5/30/2025 – In this episode of Svitlana's Smart Moves, Svitlana and Arne analyse a historic World Championship game from the 1985 match between Karpov and Kasparov. The focus is on Kasparov's bold pawn sacrifice, 9...d5, in the Sicilian, which showcases deep home preparation and leads to him getting a powerful "octopus knight" on d3. The analysis reveals how Kasparov's strategic mastery and piece coordination slowly restricted Karpov's position until it collapsed under pressure. The episode highlights how classical games still offer valuable lessons, especially in regard to positional dominance and long-term planning.
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Svitlana's Smart Moves - Episode 116
With Svitlana Demchenko and Arne Kaehler
Svitlana Demchenko is a 20-year-old, Canadian WIM and chess coach. Here and now, she will teach us plenty of smart moves on the board, ranging from tactics, strategies, openings, and everything else chess-related. In the process, I'm happy to be available as a student at club player level, and pester the Women's International Master with questions. Anyone who wants to strengthen their chess skills is welcome to watch, and actively replay the positions from the video on our chessboard.
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1.e4
1,179,682
54%
2421
---
1.d4
956,075
55%
2434
---
1.Nf3
285,144
56%
2441
---
1.c4
184,108
56%
2442
---
1.g3
19,839
56%
2427
---
1.b3
14,560
54%
2428
---
1.f4
5,938
48%
2377
---
1.Nc3
3,888
50%
2384
---
1.b4
1,779
48%
2379
---
1.a3
1,246
54%
2406
---
1.e3
1,079
49%
2409
---
1.d3
965
50%
2378
---
1.g4
670
46%
2361
---
1.h4
465
54%
2381
---
1.c3
438
51%
2425
---
1.h3
289
56%
2420
---
1.a4
117
59%
2462
---
1.f3
100
47%
2427
---
1.Nh3
92
67%
2511
---
1.Na3
47
62%
2476
---
Please, wait...
1.e4c52.Nf3e63.d4cxd44.Nxd4Nc65.Nb55.Nc3most popular5...d66.c4Nf67.N1c3a68.Na3d5?!An interesting novelty back at the time, sacrificing a pawn.8...Be7is usual9.Be20-010.0-0b6hedgehog structure from the previous lesson!9.cxd5exd510.exd5Nb411.Be2Karpov's team came up with this alternative following game 12.In game 12 of the match, this is what happened:11.Bc4Bg412.Be212.f3Bf512...Bxe213.Qxe2+Qe714.Be3Nbxd515.Nc2Nxe316.Nxe3Black had no difficulty to make a draw.11...Bc512.0-0?!It was discovered later that:12.Be3!secures an extra pawn for WhiteBxe313.Qa4+Bd714.Qxb4Qb615.Qxb6Bxb612...0-013.Bf313.Bg5would lead to a safe line, but with White, Karpov wanted to aim for more than this.Nbxd514.Nxd5Qxd515.Qxd515.Bxf6Qxd116.Rfxd1gxf6=15...Nxd516.Bf3Be617.Rfd1Nf618.Rac1=13...Bf514.Bg5Re8!?Controlling e4, preventing Be4 exchange threat.14...b5?15.Be4!15.Qd215.Nc4was the last chance to free the knight15...b5!16.Rad1Nd3! Octopus knight!16...Bd3?!17.Nab1!Bxf1?18.Kxf1a519.a3Na620.d6+-17.Nab1?17.d6!Qxd617...Rb8=18.Bxa8Rxa817...h6!Important move, driving the bishop back.18.Bh418.Be3Bxe319.fxe3Qb6-+18...b419.Na419.Ne2!?g520.Bxg5Nxf2!20...hxg5?21.Qxg5+Bg622.Rxd3+-21.Rxf2Bxf2+21...hxg522.Qxg5+Bg622.Kxf2hxg523.Qxg5+Bg624.Nd219...Bd620.Bg3Rc821.b3g5‼21...Bxg322.hxg3Qd623.Nb221...Be522.a321...a522.Nb2Nxb223.Qxb2Rc221...Ne422.Bxe4Bxe423.Qe322.Bxd622.Nb2?Nxb223.Qxb2g424.Be2Rc2-+22...Qxd623.g3Nd7!23...g4!24.Bg2Nxd5-+24.Bg224.Nb2Qf6!25.Nxd325.Nc4N7e525...Bxd326.Qxd3Ne5!-+queen is trapped!24...Qf6!25.a3a526.axb4axb4White barely has any moves.27.Qa2Bg6!28.d628.Nd2Re2-+28...g429.Qd2Kg730.f3Qxd631.fxg4Qd4+32.Kh1Nf6!33.Rf4Ne434.Qxd3Karpov has nothing better left than to give up the queen.Nf2+35.Rxf2Bxd336.Rfd2Qe3!37.Rxd3Rc1!38.Nb238.Rxe3Rxd1+39.Bf1Rxe3-+38...Qf239.Nd2Rxd1+40.Nxd1Re1+0–1
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If you like Svitlana's Smart moves, you will certainly enjoy her video lectures about "Surprising your opponents with the Lazy Sicilian", her first Fritztrainer "Understanding Material Imbalances", and her courses "The Scotch Game", and the "Leningrad Dutch Defence". Her newest Entry is the "King's Indian Attack"!
Besides in-depth theory and exciting tactical exercises in the Scotch Game, this video course also includes a bonus section on the Scotch Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Bc4), a lively variation often leading to very dynamic positions.
The Leningrad Dutch Defence is a dynamic and aggressive opening choice for Black, perfect for players who want to add some adventure and spice to their repertoire.
Arne KaehlerArne Kaehler, a creative mind who is passionate about board games in general, was born in Hamburg and learned to play chess at a young age. By teaching chess to youth teams and creating chess-related videos on YouTube, Arne was able to expand this passion and has even created an online course for anyone who wants to learn how to play chess. Arne writes for the English and German news sites, but focuses mainly on content for the ChessBase media channels.
5/23/2025 – In this Svitlana Demchenko and Arne Kaehler reflect on the Biel Chess Festival, which they describe as one of the most joyful and diverse chess events in Europe. They highlight a legendary 2009 game between Alexander Morozevich and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (MVL), showcasing chaotic Sicilian Najdorf tactics, razor-sharp sacrifices, and an astonishing defensive resource by MVL — a rook that remained untaken for 24 moves! The game is celebrated as one of the wildest and most creative ever played, pushing the boundaries of classical chess patterns.
5/14/2025 – In this episode of Svitlana’s Smart Moves, Svitlana Demchenko introduces the Hedgehog pawn structure, a strategic setup common in the Sicilian Defense, featuring black pawns on a6, b6, d6, and e6. She emphasizes the educational value of understanding pawn structures for overall middle-game improvement, using a Kasparov–Kramnik game as a case study. Svitlana explains typical plans for both sides: white often uses space advantage and looks for a queenside breakthrough with moves like b4 and c5, while black prepares central or queenside pawn breaks like d5 or b5, and, much to Arne's delight, may even launch a kingside attack with …g5. But it might be better to stick to the queenside pawn advancing!
Ruy Lopez Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 12092 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 1276 are annotated.
In this 60 Minutes, Andrew Martin guides you through all the key ideas you need to know to play with confidence. Whether you’re looking to surprise your opponents, or simply want a straightforward weapon against e5, the Centre Attack has you covered.
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Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
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