You might recognize it from the sac ...   


[Event "Bled m"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1965.??.??"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Tal, Mikhail"]
[Black "Larsen, Bent"]
[Result "1-0"]
[NIC "SI 21.8"]
[ECO "B82"]
[PlyCount "73"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. f4 Be7 8. Qf3 O-O 
9. O-O-O Qc7 10. Ndb5 Qb8 11. g4 a6 12. Nd4 Nxd4 13. Bxd4 b5 14. g5 Nd7 15. Bd3 b4 
16. Nd5 exd5 17. exd5 f5 18. Rde1 Rf7 19. h4 Bb7 20. Bxf5 Rxf5 21. Rxe7 Ne5 22. Qe4 
Qf8 23. fxe5 Rf4 24. Qe3 Rf3 25. Qe2 Qxe7 26. Qxf3 dxe5 27. Re1 Rd8 28. Rxe5 Qd6 
29. Qf4 Rf8 30. Qe4 b3 31. axb3 Rf1  32. Kd2 Qb4  33. c3 Qd6 34. Bc5 Qxc5 35. Re8  
Rf8 36. Qe6  Kh8 37. Qf7 1-0

I suppose I was thinking of 8. a3 Be7 9. f4 d6 10. g4 (there's also 10. Qd2), which gets a column in ECO, but with no mention of ...d5.

By the way, I recall getting the impression a while back (e.g. from Winnen met het Siciliaans) that the Tal-Larsen line might be quite dangerous for Black if White stops for Rg1.

There is some aggressive a3 plus g4 stuff which I recall rearing its ugly head something like a decade ago in the Informant.

MNb wrote on 03/12/10 at 01:31:35:


For me, the big question in this Taimanov move order is how Black intends to handle 7.Be2. Delchev does not cover independent lines in the classical approach (Be2 and Be3) where White refrains from castling kingside. 7.Be2 Nf6 8.a3!? (as covered in Dangerous Weapons: The Sicilian) poses very interesting problems. Black should probably be familiar with the Classical Scheveningen. The Scheveningen lines with 8...d6 may be Black's best, but Black's early commitment to a6 and Qc7 often seems to favor White despite the apparent loss of tempo with a3. Maybe Black is OK, but there's a bit of risk involved. On the other hand, I think the risk runs both ways in that White must play aggressively to justify the move a3, so this might be a good approach for Black to play for a win in a sharp position. In some ways, it reminds me a little of the Grivas Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6) in the sense that strong players like Godena and Grivas built tremendous scores as Black by outplaying players in sharp but slightly offbeat Scheveningen middlegames (where the queen often ends up on Qc7 after Be3).

Smyslov_Fan wrote on 03/11/10 at 08:43:43:


Yes, that is true. But under certain circumstances it could be a viable strategy. I know a few players that will play the open against 2. ... e6 and anti-sicilians against 2. ... d6, for instance.

Terribly enlighting, this thread. As a consequence I gave my opponent the choice to enter the Keres Attack in one of my correspondence chess games. He declined and played something else.

Another move order is 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 :
Basicly allowing another set of anti-sicilians then after 2. ... e6. Might be interesting if you have another 2. ... d6 sicilian up your sleeves to keep the opponent guessing or if you are at ease with the d6 anti-sicilians and I can imagine that they crop up more often after 2. ... e6 (haven't done any reseacrh to back that up).

MNb wrote on 03/11/10 at 02:12:29:


Black does have an alternative to 7...Bd7 8.0-0-0 Rc8 which has scored horribly recently  in 8...Nge7, but that's not a terribly happy variation either. (I don't have any games in my db beyond 2003.)

Perhaps Black could play 7.Qd2 Nge7.  I've only found one master game that followed that path, but it doesn't seem to lose out of hand.