Ganguly – Pichot round 8

Kuipers – Oparin round 8

Docx – Buchal round 10

Venkatesh – Wei round 7

Semprum Martinez – Jones round 1

Sengupta – Jurdao Perez round 1

Henrichsen – Zhukova round 1

Melia – Lien round 1

Troff – Frisk round 7

Nagy – Herman round 6

Black has just grabbed a pawn on a2. Was this a good idea?

Smith – Fomani round 1

Stefanova – Verneuil round 1

Holm – Harika round 6

Donchenko – Sutovsky round 6

Nakamura – Topalov round 6

White already has a big advantage, but how did Naka end the game quickly?

Plotkin – Amos round 8

Khademalsharieh – Khotenashvili round 8

Zude – Troff round 8

Nakamura – Yu round 8

Houska – Mikhalevski round 9

Zu – Rodshtein round 10

Lenderman – Shyam round 10

Galmandakh – Motylev round 1

Tarjan – Dragnev round 6

Can the rook be taken?

Salem – Foisor round 7

Jones – Watson round 7

Iturrizaga – Dragnev round 8

Guerrero – Melia round 10

Razinkov – Herman round 9

Svidler – Hou round 8

Here Svidler opted for 47.e7, and the game was still a fight after 47…Bf7. Find a better move.

Solution to Exercise 1

Solution to Exercise 2

Solution to Exercise 3

Solution to Exercise 4

Solution to Exercise 5

Solution to Exercise 6

Solution to Exercise 7

Solution to Exercise 8

Solution to Exercise 9

Solution to Exercise 10

Solution to Exercise 11

Solution to Exercise 12

Solution to Exercise 13

Solution to Exercise 14

Solution to Exercise 15

Solution to Exercise 16

Solution to Exercise 17

Solution to Exercise 18

Solution to Exercise 19

Solution to Exercise 20

Solution to Exercise 21

Solution to Exercise 22

Solution to Exercise 23

Solution to Exercise 24

Solution to Exercise 25

Solution to Exercise 26

Solution to Exercise 27

Solution to Exercise 28

Solution to Exercise 29

Solution to Exercise 30

Ding – Saric round 8 Masters

To be fair, Black probably saw this coming, but felt forced to play actively a few moves previously because the position was already desperate.

Ivanchuk – So round 8 Masters

Chucky resigned here. How could the American end the game after the natural looking 27.Be3?

Saric – Vachier-Lagrave round 7 Masters

MVL has sacrificed a piece, and best play would have resulted in a draw by perpetual check. However after Rd2?? a winning combination was executed.

Timman – Dale round 5 Challengers

Dutch legend Jan Timman had a disastrous 2015 tournament, but was victorious in this encounter.

Haast – Shankland round 13 Challengers

Anne Haast, who scored her final WGM norm at Tata Steel 2015, falls victim to a forcing sequence by US standout Sam Shankland.

Potkin – Gunina round 3 Challengers

The Black position is creaking. How did White decide the game?

So – Saric round 11 Masters

There are a lot of pieces hanging. How did White take advantage of the moment?

Wei – Sevian round 6 Challengers

In this battle between rising stars, White’s more centralized pieces and a lightly defended king spell trouble for Black.

Carlsen – Radjabov round 9 Masters

Classic Carlsen: a slow positional buildup followed by decisive action against the king.

Navara – Michiels round 8 Challengers

Black menaces both …gxf4 and …Be4. How did White prove his own threats to be more relevant?

Wei – Haast round 12 Challengers

This is arguably the most beautiful combination of the tournament.

Ivanchuk – Jobava round 1 Masters

The game continued 28.Qxc3. In the post-game interview, Ivanchuk explained the tactical consequences of 23.Bxf6. Is 23.Bxf6 an improvement over the game?

Solution to Exercise 1

Solution to Exercise 2

Solution to Exercise 3

Solution to Exercise 4

Solution to Exercise 5

Solution to Exercise 6

Solution to Exercise 7

Solution to Exercise 8

Solution to Exercise 9

Solution to Exercise 10

Solution to Exercise 11

Solution to Exercise 12