COACHING, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

MAKING NOTES IN TOURNAMENTS

In this week's Webinar I spoke about my training schedule before Nova Gorica, which went quite well. I also made some notes about things I want to do to improve still further, something that has been a long standing habit for me. Taking notes during tournaments tends to keep things realistic, back home in the armchair we can have all kinds of fancy and misguided ideas, particularly with regard to the openings we want to play.

What were my conclusions? One of the main ones was that conserving energy seems like a good idea, I tried to sleep more and prepare much less and I managed to concentrate quite well throughout the event. Daily tactical and endgame puzzles also seemed to work well, my calculation was sharper that it's been in years. What is on my 'to do' list? Basically to know any opennings I play well enough that I don't have to prepare too much.

What should be in your tournament notes? Essentially this is a reflective exercise which is meant to capture your thoughts and feelings when going into games. What are you worried about? Have you noticed any weak points to your game? What would you like to be able to do better? There was a time when I had a special notebook for my reflections, these days I keep the notes online. The don't need to be extensive, quality and relevance is much more important than quantity.

Training Tournaments

There have been some changes since I handed over the organization of these. Here are the ones that are currently scheduled:

Sunday February 8th, 5pm UK Queen's Gambit Declined

Sunday February 8th, 6.15pm UK Time: French Defence

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off The Why and How of Chess Annotations using the code 'feb6to14'. Annotating games can be a powerful improvement method if done in the right way. With this video you will learn how to use a reflective process to improve how you play, going beyond computer annotations.

Last week's discount was 40% off Mastering Key Pawn Structures: ZOOM Formations using the code 'jan30feb7', and this is still available until close of play tomorrow. This video series will consider ZOOM formations, which typically arise from the Gruenfeld Defence and Catalan Opening, and which were covered by Stefan Zeuthen and Bent Larsen in the classic book 'ZOOM 001: Zero Hour for Operative Opening Models'.

Upcoming Events

I've now signed up for a 4NCL Congress over Easter, and will be playing for the England 50+ first team in the World Senior Team Championships in April. I might look for another weekend event in February or March.

April 3 - 6: 4NCL Easter Congress, Daventry

I try to make most of the 4NCL Congresses because I like them so much. This one is 7 rounds, and played over Easter weekend.

April 18 - 29: World Senior Team Championships, Durres, Albania
I've had confirmation that I'll be in the 50+ first team for this one.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

MEMBERS ONLY, PATTERN RECOGNITION, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING, Uncategorized

BORROWING GRANDMASTER OPENING RESEARCH

In this week's Chess Questions Answered video, I explained how we can borrow ideas from great players by paying close attention to their games. They'll often devote a lot of time and energy to solving particular opening problems, so it's well worth seeing what they play in positions which might have given us cause for concern. A related approach is to copy the opening repertoire of a player whose style we like, watching for any new games that they play.

I've never been someone who has played topical and critical lines, but I have borrowed ideas from players I've admired. I have used many Paul Keres ideas, particular as Black in the Ruy Lopez. In many cases it has been lesser known players who played something that appealed to me, and the advantage there is that it might not be as fashionable.

One opening that I've played quite a lot is the Torre Attack, but only after 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 and now 3.Bg5. Keres played this and Smyslov too. It probably doesn't give White anything if Black plays well, but the same is true of many sharp main lines. In my Torre studies I will look for other players who specialize in it and take careful note of the lines they play.

A good place to start with this approach is to find a player whose games you like. Can you also play some of their openings? If you can then give it a go!

Training Tournaments

Richard is doing a great job of running these, introducing a slightly longer time limit and starting some of them from the initial position or just a single first move. Here are the ones that are currently scheduled:

Sunday February 1st, 5pm UK Time Colle System

Sunday February 1st, 6.15pm UK Time: Torre Attack

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off Mastering Key Pawn Structures: ZOOM Formations using the code 'jan30feb7'. This video series will consider ZOOM formations, which typically arise from the Gruenfeld Defence and Catalan Opening, and which were covered by Stefan Zeuthen and Bent Larsen in the classic book 'ZOOM 001: Zero Hour for Operative Opening Models'.

Last week's discount is 40% off Learning from the Greats: Mikhail Botvinnik using the code 'jan23to31'. Botvinnik was a great master of the endgame and introduced a number of new methods including deep research into different opening systems. These insights would later to transmitted to one of his students, the formidable Garry Kasparov.

Upcoming Events

The final round of the HIT Open in Nova Gorica took place today, so I'm coming home tomorrow. I've signed up for a 4NCL Congress over Easter, and now understand that I'll be playing for the England 50+ first team in the World Senior Team Championships in April. I might look for another weekend event in February or March.

April 3 - 6: 4NCL Easter Congress, Daventry

I try to make most of the 4NCL Congresses because I like them so much. This one is 7 rounds, and played over Easter weekend.

April 18 - 29: World Senior Team Championships, Durres, Albania
I've had confirmation that I'll be in the 50+ first team for this one.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

OPENINGS, POSITIONAL PLAY, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

OPPOSITE COLOUR BISHOPS

The former World Champion, Boris Spassky, once described his marriage to his first wife Larissa as 'like opposite colour bishops'. In the chess World this picturesque metaphor became a way of describing marital estrangement, the opposite colour bishops move on different colour squares and in no way interact.

From the perspective of chess strategy, opposite colour bishops have some interesting features. Pure pawn endgames are notoriously drawish because opposite colour bishops can help blockade otherwise dangerous passed pawns. Yet when you start to add more pieces, such bishops tend to favour the side with the initiative because they help a player attack things that cannot be defended.

In a tournament in Budapest, in 1987, I witnessed a game between Stefan Kindermann and Mikhail Gurevich which made a deep impression on me. At first sight it seemed that White had the better game, but then Black brought his pieces to bear on the vulnerable f2 pawn and eventually even won. At the time of this game Gurevich was not widely known, but within a few years he became recognized as one of the best players in the World.

This and two other opposite colour bishop games were included in this week's webinar, which can be viewed by Tiger Chess standard and premium members. Premium members also get access to the complete archive.

Training Tournaments

Richard is doing a great job of running these, introducing a slightly longer time limit and starting some of them from the initial position or just a single first move. Here are the ones that are currently scheduled:

Sunday January 25th, 5pm UK Time King's Indian Attack French

Sunday January 25th, 6.15pm UK Time: French Classical

Sunday February 1st, 5pm UK Time Colle System

Sunday February 1st, 6.15pm UK Time: Torre Attack

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off Learning from the Greats: Mikhail Botvinnik using the code 'jan23to31'. Botvinnik was a great master of the endgame and introduced a number of new methods including deep research into different opening systems. These insights would later to transmitted to one of his students, the formidable Garry Kasparov.

Last week's discount was 40% off Learning from the Greats: Anatoly Karpov using the code 'jan16to24', which is still valid until tomorrow. Anatoly Karpov is widely acknowledged as having been one of the greatest players in history, in this series of videos I examine Karpov's style and strengths, showing what can be learned from him.

Upcoming Events

I'm currently playing in Nova Gorica, in Slovenia shortly, one of my favourite tournaments in one of my favourite countries. I've also signed up for a 4NCL Congress over Easter, and now understand that I'll be playing for the England 50+ first team in the World Senior Team Championships in April. I might look for another weekend event in February or March.

January 23-30: Nova Gorica

A very nice and well organized event that starts today! Details can be found here.

April 3 - 6: 4NCL Easter Congress, Daventry

I try to make most of the 4NCL Congresses because I like them so much. This one is 7 rounds, and played over Easter weekend.

April 18 - 29: World Senior Team Championships, Durres, Albania
I've had confirmation that I'll be in the 50+ first team for this one.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

KARPOV AND PAWN ISLANDS

During my chess career I've experienced a number of revelations, as things gradually became clear to me. One of these was an understanding of Anatoly Karpov's playing style, which at one time I didn't understand at all. Eventually I started to see that one of his main strengths was a very subtle handling of pawn structures, gradually gaining the better position despite his opponents' apparent activity.

One of the moments of revelation was when I was watching his Candidates final game against Andrei Sokolov back in 1987. I was amazed at how he allowed Sokolov to get his pieces so active whilst gradually building the better pawn structure. Finally it became clear that Karpov's position was clearly better and he went on to win.

After this I took a renewed look at his games with just pawn structure in mind, and found that this was highly characteristic of his play. At first sight it would seem that he was doing very little, but as the game progressed he would achieve the better structure. This would then be converted in the late middlegame or endgame.

I was not very successful in implementing such techniques myself, I think I came to them rather too late. Having said that, Karpov's example helped me become more patient and at least try to play for long term advantages. I also started to realize when my opponents were doing this to me.

Training Tournaments

Richard is doing a great job of running these, introducing a slightly longer time limit and starting some of them from the initial position or just a single first move. Here are the ones that are currently scheduled:

Sunday January 18th, 5pm UK Time: Slav 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6

Sunday January 18th, 6.15pm UK Time: 1.e4 Only

Sunday January 25th, 5pm UK Time King's Indian Attack French

Sunday January 25th, 6.15pm UK Time: French Classical

Sunday February 1st, 5pm UK Time Colle System

Sunday February 1st, 6.15pm UK Time: Torre Attack

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off Learning from the Greats: Anatoly Karpov using the code 'jan16to24'. Anatoly Karpov is widely acknowledged as having been one of the greatest players in history, in this series of videos I examine Karpov's style and strengths, showing what can be learned from him.

Last week's discount is 40% off buying my flagship Building an Opening Repertoire course using the code 'jan9to17'. This course is built around using the moves 1.d4, 2.Nf3 and 3.e3 as White together with a similar formation as Black against pretty much everything. Whilst the early moves are quite simple there is still the opportunity for an interesting game, and a great many plans and ideas.

Upcoming Events

I'm playing in Nova Gorica, in Slovenia shortly, one of my favourite tournaments in one of my favourite countries. I'm also hoping to play in the World Senior Team Championships in April, but would need to be selected. Apart from that I might take part in a few local weekend events.

January 23-30: Nova Gorica

A very nice and well organized event, details can be found here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, FRENCH DEFENCE, OPENINGS, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

THE JOYS OF SIMPLICITY

This week I briefly presented the 3...h6 Queen's Gambit Declined (1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 h6) in the Chess Questions Answered video, having been asked about a simple defence against 1.d4. This line fits in with my other recommendations for club players, who often have limited time to study and should probably focus on the basics (tactics, strategy and endgames) rather than burden themselves with intricate opening lines.

This Queen's Gambit line is just one good example, others include the Fort Knox French and indeed my entire Building an Opening Repertoire course. The latter series has proven to be very popular with players who were just fed up with the intricacy of most opening videos and courses. I have also struggled to get to grips with many of today's offerings, and I don't believe it's because I have a particularly poor memory or ability to learn.

Are there other suitable openings? Yes indeed, for example the London System (1.d4 followed by 2.Nf3 and 3.Bf4 or even 2.Bf4) is a long-time favourite at club level and can be played in a no frills way. On the other hand it has become so popular that a large body of theory has build up around it, with some variations going well into the middle game.

Training Tournaments

Richard is doing a great job of running these, introducing a slightly longer time limit and starting some of them from the initial position or just a single first move. Here are the ones that are currently scheduled:

Sunday January 11th, 5pm UK Time: Catalan 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3

Sunday January 11th, 6.15pm UK Time: Standard Position

Sunday January 18th, 5pm UK Time: Slav 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6

Sunday January 18th, 6.15pm UK Time: 1.e4 Only
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off buying my flagship Building an Opening Repertoire course using the code 'jan9to17'. This course is built around using the moves 1.d4, 2.Nf3 and 3.e3 as White together with a similar formation as Black against pretty much everything. Whilst the early moves are quite simple there is still the opportunity for an interesting game, and a great many plans and ideas.

Last week's discount was 40% off buying my Creating an Improvement Plan series using the code 'jan2to10', but this is still valid until close of play tomorrow. Many players would like to improve but have little idea how to do it. In this series of videos I draw on decades of coaching experience to show how players can diagnose their strengths and weaknesses, then target the most important areas to make the most effective use of their efforts.

My Upcoming Events

I'll be playing in Nova Gorica, in Slovenia shortly, one of my favourite tournaments in one of my favourite countries. I'm also hoping to play in the World Senior Team Championships in April, but would need to be selected. Apart from that I might take part in a few local weekend events.

January 23-30: Nova Gorica

A very nice and well organized event, details can be found here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

PSYCHOLOGY, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

HABITS INSTEAD OF RESOLUTIONS

This week's Chess Questions Answered video addressed the issue of framing New Year resolutions. In fact it's well documented that resolutions are normally dropped after a few weeks, so instead I suggest the adoption of well crafted habits.

I recently started a few daily chess related habits that I hope will have a beneficial effect on my game. Basically it's solving a few tactics positions, a few endgames, doing some opening work and playing a few blitz games. Most days the blitz games are online, today I had a few games with my son Sam. He thought that I had become much sharper tactically, which confirms my sense about how things are progressing.

How should habits be formulated? Basically they should be doable on a daily basis, so using a phone for tactics and endgame exercises is a good start. There are various habit trackers around if that helps, I prefer keeping a mental note to keep my admin duties down to a minimum. I also make the tactics and endgame puzzles a priority and see the blitz games and opening training as an optional extra.

Training Tournaments

As I want to spend more time on content creation, writing, teaching and playing, I've handed the running of the training tournaments over to a couple of team members who regularly participate. You can find details of any events here. 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off buying my Creating an Improvement Plan series using the code 'jan2to10'. Many players would like to improve but have little idea how to do it. In this series of videos I draw on decades of coaching experience to show how players can diagnose their strengths and weaknesses, then target the most important areas to make the most effective use of their efforts.

Last week's discount is 40% off Endgame Mastery using the code 'dec26jan3'. In this series of videos I show how you can improve your endgame play and use this stage of the game to notch up valuable points.

My Upcoming Events

I'll be playing in Nova Gorica, in Slovenia this month, one of my favourite tournaments in one of my favourite countries. I'm also hoping to play in the World Senior Team Championships in April, but would need to be selected. Apart from that I might take part in a few local weekend events.

January 23-30: Nova Gorica

A very nice and well organized event, details can be found here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

BOOKS, BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

GETTING MORE FROM READING CHESS BOOKS

It's not enough to read a chess book, you also need to engage! I've previously recommended using any games presented as a 'guess the move' exercise, this week's Chess Questions Answered video explained another approach. Essentially you try to supplement any material presented with extra games, making you a kind of co-author. This should considerably enhance engagement and attention levels.

In the run up to getting the Grandmaster title in 1993, I did this with Mikhail Shereshevsky's Endgame Strategy. I looked for supplementary games for the different themes and noted them down at the end of every chapter. Wherever possible I would use my own games, though mainly they were examples from annotated games collections of great players.

What was the result? Well around this time my play improved a lot, and in particular my endgame play. This in turn had an effect on how I played the middle games, essentially I became more patient and was OK with exchanging pieces. Working on your endgame can produce great dividends, and I should add that Jonathan Hawkins, who tragically died this week, reported using such an approach in his book From Amateur to IM.

Training Tournaments

Sunday's training tournaments are in the Meran Variation (first of all 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 c6 5.e3 Bd6), which is one of the recommended lines for Black in the Building an Opening Repertoire course. The second features the move 5...a6, which I think is an interesting and less explored options.

Sunday December 28th at 5pm UK Time: Meran with 5...Bd6

Sunday December 28th at 6.15pm UK Time: Meran with 5...a6
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off Endgame Mastery using the code 'dec26jan3'. In this series of videos I show how you can improve your endgame play and use this stage of the game to notch up valuable points.

Last week's discount was 40% off Mastering Key Pawn Structures: ZOOM Formations, using the code 'dec19to27', and is still valid until tomorrow. This video series will consider ZOOM formations, which typically arise from the Gruenfeld Defence and Catalan Opening, and which were covered by Stefan Zeuthen and Bent Larsen in the classic book 'ZOOM 001: Zero Hour for Operative Opening Models'.

My Upcoming Events

I'll be playing in Nova Gorica, in Slovenia this coming month, one of my favourite tournaments in one of my favourite countries. I'm also hoping to play in the World Senior Team Championships in April, but would need to be invited!

January 23-30: Nova Gorica

A very nice and well organized event, details can be found here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, OPENINGS, POSITIONAL PLAY, QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING

STUDYING OPENINGS WITHOUT DATABASES

This week's Chess Questions Answered video explained an alternative way to use HIARCS Chess Explorer without recourse to a database of games. By using an online book and an engine, you already have enough to build your opening repertoire, and I understand that this kind of approach is the way things are heading amongst professional players. I did add that databases of correspondence games can be a useful addition, provided these games were played with the use of engines.

So is there any use at all for games databases? Most definitely there is, but mainly selecting some well played games and going through them to understand middlegame strategy. One thing that I've often done is to print out a bunch of games in an opening I wanted to play, and then play through them using an actual chess set. This makes the experience far more memorable than playing through them using the right hand arrow button in a computer database.

Are databases the only way to select such games? Certainly they make it easy to find interesting games in a particular opening, but chess books (the kind made of paper) have their advantages too. One of the biggest ones is that they will often have been annotated by famous players, and as a labour of love.

Training Tournaments

Sunday's training tournaments are in the Catalan (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7) and King's Indian Attack (1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 e6 4.0-0 Be7), this King's Indian Attack set-up also having the potential to reach a Catalan. These lines were covered from Black's perspective in the Building an Opening Repertoire course and the Black Queen's Gambit Declined Repertoire.

Sunday December 14th at 5pm UK Time: Catalan

Sunday December 14th at 6.15pm UK Time: King's Indian Attack
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off Mastering Key Pawn Structures: ZOOM Formations, using the code 'dec19to27'. This video series will consider ZOOM formations, which typically arise from the Gruenfeld Defence and Catalan Opening, and which were covered by Stefan Zeuthen and Bent Larsen in the classic book 'ZOOM 001: Zero Hour for Operative Opening Models'.

Last week's discount was 40% off buying the Black Queen's Gambit Declined Repertoire using the code 'dec12to20' on checkout, and it is still valid until tomorrow. This is an advanced, stand-alone opening course based around the Tartakower Variaton (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Nf3 h6 6.Bh4 0-0 7.e3 b6) and the Semi-Tarrasch Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 or 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 c5). It features 14 hours of video which explain key games, and has a pgn (portable game notation) file of recommended variations that can be built upon and extended.

My Upcoming Events

I'll be playing in Nova Gorica, in Slovenia next month, one of my favourite tournaments in one of my favourite countries. I'm also hoping to play in the World Senior Team Championships in April, but would need to be invited!

January 23-30: Nova Gorica

A very nice and well organized event, details can be found here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

BUILDING AN OPENING REPERTOIRE, QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED, TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING, WHITE 1.d2-d4 REPERTOIRE

THE ROBUST NATURE OF MAIN LINE OPENINGS

In today's Chess Questions Answered video I explained why I tend to recommend main line openings. The reason is fairly simple, it's about robustness. With sidelines there may be very few ways to play them whereas main lines will usually have a lot of playable alternatives. So if modern opening theory deals your main line repertoire a blow, it will be relatively easy to switch to another line. Sidelines, on the other hand, may get put out of business altogether by a new idea.

A good example is the Modern Defence (1...g6 against just about anything), which I played a lot in the 1980s. Unfortunately it has taken a hammering by modern engines, for example after 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 a6 5.h4 Nf6, White can play 6.h5! Nxh5 7.Rxh5! and obtaine a powerful attack for the sacrificed exchange. Maybe 5...h5 is playable but there's a danger of a White knight landing on g5, and Black's position is far from easy.

A few other openings are in a similar situation, modern engines have rendered them unattractive at best. Yet meanwhile the most classical and principled lines have fared well, so if you meet 1.e4 with 1...e5, 1...e6, 1...c6 or 1...c5, you will probably be able to fix any issues that arise rather than feel the need to abandon your favourite defence altogether.

Training Tournaments

This Sunday's training tournaments are in the Exchange Gruenfeld with 8.Be3 (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Be3 Qa5 9.Qd2 0-0), covered from White's perspective in the White 1.d4 Repertoire, and the Colle vs Gruenfeld with 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.e3 d5, covered in the Building an Opening Repertoire course.

Sunday December 14th at 5pm UK Time: 8.Be3 Exchange Gruenfeld

Sunday December 14th at 6.15pm UK Time: Colle vs Gruenfeld
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off buying the Black Queen's Gambit Declined Repertoire using the code 'dec12to20' on checkout. This is an advanced, stand-alone opening course based around the Tartakower Variaton (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Nf3 h6 6.Bh4 0-0 7.e3 b6) and the Semi-Tarrasch Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 or 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 c5). It features 14 hours of video which explain key games, and has a pgn (portable game notation) file of recommended variations that can be built upon and extended.

Last week's discount is 40% off The Why and How of Chess Annotations using the code 'dec5to13'. Annotating games can be a powerful improvement method if done in the right way. With this video series you will learn how to use a reflective process to improve how you play, going beyond computer annotations.

My Upcoming Events

I managed to finish equal first in last Sunday's Bolton Rapidplay, there's nothing else planned though I hope to play in Nova Gorica, Slovenia in January:

January 24-31: Nova Gorica

A very nice and well organized event, details can be found here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

TOURNAMENTS, TRAINING, WHITE 1.d2-d4 REPERTOIRE

REFLECTIVE GAME ANNOTATIONS

How should you annotate your own games? I have covered this topic in The Why and How of Chess Annotations (discounted this week) and answered this question more briefly in today's Chess Questions Answered video. To do it in the most effective way the notes should indicate an actionable way to improve. This is easier said than done, but here are some brief guidelines.

First of all it's very useful to describe your feelings before, during and after the game. Were you prepared and ready for a fight? What were your observations during the game? What were your feelings immediately after the game? None of this can be detected by engines, but such information can give you vital clues as to how you can set about improving.

The next stage could be to check the game with an engine so as to find any obvious errors. Should the engine verdict confirm any of your earlier impressions, it could give a strong indication of what you might improve. From the perspective of the opening, it can also be useful to check how you varied from existing theory.

The final stage should be to see if your conclusions are similar to other games you've played, showing a pattern of error. If this is the case you'll have gained a lot of information and can set to work on any problem areas.

Training Tournaments

This Sunday's training tournaments are in the Queen's Gambit Accepted, the first being in the line 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 dxc4 4.e3 Bg4 and the second in 4...e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.Qe2 a6. Both these lines are covered from White's perspective in the White 1.d4 Repertoire.

Sunday December 7th at 5pm UK Time: QGA with 4...Bg4

Sunday December 7th at 6.15pm UK Time: QGA Furman
 

Video Discounts

This week's discount is 40% off The Why and How of Chess Annotations using the code 'dec5to13'. Annotating games can be a powerful improvement method if done in the right way. With this video series you will learn how to use a reflective process to improve how you play, going beyond computer annotations.

Last week's discount, 40% off buying my Endgame Openings series, is still valid until tomorrow using the code 'nov28dec6' on checkout. Endgame openings enable players to go directly to the endgame after just a few moves. The value of such lines can be to negate an opponent's tactical ability, just as Vladimir Kramnik used them to defeat Garry Kasparov in their World Championship match. As such they represent an great option for experienced players whose main strength is in the endgame.

My Upcoming Events

I don't have definite plans to play anywhere right now, but I'll be playing in the Bolton Rapidplay on Sunday and then hopefully Nova Gorica in Slovenia in January:

December 7: Bolton Rapidplay

One of my local tournaments, details can be found here.

Have a good weekend.

Nigel

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