Robert Ris’ Fast and Furious: Attacking with the Ragozin

by Robert Ris
12/2/2021 – This week, well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris shows a game in which Black found a way to get a strong attack in the Ragozin variation (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4). | "Fast and Furious" is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.
By playing the London System, with 1.d4 followed by 2.Nf3 and 3.Bf4, White can avoid a theoretical discussion and instead use natural ability plus a knowledge of plans. The weight of the struggle tends to shift towards the middlegame, but White can also pull off devastatingly quick wins should Black be unaware of the dangers.

Besides the high-level games played in the World Championship match, some exciting Open tournaments are currently taking place as well. This week my attention has been drawn to a game between Kjartansson and Safarli in the Ellobregat Open, near Barcelona.

Black launched a massive kingside attack in a popular variation of the Ragozin (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4). The attack is conducted perfectly by the Azeri GM, but the way he built up his attacking position is at least as instructive.

Exercise: Black has sacrificed a piece for a powerful kingside attack. How should he proceed?

 
G. Kjartansson - E. Safarli, Ellobregat Open 2021
Black to move

You can move the pieces on the live diagram!

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Robert is an International Master who mostly spends his time training and coaching talented youngsters. On the PlayChess server The Fast and the Furious is a popular show where he explains sharp opening lines for a wider audience. He is also a well-known ChessBase author who produced numerous DVDs and regularly contributes to ChessBase Magazine as well. Since 2015 he is the organizer of the Dutch Rapid Championships in his home town Amstelveen. He has started a YouTube channel with chess analysis as well.

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