Cruyce wrote on 02/09/07 at 11:41:37:


Well that line convinces me even less for white.
4...Bc8 and now 

5.h3 f6 6.Nd3 Nc6 and now black will simply play ...e5, with IMHO - at least - full equality
...   ...  6.Nf3 c5 again looks good for black
5.g5 IMHO looks really weird, black can simply play ...Bf5.

I don't think this opening can be refuted outright. it's probably best for White to play it positionally, e.g. 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Bg4 3 Ne5 Bf5 4 c4 f6 5 Nf3 e6 6 Nc3 c6 7 e3 is quite tricky for Black.

Basically it's 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Bg4 3 e3 e6 4 c4 c6 5 Nc3 with the not useful extra moves ...Bg4-f5 and ...f6. On f5 the bishop is open to Nh4, and the pawn on f6 is in the way of the knight, which also means that Black has less control over e4 so White can achieve e3-e4, and then the weakness of the a2-g8 diagonal can become important.

Black could try 7...Bg4!? (which is 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Bg4 3 e3 e6 4 c4 c6 5 Nc3 f6!?), intending 8...Nd7, 9...f5!? — and then if 8 Bd3 Nd7 (8...f5 9 Qb3) 9 e4 possibly 9...e5!? is a go, or else 9...dxc4 10 Bxc4 Nb6 11 Bb3 e5!?, though it all looks a bit suspicious with Black's kingside undeveloped.

9.Nd5...is a mistake?! After 9...Be4 white stands bad?!
I would be happy to get your analysis...because I cannot see at first sight in which line white is bad.

1)   10.Nb4 Nb4, 11.Qb4 Bf3, 12.ef Qd4,13.Bb5 Kd8, 14.Qb3 Bc5, 15.O-O and white is better

2)   10... Bf3, 11.ef Nd4, 12.Qc3 unclear

3)   10...Nd4, 11.Nd4 ed,12.f3 and white is better

4)   10...ed, 11.Nc6 Bc6, 12.Qe6 Ne7, 13.e4 unclear

The situations which arise are not meeting everybodys taste, but we are looking for a way which will give white winning prospects.

SutterCane

1.   In the BALTIC-line with 5.c5 Rb8 6.Bf4 f6 I think white gets an advantage with 7.e3 Nge7 8. Nbd2 g5 9.Bg3 h5 10.h3 Romanishin-Miladinovic, St.Vincent 2000.

2.   In the discussion for the 7.c5 Rb8 8. Nc3 e5!?-line, I agree that white has a small advantage with 9.de:

3.   Very very interesting the game will be after 9.Nd5!?
I analysed this position because of a CC-game. Later I could practice some lines in Internet-games.

a) 9.Nd5 ed 10.Bf4 Rc8, 11.e3 "g5"
b) 11..."Be4"

a1) 12.Bg3 Be4, 13.Nc3!? Bf3, 14.gf dc 15.Rd1 Qe7 16.Qb7 Qe6, 17.Bc4 Qc4, 18.Qc8 Kf7 19.Qc7 Nge7 20.bc Qc3, 21.Kf1 Qc5, 22.Kg2 h5, 23.Rd7 and White won after 43 moves, SutterCane- Rainbow, Internet.

a2) ...16.Bc4 c2, 17.Rc1 Rd8, 18.Bg8 Nd4, 19.Qa4 c6, 20.Bd6 Nf3, 21.Ke2 Qd7,22.Qe4 Ne5, 23.Be5 fe,24.Qe5 Be7, 25 Qe6 and White won after 51 moves, SutterCane-mateme, Internet.

b)   11...Be4, 12.Nb4 Bc5, 13.Nc6 Bc6, 14.o-o-o Qd7, 15.Nd4 Bd5, 16.Bc4 c6, 17.e4 and White won after 32 moves, SutterCane-rookcat, Internet.

Interesting stuff to talk about!

Greetings

SutterCane

Quote:


What slight advantage is this?

There are also other third moves White may like to try, like:

3. c4
3. Bf4 
have all been tried before

I think that White gains an advantage after 7. c5. This is because the pawn is misplaced on f7, Black's dark square bishop is very bad and the f8 knight has no good squares to move to as White has a big space advantage.

after 7. Qxb7 Nb4 white can hold with 8. Na3 although the position is hardly appealing for white.