Key Concepts of Chess - Pawn Structures Vol.1 & 2 and The Hedgehog

Autor: Groten, Herman
Verlag: ChessBase
Erscheinungsjahr: 2023
Sprache: English

This video series is all about chess strategy for club players, explained in a simple way with clear examples! It's about focusing on certain topics and using certain pawn structures. The central question is: how can the pieces be placed on good squares and what should we keep in mind? IM Herman Grooten will offer rules of thumb and concepts to give the viewer the necessary guidance to find the right paths in their own games.

Key Concepts of Chess - Pawn Structures Vol.1

In this two-part video course, the focus is on typical pawn structures that occur quite frequently in games and are probably well known to club chess players. In this video course, the topics "open and half-open lines" and "the pawn chain" are covered in detail.

• Video running time: 6 hours 30 minutes (English)
• With interactive training including video feedback
• EExtra: Training with ChessBase apps - Play key positions against Fritz at different levels

Key Concepts of Chess - Pawn Structures Vol.2

In this second part, the focus is on typical pawn structures that appear frequently in the games and are easily recognizable for club chess players. For example, in this video course the topics of “the isolated queen's pawn (IQP)” and “the passed pawn in the middle game” are discussed in detail. Since the IQP can appear on the board in many opening variations, it is worth studying. The fact that a passed pawn can sometimes be invaluable and produce an amazing effect will be music to the ears of the club chess player.

• Video duration: 4 hours (English)
• With interactive training including video feedback
• EExtra: Training with ChessBase apps - Play key positions against Fritz at different levels

Key Concepts of Chess - The Hedgehog

To understand openings properly, you should actually study the middle game first. Because all plans in the middle game are directly linked to the ideas from the opening. Almost everything depends on the pawn structures. That's why IM Herman Grooten takes the club chess player by the hand to take a closer look at common middle game structures.

In this video course, Grooten discusses the basic ideas of a typical structure that can arise from different opening variations, both for White and Black. It is the so-called "Hedgehog System", characterized by at least four black pawns on the sixth rank, which we call the "spikes" of the hedgehog. Another essential aspect is that exchanging a black c-pawn for a white d-pawn (as in the Sicilian) creates a position where White gains a large space advantage through c2-c4, among other things. But that the "Hedgehog" is viable will be clear in all the examples shown, as the author likes to use this system himself!

• Running time: 4 hours (English)

• With interactive training including video feedback

• Extra: Model games; Training with ChessBase apps - playing key positions at different levels

Video:

https://youtu.be/lrzeurWi_w0

https://youtu.be/v0WTLiVNQIA

https://youtu.be/OEcUqvDJKno

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