International Chess School. The Art of a Master: Analysis. GM Pack Month 12

ELearning, chess, 2019.The course is divided into two parts:
Months 1-9 = positional understanding; without this, calculation brings nothing
Month 10-13 = calculation and analysis; without which real progress is impossible.Month / Subject
1 Think Like a Strong Player
2 Watch the Two Centers
3 - 4 Master Piece Play
5 – 6 Master Pawn Play
7 – 8 Pawn Structures Explained
9 - Advanced Fighting Strategies
10 – 13 The Art of a Master: AnalysisMonth 12 = “The Art of a Master: Analysis”Essentially it is the capacity to analyze chess positions accurately” and also “whoever aims to become a remarkable player should perfect skills in the domain of analysis”.If Botvinnik did not convince you, perhaps the words of one of the strongest players of all time, Kasparov, will have a greater impact: “I think that (other things being equal) the analytical method of studying chess must give you a colossal advantage over chess pragmatism, and that there can be no certainty in chess without analysis”.After the first nine months, students should have already gained a good positional understanding. This constitutes the base for further work that they need to allot in the domain of analysis. Without a certain level of positional understanding, this work would be, at best, painful and, at worst, worthless.So, the second part of our course is perhaps the most important stage of preparation for serious improvement. Here we focus on developing your analytical skills by having selected for you hundreds of positions for analysis.By no means will it be easy to work on this second part. However, this work is or will become pleasant and, in the end, you will improve your game a lot, as the great World Champions have assured.Every week for four months, you will have two sets of problems. Each of the 32 tests consists of:
a. 2 simple tactical exercises (total: 10 minutes) These are just to warm up your brain for the rest of the work.
b. 1 position that requires concrete calculation of variations (total: 20 minutes)This position requires a lot of calculation. You will have to find all candidate moves, calculate all the variations and get to a conclusion about the best move.There is a big difference between these problems and the common “combinations” where there is a decisive continuation. Here, the player is supposed to find the best continuations but this is not necessarily “winning”… exactly like in practice.c. 4 x positions for analysis (total: 90 minutes) The core of this advanced part of the “Core Course” is the 128 positions for analysis.
They consist of complicated positional struggles. First of all you need to do a correct evaluation of the position, and then, of course, you should find the best continuation to your position. Some solutions can lead to a win, but more often the battle remains open, or sometimes you will need to find the most practical chance to save the game. This is "normal" chess and will prepare you for 95% of the chess game.Of course, we will assist you with thoroughly annotated solutions that shed light on these positions. Moreover, every problem has a neat “hint” that can be used by less advanced players to point them in the right direction.Technique of play
The technique of play may seem very easy for some players but the hardest part for others. For example, if you take a book of annotated games you will find long series of un-annotated moves even if the author tried to explain to you everything important.
Those moves were very normal for the author of the book but, in fact, they are not at all clear for you. Therefore, we want to make up for this deficit and we will comment on games at the moment when others say “the rest is a matter of technique”.
Four highly instructive lessons are given every month from Month 10 to 12.We wish you Success!Months 12-13
An alternative repertoire for White, independent from Months 1-3.
Strong systems for White 1.d4 against:
Nimzovich Defense, King’s Indian, Dutch Defense, Queen’s Gambit Declined, and Slav Defense.