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
For many years the line 3.d4 ♞xe4 4.♗d3 d5 5.♘xe5 ♞d7 had considered to be pretty harmless for Black. In this lecture I will show matters aren't that simple for Black after the move 6.♘c3, which leads to positions where White accepts an inferior pawn structure in return for wonderful attacking prospects. Recently various top players, including the World Champion Magnus Carlsen, have picked up this variation again after it went out of fashion about ten years ago. Interestingly, Black is struggling to find a safe place for his king in almost all the lines! A very practical and dangerous weapon to add to your White repertoire.
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The Catalan: A complete repertoire for White!
The Catalan is one of the most solid openings for White. It forms part of the large and strong fianchetto family in which White builds his strategy mainly around the bishop on g2. Grandmaster Victor Bologan covers all of Black’s replies to the Catalan, some of which can even transpose to other openings such as the Tarrasch System and the Queen’s Indian. Suffice it to say that the Catalan rules!
Do you see White's surprising idea?
Move the pieces on the live diagram — solution below!
The Petroff (or Russian) Defence which is characterised by the moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 has been popular at the highest levels for many years and enjoys the reputation of being an extremely solid defence.
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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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