Playchess lectures with Alterman and Monokroussos

by ChessBase
10/24/2004 – Weekend is lecture time on Playchess.com. On Sunday GM Boris Alterman discusses the Benko Gambit, which the Russians call the Volga. On Monday night Dennis Monokroussos takes a look at key games from the Dannemann world championship. Don't miss...

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Schdeules

  • GM Boris Alterman's lectures begin on Sundays at 21:00h CEST (European Central time = server time, which translates to 17:00h GMT, 3:00 p.m. New York, 05:00 a.m. Sydney (on Monday).

  • Dennis Monokroussos' lectures begin on Mondays at 9 p.m. EDT, which translates to 02:00h GMT, 03:00 Paris/Berlin, 13:00h Sydney (on Tuesday).

    Other time zones can be found at the bottom of the page. You can use Fritz or any Fritz-compatible program (Shredder, Junior, Tiger, Hiarcs) to follow the lectures, or download a free trial client.

Boris Alterman on the Benko Gambit

"In Russia this gambit is still called the Volga, while in the West it is named after the Hungarian-American Grandmaster, Pal Benko. Benko brought this opening into tournament practice at the highest levels starting in the mid 1940s.

In the Benko Gambit, Black sacrifices a pawn not only for the lead in development, but more for the positional pressure on the queenside. Logically then, White's main plan is to break the center, aiming the Black's kingside.

The Benko gambit is still one of the most popular openings even at the top level."

Dennis Monokroussos: The Best Offense is a Good Defense?

In response to popular demand, this week’s show will feature a recap of the dramatic conclusion of the recently-finished Kramnik-Leko match. First, we’ll take a look at the fascinating double rook ending from game 13, a very complicated endgame in which both sides seem to have made significant errors, and then we’ll look at the dramatic finale, Kramnik’s clutch win in game 14. This game is not only historically interesting but instructive as well, from both the purely chess perspective and the psychological perspective as well. See you Monday night – enjoy the show!

About the lecturers

GM Boris Alterman is 34, and lives in Israel. He was born in Kharkov, Ukraine, where he started playing chess at the age of 7. His career highlights include earning the IM title in 1991 and the GM title in 1992.He is the winner of the following Open and GM tournaments: Haifa 1993; Bad Homburg 1996; Rishon LeZion 1996; Beijing 1995 and 1997; Munchen 1992. His hobbies include computers and swimming, his favourite food is Chinese, he speaks fluent Russian, Hebrew and English.

Boris has worked for and against Garry Kasparov. In 1999 he assisted the world champion in his spectacular Microsoft match Kasparov vs The World, and was also part of the team that built up the web portal Kasparov Chess. In 2003, on the other hand, he was part of the Deep Junior team that gave Kasparov a run for his money in the New York match.

Dennis Monokroussos is 38, lives in South Bend, IN (the site of the University of Notre Dame), and is writing a Ph.D. dissertation in philosophy (in the philosophy of mind) while adjuncting at the University.

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.

World-wide time schedules

Here are the international starting times for Boris Alterman's lectures:
Abu Dhabi Sun 23:00 Halifax * Sun 16:00 New Orleans * Sun 14:00
Addis Ababa Sun 22:00 Hanoi Mon 02:00 New York * Sun 15:00
Adelaide Mon 04:30 Harare Sun 21:00 Odesa * Sun 22:00
Aden Sun 22:00 Havana * Sun 15:00 Oslo * Sun 21:00
Aklavik * Sun 13:00 Helsinki * Sun 22:00 Ottawa * Sun 15:00
Algiers Sun 20:00 Hong Kong Mon 03:00 Paris * Sun 21:00
Amman * Sun 22:00 Honolulu Sun 09:00 Perth Mon 03:00
Amsterdam * Sun 21:00 Houston * Sun 14:00 Philadelphia * Sun 15:00
Anadyr * Mon 08:00 Indianapolis Sun 14:00 Phoenix Sun 12:00
Anchorage * Sun 11:00 Islamabad Mon 00:00 Prague * Sun 21:00
Ankara * Sun 22:00 Istanbul * Sun 22:00 Rangoon Mon 01:30
Antananarivo Sun 22:00 Jakarta Mon 02:00 Reykjavik Sun 19:00
Asuncion Sun 15:00 Jerusalem * Sun 22:00 Rio de Janeiro Sun 16:00
Athens * Sun 22:00 Johannesburg Sun 21:00 Riyadh Sun 22:00
Atlanta * Sun 15:00 Kabul Sun 23:30 Rome * Sun 21:00
Baghdad * Sun 23:00 Kamchatka * Mon 08:00 San Francisco * Sun 12:00
Bangkok Mon 02:00 Karachi Mon 00:00 San Juan Sun 15:00
Barcelona * Sun 21:00 Kathmandu Mon 00:45 San Salvador Sun 13:00
Beijing Mon 03:00 Khartoum Sun 22:00 Santiago Sun 15:00
Beirut * Sun 22:00 Kingston Sun 14:00 Santo Domingo Sun 15:00
Belgrade * Sun 21:00 Kiritimati Mon 09:00 Sao Paulo Sun 16:00
Berlin * Sun 21:00 Kolkata Mon 00:30 Seattle * Sun 12:00
Bogota Sun 14:00 Kuala Lumpur Mon 03:00 Seoul Mon 04:00
Boston * Sun 15:00 Kuwait City Sun 22:00 Shanghai Mon 03:00
Brasilia Sun 16:00 Kyiv * Sun 22:00 Singapore Mon 03:00
Brisbane Mon 05:00 La Paz Sun 15:00 Sofia * Sun 22:00
Brussels * Sun 21:00 Lagos Sun 20:00 St. John's * Sun 16:30
Bucharest * Sun 22:00 Lahore Mon 00:00 St. Paul * Sun 14:00
Budapest * Sun 21:00 Lima Sun 14:00 Stockholm * Sun 21:00
Buenos Aires Sun 16:00 Lisbon * Sun 20:00 Suva Mon 07:00
Cairo Sun 21:00 London * Sun 20:00 Sydney Mon 05:00
Canberra Mon 05:00 Los Angeles * Sun 12:00 Taipei Mon 03:00
Cape Town Sun 21:00 Madrid * Sun 21:00 Tallinn * Sun 22:00
Caracas Sun 15:00 Managua Sun 13:00 Tashkent Mon 00:00
Casablanca Sun 19:00 Manila Mon 03:00 Tegucigalpa Sun 13:00
Chatham Island Mon 07:45 Melbourne Mon 05:00 Tehran * Sun 23:30
Chicago * Sun 14:00 Mexico City * Sun 14:00 Tokyo Mon 04:00
Copenhagen * Sun 21:00 Minneapolis * Sun 14:00 Toronto * Sun 15:00
Darwin Mon 04:30 Minsk * Sun 22:00 Vancouver * Sun 12:00
Denver * Sun 13:00 Montevideo Sun 16:00 Vienna * Sun 21:00
Detroit * Sun 15:00 Montgomery * Sun 14:00 Vladivostok * Mon 06:00
Dhaka Mon 01:00 Montreal * Sun 15:00 Warsaw * Sun 21:00
Dublin * Sun 20:00 Moscow * Sun 23:00 Washington DC * Sun 15:00
Edmonton * Sun 13:00 Mumbai Mon 00:30 Wellington Mon 07:00
Frankfurt * Sun 21:00 Nairobi Sun 22:00 Winnipeg * Sun 14:00
Geneva * Sun 21:00 Nassau * Sun 15:00 Zagreb * Sun 21:00
Guatemala Sun 13:00 New Delhi Mon 00:30 Zürich * Sun 21:00
Here are the exact starting times for Dennis Monokroussos' lectures:
Abu Dhabi Tue 05:00 Halifax * Mon 22:00 New Orleans * Mon 20:00
Addis Ababa Tue 04:00 Hanoi Tue 08:00 New York * Mon 21:00
Adelaide Tue 10:30 Harare Tue 03:00 Odesa * Tue 04:00
Aden Tue 04:00 Havana * Mon 21:00 Oslo * Tue 03:00
Aklavik * Mon 19:00 Helsinki * Tue 04:00 Ottawa * Mon 21:00
Algiers Tue 02:00 Hong Kong Tue 09:00 Paris * Tue 03:00
Amman * Tue 04:00 Honolulu Mon 15:00 Perth Tue 09:00
Amsterdam * Tue 03:00 Houston * Mon 20:00 Philadelphia * Mon 21:00
Anadyr * Tue 14:00 Indianapolis Mon 20:00 Phoenix Mon 18:00
Anchorage * Mon 17:00 Islamabad Tue 06:00 Prague * Tue 03:00
Ankara * Tue 04:00 Istanbul * Tue 04:00 Rangoon Tue 07:30
Antananarivo Tue 04:00 Jakarta Tue 08:00 Reykjavik Tue 01:00
Asuncion Mon 21:00 Jerusalem * Tue 04:00 Rio de Janeiro Mon 22:00
Athens * Tue 04:00 Johannesburg Tue 03:00 Riyadh Tue 04:00
Atlanta * Mon 21:00 Kabul Tue 05:30 Rome * Tue 03:00
Baghdad * Tue 05:00 Kamchatka * Tue 14:00 San Francisco * Mon 18:00
Bangkok Tue 08:00 Karachi Tue 06:00 San Juan Mon 21:00
Barcelona * Tue 03:00 Kathmandu Tue 06:45 San Salvador Mon 19:00
Beijing Tue 09:00 Khartoum Tue 04:00 Santiago Mon 21:00
Beirut * Tue 04:00 Kingston Mon 20:00 Santo Domingo Mon 21:00
Belgrade * Tue 03:00 Kiritimati Tue 15:00 Sao Paulo Mon 22:00
Berlin * Tue 03:00 Kolkata Tue 06:30 Seattle * Mon 18:00
Bogota Mon 20:00 Kuala Lumpur Tue 09:00 Seoul Tue 10:00
Boston * Mon 21:00 Kuwait City Tue 04:00 Shanghai Tue 09:00
Brasilia Mon 22:00 Kyiv * Tue 04:00 Singapore Tue 09:00
Brisbane Tue 11:00 La Paz Mon 21:00 Sofia * Tue 04:00
Brussels * Tue 03:00 Lagos Tue 02:00 St. John's * Mon 22:30
Bucharest * Tue 04:00 Lahore Tue 06:00 St. Paul * Mon 20:00
Budapest * Tue 03:00 Lima Mon 20:00 Stockholm * Tue 03:00
Buenos Aires Mon 22:00 Lisbon * Tue 02:00 Suva Tue 13:00
Cairo * Tue 04:00 London * Tue 02:00 Sydney Tue 11:00
Canberra Tue 11:00 Los Angeles * Mon 18:00 Taipei Tue 09:00
Cape Town Tue 03:00 Madrid * Tue 03:00 Tallinn * Tue 04:00
Caracas Mon 21:00 Managua Mon 19:00 Tashkent Tue 06:00
Casablanca Tue 01:00 Manila Tue 09:00 Tegucigalpa Mon 19:00
Chatham Island Tue 13:45 Melbourne Tue 11:00 Tehran * Tue 05:30
Chicago * Mon 20:00 Mexico City * Mon 20:00 Tokyo Tue 10:00
Copenhagen * Tue 03:00 Minneapolis * Mon 20:00 Toronto * Mon 21:00
Darwin Tue 10:30 Minsk * Tue 04:00 Vancouver * Mon 18:00
Denver * Mon 19:00 Montevideo Mon 22:00 Vienna * Tue 03:00
Detroit * Mon 21:00 Montgomery * Mon 20:00 Vladivostok * Tue 12:00
Dhaka Tue 07:00 Montreal * Mon 21:00 Warsaw * Tue 03:00
Dublin * Tue 02:00 Moscow * Tue 05:00 Washington DC * Mon 21:00
Edmonton * Mon 19:00 Mumbai Tue 06:30 Wellington Tue 13:00
Frankfurt * Tue 03:00 Nairobi Tue 04:00 Winnipeg * Mon 20:00
Geneva * Tue 03:00 Nassau * Mon 21:00 Zagreb * Tue 03:00
Guatemala Mon 19:00 New Delhi Tue 06:30 Zürich * Tue 03:00

* indicates that the place is currently observing daylight saving time (DST)


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