Monday, October 3 IM Valeri Lilov Original Development (opening, middlegame)
How should we develop our pieces on original, yet solid positions from the start? This is a question that many beginner players don’t know how to answer. They try different ways to be original and only risk their positions more. Check IM Lilov’s new lecture to learn the keys to an original and safe development!
Tuesday, October 4 IM Bill Paschall Avoiding the Berlin Defense : Classic Games, Part 7 (opening, endgame)
Wednesday, October 5 FM Dennis Monokroussos Brilliancy and Blunder: Fighting Chess at the Olympiad (opening, tactics)
Most presentations show model games, where one side does everything perfectly and the other side exists only as a foil. Sometimes it’s worth seeing real games – the games most of us play most of the time, with good ideas alternating with bad ones, in which fighting spirit is every bit as important as one’s opening knowledge and general chess ability. In this game, from the fourth round of the Olympiad, the players take turns showing their excellence and their fallibility. Sebastien Maze starts off brilliantly, completely outplaying Demetrios Mastrovasilis in their round 4 game at the 2016 Olympiad in Baku. At this point, the tide turned, and now Mastrovasilis showed his resourcefulness, first just staying alive and then making everything into a mess. It’s exciting chess, and as instructive in its way as any traditional one-sided textbook massacre.
Thursday, October 6 GM Eugene Perelshteyn An Almost Perfect Attack in the Grand Prix for White! (opening, tactics)
Have you ever played a perfect attacking game? Well, GM Perelshteyn’s student can say this…almost. Watch and learn how White develops a textbook attack, only to miss the killer blow. Can you find this brilliant move? It’s not easy, but a very instructive sacrifice! Unfortunately, White missed it and allowed Black to simplify into the endgame, where two rooks proved too much for the queen.
Friday, October 7 GM Bryan Smith A Sharp Answer to the 4.Qc2 Nimzo-Indian (strategy)
In this video, GM Smith shows one of his games where he met the 4.Qc2 Nimzo-Indian, and used the sharp but classical response 4…d5. This game will focus on White’s move 5.a3.