The book provides a repertoire  of very aggressive lines

1.Benko

2.Blumenfield

3.Vaganian Gambit. 

I like it.

Bibs wrote on 02/12/13 at 11:55:13:


Omitted '
oops, and no modify now. 
Alas.
Sign of impending armageddon #652.

kylemeister wrote on 02/08/13 at 16:30:01:


To each their own. While I like this 1, I don't think it's in my top 10. I rate DVDs by Gustaffson, Aagard, Bologan, Kasparov, King (Najdorf) Kasimdzhanov, and Bojkov higher, for example.

gwnn wrote on 01/30/13 at 16:18:42:


12.h3, 12.Re1 and 12.Qe2 are covered.  12.a4 (as in Kaufmans book) is not.

PANFR wrote on 11/06/12 at 21:44:24:

Ramirez deals with this variation in the free clip from his new ChessBase opening DVD
http://www.chessbase-shop.com/en/products/ramirez_attacking_with_the_benko_gambi...

I discovered 12.a4 way before it became more popular due to Kaufman's book. I showed it to Brunello who had a game against Caruana with it but he only achieved a draw. Of course i don't claim to be the "creator" of the idea as  just saw it in Hiarcs Opening Book.

In general i am not scared with 12.a4, but 12.h3 is a line none should underestimate. It is about equal with best play, but objectively White can claim a "practical advantage". For example follow Alterman's analysis from his "Gambits" book.

Is the update only going to available by buying the then coming 2nd edition, or will it be available by other means (eg a free PDF excerpt)?

It seems from the contents that neither S. Kasparov deals with 12.a4/Qe2 in the wandering king variation at all.
Aveskulov told me at chess.com that he will issue an update on his book dealing with these two moves, which became fashionable right after his book was pressed. Actually he wasn't even aware that 12.a4 was Kaufman's suggestion in his repertoire book.

Me too!

Thanks, I will add the book to my later buy list and have a look at it later.

Kaufman suggests 5.Bf4 against the Blumenfeld and I think it's quite good (of course I did my own research here, I don't trust something because Kaufman says so). I also think the counter-gambit 5.e4 is fully playable

Oblonskij wrote on 09/18/12 at 13:31:57:


Yes, no prob  
The book format is A5
Blumenfeld early deviations/accepted is 13 pages in all, and 8 pages devoted to the ML with 5.dxe6-fxe6 6.cxb5-d5, and so on. A personal note here: 6...a6!? may also interest you, but its not covered in the book.

Blumenfeld with 5.Bg5 is 10 pages, starting with: 5...exd5 6.cxd5  (6.cxb5!? in a note) d6. Here he`s  covering the moves: 
7.e3!?
7.a4
7.e4 
and very consentrated on the ML with 7.e4.
(@ErictheRed: he follwos the game: van Wely-Feigin, Dutch Team ch 2008/9, but deviates on move 20) 

The 1.d4-Sf6 2.c4-c5 3.Sf3 line, which he names "The Vaganian gambit", is spilt in two chapters; each on 12 pages each.   First chaper covers the possibillities up to 7.N5c3 or 7.N1c3. The other cover the ML with 7.e3. 

My impression is that the lines Aveskulov gives is very ML orientated  and/or direct. For example, in the Benkø  he gives 9...Nbd7 against the 10.Rb1 line.  He aslo seems very objective. 

Hope this can help.

Ben

Benoniac, can you please say how many pages are allotted to the Blumenfeld and 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nf3, respectively? And what his main suggestion against the 5. Bg5 Blumenfeld is?

Lauri Torni wrote on 09/14/12 at 07:56:16:

I got the book today, and I must "bite i grasset" as we say here in Norway. It means that I was wrong, and the pill that I must swallow, i will have to do in shame. 
Its still fresh, but Aveskulov is giving a real confident impression. But! Haven`t checked teh Blumenfelds chapters though. I presume that  the benkø part will be loved by benkø players!   

Anyway. I surely think this book is worth the buy. 

Ben

Oh, THAT mainline!    Aveskulov covers 12.h3 and 12.Re1 in the 'King Walk' but not 12.a4 or 12.Qe2 as far as I can tell.

whatteaux wrote on 09/14/12 at 09:06:10:


Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Benoniac actually meant 12.a4 in the old accepted main line, what Aveskulov seems to call the "King Walk". 

The main lines there have been 12.h3 and 12.Re1 for a long time, but 12.a4 was recommended in the Kaufman repertoire and has been discussed a bit on the forum. 12.Qe2 also became topical when Carlsen recently beat Bologan with it.

Benoniac wrote on 09/13/12 at 22:55:37:


I'm not qualified to judge whether the lines are any good or not. They all look OK to me, but that's not saying much.

Black looks OK in the diagrams after 4.Qc2.

He covers 12.e4 and 12.Nh4 in the 10.Rb1 ML, but not 12.a4 as far as I can see. Does cover 11.a4, though (without transposition). Thee impression I get is that he focuses on good explanations of ideas and reasons rather than covering specific responses to every White move in every position.

There does seem to be a consensus among titled players recently that 4.Qc2 bxc4 is the way to go, and now 5.e4 d6 (a few people played 5...Ba6!? instead) 6.Bxc4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.0-0 0-0 Both Moskalenko and Watson like White (but for different reasons) but Black is doing OK in practice. Though I notice that a couple of Black's recent wins were blitz and rapid games with some rather strange play from White. 

Perhaps that's just what the Benko is; a great practical choice in blitz and rapid, and against not-too-booked-up opponents!?

Gambit has put up a sample now, which looks quite readable at least, but it doesn't give any details on the repertoire...

http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/396Samp.pdf

I wonder what the basis is for saying that 4. Qc2 is "hotter and hotter."  At least within the last couple of months of TWIC, its frequency appears to be declining, it has accounted for a decided minority of games even within A57, and doesn't appear to have done particularly well in games between titled players.

Stigma wrote on 09/12/12 at 01:54:39:


My copy arrived here in Australia yesterday.

Quote:


He devotes a whole chapter to "Mainline with 10 Rb1", going for ...Nbd7 rather than Pedersen/S.Kasparov's ...Nfd7.

So, does anyone know what Aveskulov gives against the 10.Rb1 line?
Assuming Sergey Kasparov is to offer 9..Nfd7 in his book, what's on offer here?

Mortal Games wrote on 06/16/12 at 00:25:59:


Goodness me. How on earth did you know that? Nothing on NIC site, google yields nothing beyond your post.

Are you Sergey K?! You have a penchant for ...Nfd7?

Or do you work for NIC?

I prefer White too after 5...Qa5 6.Qd2 Qxd2 7.Nbd2 (7.Nfd2) exd5 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.cxd5

I am curious to see in the new book the variation: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 b5 5.Bg5 exd5 (or some improvement over 5...b4 Nisipeanu) 6.cxd5 d6 7.e3 a6 8.a4 b4 to avoid White stronghold on the c4 square.

Is it just me, or is Attack With Black an awfully odd title for a book focusing solely on a Black repertoire after 1.d4 Nf6? There's no mention of 1.d4, the Benko, the opening, the fact that it's a repertoire book, or anything of that sort in the title!

TalJechin wrote on 01/18/12 at 11:32:19:



Is not 4.Nf3 best and white is better?

If black is looking for a way to play a Benko/Volga structure against both Nf3 and Nc3, why not play The Kamchatka variation? 

It's another idea from Martens' lab and probably the one that has been best received by the chess community. It was debated a lot in corr circles back in the 1980s, but it still seems to have some strong practitioners.

Nowadays, it seems to be played very flexibly, with Black ready to e.g. also play a Modern Benoni or Snake Benoni at times...

I think that yes, the Blumenfeld is sound but only in the following move order:

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.Nf3 e6 5.dxe6

(Note that after 5.Bg5 if you combine Marin's CBM article with the recommendations of Alterman that improve over Geogriev's analysis, you have a sound weapon against that popular line that seems OK from a theoretical perspective)

5...fxe6 6.cxb5 and now not 6...d5 which is met by Nbd2+e3+b3 etc waiting for e5 to hit with e4! (check tha database for that. White's score is very high and computer likes that a lot for White)

but 6...a6! as it was recommended by Rogozenko in a SOS article.

It hadn't occurred to me before reading this thread, but if you believe in the Blumenfeld, you could make up a Modern Benoni repertoire and plan to react to 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 with 2...c5 3.d5 b5. My point is that if 3.c4, after which a Benko player would go 3...g6 with transposition to Benko main lines, you would instead play 3...e6. And ain't that a Blumenfeld?

As for 3.Bg5, Petersen's book has some very useful ideas following 3...Ne4.

But is the Blumenfeld sound?

After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nf3, I don't like 3...e6. Why not exchange a wing pawn for a center pawn, for Pete's sake?

TN wrote on 01/17/12 at 05:34:13:


AFAIK that Dangerous Weapons line (1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 b5) is just dubious for Black. The updatet "Killer Opening Repertoire" by Summerscale/Johnsen briefly suggests a good answer for White.

Possibly Aveskulov intends the move order 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 c5 4.d5 b5, though I don't know which sharp or attacking lines he could have in store against the Torre, London and Colle...

Whatever his choice against 2.Nf3, the Blumenfeld is still useful against 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.Nf3 and 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nf3 e6 4.d5.

Fitting a complete repertoire for Black against 1.d4 containing a large amount of novelties in 176 pages is a big ask, but I won't make any judgements until I see the book. 

It's interesting that Aveskulov wants to combine the Blumenfeld with the Benko (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nf3 e6 4.d5 b5), since it would seem more logical to play 3...cd4 as after 4.Nc3 Black doesn't have anything better than 4...cd4 if he wants to avoid a Semi-Tarrasch. Perhaps his intention is 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.d5 e6 4.c4 b5, and after 4.Nc3, 4...b5 as advocated in 'Dangerous Weapons: Benoni and Benko'. 

http://www.gambitbooks.com/books/attackwblack.html
ATTACK WITH BLACK (Valery Aveskulov) 
176 pages (210 mm by 145 mm).
August 2012

"Sick of defending with Black? Never found a reliable way to fight for the initiative when White plays 1 d4?

Allow Grandmaster Aveskulov to assist. He has put together a sound but ultra-aggressive repertoire based on gambits that have proved their worth in grandmaster play over many years. The Benko Gambit is dreaded by many 1 d4 players. Black gets very active piece-play, and even if White reaches a pawn-up endgame, he is often shocked to find he is worse due to Black's intense positional pressure! If White avoids the Benko, that's when we hit him with the Blumenfeld, sacrificing a pawn to set up a strong pawn-centre and attacking chances.

Aveskulov examines all of White's options and move-orders after 1 d4 Nf6, and shows an aggressive reply to each of them. He is never willing to take existing theory on faith, and throughout the book presents an extraordinary wealth of new analysis and ideas. He also explains typical plans in depth, so you will always know how to turn the screw once you have your opponent on the run."