Tag: Burak Firat
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Game of the Week XV: Maghsoodloo, Parham (2676) vs. Mosadeghpour, Masoud (2498)
“I will make 40 good moves and if you are able to do the same, the game will end in a draw.” Vasily Smyslov There has been a fierce debate in the past about what the result of a chess game would be if both sides played all of the best moves. Now that millions…
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Game of the Week XIV: Svane, Frederik (2421) vs. Bluebaum, Matthias (2670)
Have you ever gotten the feeling of being totally outplayed by your opponent and wonder where you made a mistake? This usually happens when two players from different classes encounter each other and the stronger one utilizes more advanced techniques than their opponent is accustomed to. Instead of one side making an obvious blunder, the…
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Game of the Week XIII: Ibanez Aullana, Ramon (2276) vs. Santoz Ruiz, Miguel (2592)
So-called “grandmaster draws” used to bother many chess lovers, so some organizers came up with rules against it. The most known and recognized one is a no-draw offer before move 30, which is applied in most FIDE events. This may sound like a good rule on the surface, but it led to ugly repetition draws…
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Game of the Week XII: Prohászka, Péter (2581) vs. Wang, Kevin (2402)
In his book Grandmaster Opening Preparation, Jaan Ehlvest splits opening approaches into two categories: As an example, Ehlvest referred to Botvinnink a Researcher and to Tal as a Non-Researcher. It is also important to note that he mentions that it is hard to be strictly one or the other nowadays – a strong chess player should be…
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Game of the Week XI: Yip, Carissa (2423) vs. Prohászka, Péter (2581)
While reflecting on the topic of women in chess during this Women’s History Month, I recalled being fortunate enough to be a part of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) at Webster University created by Women’s World Champion Susan Polgar. During those years, we had several discussions about how different the chess world…
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Game of the Week X: Mikhalevski, Victor (2552) vs. Nabaty, Tamir (2638)
How does a “Miniature” happen in a high-level chess game? A “Miniature” is a game that ends in less than about 20 moves. It usually happens in lower-level players’ games because one player may go against general principles such as developing their pieces, not playing with only one piece too much at the beginning of…
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Game of the Week IX: Kjartansson, Gudmundur vs. Petursson, Margeir
Perhaps you have heard about “torturing” another player in chess and wonder: How is it possible to torture anyone in a board game?! There are several ways to “torture” one’s opponent in a match, 2 common examples of which are the following: What other examples of “torture” have you experienced in your matches? Share them…
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Game of the Week VIII: Lobanov, Sergei vs. Lazavik, Denis
Once, a player with around a 2250 level asked me after our game, “What was the evaluation of the position?” I responded, “You had a better position with great chances of winning and I did not have any real counterplay.” He repeated the question which I answered in more or less the same way. Then,…
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Game of the Week VII: Pashikian, Arman vs. Ter-Sahakyan, Samvel
Today, I read my friend FM Alper Efe Ataman’s Facebook post on The Life and Games of Vasily Smyslov, Vol. 1 by Andrey Terekhov. The author provided an explanation in his book as to why Smyslov is overshadowed by other world champions, even though he played the candidates’ match final at the age of 63! Essentially, Alper…
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Game of the Week VI: Brilej, Jaka vs. Basso, Pier Luigi
I recently read the book The Road to Chess Improvement by Alex Yermolinsky. This was the kind of book that I wish I had read way earlier in my chess career and highly suggest that you read as well if you have not already done so! It was written in 1999 when Yermolinsky was still playing chess…
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Game of the Week – Week 5
As I’m sure is the case for many of you, the lack of in-person tournaments during the pandemic has only increased my craving for watching and analyzing high-quality chess games while at home, and the Tata Steel 2021 tournament did not disappoint! In my opinion, it was one of the most memorable tournaments of all…
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Game of the Week – Week 4
When you hear the word “assumption”, a negative connotation may come to mind. Many of us have been advised at some point in our lives to avoid making assumptions or jumping to conclusions; however, this habit is ingrained in our nature as we are constantly making assumptions to help us make sense of the complicated…