Patzerovich wrote on 04/14/10 at 16:56:04:


6. Nge2 (whereupon 6...Nbc6 loses, for one thing) should be quite good.

For what it is worth, if you had met 2...Bc5 with 3.Nc3 (instead of 3.Bg2), then after 3...Qf6 4.Ne4 immediately, as it also defends f2 (no need to spend time on e2-e3)

This is not quite as strong as in the line you gave above, as Black can defend the bishop with 4...Qe7, but the idea of meeting ...Bc5 and ...Qf6 with Ne4, hitting both pieces and defending the very point they are seeking to attack, is a very useful one.

It also crops up quite often (with colours reversed) in, for example, variations of the Sicilian (although it rarely actually occurs, as the possibility is usually enough to deter this piece placement in the first place).

Well, in that particular position, it seems to me that 6.Ne4 might be quite strong ... 

In general, Black's primitive attack on f2 simply means that his queen is misplaced and subject to attack, and the knight is forced to occupy a less active post on e7.

Even if 6.Ne4 didn't win on the spot, simply 6.Nge2 and 7.d4 would leave White with a tidy advantage, as he has very good control of the centre and superior development.