Monday, June 6 IM Valeri Lilov How To Defeat A World Champion (middlegame)
How do you beat the strongest player in the world? This is a question that not so many people take seriously. Of course we have the Rocky movies and many other inspiring stories, but defeating a much stronger opponent has always been a challenge. Check IM Lilov’s lecture to discover the answers to this intriguing topic!
Tuesday, June 7 IM Bill Paschall Young Guns at the Polish Championship 2016, Part 2 (middlegame,strategy)
Two of the top young stars of the Polish chess scene go head to head in a very theoretical variation of the Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Bg5. Black chose to avoid playing e6 in the opening and must tread a narrow path. Duda makes a tiny slip with 18…Rg8 instead of 18…Rf8 and he is left on the defensive. White gains a vital tempo and is able to switch from a direct attack to an endgame where he has a powerful passed pawn. The position proves too difficult for black to hold.
Wednesday, June 8 FM Dennis Monokroussos The King is Dead; Long Live the King (openings)
Fabiano Caruana is the 2016 U.S. Chess Champion, finishing a point ahead of defending champion Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So. Although the following game was played early in the event (in round 4, of 11), it wound up providingthe margin of victory for the new champ. The game was a Najdorf Sicilian, and although that is perhaps the single most analyzed variation in all of chess, players are finding new avenues in it all the time, and by move 9 a new position had been reached. Nakamura isa great improviser, but on this occasion it was Caruana who did a better job navigating the unusual situation, and he outplayed his opponent both strategically and tactically. An impressive win for the #1 player in the United States and the #2 player in the world.
Thursday, June 9 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Lesson From My Komodo Match, Part 2: Trust Your Intuition! (strategy, tactics)
In the second Handicap match vs Komodo, the starting position is 1.e4 e6 2.d5 Ke7?? Can a Grandmaster punish the engine? Yes, the lesson is trust your intuition! But is it enough for a win? Watch and learn amazing defensive move that only computer can play…
Friday, June 10 GM Bryan Smith A Repetoire Against the Pirc With 4.Be3, Part 1 (tactics)
In his series on meeting the Pirc with 4.Be3, GM Bryan Smith shows how White can meet Black’s flexible play with his own flexibility. The first part deals with the lines where Black plays 4…Bg7, rather than delaying the development of the bishop.