Monday, July 13 IM David Vigorito Pawn Tension From the Opening Into the Endgame (openings, endgame)
In this lecture I present one of my own recent games. Facing an experienced Canadian IM I used my preparation for a previous round to get a comfortable ending. There is lasting pawn tension in the center and both sides have half-open files for their rooks. Who will handle the tension better? (me!)
Tuesday, July 14 IM Bill Paschall Miles on Hypermodernism, Part 5 (openings, strategy)
Miles sidesteps white’s preparation in the Queen’s Indian. The resulting Nimzo is played in very hypermodern fashion by Miles. Black benefits from a better structure and fewer weaknesses than white. Gheorghiu is not so much overextended, but does incur long-term weaknesses and a lack of coordination. White could have improved by castling queenside at some point. The plan by Miles of avoiding f5 in the opening and developing with Nc6 and Qe7 is particularly interesting.
Wednesday, July 15 FM Dennis Monokroussos The Mighty Chigorin, Episode 2 (tactics, middlegame)
Last time we saw Chigorin defeat the world champion with the white pieces in game 1 of their two-game cable match; this time we’ll see Chigorin finish him off with Black in another theoretical duel. Chigorin enters the early middlegame with the better prospects, as Steinitz again undervalues his opponent’s initiative. This time, however, Steinitz decides to mix things up, and in the ensuing complications it’s again Chigorin who comes out ahead, seeing a couple of nice zwischenzugs that leave him on top. The great Russian finishes smoothly as well, making it clear to Steinitz then and to us today that he really was a great of the era, a player who deserves our appreciation and attention even now.
Thursday, July 16 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Facing the Youngest GM in the Country: Sevian’s Queen Triangle Wins the Game! (tactics)
Eugene faces the youngest Grandmaster in the country. Watch and learn great tactical queen triangle from the young Sevian!
Friday, July 17 LM Dana Mackenzie Returns and Farewells (strategy, tactics)
In his valedictory lecture for ChessLecture, NM Mackenzie shows the game that finally returned his rating to the 2200 (master) level, after nearly twenty years. He points out areas where his play has improved in the last 5-10 years and a number of themes from his previous ChessLectures, including: controlling the pace of the game, choosing between strategy (“building” moves) and tactics (sacrifice), piece coordination, passed pawns as a weapon in the middlegame, the Mike Splane Question (“how will I win this game?”), and sacrificing pawns for tempi in a rook and pawn endgame.