Chess Lectures

IM Valeri Lilov Center vs. Active Pieces (strategy, annotated games)
What is more relevant: Get a better piece coordination or gain space by controlling the center? This key question is quite complex as both of these are quite important, each in its specific way. Find out how to evaluate them in IM Lilov’s lecture!

IM Bill Paschall A New Concept Against the Slav: Sidelines (openings, strategy)
In part two of this series, IM Paschall rounds out his interesting line against the Slav with the sidelines against the Paschall-Teglas Gambit (4.Qc2) where black declines to keep the offered pawn. The play is not as sharp as in part one, but white must be prepared for the various continuations which black can try.

FM Dennis Monokroussos Blitz Miniatures from Dubai: Black Wins (tactics)
Every now and then it’s fun to see great players lose quickly. It’s not so much the schadenfreude, though that’s part of the story, but it’s encouraging in several ways. We see that they’re human too, so we’re better able to forgive our own follies while realizing that under the right conditions, we might be able to beat much stronger players. Errare humanum est! Further, when an elite player loses quickly the cause is often instructive and worthy of our attention. Finally, these games are simply entertaining. Enjoy!

GM Eugene Perelshteyn Instructive Game in the Nimzo Qc2: How to Neutralize the Bishop Pair
In a rare Nimzo Qc2 line, Black goes for the Bogo-like plan of trading his dark square bishop on c3, followed by d6, e5 push. White gets the bishop pair and space, while Black uses quick development to execute a King’s Indian …f5 push. Watch how the battle unfolds with a key maneuver to neutralize the bishop pair: Nd7-b6-a4!

IM David Vigorito Can’t Take Anyone Too Lightly (openings, endgame)
One must play well to win, even against a much lower rated player. In this game I have White against a player a few hundred points lower rated and I quickly find myself in a position that requires a lot of precision just to keep the game alive. It is important to recognize certain critical moments before they pass by. As always, the details are very important.

The Reti for White

by GM Eugene Perelshteyn 

  Recommended for Intermediate and Advanced Players

Presented by International Grandmaster Eugene Perelshtyen for ChessLecture.com

The Réti Opening is a hypermodern chess opening whose traditional or classic method begins with the moves: 1. Nf3 d5, 2. c4 Named after Richard Réti (1889–1929), an untitled Grandmaster from Czechoslovakia, this opening is in the spirit of the hypermodernism movement that Réti championed, with the center being dominated by counter attacks from the flanks.

In this DVD Eugene demonstrates two interesting lines for white in the Reti and then gives us an example of the Reti in action with his best game in the 2008 Spice cup.

Content: 87 Minutes of chess theory and discussion, in a series of 3 lectures. ECO: A04, A05

Members of ChessLecture.com rated this series a 4.58 out of 5

Fans on ChessLecture.com said: An excellent, insightful lecture. Thanks pure sweetness. I like these flexible openings, as i am a beginner player. This is great! Thanks and well done.

GM Eugene Perelshtyen earned his third GM norm after sharing first place in the 2006 Foxwoods Open, giving him the official GM title. He won the Samford Chess Fellowship in 2002, an award that amounts to $64,000, which is awarded to the top American player under 25 years old. Eugene also led the University of Maryland, Baltimore County to several Pan American championships from 1998-2002. Eugene also won the highly prestigious US Junior Championship in 2000. Eugene recently co-authored the books Chess Openings for Black, Explained and Chess Openings for White, Explained.

Monday, August 11 IM David Vigorito Beating the Berlin (openings, tactics, endgame)
In this game Magnus Carlsen suffers his first loss as World Champion. Few have been willing to take him on in the notorious Berlin endgame, but Caruana is confident and takes advantage of the champ’s careless play and brings home the point with careful technique.

Tuesday, August 12, IM Bill Paschall A New Concept Against the Slav: The Teglas/Paschall Gambit (openings, strategy)
In this lecture, Part 1, IM Paschall introduces a new Gambit Concept for use against the ever popular Slav Defense.

Wednesday, August 13 FM Dennis Monokroussos Blitz Miniatures from Dubai: White Wins (tactics)
Every now and then it’s fun to see great players lose quickly. It’s not so much the schadenfreude, though that’s part of the story, but it’s encouraging in several ways. We see that they’re human too, so we’re better able to forgive our own follies while realizing that under the right conditions, we might be able to beat much stronger players. Errare humanum est! Further, when an elite player loses quickly the cause is often instructive and worthy of our attention. Finally, these games are simply entertaining. Enjoy!

Thursday, August 14 GM Leonid Kritz  A Game That Determined the Super Tournament Winner

Friday, August 15 GM Eugene Perelshteyn  Thematic Maroczy Bind Endgame: How to Use the c5 Outpost (endgame)
Instructive way to handle the Maroczy bind endgame. Watch how Black takes advantage of the output of c5 to fix White’s pawn structure on the kingside. Then, with a quick switch to the f4 output, Black starts the attack on the kingside. Well played game but spoiler alert…Black missed a key move and threw away the win at the end!

The Exchange Sacrifice on c3 in the Sicilian

by GM Bryan Smith

Recommended for Intermediate-Advanced Players  More

An exchange sacrifice occurs when one player gives up a rook for a minor piece. It is often used to destroy the enemy pawn structure. In the Sicillian Defense it is used where Blacks  knight on c3 with a rook to establish a minor piece on a strong square. In this DVD Bryan explains the sacrifices with both the Scheveningen “small center” structure of pawns on d6 and e6 and as well as the Sicilian Dragon.

Content 2 hours of chess theory and discussion in a series of 3 lectures.

ECO: B90, B56, B35    Members of ChessLecture.com rated this series a 4.02 out of 5

Fans on ChessLecture.com said: A very instructive video! I found it informative in all facets of the game.

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, Sept 1 IM Valeri Lilov Development vs. Material (openings, middlegame) What is more important: Getting a faster development or winning material? This question is very basic and yet, answering it isn’t simple. Find out the answer by checking IM Lilov’s new lecture!

Tuesday, Sept. 2 IM Bill Paschall An Instructive Grunfeld from Biel (middlegame)

Wednesday, Sept. 3 FM Dennis Monokroussos Battle of Imbalances (strategy) Much of positional play is about imbalances, and in this game they were present in spades. Yannick Pelletier had two knights against two bishops, and had a damaged pawn structure as well. On the other hand, he enjoyed significant pluses both in space and development. As a result, Black needed to play quietly for a while, aiming to keep things under control. This may seem strange, as most of us have imbibed the notion that bishops want an open board while knights want things closed. Ultimately, that’s true, but just because it’s the aim it doesn’t mean that the side with bishops should open the board no matter what. In this game Yusupov opened the position too fast, and as a result his sufferings were increased – and without obtaining any counterplay to compensate. Pelletier won in good style, and his knights were the dominant pieces!

Thursday, Sept. 4 LM Dana Mackenzie Checkmate in the Endgame Part 2 (endgame) In a tense, multiple-piece endgame, Black “plays for three results” — that is, trying to win but at the cost of risking a draw or loss — with catastrophic results. Applebaum, as White, plays a couple of ingenious moves to set up a mating net, while Black (Mackenzie) — who could have escaped — seems unaware of the danger until too late.

Friday, Sept. 5 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Positional Squeeze vs. the Pirc Defense (openings, strategy) Instructive way to handle the annoying Pirc. Key ideas to remember: 1) Meet …a6 or …c6 with a4! 2) Secure e3 square with an early h3 3) Always take on e5 to block the g7 bishop.

Monday, July 28 IM Valeri Lilov The Advantage of Fast Development (strategy, openings)
Many chess players know that fast development is essential for a solid opening and good start for the middlegame. The question asked is just one: Why is it so important to develop fast? Answering that question is the key to unlocking the secrets of the successful opening play. Let us dig into this direction and improve your understanding of opening play.

Tuesday, July 29 IM Bill Paschall A Creative Nimzo by Karjakin (openings, tactics)
Karjakin gets creative with Black in a fairly rare line of the Nimzo. The move 8.b4 by GM Milov is uncommon in the Reshevsky variation , and Karjakin uses the classic Queen’s Gambit plan of b5 , and Nb6 to c4 to create a monster knight within the white position. Milov hesitates in the opening and is unable to achieve the classic plan of f3 and e4 with the central pawn majority. With White’s play stopped in its tracks, Karjakin turns the game into a King’s Indian, and with his dark squared bishop still on the board, conducts a decisive attack on the white king. Not your typical Nimzo-Indian !

Wednesday, July 30 FM Dennis Monokroussos How to Exploit Weak Squares (openings)
Most of us are familiar with ready-made holes, like the d5 square in the Najdorf Sicilian, but sometimes one must create such holes seemingly from scratch. That’s what Dutch great Jan Timman does in this game, and he offers a positional master class. First he creates the hole, then he makes sure his opponent can’t fill it, and then finally he occupies and uses it on the way to winning a positional masterpiece.

Thursday, July 31 IM David Vigorito The World Champion Falls to the King’s Indian (opening, strategy)
Carlsen plays his “customer” Radjabov and goes for a rather quiet line in the King’s Indian. It is Black, however, who has a better grasp of the King’s Indian’s subtleties. Carlsen gets a little too creative and Radjabov takes what he is given and finishes off the champ very efficiently.

Friday, August 1 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Grudge Match vs. Macieja in the Advanced Caro-Kann” (endgame)
White chooses the aggressive Short system to take revenge for the previous loss against Macieja (see previous lecture “Spectacular Queen Sac for Domination”). However, Black is up to the challenge and finds a way to simplify intro an instructive R+N vs R+B endgame. Clearly White’s bishop is better, but the tide turns and he finds himself defending. Watch and learn not to repeat the same mistakes!

The Najdorf Poisoned Pawn: Then and Now

by GM Bryan Smith

            Recommended for Intermediate-Advanced Players

A pawn is said to be poisoned because its capture can result in a positional disadvantage and or the loss of material l. The best known of these is a line of the Sicillian Defense, Najdorf Variation . One of the pioneers of this line was David Bronstein , who tied the 1951 World Championship match against Mikhail Botvinnik 12–12. Bobby Fischer later became an practitioner, playing it with great success.

Recently revived GM Bryan Smith shows you how it was historically used, and how our modern top class players such Anand are using it.

Content 2 hours of chess theory and discussion in a series of 3 lectures.    ECO: B97

Members of ChessLecture.com rated this series a 3.62 out of 5 .

Fans on ChessLecture.com said: Bryan: These two lectures on the Poison-Pawn you did are fantastic! Can you please do at least one more poison-pawn lecture to update where this opening stands today?

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.

Basic Ideas Behind the Pirc Defense

by International Master Attila Turzo

Recommended for Beginner to Intermediate Players

The Pirc Defense sometimes known as the Ufimtsev Defence or Yugoslav Defense normally refers to the opening 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6. It is named after the Slovenian International Grandmaster Vasja Pirc.

On this DVD IM Turzo walks you through the basic variations and shows you the things to consider at every step.

Members of Chesslecture.com rated this series a 3.79 out of 5

Content: 140 minutes of instruction and analysis in a series of 5 lectures

Members said: I play the Pirc defense and learned a lot about the plans against the various setups white might choose. I am looking forward to watching the rest of the series. 5 stars.

IM Attila Turzo currently resides in Hungary. Attila’s his achievements are 1998 Hungarian Junior Champion and earned his IM title in 1997. Attila also won the First Saturday Chess Tournament in May 2004. Turzo is a professional chess coach.

Monday, July 14 IM Valeri Lilov Karpov’s Approach to Weaknesses (strategy, middlegame) One of the greatest players of all time is the 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov. He was undoubtedly the greatest positional player for his time and one of the greatest technical players of all time. The secret behind many of Karpov’s victories lies within his strong ability to accurately find and attack weaknesses in his opponent’s position.

Tuesday, July 15 IM Bill Paschall A Smashing Sicilian! (tactics)

Wednesday, July 16 FM Dennis Monokroussos The Frenchman’s Attack Defeats the English (openings) Luxembourg GM Alberto David played an interesting sideline of the English, using an early b4. Sometimes this can save time, but sometimes – as in this game – it can end up being a loss of time if White must spend tempi defending the prematurely developed pawn. The game remained equal for quite a while, but when David underestimated super-GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave’s attacking potential for just a single move, he paid a heavy price. The young Frenchman won with a beautiful attack that seemed to come out of nowhere, and reminds us that if we’re pressing for an initiative on the opposite side of the board from where our king is, bad things can happen if we’re not careful!

Thursday, July 17 IM David Vigorito Opening Trends: Five Openings in One (openings) A new trend that is being seen at high level is a harmless-looking setup with e3 and Be2. White’s idea is essentially an Anti-Grunfeld, but the game can quickly turn into a Benoni, a Benko, a King’s Indian, or even a French of sorts! In this game Black scores a notable upset with a direct attack. White avoids getting mated, but he gets bound hand and foot.

Friday, July 18 GM Eugene Perelshteyn On the Ropes Against the Super-Strong Youngster (middlegame, tactics, strategy) Black finds himself on the ropes against the soon-to-be GM, Jeffrey Xiong, after getting on the worse side of the reversed Benoni structure. Watch and learn how the youngster attacks the GM with vigor after g4! Black missed a brilliant defensive idea and was closing to losing. However, White missed a beautiful tactic to finish off the game and allowed Black in the game with an exchange sac. The resulting endgame is a well-known theoretical draw, K+B vs K+R.  Just remember the rightcorner!