Daniel King’s Power Play Show: Najdorf strategy and theory

by Daniel King
3/5/2021 – In this Power Play Show, GM Daniel King looks at the last-round win of Hovhannes Gabuzyan in the Armenian Championship. Tigran Petrosian, playing white, tried a positional approach against the Najdorf, but was duly outplayed by the recently-crowned Armenian champion. | Power Play is on air most Fridays at 17:00 UTC (18:00 CET, 13:00 ET). All the usual puzzles, games and instruction will be on offer.
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Classic counter measures

With a last-round win against Tigran Petrosian, Hovhannes Gabuzyan finished the Armenian Championships 2021 in style, as he won the event with an impressive 8½/11 score and a tournament performance rating of 2790.

Petrosian, playing white, tries to stifle Black’s Najdorf positionally, but is treated to
classic counter measures. The variation is of particular interest to me as I covered it in my Najdorf DVD for ChessBase. In the video, I talk through the theoretical developments.

What should Black play and why?

 

Another warm-up. White to play and mate in 2:

 

This week

Previous shows

You’ll find older broadcasts in the Power Play category. To watch these you'll need a ChessBase Premium Account.

Daniel King is the prolific author of the Power Play series which numbers 28 volumes to date.  The Tactic Turbo for the King’s Gambit is the subject of his most recent DVD.

Here’s a teaser:

Daniel King presents 50 puzzle positions in video format, all arising from the King's Gambit. They feature typical tactics from the opening, so this is a great way of becoming familiar with the tricks and traps that you can set your opponent.

Links

Daniel King is a regular on playchess.com. Commentating on live events such as the World Championship or analysing themes for his monthly Power Play Show. He also produces a DVD series called Power Play for ChessBase in the Fritztrainer format.

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