Chess Lectures

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!

Recommended for Beginner – Intermediate Players       More                              

Presented by International Grandmaster Bryan Smith for ChessLecture.com

Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (1880 –1961) was a Polish chess Grandmaster at the beginning of the 20th century. In his youth, he astonished the chess world, defeating many famous players, including Capablanca and Schlecthter. Rubinstein was one of the earliest chess players to take the endgame into account when choosing and playing the opening. Exceptionally talented in the endgame, particularly in rook endings, Rubinstein broke new ground in endgame theory. Jeremy Silman ranked him as one of the five best endgame players of all time, and a master of rook endgames.

In this series Bryan shows us Rubinstein playing against world class players in a variety of openings showcasing his brilliant play which is often called a work of art for its simplicity and technique.

Content: 4 hours and 38 minutes of instruction and analysis in a series of 8 lectures                

Members of ChessLecture.com rated this series a 4.14 out of 5  PGN Included

GrFans on Chesslecture.com said: Great lecture on one of the greatest endgame players of the period. He was a great artist and his depth of positional understanding was way ahead of his time. Your analysis really helps to point this out. Thank you Bryan!

GM Bryan Smith grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and resides in Philadelphia, PA. Some of his accomplishments include clear first in the 2008 National Chess Congress, first place in the 2006 U.S. Masters (qualifying to the 2007 U.S. Championship) and first place in the 2008 King’s Island Open, as well as winning many other Grand Prix tournaments. He was on the national champion UMBC chess team from 1999 to 2001. Bryan is the highest rated player ever from Alaska. Brian became a Grandmaster in 2013.

Monday, August 3 GM Leonid Kritz Dare to Take the Pawns! (tactics)
A very strong game by the unofficial Woman World Champion that she could have won if she dared to take the white pawns that were hanging all the time. Hou outplayed her opponent after the opening, got a terrific position with her knight on e4, and was absolutely able to hope for more than just a draw. Unfortunately, she was too careful and did not want to take what she could, so Nisipeanu got his chances on the king side and quickly used them to force a draw.

Tuesday, August 4 IM Bill Paschall Classic Karpov, Part 3 (strategy, middlegame)
Karpov plays from another situation where he is comfortable with both black and white in the Queen’s Gambit Declined. As white , Karpov chooses a quiet variation with 6. Bxf6 and things get interesting when a position with an isolated queen’s pawn arises. White wins using classic and simple principles. We see the value of the open file, the 7th rank and the exploitation of undefended points and pieces in the enemy position. Black is forced into a desperate queen sacrifice, but his attempt at counterplay with an advanced passed pawn is too slow against Karpov’s accurate technique.

Wednesday, August 5, FM Dennis Monokroussos Who Needs Bishops? (openings)
There are various opening lines that involve a player giving up one or both bishops for the opponent’s knights, but Michael Adams’ concept in his game with Veselin Topalov from Dortmund 1996 was unusual and especially deep. First, he did it in a position where he apparently left a weakened fianchetto position and in a position where White’s bishops really didn’t look bad at all. But Adams’ idea was very deep and not just a general instance of handling knights vs. bishops. To say more would ruin the surprise, so please watch the video!

Thursday, August 6, GM Eugene Perelshteyn Calculate Like a GM! Part 1 (tactics, middlegame)
Learn how to calculate like a GM! The key concepts to remember: identify a few candidate moves, start with the most forcing one, pause and look for opponent’s candidate moves. Disciplined thinking is very important!

Friday, August 7, GM Bryan Smith A Repertoire for White in the Ruy Lopez: Part 2 (openings, tactics)
In the second part of his series on the Spanish, GM Bryan Smith shows a good response to the Steinitz Variation in the context of his game against Darmen Sadvakasov.

Monday, July 27 GM Leonid Kritz Ambiguous Experiments in the Opening (openings, tactics)
Strange enough – Grischuk who has an excellent opening repertoire plays a line that is considered bad and… gets a bad, almost lost, position right after the opening. All Giri needed was to show certain degree of precision, which he partially did, but at some point Grischuk was able to get into complications and almost equalize. A very interesting game in a rare opening and with many tactical and strategic aspects.

Tuesday, July 28 IM Bill Paschall Classic Karpov, Part 2 (openings, tactics)
Karpov finds himself right at home in a line of the Catalan which he has played with both colors. His opponent, super-GM Beliavsky, makes a very audacious capture with the queen on d5 on black’s 13th move. Karpov uncorks a powerful novelty with the move 14. h4 !, which guards the bishop on g5 and leaves the black queen in great danger on d5. Black is never able to neutralize white’s pressure on the the h1-a8 diagonal in this classic Catalan encounter. Black, in desperate trouble, quickly goes astray, trying to solve his problems tactically but missing a classic Karpovian quiet move.

Wednesday, July 29 FM Dennis Monokroussos In Praise of Kieseritzky (tactics)
Lionel Kieseritzky is best known today as the loser of the “Immortal Game” and for the variation named for him in the King’s Gambit. But he was really a talented player in his own right, as we’ll see: a gifted attacker with a nice eye for sacrifices. (See especially the second game fragment in the video, which suggests that he was the first discoverer of a mating pattern named for someone who found it a generation later!)

Thursday, July 30 GM Eugene Perelshteyn How to Win 1st Place Outright Ahead of 7 GMs If You’re Only 14! (endgame, strategy)
Learn endgames from the best! Kamsky slowly outplays his younger opponent in what looks like a equal endgame. Where did White go wrong? Watch and learn how to think in terms of “schemes” and plans and how to attack in the endgame!

Friday, July 31, GM Bryan Smith A Repertoire for White in the Ruy Lopez: Part 1 (openings, strategy)
In this first part of his repertoire series, GM Bryan Smith looks at ways for White to meet the Classical Variation (3…Bc5) against the Spanish.

Monday, July 20 IM David Vigorito Prophylactic Mating Attack (middlegame, tactics)
After an unusual opening transposition, a highly unbalanced middlegame is reached. Here we see how a flank attack can work well even when the center is not closed. The key to success here is always remembering to think, ‘what can my opponent do?’.

Tuesday, July 21 IM Bill Paschall Classic Karpov, Part 1 (openings, tactics)
Karpov gains the bishop pair and a spacial advantage in the opening. Timman misplays in some early situations, deploying the wrong knight to b4 as well as deferring e6, thus allowing Karpov a very disruptive pawn sacrifice. Black is unable to coordinate or generate counter-play in this sharp situation with king his castled long. Karpov brilliantly sacrifices his queen and gains a devastatingly powerful passed pawn, which is the key to his victory. The former World Champion displays excellent technique in this imbalanced endgame.

Wednesday, July 22 FM Dennis Monokroussos Remembering Walter Browne (openings, tactics)
Walter Browne died this June, and as one of the legends of U.S. chess and a world-class player in the 1970s and early 1980s, he deserves to be remembered. In this game he shows his mettle, crushing one of the world’s best players. He found a brilliant idea against his opponent’s opening idea, and finished the game with an impressive attack. Browne’s high-energy play may have made it look easy, but it wasn’t!

Thursday, July 23 GM Leonid Kritz Time Trouble (tactics)
Even though every game of the World Champion is interesting to watch, this one is something special. And it is not because of chess attributes. Yes, Carlsen played very strong and outplayed his opponent as he does so often, but then… Mistakenly, the world champ expected additional 15 minutes after move 60, but he did not get them and… lost on time in a position where he was winning by force. That does not happen too often. Besides, the most important moment of the game is the idea that almost always you should play h5 once your opponent plays h4 with the idea of weakening your king. Topalov did not do it and got in trouble in a position that was absolutely OK.

Friday, July 24 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Play the Endgame Like Kamsky! (endgame, strategy)
Learn endgames from the best! Kamsky slowly outplays his younger opponent in what looks like a equal endgame. Where did White go wrong? Watch and learn how to think in terms of “schemes” and plans and how to attack in the endgame!

Monday, July 13 IM David Vigorito Pawn Tension From the Opening Into the Endgame (openings, endgame)
In this lecture I present one of my own recent games. Facing an experienced Canadian IM I used my preparation for a previous round to get a comfortable ending. There is lasting pawn tension in the center and both sides have half-open files for their rooks. Who will handle the tension better? (me!)

Tuesday, July 14 IM Bill Paschall Miles on Hypermodernism, Part 5 (openings, strategy)
Miles sidesteps white’s preparation in the Queen’s Indian. The resulting Nimzo is played in very hypermodern fashion by Miles. Black benefits from a better structure and fewer weaknesses than white. Gheorghiu is not so much overextended, but does incur long-term weaknesses and a lack of coordination. White could have improved by castling queenside at some point. The plan by Miles of avoiding f5 in the opening and developing with Nc6 and Qe7 is particularly interesting.

Wednesday, July 15 FM Dennis Monokroussos The Mighty Chigorin, Episode 2 (tactics, middlegame)
Last time we saw Chigorin defeat the world champion with the white pieces in game 1 of their two-game cable match; this time we’ll see Chigorin finish him off with Black in another theoretical duel. Chigorin enters the early middlegame with the better prospects, as Steinitz again undervalues his opponent’s initiative. This time, however, Steinitz decides to mix things up, and in the ensuing complications it’s again Chigorin who comes out ahead, seeing a couple of nice zwischenzugs that leave him on top. The great Russian finishes smoothly as well, making it clear to Steinitz then and to us today that he really was a great of the era, a player who deserves our appreciation and attention even now.

Thursday, July 16 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Facing the Youngest GM in the Country: Sevian’s Queen Triangle Wins the Game! (tactics)
Eugene faces the youngest Grandmaster in the country. Watch and learn great tactical queen triangle from the young Sevian!

Friday, July 17 LM Dana Mackenzie Returns and Farewells (strategy, tactics)
In his valedictory lecture for ChessLecture, NM Mackenzie shows the game that finally returned his rating to the 2200 (master) level, after nearly twenty years. He points out areas where his play has improved in the last 5-10 years and a number of themes from his previous ChessLectures, including: controlling the pace of the game, choosing between strategy (“building” moves) and tactics (sacrifice), piece coordination, passed pawns as a weapon in the middlegame, the Mike Splane Question (“how will I win this game?”), and sacrificing pawns for tempi in a rook and pawn endgame.