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In the last round of the 2008 National Open in Las Vegas, GM Khachiyan looked across his board at a young, talented FIDE Master -- and he knew he was in for a fight! As Melik explains, he was committed from the beginning to take his time, find all the right moves, and punish his young opponent for trying to surprise him with a sharp, but slightly dubious variation of the Najdorf. What happened in the end? Watch and find out... | Watch video
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What happens when a well known "mating pattern" doesn't work? As Grandmaster Gregory Kaidanov explains, at the highest levels of chess, knowledge of the critical patterns in chess is no longer the most important skill. Rather, creativity within those patterns, and the ability to calculate deeper are the dominate factors. He provides examples to explain his reasoning... | Watch video
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With his second installment GM Shankland reviews perhaps the most topical variation of the classic QGD structure, when he discusses the 7...Ne4 variation. Played recently by Anand to retain the World Championship title against Topalov, the Lasker Defense has seen a big jump in popularity, and Shanky agrees: Black is equal! | Watch video
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As a perfect follow up to Friday's video, the weekend feature highlights more principles of the "race style" position, and how pawn chains can affect the plan for both sides in any position. In his game against GM Axel Bachman from 2007, GM Khachiyan put on a "positional clinic" for the tactical youngster, highlighting why it's so important to think deeply in a position, and to develop plans around the pawn structure... | Watch video
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We continue with our second Member Analysis video lecture on the subject of "race positions". Today's video lecture highlights how the details can change when the king's are castled on the same side of the board, the center is closed, and one side has a space advantage. Sound familiar? King's Indian Defense players, take notes and don't forget to memorize the rhyme: Whoever gets to the base (of the structure), wins the race! | Watch video
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Another Diamond -- or should be say "Rubi" -- in the rough! GM Dejan Bojkov keeps the Greatest Chess Minds train rolling today with a detailed look at Akiba Rubinstein's first victory over the World Champion Emanuel Lasker. The youngest has no fear when facing one of Lasker's pet lines, he quickly earns a slight positional advantage, and if you make your way through the complex middlegame, you will see some excellent Rook Ending Technique by Rubinstein. | Watch video
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Grandmaster Dejan Bojkov's review of Rubinstein's positional dominance over his peers continues today with a brilliant win by Dr. Akiba with the black pieces. Watch closely as black turns a position with less space into a "positional grind", displaying superior deep-planning skills, exploiting white's bad light-squared bishop, and eventually controlling the board... one open file at a time! | Watch video
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In today's Member Analysis video lecture, IM Rensch discusses the "evolution" of the Queen's Gambit Accepted, highlighting the importance of challenging white's center once it is established. Moreover, he points out the major issues in black's position if the right breakthroughs (namely e5 by black) aren't executed. Although a "slightly flawed" effort by white is applied, the finish is pretty and it summarizes the "pros and cons" of playing with the center... | Watch video
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Struggling to find his "rhythm" after a rough few games at the 2012 World Open, GM Shankland was paired up against Mongolian GM Tsegmed Batchuluun. When he gets surprised out of the opening (7...Bg4) - Shanky decides it's time to "go for it", and he launches a dangerous pawn storm. Running to the Queenside doesn't necessarily help black, but will Sam be able to convert his extra Exchange in the endgame? | Watch video
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This Amazing Games for Beginners video lecture is, well... Amazing! FIDE Master Elliot Liu is back this month with more examples of pure chess brilliance, broken down to the appropriate level for our beginner and intermediate members to understand. Here Elliot takes a break from aggressive, attacking and tactical games to show an example of positional play that is sure to stick in your brain forever! | Watch video