New In Chess reviews: Kasimdzhanov and Ramirez

Rustam Kasimdzhanov:
Meet the Nimzo-Indian with 4.Qc2

New In Chess review by Matthew Sadler

I’ve been having a good time in the evening the past month relaxing with a bottle of wine and some chess DVDs. Hmm… that sounds slightly sad come to think of it! Anyway, Kasimdzhanov, Marin and Ramirez have been pretty much constant companions. Meet the Nimzo-Indian with 4.Qc2 by Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Chessbase DVD) is a fairly old DVD so I don’t want to spend too much time on it.

There were a couple of moments though where I was shocked out of my evening torpor and I just had to share them with someone! The first was when he is discussing the queenless middlegame that arises after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 b6 7.Bg5 Bb7 8.f3 h6 9.Bh4 d5 10.e3 Nbd7 11.cxd5 Nxd5 12.Bxd8 Nxc3 13.Bh4 Nd5 14.Bf2 f5 15.Bb5. In his game against Ghaem Maghami from Doha 2006, Kasimdzhanov discusses the following position: 15...c6 16.Bd3 c5 17.Ne2 Rad8 18.0-0 e5

‘It’s very important to observe how White uses the bishops. When having the bishops it is important not to open the position immediately, but to understand that the position is likely to open itself in the logical development of the game. White doesn’t have to force any opening at the moment. For instance, 19.dxe5 Nxe5 would only help Black to activate his pieces. The same goes for 19.dxc5 Nxc5 and 19.e4 fxe4 20.fxe4 Nf6. All these things would just help Black to get counterplay. So White is just activating his remaining pieces and giving Black the opportunity to open the centre. If Black would start liquidating with 19…cxd4 20.exd4 exd4 21.Nxd4, we see that White’s pieces are coming into play, the White knight is threatening to come into e6 and f5 and Black would already be losing material.’

That is such a fantastic insight! The advantage of the two bishops is a long-term advantage, so White shouldn’t hurry to open the position at the first opportunity. If you do, you run the risk of bringing Black’s knights into such active squares that they counterbalance the bishops. Just waiting and letting the opponent do the hard work is a surefire way of guaranteeing that the balance of activity is completely in favour of the two bishops. You also see in the rest of the game that the side with the two bishops was able to withstand the maintenance of the central tension much better than the side without.

19.Rad1 Ne7 20.Nc3 Kh8 21.Rfe1 a6 22.Bc2 g5 23.dxc5 Nxc5 24.b4 Ne6 25.Bb3 Bc8 26.Na4 b5 27.Nb6 Ng7 28.Nxc8 Nxc8 29.e4 fxe4 30.Bc5 exf3 31.Bxf8 Rxf8 32.gxf3 Ne7 33.Rxe5 Ng6 34.Rd6 1-0.

The other moment was quite funny. I’ve had the experience myself when recording and starting to explain something and then halfway through getting the feeling that something in your explanation is wrong. But you plough on regardless and hope no one notices!

When discussing a position from the game Ivanchuk-Morozevich, Kasimdzhanov points out the weakness of the Black queenside and remarks: ‘Black’s pawns would be much safer if the pawns had been on b7 and a6, in accordance with the Capablanca rule where you have to place your pawns on squares opposite to the opponent’s bishop where they are less vulnerable’. To be honest, this is one I always get very confused about but Capablanca’s principle (expounded in Chess Fundamentals) is ‘When the opponent has a bishop, keep your pawns on squares of the same colour as your opponent’s bishop. Whenever you have a bishop, whether the opponent also has one or not, keep your pawns on squares of the opposite colour to that of your own bishop’.

I do like Kasimdzhanov’s DVDs a lot though: I’ll happily take a few mistakes in return for the excellent insights!

Order the Kasimdzhanov DVD in the NiC Shop or directly from ChessBase

In the same issue of New In Chess (6/2015) Matthew Sadler writes: The last DVD I watched was The Ragozin Defence by Alejandro Ramirez (ChessBase DVD). Absolutely nothing to criticize about this one. Ramirez does a super job of structuring the material and delivers it with enthusiasm and clarity. He’s definitely one of the best DVD authors out there. The one downside is that the opening is pretty boring – this is a drawing repertory and no mistake! That aside, warmly recommended. Order Ramirez Ragozin Defence in the NiC Shop or directly from Chessbase

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