When Arnie asked me for an online class I expected the usual routine. Check the common mistakes that he makes, have a close look at what can be improved, and eventually create a training program for him. I was not aware that this class will be unu...
Most of the games at the London Chess Classic ended peacefully as expected. The last round has its own rules. Many things are already decided and players are exhausted. The only exception was the game between Levon Aronian and Veselin Topalov: ...
Round eight in London was relatively peaceful. The only exception was once again the game of Veselin Topalov. In a game against his old rival Vishy Anand he got a nasty surprise early in the opening: You can find the pgn at the new's post.
Hikaru Nakamura felt that there were a lot of problems in the Najdorf. And decided to try the line from the opposite side of the board against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. This was the game of the day at the London Chess Classic's round seven: T...
A lot of excitement after the free day in London! Once more three decisive games, and the draws were very interesting too. Wesley So keeps the lead with a sharp win over Veselin Topalov with the black pieces. Vachier-Lagrave got into fifty per...
Another tough day for Veselin Topalov in London. Once again the only decisive game of round five was his own. But not in his favor. The local hero Michael Adams showed superb preparation to score his first win: Here is the png, do not miss Pe...
Deja vu in London. Once more Hikaru Nakamura was the only trouble maker and winner in round four. His victim- the former world champion Veselin Topalov: Here is the pgn:
Just one decisive game today in London. Hikaru Nakamura proved once again to be extremely unpleasant opponent to Vishy Anand: Pgn is here:
London is very friendly towards the chess fans around the globe. Yesterday we saw another excellent round. Once again three games proved decisive, but after a long and interesting fight. Wesley So outsmarted Michael Adams to grab the tournament ...
Round one of the LCC kicked off yesterday. Three games were decisive. Aronian was somewhat lucky to win slightly worse position to Adams, Nakamura went down as White against So (his position was already bad after the opening.) The battle of the ...
If you have missed the European Individual Championship in Gjakova, Kosovo, you have missed big! Ernesto Inarkiev of Russia played the chess of his live and won the event outright. Also great did the always creative Igor Kovalenko of Latvia who t...
The European Individual Championship is in progress in Gjakova, Kosovo. Round four was played yesterday and as usual, the event offers high-quality chess. The clashes in round one though usually have a different flavour. The thing is that at the...
A couple of weeks ago when browsing through the live tournaments I bumped into this short game played by a former teammate of mine. The Queens Indian Defense has a reputation of very solid opening, especially from White's perspective. Still mi...
As I promised you a month ago, here comes the second part of the wonderful course by GM Gavrikov about the isolated pawn for "Modern Chess". “Modern chess” is a magazine of educational type, publishing Grandmaster’s lectures concerning all the st...
Today's video is featuring an extremely beautiful endgame study, freshly made in my own town Shumen, Bulgaria. The name of the composer-Petromir Panaiotov is worth remembering. Enjoy!
I am glad to present a new chess product, made of my good friends! “Modern chess” is a magazine of educational type, publishing Grandmaster’s lectures concerning all the stages of the chess game – opening, middlegame and endgame. The articles are...
The following sharp endgame appeared after a quick opening skirmish in the Alekhine defense. My long-time student Brad could not orientate well in the arising situation and soon lost the thread. Instead of chasing pawns, he should have chased the...
The ETCC in Reykjavik saw more than one amazing game. The attack that Pavel Eljanov created in round eight against Grzegorz Gajewski can be a good rival of Tomashevsky's jewel. In a typical Benoni-type of position the Ukrainian GM managed to open...
The recently finished ETCC in Reykjavik ended with convincing wins of both male and female Russian teams. One of the players of the men's team was Evgeny Tomashevky. The current Russian champion demonstrated his usual high class and produced the f...
This sweet game was played in Belgium on Sunday. White sacrificed a pawn in the opening for better development and open files/diagonals and after one single inaccuracy from his opponent managed to convert the initiative into decisive material adva...
This is a personalized video for one of my students. It gives some hints of how to play with and against an isolated pawn in the Tarrasch line of the French Defense, as well as in the queen endgames. There are also many nice tactical points in the...
(Picure courtesy of the official site) Three light pieces versus a rook is a rare endgame, but a recent game by Evgeny Tomashevsky (versus Maxime Vachier Lagrave) placed in into the spotlight. In this video I will try to explain the winning mecha...
In my previous blog I have showed you one of the crucial victories from the match of the World Youth Olympiad U 16 that took place in Gyor, Hungary. If you liked the way that Aravind won, you might also be interested to see what did his neighbor ...
(Picture from GM Ramesh's facebook page) The Youth Chess Olympiad U 16 finished yeaterday in Gyor, Hungary. It was a an excellently organized chess event with a lot of suspense till the last minute. India deservedly won the gold medals, but befo...
If you have liked the first part of the game, you would love the second! The expression on Karjakin's face tells everything and Anastasia Karlovich have captured the right moment. Andreikin conducted the attack flawlessly. As for the game here ...
