MNb wrote on 09/30/09 at 12:49:12:


MnB - this is a line I have no personal experience with, but you may be interested in this - this morning I did a database search for recent games by 2500+ players with this line - I came up with only 2 - one by Aagard as White where he won with a Bg5 plan, but the other one is the one that is interesting - I´ll paste it below. It seems that GM Lie has followed the Dzindzi line exactly and wins without any real exertion... Maybe we can discuss improvements for Black in this line and come up with the critical line, I confess I havent seriously investigated it:

[Event "TCh-NOR 2006-7"]
[Site "Oslo NOR"]
[Date "2007.??.??"]
[White "Lie,K"]
[Black "Ogaard,L"]
[Round "8"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2529"]
[BlackElo "2394"]
[ECO "D00"]

1. d4 d5 2. e4 c6 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3
Nf6 6. Bf4 Bg4 7. Qb3 Qc8 8. Nd2 e6 9. Ngf3
Be7 10. O-O O-O 11. Ne5 Bh5 12. Rae1 Nxe5 13. Bxe5
Bg6 14. Bxg6 hxg6 15. Qd1 b5 16. Re3 a5 17. h4

(the whole plan 15.Qd1,16.Re3,17.h4 is from the Dzindzi book)

17...Ra6

(the Karpov game was 17...b4 when Dzindzi continues with 18.Rh3(!))

18. Rh3
(Interesting - Lie plays exactly the same plan recommended by Dzindzi)

b4 19. h5 bxc3 20. bxc3 Rc6 21. hxg6
fxg6 22. Qc2 g5 23. Qg6 Qe8 24. Qxg5 Qf7 25. Qh4
Qg6 26. Rb1 Qc2 27. Bxf6 Rxf6 28. Rb8+ Kf7 29. Qh8
Rf5 30. Qg8+ Kg6 31. Qh7+ Kf7 32. Rg3 Qd1+ 33. Nf1
1-0

(White has won the game following a set plan against a decent 2394 player without too much effort - MnB maybe this could be the line to recommend to your son! I intend to investigate it myself, at the moment I play main-lines against the Caro)

Even if we find a good way for Black here, you cant deny that this is an interesting and appealing idea - I dont deny the book has holes but for me the inspiring ideas more than make up for it. Backed up with some independent research there are the makings of some dangerous weapons here. Watson gives zero credit however which in my view is very disingenuous.

Looking at a .pdf sample from the book some time ago, I noticed that Dzindzi et al continued after 18. Rh3 only with the obliging-looking 18...Qa6; just off the top of my head I'd be inclined to play 18...Re8, with ideas like 19. h5 gh 20. Bxf6 Bxf6 21. Qxh5 g6 or 19. h5 Nxh5 20. Qg4 Nf6 21. Qh4 Nh5.

Watson comments this book.

http://www.chess.co.uk/twic/jwatsonbkrev77.html

MNb wrote on 10/02/09 at 04:21:28:


Ok, now we have something to work with - I´ll have a serious look at this 18...Re8 move, but straight away just glancing at the position my reaction is that if Black takes time out on a move like ...Re8 then White should continue 19.g4 as in the Dzindzi-Karpov game, and his attack is faster than that game with the rook on h3 now. We cannot just play the same moves no matter what Black plays!

I´ll not say anything conclusive one way or the other yet because I am just thinking aloud, but as a QGD player I should say the dreaded "minority attack" does not exactly leave me quaking in my boots. In the given position I would be much more concerned about the Black king - depending on the next few moves the f1 rook will also enter the attack on g1(after Kh1) or h1 (Kg2). We need to do some analysis but at first glance I prefer White. I´ll post some analysis when I get around to it, probably wont be for a couple of days though as I have a busy weekend coming up.

Edit: My first glance opinion 19.g4 doesnt look too good because of 19...Nd7(!) or ...Nh7. I´ll check for alternatives and post when I have something ...the ball is in my court  

What about 19.h5 Nxh5 20.g4!? Nf6 21.Kg2 intending Rf1-h1. That looks a tad dangerous to my eye. Black needs an escape hatch at f7 for his king so something like 21...Nd7 22.Rfh1 f6 and now 23.g5!! to try and continue

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

- if 23...fxe5? 24.Qf3 White wins so Black must try something like 23...Nxe5 or 23...Nf8 but either way Whites initiative looks dangerous....to be continued! Its interesting that this kind of attack would not work with a Black rook on f8, so maybe there is some kind of mad logic here.

MnB - your main point was that the authors systematically evaluate equal positions as better for White wasn't it? And this was one of the variations you gave as an example. I am defending the Fench position and now this one, seeing as Im not on a commision from Dzindzi for all this I cant go through the whole book  Anyway for now lets stick to the chess analysis which is getting interesting, and later we can go back and argue about the book if you like - like I said before its an ideas book, independent research is required to fill some gaps, if peop'le dont like that then they shouldnt buy it but in my view they'd be missing out. For example you found ...Re8, the book didnt give it - if it was the Anand series they would have given every defensive move, but this is not that type of book - would be great if they had gone that way, but with the format of diagrams the book would have been like a telephone directory. Its an innovative book in a new format - I like that you can read it without a chess set and later do some serious analysis if you found something interesting. I like most that its full of interesting ideas, the Dzindzi hyperbole and marketing I found amusing and funny, I see Watson took it differently.

Back to the chess - I dont think I'll have time to post today, hopefully tommorrow, but I can tell you the Kylmeister line ....gxh5 I evaluated as slightly better for White and have some analysis, the line you gave with ...Nd3 I evaluated as better for White also. The only move that really worried me, and which I'll have to look at seriously, is the ...Ne4 possibility you mentioned. Anyway lets not be saying this move is better than another until we can be more sure.

Bibs wrote on 10/03/09 at 14:50:02:


That looks like White "disimproving" on one of the old games I recall in this line:  Benjamin-Christiansen, US championship 1981.

MNb wrote on 10/03/09 at 21:35:40:

No I'll not let you off the hook that easy - the ...Re8 position is critical to the integrity of COWE so for that reason I suggested continuing with the analysis, which I will. We know the book doesnt cover all defences, my point is the ideas and other redeeming points more than make up for it. If you dont agree fine, but dont try and insist on upholding Watsons view of the book in every post, or if so be prepared to back it up. Its a far more interesting book than the usual "Play this" "Play that" database dumps produced these days which are basically a list of games copied from chessbase with an IM author throwing in a few wise-cracks.

MNb wrote on 10/03/09 at 21:35:40:

Hmmm... "even if White can prove equality" It seems to me you've already given up - it is Blacks role to equalize here, not Whites. If Black takes a "time-out" for ...Re8 we have to try and take advantage of that slower defensive move.

(PS: I wrote this post before I saw Bibs reply #9 , which goes in the same direction as my point B )

I generally don´t like to give my extensive analysis here for free so I won´t contribute to the concrete analysis of 7…Qc8 : imo Black can hold with accurate defence. But there are many more obvious crimes in the Caro-Kann coverage of COWE :

A) Regarding 5…Nf6 6.Bf4 g6 (p.406) COWE starts analysis in already favourable position: after 7.Nd2 Bg7 8.Ngf3 0-0 9.h3 Bf5 10.Bxf5 gxf5 (no derivations given in this move sequence!) 11.g4! white indeed has a strong attack. But why the unknown, incredible weak and “inviting” 9…Bf5? and not the wellknown and unclear 9…Nh5! what has been played many times by strong players with excellent results. Even 8…Bg4!?, 8…Bf5?! or 7…Bf5?! would have been better than the black “defence” covered in COWE.

B) Regarding 5…Nf6 6.Bf4 Bg4 7.Qb3 Qd7 8.Nd2 e6 9.Ngf3 Bxf3 10.Nxf3 Bd6 COWE reveals (p.400) the shocking 11.Bg3 (! COWE, instead of the usual and equal 11.Bxd6) and after 11…0-0 12.0-0 Bxg3 13.hxg3 Rab8 14.Rae1 a6 white´s attack works quite well after 15.Qd1 b5 16.g4 (again no discussion of alternatives for black!). Now, in COWE , you can see lots of diagrams with black´s Qd7 staying there forever and black´s Nf6 wandering via e8 to c7 (where it can´t contribute to its king´s defence!). I have to ask if there are no better defence setups for black? Obviously black misses (among other things like an early prophylactic Rfe8 or the slightly more active Ne8-d6) many opportunities to find a more natural place for his queen with 14…Qc7, 13…Qc7, 12…Qc7 or the flexible 11…Qc7 (my personal favourite, but you should work out the best timing on your own). First, Qc7 puts some pressure on e5 and along the c-file. Second, if future sees white playing d4xe5 and f2-f4 then Qc7 has some checks. Third, with Qc7 covering f4 it becomes more difficult for white to send his Qb3 to the kingside. Fourth and really important, Nf6 can go to d7 where it repells a white Re5, attacks a white Pe5 or simply retreats further to f8 (defending e6+g6+h7 and enabling f7-f6). Fifth, most probably Qd7-c7 doesn´t lose time (!) as black should be able to play b7-b5 (after Tab8) without preparing with a7-a6: White cannot afford to grab that pawn and go into the pin Rb8-Bb5-Qb3 as Bb5xNc6 doesn´t attack Qd7. Btw, in this subvariation …Qc7 has already been played by people like Khalifman or Arkell .

C) Regarding 5…Qc7 6.Ne2 Bg4 7.f3 Bd7 8.Bf4 e5 9.dxe5 Nxe5 COWE recommends (p.410) 10.Bc2 Bd6 11.Ba4 Bc6 12.0-0 Ne7 13.Nd4 (Yudasin-Kacheishvili, 2004) as “slightly better” for White. That´s funny because Houska, Rybka, Fritz, Hiarcs and I simply prefer the black position! Besides, the never-refuted and interesting 7…Bh5!? (what works quite well for black in practice) isn´t mentioned at all in COWE !

* * *

One could go on and on but for me it´s enough to see that analysis in COWE is often based on black´s cooperation, on neglecting wellknown moves or just on strange assessments of positions. Not only against the Caro-Kann but throughout the book! Certainly there are some interesting ideas and some may even be sound. But I cannot recommend to follow COWE to more than 10%. It has some (and probably more) value from black´s point of view: you see what might occur in many of your future internet blitz games and so you´re forced to do some seroius work on your defence to refute such silly attempts.

tracke 


@MNb: Btw, of course I know (and have read) all chess books ever published by Sportverlag Berlin! But also some nice chess books (in german language) from Ten Have, Amsterdam.