Amateur vs Grandmaster

by Jonathan Speelman
4/7/2019 – JON SPEELMAN returns after a week off, with a trio of simul games played by an expert against a Grandmaster. Send in your own games! Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

The true value of pieces The true value of pieces

There are many cases of material imbalance in chess. In this video series, GM Dejan Bojkov of Bulgaria makes an attempt to systematise the most important ones and gives valuable advice on how to handle the resulting positions.

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Speelman's Agony #95

This week's three games are from Peter Lipman (pictured) who writes:

Peter LipmanI'm 39 years old, born and currently living in Brussels. I've been an avid chess fan since I was 11 years old and peaked at around 2075 elo. Although I gave up serious chess competition around 15 years ago, I still enjoy playing chess online very much. It has always been my dream to achieve Master level, although this is now unlikely to be attainable.

I have worked for many years in the European Institutions, however due to BREXIT I am in the process of changing carreer.

Every Thursday Dejan Bojkov plays a simul on playchess for premium members in which I sometimes participate. These games are my latest against the GM.

All three were drawn and feature varying fortunes as Peter created enough difficult decisions to trouble his opponent (when giving a simul, the last thing you want to do is to have to think hard) but without ever quite breaking through.

All notes are mine.

 

Click or tap the second game in the list below the board to switch games

My Secret Weapon: 1.b3

Meanwhile, 1.b3 has also found its way into the practice of today's world elite, and now finally a modern top ten player has taken on the subject for ChessBase: none other than Grandmaster Wesley So!

Submit your games and win free Premium!

Did you enjoy the column and instructive analysis by GM Jonathan Speelman? Do you wish you could have a world-renowned grandmaster analysing your play? You can!

To submit your games just upload a PGN or ChessBase file (.pgn or .cbv archive), along with your name and e-mail address. Send one success story (Ecstasy) and one loss (Agony).

Tell why you chose them, where or when they were played. Please do include your email address, so Jon can reply, and preferably a photo of yourself for our article.

If your game is selected Jon will contact you personally, and not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

A three-month Premium subscription to ChessBase Account means you get:

  • Premium access to the Playchess server with ratings, simuls, lectures, and live commentary of top games
  • Access to all Web apps with no restrictions, such as the Cloud database, and more!
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Jonathan 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.