Chess Classics - games you must know by Dorian Rogozenco

The video course presents a fine selection of 33 classic chess games, played between the 18th century and the beginning of the second world war. Starting with François-André Danican Philidor through to Mikhail Botvinnik, these significant games, played by the greatest players of their times, are treasures of chess history. They are also a part of chess culture, and every aspiring chess player or simply lover of the game of chess, should know them. As the author explains in the introductory video, knowing the classic games from the past enriches your chess understanding in general, and helps to improve the level of your own games.

Most videos represent the carefully selected material from the “Chess Classics” section from the editions 160-209 of ChessBase Magazine, completed with new material made especially for this video course. Apart from the 33 full games, the author presents a selection of important classical fragments, each of them providing instructive strategic or tactic ideas.

• Video running time: more than 8 hours (English)
• Thematic keywords for training purposes

Sample video

1. Introduction
2. Fragments
3. Fragments 1
4. Fragments 2
5. 1783-1883
6. Von Bruehl - Philidor, 1783 (Exchange of pieces, Prophylaxis)
7. De Labourdonnais - McDonnel, 1834 (Opposite coloured bishops, Initiative, Isolated queen's pawn, Attack against the king)
8. McDonnel-De Labourdonnais, 1834 (Bishop pair, Back rank mate, creativity in tactical complications, Queen sacrifice)
9. Anderssen-Kieseritzky, 1851 (The immortal game) (Deflection, Creativity in tactical complications, Queen sacrifice)
10. Anderssen-Dufresne, 1852 (The evergreen game) (Positional pawn sacrifice, Decoy, Double check, Queen sacrifice)
11. Morphy-Duke of Brunswick, 1858 (Pin, Queen sacrifice)
12. Anderssen-Zukertort, 1869 (Plan, Positional pawn sacrifice, Attack against the king, Decoy, Queen sacrifice)
13. Zukertort-Blackburne, 1883 (Opposite coloured bishops, Bishop pair, Prophylaxis, Plan, Deflection, Pin, Discovered attack)
14. 1883-1899
15. Englisch-Steinitz, 1883 (Exchange of pieces, Bishop pair, Plan, Conversion of an advantage)
16. Steinitz-Sellman, 1885 (Blockade, Open file, weak squares)
17. Steinitz-Chigorin, 1892 (Plan, Conversion of an advantage)
18. Steinitz-Von Bardeleben, 1895 (Isolated queen's pawn, Positional pawn sacrifice, Calculation)
19. Pillsbury-Lasker, 1896 (Prophylaxis, Attack against the king, Calculation, Elimination of the defender, Creativity in tactical complications)
20. Chigorin-Lasker, 1899 (Bishop pair, Prophylaxis, Plan)
21. 1908-1914
22. Rubinstein-Teichmann, 1908 (Plan, Attack against the king, Decoy)
23. Rubinstein-Salwe, 1908 (Centralisation, Exchange of pieces, Good bishop - bad bishop, Blockade, Prophylaxis, Plan, Conversion of an advantage, Weak pawn, Weak squares, Pin)
24. Tarrasch-Schlechter, 1911 (Opposite coloured bishops, Bishop pair, Prophylaxis, Conversion of an advantage)
25. Nimzowitsch-Salwe, 1911 (Centralisation, Bishop pair, Blockade, Weak squares, Attack against the king)
26. Rubinstein-Schlechter, 1912 (Centralisation, Open file, Plan)
27. Tarrasch-Teichmann, 1912 (Centralisation, Good bishop - bad bishop, Plan, Weak squares)
28. Lasker Ed. -Thomas, 1912 (Decoy, Double check, Queen sacrifice)
29. Nimzowitsch-Capablanca, 1914 (Open file, Positional pawn sacrifice)
30. Lasker-Capablanca, 1914 (Centralisation, Prophylaxis, Open file, Plan, Weak pawn, Weak squares, Positional pawn sacrifice)
31. 1923-1938
32. Saemisch - Nimzowitsch, 1923 (Plan, Attack against the king)
33. Alekhine-Rubinstein, 1923 (Initiative, Back rank mate, Pin)
34. Bogoljubow-Capablanca, 1924 (Exchange of pieces, Good bishop - bad bishop, Plan, Weak pawn)
35. Reti-Yates, 1924 (Plan)
36. Reti-Alekhine, 1925 (Calculation, Deflection, Discovered attack, Creativitiy in tactical complications)
37. Johner-Nimzowitsch, 1926 (Plan, Attack against the king, Decoy, Pin)
38. Alekhine-Nimzowitsch, 1930 (Open file, Pin)
39. Botvinnik-Vidmar, 1936 (Initiative, Plan, Isolated queen's pawn, Deflection, Elimination of the defender, Pin)
40. Botvinnik-Alekhine, 1938 (Exchange of pieces, Open file, Weak squares)
41. Botvinnik-Capablanca, 1938 (Plan, Positional pawn sacrifice, Attack against the king, Calculation, Deflection, Pin)
42. Themes
43. Centralisation
44. Exchange of pieces
45. Good bishop - bad bishop
46. Opposite coloured bishops
47. Bishop pair
48. Blockade
49. Prophylaxis
50. Open file
51. Initiative
52. Plan
53. Conversion of an advantage
54. Weak pawn
55. Weak squares
56. Isolated queen's pawn
57. Positional pawn sacrifice
58. Attack against the king
59. Calculation
60. Deflection
61. Decoy
62. Elimination of the defender
63. Back rank mate
64. Pin
65. Double check
66. Discovered attack
67. Creativity in tactical complications
68. Queen sacrifice

System requirements : Minimum: Pentium III 1 GHz, 1 GB RAM, Windows 7, DirectX9 graphic card with 256 MB RAM, Windows Media Player 9 and internet connection for program activation. Recommended: PC Intel Core i7, 2.8 GHz, 4 GB RAM, Windows 7 / 8 or 10, DirectX10 graphic card (or compatible) with 512 MB RAM or better, 100% DirectX10 compatible sound card, Windows Media Player 11 and internet connection for program activation.