-
First surprise? Sam's opponent Larry Christiansen played a relatively unambitious strategy -- planning to trade everything off on the a-file for equality. Second surprise? Larry C then abandoned that plan -- reverting to his "usual ways" of complications. Unfortunately for him, Sam likes the Bishop pair! Enjoy this highly interesting and extremely instructive review by IM Sam Shankland this weekend, and don't play the "Booger Indian"... | Watch video
-
When the "Iron Tiger" cracked a smile, Reshevsky knew he was in for it! Actually, Petrosian's brilliant exchange sacrifice took the American champion by complete surprise. See another "personal review" of a classic Petrosian game already analyzed by GM Dzindzichashvili. Today, like Dzindzi, Melik highlights the Knight's domination from d5, as well as black's light-squared bishop's power. He also offers insight into what Kasparov's opinion of this game was... | Watch video
-
One week later... IM Sam Shankland brings you the second installment of his game vs IM Mandiza! Once again, no stone is left unturned in this interesting and very dynamic battle. Did Shanky come out on top in the end, or was the missed "Nc6" shot enough to save white's position. Either way, you will enjoy this game. Watch and learn! And don't miss your opportunity for ...Qb4 next time. | Watch video
-
The concrete version of this story was that white was ahead a piece and winning with best play... but today the "spirit" of the active King overcomes the power of the "physical" pieces! In this incredibly interesting struggle, the white player -- Super-GM and Germany's #1 Arkadij Naiditsch -- achieved an "easily" winning advantage and expected the rest to be a simple matter of technique. However, black's King wouldn't let his army go down without a fight and eventually the improbable happened... | Watch video
-
Another day on Chess.com, another great video by GM Dejan Bojkov discussing the specific powers of a piece! We continue our series on the power of the King, this time reviewing several practical games in which the sometimes trapped, and always awkward, position of the opponent's pieces allowed for some incredible King play. Karpov "bats first" against Ribli, and then we rock n' roll until the King comes home... | Watch video
-
It's a "mano y mano" battle between two of our best Chess.com Video Authors! GM Khachiyan reviews his game with GM Bojkov from just a few weeks ago! We learn lots about positional chess from these two masters, but Melik's great coaching (more to come on that later) paid off in the long run. His accurate positional choice to sacrifice the exchange was something he learned as a youngster as "the right approach to chess"... | Watch video
-
It happens everyday: friend on friend "chess violence"! Today Melik reviews his own game with good friend FM Robby Adamson, and the fireworks do not disappoint! Tactics, tactics, and more tactics - along with deep planning and strong positional foresight by our beloved GM Khachiyan. Once he handled Robby's "Neo-Accelerated Dragon" with style, the FM could never quite recover... Enjoy! | Watch video
-
How good is your defense? Improve your thought process today by listening in on Melik's! Here he reviews yet another epic battle against International Master Amanov. As he explains, playing for a win as black against a strong opponent is a risky proposition. So how to do it? By creating dynamic play of course! The only problem with dynamic ideas is that you might find yourself on the defensive, just as GM Khachiyan did in this game. | Watch video
-
Nobody leads an army like the King! GM Bojkov continues his series on the study of the active King in action, and today we make the transition from Bishop to Rook endings. We learn from all time greats such as Smyslov that an active King can draw despite a four pawn deficit -- then we observe another former World Champion, Capablanca, use the "Umbrella Method" to shield his King from checks and advance his g-pawn to victory! | Watch video
-
Learn to make every piece count, as GM Dejan Bojkov continues his series on the active King. After reviewing a few amazing examples of the King's rare potential in the Middlegame, Dejan transitions into the King's important role in the Endgame. "A brave piece when few remain", the King can be the deciding factor between a win and a loss - especially in King-and-Pawn, as well as Knight Endgames. Even World Champions such as Smyslov can succumb to the power of the King! | Watch video