9/15/2022 – World Champion Alexander Alekhine successfully played an unusual opening in the 1920s, one that would later be named after him. For White, the opening is annoying because, although it looks unplayable for Black at first, it is very much playable for his opponent. Furthermore, although it is called "Alekhine's Defence" it is seemingly more suitable for attacking players, which we will learn from today's video. Svitlana enjoys this opening big time, and shares her knowledge with us.

8/31/2022 – Starting an attack against the opponent is often more fun, than defending. But converting an attack to a winning position, or a checkmate, is not always an easy task. It can fade away quickly, and we are left with less pieces, and a lost position. Good for us, Svitlana knows quite well how to convert an attack to a win, and gives us plenty of good hints, on how to proceed.

8/26/2022 – Svitlana is showing us some more smart moves from Chennai. We learn a lot about the two openings, plans in the middle game, and some endgame knowledge. The Canadian WIM was able to win against Jenny Astrid Chirivi Castiblanco from Colombia, and achieve a draw against Gulenay Aydin from Turkey.

8/18/2022 – Finally, the beloved WIM from Canada is back, and shows us a couple of games from the Olympiad in Chennai. In the first game, she crushed the strong female Dutch GM Peng Zhaoqin with the London system. In preparation, she discovered the interesting manoeuvre 11. Qa4!?, which you can add to your repertoire now. In the second game, Svitlana used the peculiar Horwitz attack against the French Defense. The Gambit is also known as "Papa-Ticulat Gambit". Due to a pretty knight sacrifice, she succeeded in her game against the Puerto-Ricon player.

7/19/2022 – Today we take a look at a quite popular opening. The Pirc Defence. The opening was named after GM Vasja Pirc from Slovenia/Yugoslavia. Thanks to this opening, we were able to enjoy the Immortal game of Kasparov vs. Topalov, or game number 17 of Fischer vs. Spassky, in the World Championship match 1972 in Iceland. We also tackle the question, of how it is pronounced correctly - Pirk, or Pirch?

7/12/2022 – You didn't expect those creative, and beautiful moves, did you? Svitlana presents some genuinely fine moves by masterful players like Frank James Marshall, David Bronstein, Bobby Fischer, Pal Benko, Richard Reti, Alexander Alekhine, and Mikhail Tal. Lean back, and enjoy the spectacle!

7/6/2022 – Svitlana unpacks beautiful opening traps, which don't check mate you in three moves, but simply give you enough advantage to win a game. The Canadian WIM chose commonly played openings, like the queen's gambit, or the Sicilian Defence. You might know about some traps already, but it is good to 1. Refresh the knowledge and 2. Find out even more variations of the tricky openings.

6/17/2022 – In middlegames, pieces often are scrambled all over the place. Svitlana shows us how to find out, which piece to move next, and where to move it to. Pawn structures start from an opening, and moving the correct piece in the middlegame has to start with an understanding of what you want to achieve with your position.

5/26/2022 – Normally, we sacrifice a piece to win material, or even set up a check-mate attack. But occasionally, we can also sacrifice a piece to gain a positional advantage! Svitlana demonstrates how this is working with some very instructional games by Vladimir Kramnik, Garry Kasparov, Mikhail Tal, and Tigran Petrosian - the "Master" of positional sacrifices.

5/20/2022 – In the first day of the Champions Chess Tour, Gawain Jones played the Kings Indian against Vidit Gujrathi because it is a very legit weapon. One of Svitlana's favourite openings deserves a second part, to get into some deeper strategic territory. What if White is castling on the queen side? We adjust our plans, and build up some important decisions. Svitlana analyses an interesting King's Indian game between Ivan Cheparinov, and Wang Yue!

5/12/2022 – The King's Indian is a very straight-forward, aggressive opening. Basically, Black builds up a system in the first couple of moves, and once it is set up, the attacking begins! White tries to counter on the queenside, in most cases. But please take a look at it all for yourself in this episode of "Svitlana's Smart Moves".

5/4/2022 – Perhaps we have already heard the statement that all rook endgames are drawn. But even if this is the case, how to draw? And if it isn't the case, how to defend correctly, or transfer the position to a win? Svitlana explains the principles of rook endgames, with some examples by Alekhine, Capablanca, Firouzja, and Mamedyarov.

4/28/2022 – Arne loves to attack, as you probably know by now. But for many players, attacking is a rather difficult task to fulfil. Svitlana shows us how to attack from scratch. One move in a certain position is all it needs. The purpose, the strategy, and the following tactics are working hand in hand, as Svitlana points out. We also take a look at one of her recently played games OTB.

4/20/2022 – Svitlana had to study, play tournaments, and Arne had the flu, and also played tournaments. Finally, the coach and her student are back with a new episode. This time, Svitlana takes us on a trip to some of Bobby Fischer's classical games.

3/31/2022 – One system ruffled up the chess world in the last decade - the London System. Svitlana couldn't stay away from this system either, and it is now a part of her repertoire. How to play it? What to take care of? Time for some smart moves!

3/23/2022 – Last week, the Canadian WIM spoke about the isolated pawn in depth. In this episode, she talks about the hanging pawns, which evenly often occur in similar openings. The dynamic is different, and Svitlana lets us play with both sides again, fighting with, and against the hanging pawns, trying to find the best moves.

3/18/2022 – In some openings, having the isolated pawn is the path to continue to middle-, and endgames. But do you know the technique on how to play with an isolated pawn, or against it? Svitlana has the knowledge, of course, and is happy to share it with us.

3/11/2022 – International Women's Day calls for something out of the ordinary. How about watching some games of the world's best player Judit Polgar. Not only has she played at the highest level of chess for a long time, but she is also Svitlana's favourite player!

3/2/2022 – Magnus Carlsen famously stated:"I Don't Believe in Fortresses". But obviously, he was referring to positions which look like a fortress, but are nothing else than a "Papier-mâché". Svitlana shows us some real fortress ideas, positions, how to build them up, and defend them correctly.

2/23/2022 – Svitlana's former coach taught her to solve chess studies frequently. The idea is bending the mind a little more than usual to find the solutions. Chess compositions normally have "only moves", or at least a very narrow path to crack the puzzle. We take a look at some beautiful brain-teasers.

2/11/2022 – If you think of a massively creative chess player, who comes to mind? Tal? Larsen? Creativity in chess is fairly important, to find "impossible" moves in a chess game. Moves, which would never cross your mind. But regularly, these are the moves which can decide a game in a beautiful way. Svitlana was taught creativity in chess by one of her coaches, and passes her knowledge on to us.

2/2/2022 – There are a couple of different pawn weaknesses in chess. Often, spotting those weaknesses is the most common technique, used by professional chess players, to gain an advantage. Svitlana helps us to identify the fragile pawns, and making the correct, smart moves, once we understand the situation on the board.

1/26/2022 – Magnus Carlsen is the epiphany of winning in an equal position. But what to take care of? How to gain an advantage? What should we consider, once a very equal position has been reached? In one full game, starting from the "Scotch Game" opening, to the very end - with three pawns vs. one rook - Svitlana takes us on a journey, on how to advance our chess skills.

1/19/2022 – A core of chess is the correct prophylaxis. That doesn't mean, that we have to brush our teeth twice a day, since I hope we all do this any way. But, as I heard Yasser Seirawan once say:"I tend to play a conscious move, before my opponent plays the threat". Svitlana shows us the smartest moves in difficult situations, and explains how to approach a rough position like this.