Dear Glenn and chess fans,

I share Suttercane's interest in Owen's defence, but am puzzled as to what Black is meant to do these days if White adopts the setup with Bd3, Nc3 and Nge2. I'm surprised there's no mention of this either in ChessPub or in the relevant eBook. I'd like to conclude from this that this setup's fangs have been drawn, but can't see any games that might tell me why.

So far as I can see, Black's best setups are 3 Bd3 e6 4 Nc3 Nf6 5 Nge2 d5 6 e5 Nfd7 7 Nf4 Be7, as in Peters--Sahovic, Lone Pine 77, or here 5 ...c5 6 d5 a6 7 a4! ed (I tried to make 7 ..Qc7 work but don't quite believe it) 8 ed Nd5 9 Nf4 Be6!? (does 9 ...Qe7 here merit a look?), as in Speelman--Basman, British Ch. 1984. I'm not sure whether either of these lines is theoretically OK or not -- the first at least may be? -- but neither looks a bundle of fun for the second player.

I assume also that Soltis's 1994 recommendation, 4 ...Bb4 5 Nge2 c5 6 a3 Ba5!? 7 0--0 d5!?, is bad for Black after 8 ed ed 9 Bf4 (or even 9 Bb5!?); while 5 ... d5 here also seems to leave Black struggling to equalise in a prospectless position after 6 0--0 (6 e5 c5 7 a3 Ba5!? might be double-edged?). So what does Black play, and why does White seem to be avoiding the lines with Nge2? Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

All best,
Michael Ayton