Dawn Novarina

Monday, November 9 IM David Vigorito Anti-Theory Miniature (opening, tactics)
In this game I wanted to avoid theory against my young opponent, who had beaten a very strong GM earlier in the tournament. The Reti Opening/Anti-Slav was an experiment that led to a surprisingly quick win. Even in quiet openings one must always stay alert.

Tuesday, November 10 IM Bill Paschall Boris Spassky’s Spastacular Attacking Miniatures, Part 5 (strategy)
Spassky shows again why he is considered the ultimate proponent of the “Universal Style”. In this game we see Spassky playing brilliant strategic chess, culminating in a an unstoppable attack. Gurgenidze, also a strategic player, is completely lost for a plan as Spassky builds up his advantage. White plays brilliantly with his pawns and then uses the long diagonal a1-h8 and his space advantage just as Salo Flohr did in a similar structure in his feature series here at ChessLecture.com

Wednesday, November 11 FM Dennis Monokroussos An Old School Win By A New Star (opening)
An Old School Win By A New Star. Tags: Description: Most young players are great in tactics and specialize in attacking play, but there are occasional exceptions. Anatoly Karpov was one, Magnus Carlsen was another, and now Anish Giri is a third. He is a great technician, as Veselin Topalov had occasion to note. Topalov was in great form, reaching #2 in the world and winning the tournament, but in this, his one loss, Giri was clearly in charge. It’s an impressive display of technique, showing how to create problems with a strong knight against a bishop that’s not so much bad as irrelevant.

Thursday, November 12 GM Eugene Perelshteyn The Unknown Side of Young Kasparov:  Positional Masterpiece & Principle of Two Weaknesses!  Part 1 (strategy, endgame)
You may know Gary Kasparov as one of the greatest attacking players of all times. But how did the young Gary play? Watch and learn boring positional chess from the eighteen year old! Kasparov plays in the style of his coach, Mikhail Botvinnik and gives an excellent lesson on the principle of two weaknesses! In a seemingly equal positional he outplays a strong opponent and makes it look easy!

Friday, November 13 GM Leonid Kritz An Unforgettable World Cup Finals – Part 1 (opening, tactics)
This is the first game from the World Cup final 2015 between Svidler and Karjakin. A pretty long and slow strategic battle in the opening that flows into tactical complications after Svidler opens the position with 16.d4!? Interesting to see how White’s pieces take control over the entire board while Black is condemned to watch it happen.

Monday, November 2 IM David Vigorito Inside Coverage of the USCL 2015 – part 16 (opening, endgame)
This game shows some of the difficulties involved in getting a fight against a peaceful-minded opponent. The King’s Indian usually leads to sharp play, but in here my opponent is quick to remove as many pieces as he can from the board. he probably goes too far and loses a pawn, but after I make a lackluster decision the chance to torture my opponent goes out the window and he easily gets his much-coveted draw.

Tuesday, November 3 IM Bill Paschall Boris Spassky’s Spastacular Attacking Miniatures, Part 4 (opening, tactics)
A key game in the Najdorf that helped to derive the name of the variation of the Najdorf in question, the Gothenburg. Spassky mixes his usual aggressive but positional style of development with a vicious sacrificial attack. Black plays the risky idea 9….g5 and fails to find a safe haven for his king. Tremendously creative and deeply planned attacking play demonstrated by Spassky. There was no way out for black.

Wednesday, November 4 FM Dennis Monokroussos Ljubo Living on the Edge (opening)
When analyzing the game in 1980, Jan Timman described this as the best game of the past 20 years. I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s a wonderful battle where creative attacking play comes up against inspired defense. Only at the last critical moment does Ulf Andersson’s defensive prowess fail him, and Ljubomir Ljubojevic goes on to win a classic.

Thursday, November 4 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Lessons from World Cup: What Happens When You Surrender the Center (opening)
We all know the value of the center. But even Super GMs sometimes get carried away and forget about this vital area of the board. Watch how Karjakin slips and allows Svilder to take over the initiative with a timely …d5! break. He makes it look easy!

Friday, November 5 GM Bryan Smith A Little Vignette from Frankfurt, 1930 (endgame)
In this video, GM Smith shows how a Soviet analyst from the early twentieth century, Nikolai Grigoriev, uncovered fantastic depths in a seemingly simple position. Starting from an endgame with knight and five pawns each – including protected passers – important and oft times surprising aspects of knight endings, and then king and pawn endings, and even possible resulting queen endings are explored and explained.

Monday, October 26 IM Valeri Lilov The Pawn Structure Subtleties (strategy, middlegame)
Pawns are very immobile, almost motionless for the majority of the game. But it is this immobility that gives the position its character. The pawn structure lays out the terrain for the coming battle, providing lines for your army. Basically, the pawns determine where your pieces will play.

Tuesday, October 27 IM Bill Paschall Boris Spassky’s Spastacular Attacking Miniatures, Part 3 (openings, strategy)
As black in the Leningrad Nimzo, Golombek combines too many plans, playing both a pawn sacrifice on the queenside with b5, and weakening his kingside with h6 and g5. Spassky, for his part, displays his usual combination of positional understanding and tactical acumen. Black simply has too many weaknesses in his position. This game shows how effective the Leningrad variation can be against an unprepared opponent.

Wednesday, October 28 FM Dennis Monokroussos To Jay Whitehead and Walter Browne: In Lieu of a Tribute (openings)
Walter Browne passed away earlier this year and Jay Whitehead passed away several years ago, and this game connects to both players. Some months prior to this game Jay Whitehead, a talented international master, showed me some prep he had intended to use against Walter Browne, still a very strong grandmaster at the time. He didn’t have the chance to use it so I had his permission to use it if given the opportunity, and some months later I had my chance. I’m not sure if I remembered it correctly (there were a few people with databases then, but I wasn’t among them), but I got the upper hand in a very sharp game. I was able to build on that advantage, but missed my one chance to win the game and Browne’s resourceful defense got him off the hook with a draw. It was an exciting game, and a theoretically significant one as well.

Thursday, October 29 GM Leonid Kritz Even More Tricks in the Open Spanish (openings)
A very interesting opening idea from Mamedyarov. I am pretty sure that his analysis went very far, and he did really a great job at home. However, objectively I think that there are many ways to find equality after 7.e5, it is just difficult to do in a single game when you play against home preparation. Ragger made all the solid moves, but ended in a worse endgame and played it pretty badly, so that at the end Mamedyarov celebrated the well deserved victory.

Friday, October 30 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Controversial Win by Nakamura in Armageddon (middlegame, strategy)
Win or Lose. Advance or Go home… We all love when it comes down to the wire, and it doesn’t get better than to see two of the world’s best blitz players square off in the World Cup Armageddon tiebreak! The game is exciting to watch as Nakamura builds up a deadly attack. However, with an added controversy of how Naka castled, this is a great thriller!

Monday, October 19 IM Valeri Lilov The Early Attacks (middlegame)
Beginners who are eager to win see opportunities in every move to attack or capture one of the opponent’s pieces. They may have a difficult time focusing on the “big picture” of the game. When an opening comes available to attack the opponent, the beginner leaps on the chance, and jumps into the attack without thinking or from fear of losing or getting countered.

Tuesday, October 20 IM Bill Paschall Boris Spassky’s Spastacular Attacking Miniatures, Part 2 (tactics, strategy)
Spassky features his favorite 6.Bg5 against the Najdorf. Black chooses a passive setup giving white the initiative. Spassky relentlessly sets up a kingside attack with strategically principled double pawn sacrifice. Black cannot cope with the coordinated white attack and has too little counterplay. White then punishes black in short order for his lack of dynamism and routine play.

Wednesday, October 21 IM David Vigorito Inside Coverage of the USCL 2015 – part 15 (openings, endgame)
In this game I repeat the opening I had in my USCL game with IM M.Brooks – and the game follows the same story. I play the ‘boring’ Caro-Kann and getting a pawn up rook ending in less than 30 moves! Usually this means a long and difficult grind but after a couple of inaccuracies from my opponent a little calculation leads to a surprisingly quick victory.

Thursday, October 22 GM Leonid Kritz Tricks in the Open Spanish (openings)
An interesting game for multiple reasons. One of them is that the all-known attacker Mamedyarov selects a very positional opening and goes into and endgame right in move 8. However, even then he finds tactical possibilities to destroy his opponent’s position. The idea b4 is a classic and definitely needs to be known!

Friday, October 23 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Student Game Analysis: Understanding Statics and Dynamics (opening, strategy)
In a typical battle of Accelerated Dragon vs the c3 Sicilian, what would prevail: White’s static advantages or Black’s dynamic play? Watch and learn how both sides missed critical positional ideas. The lessons: When you have a static weakness, look for dynamic ways to get rid of it! When attacking a weakness, fix it first! There’s a nice endgame bonus at the end!

Monday, October 12 IM Valeri Lilov The Chinese Restriction (strategy)
What is restriction? The art of restriction is knowing how to limit your opponent’s plan and arrange your pieces to accomplish superior activity. The restrictive strategy outlined in the lecture will get any chess player on the road to understanding the base of the restrictive strategy – how to control the chess board from the very opening. Later you will discover many resources to aid in further transformation.

Tuesday, October 13 IM Bill Paschall Boris Spassky’s Spasstacular Attacking Miniatures! Part 1 (tactics, strategy)
A classic Spassky games combining strategy and tactics. Portisch gets carried away in a bad opening and white shows the usefulness of two knights vs two bishops when there are few pawn breaks and or doubled pawns in the position. Cool play by Spassky on offense and defense!

Wednesday, October 14 IM David Vigorito Fortune Favors the Brave (opening, middlegame)
Despite an aging memory I decide to go down one of the sharpest lines in the King’s Indian. After a thematic pawn sacrifice, I have to give up another pawn, and then another, to keep the initiative going. Playing for the initiative at all cost may not always be completely sound, but it gives the opponent practical problems to solve.

Thursday, October 15 GM Leonid Kritz Closed Sicilian –  a dead end? (openings)

Friday, October 16 GM Bryan Smith A Repertoire for White in the Ruy Lopez: Part 10 (openings)
In the final part of his series on the Spanish as a repertoire for White, GM Bryan Smith takes on the Open Variation with some uncommon recommendations.

Monday, October 5 IM Valeri Lilov Study the Classics Part 1 (middlegame)
Wanting to understand chess without studying the classics is like wanting to land on the moon without knowing if the Earth is round, or wanting to become an incredible pianist without dedicating hours upon hours of daily practice. Studying the games from the great players serves many purposes: you will learn more strategic plans; better understand how to recognize and exploit positional strengths and weaknesses; improve your pattern recognition and ability to form suitable plans; and have greater awareness of tactical opportunities.

Tuesday, October 6 IM Bill Paschall Fischer and the Two Bishops, Part 7 (openings)
Fischer allows Byrne to play a symmetrical type of Fianchetto Grunfeld where white is slightly passive. Black finds a way to open the game for his two bishops with the central break 12…e5. White carelessly weakens his f2 point ; the base of his pawn structure, allowing Fischer to sacrifice to open lines for his two bishops. The white kingside is fatally weakened on the light squares and the black bishop on the h1-a8 diagonal wins the game with a little help from Black’s queen.

Wednesday, October 7 FM Dennis Monokroussos Bishop’s Opening, Part 2 (openings, strategy)
We continue our look at the Bishop’s Opening, and this time we examine a more theoretically significant variation with 4…Na5. White often replies with 5.Nge2, but I’m going to suggest that we borrow an idea of Steinitz’s from the Scotch. White can grab a pawn in the main line, and while Black’s compensation may be sufficient with perfect play, there are plenty of ways for him to go wrong. Indeed, as we’ll see in our featured game, even when Black’s compensation is initially sufficient according to the silicon oracle it may not be easy to maintain it. Ivanchuk took the pawn, consolidated step by step, and won with ease against a very strong grandmaster.

Thursday, October 8 GM Leonid Kritz ‘Popular’ is Not a Synonym For ‘Good’ (tactics)

Friday, October 9 GM Bryan Smith A Repertoire for White in the Ruy Lopez: Part 9 (openings, tactics)
The Marshall Gambit is a critical answer to the Spanish. Here, GM Smith suggests some ways to combat – or rather, avoid – the Marshall.

Monday, September 28 GM Leonid Kritz A Tough Fight with an Unpredictable End (tactics)
A long strategic battle in which White was pressuring for a long time, but gave Black a chance to equalize. The world champion didn’t take the chances, though, and got in big trouble. Short before the time control his position was almost lost, but then the move number 40 played its role again…

Tuesday, September 29 IM Bill Paschall Fischer and the Two Bishops, Part 6 (openings, tactics)
Fischer challenges Larsen in a main line French, Larsen seems out of his element in this classical opening. Black violates positional principles with both c4 and f6, both of which are questionable, but nevertheless typical happenings in the Winawer French. Fischer keeps the two bishops advantage throughout the game and uses these to their utmost power, opening lines, despite the somewhat closed nature of the French. Finally Larsen goes completely overboard with the optimistic 17…Kf7 ? and is punished by a swift Fischer attack. Bobby makes only one small slip , preferring 21.Bf3 ?! to the crushing 21.Bd6 ! which would have ended all resistance immediately. Instead, Fischer must win the game a second time , basing all calculations on the incredible resource 28. Bc5 !!. The 2 bishops in their utmost Fischer-esqe glory!

Wednesday, September 30 FM Dennis Monokroussos Bishop’s Opening, Part 1 (openings)
If you’re looking for an easy-to-play opening with White against 1.e4 e5, the Bishop’s Opening is worth considering. There’s much less to learn than there is in the Ruy Lopez, and while Black can also equalize more easily in this opening than in the Ruy his task isn’t a trivial one. If you are interested in taking up this opening, I’d recommend it as an occasional weapon but not necessarily something to play in every game. With that said, we begin in part 1 with an approach for Black that isn’t the top choice of theory, but which is in my experience the way most players under 2000 (and even some over 2000) tend to reply. White ends up with a favorable version of a King’s Gambit Declined, by transposition, and Black’s task is not an easy one.

Thursday, October 1 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Student Game Analysis: Play on the Whole Board! (strategy, openings)
Faced with a rare way to stop the English Fianchetto 1…b6!? White comes up with a creative plan in the opening. The plan of dxc3!? followed by 0-0-0 and g4! is a prophylactic attempt to stop Black from playing …f5. Watch and learn how White uses strategy and tactics to obtain an edge. However, Black misses an incredible tactic to save the game at the end, can you find it?

Friday, October 2 GM Bryan Smith A Repertoire for White in the Ruy Lopez: Part 8 (openings)
In this video, GM Bryan Smith shows ways to look for an advantage against the solid Breyer Variation of the Spanish.

Monday, September 21 GM Leonid Kritz Levon Aronian at His Best (openings)
Interesting game in which Caruana chooses a relatively rare line, but misses the exchange of the bad white squared bishops and gets in strategic troubles. He attempts to get out of it by playing e5-f5, but Aronian’s reaction is perfect and the game ends with a beautiful combination.

Tuesday, September 22 IM Bill Paschall Fischer and the Two Bishops, Part 5 (openings, strategy)
Fischer employs a tricky hypermodern line with black against Kortchnoi’s pet English Opening. White, a long time fan of pawn moves, is surely tricked into overextending himself. Fischer, however, not content with a slight advantage after 20 moves as black, overreaches himself with an incredibly ambitious exchange sacrifice. Although close to lost, Fischer conjures up the powers of his bishop pair to save the game! A truly spirited fight between two of the greatest players of all time.

Wenesday, September 23, FM Dennis Monokroussos A Brief History of an Interference Motif (tactics)
In Sasha Guliev’s fine book _Winning Chess Manoeuvres_ he notes that many important tactical and strategic motifs seen in present-day chess were often discovered by earlier generations, sometimes a long time ago. As an example, he shows the very nice conclusion to a game Viswanathan Anand won against Evgeny Bareev, and notes that Anand himself noted the similarity to a famous combination of Bobby Fischer’s. I present those examples, and then show that the predecessors go back even farther. Enjoy the video as a trip into the past, and also as a chance for a little tactical workout.

Thursday, September 24 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Instructive Game in King’s Indian Na6: How to Play When White Doesn’t Commit the d-Pawn (opening, strategy)
This game illustrates how Black can fight against the plan where White keeps his central pawn on d4.  Plus we learn a few lessons along the way: Don’t start the wing attack if the center is not closed!  If you’re strategically outplayed, look for tactical counterplay even at the cost of material!  Always look for tactics even if you think you’re losing!

Friday, September 25 GM Bryan Smith A Repertoire for White in the Ruy Lopez: Part 7 (openings)

Monday, September 14 IM David Vigorito Dodging Frankenstein and Dracula in 1953
Here I present a highly amusing old game which does not even appear in the main databases. In the opening, we get a peek at the famous ‘Frankenstein-Dracula’ Variation. When Black avoids the critical line (which involves a positional rook sacrifice!) he loses time and must resort to desperate tactics to try to save himself. After queens are exchanged, it is White who sac’s a rook, and a virtual zugzwang arises in a fantastic finish.

Tuesday, September 15 IM Bill Paschall Fischer and the Two Bishops, Part 4
Fischer plays his early favorite , the King’s Indian Attack, this time against the solid French Defense. Black chooses a stodgy, but solid line of defense. Later, he plays inflexibly on the queenside with the pawn advance 12….a4, allowing white to somewhat lock the structure. Black is able to keep the position fairly closed, but is forced to give up his good bishop on g5. Despite the closed nature of the position, Fischer brilliantly exploits the advantages of the bishop pair by maximizing their potential, and creating attacking possibilities on the kingside, ultimately setting up a decisive queen sacrifice.

Wednesday, September 16 FM Dennis Monokroussos The Master of the Semi-Slav Strikes Again
Alexei Shirov is famous for his wild sacrificial play, and he is also renowned as one of the greatest experts on the Semi-Slav, especially with the black pieces. Already in the first edition of his 1997 classic _Fire on Board_ there was a large section with his best games in that opening, and to this day he continues to explore newer and deeper paths in this ultra-sharp opening. In this game with Tal Baron they explore one of the fresher variations, and while I think Baron may have had the better of the theoretical dispute Shirov quickly bamboozles him and wins with a nice attack. Have a look – the game is interesting in its own right and from a theoretical perspective as well.

Thursday, September 17 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Stop Your Opponent from Playing Bb4 in the English
All English players aim for a simple positional game, but lately Bb4 idea with a Grand Prix attack has become so annoying that we have to fight it.  Find out a simple way to stop Black’s attacking plans as early as move 5!

Friday, September 18 GM Bryan Smith A Repertoire for White in the Ruy Lopez: Part 6
In this video, GM Smith discusses one of the most complex lines in all of chess, the Chigorin Variation of the Ruy Lopez, which was long considered to be the main line of the whole opening.

Monday, September 7  IM Valeri Lilov  Tal’s Pressure (openings, tactics)
Mikhail Tal is definitely the greatest chess player of all time, his excellent attacking style and sacrifices are creations of a genius. Watch him pressure and attack like never before!

Tuesday, September 8  IM Bill Paschall  Fischer and the Two Bishops, Part 3 (middlegame,strategy)
Fischer plays his favorite setup, the King’s Indian Attack , this time when facing a Caro-Kann from a relatively unknown Turkish master. Black makes some serious positional mistakes in the opening, and despite some simplification, is left facing the two bishops and having to defend a weak d5 square in the center. Fischer, as is his custom, is able to make the 2 bishops have maximum value in this relatively closed position. Particularly important is the creation of two weaknesses in the ending phase. Fischer ties white down to queenside weaknesses and then shifts to create a second “front” on the kingside. Black quickly collapses due to the numerous weaknesses and passivity of his pieces

Wednesday, September 9  FM  Dennis Monokroussos Botvinnik’s Pawn Roller Strikes Again! (tactics)
I’ve discussed the power of Botvinnik’s pawn roller plans against the Nimzo-Indian and in the Exchange Variation of the Queen’s Gambit; here’s another illustration of the latter from one of my recent games. The plan with f3 and e4 proved very effective, but one must play with energy. If White hesitates or gets too careful, Black can blow up White’s hanging pawns in the center. If, however, White fights for and keeps the initiative, Black will have a very difficult defensive task, and that’s how things went in this game. Black made only one error in this game, and it was a logical move in a position that was already getting unpleasant. Queen’s Gambiteers, take notice!

Thursday, September 10  GM Eugene Perelshteyn  Instructive Concepts in the Nimzo Qc2 Nc6 Variation: Why Every Tempo Matters (opening, strategy)
This game shows how this variation of the Nimzo is played just like the Bogo. Black needs to play actively to compensate for the bishop pair and lack of space. One loss of tempo could be the difference between a good position and long torturous defense. Watch how a strong GM Lenderman takes advantage of Black’s mistake and finishes the game in a beautiful zugzwang.

Friday, September 11  GM Bryan Smith  A Repertoire for White in the Ruy Lopez: Part 5 (openings)
The Moller Variation is one of Black’s most aggressive counters to the Ruy Lopez, and in this video we will see how to meet fire with fire!