Monday, May 4
IM Bill Paschall – Botvinnik: Exploiting Space Advantages, Part 4 | Strategy
Botvinnik remains one of the few great players willing to play the Dutch Stonewall regularly with Black. In recent years, Magnus Carlsen has followed in his footsteps. Although the e5 square is usually a weakness, Black assures himself of a fair amount of space. In this game from the early stage of Botvinnik’s career, he uses his spatial advantage to create attacking chances. Black’s spatial wedge at e4 was vital to his victory in this effort. We should also note the active role played by even the “bad” but “active” bishop. Botvinnik’s powerful use of the bishop pair in this effort was pivotal indeed.
Tuesday, May 5
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – Deadly Attack in the Kan Sicilian | Opening, Middlegame
In this game GM Perelshteyn shows you a simple attacking plan in the Kan Sicilian. It seems as though Black did everything right but he finds himself in a French-like structure where White’s f5 break is unstoppable. Notice the important knight transfer: Nc3-d1-f2-g4 with a beautiful sacrificial attack. Can you guess all of the White moves?
Wednesday, May 6
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Beware! White Trapped in the Tarrasch French | Tactics
The Tarrasch French with 3…c5 can be solid, but if White sharpens the play it’s not only Black who may fall prey in the complications. Here’s an important line that hasn’t really percolated to the club level, and one that sets a trap for White that even elite GMs have fallen into on a regular basis. If you play either side of the Tarrasch French with 3…c5, you’ll want to know about this trick!
Thursday, May 7
GM Leonid Kritz – Refuting a Worthless Idea In Spanish | Tactics
In this game White tried an idea against the Spanish that’s not very popular – he played d3 and then Nc3 instead of c3. Black easily refuted it and eventually equalized without problems. Interesting is how Black temporarily gave up a pawn, but eventually got it back because White did not have a good way to protect d4 pawn after Qf6.
Friday, May 8
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Courting Disaster Due to Opening Unpreparation |
In this lecture, I will analyze my own game played in early 2020 at the annual US Team Amateur Championship to demonstrate the increased importance of the opening preparation in contemporary chess. One interesting thing about this game: my young opponent could predict a variation I was going to play and so was much better prepared in the beginning of the game than I was. As a result, I was forced into some unpredictable complications that I had no idea about, whereas my opponent analyzed this position with a chess engine right before the game. To be honest, during the game I could not understand what’s going on?! How he could prepare for the game if the playing assignment usually appears just 30 minutes before rounds start?! My opponent played fast and confidently in a rare side line that I have not used for many years. I was totally shocked by the quality of his moves taking into account his young age and lower elo rating. Luckily for me, I could avoid mistakes but still the best I could do is to end up in a draw. After the game, my opponent confirmed that it all was his preparation, he was excited to play against a grandmaster and took it very seriously. As a result, he wisely spent time before the game, predicting that I might play this specific line and preparing the moves beforehand. A lesson learned: chess has changed a lot in recent years, and playing sharp lines without accurate analysis can be not a good idea even against lower rated opponents.