Monday, November 30 GM Nadya Kosintseva QGD Ragozin Defense Part 3: The Crazy Rook Causes Trouble! (openings)
A very interesting and complicated line in which the black rook gets to g2 and seems to be lost after White blocks it with his bishop on g3. However, surprisingly Black finds enough resources to create dynamic play and to force White to look for best moves in order to… get an equal position! A line that is a must because of its sharpness and level of complication.
Tuesday, December 1 IM Bill Paschall Boris Spassky’s Spasstacular Attacking Miniatures, Part 8 (tactics, strategy)
White opens with a King’s Gambit and black returns the sacrificed pawn in the opening with 3…d5. Later, Sakharov weakens his kingside slightly with 13…g5 and 15…h6, holding onto the f4 pawn. Spassky whips up a huge sacrificial attack seemingly out of nowhere. In truth, white’s good central control and better development made this brilliant attacking win possible. Great intuition, creativity and calculation displayed by Spassky in this classic game.
Wednesday, December 2 FM Dennis Monokroussos A Desperate Fight For the Initiative (tactics)
Garry Kasparov was the #2 player in the world even when he was a teenager, but that didn’t mean he had nothing to learn from his elders. In this game he plays against Boris Spassky, and while Spassky was no longer a threat to the world championship he was still an elite player, not only immensely strong but psychologically astute and full of wiles. Kasparov obtains a winning advantage with objectively better play, but Spassky’s persistent battle for the initiative and all costs bears fruit. Kasparov is bamboozled, sinks into time trouble, and ultimately loses on time in a lost position.
Thursday, December 3 IM Valeri Lilov How to Manage a Flank Attack (strategy)
The most common attack in chess the one which starts on the king/queen’s flank. Those attacks require many features to be successful. On one hand, we need a solid central command and space control. It could still prove difficult to advance it without knowing the right steps to follow when attacking. See IM Lilov’s new lecture on being successful with a flank attack!
Friday, December 4 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Student Game Analysis: Playing Against the Stonewall (openings, middlegame, strategy)
Like the English and don’t know how to handle the Stonewall? You have the perfect opening for this, just don’t commit the d-pawn to d4. White achieves a big edge with simple d3,e4 center break. Black plays poorly with cookie-cutter plan of Bd6,Nbd7,Qe8 and ends up in a lost position quickly. The rest is just technique.