Kasimdzhanov Resigns As Caruana’s Second
Rustam Kasimdzhanov, famed chess player and coach, resigned as Fabiano Caruana’s second, according to an interview with Chessbase. The split that followed highly unsuccessful Caruana’s performance in the Candidates Tournament left the world’s number 2 player without a trusted second.
Kasimdzhanov, who likened the split with Caruana with the divorce (there are so many things left unresolved!) says that he received several offers from other top-level players, but he finds himself in a difficult position: “I know a lot from Caruana’s opening preparation, I know many analyses and variations. We still have to work out how to deal with it”, says Kasimdzhanov.
That effectively means that he cannot expose Caruana’s preparation to any of his opponents mere 10 months before the next Candidates Tournament where Caruana will most likely qualify based on his rating or via other paths.
Caruana, who has support from the US chess patron Rex Sinquefield, will surely be able to put a team together before the next Candidates Tournament. As for the next Championship Match, he was announced as one of the commentators of the Match by chess.com, a popular gaming site.
Kasimdzhanov is giving a series of masterclasses on this website, you can join the in-person session with Rustam.
