Simon Says: Learn from Ulf Andersson

Simplicity

Dennis Monokroussos wrote back in 2005: 

For most of us, if we're playing a peer and major exchanges occur, a quick draw is the likely result. Not so for Andersson. Even against the world's super-elite (a group in which he was included from the late 70s through the early 90s), exchanges were often not the prelude to a quick draw but the signal that it was time for his opponent to start suffering.

Every chess player should appreciate the genius and simplicity of Ulf Andersson's play. Ulf went by the philosophy of, 'Not always playing the best move, but a move which wasn't a mistake' and in this Simon Says I am going to take a deeper look at four of his games. Four games that we can all learn a great deal from.

Take a look at this position, played in Wijk aan Zee 1979. Andersson is playing none other than Georgian legend Nona Gaprindashvili.

White is clearly doing very well in this Endgame, but one thing that Ulf excelled at was precision in the Endgame. What very precise move did White play here?

(See the full game and the solution below)

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Chess Endgames 14 - The golden guidelines of endgame play

Rules of thumb are the key to everything when you are having to set the correct course in a complex endgame. In this final DVD of his series on the endgame, our endgame specialist introduces you to the most important of these rules of thumb.

Simon is on air most Mondays at 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST / 12 Noon EST)

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About Simon Says

In early 2015 Simon Williams launched his own show called "Simon says" after producing the first of his ChessBase video series. On a weekly basis (with breaks for tournaments and chess events) Simon entertains the chess world with attacking ideas, play strategies and witty manoeuvres on the chess board.

ChessBase Premium members have permanent access to the videos in the archive. Over 60 shows and counting have been published to date. Their lengths differ but most of them run for about 60 minutes.

Read more in Meeting Simon Williams.

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Opening with the Chigorin shows your intention to play for a win right from the outset. After 2...Nc6 Black's pieces fly into the game putting pressure on White's position from a very early stage. This opening is ideal for the type of player who strives for an unconvential yet attacking game right from the start.

Still more Simon

Simon's latest DVD series, "The Exciting Budapest Gambit" is now available. Check it out, starting with the sample below: 

Video sample

The Exciting Budapest Gambit

The Budapest Gambit is an exciting and fun way to play against 1.d4 and 2.c4 - replying with 1...Nf6 and 2...e5. In this video you will learn how to pose problems for White with this fascinating opening.

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Links

• All Simon Says in the Videos portal
• More DVDs by Simon Williams