A first acquaintance!
Hi everyone!
Since 2013 is approaching its end, I'm full of good intentions for the new year like any of you and hence I think it's the right moment starting this blog!
First of all, I'd like to thank chess.com offering me to continue the endgame column as well as the tactic corner I have been doing for 2,5 years in ChessVibes Training (CVT). Furthermore you can expect in every issue 9 juicy tactics from GM praxis, involving dramatic blunders and brilliant combinations! In the December issue you can find my first contribution, so if you are interested please check out http://www.chess.com/article/view/the-masters-bulletin-december-2013.
Apart from a few league games I'm rarely playing competitive chess these days and instead I'm focusing more on teaching the game to all different kind of levels, ages and personalities. I simply love the game and it's my aim to spread around my enthusiasm to other people! I think chess.com perfectly fits as a channel to fulfill that purpose reaching a wider audience.
I'm glad to have been invited again in Wijk aan Zee doing the live commentary in Dutch for the local audience (including kids from a local school!). On the 17th of January I'll cover the 5th round of the Tata Steel Masters, so if you are nearby don't hesitate paying a visit! The full commentary schedule can be found here: http://www.tatasteelchess.com/tournament/commentaryschedule
In most of my posts I´ll try to add some diagram or game which may be related to some material I use in my own lessons. Yesterday, by coincidence, I came across the game which secured my 3rd IM-norm in Curacao 2006. Back then I analysed the game for doggers-schaak, Peter's blog and predecessor of ChessVibes! Frankly, I'm still pretty proud of that game in which I'm fully exploiting the advantage of my bishop pair without allowing my opponent to generate any sort of counterplay.
I hope you got a better impression of what you can expect in my new blog and look forward to receive more input from you how to improve it. So don't hesitate contacting me! I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Let's make 2014 a fruitful year together!
