I saw that the excellent gentleman and highway robber in blitz Kevin Goh said a few nice things about me after making his last GM-norm.
JT: Was there a different approach you took towards this event and the previous other GM norm attempts you made during the barren years that made your chances better (preparation, mindset, living conditions etc)?
Quality Chess would like to congratulate, GM Hans Tikkanen, co-author of the soon-to-be published The Woodpecker Method…
…on becoming Swedish Champion for the fifth time. 7/9 and a 2714 performance is mighty impressive! We’d love to tell you his victory was the result of pre-tournament Woodpecker training but, as far as we know, this was not part of his preparations. Still, the process of collecting and working through more than a thousand tactical puzzles for the book was evidently not bad for his chess. Take the following example from round 5, which would have made a perfect example in the book.
Jonny Hector – Hans Tikkanen
Ronneby 2018
Black has built up a dominating position with skilful middlegame play. His advantage should be enough to win by slow means, but there is one clear way to break through.
While in New Delhi for a teaching camp, I came across a well known fugitive and immediately conducted a civic arrest. Read more…
Hi guys,
Best wishes from Heraklion, the capital of the Greek island Crete. Kallia and I are here to inspect possible venues for our next big project – the Quality Chess Training Camp! We have so far found three possible venues and will now have to debate the prices with the hotels.
Meanwhile, let me explain the basic concept for you. A seven day training camp in beautiful surroundings at affordable (off-season) all-inclusive prices.
This year I am hosting a training camp in my house for the third time. The first year had two participants, the second year six and this year we will be nine. However, I had to push people to come the last two years, while this year 21 people expressed serious interest.
I prefer such events greatly to one-on-one training. I charge £700 all-inclusive for the seven day summer camp, which involves a few sofas, some AirBnb and so on. With nine participants it feels like it has outgrown the “do-it-yourself” stage.
So here is the plan. Quality Chess will cooperate with a local organiser in Heraklion to have a camp in a hotel here for something like €899. Depending on the hotel we choose and get a good deal from. We have a favourite and they seemed interested.
The first camp will take place 4-10 November 2018 and will most likely be capped with a minimum rating of 2300. The second camp will take place in the beginning of May 2019 and be open for everyone.
In the first camp in November there will be two coaches, GM Boris Gelfand and GM Myself. Exactly how we will divide the job between us, we are still negotiating. I hope he will not jump ship in the process, so do not read this as an invitation, but as a blog post!! But the dates in November are specifically decided to fit around his schedule.
In the second camp in May, there will be more coaches and hopefully more participants. The November camp is a trial run for us to learn how to do this right. In May we will not have any rating restrictions, but a big camp with classes at multiple levels at the same time and some big lectures. The evenings will have blitz tournaments by the pool (not guaranteed a pool for November though :-(), simuls, a quiz night and so on. We hope for it to be possible to bring family members at good prices. Wives, kids, parents, siblings, grandparents. Whatever is needed for you to be able to come. I want it to be something special, which incorporates a great holiday with top level chess coaching.
Look out at this spot or sign up for our newsletter for more information.
Hi guys. I am in Delhi at the last day of a training camp with seven wonderful Indian ladies. It is a wonderful experience and I have to say that despite knowing most of them in advance, I have been blown away by the dedication, enthusiasm and skill these ladies possess. I should also add that each and every one of them are an excellent human being. David Llada correctly called me extremely lucky to be allowed to work with them. And yes, I am also getting paid…
Even when an opening is “unambitious,” it can be dangerous for the opponent. Axel Smith’s look into the 21st Century way of playing e3-systems greatly was the inspiration for this game:
Alvaro Aranha Filho – Frederico Gazel
Brazil
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. e3 b6 4. Bd3 Bb7 5. O-O c5 6. c4 Be7 7. Nc3 cxd4 8. exd4 d5 9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Ne5 O-O 11. Qg4 Nf6 12. Qh4 Nc6 13. Bg5 h6
14. Bxf6! gxf6
14…Bxf6 15.Qe4 g6 16. Nxc6 Qc7 17. d5 exd5 18. Nxd5 Qxc6 19. Nxf6+ Qxf6 20.Qxb7
15. Qxh6 f5 16. Bxf5 exf5 17. Nxc6 Bxc6 18. Qxc6 Qxd4 19. Rad1 Qc5 20. Qf3 Rad8 21. Nd5 1-0
You can also see the game here.
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