Monday, June 15
IM Bill Paschall – Selected Games from the Carlsen Invitational 2020 – Part 3 | Strategy, Middlegame
In part three of my coverage of the exciting online Carlsen Invitational, we see Magnus himself take on his newest rival, the young star Firouzja from Iran. Magnus defeated the upstart in their individual match, but the following game illustrates how dangerous Alireza is. Magnus described his opponent as “slippery” in a post game interview. Indeed here White slips away from a seemingly worse position and finally lands a deadly mating attack against the World Champ!
Tuesday, June 16
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Kramnik’s Positional Mastery Shines Even in Retirement | Strategy
It’s always nice to see a former World Champ come out of retirement, even for a fund-raising blitz event. In this game, Big Vlad demonstrates to his young opponent (top 10 player!) that he can still teach the youngster a thing or two about chess. In this game, Kramnik demonstrates a well-known positional idea in the Benoni structure on how to breakthrough with e5! and f5! pawn sacrifices, opening up files and creating a powerful e4 outpost for the knight. The game is over after that!
Wednesday, June 17
FM Dennis Monokroussos | Middlegame
Solving Positional Problems – Flashy tactical games catch our eyes, and it must be admitted that this game has some interesting tactical moments at the end. But what makes this a special game, worth our time, is a very subtle positional problem Buhmann solved just out of the opening. What would have been an unpleasant middlegame was quickly transformed into one that was slightly better for Black, and White never managed to adjust himself to the changed situation. Games like this often fly under the radar, but they are more valuable than many a tactical melee.
Thursday, June 18
GM Leonid Kritz – Candidates 2020: Good and Bad Pieces | Strategy
This game is an example of great strategic understanding of an important topic in chess – good and bad pieces. On the first sight it may look like White was significantly better because Black had a “bad” darksquared bishop, but in reality Black had no problems at all and White eventually overstretched his position and lost.
Friday, June 19
GM Robert Hungaski – New Spin in the French Tarrasch | Strategy
We trace our steps and return to the Tarrasch Variation to discuss what is quickly becoming White’s new spin on the line, in large part as a reaction to Black’s success in the 3…c5 & 4…Qxd5 line. Here, White maintains the tension between the e- and d-pawns in order to take on d5 at a more opportune moment. In the main line Black is left with a poorly placed knight on a6. Whether White will be able to dominate it or whether Black will be able to reincorporate it to the game is THE question that will determine who comes out on top.