Playchess training with FM Dennis Monokroussos
The Hedgehog is a fascinating system against the English Opening (it can arise
via other openings as well, but in its pure form it's an anti-English system),
one that's easy to underestimate. White obtains a huge space advantage, free
of charge, while Black's pieces are huddled together on the last three ranks.
At least that's how White may look at it. From Black's point of view, it's like
a coiled spring, full of potential energy awaiting release. It might look passive
and harmless, but the large number of elite players to get crushed with the
white pieces should warn us othewise.
This week's ChessBase show offers a noteworthy example. The late Lev Polugaevsky
was one of the world's very strongest players in 1982, but it was his opponent,
Lubomir Ftacnik, who produced a game that has become a classic. Everything seemed
perfectly normal after White's 19th move. "Polu" had more space and
what seemed like a solid enough position, but ten moves later he resigned. His
position had been smashed to bits and he was getting mated in just a couple
more moves!
GM Lubomir Ftacnik, who is today part of the ChessBase team
How did this happen? The answers will come on Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET
(= 3 a.m. Thursday morning CET) as we take a closer look. The point isn't just
to celebrate a brilliancy, but to gain some insight into the Hedgehog system.
Our aim will be to obtain an understanding how it works and to see how much
White can – and cannot! – get away with, so that we can play either
side of this opening with a fundamental grip on the opening from both sides'
perspective.
To watch, go to the Broadcast room of the Playchess server at the time given
above, and look for and select "Polugaevsky-Ftacnik" under the Games
tab. Hope to see you there!
Dennis Monokroussos'
Radio ChessBase
lectures begin on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST, which translates to 02:00h GMT,
03:00 Paris/Berlin, 13:00h Sydney (on Thursday). You can find the times for
different locations in the world at World
Time and Date, with exact times for most larger cities here.
And you can watch older lectures by Dennis Monokroussos offline in
the Chess Media System room of Playchess:
Enter the above archive room and click on "Games" to see the lectures.
Monokroussos in Mexico: World Championship 2007
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Dennis Monokroussos is 43, lives in South Bend, IN, where
he teaches chess and has worked as an adjunct professor of philosophy at the
University of Notre Dame and Indiana University-South Bend.
At one time he was one of the strongest juniors in the U.S. and has reached
a peak rating of 2434 USCF, but several long breaks from tournament play have
made him rusty. He is now resuming tournament chess in earnest, hoping to reach
new heights.
Dennis has been working as a chess teacher for ten years now, giving lessons
to adults and kids both in person and on the internet, worked for a number of
years for New York’s Chess In The Schools program, where he was one of
the coaches of the 1997-8 US K-8 championship team from the Bronx, and was very
active in working with many of CITS’s most talented juniors.
When Dennis Monokroussos presents a game, there are usually two main areas
of focus: the opening-to-middlegame transition and the key moments of the middlegame
(or endgame, when applicable). With respect to the latter, he attempts to present
some serious analysis culled from his best sources (both text and database),
which he has checked with his own efforts and then double-checked with his chess
software.
Playchess Training with IM Merijn van Delft
Everyone is invited to join this weekly training hour on Wednesday evening.
Together we will have a look at the most recent grandmaster games. Recurring
themes during our analyses and discussions are the latest opening developments
and how to work on your own chess.
A word about myself: I was born (March 13, 1979) and raised in Apeldoorn, The
Netherlands. In 1995 I won the Dutch U16 Championship and played the European
Championship in Poland and the World Championship in Brasil. In 1998 I moved
to Amsterdam to study psychology and had a great time there. In 2003 I met my
wife Evi Zickelbein and ever since we've been living together in Hamburg, Germany.
In 2004 I made both master titles: one at the university and one in chess. Since
2005 I've been working fulltime in the chess world: training, coaching, writing,
organizing and still actively playing myself. By now I have about fifteen years
of experience as a chess trainer. Together with my dad I wrote a book
about chess training (Schaaktalent Ontwikkelen), of which the Dutch
version is already available and the English
version will follow April 2010.
IM Merijn van Delft's lecture starts at 20:00h Central European Time (Berlin,
Paris, Rome), which translates to 19:00h London. You can find the times for
different locations in the world at World
Time and Date. Exact times for most larger cities are here.
The lecture is in the "Broadcast" room of Playchess. It is free for
Premium Playchess members (50 Ducats for others).
Links
The lectures are broadcast live on the chess server Playchess.com.
If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase
Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program
to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009! |
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