The Chess Mind

I just finished watching Rustam Kasimdzhanov's ChessBase DVD on the Anti-Moscow Gambit (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5), and it's not a bad summary of the theoretical progression of the variation in super-GM play starting from the Radjabov-Anand rapid match in August 2006 going through Wijk aan Zee earlier this year. Kasimdzhanov does a nice job presenting the key ideas, some important move order issues, the games themselves and a few original ideas to boot. I'd recommend the disk to players (interested in the variation) from around 2100 to 2450, but if you do get it, you should hurry - theory is developing rapidly!

On the other hand, it may not be developing quite as rapidly as we think. Take the famous win by Kramnik over Aronian earlier this year, from Wijk aan Zee. That game continued (after the eight moves given above) as follows: 9.9. Be2 Bb7 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Ne5 Bg7 12. Nxd7 Nxd7 13. Bd6 a6 14. a4 e5 15. Bg4 exd4 16. e5 c5 17. Re1 Nxe5 18. Bxe5 O-O 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Ne2 f5 21. Bh5 f4 22. b4 cxb3 23. Qxb3 Qd5 24. Qh3 Bc8 25. Nc3 (Improving on 25.Qd3, as played in Radjabov-Anand, Mainz 2006, game 7.)



and White went on to win many moves later. (The game and its predecessor can be replayed here.) Black can (and did) capture the knight, but White gets so much play on both sides of the board that it more than compensates for the pawns. (In fact, by the time the final simplifications occurred, Kramnik had gone from three pawns down to two pawns up.)

A brilliant novelty? Well, it is a brilliant move, and it was a novelty in the sense that it was a move that had never been played before. The only thing is that this wasn't some deep idea originating in the secret halls of Kramnik Laboratories; it was devised - and published! - by Anand in the notes to his game with Radjabov back in 2006. (Informant 97, game 318.) Not only that, but Anand also offered there what's now pretty much universally acknowledged to be Black's improvement, 22...d3! 23.bxc5! b4!, keeping the central files closed and White's Ne2 dominated.

It's true, of course, that the amount of information out there is colossal, and even those who have accumulated everything and have the best memories are taxed to the breaking point by that information. Still, this seems more a failure of research than memory on Aronian's part, as the theory of this particular subvariation consisted of only one game. And it's a good plug for the Informant, too!

I was browsing IM Jovanka Houska's 2007 book Play the Caro-Kann, and while looking through the introductory section on the Panov/Botvinnik Attack I read something incredible. In a subsection called 7th move sidelines, I came across this:

1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 exd5 cxd5 4 c4 Nf6 5 Nc3

5 Nf3 is known as Vallicella's Caro-Kann trap - Black has to watch out for one big trick. Best is simply to play 5...Nc6, transposing to the main line after 6 Nc3, but 5...Bg4? would be a mistake after 6 c5! Nc6 7 Bb5. The point is that Black has big difficulties defending the c6 point; for example, 7...e6 8 Qa4 Qc7 9 Ne5 Rc8 10 Bf4 and White is winning!

There's nothing objectionable about the analysis*; rather, what struck me was the reference to Vallicella's Caro-Kann trap, as if this was standard lore in treatments of the Caro-Kann. How did Bill Vallicella, an outstanding philosophical blogger but a 1500-1700 club player not engaged in publicizing his games, suddenly achieve such fame? I had come across his trap either from an email by him or on a post on his predominantly philosophical blog, but when did a move he may have played but a single time turn into an idea requiring mention in a pretty major new theoretical work?

Houska doesn't cite a source, and I certainly didn't recall seeing it in any published materials, so naturally it was off to Google. Entering "Vallicella Caro-Kann", I discovered the main source, conveniently entitled "Vallicella's Caro-Kann Trap"...and you can, too - just click here. Then laugh.**

* Actually, while I wouldn't disagree with her positive suggestion, I don't believe 5...Bg4 is in fact a mistake; the real error comes later. After, e.g. 7...e5 I don't see a White advantage after 8.dxe5 Ne4 or 8.Qa4 Bxf3 9.Bxc6+ bxc6 10.Qxc6+ Nd7 11.gxf3 exd4, and even the arguably best 8.Nc3 promises little or nothing after 8...Nd7 9.dxe5 Bxf3 (10.Qxf3 d4; 10.gxf3 a6).

** If anyone knows IM Houska personally, please ask her to write me (via the Contact link) - I'd like to trace the path from Vallicella's idea to her book.

I just finished watching a ChessBase DVD by Rustam Kasimdzhanov on the French - one of three - and I was pleasantly surprised. GM Kasimdzhanov, a former FIDE world champ, has a 3-disk series on meeting the French, and the second disk examines 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc3 7.Be3. His coverage comprises 14 clips that together run 3 hours and 17 minutes: one clip is an Intro, one a brief theoretical overview, 12 clips covering 11 games, and a final summary "Outro".

The disc is a success in three respects (I will note a couple of limitations later). First and foremost, Kasimdzhanov does an excellent job of illustrating the importance for White of the d4 square, and in demonstrating how he can use it (especially with a good Nd4 vs. bad light-squared bishop) to win thematic French endings. The careful viewer will not only learn some theory, but will really understand how to win (some of) the resulting positions. (Note: this thematic ending is far from the only idea discussed on the disk, but it receives coverage in keeping with its importance.)

Second, Kasimdzhanov does a decent job of presenting in outline the important variations White needs to know. Of course he can't cover everything, but much of what is important is at least touched upon. The viewer playing White is unlikely to see anything concepts after 7.Be3 he won't have been prepared for by the video's host.

Third, it's a fantastic source of really beautiful games. Many of the 11 games were new to me, and even just for the pleasure they provided the disk was worth my time. Kasimdzhanov's choices were brilliant, as the games were not only extraordinary but thematic as well.

Now for the limitations. First, and this is true of most video DVDs not supplemented by databases, the total amount of information is far less than one gets from a book or a database. Of course, one doesn't want too much information, because then one isn't sure what to focus on and what to disregard, but for strong club players (approx. 2000 and up) a bit more info is probably necessary.

Second, Kasimdzhanov doesn't say too much about what White ought to avoid. He does present many of Black's ideas, but I don't recall any Black fantasies/White horror stories that are the counterparts to the Nd4 vs. bad bishop White fantasy/Black disaster. More specifically but along the same lines, Kasimdzhanov sometimes omits mention of theoretical improvements for Black. Here's one example, albeit one that's probably not relevant to his repertoire.

After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Qd2 O-O 10.O-O-O a6 11.h4 (Note: Kasimdzhanov's "official" recommendation here is 11.Qf2) 11...Nxd4 12.Bxd4 b5 13.Rh3 b4 14.Na4 Bxd4 15.Qxd4 f6 16.Qxb4 fxe5 17.Qd6 Qf6 18.f5 Qh6+ 19.Kb1, he continues to present the game Kasparov-Short, Amsterdam (VSB Euwe Memorial) 1994, which was brilliantly won by White. Kasimdzhanov is rightly enthusiastic about Kasparov's idea with 18.f5!!, and continues to present the game, which went 19...Rxf5 20.Rf3!! Rxf3 21.gxf3. White is a pawn down with a bad kingside structure, but Black's retarded development and White's attacking prospects given him the advantage. What Kasimdzhanov doesn't mention is the move 19...Nf6!, which has been played quite a few times since Kasparov-Short (most prominently by Stellwagen and Brynell), and Black's results have been excellent. Even if it turns out that White can prove an advantage there, it's not the sort of position one can figure out on spec.

I would suggest, therefore, that if you're over 2000 OTB or a correspondence player, you supplement this disk with something else, like a quality database and/or a book like volume 6 in fellow former FIDE champ Alexander Khalifman's "Anand" series. But for just about anyone else, this DVD will give you all you need to face 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 with confidence. Highly recommended.

[Full disclosure: I do a weekly show with ChessBase, so I have some motivation not to write a negative review. However, there isn't and never has been any pressure on me to write any reviews at all, so my positive feelings about this disk are genuine and unsolicited.]