Dennis Monokroussos writes:
Alexander Alekhine, the fourth world champion, was a player so blessed with
creativity, so richly endowed with fantasy, that even games played in simultaneous
exhibitions were sometimes tactically deep and rich. And so it was in the game
Alekhine-Mindeno (or possibly Alekhine-Hulscher), from a 1933 simul in Holland.
Though just 17 moves long (and the first nine moves are simple theory), the
heart of the game displays tactical complications it took generations of commentators
to finally get right!
Fourth world champion Alexander Alekhine
Lovers of attractive, complicated attacking games will want to tune in, but
what about others? Here are some reasons to watch this Thursday at 9 pm ET:
- An intro to the Philidor Defense, an opening that has been surprisingly
popular of late
- Discussion of and comparison with the tricky Chekover Variation against
the Sicilian
- Tips for h-file attacks, for both attackers and defenders
- The opportunity to practice your tactical skills
- Free virtual pizza, supplied by ChessBase
Click to enlarge, smell and taste
Hope to see you there!
Dennis Monokroussos'
Radio ChessBase
lectures begin on Thursdays at 9 p.m. EDT, which translates to 01:00h
GMT, 02:00 Paris/Berlin, 12:00h Sydney (on Friday). Other time zones can
be found at the bottom of this page. You can use Fritz or any Fritz-compatible
program (Shredder, Junior, Tiger, Hiarcs) to follow the lectures, or download
a free trial client. |
You can find the exact times for different locations in the world at World
Time and Date. Exact times for most larger cities are 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.
The lectures, which can go for an hour or more, will cost you between one and
two ducats.
That is the equivalent of 10-20 Euro cents (14-28 US cents).
Dennis
Monokroussos is 40, lives in South Bend, IN, and is an adjunct professor
of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame.
He is fairly inactive as a player right now, spending most of his non-philosophy
time being a husband and teaching chess. At one time he was one of the strongest
juniors in the U.S., but quit for about eight years starting in his early 20s.
His highest rating was 2434 USCF, but he has now fallen to the low-mid 2300s
– "too much blitz, too little tournament chess", he says.
Dennis has been working as a chess teacher for seven 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.
