7.Nd2 Bb4 8.Qc2 Ne4!
This move avoids most of the extensive theory in the 8…O-O main line. After 8…O-O in the main line, white could play 6 or 7 reasonably good moves, and black would need to know how to handle all of them. For example, 9.Bxf6, 9.Be2, 9.a3, 9.Nb3, 9.Bh4, 9.cd5, 9.Rc1, 9.Bf4, and even 9.h4 or 9.c5. This is too much for me at my level and with my limited study time, so I go directly into a more focused and forcing continuation with 8…Ne4. I don’t believe it is necessary for black to O-O yet. I remember an old piece of advice from one of the greats (I forget who) that cautioned “castle if you must, but not just because you can” or something like that. After 8.Qc2, black can castle, but that move doesn’t put any immediate pressure on white. It feels passive, like black is simply responding to white’s moves, rather than making white respond to his. One of the main line variations goes like this: 8.Qc2 O-O 9.Be2 dc4 10.Bxf6 Nxf6 11.Nxc4 Qc7 12.O-O ugh. I’m not playing the Cambridge Springs to get a soft position like this! Black probably has to retreat his bishop to e7 and white just gradually increases his advantage without having to worry about any counterplay from black. Or, in another one of the main lines (perhaps the one you had in mind), black plays 9.Be2 e5 but white has 10.de5 Ne4 11.Ncxe4 de4 12.Rd1 Nxe5 13.O-O Bxd2 14.Qxd2 Qxd2 15.Rxd2 Be6 16.b3 f6 17.Bf4 Rad8 18.Rfd1 and here, in "The Cambridge Springs" by Krzysztof Panczyk and Jacek Ilczuk, the authors conclude "Thanks to his bishop-pair and domination over the d-file, White has a better ending." I think that is an accurate evaluation. I wouldn't want to play the black side in an OTB game.
In contrast with the passivity in the 8...O-O main lines, black can start immediate tactics with 8…Ne4! Here is one likely possibility of how white’s play becomes limited and black seems to be forcing things: 9.Ncxe4 dxe4 10.Bf4 e5! (good now) 11.Bg3 O-O (this is needed now because the center is getting blasted open) 12.a3 exd4 13.exd4 Re8 14.O-O-O Bxd2+ 15.Qxd2 Qa6 16.Qb4 Nf6. There is a lot of action that can be directed at white’s king position from this point. A white player who would have felt comfortable playing against the normal safe main lines after 8…O-O would probably feel rattled here, thinking he had lost control of the game.
Anyway, 8...Ne4 involves a lot less study time, I can easily remember the lines during an OTB game, and it puts pressure on white right away. It may be that some of the 8...O-O main lines are just as good, but white has too many options along the way for me to contend with.
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