Monday, July 10 IM Valeri Lilov How to Lead a Flank Attack (middlegame, strategy)
Setting up a flank attack sounds like a difficult task. Essentially, it’s all about following the right steps that will lead your pieces and pawns into the correct places to create strong threats against your opponent. Tune in to IM Lilov’s lecture to learn more!
Tuesday, July 11 IM Bill Paschall European Championship 2017, Part 2 (opening, tactics)
The super strong 2017 European Championship naturally featured some upsets in round 1. The young Italian International Master Basso played a rare move 10.g4 in a fairly well known line of the Classical Nimzo. Korobov plays reasonably most of the game, but overlooks a brilliant queen sacrifice by his resourceful opponent.
Wednesday, July 12 FM Dennis Monokroussos Mamedyarov Wins an Instant Classic (tactics)
I don’t want to give any spoilers here, except to say that this is one of the best games I’ve seen in years. Najer plays very well, making only one mistake, but he comes undone after Mamedyarov’s brilliant sacrificial play. Please don’t miss this one!
Thursday, July 13 GM Nadya Kosintseva Positional Draws in Chess (tactics)
Everyone likes to attack. Indeed, it seems to be fascinating seeing how the initiative runs, bringing more pressure and creating new threats. However, to be a good chess player means also to be able to defend worse positions. In this lecture, I would like to speak to you about the “positional draw”, the important defensive technique that can save a player many games even in absolutely hopeless situations. You will watch an instructive study in which the stronger side could not convert his huge material advantage into victory due to creative play of the defender followed by examples taken from my own practice where the defense was based on setting up a fortress or, in other words, building a construction that is difficult to breach.
Friday, July 14 GM Bryan Smith Beating the Alekhine Defense, Part 4 – Main Line Odds and Ends (strategy, tactics)
In Part 4 of his series on beating the Alekhine’s Defense, GM Smith covers various obscure choices for Black, such as 4…dxe5 5.Nxe5 Nd7, 4…Bg4 5.Be2 c6, 4…Nb6, and 4…Nc6.