Key Concepts of Chess - Pawn Structures Vol.1 and 2
In this two-part course the emphasis will be on typical pawn-structures.
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik, born on June 25, 1975, claimed the title of "classical world champion" from Garry Kasparov in the year 2000. It was a stunning surprise that Kramnik managed to defeat Kasparov, who had seemed to be nearly unbeatable until then, in a 16-game match. This match was organized by the PCA, the "breakaway" organisation founded by Kasparov and Nigel Short. Kramnik held the classical world champion title from 2000 to 2006, and after the "reunification match" with FIDE world champion Veselin Topalov, he became the undisputed world champion from 2006 to 2007.
Kramnik learned to play chess at the age of four and became a club champion at seven, earning him a reputation as a prodigy. In 1991, he became U18 World Champion, and in 1992, at the age of 17, he was selected for the Russian Olympiad team through the intervention of Kasparov. Playing on the reserve board in Manila, Kramnik scored an impressive 8½ out of 9 points, cementing his status as a future star. He went on to win several major tournaments, with Dortmund becoming a particular favorite, as he won the event five times between 1995 and 2000.
In his early career, Kramnik competed for the FIDE world title, playing a match against Boris Gelfand in 1994, and for the PCA title against Gata Kamsky, but he lost both encounters. After the PCA hosted a few qualifying tournaments, sponsorship began to dwindle. As a result, Kasparov decided that only two players would compete for the world title. This led to Kramnik's 1998 match against Alexei Shirov in Cazorla, Spain. The winner would earn the right to challenge Kasparov for the "classical" world championship. Against the odds, Kramnik lost this match. The following year, he participated in the FIDE World Championship Knockout Tournament in Las Vegas, but his aspirations were dashed by Britain's Michael Adams.
Due to the PCA's (read: Kasparov's) failure to secure sponsorship for the PCA World Championship match against Shirov, Kasparov made a controversial and questionable decision: despite Kramnik having lost the qualifying match to Shirov, he was invited to London to play a 16-game duel for the world title. Sponsorship was successfully secured for this match. Meanwhile, Shirov, who had never received the promised earnings for his win over Kramnik (which was supposed to fund the world championship match), was left empty-handed and has continued to blame Kasparov for this to this day.
Kramnik, however, made history by not losing a single game against Kasparov and even winning two games as White in their World Championship match in London. He claimed victory in the second and tenth games. The key to Kramnik's success was a carefully crafted strategy: he and his team of seconds discovered that Kasparov was less comfortable in middlegames where queens were off the board. As a result, they focused on openings that led to such positions, which became the pillars of Kramnik's match strategy.
The diagram position is won for White. However, it requires precise play to secure victory. Do you see how Kramnik defeated Kasparov from this position?
Master Class Vol.15 - Viktor Korchnoi
In this video course, experts (Pelletier, Marin, Müller and Reeh) examine the games of Viktor Korchnoi. Let them show you which openings Korchnoi chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame.
This week’s show (for Premium Members only)
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