kylemeister wrote on 08/23/09 at 16:15:26:
It seems an interesting question whether this 11...a6 12. Nxc6 stuff is preferable from Black's point of view to the somewhat similar Richter-Rauzer with 7...a6 8. 0-0-0 h6 9. Nxc6 bc 10. Bf4 d5, which is considered difficult for Black these days. Incidentally van der Wiel-Winants was given as slightly better for White by Epishin in a Russian opening encyclopedia, and as unclear in Informant/ECO.
The position after 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.Qf3 Rb8 14.0-0-0 Qb6 15.b3 Nh5 16.Rg1 comes up 9 times in my data base, with White scoring 100%, no less! In five of those games, Black played 16...g6, which I consider to be the best move. White also won all three games where he played 14.b3 instead of 14.0-0-0. Still the position looks quite interesting to me, and I'm not sure if Black is really all that badly off. In fact it seems to me that he has some chances.
Among the five games with 16...g6, there is just one played at a very high level, Van Wely's.
I'll find out soon enough, anyway, since I'm walking into Black's side of this in three CC games against even opposition. I have something new prepared against 17.Kb1. We'll see if that comes up, and if it does, if my idea is any good.