Monday, September 21 GM Leonid Kritz Levon Aronian at His Best (openings)
Interesting game in which Caruana chooses a relatively rare line, but misses the exchange of the bad white squared bishops and gets in strategic troubles. He attempts to get out of it by playing e5-f5, but Aronian’s reaction is perfect and the game ends with a beautiful combination.
Tuesday, September 22 IM Bill Paschall Fischer and the Two Bishops, Part 5 (openings, strategy)
Fischer employs a tricky hypermodern line with black against Kortchnoi’s pet English Opening. White, a long time fan of pawn moves, is surely tricked into overextending himself. Fischer, however, not content with a slight advantage after 20 moves as black, overreaches himself with an incredibly ambitious exchange sacrifice. Although close to lost, Fischer conjures up the powers of his bishop pair to save the game! A truly spirited fight between two of the greatest players of all time.
Wenesday, September 23, FM Dennis Monokroussos A Brief History of an Interference Motif (tactics)
In Sasha Guliev’s fine book _Winning Chess Manoeuvres_ he notes that many important tactical and strategic motifs seen in present-day chess were often discovered by earlier generations, sometimes a long time ago. As an example, he shows the very nice conclusion to a game Viswanathan Anand won against Evgeny Bareev, and notes that Anand himself noted the similarity to a famous combination of Bobby Fischer’s. I present those examples, and then show that the predecessors go back even farther. Enjoy the video as a trip into the past, and also as a chance for a little tactical workout.
Thursday, September 24 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Instructive Game in King’s Indian Na6: How to Play When White Doesn’t Commit the d-Pawn (opening, strategy)
This game illustrates how Black can fight against the plan where White keeps his central pawn on d4. Plus we learn a few lessons along the way: Don’t start the wing attack if the center is not closed! If you’re strategically outplayed, look for tactical counterplay even at the cost of material! Always look for tactics even if you think you’re losing!
Friday, September 25 GM Bryan Smith A Repertoire for White in the Ruy Lopez: Part 7 (openings)