iChess Channel 2's video: Dominating Open Positions with GM Victor Mikhalevski ChessWorld

Wish you could learn all there is to know about open positions 😏? Then signup today for GM Damian Lemos' FREE rapid improvement masterclass that will give you the most ELO gain in the shortest amount of time! ► https://ichs.co/2yKuXhq Dominating Open Positions On looking at different positions on the chess board, we usually distinguish between three types of positions: Open positions Semi-open positions Closed positions Of course, it is essential to be able to play all three types of positions. Especially in amateur chess, however, open positions are the types of positions that occur most frequently. There are many chess players who prefer open positions to closed ones because they think open positions are easier to understand and to play. But that's only half the story! Just as in closed positions, it is of paramount importance to understand the general rules of how to handle these types of positions. In this video, we will be spectators of a fantastic win by Baadur Jobava who exploited Black's inaccuracies in great style. GM Mikhalevski will show you how the most elite chess players such as Baadur Jobava think and play in open positions. Are you ready to see the game? Let's jump right into the action! Russian Championship 2013: Jobava, Baadur (2702) - Karjakin, Sergey (2786) The game started with a well-known line in the Italien opening: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.Be2 (7.Bb5 is by far the main line here, but 7.Be2 is a specialty by Jobava who played this move against many strong opponents) Ne48. cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Nxd2 10. Nbxd2 O-O 11. O-O (see the diagram on the right). Black has the bishop pair but White has more control over the centre with his pawns on d4 and e5. Hence, with his next move, Black tries to challenge White's central pawns and open the position for his bishops. He played 11...f6. White followed up by playing 12.Tc1, bringing the rook the to a useful square on the half-open c-file. The game continued 12...Kh8 (removing the king from the a2-g8 diagonal) 13.Nb3 Bg4 14.a3 Be7 15.Te1 (see the diagram on the left). Dominating Open Positions In open positions, it's important to bring all your pieces into play. Now, Black starts to make a mistake. He went for 15...fxe5 16.dxe5 Rf4?! It's surprising to see a move like this by Karjakin who is an absolute expert at open positions. With this move, Black transfers his rook to a square where it doesn't have anything to do. It would have been better to play 16...Dd7, for example, connecting both rooks and bringing all pieces into play. On top of that, the rook on f4 isn't protected which might allow some tactical ideas for White in the future. Jobava continued with 17.h3 Bh5 18.Nc5 (attacking the pawn on b7 and threatening to go to e6, so Black's reply is forced) Bxc5 19.Rxc5 d4 (see the diagram on the right). As the pawn on d5 was hanging, Black had to react to this threat. Now, White played the strong move 20.e6!, advancing the pawn and at the same time attacking the bishop on h5 with the rook. Black played 20...Bg6. In this position, White has a choice. Jobava could have played 21.Ba6!? here. The idea is that 21...bxa6 22.Txc6 damages Black's pawn structure and puts more pressure on d4. If Black plays 21...Rb8 instead, White plays 22.Bxb7 Rxb7 23.Rxc6 and after 23...Rxb2, White has the strong calm move Qc1! (attacking both of Black's rooks). This shows us why it was not a good idea to put the rook on a square where it's not protected in an open position. In positions like this, it's always a good idea to remember the famous quote by Grandmaster John Nunn about the danger of unprotected pieces: "Loose pieces drop off." In the game, however, Jobava went for another strong move, 21.Bd3 (see the diagram on the left). If you want to see the rest of the game and some more instructive and common ideas in open positions, you definitely need to watch the whole video and listen to the explanations by GM Mikhalevski. Read more about Dominating Open Positions here: ► https://ichs.co/2C0eMyW ► Come checkout the iChess.net shop, we have the world’s largest collection of chess videos and chess courses: https://ichs.co/iChessShop ********** Other Videos from iChess ********** ► Subscribe to our main Youtube Channel: https://ichs.co/iChSubscribe ► Check out award winning Master Method video series: https://ichs.co/MasterMethod Checkout our most recent video: https://ichs.co/latest-chess-video ********** FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL: *********** Facebook: https://ichs.co/iChessFB Twitter: https://ichs.co/iChessTwitter YouTube: https://ichs.co/iChSubscribe ********** Our Other YouTube Channels *********** iChess Ch 2: https://ichs.co/iChess2 iChess en español: https://ichs.co/iChessESP