop Blues
Black tries to go for the Hedgehog setup vs the Nimzo g3 but forgets to develop the c8 bishop. Watch and learn an instructive way to punish Black for lack of development. He’s always one move behind and finally when he opens up the game, the tactics are not in his favor. Try to find the winning combination!