For instance, 6…h6 7.Bh4 Bf5!? is quite trendy and has scored well in practice.īlack’s play is rather natural he has solved the problem of the c8 bishop, he will continue with Nbd7 and there are always ideas of playing g5 and Ne4. However, recent results show that play is double-edged, and black has more than just one way to achieve interesting play. The mainline against this defense has always been 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5. Their games have not passed unnoticed and the Ragozin is now one of black’s top choices.
It can be applied to 1.Nf3 or 1.c4 as well, as long as white has developed his knight to f3.īlack’s success in this variation was achieved due to the efforts of top-level players such as Aronian, Giri, Wojtaszek, and Leko to name a few. For example: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 (Black threatens to play the Nimzo Indian with 3…Bb4) 3.Nf3 d5 (Queen’s Gambit ?) 4.Nc3 Bb4! Ragozin Defense.
Given its flexibility in the move order, black can employ it in different move orders, depending on white’s starting move. Ragozin Defense has become very popular nowadays against the move 1.d4.
