BPaulsen wrote on 09/21/11 at 22:47:10:


No you are right 5. ... d5 is a perfectly valid option. Back then for some reason I liked the queen move better.

Now looking at this again I tend to prefer 5. ... Bb4+ to the other two options. After 6. Nc3 Ne4 we are back in Nimzo and after 6. Bd2 Be7 Black scores really well. Also Topalov played this line against Aronian in 2008 M-Tel Masters.

Unless I'm just off my rocker I'm pretty sure 5...d5 is supposed to be a straightforward equalizer aside from other attempts.

The Qc7/a6/Qxc4 pawn sacrifice is theoretically okay, but practically not that much fun (black's the one dodging bullets and white usually doesn't have any problem drawing even if black keeps the pawn).

This is an English type of position that is quite unambitious from White's perspective. Black is considered to have equal chances almost immediately.

The line you give, with 6...a6, shows one of the more popular ways to play it. I haven't found any book that delves into this line, but you can find annotated games with this line. Most of the top-flight games I've found were either rapid or blitz games. For instance, Kasparov beat Kramnik in 2001 in a blitz game, and Leko has been on the Black side a couple of times in blitz and rapid games. Here's a game that I would consider as a good model for both sides: