Dawn Novarina

Mon March 10 IM Valeri Lilov Carlsen’s Kings Gambit
Every chess player has had the beautiful experience of learning from the incredible attacks of Anderssen, Morphy, Tal and others. Nowadays, it’s not easy to see such magnificent attacks on a high level as the fashion has changed and chess has become a lot more balanced, so positional play is essential for any combination to exist. Check out this video to see how to reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen was able to utilize one of the oldest openings with great success.

Tues March 11 IM Bill Paschall An Instructive Rauzer Endgame

Wed March 12 FM Dennis Monokroussos The Queen’s Gambit (and Friends), Part 1
For reasons that remain mysterious Boris Spassky failed to use the brilliant idea of his second, Efim Geller, in his 1972 world championship match against Bobby Fischer, and got crushed in a beautiful game. Geller therefore played his own novelty a year later and showed what could have been, defeating Jan Timman in great style. His new move and new concept involved a pawn sac for long-term compensation against the white king, stranded permanently in the center. This game, the first in a series on the Queen’s Gambit (with an occasional visit from openings that result in similar structures) offers a first glimpse into the richness of this opening, one of the most popular in chess history and one that remains important to the present day.

Thurs March 13 GM Leonid Kritz Sicilian 2….Nc6.3.Bb5: Rare Continuation by Black, Part 2
This is a continuation of last week’s lecture. We continue with the study of the main line and get to a position that will definitely require some additional analysis on your side. I think, however, that the exchange sacrifice offered in this lecture is very promising.

Fri March 14 GM Bryan Smith The Best of Lone Pine 1979, Part 2
In the second part of his series on the 1979 Lone Pine tournament, Bryan Smith looks at a fantastic ‘flawed brilliancy’ – a king hunt which took place in round three between Edward Formanek and Joseph Bradford.

Monday, March 3 IM Valeri Lilov The Small Improvements (Strategy, Middlegame) We have always noticed how the great masters of past and present achieved significant improvements out of completely equal or even symmetrical positions. The secret of their mastery lies within the small adjustments that each master is able to apply at different stages of the game. Understanding how these improvements work can help tremendously one’s game and planning in many positions.

Tuesday, March 4 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Spectacular Queen Sac for Domination (Middlegame, Strategy) In a GM vs GM battle, White plays creatively to sacrifice a Queen for just two minor pieces and a pawn! Black seeks counter-play on the half-open file to keep the game balanced. Seeking more counter-play Black gives up the exchange, however White finds a beautiful way to breakthrough in the center and create a deadly attack. A masterpiece by GM Macieja!

Wednesday, March 5 FM Dennis Monokroussos Baadur’s Budapest Brilliancy (Middlegame, Strategy) Baadur Jobava didn’t win the Challengers event in this year’s Tata Steel chess festival, but he tied for second and played some brilliant games along the way. One of them came against pre-tournament favorite Radoslaw Wojtaszek, and as is usual for Jobava he chose a slightly offbeat opening for the occasion, the Budapest Defense. White generally plays 4.Bf4 (rather than 4.Nf3) when he wants a quiet life, but Jobava’s 4…g5 ensured a tense game. You might think that a 2700 player with the white pieces could keep everything under control, but nothing of the sort happened, and Jobava manhandled him in the middlegame. The game is a fine advert for the Budapest, and a useful reminder that practically all openings have their drop of poison when well-prepared.

Thursday, March 6 GM Leonid Kritz  Sicilian 2….Nc6.3.Bb5: Rare Continuation by Black, Part 1(Openings, Strategy)

Friday, March 7 GM Bryan Smith The Best of Lone Pine, 1979: Part 1  (Openings) In the first part of this series on the 1979 Lone Pine Tournament, GM Bryan Smith looks at a sharp, attacking game in which IM John Grefe used a unique gambit.

Feb 24, 2013 IM Valeri Lilov The Buildup (Intemediate, Strategy, Middlegame)
What is the secret behind a successful plan in the game of chess? The answer to this question is definitely complicated as there are many factors that matter.We have consistency, evaluation, calculation and many others which are key. Nevertheless, the most critical one is the Buildup. Understanding how to get the right buildup to our plan is often vital for its ultimate success.

Feb 25, 2013 LM Dana Mackenzie Double Vision: When Two Knights are Better than Two Bishops (Intermediate, Middlegame, Strategy)
Because bishops tend to be a little better than knights in a lot of positions, it’s natural to assume that two bishops would be much better than two knights. But this is not the case — in fact, two knights can sometimes dance circles around the bishops. Here, a bitterly fought game pits two knights against two bishops, in a position that first favored the knights, then favored the bishops, and then turned back in favor of the knights. I discuss the factors involved in evaluating such positions, such as outpost squares, forks (for the knights) and pins (for the bishops), and targets (for both pieces).

Feb 26, 2013 FM Dennis Monokroussos A Brilliancy vs. the Kan (Intermediate, Middlegame, Tactics)
Young Dutch star Benjamin Bok obtained his final grandmaster norm in this year’s Wijk aan Zee Challengers tournament, and with games like this it’s easy to see why. He unleashes a fearsome attacking masterpiece against the elite young Chinese GM Yu Yangyi, and in addition to the game’s being spectacular we can “borrow” Bok’s anti-Kan line for our own play.

Feb 27, 2013 GM Leonid Kritz Rare but Tricky Line in Spanish (Intermediate, Openings, Endgame)
The line chosen by my opponent surprised me a bit in this game. It looks like Black is doing a lot of strange moves, but surprisingly at the end all of them come together and make sense in an interesting variation. Also, the endgame is worth analyzing since it has many sub-variations that stayed behind the scene.

Feb 28, 2013 IM David Vigorito A Modern Miniature (Intermediate, Opening, Tactics)
Bartel plays an unusual but interesting move order as early as move 2 (!) and Giri chooses plays in romantic style sacrificing pawns left and right for an unstoppable initiative.

Our free video of the week (actually, we’re keeping this posted for two weeks) “Awesome State Champions: The Classic Pawn Storm” by LM Dana Mackenzie, honors FIDE Master Curt Brasket, one of the greats in Minnesota chess, who passed away late last month.  He won the US Junior Chess Championship in 1952, and went on to win the Minnesota state championship a record 16 times, and in 2013, Curt received the U.S. Chess Federation’s Outstanding Career Achievement Award.  Despite having Parkinson’s disease, he remained active in Minnesota chess tournaments for many years (583 tournaments from 1991 to 2011) and was an inspiration to many. More details about Curt, his life and contributions to chess in Minnesota (and beyond) from the Minnesota StarTribune here.   You can watch Dana’s lecture on Curt on our home page or click here.

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Monday, February 18 IM Valeri Lilov Punish Your Opponent in the Opening (Intermediate, Strategy, Openings)
Have you ever been in a position where you know that your opponent is breaking the principles of development, but you aren’t certain on how to continue and punish him for his mistakes? That situation arises quite often in the games of players from any level. The correct approach in these positions mainly depends on a few concepts and proper steps you need to follow.

Tuesday, February 18 IM Bill Paschall The Key Square in the Sicilian (Intermediate, Opening, Middlegame)

Wednesday February 18 FM Dennis Monokroussos Remembering Vugar Gashimov (Intermediate, Middlegame, Strategy, Tactics)
Vugar Gashimov died earlier this month (January 2014) from a brain tumor at the early age of 27.. He had suffered from related health problems for almost a decade and a half, but despite this and the interruptions and challenges it presented he still became one of the world’s very best players when he was healthy, reaching a peak rating of 2761 shortly before his forced retirement in early 2012. He had a very lively and dynamic style and was capable of beating anyone and everyone, and he did. Here’s a sample win, a miniature, against the very strong, experienced and solid Boris Gelfand.

Thursday, February 20 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Instructive Positional Squeeze in the Scandinavian (Intermediate, Strategy, Endgame)
You won’t see any fireworks in this game. Black uses the better pawn structure in a closed position to outplay White. Inch by inch, square by square, Black squeezes White to passivity and with a timely pawn push wins material.

Friday, February 21 GM Leonid Kritz New Direction in French Defense (Intermediate, Openings, Tactics)
This is an interesting game that demonstrates a relatively new way of playing against French Defense 3.Nc3 Nf6. White chose a rare line, and black decided to counter it right away with a piece sacrifice. The game developed very dynamically thereafter and both sides had their chances.

Monday, February 10  IM Valeri Lilov When to Calculate and When Not   (Intermediate, Middlegame, Tactics)
How do we know when we should calculate or not? Many chess players ask that same question in many different games, sometimes unsuccessfully. The key to knowing when to calculate or not, as well as how long to calculate lies in our ability to sense the position and follow the right methodology. This lecture presents an interesting example in an attempt to answer this question and provides good advice on how we can choose whether to calculate or not.

Tuesday, February 11 IM Bill Paschall A Classic Michael Adams Grind   (Intermediate, Middlegame, Strategy)
Adams avoids Sicilian theory in a relatively rare sideline of the King’s Indian Attack. After an interesting and imbalanced opening, white trades queens but , in exchange, gains a huge positional advantage and forces Svidler to cough up a pawn. The Endgame is a classic Adams masterpiece of perfect technique!

Wednesday, February 12  FM Dennis Monokroussos  The Real Sacrifice In Action   (Intermediate, Middlegame, Tactics)
A long time ago Rudolf Spielmann made a distinction between sham sacrifices and real ones. A sham sac is one whose payoff is immediate and obvious, like a forced mate. A real sacrifice is one where the compensation may be genuine, but it isn’t tangible and the payoff cannot be foreseen. The late great Ukranian grandmaster Leonid Stein was among other things highly adept at such sacrifices, and in this game against (then-future) grandmaster Nikolai Krogius he sacrifices first a pawn and then a knight (a full knight in total!) for long-term attacking prospects. While the engine has found extremely subtle improvements for both sides, the game is still a remarkable achievement and a great illustration of the power of an enduring initiative.

Thursday, February 13  GM Eugene Perelshteyn Spectacular Fight to the Death with Sacrifices Left and Right!   (Intermediate, Middlegame, Tactics)
In this exciting fight Black sacrifices an exchange to get a strong attack on the h8-a1 diagonal.  He follows it up with a pawn sacrifice and then a rook sacrifice! However, White is up to the challenge with his own counter-sacrifice to stop mate! The fireworks don’t stop there and both sides play the only moves to stay in the game. Enjoy!

Friday, February 14  IM David Vigorito Full Board War!   (Intermediate, Middlegame, Strategy)
Nakamura shows his tremendous creativity and calculating powers in an offbeat King’s Indian. White grabs space all over the board, hoping to suffocate Black, but trying to control everything is more responsibility than Svidler’s position can handle.

IM Valeri Lilov February 3 The Power of Coordination III (Intermediate, Strategy, Middlegame)
In this third installment of the “Power of Coordination” series, IM Valeri Lilov takes on a powerful example from the legacy of the great Boris Spassky. The connection between opening and middlegame and the ability to keep good coordination at all stages of the game is always a challenge. Learn on how the great Spassky does that in a brilliant fashion.

IM Bill Paschall February 4 Aronian Gets Creative at the World Team Championship (Intermediate, Opening, Tactics)

FM Dennis Monokroussos February 5 Poking At Weaknesses (Intermediate, Opening, Tactics)
This time we look at a second win by Leonid Stein, against no less a player than the great Tigran Petrosian, who became world champion just two years after this brutal defeat. Petrosian played a somewhat passive line of the French Winawer, creating some potential long-term weaknesses on the kingside – if only White can get to them. Stein seemed to making slow progress, but if he hadn’t had the mental flexibility to use the whole board he may not have succeeded. By striking a blow on the opposite flank he created enough extra strain on Black’s position to force its quick collapse.

GM Bryan Smith February 6 My Final GM Norm, Part 4 (Intermediate, Strategy, Middlegame)
In the penultimate round of the Michigan Fall Festival, Bryan Smith more-or-less secured the final GM norm by holding a draw with GM Alexander Ipatov in a tough positional game as black in the Nimzo-Indian. This game might not contain a lot of fireworks, but shows a tough battle in a crucial competitive situation.

IM David Vigorito February 7 A Slow Game Heats Up (Intermediate, Middlegame, Strategy)