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When one of the greatest chess players of all time offers you a draw in a roughly unclear position, you take it right? Not GM Melik Khachiyan! Today he kicks off a new video series by reviewing not necessarily his best, but definitely his most memorable games -- each of which will have a story to go with it! See how Melik achieved a clear advantage against the former World Champ, but eventually fell just short of ultimate glory. | Watch video
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IM Rensch explains that there are two different types of chess players, and two different types of people therein: Those who love to win, and those who hate to lose... Figure out his latest "crazy talk" in the critical stage of this game, and stay tuned to find out whether Danny has enough compensation to justify his blunder of a pawn in the early stage of the middlegame. | Watch video
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When the best in the world actually has to play defense, he does it pretty well! In the game McShane-Carlsen, London Classic 2011 the "world's greatest amateur" had the world #1 on the ropes, but when Magnus puts on a defensive clinic (clearly recognizing white's plan as well as which pieces to exchange and when/how to exchange them) the young Englishman is unable to crack black's blockade. Enjoy GM Shankland's review and take more notes on how to play defense! | Watch video
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Similar to the first installment in his new video series on Prophylactic Thinking, GM Kaidanov brings us one position after another, stressing the need for us to think about what our opponent's (not our own) next move and plans will be. Gregory's examples vary in difficulty and style, but all prove the importance of weighing the coming threats and how to deal with them. | Watch video
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Grandmaster Kaidanov is featured this month on Chess.com, and with today's video he begins a new series on what he puts as "arguably the most important skill to develop as a chess player". Though he doesn't claim it as the easiest, he provides the best advice he can on how to "build the muscles" of defensive mindedness, while displaying five practical examples on the subject of preventing your opponent's plans/ideas. Enjoy! | Watch video
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With the fourth installment to his new video series on defense and prophylactic thinking, GM Shankland reviews a loss he had when he was a lowly IM. In this sharp King's Indian, despite outplaying his opponent, Sam underestimates and doesn't take into account all of his opponent's attacking resources (mainly, the brilliant ...Nc6). Learn from Sam's mistake and improve your defense! | Watch video
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This weekend IM Rensch gets back to the never ending, on-going, "Energizer Bunny" that is the Pawn Structure 101 video series. He continues to review the Scheveningen structure, and he reveals some of the deepest points about playing these positions at a high level. We learn that white must establish kingside pressure before black gets to e4, among many other critical ideas! | Watch video
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GM Shankland provides his next defensive planning and prophylactic thinking video today, and it's his last where he uses the subject matter of Opposite Colored Bishop endings to illustrate his critical thinking points. Once again, there is much to learn about how to prevent your opponent from achieving their goals, and this time black's task is much harder because he can't simply sacrifice the Bishop for the pawns. | Watch video
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GM Shankland continues his new videos series on how to develop defensive plans with another Opposite Colored Bishop ending. He breaks down the difficulties one might face when trying to prevent their opponent's goals, and he offers step by step advice for your critical thinking skills! He provides an advance example that even stumped fellow Chess.com Video Author GM Friedel in a real game... | Watch video
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Today Melik reviews another game from our "Accelerated Hero", only this time, our hero falls short... In the game Short-Tiviakov, 1998 -- GM Tiviakov chooses a slightly mediocre plan to find himself on the wrong side of a squeeze position. Learn from Sergey's mistakes, and remember to control the critical dark-squares and find "tricky" moves like Qb4 at the right time, and you will be fine! | Watch video