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Style Analysis by GM Michael Rohde:
Style: Kudrin is very skilled as an attacking player as White, and very well prepared with his defensive lines as Black. Players who believe that Kudrin may be coming to the table with superior theoretical knowledge usually select obscure or dry and stodgy lines to minimize Kudrin's strengths. Kudrin has a crisp, no-nonsense tactical style and seems to prefer semi-open positions, where his excellent calculating ability comes forcefully into play, rather than closed positions. Kudrin is methodical in the development of his chess repertoire, and likes to work out all the wrinkles in his systems. Kudrin has an objective and somewhat dispassionate approach to the game, and for this reason, he very rarely makes serious blunders. Translation: if you want to defeat Kudrin, you are going to have to earn it.
Openings: Kudrin plays 1 e4 as White, and for a long time, he was enamored of the g2-g3 systems in the open Sicilian, and also was a Sozin specialist. Now he has mastered the principal attacking lines in the Sicilian, and can choose among them. Kudrin is a long-time devotee of the Tarrasch French, and in the Double-King-Pawn arena, he may choose the Giuoco Piano. As Black against 1 e4, Kudrin has for many years been one of the leading experts in the Dragon Sicilian; now he has added the Taimanov Sicilian as a mainstay. One of the big improvements Kudrin has made is his substitution of the Grunfeld Defense as his choice against 1 d4, discarding the Nimzo-, Queen's Indian setup. As the English Opening avoids the Grunfeld (as it does the Queen's Indian), Kudrin has kept the Hedgehog as a basic part of his repertoire.
Style: deFirmian is a classical attacking player, employing a Fischer-like search for combined activity and soundness. deFirmian is one player that you do not want to hand the initiative over to, as he is relentless in pursuing small advantages in the endgame as well as earlier stages. Often, theoretical battles are carried deep into the middlegame where deFirmian can press thematic ideas such as a central pull for White in a Ruy Lopez, attacks on opposite wings on either side of the Sicilian, or counterplay against the center as Black in a Benoni. Within his selected openings, deFirmian's theoretical knowledge branches out extensively, so it is very difficult to get the best of him in any opening discussion. Moreover, deFirmian is currently updating his own 13th edition of the tome Modern Chess Openings.
Openings: deFirmian plays 1 e4; a brief stint with 1 d4 proved too boring for him. "Main lines" are his forte, such as a strong belief in the Ruy Lopez, a mastery of attacking systems in the open Sicilian, and classical play against the other semi-open defenses. As Black, deFirmian is a great exponent of the Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian, following in the footsteps of Fischer and Walter Browne. As Black against d4, deFirmian generally essays a well-worked-out combination of the Nimzo-Indian, the Queen's Indian and the Benoni. deFirmian is also a well-known specialist in the Hedgehog against the English Opening.