4/3/2022 – It can be confusing when the opponent’s pieces don’t go where you were expecting them to go. After looking at a couple of games from the recent Grand Prix by Amin Tabatabaei, Jon Speelman decided to write about unexpected defensive moves! | Pictured: Murray Chandler, Jonathan Speelman and Jonathan Mestel at the British Zonal in February 1987
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Your key to fresh ideas, precise analyses and targeted training! Everyone uses ChessBase, from the World Champion to the amateur next door. It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.
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Unexpected moves
[Note that Jon Speelman also looks at the content of the article in video format, here embedded at the end of the article.]
Much of a lifetime ago, in 1978, Jonathan Mestel was the captain and top board of the England team at the inaugural World Under-26 Championships in Mexico City. Previously, there had been world student teams championships, but the definition of student varied between countries so under-26 was easier.
I was board two, and fearing that we would be late to board our flight, had rushed us away from Jonathan’s then girlfriend and now for many years wife Anna. However, we were delayed and delayed, until after something like eight hours it was cancelled, and we had to make alternative arrangements.
Many club players have their favourite pet opening variations which aren’t necessarily main lines. It’s important to know how to handle these variations as your opponent will likely know his systems well. In this DVD, GM Nicholas Pert provides a detailed Black repertoire against many of these Offbeat Opening choices.
I was deputed to do so, and made the mistake of showing the official our itinerary rather than our tickets. This involved changing flights somewhere in the USA, and a number of further hours later we found ourselves not in Mexico but “involuntarily re-routed” to our supposed new destination in Chicago! We were put up overnight by the airline and finally arrived in Mexico something like 50 hours after our scheduled departure.
A year earlier in the World Student Teams, also in Mexico City, we had arrived to be shown to accommodation which was a dormitory with 64 beds in it. As you can imagine, we complained — or rather our captain John Nunn did. And those that complained the loudest, including ourselves, were then moved not to somewhere a bit better, but the Ritz Hotel!
In any case, in 1977 we were third behind the USSR and Cuba, but in 1978 we won ahead of the Soviets, after beating them 3-1 in our individual match.
The reason I’m boring you with this is the “involuntary re-routing”. In that case, it led to some degree of chaos. At the chessboard, too, it can be confusing when the opponent’s pieces don’t go where you are expecting them but are “voluntarily re-routed”.
This came to mind after looking at a couple of games of the recent FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin by Amin Tabatabaei. Both involve successful defence by making an unexpected move with a piece which was apparently destined to go elsewhere.
To finish with, I’ve returned to Euwe and Kramer’s “The Middlegame”, which I mentioned a month ago, and a couple of famous examples of defence from the past.
Select an entry from the list to switch between games
He was a child prodigy and he is surrounded by legends. In his best times he was considered to be unbeatable and by many he was reckoned to be the greatest chess talent of all time: Jose Raul Capablanca, born 1888 in Havana.
Jonathan SpeelmanJonathan Speelman, born in 1956, studied mathematics but became a professional chess player in 1977. He was a member of the English Olympic team from 1980–2006 and three times British Champion. He played twice in Candidates Tournaments, reaching the semi-final in 1989. He twice seconded a World Championship challenger: Nigel Short and then Viswanathan Anand against Garry Kasparov in London 1993 and New York 1995.
5/15/2022 – Unashamed ultra-violence. Jon Speelman continues to share findings from his bookshelf, and today explores Irving Chernev’s “The 1000 best short games of chess”, a collection of miniatures first published in 1957. Speelman adds notes to selected games from the collection of thud and blunder.
5/1/2022 – Our columnist Jon Speelman found an old book by Alexey Suetin on his shelves. “Scribed in the ancient English descriptive tongue, I hadn’t touched it for years, but when opened, it proved to be a treasure trove of ‘old chestnuts’, some of which I’m going to share”. | Photo: <a href="https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/setting-up-a-chess-board-611545">The Spruce Crafts</a>
The setup for White recommended by Valeri Lilov is solid and easy to play – the thematic moves are almost always the same ones: Nge2, 0-0, Bg5 (or Be3), Nd5, Qd2. Later, according to Black’s setup, things continue with f4 or even Rac1, b4 and play on the queenside. Starting with the classic Botvinnik-Spassky, Leiden 1970, the author describes this universally employable setup in 7 videos (+ intro and conclusion).
Looking at this photo with bearded GMs Mestel and Speelman, reminds me of a quip by one of the Israeli players at an Olympiad where Tony Miles (also not short of hair), Mestel and Speelman were all in the English team. My Israeli friend commented that England certainly had the most religious team at the Olympiad, because Miles, Speelman and Mestel all looked like Jesus Christ, and the England fourth board was a Nunn.
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FIDE Grand Prix 2022: Esipenko, Giri, Vidit, Oparin, Predke, Shankland, So and Vitiugov comment + videos by Rogozenco. "Special" on Bent Larsen. Opening videos by Kasimdzhanov, Ragger and Marin. 11 opening articles with new ideas for your repertoire!
The new Opening Encyclopaedia offers fast access to all openings. Openings are sorted via the menu by name & ECO Code for fast and easy access to your favorite openings.
Throughout my playing career I have found the Hedgehog one of the most difficult type of positions to master. The basic aim of this video is to improve understanding of these complex positions and to help tournament players score better.
Studying this video course should greatly improve the viewer’s handling of dynamic pawn positions! As with all my other video courses material here is predominantly aimed at improving players and tournament players.
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