Video Guide to the Spanish Opening – Repertoire for White

I have made quite a few videos about the Spanish Opening, and wrote an eBook “Spanish Opening - Strategy and Tactics” about it that will give you a brief introduction to the Spanish from the White perspective. To give an overall map/overview to the various variations and to show how my videos fit together, I created this guide with diagrams and links to my videos. Now you can quickly find the video for the variation that you are interested in!

Spanish Opening - Overview
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5

This move characterizes the Spanish Opening.

3. ... a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O

Black's first big decision is on move 5, he can choose between the classical lines, and the two sharp alternatives - the Moeller Variation, and the Open Variation.

5. ... Be7

( 5. ... Nxe4 This is the Open variation where Black accepts the challenge and takes the unprotected pawn. 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6

In the Open Variation Black also obtains active piece placement, but here he pays for it with pawn weaknesses. Regardless of whether the game opens up, or the pawn structure becomes fixed - Black will have some difficulties equalizing, as both sample games illustrate: 9. Nbd2 Nc5 10. c3 d4

( It is a common mistake to exchange the white bishop too soon, as the following game illustrates: 10. ... Nxb3?! 11. Nxb3 Be7 12. Nfd4! Nxd4 13. cxd4 O-O 14. Be3 Rc8 15. Rc1 c6 16. Nc5 Bxc5 17. Rxc5 a5 18. Qc2 Bd7 19. f4 f5 20. Rf3 Qe7 21. Bd2 a4 22. Bb4 and White exerted strong pressure in Jiganchine,R-Trotchanovich,P/ Keres 2007, 1-0 )

11. Bxe6 Nxe6 12. cxd4 Ncxd4 13. a4! Be7 14. Nxd4 Nxd4 15. Ne4 Ne6 16. Be3 O-O 17. f4 and White won in Karpov,A-Korchnoi,V/Merano 1981 )

( 5. ... b5 6. Bb3 Bc5

 

This is the Moeller - Black develops the bishop to an active position, where it can become a target. The bishop will also be missing on the d8-h4 diagonal, so White's tries for advantage involve Bg5, as the sample game shows: 7. a4 Rb8 8. axb5 axb5 9. c3 d6 10. d4 Bb6 11. h3 O-O 12. Re1 Bb7 13. Na3 exd4 14. cxd4 Na5 15. Bc2 b4 16. Nb1 c5 17. Bg5 h6 18. Bh4 b3 19. Bxb3 g5 20. Nxg5 hxg5 21. Bxg5 and White had a strong attack in Hracek,Z-Shirov,A/Germany 1997, 1-0 )

6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Na5

( 9. ... Bb7 10. d4 Re8 11. Nbd2 Bf8 This is the Zaitsev variation where Black puts a lot of pressure on the 'e4' pawn; against this I recommend shutting down the center on move 12 with d4-d5. When Black undermines it by c7-c6 - White plays for occupying the d5 square, or tries to use the power of his bishop on the a2-g8 diagonal. 12. d5 Nb8 13. Nf1 Nbd7 14. N3h2 Nc5 (Allowing the white bishop to remain on b3 is rather dangerous: 14. ... c6 15. dxc6 Bxc6 16. Bg5 Qc7 17. Qf3 Qb7 18. Ng3 d5 19. Ng4 dxe4 20. Qf5 with attack in Kovacevic, A-Gligoric,S/Niksic 1997, 1-0 )

15. Bc2 c6 16. b4 Ncd7 17. dxc6 Bxc6 and White started to fight for the 'd5' square in Anand,V-Kasimdzhanov,R/Mainz 2007, 1-0 )

10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12. Nbd2

Black is at the crossroads.

12. ... Nc6

( 12. ... cxd4 is the main line, immediately initiating play along the 'c' file. 12...Bd7 is the most popular alternative. 13. cxd4 Bb7 14. d5 Rac8 15. Bd3 Nd7 16. Nf1 Nc5 17. Ng3 Nxd3 18. Qxd3 Qc2? 19. Qxc2 Rxc2 20. Nf5 Re8 21. b3 Bc8 22. Nxe7+ Rxe7 23. Be3 Nb7 24. Bb6 Re8 25. Rec1 Re2 26. Rc7 and White won due to his domination on the 'c' file in Aseev,K-Sturua,Z/Lvov 1985, 1-0)

( 12. ... Bd7 Temporarily maintains tension in the center. 13. Nf1 Rfe8

( 13. ... cxd4 14. cxd4 Rac8 15. Ne3 Nc6 16. d5 Nb4 17. Bb1 a5 18. a3 Na6 19. b4 g6 20. Bd2 axb4 21. axb4 Qb7 22. Bd3 Nc7 23. Nc2 Nh5 24. Be3 Ra8 25. Qd2 1-0 Tal,M-Hjartarson,J/ Reykjavik 1987, 1-0 )

14. Ne3 g6 15. dxe5 dxe5 16. Nh2 Rad8 17. Qf3 Be6 18. Nhg4 Nxg4 19. hxg4 Qc6 20. g5 Nc4 21. Ng4 Bxg4 22. Qxg4 f6?! 23. gxf6 Bxf6 24. a4 +/- Fischer - Unzicker, 1959, 1-0 )

13. d5 Nd8 14. a4 Rb8

15. axb5

( 15. b4 is Geller's interpretation of this line: previously White would first exchange on b5, but that would give Black a better chance of fighting for the 'a' file. 15. ... c4 16. Nf1 Ne8 17. axb5 axb5 18. N3h2 +=

( 18. Ng3 g6 19. Nh2 Ng7 20. Rf1 Bd7?! 21. f4 Bh4 22. Qf3 f5 23. fxe5 dxe5 24. exf5 Bxg3 25. Qxg3 Nxf5 26. Qf2 Nb7 27. Ng4 h5 28. Ra6! hxg4 29. Rxg6+ Ng7 30. Rxg7+ and Black was mated in Nunn,J-Short,N/Brussels 1986, 1-0 )

18. ... f5? 19. exf5 Bxf5 20. Bxf5 Rxf5 21. Be3 Rf8 22. Nf3 +/- Geller,E-Smyslov,V/Palma de Mallorca, 1970, 1-0 )

15. ... axb5 16. b4 Nb7 17. Nf1 Bd7 18. Be3 Ra8 19. Qd2 Rfc8 20. Bd3 g6 21. Ng3 Bf8 22. Ra2 c4 23. Bb1 Qd8 24. Ba7 Ne8 25. Bc2 Nc7 26. Rea1 Qe7 27. Bb1 Be8 28. Ne2 Nd8 29. Nh2 Bg7 30. f4 f6 31. f5 g5 32. Bc2 Bf7 33. Ng3 Nb7 34. Bd1 h6 35. Bh5

with a dominating position for White in Karpov,A-Unzicker,W, Nice 1974

1-0

Surprise your opponent in the Endgame - when a pawn is more valuable than a knight

This post continues the series of videos from my latest ebook called "Rook and Knight Endgames - Strategy and Tactics" .

Attack With Alexander Morozevich - eBook Sequel

I have just published my latest book in the Practical Tactics Series: Attack with Alexander Morozevich - Selected Games and Best Combinations. The format is similar to “Counterattack with Alexander Morozevich”, but the second book focuses on his games with the White pieces and has more examples and some of the games are annotated in more details.

 

Video preview of my earlier book about Morozevich:

 

Improve Your Play in Complex Endgames: Mikhail Botvinnik's skillful piece play

Here is another sample video from my latest Ebook  called "Rook and Knight Endgames - Strategy and Tactics"

Chess Strategy and Tactics: Ebook about rook and knight endgames

I added a new ebook to my list of my publications, this one is called "Rook and Knight Endgames - Strategy and Tactics".

This ebook is a follow up to my ebook about endings with each side having a rook and a bishop of opposite color - Bishop endgames - Do the opposites Attract?. The idea behind these series is the approach that Nimzowitsch used to call "a radioactive method" - selecting a rather narrow topic, and by learning a lot about it, understand chess much better in general. This time I would like to look at endings with rook + knight Vs. rook + knight. This material balance is also a quite frequent guest in tournaments, and some classical ideas and endgames have become well-known. Nonetheless, there is some lack of discussion of this topic in chess literature. Mikhail Botvinnik was well known for his great technique in this type of endings, and I would strongly recommend to the reader to study two famous endgames Botvinnik-Alekhine 1938, and Botvinnik-Levenfish, 1937. Instead of these, I included several less known examples from his career. Also games by other famous players such as Korchnoi, Morozevich and Anand are featured.

Sample game video:

Chess World Championship Preview - Combinations by Anand and Carlsen

The World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Viswanathan Anand has been anticipated throughout the chess world since Carlsen qualified from the London Candidates tournament, and there has been no shortage of forecasts. Rather than try to predict the winner, I released a new ebook that gives a preview of the match by showing the best combinations of each player - collected throughout their entire careers. You get a chance to play like the current world champion, or like the future one, if the title changes hands in the 2013 match.

Over 130 annotated test positions will help you better appreciate the enormous tactical strength of both players, while also serving as a tribute to the careers of both players. This is my 6th book on Amazon; other books are described in my older post From Blogging to Ebooks.

You can get the book from Amazon here: World Championship Preview - Combinations by Anand and Carlsen 

Here are a couple of sample puzzles/combinations from the book (Hint – there is a similarity between the two puzzles as the same piece is being sacrificed.

Anand, Viswanathan - Kasparov, Garry 1991 , B82

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f4 e6 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. O-O Qb6 9. Be3 Qxb2 10. Ndb5 axb5 11. Nxb5 Ra5 12. Rb1 Rxb5 13. Rxb2 Rxb2 14. Qa1 Rb6 15. Bxb6 Nxb6 16. Qc3 Be7 17. Rb1 Nfd7 18. Qxg7 Bf6 19. Qh6 Ke7 20. Bb5 Rg8 21. Rd1 e5 22. f5 Nc5

White to move. See the solution and full game here.

Carlsen, Magnus - Andriasian, Zaven  2003 , D17

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Nh4 e6 7. Nxf5 exf5 8. e3 Bd6 9. Bxc4 O-O 10. Qf3 g6 11. h3 h5 12. Bd2 Nbd7 13. O-O-O a6 14. g4 fxg4 15. hxg4 hxg4 16. Qg2 b5 17. Ba2 c5 18. Ne4 Qe7 19. Nxd6 Qxd6 20. dxc5 Qe7 21. Bc3 Rac8 22. Rxd7 Qxc5 23. Kb1 b4

White to move See the solution and the full game here

Improve your Chess with a Free Chess Database program - Scid Vs Pc

Scid Vs. Pc is a Chess Database program. You can get it at http://scidvspc.sourceforge.net . In this video I give an overview of the program, show how to enter new games, annotate the move, and batch annotate the games with an engine (aka "annofritz").

Topalov Defeats Anand - Bishops of Opposite Color Endgame

This game in the video is taken from my E-book about endgames with bishops of opposite color.
http://www.amazon.com/Bishop-Endgames...
The book is formatted for electronic readers and can be read on devices of various sizes, from tablets to phones. The free sample includes 3 thoroughly annotated games and the full book comes with dozens of training positions to help develop a good sense for positions with bishops of opposite colour.

This bishop endgame is a good illustration of thinking in schemes. Black had to keep track of the functions of each of his pieces - in the final position the king had to block the pawn 'd', and the bishop - defend the 'h7' pawn. Because they reversed the roles after Anand's mistake, White had an option of breaking through to the 'd' pawn and winning a piece.

Chess Position Trainer - Study and Practice Chess Openings

 The video shows how to 
- review and import a repertoire in Chess Position Trainer 4.0
- train against an existing repertoire, from a specific position
- review statistics to see how well you know your repertoir
I use Slav exchange for Black to illustrate the tool's main capabilities.

From Blogging to Ebooks

You may have noticed a certain lack of updates on this blog in the past year or so. This has been mostly related to my attention being focused to writing chess Ebooks.

Today I would like to overview what I had published in the past year. While blogging is a simple way of sharing chess knowledge, it is less appropriate for explaining a topic in more details. This is where ebooks come in.  My books so far have been focused on three main themes - endgames, tactics and opening/middlegame. I plan to continue expanding on these themes further.

Tactics

It is essential for every chess player to be continuously working on their tactics, so I wrote a couple of books that allow readers to easily practice their skills on the Kindle, or on any IOS or Android Mobile device.

• Counterattack with Alexander Morozevich - tactics from the perspective of a single player playing with the Black pieces.
• Tactics from Chess World Cup - tactics from a single tournament where players of various strengths are participating, and are playing with different time controls

Openings

Every game has an opening stage, and it's important to be prepared for anything an opponent can surprise you with, and also to have a few ideas of your own.

• Spanish Opening - Strategy and Tactics - a major opening covered from White's perspective, with several key games showing the main ideas behind every variation that Black can choose.
• Exchange Slav - Strategy and Tactics  - a more detailed study of a single variation in an opening. The focus is on themes - pawn structures and plans.

Both opening books contain a large number of puzzles, to reinforce the ideas of each opening.

Endgames

In my opinion, it makes sense to cover endgames based on material, and from learning one material balance it is possible to understand endgames deeper in general.

•  Bishop Endgames - Bishops of Opposite Colour is the theme I chose.

The book also has a lot of endgame puzzles to solve.

I would be very glad to hear your feedback and suggestions for future books!

Classic Bishop Endgame by Botvinnik - video

This game is taken from my E-book about endgames with bishops of opposite color.
http://www.amazon.com/Bishop-Endgames...
The book is formatted for electronic readers and can be read on devices of various sizes, from tablets to phones. The free sample includes 3 thoroughly annotated games and the full book comes with dozens of training positions to help develop a good sense for positions with bishops of opposite colour.

In this game Botvinnik aimed for having 2 distant passed pawns that his opponent's bishop could not block from the same diagonal. At the same time he was not concerned about giving opponent passed pawns - as long as his own bishop could stay on the same diagonal while guarding them.
Modern computer engines have a hard time correctly understanding the position and finding Botvinnik's moves. A lot of his play is very conceptual and requires calculation deeper than 10 moves ahead, but can be described verbally by a human.

Tactics from Chess World Cup 2013 in Tromso - Ebook

As many chess fans, I followed this year's Chess World Cup, and it inspired me to create a collection of best combinations from that tournament.
Here is the video describing this book (http://www.amazon.com/Play-Like-Grandmaster-Practical-ebook/dp/B00F785SJS/)

How to Think in Chess - Preventing Opponent's Combinations and Prophylactic Thinking

Keres Memorial 2013, Vancouver, Highlights of my Round 5 game

How to Think in Chess - Preventing Opponent's Plan and Prophylactic Thinking

Keres Memorial 2013, Vancouver, Highlights of my Round 3 game

Chess Game against an IM - Prophylactic Thinking and Anticipating Opponent's Moves

Keres Memorial 2013, Vancouver, Highlights of my Round 2 game

ChessTV - Interview with Carlsen prior to his match with Anand, 2013

I've been following ChessTV recently quite a lot, it's a great project and today they posted an interesting interview with Magnus Carlsen:

Chess game analysis - Prophylactic Thinking and Anticipating Opponent's Moves

Keres Memorial 2013, Vancouver, Highlights of my Round 1 game

Endgame Puzzle Solutions

Sargissian, Gabriel - Efimenko, Zahar
Bundesliga 0607  2007.02.03  

White to move
Solution: 36. Rc8 Rxc8 37. Bxe6+

This is decisive, because all of Black's pawns are also vulnerable.

37. ... Kf8 38. Bxc8 Ke7 39. Bb7 Ke6 40. Bc6 Bd2 41. Ba4 Bc3 42. Kf1 Bd2 43. Ke2 Bb4 44. Bc2 1-0

---

Kopylov, Mikhail - Kayser, Felix
Bayern-chI Bank Hofmann 10th  2006.11.12  

White to move
Solution: 39. Bxb5 d4

( 39. ... Rxb5 40. Ra7 +- )

40. Bc4 dxe3+ 41. Kxe3 Bb6+ 42. Ke4 Kf6 43. a4 Bg1 44. b5 Bxh2 45. Rxe6+ Kg7 46. b6 Bg1 47. a5 Rd7 48. Bd5 1-0

---

These positions are taken from my E-book about endgames with bishops of opposite colour:

The book is formatted for electronic readers and can be read on devices of various sizes, from tablets to phones. The free sample includes 3 thoroughly annotated games and the full book comes with dozens of training positions to help develop a good sense for positions with bishops of opposite colour.

Endgame Puzzles

Sargissian, Gabriel - Efimenko, Zahar
Bundesliga 0607  2007.02.03  

White to move

---

Kopylov, Mikhail - Kayser, Felix
Bayern-chI Bank Hofmann 10th  2006.11.12  

White to move

These positions are taken from my E-book about endgames with bishops of opposite colour:

The book is formatted for electronic readers and can be read on devices of various sizes, from tablets to phones. The free sample includes 3 thoroughly annotated games and the full book comes with dozens of training positions to help develop a good sense for positions with bishops of opposite colour.

Carlsen outplays Karjakin in a tricky endgame

Carlsen, Magnus - Karjakin, Sergey Tata Steel Chess 2013

The game is taken from my E-book about endgames with bishops of opposite colour:

The book is formatted for electronic readers and can be read on devices of various sizes, from tablets to phones. The free sample includes 3 thoroughly annotated games and the full book comes with dozens of training positions to help develop a good sense for positions with bishops of opposite colour.

This game has drawn a lot of attention due to the manner in which Carlsen outplayed his opponent.

53. f4  Carlsen wisely advances pawns on the dark squares to restrict Black's bishop - something we'll see very often in these endgames.

53. ... Bd6 54. Re8 Rb7 55. Ra8 Be7 56. Kg2 Rb1

57. e5 Re1 58. Kf2 Rb1 59. Re8 Bf8 60. Rc8 Be7

61. Ra8 Rb2+ 62. Kf3 Rb1 63. Bd5 Re1 64. Kf2 Rd1 65. Re8 Bf8 66. Bc4 Rb1

 Question: How can White make progress?

Answer: by undermining Black's pawn chain and trying to advance f4-f5-f6, even if that involves some sacrifices.

67. g4

After some manoeuvring, Carlsen begins a major pawn breakthrough that aims against Black bishop and king that have been boxed on the kingside. Due to his active rook Black had his chances, but they were extremely difficult to exploit in the time trouble that Karjakin was in.

67. ... hxg4 68. h5 Rh1

( 68. ... gxh5! 69. f5 h4 70. f6+ Kg6 71. Rxf8
71. ... Kf5 White won the bishop, but Black gets enough counterplay due to his active pawns, king and rook. 72. Rh8 Rb2+ 73. Kg1 Rb1+ with a perpetual check. )

69. hxg6 fxg6 70. Re6

Temporarily Black has an extra pawn, but his pawns are now vulnerable, and Black's bishop still has no moves.

70. ... Kh6 71. Bd5 Rh2+ 72. Kg3 Rh3+ 73. Kxg4 Rxd3

74. f5

( 74. Be4!? was also possible. )

74. ... Re3 75. Rxg6+ Kh7 76. Bg8+ Kh8

77. Kf4

White's pawns are further advanced and better supported by his pieces.

77. ... Rc3 78. f6 d3 79. Ke3 c4 80. Be6 Kh7 81. Bf5 Rc2

The black king is still a vulnerable piece that Carlsen keeps exploiting. Now he utilizes the discovered check to transpose into a winning bishop endgame. His two connected passed pawns will be enough for a win because they are still placed on dark squares and cannot be blocked by the black bishop.

82. Rg2+ Kh6 83. Rxc2 dxc2 84. Bxc2

84. ... Kg5 85. Kd4 Ba3 86. Kxc4 Bb2 87. Kd5 Kf4 88. f7 Ba3 89. e6 Kg5 90. Kc6 Kf6 91. Kd7 Kg7

92. e7  Black resigned, as White inevitably promotes a pawn.  1-0

What is your Favourite Chess Software – poll?

Chess is what drove my interest to software in the first place, and in a way, the two have been fuelling my curiosity for each other. On this blog I write about chess software quite a bit, with the recent focus on free tools in particular. I added a new poll to the blog – I am curious to learn what chess tools are really the most popular among the readers of this blog. Please make your choice:

Bishops and Rooks - Solutions

Matnadze, Ana - Gagunashvili, Merab
GEO-ch I Liga  2002.04.27  

White to move
Solution: 37. Bxf7+

White wins the pawn and obtains the e6 square for the bishop. Either capture is met by c8Q.

37. ... Kh8 38. Be6 1-0

---

Wirig, Anthony - Loetscher, Roland
Mitropa Cup 22nd  2003.05.19  

White to move
Solution: 40. Rxe6 Rxe6 41. Bxd5 Kf7 42. f4

White has time to put pawn on f5 and regain the rook.

42. ... gxf4 43. gxf4 Bd6 44. f5 Kf6 45. fxe6 h4 46. Kg2 Ke5 47. Bc4 Ke4 48. Kh3 Be7 49. Kg4 Ke5 50. Kh5 Kf5 51. e4+ 1-0

---

These positions are taken from my E-book about endgames with bishops of opposite colour:

The book is formatted for electronic readers and can be read on devices of various sizes, from tablets to phones. The free sample includes 3 thoroughly annotated games and the full book comes with dozens of training positions to help develop a good sense for positions with bishops of opposite colour.

Rooks and Bishops – Find the best move

Matnadze, Ana - Gagunashvili, Merab
GEO-ch I Liga  2002.04.27  

White to move


Wirig, Anthony - Loetscher, Roland
Mitropa Cup 22nd  2003.05.19  

White to move

These positions are taken from my E-book about endgames with bishops of opposite colour:

The book is formatted for electronic readers and can be read on devices of various sizes, from tablets to phones. The free sample includes 3 thoroughly annotated games and the full book comes with dozens of training positions to help develop a good sense for positions with bishops of opposite colour.

I think ebooks are a very promising media for chess content, and would be very interested to hear what you think about it.

SCID vs PC latest release – docking feature

I am very impressed with the very latest release of SCID vs PC 4.9. It has a docking feature, which up to this point had been missing in this otherwise excellent (and free!) software product.

I can move sub-windows around, and as one would expect, as I navigate through the move in the game, SCID updates the tree view.

As a side note, while playing with docking, I also realized that any database in SCID can also be opened as a tree, which is very handy, and allows to look at multiple trees at the same time!

Bishop Endgame - Solution

Kiviharju – Ehrnrooth, Finland  1982  

Black to move
Solution: he must initiate a breakthrough on the queenside to create a second passed pawn. 1. ... b5! 2. axb5

( 2. Bxb5 Kxb3 -+ would give Black a passed 'c' pawn. )

2. ... f3+!

It is essential to open up the bishop to control 'b8' square, so that White does not get counterplay by advancing his own pawn. Material considerations are less important than strategic values!

( 2. ... a4? 3. Kf3 a3 4. b6 a2 5. b7 a1=Q 6. b8=Q+ = )

3. Kxf3 a4 4. Bd3 Kxb3   White resigned because he will have to give up the bishop for 'a' pawn. 0-1

This position is taken from my E-book about endgames with bishops of opposite color:

The book is formatted for electronic readers and can be read on devices of various sizes, from tablets to phones. The free sample includes 3 thoroughly annotated games and the full book comes with dozens of training positions to help develop a good sense for positions with bishops of opposite colour.

I think ebooks are a very promising media for chess content, and would be very interested to hear what you think about it.

Bishop Endgame – Find the Best move

Kiviharju – Ehrnrooth, Finland  1982  

 Black to move (Solution will be posted tomorrow)

This position is taken from my E-book about endgames with bishops of opposite color:

The book is formatted for electronic readers and can be read on devices of various sizes, from tablets to phones. The free sample includes 3 thoroughly annotated games and the full book comes with dozens of training positions to help develop a good sense for positions with bishops of opposite colour.

I think ebooks are a very promising media for chess content, and would be very interested to hear what you think about it.

Garry Kasparov Turns 50

Time flies, only “a few years ago” I was watching on Soviet TV an interview of a 27 year old Garry Kasparov while he was playing his last match against Karpov in 1990, and now he suddenly turns 50!

As a little tribute, here is a recent video I made of one of his last successful performances:

Training games for chess improvement – Botvinnik’s method

Mikhail Botvinnik was a big supporter of training games as a tool for the chess improvement.  He himself played a number of such games and later published some in the collection of his games. He showed how ideas developed in training games helped him to win the competitive games. In fact, Jan Timman published an entire book dedicated to Botvinnik’s training games.

As for myself, about 10 years ago I played a match of 10 training games against an opponent of roughly my strength. I lost the match by 1 point and overall it was a good experience. Both me and my opponent noticed that we were willing to take more risks than in usual tournament games. It also helped my opening repertoire to include the Open Sicilian.

Here is my analysis of one of Botvinnik’s training games: Part 1

Part 2

How to Analyze a Chess Game - 10 Point Checklist

I already wrote about analyzing chess games, but would like to return to the subject, as I have recently re-evaluated the thoroughness with which this has to be done. Now I created a 10 point checklist, which repeats some of the previous ideas, but is more appropriate in the context of a single analyzed game:

1. Is the opening well annotated? Will you likely have problems in the same line ever again? Against the same opponent?
2. Do you have an evaluation graph of the game – in SCID or elsewhere? If not – do you have an idea of when advantage shifted from one side to another?
3. Is every blunder marked as “?” in your analysis?
4. Have you updated your opening repertoire (if you have it stored on a computer) based on this game?
5. Did you learn anything about chess in general from this game? Write it down!
6. Did you learn anything about yourself? Did it reveal your weakness in any area of the game – tactics, strategy, psychological issues (lack of confidence, nervousness, etc)?
7. Was your time management in this game appropriate? Would a grandmaster have to spend as much time on those moves as you did?
8. Did you write down your thoughts? Did you put down all the candidate moves you considered?
9. Are there any moves that you did not consider during the game – but now realize should have been on your mind?
10. Does it now feel like you spent way too much time going through this game??

Preparing for an Opponent in Scid – Player Report

This is a simple walkthrough of how to use SCID to prepare for a specific opponent in your future games.
In SCID Tools –> Player Report brings up the following window:

Clicking “OK” generates the report for the selected player. Moves and themes are looks particularly interesting:

But what we mostly care about is the opening, so that’s what it looks like:

This can be printed and analyzed with the board, or you can click links and load games into SCID.
Again, SCID proves out to be a very functional chess tool that gives you your chess database essentials.