Monday, October 9 IM Valeri Lilov The Power of Piece Activity (strategy, middlegame)
Piece activity has always been a challenging concept to most intermediate chess players. In his new lecture, IM Lilov presents an instructive game to show the subtleties of coming up with a flexible pawn structure and strong piece activity.
Tuesday, October 10 IM Bill Paschall A New Idea for Black in the Grunfeld Stockholm Variation, Part 1 (opening, strategy)
A fascinating new line with 4…c5 has appeared in recent grandmaster practice in the Stockholm variation of the Grunfeld. This new line is a revolutionary and aggressive idea which creates many new ideas and possibilities for both sides in this important variation. In part 1 we see Ponkratov’s approach with the positional continuation 6.Nxd5, which keeps white’s pawn structure intact.
Wednesday, October 11 FM Dennis Monokroussos Disenchantment in the Opening: The Unromantic Evans Gambit (opening, tactics)
When we think of the Evans Gambit, we generally think of 19th century brilliancies. Or maybe if we’re of a more modern bent, then of Kasparov’s nice wins with it 1995. But while it’s easy to be enchanted by such brilliancies and want to go out and create our own, the reality is somewhat more harsh. If Black has spent a few minutes with a computer or at least checking the database, the resulting positions are far less glamorous, and it isn’t even clear who is going to have the harder time proving equality. In this game, Artur Kogan refused to go into one of the more modest variations, preferring to attack at any cost. In this game, “any cost” meant getting mated by move 20, so beware, gambiteer!
Thursday, October 12 GM Eugene Perelshteyn Instructive Way to Handle e5 Push in the Accelerated Dragon (opening, strategy, tactics)
How does Black handle the typical e4-e5 push by White in the Accelerated Dragon? Watch this video to find out and learn the key concepts. In additional, watch and learn how Black increased his advantage with simple improving moves. Try to find nice tactics as well!
Friday, October 13 GM Bryan Smith A Complex Struggle in the Berlin Endgame (endgame)
A paradoxical positional decision by White in the Berlin endgame shows a recent development in humanity’s understanding of this mysterious variation.