Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
Vladimir Chuchelov is one of the best trainers in the world of chess. In the last decade he has worked with players like Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, Teimour Radjabov, Hou Yifan and Vidit Gujrathi. He has been able to unlock the true potential of each of these students. But whoever is his student, they all begin with the same module: "Strategic Balance." This course has been designed by Chuchelov and is the starting block for beginning your work with this famous trainer. Now this famous strategic balance course is open for all players in the world in a ten-day online training camp by Chuchelov and Vidit Gujrathi, from the 1st to the 10th of August 2020. More details in the article.
Chess trainers who have worked with the best players in the world are difficult to reach. That's because they are completely occupied with their job of ensuring that the top players remain where they are. Rarely do we see that a trainer who has worked for several years with guys like Caruana, Giri, Radjabov and others is ready to share his knowledge with upcoming players who aim to be the best but are not yet there. Meet Vladimir Chuchelov, who has for over a decade now worked with some of the best chess players in the world.
Grandmaster Vladimir Chuchelov is a Belgian chess grandmaster and professional trainer. From 2009 he worked for four years as the head coach of the Royal Dutch Federation. In 2010 he was awarded the title of FIDE Senior Trainer. In 2013 he received the Botvinnik Medal as best men's trainer. Just have a look at the players he has worked with in the past:
Chuchelov was the full-time coach of GM Fabiano Caruana from 2010-2015 (picture right). Fabi pumped up his rating from Elo 2680 to 2843 (his best ever performance ever happened at the Sinquefield Cup 2014 when Chuchelov was his trainer);
GM Anish Giri was trained by Chuchelov from 2009-2013 and then again in 2018-2019;
Vladimir worked with GM Hou Yifan from 2013-2017. He was also her trainer at the Women's World Chess Championships 2016;
Work with GM Teimour Radjabov is in progress from 2015 onwards. Chuchelov was Radjabov's trainer when he won the World Cup 2019.
It's simply phenomenal what Chuchelov has managed to achieve as a trainer. And now he would like to train players who are interested to become the best in the world.
It doesn't matter what the level of a student is. If someone wants to begin his work with Vladimir Chuchelov, then they have to go through his course called the "Strategic Balance". This course was developed over a period of ten years by Chuchelov, and consists of 60+ hours of carefully selected and instructive material, introducing quite a different approach to evaluating positions, decision making and the game itself. The main objectives is to learn to play according to requirements of position, develop real positional understanding. A new definition of prophylaxis, getting sense of dynamics, and very intensive calculation training are the strong points of the course. Strategic balance is a tool that helps you to figure out right approach to position, find best suitable moves. It simply helps you better understand chess. It became GM Chuchelov’s trademark and a common language with his students.
How did Chuchelov come up with the idea of strategic balance? In his words:
"It all started in the year 2000,” he says. “I met Iosif Dorfman during Zonal tournament in Mondariz, Spain. There we went for many walks and among the other things discussed the idea of "Static Balance" that Dorfman was developing. The point was to estimate positions based on "static factors" and then decide the approach. Fast forward a few years, in 2006 I came across a book written by Mark Dvoretsky and suddenly realized that Dorfman's approach could make sense. I started working with the examples and tried applying Dorfman's static balance approach. I began fine-tuning Dorfman's strategy and in that period I developed a lot of rules and new concepts. I was very fortunate that there were many occasions where I got to work with many strong players, and it all contributed to the final version end of 2015. Although the course is very detailed, there is always scope for improvement and I am constantly working to make my material as high quality as possible."
The Fashionable Caro-Kann Vol.1 and 2
The Caro Kann is a very tricky opening. Black’s play is based on controlling and fighting for key light squares. It is a line which was very fashionable in late 90s and early 2000s due to the successes of greats like Karpov, Anand, Dreev etc. Recently due to strong engines lot of key developments have been made and some new lines have been introduced, while others have been refuted altogether. I have analyzed the new trends carefully and found some new ideas for Black.
India no. 2 and world no. 23 GM Vidit Gujrathi will be the guest lecturer in the camp and will spend ten hours out of the 50 with the participants.
Vidit has worked with Chuchelov in the past and has very clearly seen it’s positive results in his game. Speaking to ChessBase India, Vidit said:
"Chuchelov is one of the most hard-working trainers I have come across. The main thing that struck me is his exceptional knowledge of the game. Especially when it comes to analysis, he has a lot of original thoughts. He has his own way of looking at things. That's the most important quality which sets him apart. He is up to date with the latest knowledge, which is very important for a trainer."
Vidit will work with Chuchelov for the ten-day camp on Strategic Balance that will be held online from the 1st to the 10th of August 2020. "I would like to share my knowledge on how I was able to learn the strategic balance and apply it in my tournament practice against some of the top players in the world. That is exactly what I want to share in this camp."
Details of the online camp from 1st to 10th of August 2020:
1. The online camp with GM Vladimir Chuchelov and Vidit Gujrathi on Strategic Balance is organized by Vidit Chess Academy and ChessBase India.
2. It will be held for ten days, from the 1st of August to the 10th of August 2020. You will be informed of the exact timings of the training camp, but most likely the sessions will start each day at 12 noon and will go on until 6 p.m. in the evening.
3. There will be a total of 50 hours of training, with GM Chuchelov working with the students for 40 hours and GM Vidit Gujrathi working for 10 hours.
4. The course is only open for students with a rating above 2300, although exceptions can be made for people below Elo 2300. All those who are below 2300 and would like to participate, can write to chessbaseindia@gmail.com.
5. The maximum number of students in the camp will be 14.
6. Generally such camps with Chuchelov only happen in his hometown in Eupen in Belgium and are very expensive to coduct. However, in the lockdown the camp on Strategic Balance will be happening online and the fee for the course is Rs.150,000 (€1800 or $2100). If you register before 25th of July you get a discount of Rs 5,000.
7 . The last date of registration is 30th of July 2020.
CHESSBASE INDIA 64 SQUARES PVT LTD
A/C. No.: 50200017108411
Type of Account: Current Account
Bank Name: HDFC Bank.
Branch Name: GHATKOPAR EAST-TILAK ROAD
Address: 001/002 Samyak Darshan, Junction Of Tilak Road & Vallabh Baug Lane, Mumbai.
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All players, including players outside India, who would like to participate and have any questions can write to us at chessbaseindia@gmail.com.
Sagar Shah shows you on this DVD how you can use typical patterns used by the Master of the past in your own games. From opening play to middlegame themes.
India's no. 2 and the captain of the current Indian Olympiad team, GM Vidit Gujrathi, has started his own chess academy.
The Vidit Chess Academy is the brainchild of GM Vidit Gujrathi and the aim is to bring the highest quality training and chess material to the students. Vidit has gone through the grind of chess improvement and has managed to become one of the top GMs in the chess world. Through his academy he would like to bring forth more such training concepts which have helped him to reach a career high Elo of 2726. Vidit Chess Academy is the co-organizer of the Chuchelov training camp along with ChessBase India and Vidit also will be spending ten hours to train the participants in the camp.
