Chess Lectures

Monday, November 25
IM Bill Paschall – Highlights from the 2019 European Team Championship, Part 1 | Opening
The European Team Championship is a strong chess event every year, producing hard fought and creative games. In the first part of the series on 2019, we see Anish Giri taking on the Spanish #1, David Anton Guijarro. The game follows a very trendy path in the opening, but Giri goes his own way with a creative new approach! Black’s sense of danger is lacking and his king quickly comes under attack. IM Paschall explains the principles that were neglected and why this happened.

Tuesday, November 26
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Fun with the Budapest | Opening
The Budapest Gambit may not be as reliable as the Queen’s Gambit or the Nimzo-Indian, but what’s in its favor is the chance to blow away even an elite opponent – especially when they play the 4.Nf3 main line. That’s what we’ll see here, in the game between former prodigy Jorge Cori and teen superstar Alireza Firouzja. Cori is an extremely strong GM who clearly knew something about the line he chose, and yet he was probably losing as early as move 16. There were some twists and turns along the way, before Black won the game (including a big mistake that could have led to his loss), but the general trend was almost entirely in Black’s favor. If you’re looking to spice up your repertoire, the Budapest is a good surprise weapon.

Wednesday, November 27
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Vintage Karpov Destroys Seirawan’s Caro-Kann! | Opening, Strategy, Endgame
What happens when the reigning World Champ is faced by a novelty in the Caro-Kann? The answer: Over-the-board refutation with masterful attack! Poor Seirawan falls victim to vintage Karpov, the man who dominated the chess world for 10 years, winning almost all major tournaments. Watch and learn how White uses the basic concepts of centralization and domination to punish Black’s passive play.

Thursday, November 28
GM Valeri Lilov – Master the Scandinavian | Opening
Every intermediate player is often wondering about an easy-to-learn, yet simple opening for black against 1.e4. The Scandinavian has been a favorite of many players from any level. It’s all about knowing a few simple strategic concepts and you should be set!

Friday, November 29
GM Robert Hungaski – Queen’s Gambit Accepted: A Simple System for Black, Update #2 | Strategy
In this video I will continue my discussion of the Queen’s Gambit accepted, where in order to recover from a recent loss (discussed in the previous video) I had to go back to the drawing board and rework some critical lines in my repertoire. I will discuss my thought process in outlining the problem and how I was able to solve it.

Monday, November 18
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Spassky Punishes Pirc Defense With A Model Attack | Opening
It’s not often we see an aging GM play attacking chess. Yet, this is exactly what Spassky does 12 years after his match vs Bobby Fischer. He plays perfect attacking chess and destroys young Seirawan, who’s one of the top GMs at that time. Every move is aimed at the enemy king, and total disregard for material! Learn how to play from the best!

Tuesday, November 19
IM Bill Paschall – Old School Technique at the Isle of Man | Opening, Endgame
Endgame technique is timeless. Younger and less experienced top players and faster and faster time controls are reducing the level of endgame skill at the highest echelons of the chess world. The following game bears significance not only for the endgame itself, but for thinking about the transitions to such an inferior endgame and the concessions that one side has made in the middle game. Grand master Boris Gelfand has been one of the best players in the world for over thirty years. In this example we see his ability to accumulate small advantages without risk and convert to a full point victory against an inexperienced young talent.

Wednesday, November 20 – FM Dennis Monokroussos
How to Avoid Losing with Rook and Four Pawns against Rook and Four Pawns | Tactics
It’s bad enough losing rook and three vs. rook and four. That’s a theoretical draw, in the normal case where the side with the extra pawn doesn’t start with a big space advantage, but it’s not always easy to hold. But rook and four vs. rook and four? That should be a breeze – especially for a super-GM like Ruslan Ponomariov, a player who was celebrated for his good technique even when he was a teenager. Except that it wasn’t, in this 2010 game with Magnus Carlsen. Ponomariov did start the ending with one small problem, but the position was still entirely drawn. But you know Carlsen: he kept posing one small problem after another, and finally Ponomariov snapped. In the video I show not only the key moves in that ending, but also the key decision points, in the hope that when we’re in a situation like Ponomariov’s we can avoid his fate by improving our decision-making. (It will also help if we’re not facing Carlsen.)

Thursday, November 21
GM Leonid Kritz – The Marshall Gambit Defeated! | Openings, Tactics
A rare instance of White winning against the Marshall Attack in the Spanish. Although, if Black played 22…c5, the game probably would have ended in a draw. Still, a brilliant game from Radjabov, and in particular the 26th move by White is remarkable.

Friday, November 22
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Play the Sozin Attack vs the Najdorf Sicilian, Part 6 | Strategy
In this lecture we will finish our series about the Sozin Attack covering the line after 8…Be7 9.Qf3 Qc7. Compared to 9…Qb6 that we discussed in the previous lecture, the black queen seems to be more naturally placed and Black can already castle next move. White can still create some threats against the black king after he moves his queen to the g-file or target the d6-pawn from there but in general the positions of this line are less concrete and lead to less forcing play than before. However, White feels comfortable and can continue increasing his pressure gradually without taking any risk.

Monday, November 11
IM Valeri Lilov – Win with the London System | Openings
Playing 1.d4 as white can be quite tough, knowing the many different responses black may play. There is a solution though. The London System is often regarded as a universal opening weapon for white. Pick it up and you will have no challenge in handling the opening at any time!

Tuesday, November 11
IM Bill Paschall – A Vintage Battle in the Sicilian | Tactics, Middlegame, Endgame
The following game is a classic attacking battle in the sharp Sicilian Defense. White sacrifices a rook to flush out the Black king and then regains enough material to retain serious willing chances, despite the Black king’s immediate escape. The video takes the perspective of the veteran GM Vlastimil Jansa, playing Black, who frankly was very lucky to survive this encounter! Instructive points include the exchange of Queens and the resulting endgame.

Wednesday, November 11
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Smashing the Pawn Roller Variation of the Queen’s Gambit Exchange | Tactics
I’ve shown a few games over the years where White has steamrolled Black with his center pawns in the Exchange Variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined. White puts the knight on e2 and plays f3, aiming for an eventual e4, then e5, f4, f5 – and destruction. It’s a potent plan, but as we’ll see today there are no guarantees in life. IM Kassa Korley obliterates Alexander Moiseenko with a spectacular sacrificial idea – one which, amazingly, he was able to put into practice not just once but twice! Take heart, those of you who play the QGD with Black. Help is here. And even if you don’t care about either side of the variation, it’s a glorious game worth seeing.

Thursday, November 11
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Play the Sozin Attack vs the Najdorf Sicilian, Part 5 | Strategy
In this lecture we start learning the line where Black deviates from direct attack of the e4-pawn but rather moves the dark-squared bishop out to prepare castling. So after black’s 8…Be7, White proceeds with 9.Qf3 with the intention to transfer the queen to the king side and also keeping in mind the potential threats on the long h1-a8 diagonal. At this moment Black usually moves the queen either to b6 or c7 squares to make Bb7 work in the case of white’s e5. We will start with 9…Qb6 followed by 10.Be3 Qb7 which allows Black to put more pressure on the e4-pawn but keep the light squared bishop on the h3-c8 diagonal to defend the e6-point.

Friday, November 11
GM Robert Hungaski – Queen’s Gambit Accepted: A Simple System for Black, Update #1 | Openings
In the summer of 2010 I said enough is enough! I was fed up with my terrible score against 1.d4 and decided it was time to address the problem. I realized that sharp theoretical lines were getting me nowhere. Instead of playing the openings that the world’s elite showcased on a daily basis, or the lines recommended in all of the most prominent opening books, I needed something that would play to my strengths without requiring a huge time commitment (at the time I was in my junior year of college), even if this meant getting a slightly worse position.

That was when my love affair with the Queen’s Gambit Accepted began and I have been playing it ever since. Since then I have lost very few games, and in all of them it was usually something I did wrong, rather than a problem with the opening itself. That was until earlier this year, when I encountered the first existential challenge to this ever-reliable opening. So here is the first of two new lectures to extend my series from one year ago, to address this new challenge!

Monday, November 4
IM Bill Paschall – Practical Play: The Queen and Knight Combine | Middlegame, Strategy
In general the bishop is a more powerful piece than the knight. Howard Staunton, in his American Chess Player’s Handbook, went as far as to assign the bishop a value of three and one half pawns and the knight only three! The truth is, however, that their relative value depends on various factors in the position. In the following example, former world champion Boris Spassky is on his heels against the very dangerous young Alexander Beliavsky. White manages eventually only to gain the “advantage” of bishop vs knight, but the Queens remain on the board. Spassky shows the amazing ability of the combination of queen and knight to coordinate perfectly – first for defense, and then for attack!

Tuesday, November 5
FM Dennis Monokroussos – A New Idea in the Rossolimo Sicilian | Strategy
If you watched the Caruana-Carlsen match, you saw Carlsen meet the Rossolimo Sicilian with various plans aimed at getting the b8 knight to d4 (…Nd7-f8-e6-d4, for instance). This has been a standard plan for a very long time, and has been seen in countless games. I don’t think it’s going to disappear any time soon, but in a recent game from the World Cup Nijat Abasov found a very interesting alternative for the knight, and with it he achieved a very easy draw against his considerably higher-rated opponent. This is a theoretically important game, both in its specifics but also for the interesting concept, so if you play either side of the 3…g6 Rossolimo you’ll want to check it out.

Wednesday, November 6
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Play Reversed Fianchetto KID for a Win! | Opening, Strategy, Endgame
It’s fun to play Reversed Openings! In this game, GM Perelshteyn decides to play with no preparation and simply follows his ideas from the KID Fianchetto’s variation. Molner tries to neutralize White by going into the endgame, but with every move he makes tiny concessions. First it’s the bishop pair, then a pawn structure weakness, and eventually he’s a pawn down with no compensation. The rest is a nice technique with a beautiful tactic at the end!

Thursday, November 7
GM Leonid Kritz – Don’t Be Too Materialistic | Tactics
A very clean example of how being greedy in chess can be punished. White sacrificed a pawn for initiative, and Black – instead of giving it back and trying to equalize in an endgame – tried to keep it and got into a very passive position. Eventually, White increased pressure so much that Black had almost nothing to move and quickly fell apart.

Friday, November 8
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Play the Sozin Attack vs the Najdorf Sicilian, Part 4 | Strategy
Sicilian Sozin b5-Bb7: In this lecture we will cover the line where Black brings the light-squared bishop to the long diagonal right after 7…b5. One visible drawback of this variation – it weakens the e6-square that White can use, considering sacrificing a minor piece there. In addition to this popular sacrifice White can do Nd5 or a4 followed by Nd5 after he brings the rook to the e-file. We will see what can White do to increase his pressure on the black king depending on the move orders.

Monday, October 28
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Youth vs Experience, Attack vs Defense, Who Will Prevail? | Tactics
What happens when American superstar GM Seirawan faces a former World Champ, Vasily Smyslov. Well, a very exciting battle where Seirawan plays really creatively to sacrifice a piece, then a rook to try to take down the old dog. Who will prevail Youth or Experience? Watch the video and find out!

Tuesday, October 29
IM Bill Paschall – Ding Liren’s Quiet Masterpiece | Middlegame, Endgame
Modern chess features better opening preparation at all levels, and increasingly fast time controls. Magnus Carlsen specializes in practical play and consistently wins again top opposition from “equal” positions. In the following battle the emerging Ding Liren uses this style to defeat the ever tough Alexander Grischuk in a game from the World Cup. Pawn structure as well as constructive waiting moves play a key role here in this quiet but professional display.

Wednesday, October 30
GM Leonid Kritz – Strategic and Tactical Complications in an Exchange Grunfeld | Tactics
This is one of those games that are difficult to understand because obviously home preparation goes pretty far, but at the same time the moves seem confusing. Overall, White played a rare line against Grunfeld and outplayed Black in tactical complications. From the strategic perspective it is interesting to see how White was pushing f4-f5 etc. weakening squares behind the f-pawn, but believing in its strength.

Thursday, October 231
FM Dennis Monokroussos – The Minority Attack in the Carlsbad Structure – For the Wrong Side! | Tactics
Most of us are well-acquainted with the minority attack in the Carlsbad structure, where White plays b4-b5 (or Black plays …b5-b4, when it’s White who has the queenside majority) and aims to create a weakness in Black’s structure – either a backward pawn on c6 or an isolated d-pawn. That’s a staple of pawn structure chess. It’s much rarer that the side who is usually worrying about the opponent’s b-pawn advance gets his own minority attack on the kingside by ramming his f-pawn down the board, but that’s exactly what happened in the recent game between Safarli and Rodshtein. In what looked like a tepid position waiting for a quick draw, Safarli played 17.f4, aiming for f5. Black prevented it (for the moment) with 17…g6, but still got into all kinds of trouble in a hurry. Soon f4-f5 came anyway, and Black was demolished in impressive style. You’ll want to see this game and add the f-pawn push to your bag of tricks in the Carlsbad. It’s harder to achieve than the opponent’s b-pawn attack, but when it works it can *really* work.

Friday, November 1
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Play the Sozin Attack vs the Najdorf Sicilian, Part 3 | Strategy
In this lecture we will go over the lines that arise after Black pushes the b-pawn to drive the c3-knight away in his attempt to attack the e4-point. The white knight will temporarily go to the corner but plans to go back to the play after white’s c3/c4 moves. At first glance Black may take the central pawn without a lot of risk; however, White’s lead in development, as well as his more active pieces, provide him with a variety of tactical resources to attack in the middle of the board and/or king side.

Monday, October 21
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Neutralizing Shaba’s Tactics with Positional Chess! | Opening, Endgame, Strategy
It’s not easy to face the great attacker Alex Shabalov. GM Perelshteyn explains his opening strategy, his planning to force positional chess on his opponent. In this game you will find out about prophylactic thinking, outposts, good vs bad trades, and the principle of two weaknesses. The endgame enters an instructive R+P endgame where one move is the difference between winning and drawing!

Tuesday, October 22
IM Bill Paschall – The Aggressive Queen Exchange | Middlegame, Strategy
In most cases when one player has a serious advantage in space it is advantageous for the attacking player to avoid exchanges in order to
keep the defender cramped. There are, however, certain situations where the winning method may be found by exchanging queens and avoiding risk.
In the following game, experienced Hungarian GM Gyula Sax was able to force the win of material while avoiding any complications against a
wily opponent. The game is a very practical win by a player who was also very capable of direct attack.

Wednesday, October 23
FM Dennis Monokroussos – A Lesson for Forintos | Tactics
Several shows ago I presented Forintos-Smyslov, which featured the same variation of the Nimzo-Indian as the present game. There, Forintos neglected his kingside development and got punished; this time, we see how White should handle the variation. Anand played a wonderful game, and his star sacrifice on move 16 more or less put one of Black’s main branches in the Neo-Saemisch variation out of business.

Thursday, October 24
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Play the Sozin Attack vs the Najdorf Sicilian, Part 2 | Strategy
In this lecture we continue learning the Nbd7-Nc5 line in the Sozin Attack but compared to the previous lecture Black does not take the central pawn and prefers 9…Be7. To emphasize his lead in development White continues advancing in the center by means of 10.e5. The positions that arise in this variation require a vigorous play from White with possible sacrifices whereas Black can give up the right to castle and should be accurate in his defending. If both sides play the best moves the game is supposed to be dynamically even but from a practical point of view it’s easier to play it for White.

Friday, October 25
GM Robert Hungaski – Putting Pressure on the Italian Game | Strategy
On this occasion I will be revisiting a line I recommended for Black a while back. I recently got the opportunity to play it myself, and even though the final result was not optimal, the position I achieved out of the opening was beyond reproach. I am speaking of the increasingly popular …a5 idea in the Giuoco Piano. White has basically two ways of reacting to this idea: to allow the black pawn to keep advancing or to stop it on its tracks. My opponent chose the former. So in this game we will see how Black can profit from the advance of the a-pawn to a4.

Monday, October 14
IM Bill Paschall – Practical Play: Evaluating and Converting Advantages, Part 2 | Endgame
Renowned as a great attacking player, GM Matulovic is famous for his aggressive play aimed at the enemy king. In this interesting battle we see a unique and forcing middle game interpretation by which White opts for a solid lasting endgame advantage instead of pursuing typical attacking play with the Queens on the board. White identifies and then exploits the weaknesses in his opponents position methodically.

Tuesday, October 15
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Destroy the Berlin Defense Once and for All! | Openings, Tactics
In the year 2000, Kramnik re-invented the opening that would take down the great Garry Kasparov. Then for 19 years it would be the rock solid choice of almost every elite player in the world. Finally, Karjakin decides to crack this solid opening with an amazing idea! He destroys Topalov with a swift attack that for sure was prepared at home. Can you guess the attacking ideas? Learn this line well and destroy the Berlin Defense once and for all!

Wednesday, October 16
FM Dennis Monkroussos – A Flawed Brilliancy in the English | Openings, Tactics
This is two games in one. In the first part, Vasily Smyslov shows his positional chops by completely outplaying Vladimir Liberzon in a slow system of the English Opening. In the second part, a desperate sacrifice by Liberzon, whose position was becoming more cramped every move, provoked Smyslov to unleash the Mikhail Tal side of his personality. A calm reply would have kept control and led to a smooth and speedy win, but instead he met Liberzon’s sac with a fascinating counter-sac of his queen. Objectively, the idea as a whole was seriously mistaken, and had Liberzon managed to keep doing everything right he would have saved the game. Doing so proved too great a challenge, and in likely time pressure he missed trick or two and lost a wonderfully entertaining game.

Thursday, October 17
GM Leonid Kritz – A Classic Kingside Attack Against the World #4 | Strategy
A very strong game from Teimour Radjabov, who shows how to play the pawn structure with e5 vs. e6 pawns and open d-file. He uses his space advantage on the kingside without giving his opponent any real chance.

Noteworthy also the decision of MVL to keep queens on board by playing 6… Qc7?! – a typical example when Black overstretches in an attempt to fight for win in a position where he should take the easy draw.

Friday, October 18
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Play the Sozin Attack vs the Najdorf Sicilian, Part 1 | Strategy
In this lecture we start learning the Sozin Attack from White’s point of view that can be used to meet the Najdorf Sicilian with the following moves: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 and then 6.Bc4.
This system became more popular after Bobby Fischer included it in his opening repertoire. It’s a pretty aggressive system that allows White to quickly finish the development on the king side, castle and then start
advancing the central pawns in order to get more open lines for his pieces. The role of the bishop on the a2-g8 diagonal cannot be overestimated since thanks to this bishop White immediately creates a pressure on the e6 point and can sacrifice a piece right after Black moves his light-squared bishop away. Today we will go over the line when Black quickly moves the queen side knight to c5 to attack the e4-pawn: 6…e6 7.Bb3 Nbd7 8.0-0 Nc5. White in his turn is not going to spendtime on defense and instead proceeds with 9.f4. We will see what happens after Black accepts the sacrifice, playing 9…Nxe4.

Monday, September 7
IM Bill Paschall – Practical Play: Evaluating and Converting Advantages, Part 1 | Endgame
In this series we will identify typical strategic advantages and show examples of their exploitation in practical play. In part one, we see veteran Grandmaster Eugenio Torre gaining 2 significant advantages by the early middlegame. Black must use his bishop pair and strong protected passed pawn to push his advantage into the endgame and then convert these concepts into a full point.

Tuesday, September 8
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Tal Attacks by Going Backwards! | Opening, Tactics
In this rare gem by the Magician from Riga, Tal shows his amazing attacking skills. All of us can attack by sacrificing and going forward, but can you attack by going backwards? Can you guess his amazing idea that completely stumped a World-Class GM?

The key idea is to think outside the box! Once you find the re-grouping the rest is easy and this game is definitely deserves a top miniature prize!

Wednesday, September 9
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Counterattack in the Kan Sicilian | Openings
Vasily Smyslov, the 7th World Champion, made major contributions to many different openings, including (to my surprise) the Kan Sicilian. Playing a line he independently discovered and introduced into top-level play, he impressively outplayed Bulgarian GM Nikola Padevsky. If White’s attacking play in the Open Sicilian makes you nervous, have a look at Smyslov’s calm way of meeting it and then taking over the initiative himself.

Thursday, September 10
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Facing the Evans Gambit | Strategy
In this lecture we will consider a chess opening characterized by the moves: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4. This aggressive line was invented almost 200 years ago and still can be popular at different skill levels. White sacrifices the pawn in the beginning of the game to force either the black knight from c6 or his dark-squared bishop to the b4-square. It allows White to occupy the center quickly by means of c3-d4 moves. In doing so White creates a lot of pressure on the center and what’s more, opens up the b-file for the rook as well as the d1-a4 diagonal for the queen, which can go to the same diagonal with White’s light-squared bishop to threaten the f7-point. For Black we will consider the principal continuations when he accepts the sacrifices – gaining material – but needs to be precise in his defense.

Friday, September 11
GM Robert Hungaski – Opening Strategy: The Sheltered Knight, Part 2 | Openings, Strategy
Having introduced and discussed the topic of the Sheltered Knight in a previous video, I turn to a game I recently played where this strategic theme played a central role. I was white against Argentine GM Garcia Palermo, but who currently represents Italy. Garcia Palermo is somewhat of a celebrity in Argentina for defeating Karpov while he was reigning World Champion and Fischer in a simultaneous exhibition he gave back in 1970. Both of these games are included in the PGN.

It was no accident that the Sheltered Knight reared its head in this game, since I played an opening that has this idea built into it as one of the main strategic tools at White’s disposal. Weaving strategic themes into my opening repertoire is one of my favorite techniques that I use to reinforce ideas I’ve been working on. In this case I’m speaking of the Exchange Caro-Kann, which in my opinion perhaps one of White’s most underestimated weapons against this opening.

Monday, September 30
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Dreev’s Disregard for Pawn Weaknesses Pays Off In Style! | Opening, Strategy
GM Dreev walks into a known bad line in the Caro-Kann. He has his pawn structure totally ruined… and wins easily! How is this possible? Well, Alex Lenderman probably underestimates his experienced opponent, who outfoxed the young American GM. It turns out that Dreev’s opening prep was much deeper! After all, he’s a world-renowned expert in this opening. Can you figure out all the queen traps that Dreev found?

Tuesday, October 1
IM Bill Paschall – Great Matchups: Tal vs Botvinnik Rematch 1961, Part 5 | Middlegame, Endgame
Botvinnik essentially dominates the rematch by mid stage and Tal is beyond salvation. Tal’s idea to use a more active approach with black by playing the King’s Indian is too late and his preparation is simply insufficient compared to Botvinnik’s. The fifteenth game is perhaps one of the best positional and strategic demonstrations of the match by Botvinnik and worthy of careful study. The themes of the backward pawn at d6, and the bishop pair along with White’s space advantage prove too much for even the dangerous Mikhail Tal to overcome.

Wednesday, October 2
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Little Known Fact: Development is Useful | Strategy, Tactics
Gyozo Forintos, then an IM and a few years later, a GM, was a very strong player in his own right, but this game proves that even very strong players can be punished severely for violating the fundamental principles of the game. In this game, two principles were flouted by Forintos, and when facing a former world champion like Vasily Smyslov (still in the absolute elite at the time of this game) that’s bound to lead to severe punishment. Forintos neglected the development of his kingside, and (relatedly) the long-term safety of his king. You will see the results below, and the game is also of theoretical interest, at least to demonstrate what White should *not* do.

Thursday, October 3
GM Leonid Kritz – Long Strategic Battle | Strategy
A very interesting game from a strategic point of view. White played the opening very casually, without ambitions, but Black reacted in a sub-optimal way by putting his bishop on g7, and throughout the rest of the game White was pressuring, but did not find Bb6-c7 idea at the end and missed out on the full point. A good example how to play against a bad bishop, and also a nice illustration of a French pawn structure where White lost his light-squared bishop.

Friday, October 4
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Facing the Scotch Game | Strategy
In this lecture we will consider the opening that arises after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 moves, where White opens up the center to start dynamic play from the beginning of the game. For Black I recommend to proceed with 4..Bc5 which forces White either move the d4-knight again or at some point play c3 taking the square away from his queen side knight. The variations of the opening are pretty tactical and require accurate reactions from Black who should be ready to counter attack sacrificing a material or accept the sacrifices from opposing side.

Monday, September 23
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – 21st Century Chess – Attack Nepo Style! | Openings
How can you whip an attack from being behind in development and with a king stuck in the center? Welcome to 21st Century Chess, Attack Nepo Style! He disregards all classical principles and unleashes a pawn storm on the kingside that proves decisive. Can you play chess like this? Well…watch the video and you will be able to answer this question yourself. Can you spot the pretty mate that made Bacrot resign?

Tuesday, September 24
IM Bill Paschall – Great Matchups: Tal vs Botvinnik Rematch 1961, Part 4 | Openings, Endgame
Game nine represents a turning point in the match from which there seems to be no return. Tal attempts to avoid the Nimzo, but plays a risky variation against the English instead. Black sees his pawn structure devastated in the opening and lags in development. Tal should have gone for the Benoni or King’s Indian, and does later in the match but it seems too late. Botvinnik conducted this game in perfect style achieving a winning endgame after 25 moves. The match seemed nearly beyond reach for Tal, now down two games. Perhaps the biggest problem lay in the fact that Botvinnik was simply much better prepared in the openings.

Wednesday, September 25
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Facing the Pirc/Ufimtsev/Modern Defenses, Part 3 | Strategy
To finish the series about Pirc Defense we will consider specific move orders 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c6 followed by 4..d5 as well as 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6 4.f4 Qa5. These move orders can be pretty tricky and require active but accurate play from white.

Thursday, September 26
FM Dennis Monokroussos – A Fresh Look at a Classic Endgame | Opening, Tactics
Two of the greatest players of the 20th century, Mikhail Botvinnik and Bobby Fischer, only played each other once, and that’s a pity for chess history. (They almost played a match in 1970 though – more about that in the video.) Still, the one game they did play was a classic, with each player getting in one big surprise against the other. For Botvinnik, the surprise came in the opening, when he had everything prepared up to move 17 and beyond, but was shocked by Fischer’s 17th move, which he had overlooked beforehand. Fischer was soon better, as Botvinnik went awry while dealing with the surprise, and managed to reach a winning ending. At this point Fischer prematurely relaxed, however, and a great defensive idea found by Efim Geller during the adjournment gave Botvinnik the key to a draw. Fischer missed everything in his sloppy adjournment analysis, and Botvinnik saved the game without difficulty. This is the beginning of the story, but not the end. Botvinnik and Fischer waged a war in print afterward, with with Fischer maintaining that he could have won the ending with best play while Botvinnik strove to refute Fischer’s analysis. Moreover, the 13-year-old Garry Kasparov, a pupil of Botvinnik’s in the mid-70s, found his own improvement on the analysis, achieving an even easier draw. All this is fascinating, and thanks to today’s computers it turns out that there are even more interesting lines to be discovered. So even those of you who already knew about Botvinnik & Kasparov vs. Fischer have a reason to tune in – there’s still more to the rook ending than you might have imagined!

Friday, September 27
GM Robert Hungaski – Carlsen’s Homage to Botvinnik | Strategy
It seems that Magnus Carlsen’s winning streak has come to an end (though barely!) after he tied for first place at the Sinquefield Cup and lost in the tiebreak playoff to Ding Liren. However, after a clutch last-round win against Wesley So, it seemed that Magnus had overcome his slow start and was poised to take yet another title. Fate would not have it so, but nevertheless during the press conference he gave after that game he qualified his game as a “homage to Botvinnik”. In this video I explain what he meant by this and explore the pawn structure that were featured in Botvinnik’s game and his own – and perhaps, also, I give you a new perspective on the value of doubled pawns!