Best Chess Teacher: February 2016

The Grandmaster’s Secrets – second edition

When the Remote Chess Academy (RCA) started some years back, the first course I created was the “Grandmaster’s Secrets”. Thousands of my students have studied this course and made some improvement (huge and small) in their chess career.

However, I’ll be honest with you – there were some negative reviews as well. Some said that the presentation of the lessons was not that good compared to their quality. I have been thinking about this for quite some time, and now we have decided to polish the course and take it to the next level.
Chess Course

And thus is born the course, “The Grandmaster’s Secrets – second edition”.

Before you ask me the question, “What’s new in the second edition?”, I’ll answer it:

The PowerPoint presentations used for the video lessons have been made more informative and engaging
The videos are now in HD format
The videos have been recorded by a native English speaker
The comments for the games in the practical part of the course have been polished and enlarged slightly

If your next question is, “I’ve already studied the ‘GM’s Secrets’ – should I buy the course again?”: well, in that case, you need NOT buy the course again – the second edition is FREE for you, if you have studied it already.

Note: if you have already studied the course, you’ll be contacted in the following days and provided with the second edition for FREE.

Special discount

As usual when we celebrate the release of a new course, I’m providing you with a huge 25% discount on the new edition of this course!

Use the coupon “25gms” when making your purchase. If you don’t know how to use a discount code, please see here.

The coupon will be valid from today until Friday, 4 March (inclusive).

If you haven’t yet studied the course, this is the perfect opportunity for you: grab the second edition – an improved version of the course – at a huge 25% discount. Don’t miss it!

<<Get the course now>>

How to make use of important chess squares?

Some time ago, our guest coach IM Boroljub Zlatanovic prepared a lesson for you on the topic “Weak Squares”. If you missed it, you can watch the video lesson now here.

Today, Boroljub has prepared another lesson for you on a similar topic – the right squares for your pieces.

Boroljub will explain to you clearly how to occupy the key squares with your pieces and grab a tiny advantage, and then convert it to a win. Let’s go to the lesson now.

Zlatanovic, Boroljub (2371) – Brankovic, Dejan (2351)

Otvoreno prvenstvo Paracina 2016 Paracin

24.01.2016

1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.a3!? With the idea of expanding on the queenside.

Black to play

5…d6 6.Rb1 a5?! b4 is stopped but b5 is weak now 7.d3 Bd7 8.Nf3 Nf6 9.0-0 0-0 10.Bg5 – with the idea of provoking h6. It will be clear soon.

Black to play

10…h6 11.Bd2 Ne8 12.Ne1 Rb8 13.Nc2 Nc7

White to play

14.Nb5! [14.b4 axb4 15.axb4 cxb4 16.Nxb4 Nxb4 17.Rxb4 b5

White to play

18.cxb5 Nxb5 19.Nxb5 Rxb5 20.Rxb5 Bxb5 21.Qb3 is better for White, but that position could not satisfy him].

14…Nxb5 15.cxb5

Black to play

Ne5 [15…Na7 is too passive 16.a4± 15…Nd4 16.Nxd4, with idea of provoking h6. Black must take with the pawn. 16…cxd4(16…Bxd4? 17.Bxh6) 17.a4± White’s initiative on the queenside must be faster than Black’s play on the kingside or centre].

16.f4 Ng4 17.h3 Nf6 18.a4

Black to play

Suddenly, Black is lacking harmony in pieces and space; he cannot provide the typical advance of the e-pawn and the f-pawn, and must play very precisely.

18…d5! 19.e4 Of course, that is connected with taking a risk, but what else is one to do? Black intends to play d4, stopping the pawn on e2, and later use d5 with the knight 19…b6?

White to play

19…c4! would lead to an unclear position after 20.exd5 cxd3 21.Ne3, but Black probably decided to play passively because of the tournament standings. This game was played in the last round, and at least a draw would bring him 2nd place. However, White had to win to achieve the same finish. 20.Ne3 d4? 21.Nc4

Black to play

After that move, the game is almost over. Black is without any real counter-play and can only wait for White’s growing initiative on the kingside. 21…Ne8 22.f5 – continuing expanding.

Black to play

22…e5?!

23.h4! Not only preventing g5, but also getting ready for Bh3, with the idea of preparing a strategically logical exchange of light-squared bishops. 23…Bc8 24.Bh3 Nd6 25.Qb3!

Black to play

c4 is the most influential square on the board and it is extremely important to have continuous connection with it. Soon White’s queen will dominate on c4; later on, maybe a bishop and even the king in the endgame can use the route b3-c4-d5.25…Nxc4 26.Qxc4 g5 27.hxg5 hxg5 28.Bg4!

Black to play

Interesting position! White has not only a better dark-squared bishop, but also a better light-squared equivalent! Soon it will dominate on the a2-g8 diagonal, paralysing Bc8 and intending exchanging it at any time. 28…Bf6 29.Kg2 Kg7 30.Rh1 Qe7 31.Rh5 Bb7 32.Rbh1 Rh8

White to play

33.Bd1!! A brilliant idea! Queen on c4 uses only a diagonal, so the queen and bishop must change places! 33…Rxh5 34.Rxh5 Rh8 35.Rxh8 Kxh8 36.Bb3 Kg7 37.Qc1 Qd8 38.Qh1 Qe7 [38...Qg8 was a better defence, but Black’s position still looks hopeless.]

White to play

39.Qh5+- Bc8 40.Bd5 Bd7 41.Kf3 Be8 42.Kg4 Bd7 43.Bxg5! The most direct winning idea.

Black to play

43…Bxg5 44.Qxg5+ Qxg5+ 45.Kxg5 f6+ 46.Kh4 Be8 47.g4 Kh6 48.Be6‡ Kg7 49.g5 Bf7 50.Bxf7 Kxf7 51.b3 1-0

You can download the PGN file of this game here.

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New Book:

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<<Get the course “Bogo-Indian Defense” here>>

<<Get “Your Winning Plan” now>>

<<Get the “Grandmaster’s Secrets” now>>

PREMIUM WEBINAR:

Quick Links for other products:

NEW: Opening Laboratory 2
The Grandmaster's Secret
The Grandmaster's Openings Laboratory
How to Beat Titled Players
Your Winning Plan
An Endgame Expert
Self-taught Grandmaster
The Grandmaster's Positional Understanding
Calculate Till Mate

WHOLE PACKAGE : 177 USD DISCOUNTS!

The greatest chess game everyone MUST know

Millions of chess games have been played over the history of chess. But there is only a small percentage of games that will be the most influential, most important and most instructive. And every aspiring chess player simply MUST know these few games.

Today we will talk about one of them. It was a game played by the greatest player from the U.S. (probably together with Bobby Fischer), Paul Morphy.

In this video lesson, I will not only show this game of Morphy’s but will also explain the main ideas he used in it, so that you can do the same in YOUR own games!

For instance, in this game, you will notice that Morphy did not allow his opponent to play the moves on his mind. Rather, his opponent was only able to react to Morphy’s moves. Sounds like a magic trick, doesn’t it?

In this lesson, you will learn about the following:

three main rules that Morphy followed to devastate his opponents
when to make a sacrifice
how to determine whether or not a sacrifice is worthwhile
evaluating a position
and lots more

Another interesting fact is that Morphy understood these concepts and ideas 150 years ago! It is mind-blowing how he was able to do so, while many chess players of today still struggle to understand chess completely.

You can watch the video lesson below:

You can check the PGN of the game mentioned at the end of the video here.

===============================================

New Book:

<<Get the book now>>

<<Get the course “Bogo-Indian Defense” here>>

<<Get “Your Winning Plan” now>>

<<Get the “Grandmaster’s Secrets” now>>

PREMIUM WEBINAR:

Quick Links for other products:

WHOLE PACKAGE : 177 USD DISCOUNTS!

Special gift voucher – final reminder

A few days ago, I announced that a special gift voucher worth $15 on all RCA products would be provided for all those who rate our courses in Udemy and give their feedback. If you missed this, you can read it here.

Once again, let me mention our courses in Udemy:

If you have enrolled in any of these courses, then all you need do is to study the course, rate it and write your feedback.

Note: to write your feedback and rate the course (and to study our courses), you need to have an account in Udemy. If you don’t have one, it’s easy to create one – please see the FAQ here.

You can see how to write a course review in Udemy here.

If you have enrolled in all of the above-mentioned courses, great! You can write your feedback about all our courses. Be honest with your review, for it will help other students as well.

Moreover, the special $15 gift voucher can be used in one of the following ways – you can either purchase a course and save $15 by using the voucher, or even get a premium video (worth around $15) for FREE!