9. ef6 gh4 10. Ne5 Qf6 11. g3! is becoming fashionable lately, and poses Black serious problems. Amazingly, this natural White move which is typical in Botvinnik is hardly covered in theoretical works. 11. a4 is the usual move trying for a quick attack, perhaps in part to justify the early excursion of the knight to e5, but then 11. a4 weakens White's already weak dark squares.. so 11. g3 aims for slow positional pressure with strong compensation for the sacrificed pawns, almost as if White has a souped up Catalan!

Here are two recent games

Shabalov-Ippolito, US Championship 06

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 b5 7. e5 h6 8. Bh4 g5
9. exf6 gxh4 10. Ne5 Qxf6 11. g3 Bg7 12. Bg2 O-O 13. O-O a6 14. a4 b4 15. Ne4
Qd8 16. a5 f5 17. Nc5 Ra7 18. Re1 hxg3 19. hxg3 Kh7 20. Ra4 Qd6 21. Rxb4 Bxe5
22. Rxe5 Rd8 23. Qe2 Re7 24. Qxc4 Rg8 25. Rb6 Rg4 26. Rb4 Kg7 27. Nd3 Nd7 28.
Re3 e5 29. Qxc6 Qxc6 30. Bxc6 e4 31. Bxd7 Bxd7 32. Ne5 Rxe5 33. dxe5 Bb5 34.
Rc3 Kf7 35. Rd4 e3 36. Rxg4 e2 37. e6+ Kf6 38. Re3 fxg4 39. e7 1-0

Jobava-Cheparinov, Corus Wijk aan Zee 06

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 b5 7. e5 h6 8. Bh4
g5 9. exf6 gxh4 10. Ne5 Qxf6 11. g3 Nd7 12. Qe2 c5 13. Nc6 Bb7 14. Nd5 Bxc6
15. Nxf6+ Nxf6 16. d5 Nxd5 17. Bg2 Bg7 18. a4 O-O 19. axb5 Bxb5 20. O-O a6
21. Qh5 hxg3 22. fxg3 Rad8 23. Rf2 Ne3 24. Bf3 Nf5 25. g4 Nd4 26. Be4 f5
27. gxf5 exf5 28. Bg2 Rde8 29. Kh1 Kh8 30. Rg1 Re5 31. Bb7 Be8 32. Qh4 Rf7
33. Ba8 f4 34. Rfg2 Nf5 35. Qxf4 Ne3 36. Rxg7 1-0

Any thoughts? 

Absolutely, very Fritzy.  Fritz suggested 11...a6, which is similar to some lines I use against the Catalan.  When I carried it out another 6 or 7 moves, he still liked the positions that developed, and I did too.  I check as many of my openings against Fritz as I possibly can, as deep as time allows, and most of the time (95%) I'll use his analysis if I can't find anything wrong with it.  Sometimes I won't, for example, if it just feels wrong or I know I could never recall it OTB.

I have become interested in the game Sokolov-Sjirov after reading analysis of both Van Mil in Schaaknieuws (alas not available online) and Speelman in The Guardian.
Both give 22...Rh7 23.Nc6+ Nxc6 24.Qxc6 Ke7 25.Qxc7+ Kf8 26.Bd3 Rh8. According to Van Mil White probably cannot win anymore; according to Speelman White has all the chances. So who is right? As 27.Kf3 obviously leads to nothing and I do not see a decent way to sac pawn g2, only 27.Be4 looks like a winning try. But then h3! is nasty:
a) 28.Qd6+ Kg8 29.Qg3+ Kf8 30.Qxh3 Qc1 31.Qc3 Qf4 32.Bf3 Kg7 33.d5+ e5
b) 28.Qe5 Rg8 29.Qd6+ Kg7 30.Qg3+ Kh8 31.Qxh3 Qc1 (same idea) 32.Qc3 Qf4 33.d5+ Rg7
and in neither variations I see winning chances for White. Am I missing something, or was Van Mil right?
For all computer haters: Fritz was not very helpful here.

11...a6 12.Be2 looks troublesome. White has various ideas: 1) to take twice on b5 (now that Bb4+ is met by Kf1), 2) to play Bf3 and cause major problems on c6 and the entire long diagonal, and 3) to play Bh5 and screw with Black's position even more by forcing him to play ...Rh7.

Shabalov generally knows what he's doing on the Black side of the Botvinnik, so I'd trust that he found a way to make 11...c5 work at home. 11...h3 also looks interesting, by the way.

Take a look at 11...c5 12.Be2 cxd4 13.Qxd4 Nd7 14.Qe4 Qxe5 15.Qxa8 Bb4 as in Goldin-Shabalov, Foxwoods 2005. From what I know, 13...Nd7 is a novelty, and while the position looks weird, it's probably no more risky than the standard Botvinnik Variation fare.

Shredder 9 suggest b4. It believes that the line by Shirov is clearly inning for white.

How about 11...b4....?

Hello,

Just found a link to Speelman's analysis

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/chess/story/0,15873,1500356,00.html

Bye John S

Yesterday at Bosna, I.Sokolov used this ancient line, and unleashed a terrifying attack against no less an authority than Shirov  . Probably 12.... c5 (korchnoi/pedersen) is a better move but for sure suspicious-looking, and Sokolov must have something up his sleeve here too. 13. Bxc4! and 14. Nxb5!? must come as a shock!

[Event "XXXV Bosnia GM"]
[Site "Sarajevo BIH"]
[Date "2005.05.28"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Sokolov,I"]
[Black "Shirov,A"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2662"]
[BlackElo "2714"]
[EventDate "2005.05.19"]
[ECO "D44"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 b5 7. e5 h6 8. Bh4
g5 9. exf6 gxh4 10. Ne5 Qxf6 11. a4 Bb7 12. axb5 cxb5 13. Bxc4 a6 14. Nxb5
axb5 15. Bxb5+ Kd8 16. Rxa8 Bxa8 17. Qa4 Bd6 18. Nc4 Bc7 19. Qxa8 Qg5 20.
Qb7 Qc1+ 21. Ke2 Qxh1 22. Ne5 Qc1 23. Nxf7+ Ke7 24. Nxh8 Qxb2+ 25. Kf3 Qc3+
26. Kg4 Qxd4+ 27. Kh3 Qb6 28. Qc8 Qxb5 29. Qxc7+ Nd7 30. Ng6+ Kf6 31. Nxh4
Qd3+ 32. f3 Ne5 33. Qc1 Nf7 34. Qb2+ e5 35. Qb6+ Kg7 36. Kg3 Qc4 37. Qg6+
Kf8 38. Qf6 Kg8 39. Ng6 e4 40. Nf4 exf3 41. Ne6 1-0

Any thoughts? This is one of Black's strongest lines of defence, so if this is destroyed then White suddenly has a nice early deviation against the semi-slav.

Maybe Ruslan will care to cover this game?