Quote: For now im bailing out with 8.Be3-Qe7 9.Qc2-c6, hoping for 10.d5-c5. Or if 10.Rad1, maybe 10...h6!?.
These are exactly the lines I've been interested in. So, a flow-chart of lines after 7 ...Nbd7, omitting ...exd4 variations except where advantageous for Black (and, for the moment, ...Re8 lines though I'm not suggesting they aren't interesting) might go something like as set out below. (I've labelled the various 'closed' positions [i. e. those with ...c5 and d4-d5] 'C1', 'C2', etc., which might help with thinking about which might be more/less promising for Black.)
I 8 Be3 and:
(a) 8 ...c6 and:
(i) 9 d5 c5 is
C1 (a bit less good for Black since Be3 is more useful for White than Qc2? So this might be an argument for 8 ...Qe7!? ...)
(ii) 9 Qc2 Qe7 (9 ...h6!? 10 Rad1 Qe7 transposes below) and:
-- 10 d5 c5 is
C2. Obviously White has a plethora of tries: 11 Ne1, 11 Nd2, 11 Nh4/11 g3, 11 a3, 11 Bg5 ...
-- 10 Rad1!? h6 (NB: McNab once played 10 ...b6!? here!)
-- 10 Rfe1!?. The dangers for Black here are well illustrated by the game Shulman-Ginsburg! But after 10 ...h6(!) (McNab once tried 10 ...Ng4 11 Bg5 Bf6!?) Black is threatening ...Ng4 just as in the line above.
(b) 8 ...Qe7!? and:
(i) 9 d5!?/?! and:
-- 9 ...c5 is
C3 (Best now might be 10 Bg5 [10 Nd2 h5!?] h6?).
-- 9 ...Ng4!? 10 Bd2 f5, following a 1995 game Belov-Balashov, which to me looks fine for Black though Panczyk & Ilczuk 2009 (p. 165) call it a bit better for White (as they do almost everything else!).
But, there's also 10 Bh4!?, with obvious c4-c5 intentions ...
-- 9 ...a5!? (Gislason-McNab), by analogy with IIb(ii) below, might be feasible?
(ii) 9 Qc2! c6 (9 ...Ng4?! 10 Bg5 f6 11 Bh4!) is Ia(ii) above.
II 8 Qc2 and:
(a) 8 ...c6 and:
(i) 9 Rd1?! Qe7!? leads to IIb(i)(with 9 ...c6) below.
But, 9 ...exd4!? 10 Nxd4 Qe7 is a good line for Black according to Panczyk & Ilczuk 2009 (p. 161). [They think the same of 10 ...Re8, though 11 Bg5 scores well for White.]
(ii) 9 d5! c5 is
C4, when Black has to reckon with 10 Bg5, 10 g3, 10 a3 and perhaps other moves. (10 Ne1?! might be inferior after 10 ...Ne8; while 10 Be3 could transpose to C2 after 10 ...Qe7.)
(iii) 9 Be3 transposes to Ia(ii).
(b) 8 ...Qe7!? and:
(i) 9 Rd1?! and:
-- 9 ...exd4 10 Nxd4 c6!, see IIa(i)
-- 9 ...c6!?
(ii) 9 d5?! a5!? scores well for Black. (9 ...c5?! is not played, presumably because, though it leaves Black a tempo up on C4, it leaves him [after 10 Bg5!] a tempo
down on C3!)
(iii) 9 Be3! c6 transposes to Ib(ii)/Ia(ii).
My overall conclusion from this is that 8 ...Qe7 could be a useful 'transpo tool'! Looking forward to comments ...