Kamsky's Slav Surprise Weapon

Introduction

I was recently playing through the games of Gata Kamsky, who took a 7 year break from chess in 1997-2004, only to quickly rise to 2700+ FIDE on his return.

Kamsky has a somewhat unique style among the top players, as he doesn't aim to equalize out of the opening, but instead seeks to avoid theory and get a solid position from which he can outplay his opponent.

The Kamsky Variation

The Kamsky Variation of the Slav arises after the moves 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3, and now 4...Qb6:

https://lichess.org/study/Igzae7uS/U2I48ktc

The idea of 4...Qb6 is that Black is preparing to develop his queen's bishop with ...Bf5 or ...Bg4, but without running into cxd5 followed by Qb3 (which would be very strong after 4...Bf5, for instance). In turn, the queen on b6 stops White playing Bg5.

I can't recommend playing this way in every single game, as White does get a big advantage if he plays perfectly. However, as a surprise weapon or solid way of avoiding theory, it has some practical merit. After all, at the 1600-2199 level on Lichess, it is Black's best scoring move, scoring 50% (just ahead of 4...a6).

Even Carlsen Played It!

Carlsen played 4...Qb6 in a blitz game against GM Ivan Cheparinov in 2020. Cheparinov was clearly not ready for the move, as he didn't handle the opening in the best way, and Carlsen got a fine game:

https://lichess.org/study/NGMcrEWW/VHQeK3rG

The Original Game

The first game in this variation was played between Akiba Rubinstein and Fedor Dus-Chotimsky. This was a very up and down game where first White was much better, then Black was dominating, and finally the game ended in a draw:

https://lichess.org/study/sJ5rNOzu/D4NpYmKK

Admittedly, 5.Qc2 is a pretty annoying move for Black, although you are not that likely to face it; it is only the 5th most common move in the Lichess Opening Explorer.

The Exchange Slav With A Twist

You may also be wondering - can't White just trade on d5, leaving the queen misplaced on b6?

Actually, when I was playing through Kamsky's games, I saw that he sometimes met 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 with 5...Qb6, anticipating White's standard Bf4 (or Bg5) to force White to think for himself. Of course, with correct play White should be a bit better, but Kamsky was able to get his opponents out of their comfort zone for good results (2.5/3 vs. 2500ish players).

The game below is a nice demonstration of Kamsky's style:

https://lichess.org/study/M5VMHXIN/NAwAaLsZ

Introducing The Most Common Line

You'll most often face the move 5.e3 in your games, and after 5...Bg4, we basically have a line of the Slow Slav, with 4.e3 Bg4 5.Nc3, where Black played this weird ...Qb6 move instead of the normal ...e6. Kamsky's practical idea is that, since his opponent played 4.Nc3, they are unlikely to know how to play the Slow Slav positions, even in a better version, and that this makes up for the theoretical disadvantage out of the opening.

The next blitz game from 2006, between GMs Socko and Kamsky, is a good example. White got his advantage out of the opening, but it only took one strategic mistake in 13.Bd2 to lose it all, and Kamsky ground down his opponent from there:

https://lichess.org/study/7VrrpyeT/9sf3yYRm

The Carlsbad Structure

In the arising position after h3 Bxf3 Qxf3, White has the bishop pair advantage. So it makes sense for him to open the position, right?

The following blitz game, between GMs Bocharov and Kamsky, shows how things can go wrong for Black if White forces open the position in his favour. Admittedly, Black was dead lost and incredibly lucky to win, but he could also improve his play with 13...Qxd4, which would be not so clear.

https://lichess.org/study/9eXq901e/Cu3j7ZGZ

In short, g4-g5 is a very dangerous plan and if your opponent knows it, you should play something other than 4...Qb6.

White Builds Up Steadily

Instead, your opponents will more often build up slowly. A good example of that is a Bd3/0-0/b3/Bb2 setup, which is quite flexible and gives White a nice advantage, but also gives Black what he wants - a solid middlegame with no theory and scope to outplay the opponent later.

That's exactly what happened in our next game, which Kamsky won against GM Ibrahimov in the 2010 Baku Open:

https://lichess.org/study/NRJje3t6/Rh3Nx4Va

White Pawn Storms The Queenside

In our final game for this article, we see a 2018 rapid game of Kamsky's, where IM Shinkevich goes for a quick c5 and b4-b5 to pressure Black on the queenside. This is definitely a reasonable plan, but White soon makes strategic mistakes in the middlegame, starting with Qe2/f4, which Black gave the time to open the queenside and generate sufficient counterplay, before going on to outplay his opponent and win the game:

https://lichess.org/study/Yvb9ds94/jategqZS

The Benefits Of Studying Openings This Way

We see that we can learn quite a lot about chess by exploring these less-trodden paths, and seeing what the differences are between more familiar variations and how we can exploit them.

Furthermore, this also serves as a reminder that chess is not just about the opening, but that the opening is more a tool for mastering the different types of positions that can occur in our games. Such knowledge allows us to play well even if we are taken by surprise by some shortcut such as 4...Qb6.

Conclusion

From Black's perspective, this is a rather unique practical weapon, in that we are accepting an objectively much worse position (if White plays perfectly), in order to get White out of their comfort zone. We move order them into a type of position they will not know as well as us.

Given that this line scores nearly 50% in the Lichess Explorer up to the 2200 level, you can definitely get away with it in individual games, as most players will start making small mistakes as soon as they are out of their theoretical knowledge. If you remember the ideas from Kamsky's games, you will outplay a lot of your opponents, but you'll want to have another system in your Slav repertoire to rely on for games against strong players, or when you have a feeling your opponent will be ready for the Kamsky Variation.

Good luck with it and feel free to comment in the thread for this post with your thoughts on 4...Qb6!