Chess Lectures

New Chess Videos for February 3 – February 7

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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)

The ChessLecture DVD Collectors Club™

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ChessLecture.com announces the launch of the Chess DVD Collectors Club ™.  
Members of the Club will receive four brand new DVD releases every month.  Each DVD features a curated collection of the lectures given by the proven masters and educators featured at ChessLecture.com.  The lectures selected represent the most highly rated content – as rated by chess enthusiasts and competitive players – on chess strategies, tactics, openings, middlegame and endgame. They include current and historic games, discussion and demonstrations.  

Collector Club members will be among the first to receive these new releases each month. Each monthly shipment will include four DVDs, an $80 value, for just $39.95, shipping included**.  For a limited time, you can get your first month of membership for just $14.95.  That special price will only be offered to the first fifty signups, so do not delay, join now!
** – Standard domestic shipping is included;  expedited and international shipping is additional.  Collectors Club™ members can cancel at any time.

Learning from Lectures

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We’d like to hear more about the lectures you listen to, so we’re starting a contest today that will run through Friday, the end of the month. Tell us what recent lecture you’ve learned the most from and why, right here in the comments below.   The writer with the best answer  will receive his or her choice of DVD collection from our DVD store. We’ll announce the winner Saturday, February 1 right here!

New Chess Videos for January 27 – January 31

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Monday, January 27 IM Valeri Lilov Good and Bad Attacks (Intermediate, Middlegame, Strategy, Tactics)
When do we know that an attack is good or bad? Understanding whether a particular attack is going to be successful is a very hard thing to do. In this lecture, IM Valeri Lilov introduces some critical ideas on how you can recognize if a given attack has a better potential of being successful or not.

Tuesday, January 28, LM Dana Mackenzie When the Brilliant Move Isn’t the Best Move (Intermediate, Middlegame, Tactics, Strategy)
“In an earlier lecture, ‘Winning With Jedi Mind Tricks,’ Dana broke down an opponent’s fortress with patience and with a timely sacrifice. In this game, the formula didn’t work quite as well — he had too little patience and his sacrifice was not quite correct. However, the Force was still with him…”

Wednesday, January 29, FM Dennis Monokroussos Black’s Blasting Bishops in the Symmetrical Tarrasch, Part 2 (Intermediate, Middlegame)
In a game played just a few days ago, no less a player than recently dethroned world champion Viswanathan Anand fell prey to a similar sort of error to Rotlewi’s (see part 1 of this series). Maybe his loss wasn’t quite as spectacular as Rotlewi’s, but it was still a pretty one-sided defeat, especially for a player of his caliber. Again we see that in a highly symmetrical position with rampaging bishops the player whose attack gets going first can wind up with an overwhelming advantage. Our main game shows it, especially at the end, and the included game between me and Eric Cooke offers further confirmation. Do not underestimate the bishop pair in an open position!

Thursday, January 30, GM Eugene Perelshteyn What Happens When You Violate One of the Opening Principles (Intermediate, Openings, Strategy, Tactics)
In the Bg5 Exchange Slav, Black loses valuable time by moving the Queen out too early. If that was not enough, he also loses two tempi with the bishop. The punishment comes swift with a direct attack on the king. Surprisingly, Black has no defense after 13.Qh5! The Pin against the king is deadly.

Friday, January 31, GM Leonid Kritz Suffer the right way through the Stonewall, Part 2. (Intermediate, Openings, Strategy)
Another game using the Stonewall, but this time the play is more typical. The position of Black seems to be very passive throughout the game. However, once White does not find any forced way to come to a feasible advantage, Black gets his chance to counter. Unfortunately, lack of precision leads to a small mistake which gives White a chance to draw immediately.

New Chess Videos for January 20 to January 24

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Monday Jan 20 IM Valeri Lilov Elements of Improvement (Intermediate, Strategy, Middlegame)
The most important elements of improvement have always been a difficult part for many chess players. This lecture introduces some very simple and yet, very valuable concepts about the successful improvement behind any plan we take on.

Tuesday Jan 21 IM Bill Paschall, Petrosian Turns the Tables on Spassky (Intermediate, Middlegame)
In a battle between two world champions, Petrosian masterfully transfers his queen knight to the kingside brilliantly in this game and practically instigates the aggressive Spassky into an incorrect sacrificial plan! A great example of Petrosians’ positional strength and defensive play. The black king ends up fatally exposed after advancing his kingside pawns in classic King’s Indian Defense fashion.

Wednesday Jan 22 FM Dennis Monokroussos, Black’s Blasting Bishops in the Symmetrical Tarrasch, Part 1 (Intermediate, Middlegame)
In this classic game we see that just a bit of carelessness by White can lead to a terrifying attack by Black, and from an opening position that might seem innocuous at first glance. If you ever wondered about the attacking power of the bishop pair in an open board, this game will be a revelation to you. And if you think games like this were only possible 100 years ago, stay tuned for part two…

Thursday Jan 23 GM Eugene Perelshteyn, Instructive Setup for Black against the Maroczy Bind (Intermediate, Openings, Strategy, Tactics)
Black uses a clever move order to force White into an unfavorable Maroczy Bind. Once White’s knight is misplayed on b3, Black plays a5-a4 plan to gain space on the queenside. White’s pieces are lacking good squares, and Black executes the following plan: Qa5,Nd7-c5,Be6. Seeking counterplay, White plays an untimely f4 and gets duly punished.

Friday Jan 24 GM Leonid Kritz: Suffer the Right Way Through the Stonewall. Part 1 (Intermediate, Openings, Strategy)
The Stonewall is an old opening that has reputation of being pretty solid, but very passive. This game deviates from the standard ways we understand the Stonewall and from the very beginning the game takes on a very unusual shape. It looks all the time that White should be winning, but it turns out that things are not as easy as they seem to be, a typical feature of the Stonewall.

New Chess Video Lectures for January 13 to January 17

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This Week’s Lectures

Monday Jan 13 IM Valeri Lilov Steps to a Positional Sacrifice (Intermediate, Strategy)

Tuesday Jan 14 IM Bill Paschall An Exciting Game from the London Chess Classic (Intermediate, Middlegame)
In this instructive game from the 2013 London Chess Classic, underdog GM Gawain Jones illustrates the importance of avoiding simplification when you hold a spacial advantage. GM Gelfand plays too routinely in a “harmless looking” position. Although the opening is not of any serious danger for black, it is always necessary to be careful with positions in which the opponent has a potential kingside attack. Jones whirls up an attack out of seemingly thin air.

Wednesday Jan 15 FM Dennis Monokroussos Capablanca the Prodigy (Intermediate, Middlegame)
Nowadays child chess prodigies are relatively common. There are lots of trainers, and between powerful chess engines and the internet even players from improbable geographical locations have access to great information and the chance to develop quickly. This is a relatively recent phenomenon, however, and that makes the prodigies of the past, like Cuban great Jose Raul Capablanca, all the more amazing. He became the Cuban champion when he was just 13 years of age, and seeing his play in this game against his strong and experienced opponent shows that he had real skill; it wasn’t a case of being a one-eyed king in the land of the blind. The game isn’t just impressive, though; it’s entertaining and of theoretical interest as well, even 112 years later!

Thursday Jan 16 IM Bryan Smith My Final GM Norm, Part 3 (Intermediate, Openings, Tactics, Middlegame)
In the Michigan Fall Festival, Chesslecture video author Bryan Smith got his final norm for the grandmaster title. In this series he shows some of the games from that tournament – part 3 covers his wild draw with GM Anton Kovalyov from the seventh round.

Friday Jan 17 IM David Vigorito Opening Trends: Anti-Grunfeld, Part 2 (Intermediate, Openings, Strategy)

New Chess Video Lectures for January 6 to January 10

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This Week’s Lectures

Monday Jan 6 IM Valeri Lilov Outplaying the Opponent’s Attack (Intermediate, Middlegame)

Tuesday Jan 7 GM Eugene Perelshteyn How a London System Transposes to Benoni! (Intermediate, Opening)
A curious way to transpose to a Benoni from a London System allows White to build up a strong center and big space advantage.  With instructive play White breaks through in the center with a timely e5! push and blows Black off the board.

Wednesday Jan 8 FM Dennis Monokroussos Battle of the Generations (Intermediate, Middlegame)
It’s a pity Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen only played at the very beginning of the latter’s career, but even then their first rapid game proved quite exciting. Carlsen played the opening very well, obtained an advantage, and had Kasparov in huge trouble before the latter showed better technique and drew the game. (A double role-reversal! Carlsen played better than Kasparov in the opening, and Kasparov played better in the late middlegame and ending.) Carlsen’s ability and fearlessness proved a portent of things to come.

Thursday Jan 9 GM Leonid Kritz How to Avoid Najdorf (Intermediate, Openings, Strategy)
Najdorf Variation of Sicilian Defense is one of the most popular and at the same time one of the largest openings with regard to the volume of theory you need to learn in order to play against it. Most of the players simply do not have enough time to study just one opening. This is why pretty often it makes sense to avoid the main lines and play a variation that is rare and does not promise an opening advantage, but one you were able to prepare and understand at home. Knowing ideas is more important than knowing exact moves sometimes. This lecture covers one such possibility of how to avoid Najdorf main line.

Friday Jan 10 IM David Vigorito Opening Trends: Anti-Grunfeld, Part 1 (Intermediate, Openings, Strategy)

New Lectures December 30 – January 3

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This week we have lectures on middlegame, endgame, strategy and tactics. All of these lectures are intermediate. We thank FM Dennis Monokroussos and IM Bill Paschall for summaries of their lectures this week.

This Week’s Lectures
Dec 30   IM Valeri Lilov       How to Exploit a Better Development (Intermediate, Strategy)
 
Dec 31  GM Eugene Perelshteyn     Strategic Battle in the English:  Accumulation of Small Advantages (Intermediate, Middlegame, Strategy)
 
Jan 1     FM Dennis Monokroussos The Hanging Pawns Horror Show (Intermediate, Endgame, Strategy)
Sometimes “hanging pawns” – a pawn island consisting of two adjacent pawns – can be very effective. White pawns on c4 and d4, for example, control a lot of central and near-central squares, while even step-laddered pawns on c3 and d4 can be effective if they keep the center stable while White builds a kingside attack as in a typical isolated d-pawn setting. On the other hand, hanging pawns (e.g) on c3 and d4 can be terribly weak when White has no attack. Then Black can blockade them and use all the weak light squares, notably d5 and c4. That’s what we’ll see in this game, which is a salutary warning to lovers of the hanging pawns that if you don’t have an attack or if it isn’t good enough, your reward can be a strategically lost position.
Jan 2 IM Bill Paschall Polgar Punishes with the Panov (Intermediate, Middlegame, Tactics )
Judit Polgar displays the classic type of game typical for a strong attacking player seeking an open game in the Panov Caro-Kann. White keeps the lines open while using the isolated d-pawn as an influence in the center. Polgar then induces weaknesses in the opponents kingside and pounces at the right moment. An absolute must see game for those interested in the Caro-Kann or any isolated queen pawn positions.
Jan 3 LM Dana Mackenzie An Offer That Should Have Been Refused? (Intermediate, Middlegame, Tactics, Strategy)

December 23 – 27 New Lectures

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Dec 23 IM Valeri Lilov, How to Decide on a Breakthrough (intermediate, strategy)

Dec 24 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Instructive Play Against the IQP: Blockade (intermediate, strategy)
Black follows Nimzowitsch’s advice by blockading the isolated pawn, first with the knight rather than with the bishop. This creates a second weakness to cause White’s position to fall apart.

Dec 25 IM Bill Paschall, New Idea in the Panov Botvinnik Caro-Kann (intermediate, openings)
IM Paschall encounters a rare idea by White in the 5…Nc6 variation of the Panov. Paschall discusses new ideas for Black and proceeds to demonstrate how he went tragically astray in this new position which arose in the game. A very unusual and dangerous queen trap is on the menu! Don’t let it happen to you!

Dec 26 FM Dennis Monokroussos, Weirdness Works? Yes! (intermediate, tactics)
This game repeats Grandelius-Bok, seen in my previous lecture, up to White’s 11th move. Bok won a beautiful game, seemingly refuting Grandelius’s eccentric play in its totality. It turns out, however, that White’s concept was a good one, and with the right idea – the amazing 12.fxg5 Qxg5 13.g4!! – White’s strategy turns out to be the right one. Sometimes we’re inclined to dismiss unfamiliar ideas as bad ones, and while they can be – rules of thumb are “rules” for a reason – sometimes we need to revise our thinking instead. Case in point here: Safarli, who is a very strong young grandmaster, either didn’t do his research or trusted Bok, and learned a painful lesson.

Dec 27 IM David Vigorito Carlsen Makes it Look Simple – Again! (intermediate, tactics)

Returning to Chess

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It’s always gratifying for us to receive positive feedback from our viewers. This week, we were reminded of this by a new subscriber, who wrote:

“I am a complete novice to serious chess. Like many, I learned the moves 50 plus years ago and then over the years played a few games with friends who knew as little as I. Retirement and caring for my homebound wife (where I am home all the time) lead me to renewed interest in chess, but this time on a serious basis.

Being at home also lead me to Netflix, which resulted in watching Brooklyn Castle, which lead to a “fan” email to who I consider its star’ Elizabeth Vicary. Elizabeth highly recommended your site, and am happy she did. I just started watching a video and learned more in fifteen minutes than hours going through chess books and looking at other web sites. There was a tad confusion trying to get the video to play, but your FAQ section got me on track on my IPad. Your welcoming email got here right after I found the answer on FAQ.”

If any of you have testimonials to offer – or suggestions, or even constructive criticisms – we’d like to hear from you….in the comments here, on our Facebook page or via email.