Botvinnik's Universal Style by USCF Expert Ryan Murphy is a course on the topic of style and objectivity in chess. The course features games by 6th World Champion GM Mikhail Botvinnik as a model for how to think logically and play positions based on concrete factors and strategic imbalances that are present.
In this course, Ryan Murphy covers positions where Botvinnik executes his trademark positional style, logically following his plans to victory in the endgame. Other examples feature positions where Botvinnik has to play dynamically to compensate for positional weaknesses. Botvinnik shows excellent form in both types of positions, thus underscoring the need to have a universal style to play at the highest level.
This course has 4 video lessons with a total run time of 1 hour and 16 minutes and 4 PGN files covering all the instructive examples. This course is aimed at players in the 1200-1600 Elo rating range, though players slightly stronger will still benefit from this course.
Your Instructor
USCF Expert Ryan Murphy is a chess coach from Wisconsin who joined Chess University in 2016. He works behind the scenes as the Operations Manager and has also helped teach live lessons in the Prodigy Program and analyzed hundreds of student games.
Ryan started playing tournament chess at the age of 17 and is currently working towards the goal reaching the USCF title of National Master. Ryan teaches many private students online and works for a chess academy in Wisconsin, teaching chess in after-school programs.