Monday, July 8
IM Bill Paschall – Great Matchups: Korchnoi – Spassky Candidates Final 1977-78, Part 3 | Opening, Middlegame
Viktor Korchnoi took a commanding 5-0 lead in terms of decisive games at the beginning of this match, but Spassky awoke and rattled off four straight victories at one point. This game is Spassky’s fourth consecutive win from the match and shows White in command throughout due to his superior control of the center. In the end, it seems it was Black’s king safety that was his undoing!
Tuesday, July 9
FM Dennis Monokroussos – A Brand-New Queen Sac in the Opening | Strategy
We looked at a Murali Karthikeyan game a few months ago, and he’s back again with another very impressive performance. His victim this time is the Iranian super-prodigy Alireza Firouzja, thanks to a remarkable and brand-new queen sacrifice on move nine. Part of what makes the sac so fascinating is that there is no engine consensus: one believes in White’s extra material, the other in Karthikeyan’s long-term compensation. In this game, at least, it was the compensation that won out, and the Indian talent won an impressive, instructive, and attractive game – one with theoretical significance.
Wednesday, July 10
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – How to Win an Equal Endgame Ivanchuk Style! | Endgame
These days, it’s not easy to win in chess. More so in a dead equal symmetrical position vs 2500 GM. Yet, Ivanchuk surprises everyone by making it look easy! How does the Ukrainian genius do it? Well, watch and learn! The key is to be patient, improve your position, take away counterplay and know how to push your pawns! Easier said than done…
Thursday, July 11
GM Leonid Kritz – Pawns Do Not Matter | Tactics
A very nice example of a pawn sacrifice for long lasting initiative! The sacrifice is known to theory; still Svidler demonstrates how to press for maximum in a position where the initiative may run out at any moment. Every move is very important, and even when it looks like Black almost equalized, White exercises pressure on every part of the board and eventually gets the well deserved point.
Friday, July 12
GM Nadya Kosintseva – A Complete Hypermodern Repertoire for White: Play the Reti System – Part 5 | Strategy
We continue learning the lines with black’s Bg4, but this time black plays 3…c6 before he moves the light-squared bishop out. White castles to attack the bishop by means of the move h3 right after it appears on g4. If black decides to exchange the bishop for the knight, white seems to be better with his bishop pair and potential attack on the king side. Whereas in the case of black’s Bh5, he starts preparing e4 by means of d3, Qe1 moves. It can be a way not just to take control over the center but also to limit the h5-bishop, which can be targeted later by Nh4, f4 and g4 moves. The pawn structures can be symmetric but it does not mean that the positions become simple. White still has attacking resources on the king side that black should watch for.