Mastering Pattern Recognition in the Opening
Pattern recognition is an important tool in modern chess, as it helps you to understand better the characteristics of a position. Particularly when you have been confronted with a surprise opening system played by your opponent, it helps when you can just
The Botvinnik Variation of the Semi-Slav is still seen from time to time in grandmaster games, but in the game Gukesh-Warmerdam White didn’t fancy entering the main lines and opted for the tricky sideline with 7.a4.
Special attention will also be paid to the famous game Dubov-Giri, Moscow 2019, in which White castled queenside without any pawns in front of his king and beautifully crushed his opponent on the other side of the board. That game must have inspired Gukesh to go for this specific line, even though Black has various alternatives on move 7 encountering, unlike the main lines after 7.e5 which are usually leading to more forcing type play.
It's good to see we can still see some brilliant, uncompromising attacking chess without using deep opening preparation!
Exercise: White to play and win!
You can move the pieces on the live diagram!
Strategy Training: How to Make a Plan
In every game of chess, there comes a moment when one is confronted with the question: what should I do now?
Special attention will be paid to Intermediate Moves, Quiet Moves, Sacrifices on Empty Squares, Mating Patterns, Ignoring Opponents Threat, Calculation in Defence and Method of Comparison. Plus 50 interactive examples to test your knowledge.
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