JEH wrote on 12/15/16 at 15:24:59:

Actually he didn't: against 2...a6 3.c4 e6, instead of 4.d4 he goes 4.Nc3 ("!" - his exclam) Qc7 5.Be2 d6 6.0-0 Nf6 7.d4, thus cutting out some of Black's options in the Kan. This was in fact his recommendation in the Spanish edition too: he could have simply transposed to his 5.c4 line against the Kan, but he thought 4.Nc3 was even better. It would have been interesting to see whether Kotronias agreed, but he doesn't cover the O'Kelly.

WSS wrote on 02/04/17 at 13:19:21:


What do they advocate against the Sveshnikov Variation via. the 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 move-order?

I was reminded of an article from CBM 160 ...

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 Nf6 7.N1c3 a6 8.Na3 Be7 9.Be2 0-0 10.0-0 b6 11.Be3 Bb7 12.Qb3 Nd7 13.Rfd1

A Hedgehog position is reached soon after 5.Nb5 and the position in the diagram then comes about almost “automatically”. In his investigations Krisztian Szabo comes to the conclusion that the variation is very playable for both sides.

There are some insights into the Maroczy vs. the Kan Hedgehog via 5 Bd3 (for White) in Thomas Luther's new book from Quality Chess.

Re 5 Nb5 d6 6 c4 vs. the Taimanov, I suggest you could do a lot worse than start off by studying Karpov's games as White from the 1970s. After that maybe try to find some improvements for White on the lines given in the main black repertoire books. In any case though, White cannot be worse and players with Black these days may be somewhat lacking in experience against it and may therefore feel uncomfortable.

As a back-up, maybe look at Fischer's favourite 5 Nb5 d6 6 Bf4, because a) how many Taimanov players are comfortable in the resulting Sveshnikov-type pawn structure?, and b) that line has been out of fashion for so long now that there is a decent chance that there are some improvements waiting to be found with the aid of a good engine.

You could just piece together material on the 5.c4 Kan from different sources. I have some interest in this line, because I would like to make the Kan work for Black, but also because of the possible transposition from 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nf3 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 and related Symmetrical English move orders.

- ChessPublishing, of course!
- the aforementioned relevant Hedgehog volume by Shipov
- the game with the 5.c4 Kan in one of the Carlsen-Anand matches, analyzed in many places
- Grandmaster Versus Amateur, p. 58-59 (analysis by Pavel Eljanov of the Hedgehog line)
- a series on it in the NIC Yearbooks a few years back
- Emms' 2002 book on the Kan, which was a survey of the entire opening, not a repertoire
- all the Black repertoire book are also very relevant of course (Delchev/Semkov, Hellsten, Zeller)

I'm not aware of any books on the Maroczy approach in the Taimanov specifically targeted to White players, but there are many books either of the "complete" type or Black repertoires that cover it.

I'm aware of one repertoire book that offers 5.c4 against the Kan: Desmontando la Siciliana (2003) by de la Villa.

This is of course the original spanish edition of ... guess which book.

De la Villa switched to 5.Nc3 for some reason, but 5.c4 is still dangerous. Analysis would surely need some updating.

Are there any books for White side, general opening books aside, covering the Maroczy Bind books for White vs. Taimanov and Kan? specifically

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cd 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cd 4. Nxd4   a6 5. c4

I'm aware of books that include c4 against the Kan via 5. Bd3, but not of the direct 5. c4