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Chess Grandmaster Bogdan Lalic

..following the foot steps of Chess Grandmaster Bogdan Lalic…

“How difficult it is to keep elo nowadays shows my statistic from elo rated games for the period from May 2010 to September 2013 so 3 years and 4 months. In that period my lowest elo was 2454 ( November 2011 ) while my highest elo was 2507 ( May 2012 ).

In that period I first fell down from 2496 to 2454, then I recovered to 2507 and then I dropped again and all together I lost 7 elo points ( so on average was about 2488 or so).

In that period I played 65 different competitions and 526 elo rated games from which I won 194 games, drew 316 games and lost 16 games ( 14 times with Black: twice to GM Grachev and twice to GM Saric Ivan and onces to GM Melkumyan, Inarkiev, Shanava, Radulski, Jones, Buhmann, Martinovic Sasa, Gurevich Mikhail, Cori Tello Jorge, and once to FM Tesik Csaba ), and 2 times with White ( to GM Shomoev and to IM Franco Alonso ). This just shows how competitive is today chess and how difficult it is to keep elo and why so many GMs had dropped with elo even to 2400.”

“It is very strange but most of Slovenian young players are copying their legendary player Dr Milan Vidmar ( who was at his peak number 4 in the World ). It is a pain in the ass style, no risk whatsoever, accumulation of small advantages, I hate such a style to play against, it is just a pain in the ass, I have to be careful.”

A nice surprize, the Averbakh variation of the Kings Indian

Replay Chess Game

“Pain in the Ass Line” against the Gruenfeld

“Today I lost like an amateur to GM Hracek (Elo 2635). I do not know enough theory, I haven’t got enough strong games, this is why I am now like an amateur to 2600 players. Horrible.”

“Today in chess are successful players who works in a group. Alone a player is nothing. This is why now I am a patzer, I know nothing from chess, my knowledge is superficial and not enough.”

“I am about 2500 player, I know all very superficially, I am an amateur, without help alone, nothing, how can I be expert in anything? …but he (GM Hracek) knows better, works in a teams, knows the novelties, everything, comparing with him I am a complete amateur.”

“Look, I am 49, why should I work like a horse on opening theory, why? It does not pay off, so why should I?
…now 2500 grandmasters are amateurs comparing to elite players. They are elite because they have all advantages.”

“…Rd1+ is a bad move, I have to play Nd2+”

“7 Be3, 8 Qd2, 9.Rc1 is a pain in the ass line against Gruenfeld ( Kramnik line ).
White plays without any risk. I will never again trade queens, instead I will play Shipov’s plan with 9…e6 ( instead of 9…cxd4 ). Until today I did not know for that play, because of my ignorance of that move.

I paid dearly and lost today to GM Hracek. Still I will continue to play Gruenfeld despite that loss.”

“13…Rd8 14 Bg5 and a lots of theory and White was scoring very well.”

Replay Chess Game

“I think that in the Gruenfeld line 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 e4 Nxc3 6 bxc3 Bg7 7 Be3 c5 8 Nf3 0-0 9 Qd2 black should not play the queen to a5, but the better line is instead 9…Bg4.

Because the line 10 Ng5 from the match Karpov-Kasparov is not so dangerous for Black after 10…cxd4 11 cxd4 Nc6 12 h3 Bd7 13 Rb1 Rc8 14 Nf3 and now not 14…Na5?! the plan played by Kasparov in order to put the knight to c4, which loses a lot of time, but the better move is 14…e5 15 d5 Nd4! which gives easy equality to Black.
Long live Gruenfeld!”

Replay this variation below

Replay Chess Game

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