MNb wrote on 07/14/18 at 04:43:57:


1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 c5 4.d5 b5 5.e4 Nxe4 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.O-O bxc4 8.Bxc4 Ba6 9.Bxa6 Nxa6 10.Nc3 Qc8 is following Sokolov-Kvon, Elsinore 2017 (0-1 in 65 moves). 11.Bg5 Be7 12.Rc1 0-0 13.d6 Bd8 Here, Sokolov played 14.Qe2. Stockfish prefers 14.Ne5. The position is nominally equal, according to the engine, though it's hard not to think White probably has very good compensation for the pawn. At the same time, it's difficult to push that compensation into any concrete advantage.

Alternatively, 12.dxe6 fxe6 13.Ne5 looks interesting. Beradze-Paravyan, Batumi 2017, (0-1 in 32) went 13...0-0 14.Nxd7 Rd8 15.Nxf6+ gxf6 16.Bd2 Nb4 17.Qg4+ Kh8 18.Rad1. Stockfish prefers 13...Qb7 14.Re1 0-0 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Qxd7. Black's not in dire straits, but the engine likes the position for Black a good deal more than I like its optics.

But I suspect you're right: 7...bxc4 looks like it provides stern resistance. Back to 5.Bg5...

bragesjo wrote on 07/14/18 at 11:29:00:


And there's a fairly recent 6-hour one from The Chess World, by IM Bill Paschall. It might be more up-to-date and comprehensive than Martin's, but I haven't seen either.

I would be interested to know if either of these DVDs cover this recent trend with the dangerous 5.e4, just mentioned by HgMan. If anyone knows.

7...bxc4 8.Bxc4 Ba6 looks like a better try to me. Of course it requires careful study - all daring defenses do.

I'm trying to learn the basics of the Blumenfeld myself now and using the following sources:

- Two videos in the "Alterman's Gambit Guide" series on www.chess.fm.

- SOS (Secrets of Opening Surprises) Vol. 11 article by Rogozenko on the accepted wirh 6...a6!?.

- Article by Chris Ward in "Dangerous Weapons. The Benoni and Benko" outlining his own black repertoire in the Blumenfeld accepted.

I also have the aforementioned Przewoznik book for reference. Actually there are two versions of it; one English-language by "Przewoznik and Pein" and one German-language by "Przewoznik and Konikowski", both from ca. 1991! I have the german version, but I have no idea how much difference there is between them (if any).

So far my impression is that Black has a wide choice of move orders in the accepted, and should be able to find something playable against each of White's lines there. Really critical is 6...d5 7.Nc3! and now Ward's 7...Bb7 8.e4 d4 9.e5 Nfd7 looks like the best try. Black is willing to sacrifice another pawn, allowing Bc4xe6+, for a lead in development and open lines for attack. If that ultimately fails I will look more closesly at Rogozenko's 6...a6 7.bxa6 Be7!?, though here 7...d5 8.Nc3 is also supposed to be less effective for White: 8...d4 9.Na4 Rxa6 10.Bd2 (10.b3 c4) 10...Ne4 11.e3 Nxd2 12.Nxd2 dxe3 "and White must give back the extra pawn, fighting for equality" -Rogozenko (13.fxe3 Qh4+ 14.g3 Qxa4).

Against 4.Bg5 there are a couple of White repertoire books that are useful to check: Palliser's "Play 1.d4!" and Grivas' "Beating the Fianchetto Defences" both recommend it. There's also an article in SOS-10 that I haven't seen; EDIT turns out this is about 5.Bg5 b4 which means I should get it ASAP! So far I'm looking at 5.Bg5 exd5 6.cxd5 d6 and 5.Bg5 b4!? and trying to make one of them work.

The "Dangerous Weapons" book also has a chapter on the related "Pseudo-Blumenfeld Gambit" 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 b5!?, written by Richard Palliser.

To the best of my knowledge, the above analysis holds; this is consistent with the recent games I've seen which are more of a hybrid flavor (with d5 delayed in favor of a6, for example).

I haven't been staying up-to-date, however, so now that I have a bit more time, I'll have to look over the recent updates here.

HgMan wrote on 06/10/06 at 12:59:11:


MNb wrote on 06/11/06 at 01:50:38:


It looks like that the 'modern alternative' 6...Bb7 might well be preferable to 6...d5, although not for any of the reasons found in books.

I also prefer to play d5 immediately, although maybe Black can delay Bd6.

I am trying to determine if, instead, Black can afford to play 6...d5 7.Nc3 Be7 with the idea of meeting 8.e4 or even 8.g3 with d4.  NCO's suggestion of 8.e4 d4 9.e5 dxc3 10.exf6 (following Burgess-Hansen 1992) does not seem very threatening to black's cause, but White has better.

What do you think?  Is it worth trying to save 6...d5 or is the more restrained approach a better bet?  Anytime White achieves e4, I have to doubt Black's compensation, though this may be too pessimistic.

I always thought that Black was okay if White accepted the gambit pawn, but checking the database on the line you mentioned came as a surprise!    I don't know why we were even bothering to discuss 5 Bg5!  The numbers look devastating, and Przewoznik doesn't offer much help after 6 ... d5 7 Nc3.  Each line looks depressing, though I, too, want to go back to MNb's game.

But Przewoznik's analysis of 6 ... Bb7 looks interesting, and might be a useful way to sidestep some of the problems after the line you mentioned.  I need to look at this move more carefully, but 6 ... Bb7 7 Nc3 Be7, withholding d7-d5 might be okay...