The Chess Mind

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.

The worst bishop is better than the best knight, some wag from the old USSR used to say, and while it's an exaggeration it's also true that in a strong player's hands the bishop's long-range powers come into play more often than one might expect. That's just what happens in the recent GM game Gennadij Ginsburg-Pavel Eljanov, which I present here. The game started off with an early exchange-fest, reaching a bishop vs. knight ending on move 20. The position looks as equal as can be, but Eljanov, with the bishop, grinds his opponent down and wins in an instructive, seemingly textbook fashion.

GM technique at its finest? Watch and see! The show is free and available on-demand (for about the next month) or so, and should be watched very carefully. (You'll see why!)

For your entertainment and hopefully instruction, I show a couple of relatively recent blitz games in my latest ChessVideos presentation. The first is a bishop vs. knight ending that's slightly atypical. We generally think that in static situations the knight is the superior minor piece, but while this may be true as a rule of thumb, this game showed that it's not an absolute law. The second game was shorter and livelier, a Slav of possible theoretical interest where White was able to whip up an overwhelming attack with surprising ease. The key idea here: the attacker should remember to "invite everyone to the party", to use Yasser Seirawan's apt phrase.

The video is here, and is available on-demand (and free) for the next month or so.