By playing the London System, with 1.d4 followed by 2.Nf3 and 3.Bf4, White can avoid a theoretical discussion and instead use natural ability plus a knowledge of plans. The weight of the struggle tends to shift towards the middlegame, but White can also pull off devastatingly quick wins should Black be unaware of the dangers.
This week, many fascinating games were played at the World Championships Rapid & Blitz in Warsaw. In the final episode of the year, I’ll have a look at the game between Stelios Halkias from Greece and Alan Pichot from Argentina.
The game featured a nice miniature in the Queen’s Gambit Accepted. The Greek GM employed the pawn sacrifice 7.e4!?, an old idea which has recently been taken up by various strong players again as the idea has proven to be very dangerous for Black.
Wish you all a good ending of 2021 and wish you all the best for the New Year!
Exercise: Taken from Van Foreest vs Navara. This time I’ll challenge you to find White’s ideas after 18...Qf4, 18...Nc6 and 18...h6 (Navara chose the latter option).
You can move the pieces on the live diagram!
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.
Strategy Training: How to Make a Plan
In every game of chess, there comes a moment when one is confronted with the question: what should I do now?
Many more Fast and Furious episodes are available in ChessBase Videos
