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For the introduction video to his new series on the Queen's Gambit Declined (from black's perspective), GM Sam Shankland reviews the awkward move orders, the tricky transpositions, and all those in between! He focuses mainly on the principles of the Tartakower variation, suggesting a recommended move order for black, and highlighting the specific pawn structures black wants to avoid. | Watch video
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After reviewing a highly interesting "comeback" victory by the amazing Mikhail Botvinnik, GM Dzindzichashvili gives us the incredible personal insight and knowledge we have come to expect from him in this video series. Who was Botvinnik "the man"? Roman's thoughts on how Botvinnik conducted himself amidst corruption and politics in the Soviet Union are as fascinating as they are revealing... | Watch video
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In today's Member Analysis video, IM Rensch offers his best "universal approach" for black playing against white's most aggressive 1.e4 openings... but that's just the appetizer! Stick around for his opinion on the importance of time management, why finding the "best move" is not always the "best idea", and why winning is so important... | Watch video
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GM Khachiyan brings us another game from his personal "most memorable" library! This particular battle against GM Sveshnikov -- the infamous opening expert -- left Melik feeling unsure about playing his "best stuff". But when Melik makes the right decision to go for it, we see an exciting, instructive game to follow. This lecture will surely leave you delighted with Melik's presentation of this video series as a whole, and how it leads on a journey of his own growth as a chess player... | 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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Fear the Python! FM Liu concludes his "featured author" installment for this month with a second, even more frightening example of Positional Strangulation! In this well known battle, one of the first true positional geniuses (former World Champion Wilhelm Steinetz) performs unwilling surgery on his opponent, exposing one positional weakness after another to eventually leave his opponent breathless... | Watch video
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In the final installment to this series, GM Khachiyan gives his recommendation for how black should deal with the obscure Bishop to b5 development against the Hybrid Accelerated Dragon. He then provides a general summary of why, and what type of players should look to add the Accelerated Dragon to their repertoire. Of course, the final game reviewed is one from the best Accelerated Dragon player in the country: Fellow video author GM Perepshteyn! | Watch video
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Whether it's a good plan or a bad plan, any plan is better than no plan at all! As Grandmaster Dejan Bojkov explains today, having a plan is the most important thing you can do in a chess game. His student emerges victorious in today's game, but chances existed for both sides throughout this sharp game -- only the player who chose the right plan when it mattered, eventually came out on top! | 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