5/21/2019 – On the show today, the French team championship is taking place in Brest, and Lawrence was intrigued by some upset wins scored by 2200 players. A harbinger of the improvement of average standard? Live beginning at 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST, 12 Noon EDT) and free for a limited time, or forever on-demand with a ChessBase Basic Account. You can register a free 90-day account to watch.
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Welcome to the Bombastic Bird's, a revolutionary repertoire for one of the most enterprising and underrated openings in chess theory (1.f4). In this series, IM Lawrence Trent uncovers a number of groundbreaking theoretical novelties and new ideas that will soon have scorners of this romantic system regretting they ever doubted its soundness.
The Scotch Gambit is a brazen yet utterly sound system for White who immediately opens up the position, by sacrificing a central pawn, in an attempt to assassinate the enemy king as quickly as possible.
Each week, I bring you the latest trends, games and combinations from elite chess tournaments on Tuesday at 16:00 UTC (18:00 CEST, 12 Noon EDT).
Today I am going to be looking at the French Top 12 (the team championship of France) with a focus on a few defeats if GM Sebastian Maze vs 2200 players. How difficult is it for GMs to play lower rated opponents nowadays?
But first...The diagram below is the final position between Daniil Dubov and Anish Giri from the first round of the ongoing Moscow Grand Prix knockout tournament. How would Dubov have finished off the game if given the chance?
Dubov-Giri, Moscow Grand Prix
White to play and mate in 3
Give up? You'll find the complete game at the bottom of this article!
This week
Lawrence is live this week and free to watch, or to replay on-demand, you can register a free 90-day account and will gain access to this and many more shows from a variety of authors.
Follow along, and try your own analysis in the game viewer below
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1.c4Nf62.Nc3e53.Nf3Nc64.e4Bc55.Nxe5Nxe56.d4Bb47.dxe5Nxe4!8.Qf3A28:
English Opening: Four Knights Variationd5Threatens to win with ...d4.8...Nxc39.bxc3Be710.Qg3g611.Bh6d612.Be2Be613.Rd1Qd714.exd6cxd615.0-00-0-01-0 (24) Carlsen,M (2835)-Giri,A (2783) St Petersburg 20189.Be2Qe710.0-0White is slightly better.Bxc3!11.bxc3Qxe511...0-0!=remains equal.12.Bf4±Qxc312...Qf5±might work
better.13.Bd3! Black is under strong pressure.13.Bxc7Qxf314.Bxf3Nd2=13...Bg414.Qxg4Qxd315.Rad115.Qxg7?!0-0-0=15...Qxc416.Be5NPredecessor:16.Qxg716...Nd6?16...Qxa2?17.Qxg70-0-018.Ra1+-18.Qxf7Nd6±16...Nc3±17.Qxc417.Qxg7Ne2+18.Kh10-0-017...dxc418.Bxc30-017.Rd4Qxa218.Bxg7f519.Qh5+?19.Re1+Kd7=19.Qd1+-Kf720.Bxh8Rxh821.Rd221.Rxd5Re8+-19...Kd720.Bxh8Rxh821.Qh6Re822.Qxh7+Re723.Qg8c624.Rh4 White has compensation.Qe2?24...c5!=25.Rh8+-White threatens Qd8+ and mate.Re826.Rh7+Re727.h4!d427...Rxh7
is a better defense.28.Qxh7+Qe728.Rxe7+Qxe7 Endgame
KQR-KQN29.h5Qf7?29...Qf6was necessary.30.Ra1Qh630.Qh8Qe831.Qg7+Qf732.h6c533.Re1d334.Qc334.Qh8+-Qh535.f334...c435.Qd4a6?35...Kc636.h736.Qxa7d236.Re5b6±36...d236.Re3?36.Rb1+-Kc737.Qc5+Kd738.Rb636...Kc6?
36...Qh5!=and Black has nothing to worry.37.Rh3??
Don't do37.Re5?!b6+-37.h7!+- was the
only winning move.Qxh738.Re6!37...Qd5-+38.Qxd5+?38.Qa1d239.Qd138...Kxd5KR-KN39.Kf1
Strongly threatening h7.39...Nf7?Black should try39...Kd4!-+White must now prevent ...Kc3.40.h7Nf740.h7?40.Ke1=and White is okay.Kd441.Kd2c3+42.Kc140...Kd441.Rf341.h8RNxh842.Rxh841...Kc342.Rxf5d243.Ke2Kc244.Rd5c345.g4
45...a5!46.g546.Rxa5d1Q+46...Nh847.f4a448.f5a349.g6a250.g7a1Q51.g8Qd1Q+52.Rxd1Qxd1+53.Ke3Qd3+ Double Attack54.Kf4Qd4+55.Kg5Kb2Accuracy: White = 55%, Black = 47%.0–1
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Make life difficult for the Sicilian! 2.b3 is a thoroughly venomous but still solid kind of "Anti-Sicilian". No matter what setup black chooses, the bishop on b2 will always be unpleasant for him.
Solution to today's puzzle:
In the final position, White would win after 37.♘xf7+ ♜fxf7 38.♖d8+ ♜f8 39.♖xf8# 1-0.
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1.d4Nf62.c4e63.Nf3d54.Bg5dxc45.e4b56.a4c67.Nc3b48.Nb1Ba6D44:
Semi-Slav: Botvinnik System9.e5h610.Bxf6gxf6The position is equal.11.exf6c5NPredecessor:11...Qxf612.Nbd2c313.bxc3bxc314.Ne4Qf415.Bd3Bb416.0-01-0 (49) Riazantsev,A (2649)-Hovhannisyan,R (2637) St
Petersburg 201812.Nbd2c313.bxc3bxc314.Ne4cxd414...Bxf115.Kxf1Nd715.Bb5+!±Bxb516.axb5Qd5Black should try16...d317.Qxd4 Double AttackQxb518.Nxc318.Qxc3?!Nc6=18.Ne5!±Nd6+ is the strong threat.Qb419.Ra4Qxd420.Rxd418...Bb4=
And now ...Nc6 would win.19.0-0-0Qa5Black
should play19...Qb6!=20.Qxb6axb620.Nb520.Rd3!?Bxc321.Rxc3=20...Na6!21.Qd7+Kf8White must now prevent ...Qa1+.22.Kb1 White mounts an attack.Ba3?22...Bc5=and Black stays safe.23.Rd223.Ne5Qb4+24.Kc1Qf4+
Double Attack25.Qd2Qxd2+26.Rxd2Kg8±23...Rb823.Rd3!+-Worse is23.Nxa3Rb8+24.Kc124.Ka2?Nb4+25.Kb2Nd5+26.Kc1Qxa3+27.Kd2Qa5+28.Ke2Nf4+29.Ke3Rb3+30.Rd3Nxg2+31.Ke2Nf4+ Double Attack32.Ke3Rxd3+-+24...Qxa3+25.Kd2Kg8=23...Qb4+
24.Kc2! Intending Qd8+! and mate.Qa4+
25.Kd2!Bb4+25...Qf4+was called for.26.Ke2Qxf626.Ke2!
Threatening mate with Qd8+!Kg8Strongly threatening ...Nc5.27.Ne5Qc2+28.Kf3Rf8intending ..
.h5.29.Rhd1h5
Much weaker is29...Nc530.Qd4!29...Qb230.Qd4!Rh731.Qf4Bc532.Nd4Qa233.R1d2Qd5+34.Ke2Bb4
35.Ndc6! White
threatens Rg3+ and mate. Double Attack, Discovered AttackQc536.Ne7+Kh8
Accuracy: White = 81%, Black = 40%.1–0
Lawrence TrentBorn in 1986, Lawrence Trent is an international master, who has represented England in numerous international youth championships (including a 7th place in the U18 WCh in 2003). The Londoner, who has a degree in Romance languages, already has a lot of experience as a trainer. Trent has recorded several DVDs for ChessBase.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
The Trompowsky is especially suited for faster time controls as you don‘t have to memorise endless lines of theory, and you push your opponent out of their comfort zone after your second move.
Trompowsky Powerbook 2025 is based on 53,000 computer games from the engine room of playchess.com as well as 49,000 games from Mega and correspondence chess.
Trompowsky Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 8727 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 316 are annotated.
2025 European Championship with a German double victory and analyses by Bluebaum, Svane, Rodshtein, Yuffa, Navara and many more. Opening videos by Engel, King and Marin. Training sections “The Fortress”, “The Trap” and “Fundamental Endgame Knowledge" etc.
In this dynamic and practical video course, IM Andrew Martin arms you with powerful antidotes to White’s most annoying sidelines.
€34.90
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