Monday, March 13 IM Valeri Lilov Attacking in the Sicilian (middlegame)
The Sicilian defense is arguably the most popular opening in chess. Yet, many players don’t have a decent idea how to play it well, especially with white. Given the extra space and attacking possibilities, one should always have some aggressive ideas at his disposal, yet finding these isn’t as easy as it sounds.
Tuesday, March 14 IM Bill Paschall Facing an Angry Ivanchuk (strategy, tactics)
Ivanchuk faces an aggressive young IM in the recent Gibraltar Masters tournament, shortly after losing a winning position in a previous game. Vassily shows his class with his usual creativity; in this game featuring the original plan of Nd4-b3 in a classical Pirc. Black plays both a very aggressive opening and an aggressive and risky line within, using the hypermodern approach 6…a6. Ivanchuk handles this complicated variation with an ingenious exchange sacrifice and wins when black misses his best defense.
Wednesday, March 15 FM Dennis Monokroussos A Great Attack In the Triangle Dutch (openings)
One virtue of the so-called Triangle System or Triangle Slav is flexibility. After 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 (this is the standard move order, but other move orders are possible – the main game started with 1.c4 e6, for example) Black might head for a Semi-Slav (e.g. 4.Nf3 Nf6), or a Noteboom (4.Nf3 dxc4 5.e3 b5 etc.), or a Dutch of sorts after 4.e3 with 4…f5. (There’s also 4.e4, which leads to completely different positions after 4…dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Qxd4.) In this game, Korobov met 4.e3 with 4…Nd7, again remaining flexible, and only after 5.Qc2 a6 6.Nf3 “went Dutch” with 6…f5. It worked beautifully, and he won a brilliant attacking game against a very strong opponent. The Dutch can be dangerous for White!
Thursday, March 16 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Following Fischer’s Footsteps: A Miniature in the Exchange Caro-Kann (opening, tactics)
Is it important to study classics? GM Perelshteyn’s answer is resounding, yes! Watch and learn how knowing the plan from Fischer-Petrosian enabled White to get a nice opening advantage. Black mixed up several plans and got into even worse trouble resulting in a nice miniature.
Friday, March 17 IM David Vigorito Backtracking after an Opening Error (openings)
In this game I play an interesting and somewhat unusual opening line. My opponent is caught a bit off guard, yet I am the one who stumbles out of the gate. Decision making is very important in chess and sometimes it’s better to backtrack than to lunge forward, even if it’s difficult to do psychologically. White can often get away with one mistake after all.