In 3+ hours, GM Marian Petrov is here to take you through some of the best games of Ulf Andersson and discuss how he outplayed his opponents with little nuances and slight advantages.
“For him, exchanges are often not the prelude to a quick draw but the signal that it is time for his opponent to start suffering.” – Dennis Monokroussos, chess author and Fide Master
Wondering who they are talking about?
It’s Ulf Andersson, who was widely known for his positional chess prowess and for his ability to squeeze wins out of “unwinnable” endgames.
During the periods 1982-84 and 1988-91 he was in the World’s top ten… reaching number four at his peak!
Karpov had his first loss as World Champion against Ulf Andersson in 1975…
He drew a six-game match with none other than the “magician from Riga”, Mikhail Tal in 1983…
He played top board in the Second USSR versus The Rest of The World Match in 1984…
In other words, Ulf Andersson was a positional chess juggernaut with a peak FIDE rating of 2650.
If you want to improve your positional chess and studying games of the positional chess maestros, you should include Andersson in that list too.
In 3+ hours, GM Marian Petrov is here to take you through some of the best games of Ulf Andersson and discuss how he outplayed his opponents with little nuances and slight advantages.
If you want to experience a real-life GM commentating on some of the greatest positional chess masterpieces, give this course a look. You will love it!
What you will learn:
- Turning BAD pieces into good. Karpov, as White, did everything right as he usually does… even trapping that light-squared bishop of Black inside a nasty pawn chain! See how Ulf activated his knights, traded them off for White’s bishops, and enters active bishop vs passive knight endgame.
- Queen endgame domination. The more pieces Tal had, the more chances of a piece sacrifice and an ensuing tactical attack… What did Ulf do? Exchanged off all the pieces, tucked his king into a safety pocket, and dominated the queen endgame for a healthy extra pawn. (…magician outspelled!)
- Extra pawn nullified. In the 1983 Nicsic International match, Petrosian went for an exchange sacrifice to get an extra central pawn. With an active king and bishop, supported by the knight, he was about to promote it. Look how masterfully Ulf placed his king to block it from advancing and then unleashed his killer rooks like a mafia boss out for revenge!
- Two extra passed pawns. The 1971 Wijk aan Zee match between Korchnoi and Andersson is the perfect example of prophylaxis in chess. Every plan nipped right in the bud, every active piece taken out, every key square dominated… and then Black’s light-squared bishop just finishes the game capturing two pawns on a- and b- files.
- Slow but steady wins. Andersson didn’t rush… he would slowly improve his position, ONE MOVE AT A TIME! That’s what he did against Adams in the 1991 Biel match. Michael, as White, sure mounted an attack on the kingside but it fizzled against Ulf as Black… while in the queen endgame, Black simply got a more active queen, check, pawn push, check, pawn push, and finally, White resigns.
About the Author:
GM Marian Petrov (FIDE 2537)
Is an accomplished professional chess coach, theorist, and Bulgarian champion for 2002 and 2017, as well as winner of many open tournaments around the world. Also a FIDE trainer and coach of the team of Wales at the last Olympiad in Baku in 2016. He graduated from the National Sports Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria with a Bachelor’s degree in Chess Pedagogy, a four-year undergraduate program designed to prepare top-level chess trainers.
