Matthew Sadler’s Best Games: Ponomariov vs Sadler – CHESS24

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GM Matthew Sadler has been one of England’s top GMs for nearly 20 years, winning the British Championship in 1995 and 1997 (jointly with Michael Adams).

A fascinating player, Matthew deliberately steers play into the most interesting lines, trying new things to create memorable games.

Now one of the world’s strongest amateurs (he works in IT in the Netherlands), Matthew has become known as one of the most insightful chess commentators around with his clear explanations of the reasons behind GM moves.

Now he has produced this course analyzing his most instructive games.

In this free preview, we see Matthew Sadler take on a former FIDE World Champion, GM Ruslan Ponomariov (peak rating 2764). Playing as Black, Sadler opts for a line in the Sicilian he had prepared with Joel Lautier, the Frenchman using it to beat Garry Kasparov in 1995.

What follows is an incredible battle between attack and defence, Ponomariov giving up the Bishop pair and allowing doubled, isolated pawns in the center in exchange for a development lead and strong pressure along the open lines. Matthew is perfectly willing to take on the challenge and comes up with some novel solutions, including “fianchettoing” his Queen on g7! If he can hold the position he will have a strategically won game.

Ponomariov goes all out, bringing his pieces to bear down on Black’s King before unleashing multiple sacrifices to tear open the position. The resulting position is incredibly sharp with one inaccuracy spelling doom for either side.

You can watch this game purely for the excitement but Matthew’s commentary is full of value for chess improvers of all levels. Learn how to evaluate imbalances (such as King safety versus material), techniques for finding hidden resources and a ton of attacking and defensive tips too.

Enjoy the video and remember to check out the complete course here.

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