About a week ago, ChessBase posted a review of one of its own opening video products that has some bearing on the recent posts in this thread. The review, written by Lukas Köpl, covered Reinventing the Ragozin by Indian GM Surya Ganguly. The pertinent bit of information was Köpl's observation that "In the classical main variation after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3, Ganguly deviates with the rather rare continuation 7...c5". Although Köpl doesn't go further, the review includes a sample video where Ganguly presents his reasoning for some of his repertoire selections. In the case of 7...c5, he notes that if White continues with 8.Rc1, Black can go for 8...dxc4 9.Bxc4 cxd4, producing the following position



This should be compared to the drawing line, where 7...0-0 is played instead of 7...c5. After 8.Rc1 dxc4 9.Bxc4 c5 10.0-0 cxd4, a similar position arises



In this second position, White has the resource 11.Ne4. As noted in Reply #11, this move scores better for White than 11.Nxd4, continuing with the drawing line.

Ganguly explains in his video that the reason for his selection of 7...c5 is that White does not have the Ne4 resource in the first diagram since the knight on c3 remains pinned. Thus, the first player has nothing better than 10.Nxd4 0-0 11.0-0 Bd7, transposing back to the drawing line. After showing 11...Bd7, Ganguly ended his explanation. He seemed quite satisfied to head for the drawing line. 

Rather than forging a new path, Ganguly's choice of 7...c5 is a move order refinement that saves some theoretical work for Black since a reply for 11.Ne4 after 7...0-0 isn't needed. Of course, White doesn't have to play along. In fact, 8.cxd5 is played twice as frequently as 8.Rc1 after 7...c5, according to the Mega Database. Presumably Ganguly covers this option in his repertoire. 

Getting back to BobbyDigital80's question in Reply #10 about a line that avoids the draw, Black might try 7...c6. It's the third most popular move after 7...0-0 and 7...c5, and Bacrot played this multiple times in 2023, albeit in blitz and rapid games. The database indicates that 7...c6 8.Rc1 Nd7 is a "hot" line at the moment. Unfortunately, Black players seeking to adopt 7...c6 might be on their own. I haven't found coverage of this move in my Ragozin books. However, ChessPublishing does have M.Muzychuk-V.Exler, Frauenbundesliga 2022-23 (11.5) Germany GER, 2023, a game with the related 7...0-0 8.Rc1 c6. In his annotations after 8...c6, GM Raven Sturt writes, "The move makes little sense as the central idea of the Ragozin is energetic piece play in the center, particularly revolving around the e5 break. However, the move is not entirely bad and Stockfish soberly asserts that White only keeps a slight edge. The move has been essayed by several grandmasters as of late, lending credence to the idea that it is playable." Interestingly, Sturt wasn't quite as accepting of 8...c6 in his introduction to the game in the May 2023 update to the 1.d4 d5 2.c4 section: "In Muzychuk-Exler, Black employed the dubious 8...c6. While it wasn’t punished in the game, the move goes against the spirit of the Ragozin and should lead to a White advantage against proper play." 

"Dubious and "playable" are rather divergent evaluations. When I check the position after 8...c6, Stockfish finds the position to be equal. This could be one of those situations where the engine considers Black to be fine, but a human player might have difficulties since the continuations that maintain equality aren't thematic for the Ragozin. At any rate, the ...c6 idea may be worth investigating for those who are willing to accept more risk to avoid the seemingly inevitable draw in BobbyDigital80's line.

Or you might follow GM Colovic' recommendation 4.Nf3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 d6. It's in his NID episode of th Openings Simplified series.

BobbyDigital80 - The line recommended by Swiercz is exactly the one that you gave. After 12...Nc6, he writes, "This is a very drawish line that has happened numerous times in GM games." After 13.Nxc6, he adds, "Black can play 13...Bxc3! with simplifications and very likely a draw..." At this point, Swiercz covers not only your 14.Rxc3, but also 14.Nxa7, 14.Qxc3, and 14.Qxb7. The fact that he awards 13...Bxc3 with an exclam suggests he's satisfied with a draw here. Unfortunately he doesn't give any alternatives for Black that would avoid the draw. The book's main line is actually 11.Ne4 (instead of 11.Nxd4), which the database shows to score better for White. 11.Nxd4 is covered in a note to 11.Ne4.

Volume 2, which I mentioned in Reply #6, was recently released by Thinkers Publishing.  As suspected, it recommends the Ragozin in response to 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 (via 3...d5 4.Nc3 Bb4).  The book also includes coverage of the Catalan and QGD sidelines.

The publisher's preview, as usual, isn't especially informative.  The Table of Contents doesn't reveal much, and rest of the sample pages are from the chapter on QGD sidelines, rather than the Ragozin, which makes up the bulk of the book.

Thanks for the info!

Nernstian59 wrote on 12/16/21 at 23:08:01:


At modern-chess, GM Marin and GM Kuljasevic each has their own Nimzo repertoire. They both answer 4f3 with ...c5 5d5 b5. At one point Kuljasevic continues ...0-0, allowing white to play e5 attacking the knight. Marin takes time out to play ...d6 preventing e5. The lines are probably good, but extremely sharp and committal.

4f3 d5 5a3 Be7 might appeal to me more. Its more of a QGD approach than a Benoni/Blumenfeld approach. After the given moves, the game can still go in many different directions. I expect the author will do a good job picking and choosing from the many possible approaches.

Confused_by_Theory wrote on 11/14/21 at 23:26:17:


Yes. The sample material reads very well, imo. He recommends the Larsen variation (also in the NID repertoire by GM Kuljasevic at MC).

However the table of contents contains an illegal move against the Classical variation:  1d4 Nf6 2c4 e6 3Nc3 Bb4 4Qc2 0-0 5cxd5. Perhaps he covers 4...d5 instead of (or in addition to) 4...0-0.

FreeRepublic wrote on 11/14/21 at 23:07:46:


He played in this years US Championship finished T8th..

Hi.

All I know is I watched a 1.d4 d6 video he made (free on youtube if anyone wonders) and kinda liked it. He talked for an hour or so about 1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 g6 4.Nc3 Bf5!?; which is certainly an interesting way of playing the position.

Think I also played in the same youth tournament as him once (he won it ).

Edit: There is a look inside option on forward chess that might quell some curiosity about which lines are recommended.

Have a nice day.