Monday, March 14 IM Valeri Lilov Veresov Attack by Veresov (openings)
The Veresov is little-played and understood when we compare it to other queen’s pawn openings, like the Trompowsky, Torre Attack and London system. As such it can be a very dangerous weapon in the right hands. Very few club or amateur players will be properly prepared to play against it. The Veresov is an attacking opening, based on quick minor-piece development followed by effective pawn levers to open the game.
Tuesday, March 15 IM Bill Paschall The Genius of Michael Adams Part 3 (openings, tactics)
Adams with white shows good preparation in a rare line of the Sicilian Kan variation. White sacrifices a pawn in the center in a position analogous to the Advance variation of the French. Black gets greedy by grabbing another pawn at b2 and falls tragically behind in development. Mickey seems in good combinative form with the creative 14. Bf5!! exploiting his development edge. Although black manages to castle finally, he was never really in the game, and white executes a decisive attack just in time. Overall a very impressive and efficient win by Adams against a decent grandmaster. Somehow just too French-like to escape an Adams crush!
Wednesday, March 16 FM Dennis Monokroussos Remembering Paul Keres, Part 4: The 1960s (openings)
Paul Keres’ last trip to the Candidates came in 1965 when he played a quarterfinal match against Boris Spassky, the eventual winner of the cycle. Keres won game 1 of the 10-game match, but Spassky won games 3-5 to take a two-point lead. Game 8 was do-or-die for Keres, and he came through in the clutch with a fine win, giving himself a fighting chance to save the match. He didn’t succeed, but he came closer to beating Spassky than anyone else did in that cycle.
Thursday, March 17 GM Leonid Kritz A Very Interesting Battle at the London Classic (strategy, tactics)
The game became interesting from the very beginning, and at some point Topalov got a large advantage and should logically get a point. However, at this tournament he had lots of bad luck and also this time he overlooked Giri’s attack. Very interesting complicated battle with both strategic and tactical aspects.
Friday, March 18 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Evaluating Middlegame Positions: Statics and Dynamics in Practice (opening, strategy)
What’s better: pawn structure or two bishops, king safely or extra pawn? Pay attention to how these concepts are seen in practice at GM-level and how certain decisions are made with static and dynamic factors in mind.