Quote:


I play 1...e5 against the english and usualy 2...Nf6 3...Bb4 lines.

The nice thing about having Ragozin in your repertoire is that you can also play the best line against the Reti:  1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4!.  White's other options like 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 transpose to Ragozin or my defense vs. D pawn specials.

HgMan wrote on 01/20/09 at 21:09:18:


As far as I know, the Ragozin requires Nf3, and I would think that 5...Bb4 is dubious here because White can play e3, Bd3 and Nge2.  Puts me in mind of a game Euwe-Fischer.

speaking about repertoire ...
what do you play against 1.c4?
You can't play your normal QGD lines against it, because of
1.c4 Nf6 Nc3 e6 e4, or 1.c4 e6 Nc3 d5 d4 Nf6 cxd exd Bg5,
so I guess 1.c4 Nf6 Nc3 (after every other move you can return to your rep) e5 followed by Bb4 in nimzo-style?

Zatara wrote on 01/18/09 at 05:28:22:


As White: QGD Exchange w/Ne2, 3.Nc3 and 4.e3 against the Slav (avoiding the mainline Slav), 4.e3/5.Ne2 and the Samisch against the Nimzo, Averbakh vs. the KID, and 4.Bf4/5.e3 against the Grunfeld. Also a long section on the Tromp as a surprise weapon.

As Black (this section is less complete than the White section): Chigorin Ruy Lopez and the French vs. 1.e4, Nimzo and Ragozin (or QID or Bogo-Indian) vs. 1.d4.

The coverage is designed to show you how to study the opening rather than provide a complete ready-to-go repertoire. Thus, there's only coverage of 3.Nd2 c5 in the French and not 3.e5 or 3.Nc3, for example.

Coming late to this thread, but you might look at Shereshevsky's Soviet Chess Conveyor. He teaches his students the Nimzo and Ragozin and in the book provides a Nimzo repertoire that is structurally very similar to the Ragozin: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 Qc7 (aka the Khasin Variation). In the Khasin, as in the Ragozin, Black pushes c5-c4 after exchanging on c3 and White tries to respond with f3 and e4.

Just a quick thought: since you're so eager to play ...d5 in the Nimzo, I'm a little confused about why you want to play the Nimzo at all.  It seems like you want to play the Ragozin, and are using the Nimzo as your "companion" defence, instead of the more common wanting to play the Nimzo and only using the Ragozin when you can't.  Is this correct?

If that is the case, I assume you don't want to play the move order 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 because of 4.cd or 4.Bg5.  But have you thought about playing 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 Nc3 Bb4!?.  This seems like the most consistent move when combined with the rest of your repertoire.  You will probably maximize the number of Ragozins you get in that way (after 4.Nf3 Nf6).  Also, you will sometimes benefit by playing the King's Knight to e7 or playing a quick ...c7-c5.  I think it's worth a look, but I don't know any particular book to use as a reference.

I tend to agree that 4.e3 takes a lot of the fun out of the game.  It can be disappointing if, as Black, you're geared up for your favorite defense and White sidesteps like this.  But Black has a lot of choices in this position.  4..c5 certainly a main line.  4..a6 with the idea of ..dxc4 and ..b5 is also playable.  Both of these can transpose to a QGA or QGA-type position.  4..b6 is also an option and can transpose to a QID.  There's nothing wrong with 4..c6 and 4..Be7.  And there's also 4..Bb4, although after 5.Nbd2 and a subsequent a3, play tends to transpose to a Bogo-Indian that, in my database, scores a little bit better for White.  Trick is simply to pick one of these lines and study it enough, so that when White does play 4.e3, you feel comfortable in the ensuing positions. 

HgMan wrote on 12/21/08 at 15:14:03:


Do you have any book recommendations for lines with the early d5?  I purchased Dearing's book and Tony Kosten's Knockout Nimzo DVD.  These are a good introduction to the Nimzo, but neither of them deal much with lines that are a transpositional fit with the Ragozin.  I really would like to avoid lines that might transpose to the QID or benoni proper.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.e3 is a real pain in the neck avoiding both the nimzo and black's more dynamic QGD plans.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 d5 when 5.Bg5 transposes to Ragozin. cxd5 is also likely to transpose.

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bg5 d5 and 5.Nf3 would transpose.  The alternative white trys look fine for black, but seem to be in no-man's land in terms of opening designation.