Learn Creative, Attacking Chess from the “Yugoslav Tal”
When you talk about the all-time attacking greats like Kasparov, Tal, and Shirov,
Albin Planinc’s name doesn’t usually find itself in the conversation.
But this Slovenian grandmaster’s combinations were so creative and so dynamic that they could rival those of the other three. And with such titans as
Miguel Najdorf,
Jan Timman, and
Pal Benko on his tournament victims list, the “Yugoslav Tal” could definitely fight in their weight class!
So how did this little-known grandmaster bring down these giants of the 64 squares? He played a brand of
imaginative and
aggressive chess few can handle.
And in this course, you’ll learn the same dynamic and electrifying strategies that Planinc used so you can knock your opponents off balance - and
create energetic positions from which tactics flow like a waterfall.
How creative is creative? Just check out this position from one of Planinc’s games - it’s Black to play:
Down the exchange already and with a knight attacked on f4, Planinc played
…Nd2!! sacrificing the knight but luring the enemy king into a dangerous spot - a feature which he used to turn into a beautifully winning attack - an attack you’ll learn in the course.
Unbalance the Game and Destabilize Your Opponent with Imaginative, Positional Play
One of the best ways to play inspired, attacking chess is to understand how other attacking greats do it. So in this course, you’ll analyze the critical moments in Planinc’s most interesting games and learn the dynamic plans he devised. You’ll then test your understanding with
instructive exercises sure to engrave these ideas into your mind’s chess library.
While Planinc didn’t always play the moves at the top of the engine’s list these days, he played strong moves that set
difficult practical problems for his opponent to solve. You’ll look at the positions from
both sides, understanding the correct
offensive and defensive ideas (even when Planinc erred) so you can use similarly creative attacking devices without it backfiring in your own games.
Author
Jim Stevenson, an ECF Regional Master, has superbly arranged and annotated the excerpts from Planinc’s games, taking you from his early days to his most prestigious international battles. His study of Planinc’s games catapulted him to a peak FIDE rating of 2200, and allowed him to score many fine wins above his weight class, just like Planinc did - taking down a few IMs and even GMs!
Now, you can do the same: get the
Slovenian Supernova: Albin Planinc and learn dynamic, attacking chess today.
