Svitlana drives home a lesson that separates strong players from weak ones: the centre matters everywhere. Opening, middlegame, endgame. It doesn't change.
She uses Ivanchuk versus Karpov to show why. The game isn't theoretical jousting. It's practical chess. Control the central squares and your pieces breathe. Your opponent's pieces suffocate. You get a plan. Your opponent gets problems.
Watch how it plays out. Central pawns aren't just sitting there looking pretty. They become battering rams in the middlegame and workhorses in the endgame. An active king marching through the centre beats a king stuck on the rim. Karpov understood this completely. He seized the centre early, never let go, and converted his spatial advantage into a clean win.
This isn't sexy chess. No sacrifices. No queen hunts. No smothered mates. It's the chess that wins tournaments. It's the chess that Karpov made his career on. Control the critical squares, activate your pieces around them, and the win comes naturally.
If you're playing 1600 or 2600, this lesson applies to you.