Even though the Candidates' tournament took place in Berlin, the most popular opening was... the Catalan! Common sense requires organizing the next edition in Barcelona so that the players could feel free to play the Berlin Ruy Lopez. But leaving joke aside, following my databases on the Catalan opening, I have made an overview of how the Candidates treated it during this historic tournament. I have mainly focused on the games which are relevant to our repertoire but made shorter comments on all the other games as well.
Dear readers,
Unfortunately, we must inform you about a tragedy that happened at the end of April. On 27 April, after being in a coma for more than a week, passed away our author GM Viktor Gavrikov. This is a big loss not only for the Modern Chess community, but also for the entire chess world. Before publishing Viktor’s last article, I would like to throw some light on his personality.
In this article, GM Viktor Gavrikov deals with one of the most difficult endgame positions - knight against bishop.The current article features the positions in which the knight is stronger than the bishop. After reading the explanations of Viktor Gavrikov, the reader will be familiar with all the typical ideas which allow us to use the superiority of the knight.
Passed pawns are one of the most important factors in chess. As you probably know, their importance is considerably bigger in the final stage of the game. In his second article concerning the passed pawns, GM Davorin Kuljasevic starts examining the concept of "electric pawns". The reader can find some methods which allow him to find the best move in the endgame without any calculations, making use of some interesting geometric motifs.
In this issue, GM Davorin Kuljasevic continues to examine the role of the passers in the endgame.This time, he focuses on the connected passed pawns.Every chess player is afraid of the power of these pawns, but not everyone can use their potential. In his article, GM Kuljasevic not only shows you the strong and the weak points of the connected passed pawns but at the same time he gives a highly useful practical advice.
In the second part of “Endgame Series” GM Davorin Kuljasevic explains an importance of pawns in endgames through interesting examples from both classical and modern Grandmaster practice. Start with the impersonation of the famous movie “Searching for Bobby Fischer”, go through the classical theoretical positions from 70’s and 80’s and find out how Polish GM Bartel used impeccable endgame technique to defeat World #28 Navara. And, of course, make sure to “Test Yourself” at the end of the article.
Have you ever heard the saying "Strong players win their games mostly in the endgame"? Well, we must admit that it is true because the learning of the final phase of the game requires a lot of work and practice.Moreover, endgames are so complex, that an inexperienced player easily gets lost in the variety of information.That is why GM Davorin Kuljasevic comes up with his comprehensive endgame course.Regardless of your level, you have the chance to take a structured grandmaster education in the field of the endgame.
Dear chess friends, this article marks the beginning of a training course designed to acquaint the readers of the magazine "Modern Chess" with one of the most important type of positions in middlegame - isolated pawn. The importance of this topic is related to the fact that it can arise from a huge number of openings. Several examples are Queen’s Gambit, Slav Defense, Tarrasch Defense, New Indian Defense, Nimzowitsch Defense, Sicilian Defense and many other openings. Therefore, good knowledge of these positions is necessary for any chess player, regardless of his repertoire.
Generally whatever opening you choose you must develop your pieces as fast as possible, trying also to control the center. Then in the middlegame you try to impose on your opponent the plan you have chosen. And possibly that your pieces become active enough so they dominate the board. To do this one must strive for the initiative. This is the first stage, later you bulid up on this, creating a domination or direct attack against the king.
To begin, I would say that it's impossible to become strong chess player, without deep understanding on IQP! The importance of this topic is related to the fact that IQP can arise from a huge number of openings. Several examples are Queen's Gambit, Slav Defense, Tarrasch Defense, Queen's Indian Defense, Sicilian Defense and many other openings. Therefore, good knowledge of these positions is necessary for any chess player, regardless of his repertoire.