TCW Academy
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 b5… That’s one of around 30 ways to reach the Blumenfeld Gambit – a peculiar position where Black is ready to sacrifice a pawn and gain massive central control in return.
Fantasy Variation vs. Caro-Kann? Caro-Kann is easily one of the most solid defenses Black can come up with. Almost ZERO holes in the position. But great chess players say, when there exist no holes, you must poke… and create them.
g4 Gambit vs. Philidor? This is the position. Just where the Pirc Defense morphs into the Philidor Defense…
Semi-Tarrasch Defense: Need an ‘off-the-radar’ opening for Black that can be played against many 1.d4 variations leading to a sharp attacking play, not boring positional maneuvering? If you are looking for that ‘0-1’ win, GM Marian Petrov has prepared something very special for you.
Modern Benoni was invented in 1927… and quickly forgotten. Then, after 20 years of ignorance, this opening was revived by Mikail Tal.
King and Pawn Endgames: Club players and beginners underestimate their importance. They assume it’s unlikely they’ll ever reach the ending and will be better off learning the openings. Huge mistake.
Checkmating Patterns: Most club players study tactics the wrong way. They focus on quantity and repetition, ignoring the most important step… then get surprised about the lack of progress. Grandmasters know better.
Finding winning moves is by far the most difficult and important element of chess. The reason is simple. There are just too many possibilities for creating a straightforward ‘algorithm’ for identifying the best moves. Even almighty computer engines struggle in this territory.
Chess Strategy and its principles. Have you been trying to improve at chess for months without seeing any noticeable progress? You’ve been working on all the “most important” elements of chess just to see no rating gain at all?
David Bronstein: He was one of the top players for 30 years… He narrowly missed a chance to become a World Champion (although Kasparov later wrote he should have, based on the quality of his play)… His main weapon was tactics & brilliant combinations… Any guess what player are we talking about!?
