Playchess training with FM Dennis Monokroussos
The end of the beginning of the end
How's that for a mysterious title?
Back in the Orwellian year of 1984, the game Novikov-Tukmakov from the Soviet
Championship horrified enthusiasts everywhere. It wasn't the play was poor or
that etiquette was breached. No, the reason people were wringing their hands
over this game was that Novikov had prepared a novelty on move 36, in a bishop
vs. pawns ending, and this renewed the eternal chorus over the pending death
of chess. This sort of hyper-preparation seemed so extreme that some took it
as if it marked the beginning of the end of our game as we knew it. If preparation
was starting to reach such absurd depths, then clearly chess was in trouble.
Meanwhile, the game has marched on and yes, preparation has gotten deeper.
Still, on the specifics of the variation chosen in Novikov-Tukmakov, it seemed
that White had spoken the last word. Even Garry Kasparov admits that back in
1986 he tried to overturn the verdict that White was better, but couldn't find
a "clear-cut way" to draw.
Now we come to the present day. Earlier this year, in March, in Reykjavik,
Mihail Marin showed that Black can draw; in fact, he can even fight for a win,
and win he did against Yuri Shulman. With best play, it seems that the ending
should be a draw, but even well-prepared opponents will have practical difficulties
proving it over the board. It's a fascinating ending, and it's significant for
Grünfeld theory as well. But perhaps most important of all, it shows that
chess is far from dead. If many strong grandmasters working on this ending from
time to time over several decades still haven't analyzed it into the dust –
even with the help of contemporary engines – then we can say that we have
reached the end of the beginning of the end. This is so not because we're at
the end of the end or the middle of the end, but because it turns out that the
end of chess as we know it isn't near after all.
When we look at the Shulman-Marin game tonight, we'll go easy on the ruminations
and delve into the fascinating endgame. I think you'll enjoy it, and if you're
interested here's what you do: log on to the Playchess server at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday
night (= 3 a.m. CET Thursday morning), go to the Broadcast room and select Shulman-Marin
from the Games tab. Then sit back and enjoy!
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). You can find the times for
different locations in the world at World
Time and Date, with exact times for most larger cities 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.
Monokroussos in Mexico: World Championship 2007
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Dennis Monokroussos is 43, lives in South Bend, IN, where
he teaches chess and has worked 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.
Playchess Training with IM Merijn van Delft
Everyone is invited to join this weekly training hour on Wednesday evening.
Together we will have a look at the most recent grandmaster games. Recurring
themes during our analyses and discussions are the latest opening developments
and how to work on your own chess.
A word about myself: I was born (March 13, 1979) and raised in Apeldoorn, The
Netherlands. In 1995 I won the Dutch U16 Championship and played the European
Championship in Poland and the World Championship in Brasil. In 1998 I moved
to Amsterdam to study psychology and had a great time there. In 2003 I met my
wife Evi Zickelbein and ever since we've been living together in Hamburg, Germany.
In 2004 I made both master titles: one at the university and one in chess. Since
2005 I've been working fulltime in the chess world: training, coaching, writing,
organizing and still actively playing myself. By now I have about fifteen years
of experience as a chess trainer. Together with my dad I wrote a book
about chess training (Schaaktalent Ontwikkelen), of which the Dutch
version is already available and the English
version will follow April 2010.
IM Merijn van Delft's lecture starts at 20:00h Central European Time (Berlin,
Paris, Rome), which translates to 19:00h London. You can find the times for
different locations in the world at World
Time and Date. Exact times for most larger cities are here.
The lecture is in the "Broadcast" room of Playchess. It is free for
Premium Playchess members (50 Ducats for others).
Links
The lectures are broadcast live on the chess server Playchess.com.
If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase
Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program
to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009! |
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