Calculation in Attack and Alert Calculations 

Completed

Tactical Thursday — September 2026

Calculation in Attack and Alert Calculations

GM Swapnil Dhopade leads the September 2026 edition of Tactical Thursday with a paired theme that addresses the two sides of every calculation — Calculation in Attack and Alert Calculations.

In this camp, the focus falls on the moment most games are decided: you have found a promising move, the position looks winning, and now you must determine whether it actually is.

One half of that task is calculating your own attack accurately. The other is remaining alert to what your opponent can do about it — and the second is where far more points are lost.

Attacking calculation is a different skill

A central idea of this edition is that attacking calculation is not the same as tactical calculation. When a combination exists, the moves announce themselves. In a genuine attack, the candidate moves are less forcing, the lines run longer, and the evaluation at the end is a matter of judgment rather than material count.

GM Dhopade will show how strong players calculate in exactly those conditions — choosing which attacking try deserves the time, following it far enough to judge it, and recognising when the attack is real rather than merely attractive.

The blind spot: the opponent

The second core theme of the camp is alertness. Most failed attacks are not miscalculated. They are calculated correctly — against a defence the attacker never considered.

The training is built around that specific blind spot, with exercises that put the question to you directly:

Here is a move. Is it winning, or is there a refutation?

Some of the moves win. Others meet a resource the opponent has available — and the whole point is that you cannot tell which until you look for the defence as hard as you looked for the attack.

That format makes this a demanding camp, and deliberately so. You will not be told in advance which positions contain the win. You will have to decide, exactly as you would at the board.

GM Dhopade will demonstrate how strong players:

• Calculate accurately in attacking positions, where the candidate moves are not forcing
• Choose which attacking idea is worth the clock time
• Follow a line far enough that the final position can genuinely be judged
• Search for the opponent's defensive resources before committing
• Distinguish an attack that works from one that merely looks convincing

Tactical Thursday is part of the Modern Chess Academy, meaning Academy members receive free access to all lectures and the final digital product.

🛠 Technical Details

✓ Dates: 10.09.2026 and 24.09.2026

✓ Platform: Zoom

✓ Coach: GM Swapnil Dhopade

📅 Program

10.09.2026 – Paris | New York

🕒 17:30 – 19:00 | 11:30 – 13:00 – Calculation in Attack – Part 1

🕒 19:30 – 21:00 | 13:30 – 15:00 – Calculation in Attack – Part 2

24.09.2026 – Paris | New York

🕒 17:30 – 19:00 | 11:30 – 13:00 – Alert Calculations – Part 1

🕒 19:30 – 21:00 | 13:30 – 15:00 – Alert Calculations – Part 2

🕒 21:00 – 21:30 | 15:00 – 15:30 – Q&A with GM Grigor Grigorov & GM Petar Arnaudov

🎁 Participants Receive:

• Recordings of all lectures
• PGN files with all material (2–3 weeks after the event)
• Final digital product based on all four lectures
• Free access for Academy members

🔥 What You Will Gain

• Sharper calculation in attacking positions, where nothing is forced
• The habit of searching for the defence before committing to the attack
• A reliable way to tell a winning move from a tempting one
• Fewer attacks that collapse to a resource you had not considered
• Greater confidence that what you calculated is what is actually on the board

This camp will help you fix the failure that decides more attacking games than any other — the move that was correct until the opponent found the answer you never looked for.

This event is completed.