Monday, August 8 IM Valeri Lilov The Secret to Ruy Lopez (strategy, opening)
With the Ruy Lopez being the most popular opening in chess, many want to know how to handle it successfully as white. Let IM Lilov show you some of his ideas on being successful with the Spanish Game as white!
Tuesday, August 9 IM Bill Paschall Elite Games from the Capablanca Memorial 2016 Part 3 (middlegame)
White plays a side line in the Scotch with 9.Nd2, and after reacting reasonably, black makes the risky decision to castle queenside. The weakening move 18…d6 is too much and white whips up an amazing attack against the open Black king. After Black’s 22…Na5, the position is beyond hope and white seals the victory with a positional piece sacrifice, leading to a mating net! This is inspiring attacking game, upending a solid and theoretical Almasi, who seemed slightly out of form in this event.
Wednesday, August 10 FM Dennis Monokroussos Noticing An Overlooked Superstar (opening)
Ding Liren hasn’t achieved as much attention in the West as other players of his caliber, so let’s take a first start at remedying this. He is in the top ten in the world, and is currently the world’s #1 in blitz, even ahead of Magnus Carlsen! Today’s game not only shows his strength in play and preparation, but also highlights a very exciting line against the Bogo-Indian, one where Black has to know what he’s doing to avoid a potential catastrophe. In this game, even as strong a player as Egyptian GM Bassem Amin didn’t manage to solve his theoretical problems, and lost quickly and spectacularly. Bogo players, beware!
Thursday, August 11 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Student Game Analysis: What Happens When You Play Without a Plan (strategy)
In this game, Black plays without a plan and gets duly punished. Watch and learn in order not to repeat the same mistake! One move could have stopped White’s plan of a simple queenside counterplay. Can you find it?
Friday, August 12 GM Bryan Smith Exploring Rook Endgames, Part 5: Alekhine – Spielman (endgame)
This video deals with a complicated rook ending won by Alexander Alekhine. Black is reduced to passivity from the start, but White’s challenge is to make progress. Once the die is cast, the ending becomes very interesting, and several instructive mistakes are made.