The best from the Champ
Review of the debut of Radio Rustam, ChessBase’s new Internet Chess
Radio Show
By Grandmaster Jacob Aagaard.
It seems like it was just yesterday that John Shaw and I did Glasgow 3rd Floor
Chess Radio, the Internet's chess version of Laurel and Hardy. There were a
few characteristics about our show that will live in people’s memories.
There were the technical problems that seemed to never end, the inability to
keep to the schedule, endlessly overstepping the time limit. Guests and not
the least our roles, John as the up-tight British gentleman and me as the hooligan.
Well, some will say that these very not entirely fictional characters.
We had a lot of fun with 60-80 listeners tuning in every week, which is not
a lot for Internet Radio as a whole, but a good number if you add chess into
the equation!
Both John and I dreaded the idea of ever doing the show on our own, though
I did do so on occasion. The challenge of making sense for one hour straight
is daunting at best. Even someone as knowledgeable about chess as Garry Kasparov
can at times seem lost for words on his DVD’s.
It is for this reason that I am writing this review.
Last Tuesday I tuned in to the new Radio Show with Rustam Kasimdzhanov on Playchess.com
to hear what the former World Champion had to say. I have watched some of his
DVD’s and found his style clear and easy to follow, but the question still
remains, how was he going to hold up live?

The answer is, simply, brilliantly.
With an enviable pace Kasimdzhanov went through three games from the German
Bundesliga, explaining the ambitions of the players in the given positions and
where they went wrong. First it was Svidler-Stellwagen, where the young Dutch
GM won after an accurate defensive performance. Kasimdzhanov illustrated the
dangers in the position for Black and how he avoided them.
Next he turned to a game played on the lower boards in the tournament. Praising
the players for what they got right and explaining why they got wrong what they
got wrong, we eventually ended in this position.
Huschenbeth (2437) - Swinkels (2427)
Bundesliga 2007-8 Godesberg 10.02.2008
The game continued: 26...Qa3? 27.Rb1 Rb2 28.Bxd5 exd5 29.Qxd5 0–0
30.e6 Rfb8 31.exf7+ Kg7 32.Qe5+ Kh7 33.f8N+! Rxf8 34.Qc7+ Kh8 35.Qe5+ Kh7 36.Qc7+
½–½. Kasimdzhanov showed then that Black could
have obtained a large advantage with 26...Rb1+!!, based on the line 27.Rxb1
Qxd4 28.Rb8+ Kd7 29.Rxh8 Qf2 and Black will win back the piece.
The last game of the show was his own game with Luke McShane. He had lost with
white to the English grandmaster, but was not at all precious about it. He explained
how he could have gained a clear advantage, but went wrong and was subsequently
outplayed. In the time trouble his opponent missed several wins, including the
following:
Kasimdzhanov,R (2681) - McShane,L (2592) [E95]
Bundesliga 2007-8 Godesberg GER (9), 10.02.2008
Here Black played 40...Bxf3? 41.Qxf3, whereafter the chances
are even here, but after a long and tense fight, Black won on move 74. Instead
McShane could have played 40...h2+ 41.Kh1 Rh3!!, winning. An absolutely sensational
combination.
Towards the end of this game the players had run out of time again and were
rushing to get their moves made. In the same way Kasimdzhanov rapidly fired
out the final moves of the game, determined to end on the hour, something John
and I never managed to do in our year with ChessBase Radio. But Kasimdzhanov
did and without shortcuts.
Beginners luck I might say in self defence, and maybe that is my excuse for
tuning in again Tuesday night. I want to see if he can do it again.
I warmly recommend that you do the same. See you there!
Jacob Aagaard

FIDE World Champion 2004-2005 and ChessBase author Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Rustam Kasimdzhanov's lecture starts at 21:00h European time (CET = GMT +1
– check the time in your location here),
will be broadcast live Playchess.com
server. For a charge of ten Ducats (about one Euro) a visitor gets a pass to
listen to the live one-hour lecture by the former world champion.
Ducats are the currency used on Playchess.com. You can purchase Ducats here.
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"Edit – Payments – Fill up account". This takes you to
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with your account name automatically passed on, to simplify the process.
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