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
Sicilian Dragon players are usually in for an uncompromising attack game with opposite castled kings, but not every White player takes up the challenge to castle queenside.
In this week's Fast & Furious we have a look at some old and new ideas in the modest Fianchetto Variation (6.g3) in which White is opting for a quieter type of game. Our Game of the Week is Black's crushing victory in Le Hetet-Grandelius from the French Team Championships.
The Swedish no.1 came up with the interesting plan to postpone kingside castling and instead created a powerful attack with Bd7/Qc8 followed by launching his h-pawn. The French player clearly underestimated Black's attacking potential and had to resign on move 20!
A classic: what would you play here as Black?
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.
Many more Fast and Furious episodes are available in ChessBase Videos
