Rustam Kasimdzhanov: the world championship connection

Dennis Monokroussos writes:

Uzbek GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov (pronounced “Kah-zeem-jha-nov”) may not be a regular in the Linares-type events (though he is playing in the FIDE Grand Prix in Nalchik, starting today), but he is a player whose games deserve to be better known by the chess public. He's a sometime-2700 (currently 2695) who won the FIDE K.O. world championship in Tripoli 2004. To do so, he had to go through an insane gauntlet that included Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexander Grischuk, Veselin Topalov and Michael Adams. Such a feat by itself is enough to establish someone as a great player, and while he hasn't replicated that performance, he could do so at any time. He is also one of the world's strongest rapid players, is still young (29), and has a very lively, tactically-oriented style.

Like many contemporary GMs, he is outstanding in the field of opening preparation – so much so in his case that he was invited to be one of World Champion Viswanathan Anand's seconds for his match with Vladimir Kramnik. Since he was the driving force behind the powerful idea in the Semi-Slav that practically won Anand the match, we can say that the World Champion made an excellent decision in bringing him aboard.

Anand, Kasimdzhanov and GM Surya Ganguly after Anand's victory in Bonn

With this brief resume behind us, let's turn to the game we'll cover in today's show. Taking on Bosnian GM Borki Predojevic in the 2007/8 Bundesliga, we get to see the conjunction of Kasimdzhanov's great skill in preparation, together with his considerable ability as an attacker. Predojevic essayed Morozevich's sharp 11...g5 line in the Slav, leading some moves later to a complicated position with opposite-side castling and mutual attacking chances. Prior games, including one by Predojevic himself, seemed to indicate that Black had reasonable chances, but Kasimdzhanov very convincingly showed that this was not the case. He found a great idea in his preparation, but that wasn't enough to finish the game; he needed to find some brilliant moves at the board to deliver the knockout punch. And he did.

It's a beautiful game and theoretically significant, too. Kasimdzhanov's attack is also instructive, highlighting a number of general themes we can all use in our own play. I think you'll enjoy the game, so please join me tonight (Wednesday night) at 9 p.m. ET (that's 3 a.m. CET Thursday morning) for our presentation. It's free to watch, as always: just log on to the Playchess.com server at the start time, go to the Broadcasts room, click on the Games tab and select Kasimdzhanov-Predojevic.

I hope and expect to see everyone there – except perhaps the CPAs.

You can find the exact times for different locations in the world at World Time and Date. Exact times for most larger cities are here. And you can watch older lectures by Dennis Monokroussos offline in the Chess Media System room of Playchess:

Enter the above archive room and click on "Games" to see the lectures. The lectures, which can go for an hour or more, will cost you between one and two ducats. That is the equivalent of 10-20 Euro cents (14-28 US cents).

Rustam Kasimdzhanov:
The Path to Tactical Strength

Despite the fact that many books have been written on tactics in chess, many players still find it extremely difficult to recognize tactical patterns and calculate ensuing lines. With this disk the author not only gives a large number of examples of the most different kind, trying to cover as many ideas as possible, but also suggests a method which will greatly help you to see various tactical motives and systemize your calculation. Video running time: 4 hours 15 min.

Rustam Kasimdzhanov:
A World champion's guide to the King’s Indian

This disk is a perfect tool for players looking for a complicated battle against 1.d4. The author suggests the King’s Indian Defence and shows with a number of examples how realistic Black’s chances are in this opening to get a complex structure with the most serious attacking potential. Apart from theoretical information, the disk also contains structural insights and an array of ideas which will enable you to include this opening into your repertoire – immediately and with tangible success! Video running time: 3 hours 25 min.

• Order now (Price €29.99 / US $32.32)

Monokroussos in Mexico: World Championship 2007

Dennis Monokroussos is 41, lives in South Bend, IN, where he teaches chess and occasionally works as an adjunct professor of philosophy at the University of Notre Dame and Indiana University-South Bend.

At one time he was one of the strongest juniors in the U.S. and has reached a peak rating of 2434 USCF, but several long breaks from tournament play have made him rusty. He is now resuming tournament chess in earnest, hoping to reach new heights.

Dennis has been working as a chess teacher for ten years now, giving lessons to adults and kids both in person and on the internet, worked for a number of years for New York’s Chess In The Schools program, where he was one of the coaches of the 1997-8 US K-8 championship team from the Bronx, and was very active in working with many of CITS’s most talented juniors.

When Dennis Monokroussos presents a game, there are usually two main areas of focus: the opening-to-middlegame transition and the key moments of the middlegame (or endgame, when applicable). With respect to the latter, he attempts to present some serious analysis culled from his best sources (both text and database), which he has checked with his own efforts and then double-checked with his chess software.