Understanding Middlegame Strategies Vol.3 und 4 - The Hedgehog/Dynamic pawn structures by Ivan Sokolov

Understanding Middlegame Strategies Vol.3 und 4 - The Hedgehog/Dynamic pawn structures by Ivan Sokolov

Vol 3

Throughout my playing career I have found the Hedgehog (with both colours) one of the most difficult type of positions to master. With White (the side with more space) there is always a danger to overextend oneself (or miss your opponent’s pawn break). While playing Black (the side with less space) there is always a danger to mistime your pawn break, or simply to not get counterplay and be overrun.

Vol 4

Studying this video course should greatly improve the viewer’s handling of dynamic pawn positions! As with all my other video courses material here is predominantly aimed at improving players and tournament players.

Vol 3

The complexity of those positions is best illustrated in a Kasparov-Kramnik game – with both players allowing seemingly “obvious” mistakes. Charbonneau-Anand is another good example – a player of Anand’s stature landing in a terrible position, then missing his good attacking prospects. The game result was one of the biggest upsets of 2006 Chess Olympiad. There are different types of Hedgehog positions - many of them coming from the English opening where the White bishop is fianchettoed. In this video course I consider the “basic Hedgehog” pawn structure; like the one coming from the Kan Sicilian for example. Choosing the right plan at the right time is the key here - the ensuing positions are full of dynamic possibilities. I endeavour to show the most common (and a few less common!) plans for both sides and try to pinpoint typical mistakes and motifs. The basic aim of this video is to improve understanding of these complex positions and to help tournament players score better!

• Video running time: 4 hours (English)
• Extra: Training with ChessBase apps - Play key pawn structures against Fritz on various levels

Vol 4

Isolated pawn structures can obviously come from many different openings. In this video course I have picked up isolated pawn structures coming from the classical Tarrasch defence D34; for which a considerable part was inspired by the games of Garry Kasparov. I believe studying the classical Tarrasch isolated pawn structures (and related pawn structures) to be an excellent way to improve understanding of those types of positions. Choosing my games selection, I wanted to show typical plans for both sides based on high level instructive games. Hanging pawns in the centre can come from different (though usually 1.d4 systems) openings. “Hanging pawns in the centre” structures are difficult to master because a good feeling for the “transformation timing” is needed! Sometimes those “transformations” are pawn-break related, unleashing dynamic power; while sometimes they are related to taking space and not being bothered about surrendering central squares. I have tried to show typical plans aiming to improve the viewer’s knowledge, and also practical play level. Sicilian Rauzer double f-pawn structures are fashionable nowadays and are seen at all levels. Dynamic timing is everything! Most of the time, temporary pawn sacrifices are an essential part of this “dynamic timing”. While it is difficult to give exact set of rules here, typical ideas do repeat themselves and I have tried to show these in this video course.

• Video running time: 5 hours 30 minutes (English)
• Extra: Training with ChessBase apps - Play key pawn structures against Fritz on various levels

Sample video

1. Hedgehog - Part 1
2. Introduction and Fischer vs Andersson
3. Black pushes the g-pawn: Charbonneau vs Anand
4. Regrouping: Kasparov vs Kramnik
5. h-pawn push: Topalov vs Kasimdzhanov
6. White fights the h-pawn push: Radjabov vs Kamsky
7. Aggressive ideas for White
8. White castles kingside and pushes the g-pawn: J. Van Foreest vs Bilguun
9. Kingside pawn roll: Cramling vs Gruenfeld
10. Hedgehog - Part 2
11. Dark square control: Tal vs Polugaevsky
12. White pushes the a-pawn: Agrest vs Nisipeanu
13. White pushes the a-pawn 2: Firouzja vs Vachier-Lagrave
14. Doubled-pawns: Acs vs Polgar
15. Doubled-pawns 2: Eljanov vs Kudrin
16. White castles queenside
17. Diagonal domination: Romanishin vs Petrosian
18. Diagonal domination 2
19. Pawn structure change: Carlsen vs Wojtaszek
20. Hanging Pawns in the center
21. Hanging pawns in the center: Capablanca vs Alekhine
22. Hanging pawns in the center: Bok vs Grischuk
23. Hanging pawns in the center: Petrosian vs Spassky
24. Hanging pawns in the center: Sokolov vs Riazantsev
25. Hanging pawns in the center: Carlsen vs Hou Yifan
26. Hanging pawns in the center: Carlsen vs Aronian
27. Hanging pawns in the center: Kasparov vs Portisch
28. Hanging pawns in the center: Korchnoi vs Geller
29. Isolated Pawns
30. Active Play: Beliavsky vs Illescas Cordoba
31. Transformation: Petrosian vs Spassky
32. Transformation: Kasparov vs Illescas Cordoba
33. Transformation: Zueger vs Kasparov
34. Transformation: Smyslov vs Kasparov
35. Transformation: Larsen vs Kasparov
36. Transformation: Van Wely vs Grischuk
37. Rauzer structure
38. Pawn sacrifice: Klovans vs Tal
39. Pawn Sacrifice: Ragger vs Salgado Lopez
40. Pawn sacrifice: Gan-Erdene vs Maghsoodloo
41. Pawn sacrifice: Geller vs Larsen

Language: English
System: Windows 7 or higher, Mac OS X (only download)
Delivery: Download
Level: Advanced, Tournament player, Professional