Chess Expertise Step by Step Vol. 1: Unexpected Tactics
Tactics in chess are sequences of moves which limit the opponent’s options and may result in a tangible gain by force. They are usually contrasted with strategy, in which advantages take longer to be realised and where the opponent is less constrained in his choice of reply. This series covers important sections of this field and helps to understand in depth the proper handling of (unexpected) tactics.
As Nigel Short once said, ‘Modern chess is too much concerned with things like pawn structure. Forget it — checkmate ends the game!’
As James Whitaker has mentioned, ‘The person who knows ‘how’ will always have a job. The person who knows ‘why’ will always be the boss’.
As Laurence Fishburn has mentioned in ‘Matrix’, ‘There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path’.
Find out how Grandmaster Efstratios Grivas links these quotes with chess training in this amazing package deal.
Chess Expertise Step by Step Vol. 1: Unexpected Tactics
Tactics in chess are sequences of moves which limit the opponent’s options and may result in a tangible gain by force. They are usually contrasted with strategy, in which advantages take longer to be realised and where the opponent is less constrained in his choice of reply. This series covers important sections of this field and helps to understand in depth the proper handling of (unexpected) tactics.
Tactics in chess are sequences of moves which limit the opponent’s options and may result in a tangible gain by force. They are usually contrasted with strategy, in which advantages take longer to be realized and where the opponent is less constrained in his choice of reply. Tactics are an essential part of chess, since even purely positional games may contain certain moments where one cannot do without sharp calculations. The fundamental building blocks of tactics are forks, skewers, batteries, discovered attacks, undermining, overloading, deflection, pins and interference.
This DVD covers important sections of this field and helps to understand in depth the proper handling of (unexpected) tactics in certain cases. We will examine how to achieve (or to avoid) mate on the back rank, the strength of the ‘dancing’ knights, how to sac the queen near the opposing king, how to march with the king, how to use efficiently the f4-break and finally how to make sacrifices to gain the initiative.
Chess Expertise Step by Step Vol. 2: Mastering Strategy
As James Whitaker has mentioned, ‘The person who knows ‘how’ will always have a job. The person who knows ‘why’ will always be the boss’.
Mastering chess strategy is a matter of constant practice and analysis. Many good books have been written on this subject and almost all important (or even less important) strategic assets have been examined in great depth. But there is still enough room in the endless variety of the game of chess for an attempt to classify various themes and a proper description of mechanisms and ways of handling specific types of position.
This DVD, called ‘Mastering Strategy’, tries to cover important aspects of this field and to help you to assimilate knowledge and understand in depth the proper handling of strategy in certain cases. We will examine how to exploit the important f5-square, how to make the most of your own apparently useless isolani, how to handle positions with a pawnless queenside, the handling of the a7 outpost, how to increase small advantages and finally how to handle the weak d5-square.
Video running time: 4 hours
Chess Expertise Step by Step Vol. 3: Rook Handling
Rook handling and generally speaking endings constitute one of the most fascinating elements in chess. Rich in both tactical and strategic possibilities, they offer us the opportunity to marvel at its endless creative potential and unique ideas. Of all chess endings (pawn, queen, rook, bishop and knight), rook endings are the ones encountered most frequently.
Rook handling and generally speaking endings constitute one of the most fascinating elements in chess. Rich in both tactical and strategic possibilities, they offer us the opportunity to marvel at its endless creative potential and unique ideas. Of all chess endings (pawn, queen, rook, bishop and knight), rook endings are the ones encountered most frequently. Like all aspects of chess technique, rook endings (and in in general the correct handling of rooks) encompass a significant amount of theoretical and repeated motifs, which we have to be aware of — just like our openings. In this way we will be able to make correct decisions at important junctures of the game, decisions that will either promise us victory or allow us to secure the draw. This DVD, called ‘Rook Handling’, tries to cover important parts of this field and help you to assimilate knowledge and to understand in depth the proper handling of rooks in certain cases. We shall examine how to keep our rook active, how to trap a rook, how not to lose a drawn rook ending, how to handle technical rook endings, how to successfully transfer our rook, how to enhance cooperation between rook & knight and finally how to defend against a knight & 3 pawns. To be honest, this is just a small amount of the huge quantity of material that one has to learn about rooks, but in any case it is a good start!
Video running time: 4 hours
Chess Expertise Step by Step Vol. 4: Endgame Magic
This DVD, called ‘Endgame Magic’, tries to cover important parts on this field and help to assimilate knowledge and understand in depth the proper handling of endgame in certain cases.
The last part of the game is where a well educated player can set the opponent the most problems. The weight of each move increases; each mistake can prove very costly, great accuracy is required. In our times, with the abolition of adjournments and the increasingly faster time-controls, endgame knowledge has acquired greater significance than never before.
This DVD, called ‘Endgame Magic’, tries to cover important parts on this field and help to assimilate knowledge and understand in depth the proper handling of endgame in certain cases. We will examine how to benefit from the isolani in the endgame, how to try to win or defend when a rook and rook-pawn vs a bishop and rook-pawn (on the same side) endgame arise, the technique of the ‘square’ when the advantage of the exchange-up seems to be difficult to capitalize, how to win or defend with a plain queen vs a plain rook, how to benefit from our opponent’s shattered pawns, how to play some specific pawn endings and finally what are the problems of the exchange-up when facing the bishop-pair.
Video running time: 4 hours
Efstratios Grivas is a Grandmaster and highly experienced chess trainer and chess author. He lives in Athens, and he is also a FIDE Senior Trainer (Secretary of the FIDE Trainers' Commission), an International FIDE Chess Arbiter and an International FIDE Chess Organizer. He has represented his country on a great many occasions, winning the 4th position in the World Junior Championship 1985, an individual gold medal at the 1989 European Team Championship and an individual silver medal at the 1998 Olympiad. In 2010 he was awarded the worldwide highly important FIDE TRG Awards - Boleslavsky Medal (best author) for 2009.
Efstratios Grivas is cooperating with the Greek and Turkish Chess Federations as a Federal Trainer and he is an experienced writer, cooperating, among others, with Everyman Chess Ltd, Gambit Books Ltd, New In Chess Ltd, ChessBase GmbH and ChessCafe.com. Efstratios Grivas is also cooperating as a columnist with the following printed and electronic magazines
