Lessons from the Classics Central Play by GM David Arutinian

Evergreen Methods For Seizing The Center
And The Advantage!

No matter which school of chess thought you subscribe to — the lines in your repertoire — or the color you’re playing — the center will ALWAYS be there. Here’s the guide that turns this fact into a sizable edge game after game, almost as a matter of course!

Use it to close in on the enemy king…

With their center scattering enemy defenders away,
White’s attack almost plays itself!
(1-0, 21 moves)

Secure your “insurance” for the endgame, or set a wave of menacing pawns in motion…

After the exchange sac on f6, White’s center
becomes an unstoppable force of nature!
(1-0, 34 moves)

Or dominate the entire board so hard, almost any move wins!

Lessons from the Classics: Central Play shows you how to grab hold of the center — and convert this slight edge to a furious mating attack, a mass of passed pawns, or “you may resign now” amounts of material.

It’s based on hard-earned positional knowledge spanning 132 years — displayed through 27 games by the best thinkers and players of the past — then handpicked for their crystal-clear ideas by Grandmaster David Arutinian.

Arutinian is a peak 2593-Elo player and FIDE Senior Trainer.

His best students have gone on to become European and world youth champions, grandmasters, and top 100 players.

And for his Chessable debut, Arutinian built a course that will help you develop an intuitive understanding of where the pieces belong…

Hone your timing for decisive action, especially in double-edged positions…

Or gain advanced knowledge of major chess openings without learning a line of theory!

All you do is…

Observe the Center of the Chessboard

That’s because almost 4 hours of video lay down the key squares and ideal path for your pieces — as well as the opposing plans you must prevent…

If you’re in this “pawn on d4 vs. …e6 and …c6” scenario,
you can’t go wrong with Qe2 and Rd1. Arutinian explains why
— plus other shortcuts inside the course

While 140 MoveTrainer exercises hone your move-by-move skill in fighting for the center.

You’ll also see the central pawn structures that drive the main lines of the Ruy Lopez, King’s Indian, English Opening, and Sicilian Defense.

So your opening know-how gets a boost, too!

You’ll be shown repeatable ways to gain complete control of the center including:

🎯 Pawn sacrifices that drag away enemy pieces, so you can cement that space-gaining central pawn duo.

🎯 How to rally pieces behind center pawns — and safely build your latent energy for that inevitable breakthrough.

🎯 Cool-headed retreats that preserve your best pieces and make your central space advantage count.

Plenty of classic examples also show you how to:

🎯 Create transfer points to strengthen your attack on the flanks double time…

🎯 Cut the enemy position into two disconnected halves, unable to coordinate for defense…

🎯 And create new weaknesses when the struggle for the center reaches a standstill.

Of course, you’ll have games where the center belongs to the opponent, or yours is under fire. But don’t worry, because Arutinian has a game plan for those emergency situations, too!

You’ll see:

🎯 The dangers of having pawns in the center — but NOT the piece activity to support it.

🎯 How to stop the liquidation tactics that evaporate your control of the center.

🎯 Why generic developing moves are as good as resigning when you lack central space — and what to do instead.