Monday, June 8
IM Bill Paschall – Selected Games from the Carlsen Invitational 2020 – Part 2 | Openings, Strategy
Prior to the epidemic of 2020, GM Hikaru Nakamura had been less active than in recent years in elite events. In this strong fast paced event, Hikaru is among the favorites and very exciting to watch!
In his match with Anish Giri, “Naka” uses a system which has been used many times by Mamadyarov and famously by Morozevich to beat Kramnik back in 2007. Hikaru has certainly contributed to it’s theory as well. The following game is very instructive positionally and results essentially in forcing Black to play the Benoni against his will. Mamadyarov was successful against Gelfand in doing this twice some years before!
Tuesday, June 8
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Destroy Alekhine’s Defense With Positional Rook Sacrifice! | Openings
It’s not often that you see a pure positional rook sacrifice in chess! Yet, this is exactly what GM Bologan does in this game. There’s no forced checkmate, no immediate material gain. Instead, you force your opponent king to get stuck in the center with terrible pieces. As GM Eugene Perelshteyn points out, pay attention to the pieces that are on the board, not the ones that left the board. Compare the relative value of material for both sides, and you too will learn how to sacrifice material for initiative!
Wednesday, June 8
FM Dennis Monokroussos – A Thrilling Draw | Tactics
There are two main reasons people don’t like draws. One is that there’s something unsatisfying about seeing a contest finish without a winner, and the other is that a lot of draws are boring, effortless, or both. This game was anything but: it is a thriller, with both sides making sacrifices and taking turns trying to mate each other. It seems as if half of the game is one long combination, and it’s not clear who is the “combinator” and who is the “combinatee”! It’s a near-perfectly played game, and not because the level of difficulty is low. The level is high, and both players rose to the occasion. While we wouldn’t want all games to finish in a draw, we would be happy if all draws were as spectacular and hard-fought as this one. See for yourself!
Thursday, June 11
GM Nadya Kosintseva – A Memorable Pawn Sacrifice by Garry Kasparov | Strategy
In this lecture I will introduce to you a game between Garry Kasparov and Ulf Andersson played in 1981. I like to show this game to demonstrate the importance of timely development, the danger of bringing pieces to the corners, as well as a great example of a positional sacrifice. Looking at the position before Kasparov played his brilliant move 14.d5!! it was hard to expect fast attacks on the black king. However, in one move Kasparov activated many of his own pieces, pointed out the poor position of the enemy king and one more time emphasized that if one piece is not well placed the entire game is not well played.
Friday, June 12
GM Robert Hungaski – The French Tarrasch: A Reliable Way to Punish White | Strategy
All of the big French experts I have spoken to over the years have unanimously stated that the Tarrasch Variation is the line they dislike playing against the most. Black is unable to inflict the structural damage that French players love so much, and instead must meet White in an open field. Here I will cover 3…c5 followed by 4…Qxd5. This is one of Black’s most reliable lines against the Tarrasch, and the one I believe seeks to immediately punish the passive development of the knight to d2.