Fighting the London System

196 pages.

I cannot believe how much is being published on this opening!

TWIC 1186

King’s Indian Games

Sivuk-Kovalev g3 10.c5(E69)

After 27..Qa5(Diagram)

White has compensation for the exchange based on the weak kingside dark squares. How to continue?

After 27..Qa5

New titles now available from New in Chess

e3 Poison-Axel Smith

Another something big from Quality Chess

392 pages.

TP Chess Puzzle Book 2016

13 Chapters, around 300 puzzles.

310 pages

“This book is aimed at ambitious players and we assume that the reader has an advanced chess education, knowing all the basic tactical motives. Also we assume that he is able to calculate longer variations and is trained to do so for more than 10 minutes if necessary.

Wait, do I really need 10 minutes for every puzzle? No, relax. All chapters start with easy puzzles but the level of difficulty increases and depending on your skills you will need sometimes more than 20 minutes, sometimes you probably won´t even find the solution. We included some brain crushers from whom we think that even grandmasters will have problems solving. But that should not pose a problem.

In our opinion the journey is the reward. Sometimes looking at a position for a long time and then finding something new you couldn’t spot in the beginning, might be even more beneficial. The harder you try, the more you will benefit. We experienced from working with the book at home, it takes a lot of discipline, but we are certain that with a regular practice your calculation skills will improve a lot.

Another good method is to train with a partner of similar strength or in a group. We used examples from the book in our own training sessions and think it will be very useful for chess coaches who are in need of new material for their pupils.(more)”

Starting Rank

An embarrassingly LOW turnout so far. Maybe everyone is taking a nice relaxing vacation 🙂

Lots of new material in this week’s TWIC issue 1185.

The Hyper Accelerated and Accelerated Dragon

Selected games.

Game 1: Kislinsky Vorobiov

After 12.0-0(Diagram)

Black is uncastled and behind in development but White is the one with problems.

After 12.0-0

Game 2: Solodovnichenko-Bogdanovich,S

After 15.Nd5(Diagram)

The idea of ..Rfc8 was ..Be8 to secure the kingside without trapping the Rf8(compared to ..Rac8).

Find the right plan for Black.

After 15.Nd5

Game 3: Vocaturo-Colpe

The Panjwani System 8..a6 continues to hold up well. White introduced 12.Bc5N which was overly convincing even though White managed to win the game.

After 14.Qf3(Diagram)

White seems to have some pressure on the queenside with the Bc5 looking imposing.

What should Black do now?

After 14.Qf3

The Accelerated Dragon 7.Bc4(B35)

Canadian IM Panjawani gives a complete Black repertoire based on 2..g6, “The Hyper Accelerated Dragon”.

The Panjwani System got a boost from GM Edouard in the last TWIC issue.

8..a6!? is covered in depth in chapter 3.

Drozdowski-Edouard

Panjwani System 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3 a6

White introduced a harmless novelty 11.0-0 and got nothing from the opening.

After 18.Nac5(Diagram)

Black is better but what is the best way to continue?

After 18.Nac5

Sicilian Sidelines

Game 1: Daulyte-Jones,G

English GM Jones is well-known for his 2-volume books on The Sicilian Dragon. He also uses the 2..g6 Hyper Accelerated Dragon.

Hyper Acclerated Dragon(B27)

After 15.Qc4(Diagram)

Black faced the 15.Qc4 novelty in the 4.Qxd4 sideline.

After 15.Qc4

Later in the game

After 22..Ne7(Diagram)

White has some pressure in the endgame but continued inaccurately.

After 22..Ne7

Game 2: Bartel-Cheparinov

Rossolimo Sicilian 3.Bb5+Nd7(B51)

After 25..Kh7(Diagram)

White has an impressive kingside buildup but how to continue?

After 22..Kh7

A Line for White

Saturday afternoon has come and gone.

Between tournaments, everyone is usually busy stockpiling lines for their repertoire databases. Ideas can come from anywhere but one key source is the New in Chess Yearbook.

YB121

11.Rc1 has received some attention in YB121(IM Karolyi,T) so I thought it was worth a deeper look.

11.Bc4 is the aggressive old main line that I was familiar with based on some old games that I remembered, for example Polugaevsky-Tal. However, it has been a while since I updated the little that I know.

After 11.Rc1

Swayams-Tica, Zalakaros 2017

After 23..Qb6(Diagram)

White is clearly dominating but how to finish the job?

After 23..Qb6

From TWIC 1182 July 4

Sicilian Taimanov

Oparin-Najer

7.Qf3 Queen Transfer Variation(B48)

After 35.Bd4(Diagram)

White blocked the a1-h8 diagonal to secure the queenside but there is a big problem now.

Black to play and win now.

After 35.Bd4

London System

Le Quang Liem-Tang,A

White did nothing really special in the opening and was invited to kill the housebound Black king.

After 20..Kg7(Diagram)

How to continue with the kingside assault?

After 20..Kg7

More painful but necessary work. I have fallen into the bad habit of not checking key losses very carefully but after the poor results from my last two tournaments, it is clear something has gone wrong and needs fixing.

Step one is find all the mistakes and then isolate the cause(s).

Gal-Yip

This was the first of two losses in my last tournament.

Queen’s Indian Defence

Art Pub Open June 2017

After 19.g4(Diagram)

How should Black defend the kingside?

After 19.g4

After 22..Kh8(Diagram)

Things have gone badly for Black and now it is White to play and win essentially.

After 22..Kh8