Chess Strategy Lessons from Kramnik’s Trainer

This is a strategy course built from the inside of elite chess. Illescas worked for years as the main coach of Vladimir Kramnik, helped him win the 2000 World Championship in London, and uses that experience throughout. In the bishop-for-knight lessons he recalls what he learned from Kramnik’s handling of the bishop pair; in the endgame lessons he shows his own games against Kasparov, Smyslov, Salov and Ulf Andersson and explains, with some humour, where he went wrong. Every video opens with a diagram and a question, and you are invited to stop and find the plan yourself.

The ICC presents the series as Illescas’s first English-language video course, made with his school EDAMI, and describes the coverage as “when to push rook pawns, when to trade a bishop for a knight” and “the key elements of doubled pawns” — plus the Carlsbad structure, open files, bad pieces, planning by pawn structure and exchanges on the way to an endgame. That is exactly what the 16 lessons deliver. They sit naturally among the strategy titles in our chess courses category.

What the Chess Strategy Lessons Teach

h4 as a strategic weapon, not an attack

The first video deals with a modern fashion: both sides castled kingside and White simply pushes the h-pawn. Illescas separates this clearly from Dragon-style h4 attacks and explains the long-term logic instead. If Black answers …h5, the g5 and g6 squares can become weak; if Black plays …h6, his kingside pawns lose flexibility; if Black waits, White gains space with h5–h6 and trades an h-pawn for a g-pawn — a deal that leaves the black king more exposed and the white pawns controlling more squares. The examples come from Caruana’s games at the most recent Candidates event.

When a good bishop takes a knight

Two videos cover one of the hardest decisions in chess. Starting from the old idea that the bishop is usually worth more, Illescas shows when giving up the good bishop is right — and what you must do afterwards. His key rule: after trading a bishop, put your pawns on the colour of the missing bishop, as Yuffa does with …e6 in a Caro-Kann against Radjabov from the 2019 World Cup. Carlsen–Kramnik and examples from Kramnik’s own repertoire show the same balance from the elite side.

Structures: Carlsbad, open files and doubled pawns

Lessons 4–9 are pure structure. The backward c7-pawn in the Carlsbad structure after an early b4–b5 (with Anand’s rapid technique against Ljubojević and a Carlsen–Aronian comparison). Open and semi-open files, why the rooks are exchanged when both sides fight for one file, the “remove the defender of the entry square” method, and Kasparov–Petrosian, Bugojno 1982, as a warning against passive defence. Then doubled pawns: Illescas’s point is that they are weak mainly when isolated, while doubled pawns inside a chain — like the Nimzo-Indian a3 structure — can be good in the opening, good in the middlegame and bad only in the endgame.

Bad pieces, planning and the road to the endgame

Lesson 10 starts from Kasparov–Karpov, Seville 1987, and asks whether a bad piece is bad permanently or only for now. Lessons 11–12 teach planning from the pawn structure with Botvinnik–Capablanca from AVRO 1938 and Salov–Illescas, Madrid 1994. The final four videos are about exchanges: when to enter an endgame and when to stay in the middlegame, with Reshevsky as a model, Illescas’s own game against Kasparov from 1989, a game he played aged 16, and a long Smyslov encounter and a 72-move knight ending against Ulf Andersson.

The tone throughout is a trainer talking to a student, not a lecture. If you prefer a more systematic, book-style curriculum alongside these Chess Strategy Lessons, pair them with GM Johan Hellsten’s Mastering Chess Strategy or the video version of Silman’s Complete Book of Chess Strategy.

Chess Strategy Lessons: Video Index

Who Will Get the Most from This Series

• Club players around intermediate level and above who calculate well enough but lose games to slow positional mistakes.
• Players who struggle with trades — bishop for knight, rook exchanges on an open file, or the queen trade that decides the endgame.
• Students of classic and modern games who want Capablanca and Botvinnik explained next to Carlsen and Caruana.
• Coaches looking for well-chosen strategic examples with clear verbal explanations.

Beginners will find the pace and the level of the examples demanding; a gentler start is IM Andrew Martin’s First Steps in Chess Strategy.

Questions About the Chess Strategy Lessons

Is this an opening course?

No. Openings appear only as the source of a structure — the Carlsbad, the Nimzo-Indian a3 structure, a Caro-Kann bishop trade. The subject is what to do after the opening: plans, exchanges, pawn structures and the endgame transition.

Does Illescas use his own games?

Yes, especially in the second half: games against Salov, Kasparov, Smyslov and Ulf Andersson, plus a game he played at 16. He is honest about his mistakes, which makes the endgame lessons very practical.

What exactly do I download, and how is it delivered?

Sixteen MP4 lesson videos (1.13 GB in total). Digital files. Crypto payment only. Fast delivery is handled manually after payment confirmation. Download links remain available for 7 days; save your files locally.