Monday, June 19 IM Valeri Lilov Pawn Structure Complexities (strategy, middlegame)
The pawn structure is the most valuable part of creating a good strategy. We need the pawns to both open good files and diagonals, as well as provide our pieces with the strong positions to exploit those opportunities. How to create a complex, yet fundamentally successful pawn structure is the topic of IM Lilov’s lecture.
Tuesday, June 20 IM Bill Paschall Highlights from the 2017 Russian Team Championship, Part 2 (middlegame, tactics)
Veteran grandmaster faces super hot super GM Mamedyarov. With white, Najer avoids Shak’s favorite Grunfeld with an early f3, transposing to a type of King’s Indian/Benoni. Black doesn’t seem to know the latest theory, but improvises with a very aggressive setup; offering somewhat dubious pawn sacrifices at seemingly every turn. Najer can’t avoid the Mamedyarov whirlpool of complications and his king gets drawn out with of fluffy of tactics.
Wednesday, June 21 FM Dennis Monokroussos How to Assess and Play Positions with Symmetrical Isolated Pawns (tactics)
Positions where both players have an isolated d-pawn can be boring and lead to a quick draw, but by no means always. GM Aleks Lenderman proved this in excellent style against IM Enkhbat in a recent game, and we can draw some lessons from this Lenderman’s master class that we can use in our own games.
Thursday, June 22 GM Eugene Perelshteyn What Is It Like Playing a SuperGM? (opening, middlegame, strategy)
GM Perelshteyn shares his recent game against his strongest opponent ever, Dutch SuperGM Anish Giri! Giri proves to be the master of openings as he demonstrates a new plan in an obscure side-line. However, his technique to convert an extra pawn is simply superb! Don’t miss this opportunity to learn what it’s like to face one of the world’s best players!
Friday, June 23 GM Leonid Kritz A Strategic Classic from Kramnik (openings, tactics)
A very strong game from Vladimir Kramnik who outplayed Anand in a seemingly very simple position. The main point to note is that Black should have tried to open the game with f6, and not let White slowly increase pressure. In general, it is very difficult to play such positions without any counterplay.