Workshop - Improve Your Positional Play - Part 2 

Workshop - Improve Your Positional Play - Part 2

Introduction and Free Preview

The second workshop dedicated to the positional play is already a digital product. This product includes all the videos from the workshop as well as the PGN file related to the training sessions. Overall, the material consists of approximately 7 hours of video and a PGN database which includes 136 files!

You will find the following lectures:

 Piece Coordination - Modern Concepts and Typical Mistakes - GM Grigor Grigorov

Building a Positional Attack - GM Mihail Marin

Positional Sacrifices - Modern Understanding of the Material Imbalances - GM Davorin Kuljasevic

Typical Attacking Strategies in Positions with Opposite-Coloured Bishops - GM Petar Arnaudov

In this article, we will briefly present some interesting moments taken from the lectures.

Piece Coordination - Modern Concepts and Typical Mistakes - GM Grigor Grigorov

In this lecture, GM Grigorov deals with an extremely important topic - Piece coordination. While the topic is a bit broad, the author manages to deal with it in a systematic way. 

The current lecture features the following typical coordination problems:

1) knight placed in front of the c2(c7)-pawn

2) coordination problems provoked by lack of space

3) coordination problems provoked by a badly placed piece

4) lack of coordination between the bishop and pawns

5) coordination problems provoked by defects in the pawn structure

6) tactical coordination

Let's take a look at how Grigorov introduces the first point from his list.

1) knight placed in front of the c2(c7)-pawn

In the beginning, I would like to present a coordination problem that is typical for many opening variations - a knight which is placed in front of the c7-(c2) pawn. Some players build an entire opening repertoire based on this specific coordination problem. Why a knight which is placed in front of the c7-(c2) pawn causes problems? First of all, the c-pawn cannot fight for the centre by means of ...c7-c5. Another problem is the opportunity to put pressure along the c-file. With a black knight on c6 and a pawn on c7, the White's c1-rook can be very effective. Additionally, with a pawn on c7, the mobility of the queen is restricted. Therefore, it will be more difficult to connect the rooks. In this line of thoughts, one can easily see how one small detail can provoke huge coordination problems.

FREE MODEL GAME

Building a Positional Attack - GM Mihail Marin

The very notion of "positional attack" sounds strange to many chess players. Usually, the notion of attack is associated with aggressive concepts. 

In the current lecture, however, GM Mihail Marin demonstrates that the successful attack is usually based on a solid positional foundation. In his examples, he explains how we should prepare and conduct the attack. As you are going to witness, in many cases, the fight revolves around a certain positional factor with the opponent's king being a collateral victim.

The PGN version of the lecture consists of 11 extensively annotated model games.

FREE MODEL GAME

Positional Sacrifices - Modern Understanding of the Material Imbalances - GM Davorin Kuljasevic

In the current lecture, GM Davorin Kuljasevic provides fantastic coverage of the positional sacrifices. In general, this is a sacrifice which helps us to get a certain positional advantage.

In the article, GM Kuljasevic examines the following types of a positional sacrifice:

1) sacrifice to get the control of a square complex

2) sacrifice to achieve a superior piece coordination

3) sacrifice to obtain a strong pawn centre

4) sacrifice to create a dangerous passed pawn

5) sacrifice to weaken the opponent's king

6) sacrifice to get the control of an outpost

7) sacrifice providing a better pawn structure

8) sacrifice to open a diagonal

9) sacrifices including many factors

10) wrong sacrifices

The PGN version of the lecture is a kind of a manual! It includes 17 extensively annotated games and 36 exercises (with annotated solutions).

FREE MODEL GAME

Typical Attacking Strategies in Positions with Opposite-Coloured Bishops - GM Petar Arnaudov

In this lecture, GM Petar Arnaudov covers the positions with opposite-coloured bishops. Since these positions are quite frequent in practice, knowing them would have a great impact on your results. 

In the introduction, GM Arnaudov states:

The middlegames with opposite-coloured bishops are usually favouring the attacking side. An ideal situation is to have opposite-coloured bishops and all major pieces on the board. In many cases, the stronger side is attacking with an extra piece, because the opponent's bishop can't help the defence. 

The PGN version of the lecture consists of 10 extensively annotated model games and 5 test positions.

FREE MODEL GAME