Monday, February 22 GM Nadya Kosintseva QGD Ragozin Defense, Part 9 (openings)
White plays 5.Qa4 with a check, forcing knight to go on c6. Because now Black’s knight on c6 is blocking the own “c” pawn, it becomes significantly more difficult for Black to open lines on the queen side. Instead, Black tries to use the unstable position of the queen on a4 and delay in the development of White’s pieces. Part 1 covers three continuations for White: an active knight jump 6.Ne5, next 6.a3 betting on the bishop pair and finally 6.Bg5 transferring to a Carlsbad pawn structure. We will discuss separately 6.e3 in Part 2.
Tuesday, February 23 IM Bill Paschall Steinitzian Classics Part 5 (openings, tactics)
Black accepts the ever dangerous Evans Gambit and plays the dubious 5…Bc5. White holds a devastating spacial advantage in exchange for the material , but follows up with some small inaccuracies. Black missed a clear chance to simplify with 10…Nxc4 in the opening. Steinitz should prefer 10.Bd3 , to keep pieces on the board and punish the bad knight on a5. Afterwards , black is starved for space. Steinitz gets a bit carried away with his queen sacrifice , but the game makes for an entertaining miniature in a very tricky line. Simply 18.Nxe5 would have allowed Steinitz an easy win without the fireworks.
Wednesday, February 24 FM Dennis Monokroussos Remembering Paul Keres, Part 1: The 1930s (tactics)
Paul Keres was born 100 years ago this January, and as one of the greatest players of all time never to become world chess champion, his career is well worth remembering. Over the next weeks we’ll look at a game he played in each decade of his professional career, starting from the 1930s and going through the 1970s, when he passed away. Early in his career he played very sharp chess, and in this week’s video we’ll see him crush the English master William Winter in a short game full of sacrifices. (In the space of just 19 moves Keres sacrificed three pawns, then a piece, then – admittedly a sham sac – another piece, and then the exchange.) This brilliant game, won when he was a teenager, put Keres on the map.
Thursday, February 25 IM Valeri Lilov Long Term Prospects (strategy, middlegame)
When evaluating the position, our aim is not only to ascertain the site that has the advantage. It’s also to predict the upcoming events, any future changes of the positional factors. We also have to evaluate the positions that may appear on the board after particular lines are played. Check out IM Lilov’s new lecture to learn more!
Friday, February 26 GM Bryan Smith The Fierce MacCutcheon, Part 6 (openings)
The series winds up with an excellent win by Hikaru Nakamura using an obscure system in the main line.