HOW TO PLAY DYNAMIC CHESS By Lars Bo Hansen ------------------------------------------Grandmaster Lessons Lesson 2
Text copyright © 2013 Lars Bo Hansen All Rights Reserved
TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface How to read and study this lesson How to play dynamic chess About the author and this series Take another Grandmaster Lesson
Preface In some sense chess is a simple game. The ultimate objective is straightforward: To mate the opponent’s king. To do so, you need to collect advantages. Mate is the ultimate and terminal advantage. However, this is where it gets tricky: What is an advantage in chess and how do you obtain it? The answer of this question is the key to dynamic play. In this lesson I have outlined three types of advantages: - Material advantage. From an early age we are taught the value of material, typically through some kind of schematic such as queen = 9 pawns, rook = 5 pawns, bishop and knight = 3 pawns etc. Coaches teach youngsters to be particularly alert not to hang pieces. And it is indeed true that in most circumstances the side with a material advantage will have good chances to win the game. - Dynamic advantages. But it is also well known that sometimes material is not the most crucial advantage. Material is on occasion trumped by more dynamic advantages, such as a lead in development, active pieces or a powerful attack on the king for which the attacker is willing to sacrifice material. The perfect example of this process is when a lone knight delivers smothered mate to a king surrounded by a helpless army of defenders. - Static, positional advantages. Perhaps the most subtle type of advantage is of the positional kind, such as control of open files or crucial squares, a sound and well-connected pawn-structure or a good knight vs. a bad bishop. These three types of advantages are obviously interconnected and it is very important to be aware of how they interact. For example, when sacrificing a piece for two pawns and an attack, the attacker must judge accurately whether the dynamic advantage provided by the attacking possibilities will (hopefully more than) offset the minor material disadvantage of sacrificing the piece for only two pawns.
How to read and study this lesson This edition is structured as a typical coaching session as I would conduct it with a private student. However, working on your own you probably wish to know how to study the examples in the lesson. First of all, start with the introduction chapter “How to Play Dynamic Chess”. It is your foundation. Here you get valuable understanding needed in the rest of the lesson. Secondly, write down the three types of advantages in chess listed above. As we shall see, playing dynamic chess means that you can make qualified decisions when and how to convert one type of advantage into another. Now get ready to see it all in action. Go through the games, and pay attention to how Grandmasters handle the dynamics of the events. Read the comments. Try to guess the moves in diagrammed positions. Take your time! It is best if you do it with a study-friend. Talk to each other about what is happening in the game as it unfolds, about how the events reflect the rules. If you are an advanced tournament player and used to chess notation, you can proceed and go through the rest of the lesson directly on your digital device. All games are illustrated with diagrams of the key positions. When you visualize the moves between the diagrams without using a chess board you also improve your calculation ability. If you are in the beginning of your chess career and calculating more than 34 ahead still feels challenging, the best way for you to study is to use a chess set. Remember, in chess all rules serve as guidance; they are by no means a sturdy checklist! Enjoy the lesson! Lars Bo Hansen
How to play dynamic chess This lesson focuses on exploiting the second type of advantage. How is dynamic chess played? Over the past 50 years or so, chess has become much more dynamic. Where in the first half of the 20th century the principles of positional chess – the third type of advantages – were developed and perfected by positional geniuses such as Steinitz, Nimzowitsch, Capablanca, Botvinnik and others, after WWII a group of players with a much more dynamic approach to chess – creative wizards such as Keres, Bronstein, Geller, Tal and others – showed the chess world the value of dynamics in chess. The historical link between these two approaches was Alekhine. The importance of this second type of advantages has only increased with the emergence of powerful chess computers and analysis engines. Computers have taught chess players to be creative in their search for candidate moves and to be continuously alert to surprising tactical twists and turns. Nowadays the top of the chess world is littered with creative, dynamic players – Anand, Radjabov, Nakamura, Topalov, Grischuk, Morozevich, Shirov, to name just a few. One of my favorite approaches for chess improvement is “the master approach”. I often recommend my chess students to select a chess master – contemporary or from the past – and play over maybe 100 of this master’s best games. These can be found either through a simple search in a chess database or even better in a game collection with thoughtful comments by the master himself or some other strong player. The point of going over all of these games is to look for patterns – maneuvers, tactics or ideas that pop up again and again in the master’s games. By noticing such patterns, you will increase your arsenal of chess ideas considerably and while sitting at the board you will suddenly think to yourself: “Wait a minute, wasn’t it in this kind of position that master XY did this or that?” When I was a young, ambitious teenager, I had some troubles with dynamic chess. I was essentially a positional player, striving mostly for “type 3” advantages. Then I used the master approach to study game collections of some of the most dynamic players in chess history, particularly Alekhine, Tal and Keres. I learned a lot from this work and I was able to implement
some of their ideas into my own games, becoming a much more versatile chess player. One of the things I learned from studying these creative players was that dynamic chess – just as positional chess – rests on a number of principles that can be found again and again in the games of dynamic players. In particular, five core principles underlie dynamic chess: - Consider how each individual piece can be best placed to obtain maximum activity and scope in cooperation with other pieces. Of particular importance is finding creative routes for bringing the knights into the most active positions. Dynamic play is about active and forceful piece play! - Look for pawn breaks or pawn advances that can help increase the activity of your pieces and/or disturb the opponent’s defensive coordination. - Keep the opponent preoccupied with a series of direct threats. Dynamic play is about time – or rather: Not giving the opponent any time to coordinate his forces or launch a counterattack! - Create weaknesses in your opponent’s position which you can pound on and exploit. - Don’t be overly concerned about material. After all, in dynamic chess you are looking for type 2 advantages, not type 1! But of course you should always be prepared to swap your type 2 advantage for even bigger type 1 or type 3 advantages if the opportunity presents itself. This is what Capablanca called “the transformation of advantages”. It is, however, an often seen mistake in dynamic chess – especially if a player has sacrificed material for the initiative – to be tempted into regaining material too soon (or too little), in the process giving up the type 2 advantage. It is often better to forego small material gains and instead keep building the dynamic initiative. Let’s now see a number of Grandmaster games in which these principles are exploited! Cooke – L. B. Hansen Daytona Beach 2012 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 e5
The alternative in this French Defense is 4 Bg5 which I have also faced in a number of games. 4…Nfd7 5 f4 c5 6 Nf3 Nc6 7 Be3 Be7 8 Qd2 0–0 9 g3?! I have a confession to make. Although the move g2-g3 is perfectly normal and has been played before – also in this particular position – I am always pleased to see this move in this line of the French. That’s because it creates some long-term weaknesses on the light squares around White’s king which Black can hope to exploit down the stretch if he can open the center. 9…b6! And that is exactly why I prefer b7-b6 over the more common 9…a6 + 10…b5 setup. In my view, 9…b6 is much more dynamic because this little pawn indirectly influences the battle for the center. With 9…b6 rather than 9…a6 and 10…b5, White can rarely play dxc5 and then block on the dark squares in the center by putting a knight on d4 because Black can now retake with the b-pawn on c5 rather than a piece. When Black a few moves later plays f7-f6 White’s center will be under attack from two sides. 10 Be2 Bb7 11 0–0
11…f6! There it is. This move follows the rule of using pawn breaks to increase the
activity and scope of the pieces. Because of the threat 12…cxd4, winning the e5-pawn, White has to take on f6. This, however, allows Black to transfer his pieces to increasingly active squares over the next few moves, perhaps the most prevalent principle of dynamic play. 12 exf6 Nxf6 Threatening 13…Ng4, so White makes room for the e3-bishop on g1. However, his king will not feel safe on the long diagonal, inhabited by the long-range bishop on b7. Notice how the drawbacks of the move g2-g3 are already felt! 13 Kh1 Ne4! The knight jumps to a more advanced and menacing position in the center. Since 14 Nxe4 dxe4 drops a pawn, the queen has to retreat. Notice that this is another important principle of dynamic play: Don’t give the opponent any time! 14 Qd1 Bf6! And now the scope of the bishop is increased, targeting White’s center. 15 Kg1 Qe7 16 Re1 Rad8 17 Bf1
17…g5!?
A critical position in the game. Over the past few moves Black has clearly managed to increase the scope of his pieces and he has a typical type 2 advantage – dynamic possibilities! But how to proceed? I spent 12 minutes here, wavering between the dynamic text move and the simple 17...cxd4. I am still not sure which is best. 17…cxd4 18 Nxd4 e5! 19 fxe5 (not 19 Nxc6 Bxc6 20 fxe5 Qxe5! 21 Nxe4 dxe4 22 Qg4 Bd7 23 Qe2 Qxb2 and Black wins a pawn without having to abandon any of his dynamic play) 19…Nxe5 looks very nice for Black but I did not see a convincing follow-up. Instead I decided to combine three of the principles of dynamic chess: Using a pawn break to increase the scope of my pieces (the g-file will be opened for queen and rooks); keeping the opponent preoccupied; and not caring too much about minor material issues. The text move is a pawn sacrifice with the intention of a subsequent exchange sacrifice. The point is that after 18 fxg5 Bg7! (much better than retaking on g5), White’s center will soon collapse after a welltimed exchange sacrifice on f3, a typical tactic in the French Defense. Notice again how Black exploits the weaknesses on the light squares around White’s king. 18 Ne2 gxf4 19 gxf4 Kh8 Another hard decision. Black could win an exchange by 19...Qg7+ 20 Kh1 cxd4 21 Nexd4 Nxd4 22 Nxd4 e5 23 fxe5 Bh4! 24 Re2 Bf2 25 Bxf2 Nxf2+ 26 Rxf2 Rxf2, but after 27 Bh3 followed by 28 Qg1 White can force the exchange of queens. While the ensuing ending should provide Black good winning chances, I decided to stick to the principle of not being too focused on material gain but instead emphasize the activity of the pieces. The text move prepares exploiting the newly opened g-file with the rooks. 20 Kh1 Rg8 21 Bh3
21…Rg7 Not bad but also not best! Black prepares to double rooks on the g-file, stepping up the pressure. But there was an even better line culminating in a beautiful knight maneuver which I only discovered in post-game analysis. Black should play 21...Qf7! 22 c3 and now the key move 22…Na5! This move threatens the crushing 23…Nc4 so White has nothing better than 23 b3. This, however, weakens the c3-pawn, handing Black the additional weakness he needs to conclude the game with a few forceful moves: 23…Qh5! 24 Nfg1 (24 Neg1 Nxc3 wins – here we see why creating weaknesses is such a powerful tool of dynamic chess; it strains the defense!) 24...Nc4! (exploiting another weakness in White’s camp – the vulnerable light squares. 25 bxc4 dxc4 opens the long diagonal with devastating effect) 25 Qc1 (25 Qd3 Qg6! 26 Rad1 Nb2! wins) 25...Ncd2! 26 Bxe6 (26 Bxf2 Nf2++ mate!) 26…Nf3! 27 h3 Bc8! 28 Bxg8 (28 Bxc8 Rxc8 29 f5 Ng3+ 30 Nxg3 Rxg3 mates) 28...Bxh3!
And White is mated, e.g. 29 Bf7 Qg4 and mate on g2. A beautiful dance of Black’s queen’s knight, working in perfect harmony with the rest of the attacking force, exploiting the weaknesses in White’s camp. 22 c3! White tries to reinforce the center so that he can bring pieces to the defense of the king. 22…Rdg8 23 Qd3 Qe8 24 Rf1 Bc8! Toys with the idea e6-e5, exchanging White’s light-squared bishop. Then White would soon succumb on the light squares. 25 f5! The best chance. White introduces ideas such as Nf4 or Bh6, hoping to throw a spanner in Black’s attacking plans. 25…e5! Much better than grabbing the pawn with 25…exf5, after which White can hang on with 26 Nf4 – in dynamic chess material considerations are of secondary importance! Instead, Black intends to clear the center and open the h1-a8 diagonal. 26 dxe5
26 dxc5 Qh5 27 Neg1 Bxf5 28 Bxf5 Ng3+! 29 Kg2 Nxf5+ wins for Black. 26...Nxe5 27 Nxe5 Bxe5 28 Bh6 Re7 29 f6!? Again hoping to cause confusion in Black’s attacking build-up. 29 Nf4 Qc6 30 Ne6 d4! is hopeless; Black has finally achieved the objective of opening the long diagonal. 29...Nxf6 30 Bxc8 Qxc8 31 Rae1 Ng4 32 Bf4 Bxf4 33 Rxf4 Qe6 More than sufficient to win but more in line with Black’s previous play was 33...Qc6! followed by 34…d4+, winning. 34 Qf3
34…Nxh2! Exploits a small tactic to break through to White’s king. 35 Qh5 35 Kxh2 Qh6+ 36 Qh3 Rxe2+! 37 Rxe2 Qxf4+ 38 Kh1 Qc1+ mates. 35...Ng4 36 Qh4 d4! Finally this push! 37 Rg1 Qd5+ 38 Rg2 Rxe2 39 Rfxg4 Rxg4
It is always necessary to be careful till the end. 39…Rxg2?? 40 Qf6+ would be embarrassing! 40 Qxg4 Qxg2+ 41 Qxg2 Rxg2 42 Kxg2 d3 43 Kf3 c4 is easy. 0–1 I. Sokolov – Vang Glud Helsingør 2012 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Be7 A subtlety in the Queens Gambit that prevents an Exchange Variation after 3…Nf6 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Bg5. 4 cxd5 White insists but now he has to place his dark-squared bishop on f4 instead which is considered less dangerous for Black. But Sokolov has some ideas! 4…exd5 5 Bf4 Nf6 6 e3 Bf5 7 Nge2! One of them is to harass Black’s light-squared bishop by transferring the knight to g3 rather than just 7 Nf3. 7…0–0 8 Ng3 Be6 9 Bd3 c5 10 dxc5 Bxc5 11 0–0 Nc6
This is all theory and has been played before in several Grandmaster games. Although 12 Rc1 has been played by giants like Kasparov, Gelfand, and Shirov, I like Sokolov’s next move better since it is more dynamic. Notice how it is the first step in a creative knight transfer to the kingside. Such knight maneuvers are key to dynamic play! 12 Nb5! Bb6?! This is too obliging. Now White is allowed to execute his knight transfer unhindered. Better was 12…a6 13 Rc1! Be7 and now White has a pleasant choice between 14 Nc7 Rc8 15 Nxe6 fxe6 16 a3 and 14 Nd4 Nxd4 15 exd4, in both cases with just an edge for White. 13 Nd6! Rb8 14 Qa4! Gaining time by keeping the opponent busy – White threatens 15 Nxb7 Rxb7 16 Qxc6. 14…d4 15 e4 Qd7 16 Ndf5! The knight transfer is complete and White holds a dangerous initiative with his active pieces. 16…Rbc8 17 Rac1 a6?! It was better to strive for relieving exchanges with 17…Bc7. The text move is too slow and does nothing to curtail White’s initiative.
18 Qa3! Take good note of this seemingly innocuous move. This is dynamic chess when it is best. White quietly moves his queen to the longest vacant diagonal on the board! From here the queen exhibits maximum activity as we shall see. 18…Bc7 One move too late. Now White transforms some – but certainly not all – of his initiative into a more static type 3 advantage by a small combination. Notice how this combination was facilitated by the small 18 Qa3 move, taking charge of the a3-f8 diagonal. 19 Rxc6! bxc6 20 Ne7+ Kh8 21 Nxc8 Rxc8 22 Bxc7 Qxc7 23 Qc5!
Much better than grabbing a pawn by 23 Qxa6 which would allow Black some counterplay by 23…c5. From c5 the queen simultaneously blocks the cpawn, hits the d-pawn and maintains control of the important a3-f8 diagonal – not a small amount of work! 23…Rd8 24 e5?! This is probably the only point in the game where White does not choose the most accurate continuation. It is also a very instructive moment to highlight one of the critical issues of dynamic chess – when to go for other
advantages of either the material or positional kind? Sokolov prefers to continue playing for a dynamic advantage – type 2 – rather than a material advantage – type 1. He wants to advance the e- and f-pawns to attack Black’s king. However, the text move allows Black some counterplay and in this particular position it would have been better to simply pick up a pawn for free by 24 Rd1! Bxa2 25.Bxa6, and the d4-pawn falls. Notice that contrary to the previous move, grabbing a pawn here does not allow Black any counterplay. This is a key distinction: If you can win material “for free” – that is collecting a type 1 advantage without giving up any type 2 or 3 advantages in return – then by all means do it. But if you have to give up something, like allowing the freeing 23…c5 in response to 23 Qxa6, then it is typically not worth it. 24...Rd5? Black misses his chance. He could throw a spanner in White’s build-up by 24…Ng4! 25 Re1 (25 f4 Ne3) and now 25…Kg8! with the threat 26…Rd5 (as there is no longer a queen check on f8). White would have to play 26 f4 but after 26…Ne3 Black is still in the game with his advanced knight. 25 Qf8+ Ng8 26 f4! Rd8 27 Qc5 Rd5 28 Qc2! Of course White is not interested in a draw by repetition, his pieces are much more active and well-coordinated than Black’s and a kingside attack is looming. 28…Qb6 29 Ne4! Bringing the knight onto more active squares. The knight is headed towards a beautiful outpost on d6. 29…Ne7 30 Nd6! g6 Forced because of the threat of 31 f5 but creates terrible weaknesses on the dark squares. Sokolov immediately sets out to target these weaknesses, as the dynamic principles prescribe. 31 Qf2! Threatens 32 Qh4 followed by 33 Qf6+ and either 34 Ne8 or 34 f5 with a
crushing attack. Black tries to block the pawn advance but his dark squares are beyond repair. 31…Nf5 32 Bxf5 gxf5
33 Ne8! The most accurate. The threats are 34 Qg3 and mate on g7 or 34 Nf6, 35 Qh4 and mate on h7! 33…Qc5 34 Qh4 d3+ 35 Kh1 Qf8 36 Qf6+ Kg8 37 Rf3! This classic rook lift seals the deal. 37…Qxe8
38 Qh6! The last difficult move. The Black king is prevented from fleeing and there is no adequate defense against 39 Rg3+. 38…f6 39 Rg3+ Qg6 40 Rxg6+ hxg6 41 Qxg6+ Black resigned as 41…Kf8 42 Qxf6+ Bf7 43 e6 or 41…Kh8 42 exf6 Rd7 43 Qe8+ Kh7 44 Qxe6 are both hopeless. 1–0 Ding Liren – Mamedov Istanbul Olympiad 2012 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 Nf3 0–0 6 Be2 e5 7 0–0 exd4!? The main line in this King’s Indian is 7…Nc6 which typically leads to a closed position after 8 d5. The text move strives for more open and dynamic positions. 8 Nxd4 Re8 9 f3 Nc6 The alternative is 9…c6 which I faced in a game against Radjabov at the European Team Championships in Crete 2007. That game led to a complicated struggle after 10 Kh1 Nbd7 11 Bg5 h6 12 Bh4 Nc5 13 Rc1 a5 14
Rc2 a4 15 b4 axb3 16 axb3 Qb6 but was eventually drawn. The text move is somewhat more speculative in that it allows White squares in the center, particularly d5. In return Black hopes to build up counterplay on the kingside but as the game unfolds it is actually White who manages to take over the initiative through a series of forceful, dynamic moves. 10 Be3 Nh5 11 Nc2 Be5
12 Nd5! Here we go. Black was threatening 12…Qh4, targeting the dark squares on the kingside but White circumvents those plans by sacrificing a pawn to take over the initiative. Notice how he exploits the fact that Black did not play the more cautious 9…c6, taking away the d5-square from White’s knight. As I have mentioned, dynamic play is very much about active piece play and particularly finding good squares and routes for the knights. 12…Bxb2 Black has no other option than to accept the pawn as 12…Qh4 is now met by 13 f4.
13 g4! A brilliant move just out of the playbook of dynamic chess! White uses a pawn advance to simultaneously create more scope for his own pieces – the pawn will advance to g5, supporting a future knight jump to f6 – while disrupting the coordination of the opponent’s pieces. Black has to retreat the knight to the passive square g7 as 13…Nf6? 14 Bg5! is a lethal pin while 13…Bxa1 14 Qxa1 Ng7 15 Bh6 Ne5 16 f4 c6 17 fxe5 cxd5 18 e6! Nxe6 19 cxd5 Qe7 20 dxe6 fxe6 21 Ne3 is winning for White. Material-wise Black is doing OK but his vulnerable king’s position won’t survive long. 13…Ng7 14 Rb1 Bf6 White clearly has a lot of dynamic compensation for his pawn – a strong centralized knight, space, and poorly coordinated Black pieces. But how to continue? The young Chinese answers this question by throwing a second pawn into the fire to gain even more scope for his pieces while disrupting Black’s piece coordination even further and targeting the weak dark squares around Black’s king. When playing dynamic chess, you must look for weaknesses to exploit!
15 f4! Rxe4 Again Black has hardly anything better than accepting the pawn. 16 g5 Be7 17 Bd3! Re6
18 Bc1! The most instructive move of the game. Dynamic chess is about maximizing the activity and scope of the pieces and this temporary retreat prepares simultaneously for two pieces to move into more active positions: The bishop itself can go onto the longest vacant diagonal on the board, the a1-
h8 diagonal, while the knight on c2 is brought via e3 to g4. In cooperation with the already-in-place knight on d5, White will then be ready to infiltrate the dark squares, particularly f6. 18…f6! Good defense – Black needs to fight back before White’s initiative reaches indefensible proportions. 19 h4 fxg5?! So far Black has defended well but over the next few moves he suddenly cracks. This shows one of the practical advantages of playing dynamic chess: It only takes a few inaccuracies on the opponent’s part before the game is abruptly over. The margin of error in defense is much smaller than in offense. If, on the other hand, the player holding the initiative commits an error, he will typically still maintain at least some practical counter chances. In this position Black should definitely try to keep the position closed – and the White c2-knight out of g4 – by 19…f5. After 20 Bb2 b6 21 Qd2 White surely has sufficient compensation for the two pawns but maybe not more than that. 20 hxg5 Bf8 This too looks suspicious as one of White’s ideas is to exploit the f6-square. 20…b6?! weakens the long light-squared diagonal which White can target with 21 Qf3 Bd7 22 Be4!, after which Black is in trouble. Black’s best bet therefore seems to be to avoid any further weakenings by e.g. 20…Rb8! 21 Qf3 (21 Bb2?! is premature because of the counterattack 21…Bxg5! – another reason for leaving the bishop on e7) 21…Bd7 22 Bb2, and again White surely has compensation but no immediate breakthrough is in sight. 21 Nce3! Bringing the knight to g4, stepping up the pressure. 21…Nh5?! Probably Black’s last chance was to take a stance in the center with 21...Nd4!, forcing White to part with his dark-squared bishop. After 22 Bb2
c5 23 Bxd4 cxd4 24 Ng4 White’s attack looks pretty dangerous but Black may hope to survive. The text move allows White to execute another pawn break, dismantling the Black defenses.
22 f5! Bg7(?) This obviously equals resignation but Black wouldn’t survive long after 22… Re5 23 Ng4 either. 22…Qxg5+ 23 Ng4 is equally hopeless. The collective White attacking force is simply overpowering. 23 fxe6 Bxe6 24 Bf5! Bf7 24…Qxg5+ 25 Ng4 or 24…gxf5 25 Qxh5 don’t change matters. 25 Bg4 1–0 Let’s sum up: Dynamic chess is mainly about active piece play but pawn advances are critical to create scope and active possibilities for the pieces. Time is of the essence and in this respect it is particularly crucial to keep the opponent preoccupied and not allow him any time to coordinate his defenses. On the other hand, material considerations are only of secondary influence here as dynamic play aims for a completely different type of advantage. Creating and exploiting weaknesses is typically the last step that breaks the opponent’s defenses based on the combined pressure from the
actively placed pieces and pawns.
About the author and this series
Thank you for taking this lesson. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me briefly present myself: My name is Lars Bo Hansen; I am a Danish National now living in Florida with my family. You have probably noticed that I have written a number of chess books and Kindle lessons. Here is how it all started. I wrote my first chess book back in 2005. It wasn’t planned. One day, when playing in the German Bundesliga, I found myself discussing some creative ideas with my friend and teammate Dr. John Nunn. As Chess Editor at Gambit Publications John saw some nice potential in my ideas and asked me if I would explore them in a book for Gambit. I accepted the challenge, and our cooperation later resulted in three more books which can all be found on Amazon. In the meantime my life was taking some unexpected turns. To make a long story short – in the summer of 2010 my family and I moved from Denmark to Florida. Being a Dane, chess life in the US was a bit of a culture shock: many short weekend tournaments and several rounds of rapid chess every day. Nothing like the slow-pace tournaments I was used to from Europe. In the US, there is also a culture of hiring individual chess coaches, where in Europe coaching is often group events in the chess club. Every time I played
a tournament, people would approach me to ask if I would coach them or their kids. My coaching activities were picking up and my wife, WIM Jen Hansen, and I started organizing workshops for tournament players, drawing on our experiences from our own careers. These workshops form the basis of this Kindle series. In the workshops, we emphasize building a solid foundation for our participants; to help people understand chess – topic by topic. My coaching style always focuses on teaching students how to think in chess. And this is how the idea of this series was born. Every topic – every lesson – corresponds to taking three to four lessons with a Grandmaster coach. Take your time, don’t rush through the material. If possible, find yourself a study partner and go over the games on a real board. Make sure to actively use what you have learned, and most importantly – analyze, explain and repeat to build new patterns of thinking. Repetition is the key to pattern recognition. If you are a chess coach yourself, the material in each lesson will be enough for a short course. Start with the topic rules and later, when you go over the material, make sure to repeatedly draw your students’ attention to the particular rule that is being applied in the game. The more active your students are, the more they learn. A few raw facts to round up my presentation: - I hold an MBA and a PhD, and I am teaching Management at Full Sail University in Orlando - Chess Grandmaster since 1990 - Contributor to ICC, frequently commenting live from chess events around the world - Used to serve as Head Coach of the Danish National Team - Won a Bronze Medal at the 1990 Chess Olympiad - Won six Danish National Championships and three German Team Championships - Won more than 20 International Tournaments - Represented Denmark at six Chess Olympiads and four European Team Championships
- Florida State Champion 2012 and 2013 I hope my lessons bring you insights to achieve your own goals in chess!
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