Reykjavik Open 2024 (Part 2) - Positional and Tactical Exercises
We touched upon the short story of the winner of the tournament in part 1. In the second part we continue with practical examples from the Reykjavik Open 2024 tournament.The second part of our tournament bulletin (or book) continues with the exercise section, which I hope will be useful for every player.
If you are one of those who like exercise sections in books, this part is for you. We will examine few positional and tactical motifs from the first two rounds of the event. If you like this series on Reykjavik part 3 might come eventually. :)
First few examples are about lead in development and king in the center!
In a typical Rossolimo Sicilian black needs two moves to complete their development and target the d3 pawn. Turkish Grandmaster decided it's now or never! It's white to play and not let his opponent castle!
This time it's about tactics that decided the issue!
Black to play and win!
Romanian GM gives another fine example on the same topic. This time it's from the ever solid French Defence!
White to play and not let his opponent develop!
White is severely underdeveloped and he hopes to resolve this by playing Ng3 and so on. It's about preventing the opponent's plan on the next couple of moves!
How can Black proceed while restricting his opponent's intentions?
In the following examples we'll witness the problems of castled king.
White is about to take their pawn back on d5 and everything is under control or is it?
Black to play and show their attacking skills against castled king!
This time it's from famous streamer Anna Cramling's praxis.
Black is hoping to create counterplay by attacking the knight on the rim. It's white to play.
Even in the endgame king safety is an important issue if there are queens on the board!
White to play and win!
Sometimes it's not about sacrificing material but continue viciously after that!
It's white to play and prove their forces are capable of breaking through the defensive walls...
Time is one of the most important elements in chess and following example is about this topic.
Black is about to capture the pawn on c6. White should act before this happens! White to play.
There are more examples from this strong event you may find in the same study as well. The number of exercises will grow with parts to come... :)
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