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.