Dennis Monokroussos writes:
The Linares tournament is coming to a close, and with it the fourth anniversary
of Garry Kasparov's retirement from active tournament play. The greatest chess
player to date is out of the game, and the greatest female player ever –
Judit Polgar – hasn't been very active the last few years either. So this
week we'll commemorate them both by looking at one of the many interesting games
in their fascinating (if rather one-sided) rivalry.
Our game for this week's show took place in what was one of the great annual
events, the now-defunct Tilburg super-tournament. 1997 was a banner year for
Tilburg, with Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, and (in a breakout performance) Peter
Svidler tying for first with 8 out of 11. Despite the photo-finish, Kasparov
was the early leader, jumping out with 5.5/6, including an impressive round
2 win against Polgar. The game starred Kasparov showing off in all phases of
the game: powerful and systematic opening play, dynamic attacking chess in the
middlegame, and tremendous tactical skill in converting his opportunities.
In addition to the game's value as a demonstration of Kasparov's skill, I believe
it's also of value to you, the viewers, for some of the opening and early middlegame
concepts seen in the game. Kasparov hinted at a pawn roller approach against
Polgar's Nimzo-Indian, a la the famous Botvinnik-Capablanca game, and Polgar
nipped the usual buildup in the bud by playing ...c4 before White could bring
the bishop to d3 and prepare e4. What could White do now?
The answer is...to be revealed tonight, during the show. So tune in at 9 p.m.
ET (that's Wednesday night; Thursday morning at 3 a.m. CET) and find out! To
watch, log on the the Playchess server (aka the "Fritz" or "ChessBase"
server) at the right time, go to the Broadcast room and look up Kasparov-Polgar
under the Games tab. The show is free for Playchess members. Hope to see you
then!
Dennis Monokroussos'
Radio ChessBase
lectures begin on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST, which translates to 02:00h
GMT, 03:00 Paris/Berlin, 13:00h Sydney (on Thursday). Other time zones
can be found at the bottom of this page. You can use Fritz or any Fritz-compatible
program (Shredder, Junior, Tiger, Hiarcs) to follow the lectures, or download
a free trial client. |
You can find the exact times for different locations in the world at World
Time and Date. Exact times for most larger cities are here.
And you can watch older lectures by Dennis Monokroussos offline in
the Chess Media System room of Playchess:
Enter the above archive room and click on "Games" to see the lectures.
The lectures, which can go for an hour or more, will cost you between one and
two ducats.
That is the equivalent of 10-20 Euro cents (14-28 US cents).

Monokroussos in Mexico: World Championship 2007
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Dennis Monokroussos is 41, lives in South Bend, IN, where
he teaches chess and occasionally works as an adjunct professor of philosophy
at the University of Notre Dame and Indiana University-South Bend.
At one time he was one of the strongest juniors in the U.S. and has reached
a peak rating of 2434 USCF, but several long breaks from tournament play have
made him rusty. He is now resuming tournament chess in earnest, hoping to reach
new heights.
Dennis has been working as a chess teacher for ten years now, giving lessons
to adults and kids both in person and on the internet, worked for a number of
years for New York’s Chess In The Schools program, where he was one of
the coaches of the 1997-8 US K-8 championship team from the Bronx, and was very
active in working with many of CITS’s most talented juniors.
When Dennis Monokroussos presents a game, there are usually two main areas
of focus: the opening-to-middlegame transition and the key moments of the middlegame
(or endgame, when applicable). With respect to the latter, he attempts to present
some serious analysis culled from his best sources (both text and database),
which he has checked with his own efforts and then double-checked with his chess
software.