Brilliant Sacrifices by Anthony G Laster in the Sicilian Defense

Anthony G Laster vs Ralph Gahtan “And the First Shall Be Laster“ (game of the day Oct-25-2010) 76th US Open (1975), Lincoln, NE USA, rd 8, Aug-18 Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation (B96) · 1-0 chess notation: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Nbd7 8. Qf3 Qc7 9. O-O-O b5 10. Bd3 Qb6 11. Rhe1 Qxd4 12. e5 Nd5 13. Nxd5 Qa7 14. f5 Nxe5 15. Rxe5 dxe5 16. Bxb5 axb5 17. Nc7 Qxc7 18. Qc6 Qxc6 19. Rd8# * Chess Possess is the number one channel when it comes to educational chess videos, here you can find a lot of materials related to game moves, why they were made, how they were made and under what circumstances. You can also learn the benefits of specific moves in specific situations. On our channel, you can view: games from grandmaster, analysis of matches, debuts, chess strategies, chess tricks, chess lessons, chess moves, etc. Frequently asked questions: 1) What is the best way to improve your game? New players should focus first on improving their tactical skills. Once you get tired from your tactics lessons, focus more on slow games so you can analyze each and every move. This way you can avoid making reflexive moves during matches. You should also know how to win specific endshpil, such as K P vs K and K R vs K. 2) How can I improve my tactic? In the first place learn the main motives of chess and later on the train over and over again, practice makes perfect. You can learn more about chess motives from the following blog - or . Alternative ways to learn about are the books from Yasser Sierawan’s Winning Chess Tactics, software CT-ART, etc. 3) Which book recommendations you could offer? There are like thousands of chess-related books out there, for me most useful one was the Yasser Seirawan Winning Chess series. 4) How much time should I spend per day on chess? Few people can spend a lot of time on chess on daily basis. Usually, people get really tired after 3-4 hours and it gets harder to learn new things, to absorb new information. For professionals, I would say that the optimal time range is the same as the time range of the game itself and that would be somewhere between four hours. Some train more others less, it depends. 5) Which opening is the best for a beginner player? Italian party, Sicilian Defense, French defense, Spanish party, Slavic defense, 6) What would you recommend to beginner players? First of all, it is crucial to learn about different debuts: e4 / d4 lines: Italian, Scotch, and Queen’s Gambit for white, 1 ... e5, and QGD for black. Instead of memorizing moves, I would suggest you to focus more on the main ideas, and principles in openings. Upgrade your movements, Control center, don’t use secondary figures too early, keep your king always under the guard, and combine your rooks. Also, keep tracking which options do you have on every forced move of your figure, what would give you a specific move, what is the outcome, and what kind of influence it would have on your future plans. Keep tracking each and every last one of your figures, maybe some of them are unguarded, maybe some of them are in a bad position, watch every step carefully. Maybe you could use some tactic in a specific situation? Opportunities to create a fork, pin, skewer, etc. Apart from watching your figures, you should also keep an eye on the enemy’s positions, maybe you could use some of your resources in a more active manner? Maybe blocking the opponent’s forces? Frequent training, enough time, and motivation would allow you to make fewer mistakes, improve your tactics and become a better player. Always take your opponent’s center As they all say, it is always better to have a bad plan rather than not having a plan at all. After opening, your goal should be analyzing of the position on the board, and according to your figures make strong moves and plans. Your plan should be oriented around the identification of disbalances of strong and weak sides of your position, after that you should: Decide where you should attack next, either side of the king, queen, or center. Find the best possible positions for your figures. Try to replicate your opponent’s possible moves. Calculate all of this and if everything goes as planned repeat the same process after every move of your opponent. In the end, your goal should be the fortification of your positions until you will have an opportunity to attack once again.