Meet The Fritztrainer - Ivan Sokolov

by Arne Kaehler
11/16/2022 – Plenty of our customers are delighted by Ivan Sokolov's Understanding Middlegame Strategies series, and meanwhile we have six parts available. The Grandmaster who has participated at twelve chess Olympiads as a player, and reached a rating of over 2700 in January 2004, had very recent success again, as the coach of the Uzbek national team, who won the gold medal in Chennai in 2022. We wanted to know what Sokolov is doing besides chess, and why he is paying a tax when he meets the gym. | Photos: Ivan Sokolov Facebook page
In this Videocourse we deal with different aspects of the middlegame which are important to study and improve your general understanding of chess structures.

Meet the Fritztrainer

with Ivan Sokolov

Hundreds of different Fritztrainers have been teaching us chess on ChessBase for more than a decade. Maybe you sometimes wonder what else the authors do?

"Meet the Fritztrainer" takes a look behind the scenes, telling us more about the private life of your favourite chess trainer.

  • 0:15 - What are you doing in Hamburg?
  • 2:11 - Checking the Megadatabase, your favourite opening is always 1.d4, how come?
  • 5:14 - Sokolov's anecdote of Velimirović about Fischer.
  • 9:12 - Plenty of games by Tal were analysed, and most of them were actually correct.
  • 19:00 - Which was your greatest chess success?
  • 20:33 - You were the youngest GM in the world, did you receive any pressure?
  • 21:45 - Chess was more stable than becoming a lawyer, back then.
  • 23:00 - What was your favourite tournament?
  • 24:57 - What was your worst tournament experience?
  • 26:45 - What are your interests besides chess?
  • 30:00 - Full analysis of Sokolov vs. Kramnik 2004
 
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1.d4       Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 Bb7 5.Nc3 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Qc2 Nxc3 8.bxc3 c5 9.e4 Nc6 10.Be3 Be7 11.d5!?N       Logical move, that is rather unpleasant for black. 11.Bd3 cxd4 12.cxd4 Rc8 13.Qe2 0-0 14.0-0 Na5 15.Rfd1 Kh8 16.Qa2 Rc3 17.a4 f5 18.Ne5 fxe4 19.Bb5 a6 20.Bf1 Bd5 1/2-1/2 Shamkovich,L-Morris,W/Gausdal/1982/ (37) 11.Qa2 0-0 12.Rd1 Qc7 13.Bd3 Na5 14.0-0 c4 15.Bc2 f6 16.d5 e5 17.Nh4 g6 18.Ba4 f5 19.d6 Bxd6 20.exf5 gxf5 21.Bh6 Rf6 22.Bg5 Rf7 23.Qd2 Be7 0-1 Hansen, H-Carstensen,J/Copenhagen 2000/ (38) 11...exd5 12.Rd1 d4 12...0-0 13.exd5 Na5 14.Bd3! g6 15.c4 b5 16.cxb5 c4 17.Be2± 13.cxd4 0-0 13...cxd4 14.Nxd4 Nxd4 14...Qc7 15.Bb5 Rc8 16.Nf5!± 15.Rxd4 Qc8 16.Bb5+ Kf8 17.Qd3 14.d5! Sokolov is showing ambitions, otherwise he could have accepted safe equality with 14.dxc5 Qc7 15.cxb6 15.Bd3 Rfc8 16.cxb6 axb6 17.Qb3 Ne5 18.Nxe5 Qxe5= 15...axb6 16.a4 Bc5 17.Bxc5 Nb4 18.Qc3 bxc5= 14...Nd4 14...Na5 15.Bd2 Bd6 16.Bxa5 bxa5 17.Bd3± 15.Qb2 15.Nxd4 cxd4 16.Bxd4 Bxa3! 17.Bxg7 Bb4+ 18.Ke2 Re8 19.f3 Bxd5∞ 15...Re8 15...Nxf3+ 16.gxf3 Re8 17.f4 Bf8 18.Bg2∞ 16.Bxd4 16.Nxd4 cxd4 17.Bxd4 Qxd5! 18.f3 18.exd5? Bb4# 18.Bxg7 Qxe4+ 19.Be2 Bxa3-+ 18...Qa5+ 16...cxd4 17.Bb5 Bxa3! 17...Rf8 18.Nxd4± 18.Qxd4 18.Qxa3 Rxe4+ 19.Kf1 Qxd5 20.Bd3 Rf4 18...Bc5 19.Qd3 Bb4+ 20.Kf1 Rf8 Kramnik chooses somewhat controversial retreat with the rook. Black has two bishops and crucial majority on the queenside, but his kingside is potentially vulnerable. 20...Re7 21.Nd4 21.e5?! Rc7 21...a5 22.g3 Rc7 23.Nc6 Bxc6 24.Bxc6 Rb8 25.f4 21.Nd4 Qc8 22.h4!? Bc5 22...Bd6 23.Nf5 Qc7 24.Bc6! 23.h5 Qg4 23...a6 24.Ba4 24.Bc6 a5 24...Bxd4 25.Bxb7 Qxb7 26.Qxd4 h6 27.Rh3 25.h6 g6 26.Bxb7 Qxb7∞ 24...b5 25.Bb3 Qd7 26.Nf5 Rfe8 27.Qg3± 24.Nf3 Rad8 24...a6 25.Rh4 Qc8 26.Ba4 b5 27.Bc2 25.Rh4 Qc8 26.Bc4 26.h6!? g6 27.Bc4 a5 27...a6 28.Qc3 f6 29.d6+ Kh8 30.Rf4+- 28.Ng5 26...b5? In order to activate pieces black is sacrificing half his proud queenside pride. 26...h6 27.e5 a5 28.d6 27.Bxb5 Bb6 27...f5 28.h6 fxe4 29.Qxe4 g6 30.Qe5 Rf7 31.Rc4± 28.h6 g6 28...Qc5 29.Rd2 g6 30.Bc4± 29.Qb3 Qc5 30.Qb2 f6 31.Rf4 31.Nd4! a6 32.Bc6± 31...Bc7? The defense remains a difficult topic even for best players. Much better was to hold the position with 31...Qd6! 32.g3 Bc5 33.Nd2 Rf7 34.Nb3 Bb6 32.Rc1 Qb6 33.Rxc7! Qxc7 34.Rxf6 Rxf6 34...Bc8 35.d6! Rxd6 36.Rxf8+ Kxf8 37.Qh8+ Ke7 38.Qg7+ Kd8 39.Qf8# 35.Qxf6 Rf8 35...a6 36.Ba4+- 35...Qc1+ 36.Ne1+- 36.Qb2 Rc8 37.d6! Qc1+ 37...Qf7 38.Ng5 Qf8 39.d7+- 38.Qxc1 Rxc1+ 39.Ke2 Despite spare exchange black is unable to stop running white pawns. Rc8 39...Rc2+ 40.Kd3 Rc8 41.Ng5+- 40.Ng5 a6 41.Ba4 41.Ba4 Bc6 42.Bxc6 Rxc6 43.e5 Rb6 43...Kf8 44.Nxh7++- 44.d7 Rb8 45.Ne6+- 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Sokolov,I2706Kramnik,V27771–02004E12Corus12

Understanding an opening doesn’t stop after the theory. It’s essential to understand ideas and structures connected to the opening moves. Topic: Rossolimo & Maroczy structures in the Sicilian Defence and Ruy Lopez.

Sokolov is concentrated at a simul in Landgraaf, 2019

How coach Ivan Sokolov worked with the Uzbekistan team to win the Gold medal at the Olympiad 2022 - Interview with Sagra Shah.

Understanding Middlegame Strategies Vol.5 & Vol.6

Links:

Arne Kaehler, a creative mind who is passionate about board games in general, was born in Hamburg and learned to play chess at a young age. By teaching chess to youth teams and creating chess-related videos on YouTube, Arne was able to expand this passion and has even created an online course for anyone who wants to learn how to play chess. Arne writes for the English and German news sites, but focuses mainly on content for the ChessBase media channels.
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