Tag: Della Almind
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Game of the Week XLIX: Gelfand, Boris (2663) – Adams, Michael (2700)
A small twist in the opening can change the flow of the game. The opening phase of the game has been a common focus of the Game of the Week series, but it is still exhilarating to find a fresh, deep idea in an opening that always makes me appreciate the research aspect of the…
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Game of the Week XLVIII: Carlsen, Magnus (2855) – Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2782)
The brain may fail you when the tension is at the highest level. Several years ago, as a young and ambitious player, I made a bad move in an important game which led to a position where I got tortured for a long time and eventually lost after a drawish but difficult-to-defend endgame. Coping with…
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Game of the Week XLVI: Shirov, Alexei (2673) – Erdos, Viktor (2615)
What should you do if you cannot figure out how to equalize against a certain opening variation? The old chess wisdom says to play the variation with the opposite color and let your opponent show the equality to you if it exists. Of course, wisdom evolves over time. Nowadays, we can run strong engines and…
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Game of the Week XLI: Narayanan.S.L (2647) – Erigaisi, Arjun (2634)
“Why should I learn an opening that I won’t play with either color?” The best way to answer this question is with an example! Let’s say you are not a 1.e4 player nor a Caro-Kann player, so you may skip looking at a game from the Panov variation of Caro-Kann. However, such oversight could come…
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Game of the Week XL: Mastrovasilis, Athanasios (2523) – Nikolov, Momchil (2522)
“Pattern Recognition” has become a common term in chess language, and everyone wants to find an easier way to master it. The best way to accomplish this that I can suggest would be to start by reviewing/playing well-known simple tactical motives and build on that; essentially: solve puzzles non-stop. It’s like learning math: the foundation…
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Game of the Week XXXIX: Bjerre, Jonas Buhl (2550) – Grandelius, Nils (2666)
The story goes that Robert James Fischer used to study all published chess games, including the USSR Women’s Chess Championship. The same probably goes for the current top players. Frankly speaking, I have not been very attentive and following the events closely. Nevertheless, since I am always in search of a good game for my…
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Game of the Week XXXVIII: Alekseenko, Kirill (2693) – Ragger, Markus (2665)
Could you believe it if 8 out of 9 moves by White in the opening of a high-level game were made by pawns – and White would actually be winning?! I remember when I was just learning how to play chess that I would make many pawn moves at the beginning of the game; then…
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Game of the Week XXXVII: Carlsen, Magnus (2855) – Firouzja, Alireza (2754)
“What openings should I play?”; “Is _____ opening good to play?” As a chess streamer and coach, I hear these questions all the time… Before anyone asks this question, though, they need to figure out what their strengths are and play on those. Also, figuring out one’s weaknesses could help one to overcome them. As…
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Game of the Week XXXVI: Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2792) – Karjakin, Sergey (2758)
The “Berlin Wall” was used by Johannes Zukertort in the first World Championship match of 1886 without success; however, the variation got full recognition when Kramnik used it against Kasparov successfully in the 2000 World Championship match. This “wall” was first a headache for Kasparov, and now it has become a headache for all 1.e4…
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Game of the Week XXXV: Navara, David (2675) – Can, Emre (2569)
What do you do when you have a great position in a chess game? Most people would immediately look for the final blow to their opponent to secure the win, which is the right approach, but what if there is no clear path to finishing the game? In this scenario, ask yourself what your opponent…
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Game of the Week XXXIV: Erdos, Viktor (2614) – Pantsulaia, Levan (2564)
When two players of around the same strength meet over the chess board, each move is part of the tit-for-tat strategy. Starting from the first move, White creates a threat. For instance, 1.e4 poses the threat of taking over the center which is the most important part of the battlefield. Black plays 1…c6 and the…
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Game of the Week XXXII: Sarana, Alexey (2643) – Paravyan, David (2631)
The basic chess principle of not moving the same piece twice in the opening has already become history. The game is becoming more dynamic every day, mostly thanks to the evolution of engine strength. Every “weird-looking” move in the opening has some tactical justifications behind it, or objectively it does not equalize the position, but…