Chess Openings Mastery – GM Damian Lemos Deep Dive Collection

GM Lemos’ Deep Dive Collection – Vol. 01 – 12

Chess openings knowledge is crucial in competitive chess. Between equal players, it often makes the difference between winning and drawing.

However, up till now, most opening instruction has been very general – good enough so you know what you’re doing but without the detail required to give you the competitive edge in tournaments.

GM Damian Lemos has addressed that with his acclaimed Deep Dive series.

As the name suggests, Damian gives you the deep knowledge you need to outplay your opponents in specific openings.

Despite the advanced nature of the courses, no prior knowledge is required as Damian begins each course with a comprehensive overview of each one of the chess openings that he covers, explaining the ideas behind the opening and the plans for each side.

About the Author:

Damian Lemos is a grandmaster from Argentina who has reached a rating of 2559 Elo.

Damian Lemos was no stranger to success from an early age, achieving the FIDE Master title at only 14 years old, International Master at 15, and Grandmaster at 18.

In his lessons, Damian works closely with students to first identify the flaws and weaknesses in their games so that they can be properly evaluated and corrected. By developing specifically-tailored training regimens for every one of his students, Grandmaster Lemos is able to achieve results that other chess coaches dream of.

If you want an opening system to call your own, one which you can force your opponents into and then outplay them with your expertise, master the London System with GM Lemos’ Deep Dive course!

Is this course for me?

GM Lemos will provide you with the basic knowledge on each one of the chess openings that he covers in this series, once you have that level of understanding, Damian goes into each variation, explaining how to counter every idea and revealing all the options you have available to you.

And this doesn’t involve never-ending variations either; each idea is demonstrated with examples from Super GM play so you learn how the very best players overcome the toughest obstacles.

Here are some of the openings you’ll be able to master:

The King’s Indian Defense.

Follow in the footsteps of Fischer and Kasparov and become an attacking legend, racking up points as Black, no matter which variation White plays!

The London System.

The perfect choice for players who don’t have much time to spend on openings. Play it against nearly anything Black comes up with and decide whether you want to subject them to a positional queenside squeeze or a terrifying kingside attack.

The Accelerated Dragon.

The Accelerated Dragon – Initial Position

Get positions you love with Damian’s system based on rapid development and seizing the initiative the moment White makes a natural-looking mistake!

The Double Fianchetto system (b3 and g3)

This system is quickly becoming a favorite of players like Vladimir Kramnik. Incredibly flexible, full of attacking potential and very easy for your opponent to slip up against.

The Sicilian Taimanov.

Sidestep all the Najdorf theory – and your rivals’ preparation – with lines that blunt White’s attack and give you great counterplay early in the game.

The Chigorin Defense.

2…Nc6! takes your opponent out of their comfort zone and onto your battlefield. The Chigorin has easy to learn plans, is positionally sound and full of dynamic attacking chances, like this “ordinary” position which can lead to White’s resignation in just 4 more moves!!

The Petroff Defense

The Petroff Defense, also known as the Russian Defense, was a favorite opening of both Karpov and Kramnik. The Petroff is as solid as a rock, easy to learn and offers a ton of ways to turn the tables on those 1.e4 players!

The Petroff is starting to come back in a big way with Fabiano Caruana just one of the top GMs who relies on it when it matters.

The English Opening

Playing the English Opening can be a vital alternative for all 1.e4- and 1.d4-players who are tired of repeatedly entering the highly theoretical terrain of all the main lines Black can choose from.

The English Opening allows the White player to immediately take the opponent out of his comfort zone by playing a move which is not as frequently played as 1.e4 or 1.d4.

In contrast to White’s two main moves 1.e4 and 1.d4, White takes control over the center (especially the d5-square) by moving a flank pawn. The fight for the d5-square is paramount in the English Opening.

The Scandinavian Defense

The Scandinavian Defense is a tough nut to crack. Thanks to the efforts of GM Sergey Tiviakov and other strong GMs, the Scandinavian in general, and the 3…Qd6-line in particular, have attracted more and more attention recently and have found their way back to the tournament halls.

In this comprehensive 8-hour Deep Dive course, GM Damian Lemos builds up your knowledge of this powerful opening weapon, demonstrating how to combat each of White’s sidelines and mainlines in turn.

The Slav Defense

If you’re looking for a chess opening for Black against 1.d4 which is solid, does not require an endless amount of theory to memorize and still offers decent chances to outplay your opponents, play the Slav Defense!

One thing that makes the Slav Defense so trendy in modern days is that even though opening theory continuously develops and incredibly strong engines frequently find novelties and new approaches, there is still no easy way for White to get an advantage against this opening.

Have you ever had an opening you can really call your own? One that makes you feel super- confident and at ease, effortlessly getting winning positions while your opponent sweats under the pressure, eating up time on their clock?

Make this a reality by getting the inside track on one or more of Damian Lemos’ Deep Dive series: GM repertoires based on easy-to-learn strategies.

By the time you have completed each course, you will be playing at a level far superior to your rivals.

Chess Openings Encyclopedia: 350+ Hours of GM Opening Instruction

Video Encyclopedia of Chess Openings: +350 hours

Would you like to own the ULTIMATE chess learning library?

We’re talking more than 350 hours of premium grandmaster coaching that covers every aspect of chess from openings, tactics and middlegame mastery to “weird” subjects like psychology and dramatically improving your blitz play!

This mega-collection includes two of the largest series ever produced at iChess.net: The Lemos Deep Dive Mega Bundle and the Empire Chess Mega Bundle.

Lemos Deep Dive Mega Bundle

Chess openings knowledge is crucial in competitive chess. Between equal players, it often makes the difference between winning and drawing.

However, until now, most opening instruction has been very general – good enough so you know what you’re doing but without the detail required to give you the competitive edge in tournaments.

GM Damian Lemos has addressed that with his acclaimed Deep Dive series.

As the name suggests, Damian gives you the deep knowledge you need to outplay your opponents in specific openings, teaching not only the necessary theoretical moves you need to know but also making sure you understand the ideas and concepts behind each opening so that you can still play confidently when your opponent goes off-book.

Empire Chess MegaBundle

This is the largest collection of high-quality chess videos anywhere!

The iChess team started producing the Empire Chess DVD series in October 2012.

In little over 1 year, the Empire Chess video series became the most popular chess DVD series of the 21st century with 101 DVDs featuring nearly 2 dozen Grandmasters!

Now our extended series of chess videos present an incredible collection of footage containing more than 250 hours of premium content from a variety of well-known players.

The series is intended for chess players of all levels, as the content is extremely diverse and covers a wide range of topics from specific chess openings to general topics like positional sacrifices and developing tactical awareness.

What makes this collection unique?

Empire Chess Mega Bundle Volumes 1-103

When we created the Empire Chess series, our primary goal was to destroy the obstacles standing between chess improvers like yourself and your true chess potential.

We aim to give you a genuine chance at mastery with our unique content:

Coaching from many strong GMs and IMs – Save years of hard work by learning directly from proven masters and seasoned professionals.

All key topics covered – Become stronger in the opening, endgame, tactically and strategically with
hundreds of hours of master-level coaching.

GM Damian Lemos Deep Dive Collection

And to make things even easier for you, you can work your way through the Empire Chess library at your own pace, focusing “buffet style” only on the areas you most want to improve at any given time.

In the Deep Dive collection, GM Damian Lemos provides you with everything you need to know to play chess openings with confidence. Once you have a good level of understanding, Damian goes into each variation in more depth, explaining how to counter every idea and revealing all the options you have available to you.

And this doesn’t involve never-ending variations either: each idea is demonstrated with examples from Super GM play so you learn how the very best players overcome the toughest obstacles.

Here are some of the openings you’ll be able to master:

• The King’s Indian Defense.
• The London System.
• The Accelerated Dragon.
• The Double Fianchetto system (b3 and g3).
• The Sicilian Taimanov.
• The Chigorin Defense.
• The Petroff Defense.
• The English Opening.
• The Scandinavian Defense
• The Slav Defense

By the time you have completed each course included here, you will be playing at a level far superior to any of your rivals.

Bonus:

Endgame Memorization Shortcuts

In addition to all the value already contained in our Chess Openings Encyclopedia, that’s more than 300 hours of premium chess instructions from world-class IMs and GMs. We’ve also included “Endgame Memorization Shortcuts from the 2018 US Champion – IM Nazi Paikidze“.

In this 6 hour course, 2018 U.S. Women’s Chess Champion IM Nazi Paikidze trains you in the skills needed for success in the endgame.

Instead of theoretical positions, this course focuses entirely on the type of positions you’re actually likely to encounter in real games.

Get familiar with the key endgame principles, master imbalances, learn how to transition to a favorable endgame and much more.

IM Paikidze has had a brilliant chess career. She has won twelve medals at the European Youth Chess Championships, World Youth Chess Championships, and World Junior Chess Championships, including six gold medals, in various age categories.

How is this going to help me?

You will not only learn the ¨best¨ and ¨most accurate¨ move orders in the early opening, but you will also be instructed on the reasons behind the moves in the opening.

Our extensive team of Grandmaster and presenters have made a point to focus on a holistic approach to learning chess. Studying openings will increase your understanding of the game and improve your rating, but the material must be presented in a comprehensive manner with respect to other phases of the game.

In Volumes 1-10 of the Empire Chess DVD Series, viewers of all skill levels (Beginner, Club/Intermediate, and Advanced) can find DVDs that are relevant to their current rating.

The star-studded cast of presenters includes Grandmasters Gregory Kaidanov, Sam Shankland, Leonid Kritz, Eugene Perelshteyn, Damian Lemos, and Michal Krasenkow.

Enjoy this massive chess video collection!

ChessLessons.com Premium Chess Content Mega Bundle

Do you want to improve your chess strength significantly and start getting much better results in your tournaments?

The ChessLessons.com Mega Bundle features an impressive line-up with world-renowned chess coaches GM Bryan Smith, GM Alex Lenderman, GM Maxim Dlugy and more.

This +35 hour Mega Bundle is a collection of some of the best premium video content from chesslessons.com and it represents an invaluable guide to learning chess openings, attacking chess, and improve your thinking process.

What’s included in this bundle?

Grandmaster Decision Making with GM Alex Lenderman

GM Alexandr Lenderman, a recognized player and coach from the US is here to show you how to make the right decisions at the board by implementing the same process of thinking that GMs use during their games.

In the first part of this video course, top American Grandmaster Alex Lenderman teaches you not to assume that your opponent’s move is a mistake, until absolutely sure. GM Lenderman provides many illustrative examples demonstrating this important concept.

He shares his own, personal thinking methods which help him precisely identify dangerous moments in his games and then resolve it in his favor!

Chess Opening Crash Course with GM Maxim Dlugy

GM Maxim Dlugy has compiled his 20 years of opening theory experience into a single crash course.

Here what you’ll learn:

• What are the most important principles that allow you to get a playable position every single time?
• What is the #1 most common mistake that club players make in the opening?
• What opening lines should you play, and which should you totally avoid?
• How to avoid the most common opening traps in d4-lines for both white and black?
• What to do after the opening?
• And much more!

Attacking Chess System with IM Alex Ostrovskiy and IM Arthur Shen

Attacking chess is something that all players want to perfect. It makes a lot of sense because delivering checkmate is the ultimate goal of the game.

Surprisingly, not many chess players spend time working on attacking skills. They work on solving tactics, studying openings, drilling endgames but not on how to attack your opponent to win games. It sounds contradictory, but it is very true for most club players.

This course includes a powerful toolkit on how to conduct strong and vicious attacks against opponents of any level. It brings you a universal system of attack that helped IM Alex Ostrovskiy and IM Arthur Shen beat many strong opponents.

Grandmaster Secrets – Practical Play with GM Alex Lenderman

One of the major mistakes over 95% of club players make is working on different aspects of the game and never utilizing them together.

Club players learn chess openings, middlegames, and endings separately, but never see those elements working hand-in-hand. Grandmasters, on the other hand, know how to employ all those together to create a masterful win.

Everything is interconnected and one stage serves as a continuation of the other – in full harmony.

That’s why you get that feeling of “effortlessness” after observing a GM game. Grandmasters have many “secrets” of practical (aka effective) play that they use for achieving those effortless wins. This course will fill those gaps for you, letting your games flow from move one right through until you checkmate your opponent.

Complete Chess Opening Repertoire for Black – IM Arthur Shen

With this course, you’ll get access to a complete, professional-grade opening repertoire for Black that you can employ against any opponent. This will certainly increase the number of victories you get in tournaments.

Here’s what you’ll get:

• In-depth examination of all most popular lines you’ll face playing against 1.e4 and 1.d4. You’ll be fully prepared to face the most popular chess openings starting with 1.e4 and 1.d4.
• Two types of lines and variations to choose from depending on your current objective: sharp and aggressive or solid and reliable.
• A step-by-step guide on how to play your preferred opening lines and obtain an advantage right out of the opening. This could help you to turn the games in your favor, even before your opponents have a chance to do anything.
• Detailed explanations of ideas, plans, maneuvers, pawn-structures and everything else to make sure you can play those lines in your own games and win.
• Guide to refuting many of the tricky opening lines, sidelines and off-beat variations that are often seen at club level.

Deadly Opening Traps with GM Bryan Smith

Chess opening traps are something that can make or break your game. Everyone hates playing a piece down by move 7 or having their King under attack by move 10.

At the same time, everyone loves learning new and cool opening traps that can instantly win a game for you in just a few moves.

If you are the player who would like to avoid getting into trouble at the early stage of the game and at the same time want to learn how to punish your opponent for unsound opening decisions, the Deadly Opening Traps course is for you.

In this 2-hour video course, GM Bryan Smith does a superb job explaining the most important opening traps that a chess player of any level must know: from amateur to Grandmaster.

1.b3 Bash by IM Levy Rozman – Your Secret Weapon for the Opening

1.b3 bash secret weapon screen capture

This course gives you a complete repertoire based on 1.b3. You are going to get an advantage by surprising your opponents, playing positions that only you’re familiar with, and your opponents are not.

You will know the nuances. You will know exactly when on move 4 or 5 they will do something inaccurate. That’s really the key idea behind this system.

Most club players play the same openings over and over again: 1.e4, 1.d4, 1.c4, 1.Nf3… you name it. You probably know those pretty well, but so does your opponent.

There is nothing wrong with that approach…

Except that you always need to be up to date with all the lines and variations in the Slav, Nimzo, Sicilian, French, and the list goes on and on. This 1.b3 repertoire provides you with an alternative repertoire you can use when you need to mix things up!

The Secrets of The Caro-Kann Defense – IM Alex Ostrovskiy

This is a Comprehensive Course on The Caro-Kann Defense. This course provides you with a complete repertoire against 1.e4. When we say a “complete repertoire,” we really mean it.

After working through the video lessons and going over the extra files you will have a complete defense against 1.e4 that will serve you a lifetime!

After studying this course, Caro-Kann will become your #1 opening choice аs Black and you will have a solid, well-prepared repertoire giving your opponents a lot of trouble. IM Alex Ostrovsky reveals all his opening preparation secrets, and shares surprise variations – absolutely nothing is being held back.

After working your way through the courses in this Mega Bundle, you will be prepared to play against any opponents that are rated about 200 Elo points above you and obtain comfortable positions from the opening and outplay them in the middlegame.

Enjoy this awesome series!

How to Exchange Pieces Like a Pro – IM Asaf Givon, Aggelos Kesaris

Knowing which pieces to keep and which to exchange is one of the most important skills in chess. Less experienced players often think exchanging means to swap pieces of equal value and fail to take strategic factors into account.

Of course, you have to keep the material balance in mind but it is crucial to realize how exchanges affect the position.

In this course, IM Asaf Givon explains how to make decisions in exchanging the pieces, how to isolate the opponent’s bad pieces and how to create weaknesses.

This technical skill of expertly exchanging pieces is one of the best-kept secrets of master play. Masters know when a bishop is better and when a knight is better — and they trade them accordingly.

They know when their attack is winning —  or if they need to exchange more key enemy defenders first.

They know which endgames (no matter how nuanced) are easily winning, and how to force trades that will land them in these endgames.

And these are just a few of the dozens of scenarios where grandmasters have a mental “toolbox” of strong piece exchange methods at their disposal.

Is it any wonder that beating them feels impossible?

About the Author:

IM Asaf Givon

Asaf Givon is an International Master who has played for the Kfar Saba team in the first Israeli chess league. He gained his IM title in 2013, and he currently has 2 GM norms. He started teaching chess at 16 years old.

Aggelos Kesaris

Aggelos Kesaris is an active chess coach.

He has taught Greek students since 2003, and has worked in a number of chess clubs. Currently, he gives lessons at Dias Petroupolis, the biggest chess club in Greece with more than 500 members.

In 2017, he created a chess club, Pyrros Ioanninon; he holds the president position.

He has worked with Remote Chess Academy from 2011. Currently, he is working on the Academy Department, helping other titled authors create quality chess courses.

How is this course going to help me?

“Exchange Pieces Like a Pro” has been truly designed to provide you with a clear understanding of the real reasons why grandmasters exchange pieces when it is more convenient to them, which usually gives them enough advantage to win a game.

You are guaranteed to add serious rating points with the Piece Exchange secrets that you will learn in this course.

Here’s part of what you’ll learn:

Simplify and Win:

In Lesson 13 you’ll learn deeper, more effective methods of exchanging pieces at the right moment — these are the methods GMs use to smoothly go from a better position, to a technically winning endgame, in a flash.

Exchange Attackers, Defend Yourself…Exchange Defenders, Attack the Enemy:

You’ll learn IM Givon’s methods to exchange all of the key defenders on the enemy kingside — this makes your own attack automatically unstoppable!

In the same chapter, you learn how to trade your enemies’ most aggressive pieces when you’re on the defensive…leaving him with the same ambition — but ZERO power in his attack — then watch him lash out in frustration with unsound sacrifices! (chapter 8)

Exchange for Better (Quality) Pieces:

IM Givon shows how to use small nuances in pawn structure to judge which pieces are strategically better and then trade into winning positions (Lesson 11).

And this 3.5-hour course comes with unique training software featuring one-click access to all video lessons, training materials, practical tests, a 120-page workbook, and PGNs.

Positional Chess Mastery with GM Marian Petrov

The majority of club players love sharp tactical play and neat opening lines but hate positional chess. Indeed, tactics are beautiful and exciting, while positional chess is… BORING.

That’s only true if you don’t understand positional chess.

Positional understanding is like a Swiss Army knife to a chess player.

It helps you to get ahead of a much better theoretically prepared or tactically proficient opponent.  If you feel STUCK, positional understanding suggests you the right moves.

It helps you deal with most opening situations even if you don’t know the theory. It can even show you the right way to finish off the endgame.

Positional understanding is a universal weapon you can use in all stages of the game!

Learning positional chess doesn’t have to be hard, tedious or boring…

In this 7-hour course,  FIDE Trainer and Olympiad Coach GM Marian Petrov will cover 15 positional themes every chess player must know.

About the Author:

GM Marian Petrov is an accomplished professional chess coach, theorist, and Bulgarian champion in 2002 and 2017, as well as winner of many open tournaments around the world.

Petrov is a FIDE trainer and was the coach of the team of Wales at the Olympiad in Baku in 2016. He graduated from the National Sports Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria with a Bachelor’s degree in Chess Pedagogy, a four-year undergraduate program designed to prepare top-level chess trainers.

GM Petrov believes that simplicity is the key to perfect execution. He only shares proven and tested lines that he or his students used to dominate their games.

They are easy to understand and extremely powerful, especially on the club level!

Is this course for me?

GM Petrov takes a very different perspective on improving your positional understanding. Instead of taking a usual route of learning “moves” and “lines”, he teaches “positions” and “patterns“.

This approach is proven to work for many of GM Petrov’s private students. It gives you a clear understanding of when to attack, defend or go into an endgame. This kind of thinking is the key difference between 1400 and 2500 rated players.

This course is a pure practical guide covering the ideas, secrets, and strategies that you can directly apply in your next game.

What will this course do for you?

Rules of positional chess will help you make correct decisions, provide you with hints and pointers throughout the game. You will know whether to commit to a certain pawn structure, exchange off your pieces or go into the endgame.

You will feel in control of what’s going on in the game. Things won’t appear random to you. You will know how to change the nature of the position from calm to sharp and vice-versa – depending on what’s best for you.

Most importantly your results will become better. You’ll surprise your competition with your ability to foresee the winning sequences with almost zero calculation!

WHAT’S INCLUDED?

Positional Chess Mastery with GM Petrov – video course [7 hours]

In this 7-hour course, FIDE Trainer and Olympiad Coach GM Marian Petrov cover 15 positional themes every chess player must know. This course is a pure practical guide covering the ideas, secrets, and strategies that you can directly apply in your next game.

Access to Practicum

Train the important endgame skills and motifs with a set of specifically designed tasks and challenges. The practical part is an important element of the course.

Complete set of PGNs + ChessBase Files

Downloadable, complete set of PGNs of everything covered so that you can analyze it at your own pace and convenience. A must-have treasure chest for any serious player. ChessBase database files are included as well

Extra Training Tasks [PDF]

Advanced training tasks taken directly from the video course’s games. Learn from the ideas and strategies of players like Korchnoi, Smyslov, and Karpov. After solving those problems you will get one step closer to positional mastery!

Chess Opening Mastery – Dominate with 1.d4 – GM Marian Petrov

Opening preparation takes up a huge chunk of our time. Not only you need to find the resources to trust, decide on the lines to study, pick the variations to play… You also invest time studying, playing practice games and keeping up with all the theory updates.

What does it take to play 1.d4 on the club level and beyond?

If you play the most popular 1.d4 lines, you need to know how to counter the King’s Indian, tackle the Dutch, survive the Slav, attack the Grunfeld, play the Benoni and bypass many dangerous offbeat lines…

On top of that, you should be familiar with the London System, Pillsbury attack, Queen’s Gambit Declined and Accepted. And if you really want to be prepared don’t forget to review the rare lines and deviations!

Chess Olympiad Coach GM Petrov Reveals how to build a pro-level chess opening repertoire after 1.d4 and finally become the player you meant to be…

About the Author:

GM Marian Petrov is an accomplished professional chess coach, theorist, and Bulgarian champion in 2002 and 2017, as well as winner of many open tournaments around the world.

Petrov is a FIDE trainer and was the coach of the team of Wales at the Olympiad in Baku in 2016. He graduated from the National Sports Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria with a Bachelor’s degree in Chess Pedagogy, a four-year undergraduate program designed to prepare top-level chess trainers.

GM Petrov believes that simplicity is the key to perfect execution. He only shares proven and tested lines that he or his students used to dominate their games.

They are easy to understand and extremely powerful, especially on the club level!

How is this course going to help me?

Wouldn’t it be great to spend just a few hours getting all the opening knowledge you need for the years to come? Wouldn’t that make you a much more prepared, versatile and an overall better chess player?

• What if there was a way to acquire this opening knowledge in a fraction of the time, in a perfectly organized and easy-to-follow manner?
• What if it came with all the game plans, Grandmaster’s ideas, attacking patterns and blueprints?
• What if you could start applying this GM knowledge immediately, and most importantly start seeing the RESULTS?

That’s exactly what Chess Opening Mastery – Dominate with 1.d4 is about! This is the ultimate shortcut for club players to get a pro-grade opening preparation after 1.d4.

What it’ll do for you?

Instead of losing TONs of games just to learn what works and what doesn’t, you will be given the systems that are proven to work against the competition of any level!

You will know exactly how to play against and beat players in the 10 most widely played openings after 1.d4: London System, Queen’s Gambit Accepted, Queen’s Gambit Declined, Slav Defense, Benoni Defense, Kings Indian Defense, Nimzo Indian Defense, Grunfeld Defense, Dutch Defense, Tarrasch and Chigorin Defense!

No more second-guessing, worrying about what your opponent plays or facing unknown opening lines…

Not only you will gain a very powerful opening repertoire after 1.d4, but also you will learn the most effective attacking plans, pawn structure nuances, correct piece placement, typical maneuvers, and the game-winning strategies. You’ll get all the tools you need to unleash your best play under pressure in actual games!

Let’s Begin?

Most strong chess players are terrible teachers.

It’s because they learned chess so long ago — and raised their level so much — they’ve lost touch with the frustrations of the average club player.

You’ve seen it…he’s explaining a chess concept…using overly difficult examples… and rushing through the moves at breakneck pace, dropping comments like “and…of course, this is winning…”  — then quickly moving on before you have a chance to solve the position.

These guys are chess players — not chess teachers.

Marian Petrov is different.

He’s a strong Grandmaster, sure…but listen to this:

“…He graduated from the National Sports Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria with a Bachelor’s degree in Chess Pedagogy, a four-year undergraduate program designed to prepare top-level chess trainers, mentors, and professional seconds of the World Championship contenders.”

That’s impressive. His college major was literally chess teaching. As a result of this, he knows what to teach, how to explain difficult concepts, and in which order you should learn each topic.

About the Author:

GM Marian Petrov is an accomplished professional chess coach, theorist, and Bulgarian champion in 2002 and 2017, as well as winner of many open tournaments around the world.

Petrov is a FIDE trainer and was the coach of the team of Wales at the Olympiad in Baku in 2016. He graduated from the National Sports Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria with a Bachelor’s degree in Chess Pedagogy, a four-year undergraduate program designed to prepare top-level chess trainers.

GM Petrov believes that simplicity is the key to perfect execution. He only shares proven and tested lines that he or his students used to dominate their games.

They are easy to understand and extremely powerful, especially on the club level!

How is this course going to help me?

This bundle contains GM Petrov’s 4 BEST training courses, so if you’re ready to join the ranks of his students — you can get all 4 at a serious discount!

Here are the 4 Superb Training Courses included in this bundle:

Attack and Defense

This is a complete masterclass divided into two sections. The first section trains you in attacking the king — no matter where he is located… in the center, the kingside, queenside, opposite side…no matter where — there’s an attacking plan for smashing through to checkmate him!

The second half of this course is dedicated to training you to defend against such attacks… You’ll be able to identify threats from far away and stop them in their tracks.

Dominate with 1.e4

You’ll get access to a FULL and dangerous opening repertoire for white, with 10 hours of strong ideas against all black responses from the Sicilian and French, to the Caro Kann and 1…e5 — nothing black tries will come as a surprise and you’ll ALWAYS emerge with an edge!

Dominate with 1.d4

This is your 10.5 hour guide to queen’s pawn MASTERY. No matter which side of the board you’re on, you’ll be knowledgeable in the theory, plans, pawn structures and attacking plans…of EVERY 1.d4 opening.

Whether it’s the King’s Indian, Queen’s Gambit, Dutch or anything in between…GM Petrov covers them in a crystal clear way that only a professional trainer can!

Positional Chess Mastery

You’ll get access to a 7 hour course covering all of the strategic imbalances in chess. In 14 chapters, GM Petrov teaches you themes like pawn structure, the bishop pair, attacking the king, dominating open files — and he even gives you a basic opening repertoire for BOTH black and white.

These courses represent a collection of the best work of an elite university-trained chess trainer who is also a strong Grandmaster — in my opinion, learning chess wisdom from GM Petrov is a BIG opportunity you shouldn’t miss.

Grandmaster Chess Strategy Guide: The Chess World Mega Bundle

The Chess World Mega Bundle

The Chess World‘s chess courses have gained an outstanding reputation in a very short time. Featuring top coaches like former World Junior Champion GM Alex Ipatov and IM Valeri Lilov, they cover a lot of topics rarely spoken about.

Each chess course strengthens your play and gives you a secret weapon to surprise and destroy your opponents with.

Topics include How to Dominate in Open Positions: GM Mikhalevski (peak 2611 Elo) teaches you the skills you need to control space, increase activity, push your opponent back and overload them with attack after attack.

Whereas many chess courses just show you what to do in a specific position, these rules will help you wth any open position!

Then you have GM Misa Pap explaining Grandmaster Chess Strategy, how GMs evaluate positions. Subtle principles that tell masters how to get long-term edges that snowball into an overwhelming advantage. This course contains the secret to the powerful play of GMs.

How about GM Tiberiu Georgescu’s Grandmaster Level Psychology? Knowing how to stay strong mentally and get a psychological edge over your opponent is hugely important in chess.

Just look at how Kasparov used to dominate his world-class rivals. It was his supreme awareness of the kind of psychological tricks revealed here.

And that’s just a few of the rating boosting lessons you’ll learn from The Chess World Mega Bundle, available together for the first time in a great value pack.

How can this product help me?

Karpov was once asked what the difference between the World Champion and the other elite players was. He replied that they were very close in strength, but the World Champion was usually 1% better than his rivals in most areas of the game.

The sum of all these small edges became decisive.

Now, this exclusive chess training program by our friends at The Chess World will help you improve on the 5 most important skills to develop a Grandmaster Chess Strategy: openings, prophylaxis, middlegame mastery, attacking play and endgame strategy.

Here’s part of what you’ll get:

Grandmaster Level Calculation – GM Daniel Gormally

In this video, England’s top grandmaster Daniel Gormally, a calculation expert, shares the insider’s secrets of how one should proceed about calculating variations in the most complicated positions that often arise over-the-board.

GM Gormally breaks down the entire calculation process into a few simple bites that virtually anyone can understand and master.

GM Gormally does a superb job explaining in great detail, backing up with Grandmaster chess examples, how one should proceed about calculating the moves.

Winning with Positional Sacrifice – GM Victor Mikhalevski

Positional sacrifice is a very delicate, yet very powerful technique that most advanced chess players perform. Some of the greatest chess minds in the history of the game employed the positional sacrifice as the weapon of choice to win tournaments, matches, and even World Championship titles.

Number one chess player and the reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen is no exception. He proves over and over again, against the toughest competition that the positional sacrifice is something that can blow up an otherwise equally looking position and score a crucial win.

The amateur players typically DO NOT understand the relative value of chess pieces well enough and prefer to simply keep the material.

The Art Of Attacking Chess – GM Sipke Ernst

In this 3-hour long video course, GM Sipke Ernst, a strong attacking player himself, will teach you the art of attacking chess. He goes in great detail analyzing the attacking techniques that players such as Magnus Carlsen, Vishy Anand, Mikhail Tal, Sergey Karjakin, Boris Spassky, and Veselin Topalov have successfully used to win games.

GM Ernst will show exactly how Grandmasters think in complex, razor-sharp positions when everything depends on a single move. In such positions, any little inaccuracy can cause a defeat.

It’s like walking on the minefield, along with your opponent, and waiting for someone to make a single wrong step.

The good news is that after going over this course you will have a map in your mind that will guide you through the labyrinth of move choices reducing the possibility of mistakes. That’s something your opponent may not have.

Comprehensive Beginner’s Course – IM Valeri Lilov

International Master Valeri Lilov assumes you know nothing about the game. And I mean NOTHING. He teaches you everything you need to know for becoming a club strength player from the ground up in the most efficient way.

Indeed, that won’t happen overnight, and you will need to play practice games, do homework and so on. Trust me; this is by far the quickest shortcut you can take to go from absolute zero to club player strength!

IM Lilov starts with the most basic things and dives into advanced stuff when you’re ready.

Others spend months if not years learning those things the hard way… we give you a complete course covering it all in just 10 hours of video!

Opening Mastery – Dominate with1.e4 by GM Marian Petrov

Chess openings are the foundation of every game. If you are behind in development, with your king stuck in the center and under attack… chances are you won’t be able to demonstrate your superior middlegame or superb endgame skills.

You got to know the openings you play.

The problem is…

Many video courses and chess opening theory books only CONFUSE you with the abundance of information. They give you all the possible responses to opening lines, hundreds of variations and sub-lines making it nearly impossible for a club player to digest and even less likely to apply it.

“The more, the better” principle is clearly NOT something you need in order to master your openings.

GM Petrov gives you a complete repertoire for beating the most popular Black responses to 1.e4, the move described as “best by test” by Bobby Fischer. 10 hours training on easy-to-remember but powerful e4 openings.

Middlegame Masterclass – IM Bill Paschall

Middlegame masterclass with IM Paschall is a 10-hour video course covering “everything middlegame” for under 2200 rated player must know.

It allows players to get an instant edge in the middlegame by following the correct plan, precisely utilizing the fundamental principles of the game and making sound decisions.

Even when the positions are complex and unclear it is possible to break it down into the easy-to-understand parts and proceed with the strongest continuation [don’t worry, you will learn how].

We will start learning the static concepts and work our way to the dynamic ones. In the first several chapters we will start with pawn structure, then continue with strategic concepts laid out by Nimzowitsch, and then proceed with coordination of pieces and pawns, space advantage, exchanges, king’s safety and so on.

Prophylaxis Masterclass with IM Valeri Lilov

Prophylactic thinking is the habit of constantly asking yourself “what does my opponent want to do?” and the ability to find a good reply that prevents the opponent from carrying out that plan.

Right now, there are thousands of chess players out there who have no idea how much they are being held BACK by having poor prophylactic skills.

It’s sad but true. Think about it this way:

Chess prophylaxis is the art & science of preventing your opponents’ threats.

It is a fundamental skill that is equally important regardless of the level you’re at. Prophylaxis is like dribbling in basketball. If you play the game, it is essential that you know how to dribble!

From stopping your opponent’s tactical ideas to cutting off his positional play, prophylaxis plays a HUGE role in every single move!

Attacking Chess Secrets with IM Alex Battey

In this 10-hour masterclass, IM Alex Battey shares his blueprint for launching powerful attacks with maximum ease and near perfect execution!

You DON’T need to be a chess genius or have a photographic memory to use those. You also don’t need to spend 8 hours a day on training.

Once you get a hang of it, you’ll feel like the attacks are happening on autopilot!

Here’s what you will learn with this course:

The mating nets – done right – How to save your time and energy over the board while setting up the traps that will do the work for you!

Strategic Endgame Mastery with IM Mat Kolosowski

So your opponent has survived this far? Make sure you get the point you deserve with IM Kolosovski’s 10-hour training on converting the most common endgames.

Nearly 50 hours of GM/IM coaching on the skills that win games, all at a huge discount until Sunday night.

Besides all of the above,  you also get a ton of bonus material too, including annotated PGNs, live blitz videos and access to the online practical section.

Attack and Defense with GM Marian Petrov

As you can probably guess from the title, this course examines attack and defense in chess at the same time – they are, after all, 2 sides of the same coin.

By showing how some threats can be defended – and how to counter those ideas – GM Marian Petrov builds up the sophistication of your attacks into laser-accurate combinations.

This is a complete masterclass divided into two sections. The first section trains you in attacking the king — no matter where he is located… in the center, the kingside, queenside, opposite side…no matter where — there’s an attacking plan for smashing through to checkmate him!

The second half of this course is dedicated to training you to defend against such attacks… You’ll be able to identify threats from far away and stop them in their tracks.

Dominate with 1.e4 – GM Marian Petrov

You’ll get access to a FULL and dangerous opening repertoire for white, with 10 hours of strong ideas against all black responses from the Sicilian and French, to the Caro Kann and 1…e5 — nothing black tries will come as a surprise and you’ll ALWAYS emerge with an edge!

This is not a “theoretical course” but a purely practical guide on how to use this chess opening preparation to win games.

It is developed with practical chess players in mind, who want to spend the minimum time studying the opening ideas yet aim to get maximum RESULTS from applying it to win games.

You will learn how to play the highest quality moves against any under-2200 rated opponent in the least possible time.

Dominate with 1.d4 – GM Marian Petrov

This is your 10.5-hour guide to queen’s pawn MASTERY. No matter which side of the board you’re on, you’ll be knowledgeable in the theory, plans, pawn structures and attacking plans…of EVERY 1.d4 opening.

Whether it’s the King’s Indian, Queen’s Gambit, Dutch or anything in between… GM Marian Petrov covers them in a crystal clear way that only a professional trainer can!

You will know exactly how to play against and beat players in the 10 most widely played openings after 1.d4: London System, Queen’s Gambit Accepted, Queen’s Gambit Declined, Slav Defense, Benoni Defense, Kings Indian Defense, Nimzo Indian Defense, Grunfeld Defense, Dutch Defense, Tarrasch and Chigorin Defense!

Positional Chess Mastery with GM Marian Petrov

You’ll get access to a 7-hour course covering all of the strategic imbalances in chess. In 14 chapters, GM Petrov teaches you themes like pawn structure, the bishop pair, attacking the king, dominating open files — and he even gives you a basic opening repertoire for BOTH black and white.

GM Petrov takes a very different perspective on improving your positional understanding. Instead of taking a usual route of learning “moves” and “lines”, he teaches “positions” and “patterns“.

This approach is proven to work for many of GM Petrov’s private students. It gives you a clear understanding of when to attack, defend or go into an endgame. This kind of thinking is the key difference between 1400 and 2500 rated players.

Enjoy this awesome package!

Beating 1.e4 with The Classical Sicilian Defense – GM Bryan Smith

The Classical Sicilian Defense – Initial Position

The Classical Variation of the Sicilian Defense is a chess opening for Black against 1.e4. It is a semi-open opening and has a reputation for being sharp and double-edged. It occurs after the moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6.

The Classical Sicilian defense is an excellent opening choice for a Black player who wants to play uncompromising chess, leading to sharp as well as creative positions.

One of the main advantages of playing the Classical Sicilian defense is that it is not as theoretically explored as the Sicilian Najdorf, nor as forcing as the Sicilian Dragon.

GM Smith analyzes the best options for Black to counter White’s multiple efforts against the Classical Sicilian, providing you with several easy-to-learn and effective setups for Black to crush White.

About the Author: 

Bryan Smith is an American Grandmaster and chess coach. GM Smith has won many international tournaments including Limpedea Cup (Romania), Citta di Erba (Italy), Easter International (Serbia), Philadelphia International, National Chess Congress, US Masters, etc.

Grandmaster Bryan Smith grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and currently lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Some of his accomplishments include first place in the 2008 National Chess Congress, 2009 National Chess Congress, 2010 Philadelphia International, and 2011 Limpedea Cup.

How is this course going to help me?

In this comprehensive 4-hour Empire Chess course, GM Bryan Smith builds up your knowledge of this powerful opening weapon, demonstrating how to combat each of the main White variations in turn.

Not only will you frustrate White players used to trying their pet lines against Black’s most common variations in the Sicilian Defense, but they’ll also face a line they didn’t expect at all.

The Classical Sicilian defense also gives you excellent winning chances due to its complexities. It is a highly flexible, tricky, and double-edged opening with which Black can avoid premature simplifications and confidently go for the full point.

Here’s what you’ll learn with this course:

Powerful Pawn Sacs!

Just when your opponent thinks he has a strong attack with Qf3 — YOU play …Qf6!! and sac a pawn — 90% of players will accept the pawn and the compensation you get is HUGE…look at those bishops!

English Attack Embarrassed!

A lot of players think they can crush any Sicilian with the English attack. Luckily, GM Smith has a clever knight hop sequence shutting it down immediately and gaining a big advantage for black!

“Krazy” King Moves:

You’re gonna love the moment you get to play this clever king move …Ke7!! (diagram) centralizing the king and preparing your own attack on the white king (Don’t worry…your king is COMPLETELY safe on e7!)

And like most of our courses, you’ll also get Complete PGN file of all covered games/examples, Challenging Puzzles for testing your knowledge, plus, a Comprehensive Summary PDF that’ll be your reference guide and blueprint for the course.

GM Bryan Smith’s brand-new course arms you once and for all to confidently fight against 1.e4 players.

Enjoy this course!

Chess Strategy Secrets by IM Danny Rensch (Rensch Bundle #2)

I’m sure you’ve heard of IM Danny Rensch… He is a world-famous chess coach and is also the man in charge of chess training materials at chess.com.

Danny’s students often become dangerous players in short order – without the frustration and mind-numbing hard work that most players deal with…

In the first part of this series, IM Danny Rensch will cover a very important chess strategy concept that every serious chess player must know, the isolated pawns.

IM Rensch begins the video illustrating through several openings just how common the pawn structure in question is. Introducing the position. Learn the basic principles of controlling or opposing the pawn and how your other hardware works with or against it.

In the second part of this series, IM Danny  Rensch will provide you with a crash course in pawn structure for every main-line chess opening.

Following this, you’ll learn other important strategic concepts that will definitely help you improve your understanding of chess strategy, and will make you a stronger player in all stages of the game.

About the Author:

Danny Rensch is an American International Master, event organizer, and commentator. He holds the Arizona State record for the youngest national master at the age of 14 years old. The National Master title is awarded by the US Chess Federation when a player’s rating surpasses 2200 on the USCF rating system.

Rensch obtained his final IM norm at Susan Polgar’s SPICE CUP tournament, by achieving a draw against then-Grandmaster candidate Ray Robson.

Rensch is best known for his coverage of the GM Blitz Battles. His live shows at chess.com/tv include “Man vs Machine,” “Call of the Wild,” and “Bullet Brawls.”

How do I benefit from this course?

“Chess Strategy Secrets by IM Danny Rensch” has been specially designed to help you improve your understanding of chess concepts and strategy. You’ll learn how to implement strategic thinking in your own games.

IM Danny Rensch will take you through the methods available to fight against the isolated queen pawn. He covers topics as: When do you want to trade the queens? What is a waiting move, and should you use them?

In this fundamental video series, you’ll also enjoy a crash course in pawn structure for every main-line chess opening. In this fast-paced lesson, IM Rensch surveys the key elements of the openings and shows you the crucial ideas for each arising structure.

If you’re a chess beginner, there isn’t a better video for your opening repertoire. If you’re a more advanced player, take this as a refresher course.

In the third part of this incredible collection, IM Daniel Rensch brings up a very controversial topic, the material imbalance of the minor piece against three or more pawns.

In general, for both sides, especially the side with the minor piece, the initiative and the ability to create threats is still important, but as you will see, unless the pawns are particularly dangerous, they really don’t stand a chance.

Absorv the knowledge provided by IM Rensch in this bundle and you’ll be able to rapidly improve your chess strength and start winning more and more tournament games, as well as gain hundreds of rating points.

Enjoy this awesome bundle! 

The Chess.com Mega Bundle: Chess Lessons to Become an Expert

Are you looking to improve your chess strength significantly and start winning tournament after tournament?

If you want to get your hands on over 250 hours of chess lessons from world-class presenters – plus the extras like the puzzles and PGN files – you’re just one click away from getting exactly what you need.

The Chess.com Mega Bundle is guaranteed to improve your chess tournament results with high-quality chess video production and analysis from some of the best chess coaches in the world.

The Chess.com Mega Bundle features an impressive line-up of world-renowned presenters including Grandmasters Sam Shankland (2018 U.S National Champion), GingerGM Simon Wiliams, Eugene Perelshteyn, Dejan Bojkov, and IM Danny Rensch.

This bundle is a collection of some of the best premium video content from chess.com and represents an invaluable guide to learning chess openings, strategy, and tactics.

What this Bundle includes:

Here’s what you’re getting with this extraordinary bundle:

The Danny Rensch Chess Tactics & Endgames Conversion Kit (26 hours)

I’m sure you’ve heard of IM Danny Rensch… he is a world-famous chess coach and is also the man in charge of chess training materials at chess.com.

Danny’s students often become dangerous players in short order – without the frustration and mind-numbing hard work that most players deal with…

These lessons from IM Danny Rensch focus heavily on two things…

1. Making you tactically superior – so that you can effortlessly achieve winning positions in your games.
2. Endgame technique – so you can convert those winning positions with the polished technique of a pro.

GingerGM’s Spicy Collection – Spicy Attacks and Spicy Gambits (35 hours)

The GingerGM, Simon Williams, will show you how precious timing can be in an opposite side castling position. The material might as well be forgotten, as it is all about who wins the race.

GM Simon Williams will walk you through some of the most common mistakes the club players make and will also tell you who to overcome those type of mistakes in a 3-part series of videos, included in this package.

Playing the same openings all the time isn’t much fun – and it makes you easy to prepare for. That’s the reason why GM Simon Williams will also talk to you about chess openings and gambits.

You’ll learn:

How to smash the Sicilian with an outlandish early …g5 sac followed by gunning down the g-file! Simon used this to defeat a 2585 Elo-rated GM, preparing the stunning …Bh6!! followed by …Rxg2+!! (Diagram)

Super GM Chess Tools To Force Wins – GM Sam Shankland (25 hours)

Ever wondered what’s so special about Super GMs?

Here’s what happens: a well-seasoned super grandmaster always seems to find the way to force wins from rather drawish positions — where even a regular 2500-rated grandmaster might falter.

What is it that really separates the likes of Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, and Garry Kasparov from everyone else?

Is it that they have a higher IQ?

Is it due to having great genes?

Of course not! None of those things are really what separates such great players from the rest.

In truth, what makes a Super GM is actually a particular set of ‘tools’ or weapons that he hones over time and keeps “ready to fire at will”!

In ‘Super GM Chess Tools To Force Wins’, GM Sam Shankland teaches you how to win at chess using the super grandmaster tools that, when applied correctly, have the potential to take you to 2700 Elo and beyond.

Best Chess Openings for Tournaments (1600-2000+ players) – GM Sam Shankland (16.5 hours)

In this 16.5-hour collection of chess lessons, GM Shankland gives you a powerful chess opening repertoire and explains all the related tactics, positional aims and middlegame ideas.

Watch these chess lessons and you’ll always be able to obtain great positions out of the opening and know exactly what you need to do to turn this edge into a win.

Sam gives you GM insight into the most respected chess openings for tournaments: the super-sharp Sicilian Najdorf, the strategic Ruy Lopez, the Queen’s Gambit, Caro-Kann, and Semi-Slav – openings you can definitely rely on.

Bojkov Boss Moves: Learning From Chess Legends (34 hours)

Any chess coach worth their salt will tell you that if you want to improve your chess skills, you should study the games of the great players of the past.

There is no quicker way to get the intuitive feel for good moves that you need if you’re to be successful in competitive play.

But where should you start?

There are so many fantastic players and each one of them has played hundreds of games. And what if you miss an important lesson when analyzing one of these games?

Never fear, GM Dejan Bojkov is here, and he’s got you covered with Bojkov Boss Moves: Learning from Chess Legends.

In this extraordinary 34-hour collection of his premium chess.com content, GM Dejan Bojkov analyzes the most instructive games of all time, focusing on the pre-computer era.

Bojkov Boss Moves Vol 2: Chess Strategy for Immediate Improvement (35 hours)

Get the skills needed to beat strong players with GM Dejan Bojkov’s 35-hour collection of his premium chess.com videos.

Whereas most chess courses teach general chess topics such as “how to attack”, Bulgarian GM Dejan Bojkov has focused on very specific chess skills, giving you the high-level techniques you definitely need in order to beat strong players.

With crystal clear insight, Dejan explains concepts such as when to exchange pieces in your favor, how to get the best out of each piece by understanding their hidden strength, and the potential of the heavy pieces!

And those are just 3 out of the many lessons containing game-winning chess strategy and technique.

How 2700 GMs Study Chess – GM Sam Shankland (+27 hours)

2018 US Chess Champion Sam Shankland has put together a 27-hour series of his analysis and commentary on the most instructive positions and games.

This is how top players study chess and improve: by constantly searching out new ideas and analyzing the best games to understand chess at ever deeper levels.

And now you get to enjoy the fruit of Sam’s labor!

This super course will give you 2 things:

1. Hundreds of the most powerful ideas in chess from 2700+ GMs – stuff that 99% of players will never have seen before.
2. Insight into the thought-process of a world-class GM: what’s important in the position? How much risk should you take? How can you streamline your calculation?

And, crucially, everything sticks in your head as Sam comments on these incredible games like he’s narrating a story.

GM Eugene Perelshteyn Power Chess Bundle (19 hours)

GM Eugene Perelshteyn is here to help you get better results in your chess tournaments and also gain some high-value chess knowledge that will help you skyrocket your rating.

In the first portion of this 19-hour chess bundle, GM Perelshteyn will provide you with highly instructive game analysis from top players. For example, he introduces a very aggressive approach to the Leningrad Dutch, presenting a devastating game by GM Hikaru Nakamura. Along the way, Perelshteyn clearly explains the basis for white’s aggression and the type of play that is likely to result.

You will gain a new sense of how to challenge opponents with creative play right from the opening, as well as a new weapon against the Dutch defense.

How to Beat Higher Rated Opponents – GM Ben Finegold

In the first part of this 18-hour chess video collection, Finegold explains how all his previous experience ultimately helped earn the GM title.

He recalls a particular battle with then-IM Boris Kreiman with an interesting “Berlin Sideline” (that has become Ben’s specialty!) in a critical game in the 2002 World Open. This victory was a key step on his way towards earning his first GM norm.

“How to beat higher rated opponents”  is an 18+ hour chess course to help beginner and intermediate chess players understand how they can prepare to play against higher rated chess players, and win.

Chess Strategy Guide for Club Players – GM Melikset Khachiyan

In this 28-hour chess strategy guide, GM Melikset Khachiyan makes use of his own experience and his students’ experience in order to illustrate how to implement dynamic thinking and strategic thinking in your own games.

Sometimes chess relies on the rote study: the rules, normal openings, and some common endgames. But most of the time, winning chess requires imagination — and lots of it.

GM Melikset Khachiyan will teach you how to look out for these game-changing moves, whether there are quiet threats or spectacular sacrifices. GM Khachiyan shows you one of his own games that is filled with potential in-between moves, and it’s your job to spot them.

In the first portion of this bundle, GM Melikset Khachiyan walks you through the key ideas of the positional exchange sacrifice in one of his own instructive games.

Chess Strategy Secrets by IM Danny Rensch (Rensch Bundle #2)

“Chess Strategy Secrets by IM Danny Rensch” has been specially designed to help you improve your understanding of chess concepts and strategy. You’ll learn how to implement strategic thinking in your own games.

IM Danny Rensch will take you through the methods available to fight against the isolated queen pawn. He covers topics as: When do you want to trade the queens? What is a waiting move, and should you use them?

In this fundamental video series, you’ll also enjoy a crash course in pawn structure for every main-line chess opening. In this fast-paced lesson, IM Rensch surveys the key elements of the openings and shows you the crucial ideas for each arising structure.

If you’re a chess beginner, there isn’t a better video for your opening repertoire. If you’re a more advanced player, take this as a refresher course.

How do I benefit from this Bundle?

With around 250 hours of to-the-point training material, these chess lessons are purposely designed to help you understand chess better and find the right move at the board.

The Chess.com Mega Bundle will be all the training material you’ll need for at least the next 6 months.

Here are some chess lessons you’ll find in this bundle:

Play Powerful Positional Chess Like Magnus Carlsen

You know that Magnus Carlsen is a brilliant positional player, but do you know why? GM Eugene Perelshteyn reviews an instructive Carlsen win against Vishy Anand from the 2013 Tal Memorial tournament.

Find out GM Perelshteyn’s advice on how to play against the “hanging pawns” that Anand took pains to avoid in the game.

One move ahead

Playing for equality? Stop playing natural moves! Start looking at weirder moves instead to wring initiative out of your opponent’s “perfect” position.

See why Shankland denied a piece sacrifice for a more unnatural Nc5! in this North American Open game.

Kasparov’s secrets

Sam’s fascinating 10-part series on his favorite player. Learn all about Garry’s mastery of the initiative, attacking play and far-sighted moves. If this doesn’t add more fire to your play, it’s time to give up!

When to Exchange Pieces

This well prepared and well-articulated lesson is going to improve your technical skills and knowledge regarding the exchange of pieces… big time!

This video is broken down into specific aspects of the art of exchanging pieces and will help you make better decisions in your own critical moments at the board.

Positional Compensation: Active Pieces

Grandmaster Dejan Bojkov reviews a game played by Nana Dzagnidze. After sacrificing an exchange, her pieces gained superpowers and they never looked back!

This interesting demonstration provides proof that the Bishop pair can provide more than enough compensation against the Rook and Knight tandem. After a brilliant pawn move at a critical moment, Dzagnidze was able to beat Super-GM Vallejo-Pons in style.

The Chess.com Mega Bundle is guaranteed to help the viewer improve by focusing on a variety of topics including deep opening preparation, forcing attacking sequences, chess tactics, classic game analysis, endgame principles, and much more.

Understanding Weak Squares in Chess – GM Niclas Huschenbeth

GM Niclas Huschenbeth has just recorded a brand new course “Understanding and Exploiting Weak Squares.”

GM Huschenbeth recorded all of his lessons in a way that you will love them, using Improve My Chess’ signature pause technique and interactive way of learning.

No one has ever demonstrated the weak squares as well as Niclas and perhaps nobody ever recorded a whole course dedicated to all types of weak squares!

Not only will you understand and recognize the weak squares in chess, but you will learn how to create weak squares in your opponent’s camp and how to exploit them!

About the Author:

Niclas Huschenbeth is a young and talented German chess grandmaster. Huschenbeth obtained his grandmaster title at the start of 2012.

His most notable success to date was becoming the youngest German champion ever, at the age of 18 in 2010. He also represented Germany at the Chess Olympiads of 2008 and 2010. He is currently studying psychology on the East Coast of the United States, where he plays on his university team.

How is this course going to help me?

There are certain strategic concepts and ideas that every chess player needs to understand. These concepts are essential because they occur over and over during every game.

Not knowing these concepts is like being lost in the middle of the ocean, not even knowing which direction to swim. That’s the reason why GM Niclas Huschenbeth is here to show you how to understand and take advantage of the concept of weaknesses.

You will learn what weaknesses are, weak squares, and weak pawns. You will also learn how to create weaknesses in your opponent’s position, and how to exploit them, and at the same time avoiding creating weaknesses in your own position.

Here’s what GM Huschenbeth is going to teach you in this course:

• 01 – What Are Weak Squares
• 02 – Fixing and Exploiting Weak Squares
• 03 – Trading Defenders of Weak Squares
• 04 – Using Weak Squares for a Mating Attack
• 05 – Exploiting Weak Square Complexes
• 06 – Creating Weaknesses with Positional Sacrifice
• 07 – Exploiting Weaknesses on Both Sides of the Board
• 08 – Avoiding and Getting Rid of a Weak Square

Improve My Chess: Premium Chess Courses Mega Bundle

If you’ve been struggling with your chess development, you’ve just come across the premium chess courses that will accelerate your growth by improving all areas of your chess understanding.

The Improve My Chess Premium Chess Mega Bundle features an impressive line-up with world-renowned chess coaches including Grandmasters Josh Friedel, GM Gabor Papp, and GM Mesgen Amanov.

Get your hands on more than 80 hours of premium chess lessons from strong Grandmasters and chess coaches – plus a whole host of extras such as puzzles and PGN files.

This exclusive mega bundle will provide you with all the chess lessons you need in order to move from chess beginner to expert, or even master, very quickly.

Step-by-step you will see your middlegame, endgame, and all-around game skills improve, leading to an inevitable significant increase to your overall chess skills and Elo rating.

What’s included in this bundle?

Here’s what you’re getting with The Improve My Chess Premium Chess Mega Bundle:

Keeping the Tempo: The Art of Forcing Chess (5 hours)

In chess, the initiative is everything. When Wilhelm Steinitz, the first World Champion, laid out his classical chess principles, he said, “only the player with the initiative has the right to attack”.

Get the initiative and you boss the game. When your every move contains a deadly threat, your opponent’s plans go out of the window. All they can do is react, defend, and hope your next move isn’t the last.

Now you can learn the secret of commanding the initiative with Keeping the Tempo: The Art of Forcing Chess from American GM Josh Friedel (2562).

This 5-hour course teaches you how to think in a new way, prioritizing forcing moves, tactics, and sacrifices to keep your opponents on the back foot.

GM Josh Friedel has earned a reputation as one of the fiercest attacking players around and it’s this approach of playing the most forcing (good) move in every position that has helped him achieve his success.

Converting an Advantage in Practical Endgames – Volume #1 (7 hours)

If you are struggling with your endgame technique or converting your advantage into a full point, this course is exactly what you need.

To be able to convert a winning position is not as simple as it sounds. How many times do we say “I had a winning position, but I blew it”? This video course will help you fight right up to the end of the game and not relax too early.

GM Papp’s teaching skills are world class. His instructions are very easy to follow and all lessons are recorded in the signature Improve My Chess style. GM Papp will be asking you to pause the video during the lessons and will challenge you to figure out what you would do in each position. This active learning means you’ll learn more than simply sitting back and watching, and the ideas will be firmly planted in your mind.

Converting an Advantage in Practical Endgames – Volume #2 (4+ hours)

Just as in volume 1, GM Papp asks you questions during every lesson where you’ll need to pause the video and put your brain to use! You will be advised how much time to spend on a given position.

It is very important to get into the habit of constantly asking yourself questions and giving yourself time to think. With this method, you will develop a true analytical process of thinking.

Volume 2 includes the most common endgames: Rook endgames and Queen Endgames.

You will learn all of the essentials such as Active King, Active Rook, Passed Pawns, Squeeze, and much more…

Converting an Advantage in Practical Endgame – Vol #3 (6 hours)

This volume is 6 hours long and includes a total of 12 lessons.

GM Papp continues his chess endgames masterclass by teaching the techniques you need to be able to convert any endgame. Not every endgame has a theoretical plan – sometimes, you’ll need to use general principles and concepts in order to keep and convert an advantage.

You’ll learn these crucial techniques here, as well as develop a strategic vision, learning how to squeeze your opponent even when there are only a few pieces left on the board. You’ll also learn a crucial skill every expert has relied on to get where they are – learning from your mistakes.

Chess Lessons Super Pack: From Chess Beginner to Expert in 1 Year (29 hours)

GM Mesgen Amanov brings you an intensive training program that will accelerate your growth by improving all areas of your chess understanding.

This program will teach you exactly what to work on and how to apply it to your game in order to move from chess beginner to expert in only 12 months.

GM Amanov’s program is already being used successfully by top school chess teams and hundreds of students worldwide.

GM Amanov starts the course with the most important concept in chess: The process of thinking.

Before you learn any opening, middlegame, or endgame you need to learn the most important chess concept – The Process of Thinking. In fact, in this full program, GM Amanov dedicates the entire first month of study to this concept.

The skills you develop here will serve you for years to come.

Chess Opening Master Guide: Become an Opening Expert in 12 Months (45 hours)

If you are serious about your opening preparation, you probably think that you need to devote a lot of time to study your lines thoroughly so that you can memorize them very well.

What if you really didn’t need to memorize every single line of the chess openings you like to play, but you could focus on understanding the ideas behind the moves instead?

In this chess openings master guide, GM Mesgen Amanov shows you how to obtain a perfect understanding of chess openings.

You will know exactly what to do in the opening stage without needing to memorize long variations.

GM Amanov makes sure you understand all the ideas behind every opening that he recommends.

The Improve My Chess Premium Chess Mega Bundle is guaranteed to help you improve all your chess skills by focusing on a variety of topics including opening preparation, understanding chess strategy, chess tactics, the process of thinking during a game, endgame principles, and much more.

Chess Gambits Against The Sicilian, The French and Ruy Lopez

If you’re looking for aggressive opening lines as White against the French and the Sicilian and a remedy as Black to the Spanish torture of the Ruy Lopez, then look no more!

This course offers a great selection of opening videos based on gambits you can play against each of these super popular openings.

Grandmaster Boris Alterman covers several sharp and aggressive opening gambits you can play against the Sicilian, French and Ruy Lopez.

There are 49 top-quality videos of Grandmaster analysis on these exciting openings.

Each video is aimed at teaching you the in’s and out’s of a gambit, covering the best moves and most likely responses from your opponent, as well as providing a review of instructional games so you can see the gambit being used in a practical setting.

About the Author:

Boris Alterman is an Israeli chess Grandmaster, FIDE Senior Trainer (2010), and also an advisor of the Junior chess program. He started playing chess at the age of 7. His career highlights include earning the IM title in 1991, and the GM title in 1992.

He is the winner of the following Open and GM tournaments: Haifa 1993, Bad Homburg 1996, Rishon LeZion 1996, Beijing 1995 and 1997, and Munich 1992.

He plays for Rishon LeZion chess club and produces video lectures on the Internet Chess Club Website.

What you get from this course:

If you’re looking for ways to bust the Sicilian Defense, the French Defense or the Ruy Lopez, then this video series is for you!

Here’s what you’ll get:

Chess Gambits Against The French Defense

Grandmaster Boris Alterman covers three sharp and aggressive opening gambits that you can play against the French Defense.

Milner-Barry-Gambit (2 Part Series)

It was invented by legendary World War II Enigma Code breaker Sir Stuart Milner-Barry, who always liked to play with a sense of adventure.

Now, in his latest Gambit Guide series, GM Boris Alterman re-evaluates the Milner-Barry Gambit as a potent weapon for white – and especially for players who like to play actively.

French-Alekhine Gambit (6 Part Series)

In a new six-part series for this Chess Gambits Guide, our intrepid gambit guru, GM Boris Alterman takes a closer look at two very aggressive Alekhine chess gambits against the normally solid French Winawer.

First up will be a four-part series on 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Nge2 followed by a two-part series on the apocryphal ‘finger slip’ variation, when Alekhine meant to play 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e5 c5 5 Bd2 against Flohr at Nottingham 1936, but instead touched his c1 bishop first so the game went 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Bd2 dxe4 5 Nxe4 Qxd4 6 Bd3 Bxd2+ 7 Qxd2.

Chatar-Alekhine-Attack (2 Part Series)

The Chatard-Alekhine Attack in the Classical French Defense with 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4!? is a formidable weapon in the hands of an aggressive player – and only a few years ago, Alexander Morozevich used it to demolish French expert Viktor Korchnoi in just 20 moves!

White sacrifices his h-pawn for an immensely dangerous initiative. This leads to a complex struggle, where White has a rapid and easy development.

Chess Gambits Against The Sicilian Defense

Grandmaster Boris Alterman and GM Alex Lenderman cover four sharp and aggressive opening gambits you can play against the Sicilian Defense.

The Sicilian Defense – famed chess opening, known as one of the sharpest, most double-edged, aggressive, complicated and successful chess openings for Black.

It is said that you don’t really understand chess until you’ve explored the Sicilian Defense!

It’s not an easy opening to play, either as Black, or facing it as White. There are simply so many variations and sidelines, it is next to impossible to remember them all. It’s a good idea to learn the general ideas and principles involved and make sure you have a plan of progress.

Sveshnikov-Sicilian Sacrifices on b5 (5 Videos)

He was the driving force and inspiration of the variation during the early 1970s when he was a young IM – and back then, it was his creative mind who developed this aggressive method of playing as black.

Since then, elite stars such as Kasparov, Kramnik, Topalov, Leko, Radjabov, and Shirov have all adopted this variation into their arsenal because it often leads to imbalanced positions.

There are many methods to combat the Sveshnikov, but one of the most macho involves the early sacrifice of either a knight or a bishop on b5. And in his latest series, GM Boris Alterman checks the status of both the Nxb5 and Bxb5 gambits vs. the Sveshnikov.

The Sicilian Defense – Moscow Variation (2 Videos)

A favorite of chess players is unquestionably the late great David Bronstein (1924-2006), who was nothing short of being a true chess genius.

He was an independent thinker at the board, and our gambit guru, GM Boris Alterman investigates two highly-respected (and typical) Bronstein gambits for rapid development in the Sicilian Moscow variation after 3. Bb5+.

First up will be 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bd7 Qd7 5. c4 Qg4?! 6. 0-0! followed by 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bd7 Qd7 5. 0-0 Nc6 6.c3 Nf6 7. d4!?

Smith-Morra Gambit (4 Videos)

The Smith-Morra Gambit against the Sicilian Defense (1 e4 c5 2 d4 cxd4 3 c3 dxc3 4 Nxc3!?) is perhaps not common in grandmaster chess, but at club level, it can be a very potent attacking weapon.

The gambit is named after two players, Pierre Morra from France (1900-1969) and Ken Smith (1930-1999) of the Dallas Chess Club, who popularized it to the masses by writing nine books and fifty articles about it.

This is a 3 part series from GM Alex Lenderman, with one extra video from GM Boris Alterman covering the spectacular attacking game of IM Marc Esserman who beat GM Van Wely with the Smith-Morra.

Kamsky Gambit (1 Video)

Former US champion, Gata Kamsky, came up with a new gambit idea in the Sicilian Najdorf with 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 a4 Nc6 7 a5!? that our gambit guru, GM Boris Alterman, takes a closer look at.

Chess Gambits Against The Ruy Lopez

If you’re looking for ways to bust the Ruy Lopez, then this video series is for you! Grandmaster Boris Alterman and Grandmaster Ronen Har-Zvi cover several sharp and aggressive chess gambits you can play against the Ruy Lopez.

You receive 27 top quality videos of Grandmaster analysis on these exciting openings:

Cordel Gambit (2 Part Series)

Oskar Cordel (1843-1913) was not so much a top player in Germany but more thought of as a theorist on the game, with many published opening books and magazine articles to his name.

Nevertheless, the author did leave a lasting legacy of two variations in the Ruy Lopez he championed: the Cordel variation and the Cordel gambit with 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Bc5 4 c3 f5?!

The Cordel gambit can lead to some very strange positions and there are many bizarre responses to it – but ultimately it has never proved to be strictly sound, though it is useful as a surprise weapon when you are looking for wild, tactical games.

The Cordel gambit has been adopted as such by modern-day grandmasters Ivan Sokolov, Ian Rogers, and Jonny Hector.

Dilworth Variation (2 Part Series)

Dilworth became famous overnight after his analysis was spotted by the great Mikhail Botvinnik, who used the tricky line (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Bc5 10.Bc2 0–0 11.Nbd2 Nxf2!?) as a surprise weapon against Vassily Smyslov during the 1943/4 Moscow Championship.

And the ‘Dangerous Dilworth’ is not only tricky but still alive and kicking today with many titled players over the years falling victim to it.

Gajewski Gambit (2 Part Series)

As chess gambits go, the Gajewski Gambit with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0 0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0 0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 d5!? is a relative newcomer to the game.

The position after White’s tenth move had been reached thousands of times with 10…c5 being universally played, before the Polish grandmaster Grzegorz Gajewski revealed recently that Black has a fascinating, almost Marshall Attack-like gambit at his disposal with 10 …d5!?

The introductory game came at the 2007 Czech open, when Gajewski uncorked it against the unsuspecting Kuznetsov, in a brilliant attacking game that soon became a hot candidate for the novelty of the year.

It was then given the seal of approval at the elite level by being taken up after this by Carlsen and Leko. And in a new series of GM Boris Alterman’s Gambit Guide, our gambit guru takes a closer look at the adventurous Gajewski Gambit.

Riga Variation (2 Part Series)

The Riga variation is exciting and often leads to many wild sacrificial gambits galore, which, if White is unsure of what is going on, can easily lead to many Black quick wins.

Marshall Gambit (10 Part Series)

One of the world’s first Grandmasters, America’s Frank J. Marshall (1877-1944) left behind a lasting legacy to the chess world with his revered gambit against the Ruy Lopez: the Marshall Attack with 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 0-0 8 c3 d5!

The myth goes that Marshall deliberately kept his analysis secret for seven years before playing it against Capablanca at New York 1918, but this has since been debunked by historians. Regardless of its origins, it continues to wreak havoc both at the club and elite level over 90 years on – GM Ronen Har-Zvi comprehensively covers the Marshall Attack in this 10 part series.

Hector Gambit (3 Part Series)

The Ruy Lopez Exchange (or Spanish Exchange) was championed by two great world champions – first by Emmanuel Lasker as a secret weapon to take on the mighty Capablanca; and then arguably more famously by Bobby Fischer, who finely honed it with his modern-day update in the 1960s.

The concept of the opening is simple: Take all the pieces off the board and White wins the ending. But with the bishop pair, there are many ways for Black to counter the Exchange Lopez, and one enterprising way is to adopt an adventurous gambit made popular by the swashbuckling Swede, Jonny Hector, with 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Bxc6 dxc6 5 0-0 Bg4 6 h3 Bh5!? that features in this three-part series.

Janisch Gambit – Ruy Lopez (2 Part Series)

The Jaenisch or Schliemann Gambit in the Ruy Lopez with 3 …f5 dates back to 1847. This provocative pawn sacrifice by black as early as move three often leads to games of a swashbuckling nature. Black dictates the action from the earliest moment – and often it can confuse the players of the white pieces.

It has received a new lease of life with its adoption at the elite level by Teimour Radjabov and others. GM Boris Alterman takes a close look.

Schliemann Defense Deferred (2 Part Series)

The Schliemann Defense Deferred, with 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 f5 is, of course, very similar in nature to the more popular Schliemann Defense covered during an earlier series of Gambit Guide. It has never had a good reputation, but it remains a surprise weapon with no clear refutation.

The key difference between the two is that in the deferred form Black can have a timely …b5 available. The deferred was a favorite of the original chess thinker David Bronstein, and even Viktor Korchnoi used it to draw with Anatoly Karpov during their many world championship battles; lately, Alexei Shirov has played it. And in a new series of Gambit Guide, we take a closer look at the nuances of the Schliemann Deferred.

Siesta Variation (2 Part Series)

The Siesta Variation in the Modern Steinitz (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.c3 f5) is a dangerous weapon against the Ruy Lopez and is anything but sleepy. It is very similar in style to the Janisch (or Schliemann) Gambit, but can prove more potent as accepting the gambit can see White getting a rude wake-up call by being hit with a quick and ferocious kingside attack.

Many believe it has Spanish origins due to the name, but it is in fact derived from the location of the 1928 Budapest tournament, held in the Siesta Sanatorium, where Jose Raul Capablanca successfully deployed it against Andreas Steiner.

Capablanca viewed it then to be “too risky,” but modern-day champions of the Siesta, such as the Russian GM Valeri Yandemirov, have developed the shaper play around it.

Chess Gambits Against The Ruy Lopez – GM Boris Alterman

If you’re looking for ways to bust the Ruy Lopez, then this video series is for you! Grandmaster Boris Alterman and Grandmaster Ronen Har-Zvi cover several sharp and aggressive chess gambits you can play against the Ruy Lopez.

You receive 27 top-quality videos of Grandmaster analysis on these exciting openings.

About the Author:

Boris Alterman is an Israeli chess Grandmaster, FIDE Senior Trainer (2010), and also an advisor of the Junior chess program.

He started playing chess at the age of 7. His career highlights include earning the IM title in 1991, and the GM title in 1992.

He is the winner of the following Open and GM tournaments: Haifa 1993, Bad Homburg 1996, Rishon LeZion 1996, Beijing 1995 and 1997, and Munich 1992.

He plays for Rishon LeZion chess club and produces video lectures on the Internet Chess Club Website.

Cordel Gambit (2 Part Series)

Oskar Cordel (1843-1913) was not so much a top player in Germany but more thought of as a theorist on the game, with many published opening books and magazine articles to his name.

Nevertheless, the author did leave a lasting legacy of two variations in the Ruy Lopez he championed: the Cordel variation and the Cordel gambit with 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Bc5 4 c3 f5?!

The Cordel gambit can lead to some very strange positions and there are many bizarre responses to it – but ultimately it has never proved to be strictly sound, though it is useful as a surprise weapon when you are looking for wild, tactical games.

The Cordel gambit has been adopted as such by modern-day grandmasters Ivan Sokolov, Ian Rogers, and Jonny Hector.

Dilworth Variation (2 Part Series)

You don’t need to be a superstar to receive immortality in the game – all you need is the ability to hitch your name to a popular opening system. One classic case was English amateur correspondence player and humble railway’s clerk Vernon Dilworth (1916-2004), who published an analysis in the British magazine “Chess” during the early 1940s that rehabilitated an old line of the Open Lopez.

Dilworth became famous overnight after his analysis was spotted by the great Mikhail Botvinnik, who used the tricky line (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Bc5 10.Bc2 0–0 11.Nbd2 Nxf2!?) as a surprise weapon against Vassily Smyslov during the 1943/4 Moscow Championship.

And the ‘Dangerous Dilworth’ is not only tricky but still alive and kicking today with many titled players over the years falling victim to it.

Gajewski Gambit (2 Part Series)

As chess gambits go, the Gajewski Gambit with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0 0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0 0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 d5!? is a relative newcomer to the game.

The position after White’s tenth move had been reached thousands of times with 10…c5 being universally played, before the Polish grandmaster Grzegorz Gajewski revealed recently that Black has a fascinating, almost Marshall Attack-like gambit at his disposal with 10 …d5!?

The introductory game came at the 2007 Czech open, when Gajewski uncorked it against the unsuspecting Kuznetsov, in a brilliant attacking game that soon became a hot candidate for the novelty of the year.

It was then given the seal of approval at the elite level by being taken up after this by Carlsen and Leko. And in a new series of GM Boris Alterman’s Gambit Guide, our gambit guru takes a closer look at the adventurous Gajewski Gambit.

Riga Variation (2 Part Series)

The Riga Variation in the Open Ruy Lopez (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Nxe4 6 d4 exd4) was first played during a correspondence match in 1907 between the two cities of Berlin and Riga – and despite many believing it is ultimately unsound, its reputation is better than once thought and new discoveries in it were revealed in NIC YearBook 85 by Correspondence GM Peter Boll.

The Riga variation is exciting and often leads to many wild sacrificial gambits galore, where, if White is unsure of what is going on, can easily lead to many Black quick wins.

Marshall Gambit (10 Part Series)

One of the world’s first Grandmasters, America’s Frank J. Marshall (1877-1944) left behind a lasting legacy to the chess world with his revered gambit against the Ruy Lopez: the Marshall Attack with 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 0-0 8 c3 d5!

The myth goes that Marshall deliberately kept his analysis secret for seven years before playing it against Capablanca at New York 1918, but this has since been debunked by historians. Regardless of its origins, it continues to wreak havoc both at the club and elite level over 90 years on – GM Ronen Har-Zvi comprehensively covered the Marshall Attack in this 10 video part series.

Hector Gambit (3 Part Series)

The Ruy Lopez Exchange (or Spanish Exchange) was championed by two great world champions – first by Emmanuel Lasker as a secret weapon to take on the mighty Capablanca; and then arguably more famously by Bobby Fischer, who finely honed it by adding a cutting edge with his modern-day update of it in the 1960s.

The concept of the opening is simple: Take all the pieces off the board and White wins the ending. But with the bishop pair, there are many ways for Black to counter the Exchange Lopez, and one enterprising way is to adopt an adventurous gambit made popular by the swashbuckling Swede, Jonny Hector, with 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Bxc6 dxc6 5 0-0 Bg4 6 h3 Bh5!? that features in a new three-part series for Gambit Guide.

Janisch Gambit – Ruy Lopez (2 Part Series)

The Jaenisch or Schliemann Gambit in the Ruy Lopez with 3 …f5 dates back to 1847. This provocative pawn sacrifice by black as early as move three often leads to games of a swashbuckling nature. Black dictates the action from the earliest moment – and often it can confuse the players of the white pieces.

It has received a new lease of life with its adoption at the elite level by Teimour Radjabov and others. And in his latest Gambit Guide series, GM Boris Alterman takes a closer look at the Jaenisch/Schliemann Gambit.

Schliemann Defense Deferred (2 Part Series)

The Schliemann Defense Deferred, with 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 f5 is, of course, very similar in nature to the more popular Schliemann Defense covered during an earlier series of Gambit Guide. It has never had a good reputation, but it remains a surprise weapon with no clear refutation.

The key difference between the two is that in the deferred form Black can have a timely …b5 available. The deferred was a favorite of the original chess thinker David Bronstein, and even Viktor Korchnoi used it to draw with Anatoly Karpov during their many world championship battles; lately, Alexei Shirov has played it. And in a new series of Gambit Guide, we take a closer look at the nuances of the Schliemann Deferred.

Siesta Variation (2 Part Series)

The Siesta Variation in the Modern Steinitz (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.c3 f5) is a dangerous weapon against the Ruy Lopez and is anything but sleepy. It is very similar in style to the Janisch (or Schliemann) Gambit, but can prove more potent as accepting the gambit can see White getting a rude wake-up call by being hit with a quick and ferocious kingside attack.

Many believe it has Spanish origins due to the name, but it is in fact derived from the location of the 1928 Budapest tournament, held in the Siesta Sanatorium, where Jose Raul Capablanca successfully deployed it against Andreas Steiner.

Capablanca viewed it then to be “too risky,” but modern-day champions of the Siesta, such as the Russian GM Valeri Yandemirov, have developed the shaper play around it.

Chess Gambits Against The French Defense – GM Boris Alterman

Looking for ways to defeat the French Defense? Look no further as Grandmaster Boris Alterman covers three sharp and aggressive opening gambits you can play against the French Defense.

About the Author:

Boris Alterman is an Israeli chess Grandmaster, FIDE Senior Trainer (2010), and also an advisor of the Junior chess program.

He started playing chess at the age of 7. His career highlights include earning the IM title in 1991, and the GM title in 1992. He is the winner of the following Open and GM tournaments: Haifa 1993, Bad Homburg 1996, Rishon LeZion 1996, Beijing 1995 and 1997, and Munich 1992.

He plays for Rishon LeZion chess club and produces video lectures on the Internet Chess Club Website.

Is this course for me?

If you’re looking to have more fun from your chess games and create more memorable games, start adding some gambits into your opening repertoire!

Played for 100s of years, chess gambits are openings which deliberately give up a pawn (or more) too rapidly develop their pieces, start an attack and destroy the opponent in record time.

Through the 1920s and 1930s, former world champion Alexander Alekhine was a force of nature with phenomenal tournament results (he won 25 of 44 tournaments he played during his career).

Alekhine’s attacking motifs in his games prove even to this day to be highly instructive. And in a new six-part series for Gambit Guide, our intrepid gambit guru, GM Boris Alterman takes a closer look at two very aggressive Alekhine gambits against the normally solid French Winawer.

Here’s what you’ll see in this course:

Milner-Barry-Gambit (2 Part Series)

The Milner-Barry Gambit (1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3) is very popular at club level, and one of the sharpest white weapons against the French Defense.

It was invented by legendary World War II Enigma Code breaker Sir Stuart Milner-Barry, who always liked to play with a sense of adventure.

Now, in his latest Gambit Guide series, GM Boris Alterman re-evaluates the Milner-Barry Gambit as a potent weapon for white – and especially for players who like to play actively.

French-Alekhine Gambit (6 Part Series)

In a new six-part series for this Chess Gambits Guide, our intrepid gambit guru, GM Boris Alterman takes a closer look at two very aggressive Alekhine chess gambits against the normally solid French Winawer.

First up will be a four-part series on 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Nge2 followed by a two-part series on the apocryphal ‘finger slip’ variation, when Alekhine meant to play 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e5 c5 5 Bd2 against Flohr at Nottingham 1936, but instead touched his c1 bishop first so the game went 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Bd2 dxe4 5 Nxe4 Qxd4 6 Bd3 Bxd2+ 7 Qxd2.

Chatar-Alekhine-Attack (2 Part Series)

The Chatard-Alekhine Attack in the Classical French Defense with 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4!? is a formidable weapon in the hands of an aggressive player – and only a few years ago, Alexander Morozevich used it to demolish French expert Viktor Korchnoi in just 20 moves!

White sacrifices his h-pawn for an immensely dangerous initiative. This leads to a complex struggle, where White has a rapid and easy development.

If you want more wins, whether in tournaments or club chess, seriously consider making these chess gambits part of your repertoire.

Chess Gambits Against The Sicilian Defense – GM Boris Alterman

Looking for ways to defeat the Sicilian defense?  Grandmaster Boris Alterman and GM Alex Lenderman cover four sharp and aggressive opening gambits you can play against the Sicilian Defense.

The Sicilian Defense – famed chess opening, known as one of the sharpest, most double-edged, aggressive, complicated and successful chess openings for Black.

It is said that you don’t really understand chess until you’ve explored the Sicilian Defense!

It’s not an easy opening to play, either as Black, or facing it as White. There are simply so many variations and sidelines, it is next to impossible to remember them all. It’s a good idea to learn the general ideas and principles involved and make sure you have a plan of progress.

You receive 12 top quality videos of Grandmaster analysis on these exciting openings.

About the Author:

Boris Alterman is an Israeli chess Grandmaster, FIDE Senior Trainer (2010), and also an advisor of the Junior chess program.

He started playing chess at the age of 7. His career highlights include earning the IM title in 1991, and the GM title in 1992. He is the winner of the following Open and GM tournaments: Haifa 1993, Bad Homburg 1996, Rishon LeZion 1996, Beijing 1995 and 1997, and Munich 1992.

He plays for Rishon LeZion chess club and produces video lectures on the Internet Chess Club Website.

Is this course for me?

If you’re looking to have more fun from your chess games and create more memorable games, start adding some gambits into your opening repertoire!

Played for 100s of years, chess gambits are openings which deliberately give up a pawn (or more) too rapidly develop their pieces, start an attack and destroy the opponent in record time.

Here’s what you’ll see in this course:

Sveshnikov-Sicilian Sacrifices on b5 (5 Videos)

For years it was known to all as the Sicilian Lasker/Pelikan variation, but the name-change to Sicilian Sveshnikov (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e5 6 Ndb5 d6 7 Bg5 a6 8 Na3 b5) came into being after it was revived by the Russian Grandmaster Evgeny Sveshnikov.

He was the driving force and inspiration of the variation during the early 1970s when he was a young IM – and back then, it was his creative mind who developed this aggressive method of playing as black.

Since then, elite stars such as Kasparov, Kramnik, Topalov, Leko, Radjabov, and Shirov have all adopted this variation into their arsenal because it often leads to imbalanced positions.

There are many methods to combat the Sveshnikov, but one of the most macho involves the early sacrifice of either a knight or a bishop on b5. And in his latest series, GM Boris Alterman checks the status of both the Nxb5 and Bxb5 gambits vs. the Sveshnikov.

The Sicilian Defense – Moscow Variation (2 Videos)

A favorite of chess players is unquestionably the late great David Bronstein (1924-2006), who was nothing short of being a true chess genius.

He was an independent thinker at the board, and our gambit guru, GM Boris Alterman investigates two highly-respected (and typical) Bronstein gambits for rapid development in the Sicilian Moscow variation after 3. Bb5+.

First up will be 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bd7 Qd7 5. c4 Qg4?! 6. 0-0! followed by 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bd7 Qd7 5. 0-0 Nc6 6.c3 Nf6 7. d4!?

Smith-Morra Gambit (4 Videos)

The Smith-Morra Gambit against the Sicilian Defense (1 e4 c5 2 d4 cxd4 3 c3 dxc3 4 Nxc3!?) is perhaps not common in grandmaster chess, but at club level, it can be a very potent attacking weapon.

The gambit is named after two players, Pierre Morra from France (1900-1969) and Ken Smith (1930-1999) of the Dallas Chess Club, who popularized it to the masses by writing nine books and fifty articles about it.

We offer a 3 part series from GM Alex Lenderman, and one extra video from GM Boris Alterman covering the spectacular attacking game of IM Marc Esserman who beat GM Van Wely with the Smith-Morra.

Kamsky Gambit (1 Video)

Former US champion, Gata Kamsky, came up with a new gambit idea in the Sicilian Najdorf with 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 a4 Nc6 7 a5!? that our gambit guru, GM Boris Alterman takes a closer look at.

21st Century Chess Endgame Technique – GM Marian Petrov

It’s a fact that the majority of club players are weak in the endgame. They don’t usually get found out simply because their opponents lack the necessary skills too!

This is a huge opportunity for you. Even if you’ve been slightly worse all game, you can turn the tables and win with superior endgame technique.

In 21st Century Chess Endgame Technique, GM Marian Petrov reveals the technical skills you need to squeeze every last half-point from your endgames, how to convert better endgames with flawless technique and how to hold tough positions to a draw.

By looking at plenty of recent games and practical examples from the 21st century, Petrov sheds new light on classical endgame principles, showing you how to excel in the endgame.

When you are serious about improving your endgame skills, it is time for GM Marian Petrov’s 21st Century Chess Endgame Technique.

About the Author:

GM Marian Petrov is an accomplished professional chess coach, theorist, and Bulgarian champion in 2002 and 2017, as well as winner of many open tournaments around the world.

Petrov is a FIDE trainer and was the coach of the team of Wales at the Olympiad in Baku in 2016. He graduated from the National Sports Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria with a Bachelor’s degree in Chess Pedagogy, a four-year undergraduate program designed to prepare top-level chess trainers.

GM Petrov believes that simplicity is the key to perfect execution. He only shares proven and tested lines that he or his students have used to dominate their games.

They are easy to understand and extremely powerful, especially at the club level!

How is this course going to help me?

GM Marian Petrov begins this course with a look at general principles you should keep in mind no matter what endgame position you find yourself in.

This isn’t a highly theoretical “in this very specific endgame, you play this specific move,” but a much more useful and practical guide to approaching your endgames with solid techniques that can help you convert your games into wins. The principles are so important, they can completely turn games around in your favor.

Here’s just some of what you’ll learn:

Chess Endgame Principles

The first important principle GM Petrov covers is piece activity. In the endgame, we aren’t left with many pieces on the board, so we need to make the most of what we have so that they have an impact on the game.

This includes using your king! Look to improve your position. This principle also includes the reverse: try to reduce the activity your opponent gets! When applying these two ideas hand-in-hand, you’re maximizing your chances for a good result.

For example, see the position on the right. This is from a game where GM Petrov, playing Black, found himself slightly worse than White.

White has a better pawn structure, while Black has an isolated pawn on e6. White also control the only open file with his rook.

Petrov was concerned with reducing White’s activity and to stabilize Black’s position. In the course, you’ll see how the principle of piece activity was the fundamental strategy and the reason why this game turned completely in Black’s favor.

The King’s Activity

In the endgame, the king no longer needs to hide away in a castled position – it becomes crucial to activate the king just as you would any other piece.

GM Petrov shows you not only how to use your king on its own merit, but also how it can be used to take over key defensive tasks. This allows your remaining minor and major pieces to be much more effective, not being tied down to passive defensive roles but infiltrating the opponent’s position.

Endgame Fighting Spirit

Some players change their outlook once they hit the endgame, or give up too soon. Foe example, it is generally accepted that endgames with opposite colored bishops are equal, drawn games. The majority of players simply accept that this is the case and offer their opponent a draw. However, it’s not always that simple, especially if there are also rooks left on the board. Just as Magnus Carlsen keeps on pushing and fighting for a win deep into the endgame, GM Petrov will teach you to make sure you don’t give up too quickly!

Also:

Kasparov’s Killer King! GM Petrov shows you a brilliant example from legend Garry Kasparov where the Russian first ties down the enemy king…then slowly but surely infiltrates with his own king. Highly instructive!

Create a Path to Entry! In a drawish ending…you DON’T want to be giving draws to weaker players, right? GM Petrov will teach you how to use sacrifices to open a direct path into the enemy position.

Get the edge over all your rivals with this 6-hour course from the two-time Bulgarian Chess Champion, GM Marian Petrov.

Enjoy this course!

How to Play The King’s Gambit – GM Damian Lemos

The King’s Gambit has fascinated the greatest chess players throughout all of chess history.

This is an opening for the romantic, for the brave and creative chess player who thrives on wild sacrifices and extravagant combinations. This was the opening for the Magician of Riga, Mikhail Tal.

Now you can follow in the footsteps of the legends, making tactical magic on the board with this comprehensive Deep Dive into the King’s Gambit.

You offer your f-pawn, immediately fighting for the initiative and challenging black for control of the center – and if your opponent isn’t prepared, they will quickly find themselves in serious trouble.

GM Damian Lemos demonstrates how, regardless of whether they accept the sacrifice or not, you can respond with force and keep tremendous pressure on your opponent.

Bobby Fischer claimed he’d found a ‘bust’ to the gambit — after losing to it, of course — but the stats show quite the opposite: most King’s Gambit games are open, unpredictable affairs where the tactical player can get exactly the positions he enjoys.

So sit back and relish the attacking prowess of the King’s Gambit as GM Damian Lemos teaches you everything you need to know in order to start playing this opening today!

About the Author:

Damian Lemos is a grandmaster from Argentina with a top rating of 2559 Elo.

In his lessons, Damian works closely with students to first identify the flaws and weaknesses in their games so that they can be properly evaluated and corrected.

By developing specifically-tailored training regimens for every one of his students, Grandmaster Lemos is able to achieve results that other chess coaches dream of.

How is this course going to help me?

The Kings Gambit arises after the moves 1.e4 e5 2. f4.

The King’s Gambit is about the most fun you can have in chess: your pieces fly out, pawns rage forward, you sacrifice with wild abandon and announce mate on move 18.

At least, this is what happened when the King’s Gambit was in full bloom during the romantic era of chess in the 18th and 19th century.

With the move 2.f4, White breaks with conventional wisdom on the main opening principles. Instead of developing his pieces, he moves a pawn away from defending his own king. Playing the King’s Gambit is a risky and double-edged choice.

Here’s just some of what you’ll see in this course:

King’s Gambit Rules

Before you take a look at any variations, there is a key rule you must know. After 1.e4 e5 2. f4, if Black does not capture the pawn, White should not be tempted to play the easy looking fxe4 as this will lose the game immediately.

This is rule 1 for playing the King’s Gambit successfully!

Black would simply reply with Qh4+ and collect the e pawn afterward with a threat on the h1 rook. There is no way out for White after this so it is crucial to remember that the e-pawn shouldn’t be taken, not at least until Nf3 has been played to protect the h4 square.

Black Plays 2…Nc6

When Black plays the waiting move …Nc6, White has all the options open. Remember, of course, not to play fxe5 as it loses immediately!

GM Lemos recommends playing 3. Nf3, leaving the f-pawn hanging and giving Black a second chance to take the gambit. This move also prevents …Qh4+ as the knight now defends the h4 square.

On top of that, the knight also adds support to the center, making it a sound principled move. If Black now takes the pawn with 3…exf4 then White can play 4. d4, gaining space in the center while also unleashing the dark-squared Bishop. See the diagram to the right.

Black Plays 2…Bc5

After 1.e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 White should again leave the f-pawn hanging and play 3.Nf3. If Black makes the mistake of playing 3…exf4 then the reply is the same as the previous chapter – however, the consequences are far more serious for Black because when White plays 4. d4, he gains a tempo on the Black bishop on c5 and also gets a solid center in the process. This will quickly go South for Black!

A more solid move would be 3…d6. Here, White can play 4.Nc3 with the hope of transposing into a Vienna and eventually trading off that knight for the powerful Black bishop via Na4.

An important thing to remember is that if the f4 pawn is still standing at this point and the Black bishop on c8 has not moved, advancing with f5 is a good idea. This closes the c8-h3 diagonal and restricts the bishop on c8. White also prepares for an easy pawn storm on the kingside.

And that’s not all… GM Lemos covers all the other variations you need to know, explains the ideas behind the opening, and dives into a number of model games showing how the King’s Gambit began, and how it gets played nowadays at the top level. If the best players can sometimes fall victim to this opening, your club opponent’s certainly will!

Includes a PDF course summary, a full PGN of all the games, and puzzles to test your knowledge. After watching this course you’ll be able to play this sharp opening against opponents of even much higher rating than you and get a comfortable advantage in the opening.

Enjoy this course!