Yes, you are putting in the hours. You know your opening theory. You are solving puzzles every day.
You took our endgame courses as well. And your endgame skills have skyrocketed since.
In short, you are “chess smart”.
Yet you are not able to win the games. Why?
It seems like you are building up the advantage, move by move, only to throw it all away… because you are not able to convert it.
Converting a winning position is not as easy as it sounds to be. And often it comes down to one thing: your ability to attack your opponent.
Want to learn how to become an attacking monster? Go for the jugular when you see even a slight opening?
Let IM Boroljub Zlatanovic teach you all about the glorious art of attack that does not simply win you games… but make you realize the inherent beauty of chess.
Here’s what you would learn:
- Pieces or pawns? Your position decides whether to build your attack with a pawn or a piece—resulting in strange positions and weird moves… like Kasparov Nf4 against Gelfand in the 1993 Linares match.
- Open positions not needed. Everyone tells you that you need to open up the position to attack. What Zlatanovic tells you is, close where needed and open where you want. More in Chapter 15.
- Who’s ahead? When attacking, you must always make sure that you have the initiative. If you do, you might neutralize even the most aggressive of your opponents… and they end up playing catch-up.
- No coming back. Vajda went all in against Kotov in the 1949 Budapest match with the g4 move. But forgot to check whether his opponent had any counterplay or not. He resigned after losing a knight. Don’t be like him.
- The ultimate sin. Keeping your king out in the open. Do it at your risk and only when you are bored with your life. Especially when your opponent is Kasparov and the position is about to open up (looking at you, Van Wely!).
A great course from a great coach.
Especially if you are one of those players who are meek over the board and need to sharpen up their game.
Outline:
Chapter 1. King in center. Balashov – Miles
Chapter 2. King in center. Fischer – Najdorf
Chapter 3. King in center. Kasparov – Andersson
Chapter 4. King in center. Kasparov – Ponomariov
Chapter 5. King in center. Kasparov – Van Wely
Chapter 6. King in center. Kasparov – Anand
Chapter 7. Attack on the Same Castled Positions. Lasker – Marshall
Chapter 8. Attack on the Same Castled Positions. Gligoric – Rabar
Chapter 9. Attack on the Same Castled Positions. Kasparov – Gelfand
Chapter 10. Attack on the Same Castled Positions. Smagin – Salov
Chapter 11. Attack on the Same Castled Positions. Haik – Skembris
Chapter 12. Attack on Opposite Castled Positions. Kasparov – Bareev
Chapter 13. Attack on Opposite Castled Positions. Van der Sterren – Uhlmann
Chapter 14. Attack on Opposite Castled Positions. Alekhine – Marshall
Chapter 15. Attacking with Pawn Chains. So – Nakamura
Chapter 16. Attacking with Pawn Chains. Paragua – Torre
Chapter 17. Attacking with Pawn Chains. Istratescu – Chernin
Chapter 18. Attacking with Pawn Chains. Clarke – Petrosian
Chapter 19. Attacking Unstable Pieces. Nimzowitsch – Tartakower
Chapter 20. Attacking Unstable Pieces. Botvinnik – Stahlberg
Chapter 21. Attacking Unstable Pieces. Alekhine – Nimzowitsch
Chapter 22. Attacking Weak Pawns. Fine – Alekhine
Chapter 23. Attacking Weak Pawns. Spassky – Averbakh
Chapter 24. Attacking Weak Pawns. Kramnik – Shirov
Chapter 25. Attacking Weak Pawns. Nisipeanu – Carlsen
Chapter 26. Counter-Attacking. Vajda – Kotov
Chapter 27. Counter-Attacking. Sax – Ljubojevic
Chapter 28. Counter-Attacking. Neergaard – Simagin