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Two "comprehensive recommendations" for the price of one! GM Kaidanov wastes no time in today's video lecture, providing solid recommendations for white against the Alekhine's and Scandinavian (including sidelines of 1...d5 as well). As usual, he is not providing in depth theoretical reviews, but rather continuing his mission to help all Intermediate to Advanced tournament players make solid choices and avoid the labor of long variations at the same time! | Watch video
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Today GM Shankland kicks off a new series, reviewing his recent games from the Pan-American Team Championship! Shanky does an excellent job of explaining the basic and general themes of the modern Najdorf, before he launches into the theoretical review of a very topical line in the 8.h3 "Neo-English Attack". The sharp game that ensues is highly instructive... | Watch video
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Today Melik continues his series on the different process and approaches one can take to "solve" tricky, critical positions. He focuses on how to calculate logically and use "process of elimination" calculation techniques to arrive a the correct answer. He first reviews an interesting game with fellow author WGM Abrahamyan, and then moves onto a few puzzles that illustrate his points. Enjoy! | Watch video
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It's been a while, but IM Daniel Rensch is back today with a Live Session for your viewing pleasure! Danny plays into the black side of a well-known variation of the Hedgehog System, patiently striving to achieve equality for a long time. When he eventually does, it doesn't seem to take long for his opponent to falter. His patience in many of the critical moments teaches us that you can't play for a win in chess until you achieve an equal position first... | Watch video
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To bring his debut series to an end, GM Mikahlevski reviews his win over GM Akobian that led to him earning a Best Game Prize at the Gibraltar tournament in 2011. Once again, Victor makes a "long term" sacrifice, with compensation stemming from the uncoordinated pieces in the opponent's camp, and his ability to seize the initiative to be in the "right place at the right time". Enjoy! | Watch video
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In the exciting conclusion of this monumentally important game for the young Sam Shankland's career, we get to see white slowly work his way back from a slightly worse ending, to one of equality, to an endgame where his opponent is fighting for a draw, to eventually, well, you'll have to watch to see! Take notes on Sam's excellent defensive technique, and his "practical poise" in seizing the moment to go for it! | Watch video
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At the crucial stage in his career, Capablanca and his predecessor weren't getting along that well, but their chess games were a cooperative creation of beauty! Here we see a classic battle between these two legends, in the typical fashion of the era. A Queen's Gambit Decline in which black does not make the necessary early equalizing breakthroughs (e5 and c5) and finds himself dominated by the young Cuban! | Watch video
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Here Melik provides two final examples from the recent Tata Steel Super-GM Tourney in the Netherlands. Rather than highlighting bad technique as he did in part 2, here he focuses on where these strong GMs could have improved their defensive technique. He highlights the need to look to give up small amounts of material for activity or to head towards endings you know are drawn (like Opposite Colored Bishop Endings). | Watch video
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IM Rensch breaks down this well-known, theoretically driven opening (The Sicilian Dragon) not by focusing on all the complex variations available, but rather, explaining the evolution of those lines by revealing the patterns and repeating ideas within the pawn structure. Danny reviews the "stem game" Karpov-Kortchnoi, Moscow 1974 and he shows how Karpov changed white's approach in the Yugoslav forever, which inevitably led to black's modern approach (The Chinese Dragon)... | Watch video
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In perhaps the defining moment of his career (or at least one of them) a young Sam Shankland took down one of the world's top talents to claim a tie for first at the 2008 World Youth Chess Championships. Here he reveals all that was in a sharp, 9.0-0-0 Yugoslav Attack Dragon Sicilian. He highlights the in-depth variations both he and his opponent calculated, and instructs on the basic ideas of the line for players of all levels. Enjoy! | Watch video