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
After a break of more than one year, the Candidates finally resumed again and the players certainly used this time to prepare new opening ideas. In round 8, the first round after the resumption of the tournament, Fabiano Caruana sacrificed three pawns and a piece in the opening and came up with an amazing novelty (18.Bc4!) in the Poisoned Pawn Variation of the Sicilian Najdorf in his game with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
This thriller of a game is good candidate for the game of the year, and others have called it the most amazing piece of home preparation of all times.
In any case, it certainly produced some fascinating content for us to discuss in the Fast & Furious show! Does this new concept refute the Poisoned Pawn Variation or does it only scare off Najdorf players from entering one of the sharpest possible Sicilians with Black?
Here's a warm-up: Do you see White's winning idea?
You can move the pieces on the live diagram!
The Scotch Gambit is a brazen yet utterly sound system for White who immediately opens up the position, by sacrificing a central pawn, in an attempt to assassinate the enemy king as quickly as possible.
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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