If you aren't already aware, we've just released part 4 of Dennis' series on member questions.

My question is somewhat of a corollary to one that has been asked earlier. How do you judge whether one has enough compensation for a queen sacrifice. I'm not particularly interested in discussing those where one gets a brutal mating attack, but rather those where the queen is exchanged for 2 or more pieces

hi dennis,
i was wondering if you could help me understand more fully what it means to 'develop with tempo'. or to 'move a piece with tempo'. it takes a turn/tempo to move a piece; i know that. but at times i feel that i've lost a turn against an opponent while it looks like he's move twice with one piece. it's like he/she threatens with a piece in which i defend it, and then he moves the same piece to threaten again in which i move back to defend. in the end it's the same position except that his piece has moved AND it's his turn!!! it might just be a silly question; i'm sorry if it's lame. thx.

I find a main line in the Winawer with white very complex and hard to understand : it goes 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nf3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7 5.a3 Bxc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.Qg4 Qc7 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 cxd4 10.Ne2 dxc3 11.f4 Nbc6 12.Qd3 Bd7 13 Nxc3 (or Qxc3 or Rb1) a6 14.h4 Nf5
Kasimdzhanov said on his DVD to the Winawer black has not enough compensation, but the results of the better players in this variation aren't so impressive (Svidler lost with white against Ivantchuk in Linares 1999 very quickly).
Perhaps you can explain some things general plans strategical, tactical things for white mainly. Would be nice!

CAN,T GET VIDEOS TO RUN CAN YOU HELP ?

For tech support, using the "Contact Us" link on the front page would be more profitable. I'm not sure why there's a problem, but it seems to be something that only affects Internet Explorer. Try using Firefox or even Chrome instead.

Is Dennis supposed to answer this in his video? For technical support use the TECHNICAL SUPPORT thread

I had today a Scotch endgame which should be in my favour as white, but how can it be won if it can be won which I'm not sure.

White: Pawns on a2, b3, c2, e3, e4, f3, h4, king on e2
Black: a7, b6, c7, c5, f7, g6, h5 king on d7

I should begin with e5 I think but how could I win, if Black just plays passivly king e6 and king e5 and so on?

As an addendum to Kinghunter's post, I would be very interested to see the plans and ideas behind Black's moves as well. I've always wanted to play the Winawar instead of the mainline French but just can't seem to understand it.

This is the cutoff for show #5, which will hopefully be up sometime tomorrow. Keep the questions coming!

Hi Dennis...did I get in under-the-wire for #5 or am I tee'd up for first on #6? Here's my question: Can you compare and contrast the thematic ideas between the English opening and the Queen's Gambit opening from White's perspective? I like to play both and sometimes transpose from one to the other. I'm looking for the basic ideas for both the English and Queen's Gambit, from high level attacking themes to overall piece structure and how they most often translate into the middlegame. Thanks!

Gmonster: It was too late for #5. As for #6, well, to answer your question would require at least shows #6, #7 and #8, and even then only if no one else asks any questions. For people curious about openings, please make your questions specific and manageable. The Queen's Gambit includes the Accepted (which has entire books written about it), the Slav and Semi-Slav (probably the #1 cause of the destruction of the Brazilian Rain Forest) and a wide range of declined variations (the Orthodox, Lasker's Defense, the Tartakower/Bondarevsky/Makogonov, the Tarrasch, the Semi-Tarrasch, the Vienna, the Peru, etc.). Meanwhile, the English has if anything even more kinds of responses and different setups for both sides. (Any combination of fianchettos and non-fianchettos, for instance; lines where White does or doesn't play d4, lines where Black does or doesn't play ...f5, etc., etc., etc.) So please, make your question a bit more bite-sized.

Dennis, Looks like I'll be keeping you busy for a while!!! I'll re-post here with something a bit more specific and narrow in scope. Thanks.

Dennis,

I would like to ask a question about playing games over the board. My question is multi-part (of course). During long games, how do you divide up your thinking, and do you allow yourself a few minutes here and there to let your mind wander? How do you keep yourself calm and relaxed? I notice after about an hour, I will give myself maybe 5 minutes to stare out the window and not even think about the game, just look at birds or whatever, then when I look at the board again, it is sort of a "fresh" perspective. Is this something that could hinder my play, or a sign of lack of concentration? I also notice I play much better against an opponent upon subsequent games, and almost always lose the first, even to weaker opponents, because I am more nervous with strangers than people I have met before. How do you handle this? This is an especially hard part of the game for me because I have social anxiety disorder and get the urge to leave the room when I go to new places, especially crowded places. Thanks for your thoughts!

I have a psychological and practical problem with the closed sicilian as black. I play the hyper accelerated dragon and the closed stuff is really unpleasant. The opening depresses me just from move 2.
I know that the closed sicilian is known to be nearly loosing for white, but here comes the practical problem: I dont know the reason for this bad reputation.

The line I play against the closed sicilian goes like this:
1. e4 c5
2. Sc3 g6
3. g3 Sc6
4. Lg2 Lg7
5. d3 g6
6. f4 Tb8
7.a4 Sf6
8.Sf3 o-o
9.0-0 a6
10.h3 b5
11.axb5 axb5
12. Le3 b4
13.Se2 Sd2

Now white can play Rb1 or exchange some pawns with d4 or c3. And how can black win this game. I see that he is better, but which are the winning strategies?

Perhaps there is a better approach to the closed sicilian. I would be happy to loose my horror by understanding how to beat it!