Dawn Novarina

Monday, August 1 IM Valeri Lilov Master Wild Positions! (strategy, middlegame)
Wild positions are not easy to play. We often find ourselves in a challenging situation with a limited number of moves and many weaknesses for both sides. Check IM Lilov’s important suggestions on handling this type of positions in chess.

Tuesday, August 2 IM Bill Paschall Elite Games from the Capablanca Memorial 2016 Part 2 (openings, endgame)
Ivanchuk uses a rare defense against the Spanish, attributed to the late Norwegian IM Svein Johannessen. This line follows a game the author of the video actually played with GM Nebosa Niksevic in 2001 and it seems that Ivanchuk is wise to play the improvement 15…Kf7! which was suggested by Niksevic in the post-mortem of our game. Interestingly, the whole game is based on a fantastic Spassky game against Taimanov from the 1955 USSR Championship , which was published and analyzed in the classic and (OUT OF PRINT!) Modern Chess Opening Theory by GM Alexey Suetin.

Wednesday, August 3 FM Dennis M. A Positional Masterpiece vs the Kan (tactics)
In 1972 Anatoly Karpov was a rapidly rising star while Mark Taimanov was still one of the best players in the world. The players were closely matched in terms of rating, but Karpov thoroughly outclassed him in their battle from the USSR Team Championship. Karpov was a great specialist on both sides of the Kan Sicilian, and although it was Taimanov who introduced the first new idea in the game it was Karpov who more clearly understood what was going on. While the computer shows that Taimanov’s position may not have been as bad as most commentators thought, at least not as early as they thought, he was still thoroughly outplayed in grand style. The game is very instructive, but further description will ruin the surprises. Have a look for yourself!

Thursday, August 4 GM Leonid Kritz The Dangerous Berlin
Another brilliant game by Vladimir Kramnik in his favorite opening – Berlin Wall. As so often, it looks like White plays without taking on much risk. However, the position of Black becomes better and better and all of a sudden White falls apart. A great combination of positional understanding and tactical ability demonstrated by Russia’s strongest
player.

Friday, August 5 GM Bryan Smith Exploring Rook Endgames, Part 4: Spielman- Rubinstein (endgame)
Every series on rook endings must include an example by their greatest master, Akiba Rubinstein. Here we see how Rubinstein turns his slightly more compact pawn structure into a win, despite the scant amount of material.

Monday, July 25 IM David Vigorito Sharp Opening Trap in a Rapid Game
This was an unusual (for me) rapid game. I played a sharp opening and got to play a wonderful trap that I was fortunately familiar with. This game reminded me that is a lot of fun to play sharply. My opponent made one mistake and then some accurate calculation and it was all wrapped up.

Tuesday, July 26 IM Bill Paschall Elite Games from the Capablanca Memorial 2016 Part 1 (strategy, tactics)
Vasily Ivanchuk again shows he is a premier player, dominating the Capablanca Memorial. His latest victim is Hungarian veteran Zoltan Almasi . Regarded as a strong theoretician, Almasi is led into a quiet , non-theoretical system by Ivanchuk, who is unpredictable. This game shows the danger of playing “routine” moves against a very strong opponent. Black plays 5…d5 in the opening, where a queenside fianchetto setup would be more flexible. He also makes the fundamental mistake of exchanging on d4 with 8..cd too early, a mistake known since the time of Akiba Rubinstein. Ivanchuk impresses with subtle moves like 12.Qe3 and then deals up a fantastic attack starting with a pawn sacrifice to open lines on the kingside.

Wednesday, July 27 FM Dennis Monokroussos Scotching the Scotch (strategy, tactics)
Garry Kasparov was very successful with the Scotch in the recent blitz super-tournament in St. Louis, winning three games with the opening while drawing two and losing just one. But that one loss was especially noteworthy, as it was Caruana who dictated the play with an almost completely new and interesting-looking idea. It was a good game by blitz standards, and the variation in the game is one that merits a closer look by those who play either side of the Scotch.

Thursday, July 28 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Executing Typical Sicilian Ideas – Improve Your Worst Piece! (strategy, tactics)
In a typical Sicilian battle for dark squares, Black executes a standard idea to improve his worst piece, the bishop on e7!   However, White plays well to maintain balance by improving his worst piece the knight on c2.  Yet, the positional game quickly explodes as White incorrectly opens the h-file.  Watch out for nice tactics, and a nice bonus at the end…can you identify the worst piece you need to improve to win the game?  Yes, it is Black’s king!

Friday, July 29 GM Bryan Smith Exploring Rook Endgames, Part 3: (endgame)
In part three of his series on rook endings, GM Bryan Smith analyzes an ending he played some years ago, where a full rook ending results in the defender being restricted to passivity, followed by a turning movement of the white king. Instructive moments early in the endgame show Black’s missed chances to obtain counterplay and draw.

Monday, July 18 IM Valeri Lilov How To Handle Unprepared Attacks (middlegame)
When our opponent starts an unprepared attack, we usually know that there is an efficient way to counter it, though we don’t know exactly what it is. Often times, the best method is to follow a number of principles which will help you take care of all important issues in the position.

Tuesday, July 19 IM Bill Paschall My Chess Comeback 2016! Part 3 (strategy, middlegame)
White chooses a solid line against the Sicilian Dragon, surprising Black, who expected a quieter 1.d4 opening. Black plays an inferior variation with 11…e6. The best for Black would be 11…Nd7 to avoid exchanges. White, a lower-rated player who would be content with a draw, gains the upper hand and Black is forced to defend ingeniously. In the critical stage, White is overambitious with his 25. f6 and suddenly Black has all the chances with a good knight versus bad bishop.

Wednesday, July 20 FM Dennis Monokroussos Korchnoi and the Art of Defense, Part 2 (tactics)
Aivars Gipslis was a countryman of Mikhail Tal’s and an almost exact contemporary, and like Tal he loved to attack. In this game he finds a beautiful and dangerous attacking idea that would have succeeded brilliantly against many players, but against the great defense of Viktor Korchnoi his ingenious idea was even more brilliantly rebuffed. In this game Korchnoi demonstrates a very important defensive principle; namely, that the defender can often return the material sacrificed by the opponent in order to wrest the initiative from him. Just how effective that policy can be, you shall see!

Thursday, July 21 GM Leonid Kritz A Tricky Sicilian (strategy, tactics)
A very interesting game in which both players showed many non-standard ideas. It does not happen too often that White can put his bishop on c3 or b4 in Najdorf, but this was one of the major themes in this game. A nice strategic battle with a typical Sicilian finale!

Friday, July 22 GM Bryan Smith Exploring Rook Endgames, Part 2: Flohr-Vidmar (endgame)
In the second part of this series on rook endgames, we take a look at how the famous technician Salo Flohr wins a minutely-better endgame. Also touched on is the subject of passive versus active defense.

Monday, July 11 IM Valeri Lilov Anand’s Attacking Concepts (middlegame)
Vishy Anand has been one of the greatest chess players and brilliant attackers for the last few decades. What concepts does he use in his games to succeed? Check IM Lilov’s video to find out!

Tuesday, July 12 IM Bill Paschall My Chess Comeback 2016! part 2 (opening, strategy)

Wednesday, July 13 FM Dennis Monokroussos Korchnoi and the Art of Defense, Part 1 (tactics)
Mikhail Tal is one of the all-time great attacking players, but in Viktor Korchnoi he met his kryptonite. Korchnoi was a player who could not be bluffed, and he was a match for Tal (and maybe then some) when it came to calculation. He loved to accept sacrifices offered in the interest of an attack, and he would often hunker down, rebuff the attack, and win with his extra material. That’s just the formula he follows in this game, and we will see Korchnoi demonstrate a number of important defensive principles along the way to a convincing win.

Thursday, July 14 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Instructive Use of the e5 Outpost in the French (opening, strategy)
Everyone knows about the “French” bishop and the backward e6-pawn. However, it is often the control of the e5-outpost that is most unpleasant for a French player. Watch how Eugene uses this outpost first with his knight, but then the rook simply replaces it! The Exchange sacrifice causes so many practical issues for Black that she falls apart in just a few moves. A classic Exchange sac for positional domination!

Friday, July 15 GM Bryan Smith Exploring Rook Endings, Part 1: Smyslov-Benko (endgame)
The first of a new series by GM Smith on rook endings – here we will see how the seventh World Champion transforms a basic positional advantage in the rook ending, through many pawn exchanges, to simplified winning endgame where the silhouettes of the original advantage can still be seen.

Monday, July 4 IM Valeri Lilov Preesure and Attack (strategy, middlegame)
Pressuring the opponent always feels quite good. Bobby Fischer used to say he most likes the moment where his opponent’s ego is broken due to the huge pressure he has endured. Many players try to capture the right steps to achieving this pressure but very few can actually keep it for more than a few moves. How to do it successfully? Check this video to learn more!

Tuesday, July 5 IM Bill Paschall My Chess Comeback 2016! Part 1 (openings)
White plays a King’s Indian attack formation against the Slav; a safe, but essentially harmless opening if black defends accurately. Black is able to keep the position fairly closed, despite giving up the bishop pair with 13…Bxf3. Problems surface as black plays passively in the middlegame with moves such as 20..Ng6 and 23…Nf8. In time pressure, Black becomes overly optimistic with the reckless 36…g5 ?? Black is suddenly facing the bishop pair and a dangerous pawn majority on the kingside , when further resistance is impossible .

Wednesday, July 6 FM Dennis Monokroussos Chess’s Past Still The Present Against Its Future (openings)
In his incredible career, Viktor Korchnoi defeated nine world chess champions (though not necessarily when they were world champions), and that includes reigning champ Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen was only 14 at the time, you might say, but by then he had been a grandmaster for more than a year, and in any case Korchnoi was 73 years old! The game was instructive throughout, even if the game’s conclusion turned out to be an anti-climax of sorts. But there’s a lesson there too; chess players must exercise vigilance in more ways than one!

Thursday, July 7 GM Leonid Kritz Avoid Overly Optimistic Sacrifices! (openings, tactics)
After the opening Black got a very solid position, a typical situation for this type of pawn structure where White has a symbolic advantage, but Black’s position looks like a castle with no holes. However, with 17….c5 Eljanov decided to give up a pawn to get some virtual counterplay. His view was too optimistic, though, and after a couple of moves it was clear that White has a pawn for free. The young Chinese player did not have any trouble converting his advantage.

Friday, July 8 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Lesson From My Komodo Match, Part 4: Play Actively When Possible! (openings, tactics)
In the final game of Handicap match, Komodo sacrifices a piece for a pawn! This the biggest of the odds so far for GM Perelshteyn. Can he punish the best chess engine in the world? Watch and enjoy!

Monday, June 27 IM David Vigorito Shocking Sacrifice Befuddles Computers (tactics)
This was one of my strangest games ever. My opponent played a somewhat dubious opening. My position looked better (to both human eyes and computers), but my opponent came up with an amazing idea. Almost everything went wrong for me in this tournament, so it felt a bit unlucky, but I must give my opponent credit for such creativity!

Tuesday, June 28 IM Bill Paschall Fighting Chess From the European Championship (openings, endgame)
Black holds the balance in a sharp line of the exchange Grunfeld where white employed the offbeat 8.h3. Setting up an ideal double fianchetto formation, Piorun, one of Poland’s top young players; finds his way with creative idea of 13..Qe8 and the active 15…f6. White should be able to hold the balance, but falters after black finds a powerful combination with the original 22…Rxc4 ! Black allows an exchange of queens, but gains a slight initiative without any risk. Although the ending was tenable, white misses his chances and black converts a full point.

Wednesday, June 29 FM Dennis Monokroussos How to Attack Like a Kid at (Almost) 80 (strategy)
Nearly 80 years old at the time of this game, Viktor Korchnoi defeated Fabiano Caruana with the black pieces – and how! Caruana didn’t blunder anything, or fall into some sort of opening trap, or get slowly outplayed in a “boring” position due to his opponent’s many decades of experience. Nor was this Korchnoi defeating Caruana when he was but a tyke; Caruana was already over 2700 at the time of this game. Instead, Korchnoi played aggressive, energetic chess, flinging his pawns at his opponent’s kingside and defeating him with a direct attack. It’s easy to play this sort of chess when one is young (though playing this well is another matter), but one would never know to look at the game that Black was 61 years older than his opponent. It’s almost preposterous, but this is an illustration of what an incredible player the chess world has just lost.

Thursday, June 30 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Lesson From My Komodo Match, Part 3: Be Alert, No Matter How Safe Your Position Is (endgame, strategy)
GM Perelshteyn takes on best chess engine in the world, Komodo, in game 3 of the Handicap match. The opening goes great for White, as GM Perelshteyn retains the pawn with a comfortable position. It looks like White has no risk of losing, right? Well, see what happens in a few moves after only one mistake by White… The engine shows amazing endgame technique!

Friday, July 1 GM Bryan Smith A Repetoire Against the Modern With 4.Be3, Part2 (openings, tactics)
Besides 4…a6, Black has a much older and more solid option, 4…c6. Nevertheless, with calm positional play White can put series pressure on the opponent. In this video, we see how.

Monday, June 20 GM Nadya Kosintseva An Introduction to the Isolated Queen Pawn (strategy)
Isolated pawns: are they a weakness or a strength? In this lecture, we will discuss different strategies for the side that has the isolated pawn as well as for the side that plays against the isolated pawn. You will see some typical examples how to develop an initiative, transferring the static weakness of the isolated pawn into a dynamic strength. On another side, you will learn how to reduce the dynamic elements and what exchanges are favorable or unfavorable for both sides.

Tuesday, June 21 IM Bill Paschall Young Guns at the Polish Championship 2016, Part 3 (middlegame, tactics)
White plays the popular Short variation of the advance Caro-Kann. Black uses a slow and weakening plan on the kingside with 7..h6 and 8…g5. The black king is not entirely safe despite the bishop on g7 and White exploits the situation with the logical plan 10.Ne1 and the thematic pawn break 12.f4 . White is able to migrate his pieces to the kingside and a combinational breakthrough is executed in short order. It seems that this game casts serious doubt on Black’s unusual setup. Perhaps an early c5 for Black, recently played by Navara, is still Black’s most thematic and best chance.

Wednesday, June 22 FM Dennis Monokroussos A ‘Rauzing’ Success in the d3 Ruy (openings, tactics)
White is playing d3 in all sorts of Ruy Lopez variations nowadays, typically to avoid the Berlin endgame (4.d3 vs. 3…Nf6) and the Marshall Gambit (with d3 being played on move 6, or sometimes on move 5 to avoid the Open Ruy as well). But this is not a modern invention; players have been using this more restrained system for many years, going all the way back to at least Wilhelm Steinitz. In today’s game, we’ll see it used as an anti-Breyer weapon by the late great Leonid Stein, one of the strongest (and unluckiest) chess players of the 1960s and ’70s. Oddly, his opponent, Larry Evans, turns the game into a Chigorin, and then odder still played …d5 and …dxe4, which meant that he in effect executed the Rauzer plan against himself! (The Rauzer plan occurs when White plays dxc5 – or dxe5 – in a traditional Closed Ruy structure with pawns on c3, d4, and e4 vs. pawns on c5, d6, and e5. The idea is to create a permanent hole on d5, in the hopes of exploiting it with a well-timed Nd5.) Of course White isn’t just winning by virtue of enacting the Rauzer plan, but it can be dangerous for Black – as we’ll see in this game. Stein wins in style, finishing with some nice sacs and tactical tricks.

Thursday, June 23 IM Valeri Lilov Piece Activity Domination (strategy, middlegame)
Everyone knows that piece activity means to have your pieces more advanced and controlling. Unfortunately, achieving that can prove much more difficult. The best way to learn how piece activity works is to study the great grandmaster games and their unique approach to dominating with their pieces. Follow IM Lilov’s lecture to learn more about piece activity and power play!

Friday, June 24 GM Bryan Smith A Repetoire Against the Modern With 4.Be3, Part1 (openings)
The Pirc and Modern are  cousins. In this series (related to “A Repertoire Against the Pirc with 4.Be3”), GM Bryan Smith shows how the same system can be used against the Modern Defense. In this first part, we will see how to meet the fashionable but quite risky 4…a6.

Monday, June 13 IM Valeri Lilov How to Play Endgames Better (endgame)
Endgames are always challenging as there is very small amount of attacks and little to no tactics that actually work. Nevertheless, there are some other aspects which could make playing endgames a unique and brilliant experience.  Listen to this video to learn more!

Tuesday, June 14 IM Bill Paschall Young Guns at the Polish Championship 2016, Part 2 (middlegame, strategy)
Overall, the following game is a masterful positional game by the rising star Wojtaszek. Black took chances playing very aggressively with the plan of Re8, Bf8 and later the very risky Nh5 idea. Black missed some tactical opportunities, and that is the problem, because as a human it is difficult to play sharp positions perfectly. Although perhaps somewhat lucky black missed his chances; Wojtaszek played strategically throughout. White created a powerful passed pawn on the queenside and balanced this with defensive moves on the other flank. The stronger player comes out on top as black’s counterplay never materialized

Wednesday, June 15 IM David Vigorito Upending a Strong GM in the Midst of Bad Tournament (middlegame)
In the middle of an awful tournament, I manage to beat a strong grandmaster. I had a pessimistic attitude during the game, but if you try hard and calculate, upsets are always possible.

Thursday, June 16 GM Leonid Kritz A Duel Between Two World Champions (endgame, tactics)
A very good game played by Hou Yifan against the world’s strongest chess player! Even though she lost, the position was equal almost until very end. All Hou needed was to keep the queens on board and not to enter this “drawn” pawn endgame that turned out to be lost. This game showed once again, by the way, that there is no real weapon against the Petroff Defense today. Carlsen choose the unambitious line 5.Nc3 and did not get any advantage after the opening. All Black needed was to keep concentration until the end, which Hou unfortunately did not do. But maybe next time..

Friday, June 17 GM Bryan Smith A Repetoire Against the Pirc With 4.Be3, Part2 (openings)
In the second part of his series on meeting the Pirc with 4.Be3, GM Smith shows how to meet 4…c6 with the sneaky move 5.h3

Monday, June 6 IM Valeri Lilov How To Defeat A World Champion (middlegame)
How do you beat the strongest player in the world? This is a question that not so many people take seriously. Of course we have the Rocky movies and many other inspiring stories, but defeating a much stronger opponent has always been a challenge. Check IM Lilov’s lecture to discover the answers to this intriguing topic!

Tuesday, June 7 IM Bill Paschall Young Guns at the Polish Championship 2016, Part 2 (middlegame,strategy)
Two of the top young stars of the Polish chess scene go head to head in a very theoretical variation of the Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Bg5. Black chose to avoid playing e6 in the opening and must tread a narrow path. Duda makes a tiny slip with 18…Rg8 instead of 18…Rf8 and he is left on the defensive. White gains a vital tempo and is able to switch from a direct attack to an endgame where he has a powerful passed pawn. The position proves too difficult for black to hold.

Wednesday, June 8 FM Dennis Monokroussos The King is Dead; Long Live the King (openings)
Fabiano Caruana is the 2016 U.S. Chess Champion, finishing a point ahead of defending champion Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So. Although the following game was played early in the event (in round 4, of 11), it wound up providingthe margin of victory for the new champ. The game was a Najdorf Sicilian, and although that is perhaps the single most analyzed variation in all of chess, players are finding new avenues in it all the time, and by move 9 a new position had been reached. Nakamura isa great improviser, but on this occasion it was Caruana who did a better job navigating the unusual situation, and he outplayed his opponent both strategically and tactically. An impressive win for the #1 player in the United States and the #2 player in the world.

Thursday, June 9 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Lesson From My Komodo Match, Part 2: Trust Your Intuition! (strategy, tactics)
In the second Handicap match vs Komodo, the starting position is 1.e4 e6 2.d5 Ke7??  Can a Grandmaster punish the engine?  Yes, the lesson is trust your intuition!  But is it enough for a win? Watch and learn amazing defensive move that only computer can play…

Friday, June 10 GM Bryan Smith A Repetoire Against the Pirc With 4.Be3, Part 1 (tactics)
In his series on meeting the Pirc with 4.Be3, GM Bryan Smith shows how White can meet Black’s flexible play with his own flexibility. The first part deals with the lines where Black plays 4…Bg7, rather than delaying the development of the bishop.

Monday, May 30 IM David Vigorito Tricky Idea Against the Classical Sicilian (opening, middlegame)
Just when I thought I had seen everything, my opponent shocks me in a Sicilian with an extremely rare knight hop on move 6. This funny idea could prove to be a useful surprise weapon. It worked against me, and even after I turned the game around a bit, it was not enough to win.

Tuesday, May 31 IM Bill Paschall Selections from the US Championship 2016, Part 3 (middlegame, tactics)
Nakamura plays white against the cagey upstart Jeffrey Xiong. Black takes a risk by playing a sharp defense against such a strong player. Nakamura is well prepared in a rare, but suddenly trendy variation. Black makes a terrible mistake with the anti-positional move 16…Bh6, but would be worse in any case. White displays great technique and tactical vision in the end.

Wednesday, June 1 FM Dennis Monokroussos Domination! (tactics)
Wei Yi is known as a great attacking player who thrives in sharp openings, but he didn’t become the youngest 2700 in history by being one-sided. In this recent game he accepts a weak queenside pawn structure for piece pressure on the queenside, especially on the b-file, the h1-a8 diagonal, and the b6 and d6 squares. His opponent is a grandmaster too, but he proves completely unable to solve his problems, and he is lost by move 16 or so at the latest. The end of the game is just cruel, or comical, or a bit of both.

Thursday, June 2 GM Leonid Kritz How to Outplay Your Opponent Out of Nowhere (tactics)
Eljanov played an opening allowing Black to get an equal position in different ways. The plan with b3 objectively cannot be considered dangerous. However, White showed that even in such a line, there are always chances to trick your opponent. After a couple of imprecise moves by Navara, Eljanov got a slightly better position, and used his chances in an excellent way.

Friday, June 3 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Lesson From My Komodo Match, Part 1: Avoid KID Attack! (strategy, tactics)
In the first game of the Handicap match vs Komodo, Eugene gets 5 free moves in the opening. Is it enough to beat the monster? Watch and learn how Komodo unleashes the amazing KID pawn storm!