Monday, July 14 IM Valeri Lilov Karpov’s Approach to Weaknesses (strategy, middlegame) One of the greatest players of all time is the 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov. He was undoubtedly the greatest positional player for his time and one of the greatest technical players of all time. The secret behind many of Karpov’s victories lies within his strong ability to accurately find and attack weaknesses in his opponent’s position.
Tuesday, July 15 IM Bill Paschall A Smashing Sicilian! (tactics)
Wednesday, July 16 FM Dennis Monokroussos The Frenchman’s Attack Defeats the English (openings) Luxembourg GM Alberto David played an interesting sideline of the English, using an early b4. Sometimes this can save time, but sometimes – as in this game – it can end up being a loss of time if White must spend tempi defending the prematurely developed pawn. The game remained equal for quite a while, but when David underestimated super-GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave’s attacking potential for just a single move, he paid a heavy price. The young Frenchman won with a beautiful attack that seemed to come out of nowhere, and reminds us that if we’re pressing for an initiative on the opposite side of the board from where our king is, bad things can happen if we’re not careful!
Thursday, July 17 IM David Vigorito Opening Trends: Five Openings in One (openings) A new trend that is being seen at high level is a harmless-looking setup with e3 and Be2. White’s idea is essentially an Anti-Grunfeld, but the game can quickly turn into a Benoni, a Benko, a King’s Indian, or even a French of sorts! In this game Black scores a notable upset with a direct attack. White avoids getting mated, but he gets bound hand and foot.
Friday, July 18 GM Eugene Perelshteyn On the Ropes Against the Super-Strong Youngster (middlegame, tactics, strategy) Black finds himself on the ropes against the soon-to-be GM, Jeffrey Xiong, after getting on the worse side of the reversed Benoni structure. Watch and learn how the youngster attacks the GM with vigor after g4! Black missed a brilliant defensive idea and was closing to losing. However, White missed a beautiful tactic to finish off the game and allowed Black in the game with an exchange sac. The resulting endgame is a well-known theoretical draw, K+B vs K+R. Just remember the rightcorner!