Chess Lectures

Monday, June 17
IM Bill Paschall – Great Matchups: Smyslov vs Botvinnik, Part 5 | Opening, Strategy
Early in their careers, Botvinnik seemed to dominate the personal matchup with Smyslov. It wasn’t until the 50’s that Smyslov became a very serious threat to Botvinnik. In this game from 1944, Botvinnik successfully used his beloved Winawer French to defeat the future World Champion. Black’s grab of the a4 pawn looks risky, as does castling kingside at move twenty ! However, the entire plan hinges on the critical break 21…f6 which enables Botvinnik to mobilize all of his forces and trap the enemy queen in his spider web!

Tuesday, June 18
FM Dennis Monokroussos – A Positional Crush by the Underdog | Tactics
Anton Korobov is a great player, but because he’s “only” 2700 or so (the chess version of “First World Problems”) he is relatively unknown to most club players. But in this game we get a taste of what he can do, as he exploits a single positional error by one of the all-time greats, Viswanathan Anand, to win with startling rapidity. One of Black’s standard ideas in many Queen’s Gambit Declineds is to achieve …c5 at the first convenient moment, going for central counterplay and fighting for space. Anand had the chance to play …c5 but delayed it, thinking that a single preparatory move would enhance its strength. Thanks to a little tactic Anand was unable to play it, but even that wouldn’t have seemed to be fatal, just an inconvenience. Korobov played very well, however, and showed that his opponent’s task was unexpectedly difficult. Even as great a defender as Anand was unable to put up much resistance, and Korobov won a speedy game of theoretical significance. Those who play either side of the QGD with Bf4 will want to study this game carefully!

Wednesday, June 19
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – A New Plan for Black in the Bogo Indian 4.Nbd2 Variation | Opening, Strategy
It’s not often that you develop a bishop just to retreat it back. Yet, this is exactly what Black does in this new idea in the Bogo-Indian Defense. Why would you do this? Watch as GM Perelshteyn explains the similarities between Bogo and King’s Indian Defenses; the bishop on e7 is not much worse than on g7 however, but White’s knight on d2 is totally misplaced. A strong GM of Gareev’s caliber wasn’t able to create a single problem for Black. Learn the cool plan of transferring the knight to d7-e5-c6!

Thursday, June 20
GM Nadya Kosintseva – A Complete Hypermodern Repertoire for White: Play the Reti System – Part 2 | Strategy
In this lecture we will start learning the systems when black moves the light-squared bishop to f5. First, we will go over the lines that arise after 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Bf5 3.Bg2 e6. In this case white plays an earlier 4.c4 to challenge the d5 pawn and open up the diagonal for the queen that is going to b3, pressing on the black’s queen side. Next, we will consider the move order with 2..Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 that makes white’s c4 not so efficient. Instead white castles and plays d3 waiting for black’s e6 to target the light squared bishop by means of Nh4 move.

Friday, June 21
GM Leonid Kritz – This is the end… | Tactics
When players like Anand start playing 6.Bd3 this can be safely called the end of classical chess. The reason for this move is obvious – the desire to avoid theory, which means Anand does not see how to escape myriads of variations that lead to a draw and seeks side roads.

In this particular game, Navara does not react in the best way and actually gets outplayed. However, the last move of this game should enter the collection of chess jewels….

Monday, June 10
IM Bill Paschall – Great Matchups: Smyslov vs Botvinnik, Part 4 | Middlegame, Strategy
Smyslov performed well against the French in the matches with Botvinnik. In this example, Black tried to avoid theory with 7…f6 but got very little play. Botvinnik sacrificed a pawn but in return allowed too much simplification and went into a clearly worse ending. The great endgame Maestro, Smyslov, much like Bobby Fischer, excelled in bishop vs knight situations. The Winawer is meant to lead to sharp complications, but in this game the opening fell flat and Smyslov’s play looks almost flawless.

Tuesday, June 11
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Tal’s Training Games, Part 2: Another Crazy Sicilian | Strategy
Once again we take a look at another wild game between Mikhail Tal and the Maestro, Alexander Koblencs, as he dubbed his long-time trainer and friend. Everything said about the last show applies to this one as well, another crazy Sicilian where Tal’s full-blast attack forced his opponent to find all the right moves to survive, or get blown off the board. Koblencs was a terrific player in his own right, but on this occasion the storm proved too strong. Have a look, and dig into the analysis for yourself!

Wednesday, June 12
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Fighting for Initiative with the Grand Prix Attack | Opening, Strategy, Tactics
Intiative above all is the theme of this game! Watch and learn how Black is punished for dubious moves in the opening, neglecting his development. Due to the closed center, there’s an illusion that Black’s king is safe, but with a very swift central breakthrough the game is finished before it even begins. They call it Grand Prix Attack for a reason!

Thursday, June 13
GM Nadya Kosintseva – (1.d4 d6) part 1 | Strategy
A Complete Hypermodern Repertoire for White: Play the Reti System – Part 1
This lecture starts a series about the Reti system that begins with 1.Nf3, 2.g3 and 3.Bg2 moves. White does not bring any pawns in the center for a while but instead develops his king side quickly. This set-up has a lot in common with the King’s Indian defense where black develops his dark-squared bishop to the long diagonal and then starts challenging the center.

In today’s lecture we will analyze black’s pawn advance right in the middle (d5, c5, e5 moves) which seems to be logical from a strategic point of view but at the same time gives white a variety of tactical opportunities to undermine the center. The positions that arise in this variation can be pretty sharp and require some energetic play from both sides. White should be vigorous to emphasize his lead in development whereas black wants to be sure that he castles on time.

Friday, June 14
GM Robert Hungaski – A Classical Repertoire vs 1.e4: Facing the Italian Game, Part 2 | Strategy
As we saw in Part 1, White can run into trouble if Black is allowed to freely expand on the queenside by means of a7-a5-a4. In this second installment of the Italian, we will discuss what happens when White takes the bull by the horns and halts any further advance.

In doing so, White has three choices: 1) fix the pawn structure by playing a2-a4 himself; 2) capitalize on the weakened b5-square and play Bb5; 3) regroup the bishop with the thematic Bb3, preventing …a4 as well as aiming for a future Bc2 that will support white’s expansion in the center.

Monday, June 3
IM Bill Paschall – Great Matchups: Smyslov vs Botvinnik, Part 3 | Middlegame, Strategy
The 1958 rematch begins with a surprise! Botvinnik plays the Caro-Kann, not such a difficult opening for a French Defense player to adopt. The game has similarities with future Fischer vs Keres battles, where the veteran Keres frustrated Bobby with the Caro-Kann. Just as in this case as with Keres, Botvinnik uses the element of surprise. The same basic positional concept permeates both matchups. White’s light squared bishop is catastrophically bad. Botvinnik has no bad pieces seizes on the dark squares and slowly by the simplified late middlegame is strategically winning. Mikhail wraps up with flawless technique.

Tuesday, June 4
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Tal’s Training Games, Part 1: A Crazy Najdorf | Tactics
Mikhail Tal was a great improvisor at the board, but that doesn’t mean that there he didn’t prepare his improvisations! He and his brilliant trainer and close friend, Alexander Koblencs, played many training games, and they allowed Tal to test his opening ideas, get in some practice, and to give full reign to his flights of fancy. This game is a marvelous example, with Tal sacrificing material all over the place to create the sort of chaos where he could thrive (and where his opponents would generally drown). Have a look: everything about this game is crazy and fun, and it can be instructive, too, if you turn it into an exercise. That’s the best way to inject a bit of Tal’s spirit into your own chess.

Wednesday, June 5
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Why Squares Are More Important Than Pawns! | Opening, Strategy
We are all taught the value of material in chess. But what about the value of squares and outposts? Watch this video as GM Eugene Perelshteyn explains how giving up a pawn for an important square is a no-brainer for a GM. Black obtains powerful central control and has an easy one-sided game. White tries to defend but falls apart due to a cute tactic. Yet, he resigned prematurely, can you figure out why?

Thursday, June 6
GM Leonid Kritz – How to Win Out of Nowhere | Endgame, Tactics
This is one of these games from Magnus Carlsen where you wonder “how does he do it?” Out of a very equal position, he outplays Grischuk easily. The most interesting idea of this game is the early transition
into endgame and a demonstration of how to use space advantage on the queenside in this type of pawn structure.

Friday, June 7
GM Robert Hungaski – A Classical Repertoire vs 1.e4: Facing the Italian Game, Part 2 | Strategy
We will begin our discussion of the Italian opening with one of the most hotly debated positions in current opening theory. I stress the word position, and not variation, since there are many move-orders by which we can arrive at our main ‘tabiya’.

Nevertheless, the preferred move-order at the moment seems to be 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.0-0 Nf6 .d3 0-0 6.h3 d6 7.Re1 h6 8.c3 a5!? This will be the starting point of this video and the next one, too. Black’s idea is to expand on the queenside and create counter play on that side of the board. And as we’ll see, we might even be able to hinder white’s d3-d4 advance.

Monday, May 27
IM Bill Paschall – Great Matchups: Smyslov vs Botvinnik, Part 2 | Opening, Tactics
A classic battle between two enduring World Champions. Botvinnik later claimed he was suspicious that his preparation has been leaked by his team. Smyslov quickly uncorked a very strong temporary piece sacrifice on with 11…exd4! and Black created a dynamic imbalance. In reality, it seems that White’s position is fine with rational analysis and there have been subsequent games in this line, notably Yusupov vs Kasparov 1992, which also was decided in Black’s favor. It seems Botvinnik lost his concentration and was unable to play at his best after the surprise in the opening. The game ends in a beautiful win for Vassily Smyslov!

Tuesday, May 28
FM Dennis Monokroussos – A Difficult Rook and 3 Pawns vs. Rook and 2 Pawns Ending, Episode 2 | Endgame
From the same tournament as the Mamedyarov-Navara game – and in fact settled while that video was being recorded(!) – another ending with the same material, again with all the pawns on the kingside but distributed in a non-stereotyped way, arose. This fascinating endgame took place in two acts. In act 1, Ding Liren tried to make something of his extra pawn, and Veselin Topalov’s shaky defense allowed the game to transform itself into a pawnless ending of rook vs. knight. Normally that’s a trivial draw, but Topalov’s position was precarious and required some accuracy. Ding kept the pressure on him, and he finally snapped. Ding made one subsequent error that gave Topalov a chance to save himself, but he missed it and the Chinese super-GM converted the advantage. It was a very impressive win for Ding, who managed to squeeze something out of practically nothing, and the game was tremendously instructive for us. Have a look!

Wednesday, May 29
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – A Flash of Genius from the Young Kramnik: Win Right Out of the Opening with No Prep! | Opening, Tactics
What happens when Kramnik’s laptop breaks down?  A stroke of genius – and one of the world’s top GM goes down in flames!  Learn a new concept by attacking your opponent in his stronghold in the center!

Thursday, May 30
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Facing the Maroczy Bind in the Accelerated Dragon, Part 3 | Stategy
“White Keeps All Minor Pieces on the Board.” In the last part of the series, we will consider the system when White removes his centralized d4-knight to c2 in order to avoid trades and keep more pieces on the board. As for me, it is the best choice for White, after which the price of every move increases for Black. His main counter play will be aimed at the queen side – specifically pawn play with b5. We will learn different tactical tricks and strategic maneuvers for Black that can allow him to get more room – either forcing some trades or breaking through with pawn advances. If Black is prepared, he has good chances to overcome White’s pressure and get counter play.

Friday, May 31
IM Valeri Lilov – Carlsen’s Dominative Secret | Strategy
Ever wonder how Carlsen builds up his positions until all the power is there and all he needs is a small push to bring it all down on his opponents? Well, check out IM Lilov’s video to find out his real secret!

Monday, May 20
IM Bill Paschall – Great Matchups: Smyslov vs Botvinnik, Part 1 | Opening, Strategy
Many great games were played in this classic rivalry of two World Champions. The first part of our series highlights a good example of Smyslov using an “outside the box” strategy to complicate the game against Botvinnik the scientist. White’s use of the anti-positional break 11.b4 is very atypical in the King’s Indian and White is able to create imbalance. Botvinnik seems to show little sense of danger as the threats against his king mount. Also interesting is the exchange of the Black “bad bishop” on e3. Although this exchange is typically good for Black, in this position it was one of the defenders of the king.

Tuesday, May 21
FM Dennis Monokroussos – A Difficult Rook and 3 Pawns vs. Rook and 2 Pawns Ending, Episode 1 | Endgame, Tactics
Endings with a rook and three pawns against a rook and two pawns tend to be routine when all the pawns are on the same side. The stronger side will play it out as a matter of doing his or her competitive duty, but the draw is expected and the ending tends to be forgettable. Not so in the endgame that arose in the game we’ll look at here, between Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and David Navara from the 2019 Gashimov Memorial. The pawn structure was unusual, and this led to a surprising amount of complexity. There were (at least!) five errors that changed the proper result of the game, and this in a contest between two of the world’s absolute best players! If they had something to learn from this ending, so do we, so join me and have a look.

Wednesday, May 22
GM Leonid Kritz – Pawns Don’t Move Backwards, Part 2 | Strategy, Tactics
Similar to the game Mamedov – A. Muzychuk, here Black also plays a5 prematurely and weakens the square b5, which then becomes detrimental. As so often, Karjakin gets into a lost position, and is lucky that Giri does not score immediately. Later, the game gets into a nice strategic-tactical battle and eventually Black outplays his opponent.

Thursday, May 23
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Facing the Maroczy Bind in the Accelerated Dragon, Part 2 | Strategy
“White Keeps His Bishops.” In this lecture, we continue learning the Accelerated move order of the Dragon Variation with 5.c4. As in the Part 1, we assume that Black has a chance to exchange at least one pair of the knights and then offer a trade of the dark-squared bishops. However, in this lecture White prefers to keep the dark-squared bishops on the board which makes the position more concrete. To create counter play Black, at some point, plays the untypical (for the Dragon system) e6-move, which weakens the d6-pawn. Usually, it can be risky from a strategic point of view, but Black proves dynamically that his counter play on the king side compensates some drawbacks of the pawn configuration.

Friday, May 24
GM Robert Hungaski – A Classical Repertoire vs 1.e4: Facing the Scotch Game, Part 4 | Endgame, Tactics
You asked for it! While playing through some of my previous publications and patting myself on the back, I noticed some recurring topics came up in the comments section.

Viewers noted that in many of their games white avoided the main lines and instead chose the move 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.d4 exd4 5.Qxd4!? This is in fact a very popular sideline that should not be underestimated. Its popularity is due to its practical value since white’s play is quite straight-forward and incisive. Moreover, as was noted in the comments section, it was Viktor Bologan’s recommendation in a series he did a while back on a repertoire for white in the Ruy Lopez.

However, I have worked through Bologan’s recommendations and found several interesting improvements for black. The most noteworthy of these ideas involves castling queenside, often sacrificing the g7-pawn. I like black’s compensation in such cases and hope you will too!

Monday, May 13
IM Bill Paschall – Best Games from the 2019 Euro Championship, Part 4 | Opening, Strategy
In part four of this series we see a terrific matchup of veteran versus up and coming talent. Boris Gelfand, who has played over 3000 games as a professional faces one of the most promising young players in Andrey Esipenko. Esipenko essays the opening choice of Caruana with 7.Nd5 against the Sveshnikov, with which the American challenger would bend but not break the World Champion in the Sveshnikov. Gelfand has lately abandoned the Najdorf in favor of the Sveshnikov or Accelerated Dragon. In this game his preparation seems reasonable, but Black falters with the classic positional mistake 22…f4. Esipenko is better after an exchange of light bishops and the young GM’s endgame technique looks flawless.

Tuesday, May 14
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Even Magnus Carlsen Was Impressed! | Opening, Strategy
We all know who Vachier-Lagrave is, but who is Karthikeyan? He is an up-and-coming 20-year-old Indian GM who took clear second in the 2019 Gibraltar (super-) Open, coming ahead of many super-GMs including his opponent, whom he defeated in the last round. (Note that “Karthikeyan” begins with “Kar”, which is a sure mark of quality in the chess world!) He took MVL on in the latter’s beloved Najdorf, and completely outplayed him in what looked like a master vs. amateur game. It’s a very impressive performance, and a warning to those who play the line Vachier-Lagrave chose in the game. He missed the critical moment early on, and was soon condemned to suffer. Tune in to see what he should have done!

Wednesday, May 15 GM Leonid Kritz – Pawns Never Move Backwards! | Tactics
The root of all the problems that Anna experienced in this game was due to an early pawn move, 8….a5. The square b5 got weak, and Black suffered for the rest of the game because of weak light squares. White destroyed Black’s idea of preventing the b4-a4 plan and showed one more time that you should pay attention when moving your pawns – they do not go back and the squares that get weak are weak forever!

Thursday, May 16 GM Nadya Kosintseva – Facing the Maroczy Bind in the Accelerated Dragon, Part 1 | Strategy
“Bishop Trading.” In this lecture, we start learning the Maroczy Bind system from Black’s point of view as it arises after the following moves: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4. As for me, it can be White’s best reaction to the Accelerated move order in the Dragon variation. White prefers a minimal positional pressure in the middle of the board to a more aggressive castling queen side followed by a pawn storm on the king side. As a result, White gets more space from the beginning. Black in his turn will try to simplify the position to reduce the number of pieces on the board and so get more room for the rest of his forces. Specifically, the first lecture will cover the lines when Black exchanges a pair of the knights as well as the dark-squared bishops. As a result, Black gets more available squares on the queen side and better control over the center of the board that he tries to emphasize transferring the pieces around the board.

Friday, May 17 GM Robert Hungaski – A Classical Repertoire vs 1.e4: Facing the Scotch Game, Part 3 | Strategy
In our third installment of the Scotch, we will be covering one of White’s most aggressive (and most forcing) options, 5.Nb3. The idea is quite simple, which is why it’s so appealing! White intends to castle and pressure Black both on the kingside and along the d-file.

My recommendation will be to develop the knight to f6, castle and then start jabbing at the b3-knight as soon as possible by means of …a7-a5-a4. This is particularly strong when White develops the bishop to g5. Moreover, should White place the bishop on e3 instead, then preparing the central break …d7-d5 is very effective.

Monday, May 6
IM Bill Paschall – Best Games from the 2019 Euro Championship, Part 3 | Opening, Tactics
Grandmaster Vladislav Artemiev is becoming a serious force to be reckoned with. This Russian GM is now solidly over 2700 after dominating play in the 2019 European Championship. In this game against the Czech Hracek, Artemiev shows a clear understanding of both strategy and tactics in the Tarrasch, while Black seems listless, even undeveloping his pieces at one point without any plan! The final attack by White is pure wizardry! Artemiev clearly deserves the title of European champion as this was just one of a number of amazing games in the event.

Tuesday, May 7
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Bishops and Breakthroughs | Tactics
No series on Vladimir Kramnik would be complete without a look at the 4.Qc2 Nimzo-Indian and his adept handling of the bishop pair. Sergey Tiviakov is a great player, who had been a Candidate and went on to even greater achievements in the ‘00s. Nevertheless, he was comprehensively outplayed in this game in classical style: White took the bishop pair, restricted Black’s minor pieces, prepared a central breakthrough and then won with his better pieces once the center opened up. Your mileage may vary, but we can learn from Kramnik’s template and use it in our own games.

Wednesday, May 8
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – A Fresh Idea from the Youngster: Carissa Yip Crushes the French Defense | Opening, Endgame
What can we learn from the young Carissa Yip at the recent US Women’s Championship? A cool new opening idea in the French Tarrasch variation with an early queen lift! Watch out all the French Players!

Thursday, May 9
GM Leonid Kritz – Pawns Never Move Backwards! | Tactics
Pawns Never Move Backwards!
The root of all the problems that Anna experienced in this game was due to an early pawn move, 8….a5. The square b5 got weak, and Black suffered for the rest of the game because of weak light squares. White destroyed Black’s idea of preventing the b4-a4 plan and showed one more time that you should pay attention when moving your pawns – they do not go back and the squares that get weak are weak forever!

Friday, May 10
GM Robert Hungaski – A Classical Repertoire vs 1.e4: Facing the Scotch Game, Part 2 | Opening
Now we will examine the “old” main line 5.Nxc6. The was the line that first caught the attention of elite players, most notably Kasparov. White will try to argue that his better pawn structure and prospects of pushing his e-pawn forward will secure him a small but lasting advantage.

I propose the humble 5…bxc6, which has always been overshadowed by the flashy 5…Qxf6. The idea is simple: instead of placing the queen on f6, we will seek for a more active post on h4. From here we will put pressure on the kingside, as well as on e4. Moreover, since the f6 square is not available, we will be able to develop the knight there and perhaps strike in the center with a timely …d7-d5!

Monday, April 29
IM Bill Paschall – Best Games from the 2019 Euro Championship, Part 2 | Openings
Journeyman super-grandmaster Boris Gelfand is undoubtedly the most accomplished player in the 2019 European Championship. Gelfand was running just behind the leaders after six ro | Openingund with 5/6. In this positional lesson, he takes down the creative young GM Nikita Petrov. Black risks leaving his knight on a5 in a King’s Indian position and it never can join the battle for the King side. Typically instructive is the way Gelfand takes the play to the King side as White in what is effectively a variation of the King’s Indian Defense.

Tuesday, April 30
GM Leonid Kritz – Don’t Wake the Tiger! | Openings, Tactics
Karjakin was too brave from the very beginning of this game – he decided to test Carlsen’s preparation for the World Championship Match against Caruana and ran into the same openings line as Caruana did. With the same success. Carlsen demonstrated a very interesting pawn sacrifice, got great compensation, and clearly showed who is the owner of the house in this opening. Great example of positional sacrifice!

Wednesday, May 1
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Sacrificing a Piece in the Middlegame for Domination in the Endgame | Middlegame
In a rapid event shortly after their world championship match, Kramnik again came out ahead in their mini-match. Kasparov had no problems in the opening, but got too ambitious with 17…Ke7. He may have felt it was a good idea to avoid a technical position against Kramnik, but Kramnik was more than a match for him in the sharp middlegame that ensued. Kramnik first sacrificed a pawn and then a piece, and what was remarkable was that the aim was to reach an ending where Kasparov had an extra piece but all four of his pieces, including his king, were dominated. Kramnik’s idea wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty good in its own right and the practical problems proved too much for Kasparov to handle.

Thursday, May 2
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – How to Neutralize White’s Queenside Plan in the Accelerated Dragon | Strategy, Tactics
The point of the Accelerated Dragon is force White to castle kingside. But how do you handle White’s queenside play? Watch and learn how Black uses strategy and tactics to solve this problem. The secret is…intermezzo tactics! However, White looks like he gets compensation. Black again, steps up to the challenge with an instructive exchange sacrifice. The rest is easy!

Friday, May 3
GM Robert Hungaski – A Classical Repertoire vs 1.e4: Facing the Scotch Game, Part 1 | Openings
The Scotch, with its early d4, is one of white’s most solid and practical ways to meet 1.e4 e5. The practical nature of this opening gives white an edge in terms of preparation (white will usually be better prepared than us), but the flip side is that with accurate play, white’s position can become passive rather quickly. Therefore, our goal will be to seize the initiative as soon as possible by quickly putting pressure on white’s center (normally this implies playing for the …d5 break).

In this first of three lectures, we will examine 5.Be3, which is white’s most theoretical option since there are several important branches within the line itself.

Monday, April 22
IM Bill Paschall – Best Games from the 2019 Euro Championship, Part 1 | Opening, Tactics
An apparently normal opening leads to Black’s advantage as White decides to manually castle with 15.Nf1 and 16.Kg2. Although Black has no obvious breakthrough in this solid, symmetrical position, Cheparinov instructively sacrifices a piece long term to open the White king. An incredibly effective attack follows with decisive results. Cheparinov should be one of the favorites in a strong field, as always.

Tuesday, April 23
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Winning with the Bayonet…on the Kingside! | Strategy
Garry Kasparov was probably the greatest exponent of the King’s Indian Defense in the history of chess, but Vladimir Kramnik often gave him fits in that opening. In this game we see Kramnik making good use of the Bayonet Attack (9.b4), a line he helped put on the map in the 1990s. What is especially remarkable about this game is the way he turns Kasparov’s attempts to create a kingside attack against him; in the end it is Kramnik who wins the game in crushing style with some beautiful attacking play of his own. It is stunning to see how Kramnik just manhandled Kasparov, who had been the world champion for a dozen years at that point.

Wednesday, April 24
GM Leonid Kritz – A Dangerous Caro-Kann | Strategy
A very interesting game from a strategic point of view. It looked like White was doing everything right, but then somehow Black managed to solve all of his problems and eventually got a better position. From a practical standpoint, once White overlooked 21…Na2, he had to equalize immediately by taking Nxg6. However, he played for the win, overstretched his position, and got destroyed. An excellent example how dangerous Caro-Kann can be.

Thursday, April 25
GM Nadya Kosintseva – A Nimzo-Indian Repertoire for Black, Part 7 – Meeting Minor Alternatives | Strategy, Tactics
In this lecture, we will finish the Nimzo-Indian and focus on the lines that White can use on the 4th move to surprise Black and/or to avoid a theoretical discussion. Theses lines are less popular compared to what we learned in the previous parts, but still can be instructive and help better understand Black’s options in the opening. As usual, Black tries to target the center by pushing his pawns there. c5, d5. If White does not play a3 for a while, the black f6-knight can jump to e4 and create more pressure before White castles. The positions are solid but at the same time interesting in their strategic and tactical variety.

Friday, April 26
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – How to Attack White in the Sicilian with the King in the Center! | Openings
It’s not often that you play chess with delayed castling, much less with no castling at all! Yet, in the Rauzer variation, this is exactly what Black should do! Watch and learn how Black leaves his king in the center and starts his counterplay on the queenside. The rest is very instructive dark square strategy attack! Can you solve some beautiful tactics at the end?

Monday, April 15
IM Bill Paschall – Crushing the Caro-Kann, Part 10 | Opening, Middlegame
Grischuk faces a solid approach from Black,who develops the pieces without trying for a direct c5 break. The system with 5…Nd7 and 6…Bg6 seems slow,however, and allows White to gain space on both sides of the board. White’s restraining play with Nb3 and a4-a5 is typical and effective. Eventually the space and Black’s exposed king position allow White to tactically pounce !

Tuesday, April 16
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Surprising the Opponent in his Favorite Line | Opening, Strategy
In the mid-to-late ’00s, no one was more proficient with the Marshall Gambit than Levon Aronian, while Vladimir Kramnik was not even a native 1.e4 player. And yet in this theoretically significant game from 2007, Kramnik found and developed a plan against the Marshall Gambit that was almost completely unknown, and posed problems that even as great player and especially great Marshall gambiteer like Aronian was unable to solve. As was often the case with Kramnik’s wins, it was a model game, one that could still be used today against an unwary opponent.

Wednesday, April 17
GM Leonid Kritz – The Titanic – Revisited | Opening
This game is particularly interesting because of the idea Black played on move 7. This idea is often seen in other openings, too, and should be in every player’s arsenal. However, it also must be said that Aronian played so badly that it almost looked like Howell could have done anything and still would win – well, things happen even to the strongest players….

Thursday, April 18
GM Nadya Kosintseva – A Nimzo-Indian Repertoire for Black, Part 6 – Meeting 4.f3 | Opening, Strategy
In this lecture we will learn 4.f3, which in Garry Kasparov’s opinion, is the best set-up from White’s point of view. White wants to occupy the center and thus prepares e4. Black should prevent it and so plays 4…d5. Next, white gets Black’s dark-squared bishop by means of 5.a3. Right after Black exchanges the bishop for the knight, he bring another pawn to challenge White’s center: …c5. The positions that arise in this variation are concrete and require energetic play from Black. If he hesitates to attack, White finishes his development and opens up the center to activate his bishop pair. Pawn sacrifice is one common tool that Black uses to fight for the initiative in this variation.

Friday, April 19
GM Robert Hungaski – A Classical Repertoire vs 1.e4: Steinitz Defense vs the Ruy Lopez, Part 3 | Opening, Strategy
In this final installment of the Steinitz Variation against the Ruy Lopez, we will discuss the positions that arise after white decides to play for quick development, but unlike the previous video, decides to castle kingside in order to avoid black´s play along the b-file.

This is an important idea that should not be underestimated since black is likely to embrace the worse pawn structure and should white be able to trade off the dark-squared bishops by means of Bh6, then black will face a slightly worse but very unpleasant position.

Therefore, at the core of black´s opening strategy will be some basic tools that will allow us to avoid these potential road bumps. Nevertheless, black´s strategy will remain largely unchanged. Black will still play along the b-file and use the powerful g7 bishop to put pressure along the a1-h8 diagonal. Particular attention should be paid to the Shabalov-Dzindzichashvilli game.