It’s human nature to make mistakes. In Chess, an early mistake can lose you the game instantly, or at the least, lead to a long-term disadvantage. Avoiding mistakes in the opening and even learning from mistakes is a valuable tool to improve your chess. More
Macieja vs Ponomariov: Development and King in the centre
Ponomariov vs Aronian: Same variation, different line
Ponomariov vs Almasi: Centre and development
Ponomariov vs Sadvakasov: Only trust your own analysis
Ponomariov vs Ivanisevic: Not checking if your oppenent knows the line you play
Ponomariov vs Carlsen: A young Magnus Carlsen
Ponomariov vs Pavasovic: Too dangerous
Ponomariov vs Ivanchuk: Forgetting a well-known mistake
Overpreparation
Ponomariov vs Anand: Bad memory
Ponomariov vs Esipenko; Ponomariov vs Jobava: Overpreparation side-effects
Ponomariov vs Volokitin: Messing with the move order
Ponomariov vs Anand: Playing without a plan
Opening surprises
Tomashevsky vs Ponomariov: Novelty
Mamedyarov vs Pomnomariov; Vlassov vs Ponomariov; Akobian vs Ponomariov: Keep calm
Ponomariov vs Beerdsen: Counterproductive surprise
Basic Principles - Development
Anand vs Ponomariov: Development is more important than material
Aronian vs Ponomariov: Lack of development
Meier vs Ponomariov: King in the centre
Korobov vs Ponomariov: King in the centre
Ponomariov vs Vysochin: Exposed queen
Ponomariov vs Raceanu: King in the centre
Basic Principles - King Safety
Ponomariov vs Areshchenko: Open up files
Frolov vs Ponomariov: King in the centre
Ponomariov vs Mikhailovic: Risky opening
Ponomariov vs Azarov: Which side to castle to?
Basic Principles - Importance of the centre
Ponomariov vs Ermekov, Morozevich vs Ponomariov: Fighting for the centre
Aronian vs Ponomariov: Fighting for the centre
Ponomariov vs Granda Zuniga: Compensation for the centre
Volkov vs Ponomariov; Marin vs Ponomariov: Development
Ponomariov vs Jobava; Ponomariov vs Michalik: Development & Central pawns
Basic Principles - Pseudo activity
Ponomariov vs Draskovic: Unprepared activity
Ponomariov vs Hou Yifan: Unprepared activity
Ponomariov vs Degraeve: Unprepared activity
Ponomariov vs Bogdanovic: Moving the Queen out too early
Ponomariov vs Shariayzdanov: Unprepared activity
Ponomariov vs Morozevich: Unprepared activity
Good and bad openings
Grischuk vs Ponomariov: Alekhine Defence
Ponomariov vs Fressinet: Scandinavian Defence with 3...Qd6
Ponomariov vs Movsesian: Alapin Defence
Ponomariov vs Azarov; Ponomariov vs Tjomsland; Ponomariov vs Spraggett: Miscellaneous
Importance of pawn structures
Nakamura vs Ponomariov: Karlsbad structure
Zhang vs Ponomariov: Space advantage
Ponomariov vs Harikrishna: Changing the pawn structure
Vamos vs Ponomariov; Svidler vs Ponomariov: Preparation
Passive play
Shengelia vs Ponomariov; Neverov vs Ponomariov: Development
Ponomariov vs Rubio: Centre and space advantage
Playing versus the opponent
Ter Sahakyan vs Ponomariov; Beradze vs Ponomariov: Playing for a win
Ponomariov vs Leko; Ponomariov vs Nakamura: Psychology
Ponomariov vs Van Wely: Playing for a draw
Kuzmin vs Ponomariov; Gulko vs Ponomariov: Tricky move order
Ponomariov vs Kamsky: Tricky move order
Extra thoughts
Eljanov vs Ponomariov; Korchnoi vs Ponomariov
Ponomariov vs Tukmakov: Classics
Gukesh vs Maghsoodloo; Maghsoodloo vs Erdos; Ponomariov vs Lenaerts: Original play
Exercises
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 5
Exercise 6
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Exercise 9
Exercise 10
Exercise 11
Exercise 12
Exercise 13
Exercise 14
Exercise 15
Exercise 16
Exercise 17
Exercise 18
Exercise 19
Exercise 20
Exercise 21
Exercise 22
Exercise 23
Exercise 24
Exercise 25
PROPERTIES
Language:
English
Level:
advanced, tournament player, professional
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
Minimum:
Computer: Dual Core Memory: 2 GB RAM Operating System: Windows 10 and higher Graphics Card: 256 MB RAM Other: Windows Media Player 9, ChessBase 14/Fritz 16 or included Reader and internet access for program activation
MacOSX: MacOS "Yosemite" 10.10
Recommended:
Processor: PC Intel i5 (Quadcore) Memory: 4 GB RAM Operating System: Windows 10 and higher, DirectX 11 Graphics Card: 512 MB RAM and more Other: DirectX10-compatible sound card, Windows Media Player 11 and internet access for program activation
ChessBase Account:
Internet access and modern web browser, e.g. Chrome, Edge, Safari.
