Monday, September 16
GM Eugene Perelshteyn – An Instructive Longterm Pawn Sacrifice vs. the Ragozin Defense | Opening
In this game White employs a longterm pawn sacrifice in the Ragozin Defense. There’s no immediate gain, only somewhat weakened position of Black’s kingside pawns. However, two half-open files on the queenside and opposite-side castling guarantees a fun attack! Khalifman plays like Tal and executes one of the most beautiful combinations of his career by sacrificing the house! Can you find it?
Tuesday, September 17
FM Dennis Monokroussos – Some Old Dogs Learn New Tricks Better than Young Dogs Do | Opening
When I recently covered a game between Botvinnik against Larsen, I noted that Botvinnik used a plan that he had been winning with, in various
versions, for more than a quarter of a century. That might give the impression that Botvinnik was stuck in his ways, using the same hammer to bash in nail after nail throughout his chess career. This is not so. He did have his favorite systems, yes, but he also picked up new lines on a regular basis as well. One interesting and counterintuitive choice was his advocacy of the Pirc/Modern complex late in his career. You might expect a player in his mid-to-late 50s to take up increasingly safe openings, but not Botvinnik: he started playing one of the sharpest and most strategically risky openings in all of chess. We’ll have a look at two of his victories with that opening, games that bear a striking resemblance to each other, and that both demonstrate that even with limited material, opposite-colored bishops can massively favor the side with the attack – even in a position where the defender has no obvious weaknesses. Have a look!
Wednesday, September 18
GM Leonid Kritz – What Price Castling? | Tactics
A very interesting, tactical game where Mamedyarov showed again what a brilliant tactical player he is. The most important, however, are not the combinations, but rather understanding of the importance of castling in situations like this. At some point Black had a chance to hide his king, but he missed it and never got a second chance again. Very important to remember – king safety comes first! Always!
Thursday, September 19
GM Nadya Kosintseva – Facing the Pirc/Ufimtsev/Modern Defenses, Part 2 | Strategy
In this lecture we continue learning the Pirc Defense system that arises after the following move order: 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6. For White it makes sense to continue with 4.Be3 followed by Qd2 to build a battery and be able to trade the dark-squared bishops by means of Bh6. This set-up also allows White to prepare castling queen side that can be a good alternative to more peaceful king-side castling. Similarly to the previous lecture Black usually counter plays on the queen side by pushing the b-pawn but this time instead of …a6 he plays …c6 followed by …b5.
Friday, September 20
IM Bill Paschall – Great Matchups: Tal vs Botvinnik Rematch 1961, Part 3 | Openings
After this 8th game, Tal still has hopes of retaining his title. Botvinnik now has to deal with the relatively unexplored wilds of the Advance Caro-Kann. Black actually goes for the modern 3..c5!?, which fell into ill repute for many years largely due to games like this. Black sacrifices the c-pawn – in fact moving the same pawn twice in the first three moves. This idea is controversial even today, but has been steadily increasing in popularity. Black loses this battle as his king is more exposed and his “bishop pair” shows little promise against the two knights in a relatively stable pawn formation. The bishops really need more open lines and passed pawns to thrive.