This Week's ChessVideos Show: Vallejo the Attacker

Francisco Vallejo Pons may not be a member of the world's absolute elite, but he's still a terrifically strong player with a very lively and combative style. On his day he can (and has) beaten just about everybody, often in spectacular style. In my ChessVideos show this week I take a look at the high points of two such games, and challenge the viewers to test their attacking skills against his. It's good practice, no matter how you do, and good entertainment as well. Have a look!

The show is free, as always (one-time free registration required), and will be available on-demand for the next month or so.

This Week's ChessVideos Show: Viewer Games

Every so often I take a look at games submitted on ChessVideos.tv by the viewers, and this was just such a week. This time around, I examine three games, all unified around the theme of all-in attack. In each case White's position is collapsing on the queenside and about to collapse everywhere else, too. The games are all very exciting, and there are principles we can generalize from these games for both the attacker and the defender to keep in mind.

Have a look! The show is free (quick, free registration is required if you haven't done it already) and will be available on-demand for the next month or so.

This Week's ChessVideos Show: More Viewer Games, and Viewer Questions

Only two games, but they're nice: one features a sound two-knight sacrifice, while in the second a simulee achieved a winning position against Nigel Short (before tragedy struck). In the questions department, pride of place goes to a fascinating rook ending. One side was two pawns up, but had a very difficult time dealing with the opponent's outside passer. The ending is instructive and entertaining, and the viewer's intro to that ending is priceless.

You can watch the show here, free (free registration required), available on-demand for the next month or so. Enjoy!

This Week's ChessVideos Show: Lessons from Blitz

In this week's show I have a look at a couple of recent blitz games. The first was a GM vs. IM battle, with both sides making lots of errors in an ending. Nevertheless, several of the mistakes are instructive, and thus not only of schadenfreude value. The second goes in a different direction: it's a nice but short attacking effort by yours truly, complete with a winning combination. Consider it dessert.

The show is free as always (free registration required) and will be available on-demand for the next month or so.

This Week's ChessVideos Show: A Great Tal Attacking Game

Have a look, here. The show is free (free registration required) and available on-demand for the next month or so. No one could shake an attack out of his sleeve like the Wizard from Riga, the great Mikhail Tal, so you're bound to enjoy this game!

This Week's ChessVideos Show: Attacking the Deserted King

There are positions where a player amasses a whole herd of pieces at the enemy king's doorstop. In such cases it's obvious that a big attack is on the way. But sometimes there isn't any such buildup, and yet an attack is possible and may very well succeed. How is this possible?

One answer is that although the prospective attacker may have but a few pieces in the vicinity of the opponent's king, it might be that the defender has even fewer pieces to protect it. I believe that this explains how Topalov got crushed in game 4 against Anand from what looked like a fairly innocuous position, and it likewise helps explain the success of Larry Christiansen's brilliant attack against Yasser Seirawan in a 1978 contest.

The games are instructive, entertaining and beautiful, so have a look here. The show is free (free registration required) and will be available on demand for the next month or so.

This Week's ChessVideos Show: Attacking Chess in Vietnam

For this week's show, I found a very impressive attacking game from the recently completed Vietnamese Championship. It's exciting and entertaining, and it's also a good game for training purposes (I pause a number of times to challenge the viewers to find the right moves).

Have a look here: the show is free (free registration required) and available on-demand for the next month or so.

This Week's ChessVideos Show: More Viewer Games & Questions

Another week, another ChessVideos show. This time around I look at three viewer games and address a viewer question. Two of the games feature attacks (one is really spectacular) and two of the games (yes, I know there are three total games!) and the question involve endgames, so it's a well-balanced meal for the viewer.

The show is free (free registration required) and available on-demand for the next month, here.