Playchess training with FM Dennis Monokroussos
London 1899 was a great triumph for then world champion Emanuel Lasker. He
won the 27-round double round-robin (Teichmann dropped out after the first cycle)
by 4½ points over a strong field that included Maroczy, Pillsbury, Schlechter
and Chigorin. He only lost one game, to a player whose name, but little else,
is known to contemporary chess fans.
That player was Joseph Henry Blackburne (1841-1924), nicknamed
“the Black Death”. He learned the game late, at the age of 19, but
just two years later defeated Wilhelm Steinitz in a tournament game! It took
him another decade or so until he was a top contender, and while he was outclassed
by the very best players (clearly demonstrated by the 7-0 thrashing he received
in an 1876 match with Steinitz) he remained one of the world’s best until
his early 60s. (In 1914, several months before his 73rd birthday, he drew a
game with Alekhine.)
But back to Lasker-Blackburne. Lasker was in fine form in London, but in this
game he was no match for Blackburne. At times in the opening and early middlegame,
you can clearly see that this is an old-time game, but at a certain point the
light turns on and Blackburne’s play is forceful and beautifully logical.
From move 18 on, it’s a game that could have been played by one of today’s
elite GMs, and in the end even the great and resourceful Lasker cracks under
the pressure.
It’s an entertaining game, but is it instructive? The answer is yes:
Blackburne’s attacking buildup was very logical, and the very flawed opening
is helpful to us as well. By putting some positional errors on clear display,
we’re able to gain a better understanding of how that opening line is
supposed to work, and that’s going to be useful to someone on either side
of the board. You will definitely enjoy the game, so I hope you’ll join
me tonight – Wednesday night – at 9 p.m. ET (that’s Thursday
morning at 3 a.m. CET) in the Broadcast room. Look for Lasker-Blackburne in
the games window, select it, and you’re ready to go: it’s free for
Premium members.
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). 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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