What is it, specifically, about move 8. Be3 that offers a draw?

Game one starts with a Karo Kahn defense. Both white and black generate king side space advantage with a four pawn, pawn chain with white on black squares and black on white squares. White pawn on e5 cramps knight and black square bishop.  Blacks white square bishop on f5, ouside of the pawn chain, is medlesome to a white advance. As the game progresses, they reach a static position with white holding on to his bishops and a space advantage. Black does not want to open up the game on the king side and queen side is cramped. After play, black makes a panic mistake moving king off back rank. White wins.

Alex,

great video with good explanations/analysis.  I like when you stop and give us questions to think about like Danny does in his...

One little thing (from one foreigner to another) --> 1 tempo...2 tempi  (there's no such thing as "tempis")

Keep 'em coming,

C

I remember this game it was in The Boardwalk Open in NJ. 

good video. Thanks.

i like morozevich's way of playing the tarrasch, he makes a waiting move bishop e7. there's also another waiting move a6. another chess.com video told me that committing a knight to f6 before white has moved his knight to f3 can be dangerous because of e5, f6 immediately. there's a line in the tarrasch with the a6 waiting move and an eventual early g5 that I like very much. it surprises people and catches them off guard.

Or even Nf4 instead of Nxe7 is very nice for white

hi Alcabiates,

Yes your analysis make perfect clear sense. Somehow I just blanked out for a minute or so :) Once again, I'm sorry that I didn't really analyze this game in detail with the computer. I didn't think that these moments are in particular as important, but next time it will be better analyzed!

Could it be that in Malakhov-Shulman on exf5 black feared that white might sack the exchange on b6 and then capture on d5 with the knight?

...exf5

Rxb6 Qxb6

Nxd5 Qe6

Nxe7 Qxe7+ 

and white is down the exchange but has two powerful central pawns, bishops on diagonals heading towards black's king and can attack the isolated pawns on a4 and c4?  or is my analysis faulty?