King's Placement

" Castle if you need to, caslte if you so desire, but do not castle just because you can" - William Lombardy"

Recently while preparing for a lecture topic for ProChess on the topic of Determining the position of the King, I was evoked by some pleasant trip upon my memory lane. From the very little of what I have studied, I feel that this concept was first vocalised by the first World Champion Wilhelm Steinitz. He actively contemplated the idea of being flexible with the King in the centre, when normal norm in his time was to quickly castle and prepare a sacrificial attack. Steinitz envisioned the King as a strong piece which can take care of itself.  We all know that by the mobility it possesses the King can be considered to be as good as a minor piece or even better in an endgame. But, far more importantly, the safety of the King is the prime mover of a Chess game, as Checkmate culminates a game. For this reason the King is considered to be a piece that is of inestimable value.

Anish Giri - Master class ( ProChess Diaries)

 I came to know of Anish Giri's master class in ProChess not so long ago, and without second thoughts joined it! I remember first meeting Anish as a young prodigy completing his second Gm norm( if i remember correctly) at the Groningen Open 2008-2009. The next time I met him it was already in the Qatar Masters where he was one of the elite and was almost winning the event with a 6/6 start. His journey from a child prodigy to one of the very best has been filled with excitement for chess lovers. Besides his achievements, he has always maintained a friendly and pleasant demeanor and that perhaps made him a crowd puller always. 

So, coming back to the master class lesson, he started off the session with his usual pleasant humour and made everyone comfortable by letting everyone know that he  knows all the students of the class ! To warm up he shared a few positions from a recent chess.com Blitz event, which would usually be blasphemy in Soviet times, but he clearly elaborated on why he did this. People (especially the elite group students) would have seen all top level games and it would be hard to quiz them there, so he chose his online Blitz game- fair enough logic!

Ivanchuk's classics by Krasenkow ( Prochess diaries)

 After a month, it so happened that again I could attend another Krasenkow's lecture on Ivanchuk. This time he looked two games of Ivanchuk in contrasting styles, one a positional build up ending up in a complex endgame and the other a famous attacking masterpiece.

The first game was Ivanchuk's victory over Azmaiparashvilli from 2002. I had not seen this game earlier, and that gave a greater freshness in approaching the position. Like last time I will offer a few interesting moments from the lecture with the explanatory ideas. Without further ado let us jump into the positions.

Ivanchuk in the eyes of Krasenkow (ProChess Diaries)

 I had the opportunity to be a student in Michal Krasenkow's lecture on Ivanchuk's positional games. This was quite a new experience for me. Until now I had only been associated with Pro Chess as a coach giving a lecture, and this time thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to attend Grandmaster Krasenkow's lecture as a student. First of all it was a welcome invitation to look at the games of one of my favourite players- the inimitable Ivanchuk! Krasenkow is a very strong Grandmaster who is a contemporary of Ivanchuk and has unique insights into the games of Ivanchuk. 

In the backdrop of a raging war at his doorstep he could not hide his emotions, but nevertheless did his first lecture for Pro Chess. I liked the way he presented his lecture, first he gave several positions with time to think for the students to come up with their own decisions. This way we progressed through the game Ivanchuk-Beliavsky Eu Club Cup-2001 pondering over several critical moments. I will present a couple of positions to illustrate the point.

In the footsteps of a plan

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when one contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvellous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries to comprehend only a little of this mystery every day.”-Albert Einstein

 Observing a position in one's own way and looking for ways to understand what is going on, is a key characteristic of any improving player. There are many different ways and aspects in a single game that attracts the attention of a seeker, and this as I come to see is an ever growing process. I had a look at a couple of  older games recently and tried to view the position in terms of pawn structure and exchanges which are always a fundamental aspect of Chess Understanding.

Ponomariov-Kramnik 2003

Epic Catalan Battle

"Staring at the Abyssmal depths of chess"  Jonathon Rowson

The ongoing World Chess Championship between Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi is covered most extensively and is perhaps the only time in my memory where so many living legends are commenting upon the games live! Vishy Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Peter Svidler,Fabiano Caruana, Vasyl Ivanchuk and Judit Polgar are all commenting live in various channels. There are numerous others too, but just looking at the names I cannot help imagining myself as Buridan's ass who is unable to make a proper choice!

With all the talks of draws and death of Classical Chess in World Championships in the background, yesterday's game destroyed all such illusions. It is the most grueling World Championship slugfest I have ever seen! To get into the depths of such a fascinating game is beyond the depths of a mortal human, so I will restrict myself to jotting down several interesting moments from this classic.

10.Nbd2!?