Chess Lectures

Monday, November 19
GM Eugene Perelshteyn Leela Chess Gives a Positional Lesson to Stockfish in the Benoni | Strategy, Endgame
The time of a computer overlord is near as the truly A.I. engine crushes Stockfish. Leela Chess follows the footsteps of Google’s Alpha-Zero and quickly rises in the ranks of top engines. Learn how it plays a purely positional game, figuring out typical GM ideas such as exchange sacrifice and dark-square strategy.

Tuesday, November 20
IM Bill Paschall Highlights from the 2018 World Junior, Part 2 | Opening, Strategy
In an exciting battle from the event, the promising GM Alexander Donchenko turns in a great effort with interesting theoretical implications in the exciting Flohr-Mikenas variation of the English. A favorite of Victor Kortchnoi, the Flohr-Mikenas is probably the sharpest variation of the English Opening. Donchenko tried to sacrifice a piece with a new idea, but Black defends stubbornly while declining the sacrifice. In the game we see a great technical effort by one of the most talented players in the field. Although Donchenko only finished with 7.5/11 he is a player to keep a close eye on in the future.

Wednesday, November 21
FM Dennis Monokroussos Dramatic Defense Overcomes White’s Whirlwind Attack | Strategy, Tactics
In this game between a pair of strong Soviet masters, Vasily Panov went all out for an attack, attempting to blow Mikhail Yudovich off the board. Panov’s play made for a thrilling game, but Yudovich’s defense was even better. Sometimes, a great defense is not only more successful than the attack it bests, but more beautiful as well!

Thursday, November 22
GM Nadya Kosintseva Systems for White in the Spanish Game: Part 4 – Avoiding the Marshall | Strategy, Tactics
In this lecture we will consider what happens if Black attempts to sacrifice a central pawn playing …d5, the so called the Marshall variation of the Spanish game. In this move order Black castles instead of classical 7..d6 that leads to Breyer, Chigorin and Zaitsev systems that we covered in the previous lectures. I do not recommend accepting the sacrifice, since it requires a lot of memorization and leads to a long theoretical discussion. Instead, we will cover Anti-Marshall lines that start with 8.a4. It forces Black to postpone activities in the center and take care of the queen side. As a result, we get a positional battle with typical maneuverings when White hopes to get a slight advantage targeting Black’s queen side and at the same time aiming at the center after he finishes the development. White does not hurry to cross the middle of the board and sometimes just provokes Black to go forward in a hope to counter attack.

Friday, November 23
GM Leonid Kritz Don’t Forget to Use Your King in the Endgame! | Strategy, Endgame
An interesting strategic game where White was pressuring all the time, but Black had multiple occasions when he could improve his position by playing Kg7-f6 and then starting to bring the king closer to where the main action was taking place. Very often, even the strongest players forget about very basic facts, namely that in the endgame the king gets a different role than in the middle game.

Monday, November 12
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Nervous Start to a World Championship Match | Tactics, Strategy
Fabiano Caruana’s first game as the challenger against Magnus Carlsen wasn’t a rousing success. He held on by a thread, completely outplayed despite having the white pieces, and it was practically a miracle that Carlsen failed to convert his advantage. Anyone can lose to Carlsen, of course, even with the white pieces, but it’s possible that this was as much a case of nerves as anything else. As great a player as Caruana is, and as many times as he has played Carlsen in the past, playing one’s first game in a world championship match is something completely different. A surprisingly large number of challengers have lost the first games of their match, and gone on to win. It takes time to get used to the stage, and in today’s video we’ll see a remarkable confirmation of this idea. Tigran Petrosian was one of the most solid players ever, at the peak of his form, and he went on to defeat Mikhail Botvinnik in great style in the match. But in game 1, he was unrecognizable, losing a terrible game with White, making both tactical and positional errors. So let’s not jump to any conclusions about the current match: Caruana will acclimate, and may go on to win.

Tuesday, November 13
IM Bill Paschall – Highlights from the 2018 World Junior, Part 1 | Opening, Strategy
The World Junior Championship of 2018 was filled with amazing players, but pre-tournament favorite GM Parham Maghsoodloo managed to triumph. In the first game from the event, the creative attacker Maghsoodloo derails a solid player with an aggressive and unorthodox system against the English as Black. Maghsoodloo is already devloping a strong following as Champion of Iran, a country with growing chess strength. In this series we will cover some of his games and other interesting battles from the top talents of 2018.

Wednesday, November 14
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Punish the French with a Direct Attack! | TActics
What happens when Black makes an early mistake in the French? Watch and learn how to punish your opponent with a direct kingside attack. What are the key elements to make this attack work? Pawn structure, Two Bishops and of course the h-pawn push!

Thursday, November 15
GM Robert Hungaski – Queen’s Gambit Accepted: A Simple System for Black, Part 3 | Strategy
As we move forward, we leave behind the closely related options that involve White’s pawn going to e3 (whether with 3.e3 right away or by inserting the move 3.Nf3 first). Now it’s time to deal with White’s direct assault on the center after the move 3.e4.

In this video I will be proposing a line that is not considered the main line, but one which has a good reputation nonetheless. That is the move 3…Nc6. The point of this move is to provoke White’s center (particularly the d-pawn) to prematurely advance so that it can later be undermined by means of the …e7-e6 pawn break. In this sense, the line is analogous to the Alekhine Defense (1.e4 Nf6), with the very important difference that the black knight is chased away towards the kingside (as opposed to the queenside). This greatly reduces White’s aggressive possibilities as he must be mindful not to over-expose his king should Wshite ever pursue the knight with f2-f4.

Friday, November 16
GM Leonid Kritz – Strategic Slip-Up Allows Amazing Tactical Escape | Endgame
Aronian totally outplayed his opponent in the opening and middlegame by applying an interesting idea – taking on f4 with the e-pawn and then putting his bishop on e3, creating pressure against Black’s queen side. However, at the end, the rising young star found a fascinating tactical solution and destroyed the piece of art that White created until then. A really fascinating fight!

Monday, November 5
IM Bill Paschall – World Championship Warm-Up, Part 3 | Opening, Endgame
Magnus Carlsen is a definite favorite going into the 2018 World Championship. This battle is part three of our series, however, it is an example of what might happen if Magnus makes the mistake of playing into a position where the challenger is well prepared. The Berlin Defense of the Ruy Lopez might be a good choice for Magnus against most players, but Caruana has excelled with White in this topical endgame variation. Black should make no mistake! If Magnus is to the play the Berlin, he must be truly ready! But why should Magnus play the Berlin? He could do quite well with other lines in the Closed Ruy Lopez.

Tuesday, November 6
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Good and Bad Bishops in the Exchange French | Opening
I know, seeing “Exchange French” doesn’t get one’s spine tingling. But it’s an important structure that arises not only in the French but the Petroff and the Berlin as well, to name just two major openings. So it’s worth looking at because it’s a common structure, and it’s even more worth our while because we can see that the supposedly ultra-drawing structure really isn’t that drawish after all, as we’ll see.

Wednesday, November 7
GM Leonid Kritz – Another Crazy Game Where White Plays h4 Early | Opening, Strategy
Many classical ideas have became so well known today, that to get an advantage out of the opening you need to be creative. That’s why in many different lines White tries to activate his rooks by playing h4 or a4, in different openings. This is one such example, and as so often, when Nepo plays these ideas they become particularly dangerous. A very interesting game with a lot of creative ideas from White, and Bacrot is unable to react adequately.

Thursday, November 8
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Systems for White in the Spanish Game: Part 3 – Facing the Chigorin | Opening, Strategy
In this third lecture, we will speak about the Chigorin system that allows Black to advance the queen side pawns more quickly compared to the Breyer system. Black moves the knight to a5 rather than to b8, targeting White’s light-squared bishop and forcing him to move the bishop down to c2. On one hand, Black wins tempi, but on the other hand he often suffers from having the knight at the edge of the board. From White’s point of view, it should be important to stress the drawback of the Chigorin knight before it escapes.

Friday, November 9
IM Valeri Lilov – The Gurgenidze Line | Strategy, Middlegame
I bet you’ve never heard about this opening. It is because it is not very popular, however it can save you a lot of time if you’re playing as black. Many people want a universal opening system with the black pieces, unfortunately where they fail is an understanding how such a system can work. Tune in to learn more from this lecture!

Monday, October 29
IM Bill Paschall – World Championship Warm-Up, Part 2 | Opening, Strategy
Magnus Carlsen owns a dominating record in Classical time controls against challenger Fabiano Caruana going into their 2018 World Championship. In the second part of our series we see Caruano manage to gain an advantage in a line of the Spanish that might very well come up in the match. However, Caruana seems to hesitate after gaining the advantage and proceeds to collapse. The reasons for this collapse could be a matter of psychology. Perhaps,like so many others, Caruana is somewhat intimidated by the World Champion. In any case, Caruana must gain advantages in the opening stage and he must realize said advantages to have any chance against the Champion.

Tuesday, October 30
GM Robert Hungaski – Queen’s Gambit Accepted: A Simple System for Black, Part 2 | Opening, Strategy, Tactics
We previously dealt with the move 3.e3, which is the modern attempt at avoiding the topical 4…Bg4 line. In this video we will be examining precisely what White is so concerned about.

Black’s idea after developing the bishop outside the pawn chain is fairly straight-forward: central pressure. He will continue by placing the queenside knight on c6 and dark-squared bishop on d6, preparing an eventual …e5. As we’ll see, White can take some measures to make Black’s life quite difficult (in fact, …e5 will be nearly impossible to carry out). However, this is no cause to despair!

I will show you White’s two main approaches: when the queenside knight is developed to d2-c4; and when the queenside knight is developed to c3-a4-c5. In both cases I will be proposing a new way of treating the position based on kingside play (rather than the aforementioned central pawn-break).

Wednesday, October 31
FM Dennis Monokroussos – A Brilliant Double-Edged Sword, or ‘Trapping’ Tal in a Simul | Strategy, Tactics
Mikhail Tal is one of the most brilliant players of all time, and his brilliance included an eye for spotting his opponents’ traps, “falling” for them, and then showing that his opponents had fallen into an even deeper trap. That’s just what happens here against a very game opponent in a simul. Miller may have been an untitled club player, but in this game he proved a worthy foe for an all-time great. He lost, but only because Tal came up with something extra-special.

Thursday, November 1
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Instructive Setup for Black vs the Symmetrical English | Openings, Strategy, Endgame
Are you afraid of the Symmetrical English? Are you confused by the many setups Black can play? Well, not anymore! Watch GM Perelshteyn show you a universal approach to this opening as Black. The plan is simple: e6,b6,Bb7 and don’t be afraid of the b4-b5 pawn pawn. Black equalizes easily out of the opening and plays creative game to fight for the initiative. His efforts are rewarded as White errs with h3? allowing a beautiful endgame. Can you find the study-like checkmate at the end?

Friday, November 2
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Systems for White in the Spanish Game: Part 2 – Facing the Zaitsev | Openings
In part 2, we will go over the Zaitsev system – fast development of the light-squared bishop on the long h1-a8 diagonal as well as bringing the rook to the e-file. In doing so, Black can prevent White’s standard idea with Nd2-f1-g3, which is used to attack the black king. To reduce the tension on his center, White at some point pushes the d-pawn, blocking the Black’s bishop. To activate it, he should play c6 at some point. In this case, White should try to occupy the d5-square that he gets after capturing on c6. In White’s perfect scenario, he ends up with the knight on d5 versus the dark-squared bishop; however it can be not so easy to achieve.

Monday, October 22
IM Bill Paschall World Championship Warm-Up, Part 1 | Opening, Endgame
In preparation for the upcoming World Championship, we will review the most recent decisive games between the World Champion and his challenger. This battle from Altibox 2018 really highlights Carlsen’s strengths. The opening is relatively harmless, but Caruana seems too ambitious. Carlsen shows a spark of genius with a Nimzovichian pawn sacrifice to gain control. The World Champion’s endgame technique is beyond reproach. Carlsen seems brilliant while Caruana’s play feels awkward.

Tuesday, October 23
IM Valeri Lilov Signs of Bad Attack | Strategy, Middlegame
What does it mean to lead a bad attack? It means we don’t know what makes the attack bad. Knowing how to defend successfully and more importantly, knowing when the attack simply cannot progress is the key to increase our chances both in attacking and defense.

Wednesday, October 24
FM Dennis Monokroussos Some Lessons in Handling “Drawn” Rook Endgames | Endgame
The Chinese women won their section of the 2018 Olympiad on tiebreaks over Ukraine, and this game played a huge part in it. Ukraine was leading the match 2-1 and only needed a draw here, and the ending was in fact drawn – practically “dead” drawn for a professional player. And yet…Ushenina lost, both thanks to her opponent’s wiliness and her own poor decision-making at some critical moments. Both players have something to teach us, so let’s learn from both of them.

Thursday, October 25
GM Nadya Kosintseva Systems for White in the Spanish Game: Part 1 – Facing the Breyer | Openings
The greatest of champions, Garry Kasparov, once famously said: If you know how to play the Spanish Game (Ruy Lopez), then you really know how to play chess. In this series, I will introduce you to each of Black’s popular schemes of development in this most classical of all openings, which begins 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5. These lectures can be beneficial and enhance your strategic understanding of chess even if you are not an 1.e4 player.

In part 1, we examine how to meet the Breyer Variation, in which Black maneuvers the c6-knight to the d7 square to clear the route for the c-pawn and open up a long diagonal for the light-squared bishop to target the white’s e4-pawn. Both sides spend the beginning moves to relocate their pieces. White usually focuses on the king side, whereas Black tries to advance on the queen side. However, to stretch Black’s defense, White often organizes an additional pawn play there, too. We will go over typical plans of White’s attacks on the king side as well as emphasize Black’s counter play to see the challenges both sides may face playing this Breyer system.

Friday, October 26
GM Leonid Kritz A Great Strategic Fight, But a Tragic End  | Endgame
In this game Gelfand showed a couple of interesting ideas; especially positioning of the light-squared bishop on c6 to protect the pawn d5 was impressive. Unfortunately, at the moment when it seemed that a draw is unavoidable, the unbelievable happened. Make sure you don’t ever let this happen to your rooks!

Monday, October 15
GM Robert Hungaski A New System to Comfortably Accept the Queens Gambit, Part 1 | Opening, Strategy
Hi there! And thank you for tuning in to my lecture on the Queen’s Gambit Accepted (QGA). During this lecture I aim to introduce you to one of my favorite ways of meeting 1.d4. The reason I hold this opening is such high regard is of course due to the reliability of the line, but also (and perhaps most importantly) to its practical value.

Unlike the Nimzo-Indian, Grunfeld or King’s Indian, which are also among the most reputable openings out there, the QGA requires little knowledge of long, complex variations. Instead, we are able to narrow down White’s possibilities as early as move three! In fact, after 2…dxc4 white only has three “main” moves 3.Nf3, 3.e3 and 3.e4 and against each of these Black has several interesting paths to choose from. In the QGA we are spoiled for choice!

I invite you to join me as I navigate through White’s most recent attempts at attaining an advantage by means of the move 3.e3. I will provide you with some general principles as well as the most accurate sequences, which will have your opponent knocking his head against the wall and you asking yourself “why doesn’t everyone play this with black!?”

Tuesday, October 16
IM Bill Paschall Selections from the 2018 Russian Superfinal, Part 3 | Opening, Strategy
In part three we see a topical variation with 4. d3 against the dreaded Berlin Defense in the Ruy Lopez. IM Paschall has done a series on this idea here on ChessLecture already. Fedoseev shows his classical style with 1.e4 e5 and his appreciation of control of the center in a hypermodern way. Black “gives up” the strongpoint at e5 only to lure White into overextending ! An interesting and beautiful win by the talented Fedoseev.

Wednesday, October 17
FM Dennis Monokroussos Not David, but Luis! | Openings, Opening Trap
David Bronstein was one of the greatest players of the mid-20th century, while Luis Bronstein was a relatively obscure IM from Argentina. But his win over Gutierrez Castillo from the 1978 Olympiad was magnificent – a game even his more famous namesake would have been proud to include in his resume. Bonus: Black’s play also has value as an opening trap for those in search of tricky ideas.

Thursday, October 18
GM Eugene Perelshteyn Instructive Miniature in the Sicilian Defense | Strategy, Tactics
How do you conduct a typical Sicilian Attack? GM Perelshteyn shares with you the simple recipe: rapid development, pressure e6 & g6 squares, and prepare a typical piece sac on d5 or b5!

Friday, October 19
IM Valeri Lilov Double Fianchetto | Strategy, Middlegame
Playing and easy to follow opening as white has never been so difficult. The reason is because there are so many ways on how the opponent can respond that we often feel confused and uncertain. In his new video, IM Lilov reveals a simple yet incredibly good-looking system that you can adopt as white.

Monday, October 8
IM Bill Paschall – Selections from the 2018 Russian Superfinal, Part 2 | Opening, Middlegame
The superfinal of the Russian Championship 2018 ended in a tie between GM Dmitry Jakovenko and GM Dmitry Andreikin. Andreikin was steady throughout, not losing a single game. His most important victory came at the expense of the young talent Daniil Dubov. Although Dubov will likely win a Russian Final one day, his consistency is not yet enough. In the following battle, Andreikin catches Dubov in the opening and Black is never quite able to escape.

Tuesday, October 9
GM Eugene Perelshteyn Grandmaster Commits a Cardinal Sin in Chess! | Opening, Strategy, Tactics
It’s not always easy to admit that a Grandmaster can make a simple mistake in chess…yet this is exactly what GM Perelshteyn shares in this video. The mistake is painful as he had 30min vs 2min of his young opponent, who was in severe time pressure. What did the GM do wrong? Watch this video and find out!

Wednesday, October 10
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Another Sneaky Kingside Attack | Tactics
As in our last video, we see Dubov win quickly, with Black, against a very strong GM in an early round of the 2018 Russian Championship. Once again the action starts innocently enough, but when Khismatullin doesn’t sense or notice that his kingside is underprotected, Dubov finds a way to conjure up a speedy attack and finish in power and style.

Thursday, October 11
GM Leonid Kritz – What’s Going On Here?! A New Wrinkle in the Najdorf | Strategy, Tactics
Another fascinating game by Wesley So. At first, it is not clear what is actually happening – White makes moves that do not seem too logical. However, at the end it all fits together and it turns out that Black is already lost – too late to change anything. Well, I guess welcome into the world of computerized home preparation…!

Friday October 12
IM Valeri Lilov – Attacking the Simple Way | Strategy, Middlegame
Attacking is always a challenging problem. For one, people don’t know what the elements are and for another, they don’t understand how to lead it through. In this video, IM Lilov brings up some of the key topics to lead a successful attack with ease!

Monday, October 1
IM Valeri Lilov Open the Position! | Strategy, Middlegame
Learning to open the position correctly is often quite crucial when it comes to achieving success in our attacks. That requires precision, calculation and most importantly, solid knowledge. Check out IM Lilov’s video lecture to learn all those things!

Tuesday, October 2
IM Bill Paschall Selections from the 2018 Russian Superfinal, Part 1 | Openings, Tactics
Jakovenko, admittedly one of the favorites, plays a brilliant attacking game against Nepomniatchi. This game is interesting as it shows White playing in an uncompromising style…one which has eluded the extremely solid Jakovenko at times, allowing too many draws, but rarely losing. Perhaps if Jako continues to play in such aggressive manner, he will emerge victorious in the Russian superfinal of 2018 and go on the become one of the elite Super-GM’s in the world !

Wednesday, October 3
FM Dennis Monokroussos Disturbing the Peace at the Russian Championship |
Daniil Dubov is a young and very aggressive player who doesn’t shy away from risk in chess. In the recently finished Russian Championship Dubov got out to an early lead thanks in part to wild games like this one. Rather than playing stably and enjoying equality, Dubov kept creating imbalances, and while it could have backfired it wound up giving him a crushing kingside attack. His opponent, Ernesto Inarkiev, obtained a big material advantage, but with all his pieces cut off from the defense of his kingside Dubov was able to finish the 28-move game in a massacre. Did Dubov go too far? Objectively yes, but his opponent was unable to maintain control when Dubov disturbed the peace, and the latter won convincingly.

Thursday, October 4
GM Eugene Perelshteyn Instructive Pawn Sac in the Catalan Opening | Openings, Strategy, Tactics
White plays a rare 7.Na3!? in the Classic Catalan to surprise his opponent. Black reacts well to reach a balance position. But suddenly, White spots a promising pawn sacrifice to change the nature of the game! The two bishops become monsters and the attack is unstoppable! The rest is put joy, with king hunt and nice tactics to come!

Friday, October 5
GM Nadya Kosintseva Play the Taimanov Sicilian (2…e6), Part 5 | Tactics
In this lecture we will finish our theoretical discussion about the Taimanov Variation of the Sicilian Defense. We will continue going over the 5.Nb5 d6 line, analyzing what happens if at this point White brings the dark-squared bishop to f4, which forces Black to push his e-pawn again. As a result, Black weakens the d5-point and a pawn structure similar to the Sveshnikov Sicilian arises. Next, we will consider a scheme of development when White’s light-squared bishop occupies the big h1-a8 diagonal. What’s more we will see the lines when White pushes the c-pawn two squares either on the 5th move or even earlier on the 3rd move.

Monday, September 24
IM Valeri Lilov Exploiting Space | Strategy, Middlegame
Getting a space advantage and using it are critical parts in any chess game. How do great players achieve it? Study IM Lilov’s lecture to learn more!

Tuesday, September 25
IM Bill Paschall Mamadyarov Dominates in Biel 2018, Part 4 | Opening, Strategy
Mamadyarov led off the Biel 2018 tournament with a round 1 victory against the bottom seed GM Niko Georgiadis. On paper this should be a routine game and in some ways it was. This example again shows us Mamadyarov playing a quiet system with the White pieces, but this time in a creative and hypermodern way that seems reminiscent of the late Bent Larsen. Shakriyar taking a young and probably booked-up player out of book early , essentially playing a type of Queen’s Indian setup with colors reversed. As usual, our hero is merciless and virtually flawless in his execution. What makes Mamadyarov so dangerous is his universal style which commands a balance of both great tactical and positional abilities.

Wednesday, September 26
FM Dennis Monokroussos Who Can Handle the Tension? | Tactics
Gyula Breyer was a strong master who died at a very young age, and is best known nowadays for the variation of the Ruy Lopez that bears his name. (A variation he may never have played, but did advocate.) While he never reached the level of players like Lasker, Capablanca, and Alekhine, he was a strong and talented player who defeated many of the greats of his day. The game we’ll see today was an early one, played in a simul when he was 17, and saw him outfox world champion Emanuel Lasker at his own game. One of Lasker’s great abilities was to preserve and even ramp up the tension and complexity in the game until his opponents broke; this time, it was Breyer who did the ramping up and Lasker who fell apart. It was a portent of things to come for the budding star, and a useful object lesson both for how to play in a simul (as the “simulee”) and to be true to one’s style no matter who one is playing.

Thursday, September 27
GM Eugene Perelshteyn Instructive GM vs GM Battle in the Maroczy Bind | Strategy, Tactics
It’s not often you get to play the legendary GM Ilya Smirin, former 2700 and many times World Open winner. In this game, GM Perelshteyn gets a great position from his beloved opening Accelerated Dragon, Maroczy Bind variation. Black sacs a pawn for a big attack, but does it actually work? Try to calculate it out yourself! Yet, Smirin was up to the task of finding the best defensive moves. This bittersweet battle is very instructive, watch and learn!

Friday, September 28
GM Nadya Kosintseva Play the Taimanov Sicilian (2…e6), Part 4 | Tactics
In this lecture we will cover a popular positional line with 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4. The main idea behind this variation is to limit Black’s counter play both in the center and on the queen side. Sometimes, the position of Black may seem to be passive and not so fascinating since he cannot cross the middle of the board for a while. At the same time, White should be accurate in his attempts to breakthrough. One wrong action and Black is ready to activate his pieces to show their hidden potential.

Monday, September 17
IM Valeri Lilov Advantage in Pieces | Strategy, Middlegame
Having an advantage of pieces can be a little frustrating if one does not know how to use and coordinate them so well. Check IM Lilov’s video to learn the key techniques!

Tuesday, September 18
IM Bill Paschall Mamadyarov Dominates in Biel 2018, Part 3 | Middlegame, Endgame
Mamedyarov wins again with a simple opening and excellent technique. Against Carlsen he has some luck, as their growing rivalry seems to have encouraged Carlsen to take some unnecessary risks in this game. Instead of playing to equalize with Black , Carlsen chooses complicated continuations at several junctures and ends up dropping a pawn. The resulting opposite bishop and rook endgame is typical and difficult to play for both sides. Carlsen slips in time pressure this time around.

Wednesday, September 19
FM Dennis Monokroussos The Combination of the Year? | Tactics
The year isn’t over, but any list of the year’s best games and certainly its best combinations will have to include Paravyan-Golubov from the Korchnoi Memorial Open. Paravyan played an interesting sideline against the Petroff, and then sacrificed a pawn. Black accepted the gambit but an error a couple of moves later gave Paravyan the chance to win material. That would have been okay, and had White played that way and won routinely only Paravyan and Golubov would remembered the game in the months and years to come. Instead, Paravyan went for a dazzling and brilliant idea instead, winning with a couple of the most spectacular moves you’ll ever see (and Golubov found a brilliant defensive idea at one moment too). This is the kind of game we all hope to play someday.

Thursday, September 20
GM Eugene Perelshteyn Hidden Tricks in the Exchange Slav | Openings, Tactics
Don’t be fooled by the drawish nature of the Exchange Slav. In this game GM Perelshteyn shows you one of his games from World Open where his opponent almost fell for a hidden trick. Can you find it? Black managed to survive the opening but found himself with a weak king. The attack is very instructive and there’s a bonus at the end. Can you find the killer decoy tactic?

Friday, September 21
GM Nadya Kosintseva Play the Taimanov Sicilian (2…e6), Part 3 | Strategy, Tactics
Today we will finish the sharpest lines of the Taimanov Variation when White castles long followed by a quick pawn advance on the king side. We will learn the system with 7.Qd2 Nf6 8. 0-0-0 and then 8…Bb4. This move order forces White to guard the e4-point by means of f3. Black’s dark-squared bishop is pretty annoying and at some point can be exchanged for the c3-knight weakening the white pawn formation around the king. However, this trade is not always so good for Black due to his weak dark-squares in the center. Sometimes, Black moves it back even without White’s a3 in order to clear the route for the pawns. We will go over White’s main options to see what Black can do to organize counter play either on the queen side or in the center.