WGM Raluca Sgîrcea - Page 49
WGM Raluca Sgîrcea is a Romanian chess player and coach. She was born on 11 July 1989.
Her peak rating was 2302 in October 2014.
She won the European Youth Chess Championship in the U10 girls category in 1999. She became a Woman International Master (WIM) in 2011 and achieved one Woman Grandmaster (WGM) norm. She speaks Romanian, English and Spanish.
Chess Articles by WGM Raluca Sgîrcea
Fighting the Slav Defense with the Rausis Gambit
The Slav defense is possibly among the top three choices for black against 1.d4. After the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3, white not only must know the main line of the Slav with 4…dxc4 but also, but he should also be prepared against the move 4…e6, the Semi-Slav variation. The amount of […]3 Club Players Games Annotated by IM Renier Castellanos
In today’s article we picked 3 of the games played by the club players and analyzed by IM Renier Castellanos. These games were submitted to us by players who signed up for our training course during the live lecture event. It is always interesting (and very educational indeed) to observe the difference in thinking and […]Fighting the French Defense with 3.Nd2
The French defense (1..e6) is one the most popular responses to 1.e4 in contemporary chess tournaments. It gives black possibilities to create unbalanced positions in a very early stage of the game. Unlike the Sicilian, the positions arising are considerably more closed, with pawns chains in the center.The King’s Indian Defense – Mar del Plata Variation
The King’s Indian Defense remains one of the main weapons to play for a win against white’s 1.d4. This ever popular defense has had its ups and downs through the history of modern practice. It started getting very popular during the 50’s, with the help of players like Bronstein, Geller, and Gligoric.3 Best Games of the Week: How to Beat a Grandmaster
This one was a major upset at Revjiavik Open just a few days ago. Fide Master (FM) Daniel Bisby (2321) from England defeated one of the top Grandmasters, no less than Sergey Movsesian (2665). With very creative play in a Kings Indian Attack white managed to breakthrough black’s setup. A game worth seeing.The Queen’s Gambit Declined: Alternative Plans
In our previous article on the Queen’s Gambit declined we mentioned the main plans for white in the Carlsbad structure seen below:3 Best Games of the Week – 3
This week we will analyze the games Mamedyarov – Ivanchuk, Navara – Nepomniachtchi and Bartel – Nepomniachtchi. The first game shows an interesting way to play against the Capablanca variation of the Nimzo Indian defense. In the second game Navara shows how to outplay black with a rare line against the symmetrical English. And finally, […]The Queen’s Gambit: The Minority Attack in The Carlsbad Pawn Structure
Before starting the actual presentation, we will first address a basic question to the understanding of this article: “What is the ‘Carlsbad pawn structure’?” This notion refers to the pawn structure arising in the Exchange Variation of the Queen’s Gambit, which made its debut in Carlsbad, in 1923. We can see this pawn formation in […]The Queen’s Side Pawn Majority: 5 Rules to Know
You must have heard a million times that a queenside pawn majority is usually preferable, as it gives you a significant strategic advantage. But why is it better and how should you play in order to increase your advantage? It is common knowledge that a queenside majority is dangerous in the endgames, but, many times, […]3 Best Games of the Week – 2
For this week we have chosen a Slav Defense, an English opening and a Kings Indian defense with 7…Na6. They all have in common very lively play with fancy attacks, but also lots of complications that are analyzed in detail.
