The Sniper Opening is a perfect example of Hypermodern opening theory – very early in the game, black invites white to establish a big center so that black may rapidly strike at this center from the sides and prove it to over-extended and weak. The Sniper Opening is a very effective tool for chess players of all levels as it can be employed against almost every opening move (excluding only rare moves like 1. b3 [...]

The Sniper Opening is an exceptionally versatile weapon for black as it can be played against virtually any set-up by the white pieces. And who better to explain the basic concepts and subtle positional intricacies of the Sniper Opening than the world’s leading expert in this effective opening system for black – Grandmaster Ron W. Henley! Not only has GM Henley played the Sniper Opening with incredibly solid results at the Grandmaster level for nearly [...]

Although in the early and mid 20th century the Gruenfeld Defense was thought to be a very dry chess opening that black would play to achieve a draw, in today’s game it is one of the most dynamic chess openings that black can employ against 1. d4 – played at one time by nearly every leading Grandmaster (Svidler, Caruana, Giri, Topalov, Gelfand, etc..) In the following chess video, viewers are going to receive a special [...]

IM Andrew Martin states that former World Chess Champion Mikhail Botvinnik described the French Defense as a difficult and dangerous opening, although IM Martin still believes the French Defense to be a very versatile and effective opening weapon for beginner and intermediate players. In the below chess video excerpt from the chess DVD ¨French Defense, Rubinstein Variation: Busy Man’s Chess Openings¨ IM Andrew Martin presents the main benefits of focusing specifically on the Rubinstein Variation [...]

The following chess video excerpt reflects some of the most exciting chess games and commentary every caught on tape. GMs Maurice Ashley and Daniel King explain incredibly tense battles between Super-GMs Alexander Morozevich and Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik and Vassily Ivanchuk, and Viswanathan Anand and Garry Kasparov from the 1995 Intel Grand Prix in Moscow, Russia. This footage is unforgettable as the viewer is treated to a highly entertaining break-down of rapid and blitz games [...]

The c3 Sicilian is an extremely powerful sideline for white against the Sicilian Defense, rapidly deviating from the main lines via the move order 1. e4 c5 2. c3. White’s main idea is very simple in this opening set-up – establish a strong center by preparing the d2-d4 advance and avoid the massive theory associated with the main lines of the Sicilian Defense. The c3 Sicilian is also known as the Alapin Sicilian and has [...]

The Colle Opening is a quiet opening for white that is based on an extremely sound positional foundation. In the Colle Opening, white is not trying to dominate his opponent early in the opening and trying to win with a spectacular tactical shot in less than 20 moves. Rather, white is aiming to take his opponent out of opening theory and into new and different types of positions. In the below chess video excerpt from [...]

The 1995 Intel Grand Prix Series was an incredibly exciting series of chess tournaments held in different major cities throughout the world, featuring a knockout format to decide the ultimate champion among the world’s best players of the time (Kasparov, Anand, Kramnik, Ivanchuk, Adams, etc..) The production quality of the Intel Grand Prix was exceptionally high and featured two very well-known and respected commentators – GM Maurice Ashley and GM Daniel King! In the below [...]