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@ErictheRed: Regarding the line you propose, 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 b5 5.Bg5 Qa5 6.Qd2 Qxd2+ 7.Nfxd2! bxc4 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.e4 Na6 10.a3 Nc7 11.Nc3 Bb7 12.Bxc4, I think that White retains the better chances by playing 0-0-0, g3, f4 and intending to break through in the center. Black has a hard time finding good squares for his pieces and the rooks are drawn to the b and g files where they do nothing at all. Still this is a very reasonable idea, and maybe if Black plays actively in the center he can hold on, but I think it is too early to call the position equal.
@Browne,W (2540) - Ljubojevic,L (2590), Konex Buenos Aires (6), 1979
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.d5 e6 4.c4 exd5 5.cxd5 b5 6.Bg5 Qa5+ 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Bd2 Nxd2 9.Nxd2 d6 10.e4 b4 11.Nc4 Qd8 12.Nb1 Be7 13.Bd3 0-0 14.0-0 Bf6 15.Nbd2 Nd7 16.Nxd6 Bxb2 17.Rb1 Bc3 18.Nxc8 Rxc8 19.Nc4 ½-½
I'll avoid talking about the main line here and instead mention a couple of earlier deviations I found interesting:
I think that White might try 12.Ne2 intending Ng3. Comparing this to the similar line in the Benoni, Black will have a more difficult time generating play on the queenside, but is free of his king's knight which usually just gets in the way. It's difficult to assess without any practical examples, but I worry that White has too much control over opening both the queenside and center to give Black a comfortable equality. The other knight move, 12.Nb5 seems to force a draw.
The move 8.Qd3 is also rather forcing -- Black seems to be holding on in the lines I've looked at, but White has some ideas which have not been tested. Ultimately, I think Black will be OK here, even in positions where a sacrifice of some material is required, but I'll have to check more deeply before being able to play against this with confidence.
Regarding 5th move alternatives, I am happy with 5.Bg5 h6 at the moment, but really I think many of Black's replies give him an acceptable game. In fact, the more that I look, the more that I feel that the accepted lines are White's best chance for an advantage, but so far, I am satisfied with Black's compensation.
5.dxe6 fxe6 6.cxb5 d5 7.Nc3 Nbd7 8.e4 d4 9.e5 Ng4 instead of 10.Ne4? Bb7! it looks like White has a number of moves which need to be checked more carefully. This looks to be a weak point of the entire Blumenfeld as far as I can see, mainly because Black seems to lack good alternatives at move 7, and his earlier deviations do not appeal to me as much (postponing d5 or playing an early a6).
I would like to rule out White's alternatives at move 9 and 10, but things are not yet clear. For example, the sequence 10.Ng5 Ndxe5 11.f4 dxc3 12.Qxd8+ Kxd8 13.fxe5 seems to be virtually forced from Black's perspective, and at the end, he is left in a difficult position where his pawns are weak and obstruct his pieces.
A much lesser concern, 5.cxb5 seems to be more annoying than I had hoped. What do you guys think is best: 5...Nxd5 intending to meet e4 with Nb6/d5 and exd5 with Nxd5, or simply 5...exd5 intending to hold the center with Bb7 and Qa5(+) if needed, or something else entirely?
Finally, having acquired Przewoznik, I can agree with what MNb says: a good if rather chaotic text. It would be nice if he had singled out what he thought the most promising continuations were, since his own praxis sees just about every possible Black move. I'm also not too enthusiastic about his treatment of the early deviations which I mentioned above (Bb7 before d5, a6 as soon as possible) but perhaps playing this way will prove necessary.
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Coverage of the Blumenfeld (Read 5687 times)
