I don't think it's possible to speak of either Knight move being the 'point' of Mestrovic's system. Mestrovic himself has played both moves, though mainly 3 ...Ne5. If White now plays 4 f4, play transposes into a Bogolyubov Defence position reached via 1 d4 Nc6 2 d5 Ne5 3 e4 d6!? 4 f4 Nd7(!).

After 3 ...Nb8 there are a number of possibilities. Transposition to B08 is common, and JEH has written about this in another thread as well as above (maybe g3g6 hasn't seen this?). But White can also play 4 c4. Mestrovic meets this by 4 ...Nf6 5 Nc3 g6, heading for an E91 Classical King's Indian with 6 ...Nc6!? 7 d5 Nb8!? (which can also be reached via other move orders, e.g. a Bogolyubov Defence with 2 ...Nb8!? or a so-called 'Panther' with 4 Nc3 g6). His results might suggest that this isn't as bad as 'theory' maintains, but how much theory IS there on this?

Essentially, Mestrovic's 'system' consists of a dense array of transposition-offers, an array so complex that there's quite a lot of room for individual choice/interpretation within it. When I get time I'll try to post a synopsis of possible main lines. For now, my provisional conclusion is that the system is interesting but 3 d5, 3 c4 and the 'independent' 3 Be3 are critical challenges.

It seems that 3. ...Kte5 ; 4. f4 Ktd7 should be tried here. If 3. ...Ktb8, the Knight will in all likelyhood be redeployed to -d7 anyway, and White may find a more usefull move than f4.

Thanks for the introduction to Mestrovic, whose name I saw in Berdichevsky's book but nothing more.  I have discussed related lines at my bibliography:
http://www.kenilworthchessclub.org/kenilworthian/2005/08/1nc6-or-kevitz-system-b...

I have also written a series of articles on what I call The Panter, which can arise via Mestrovic's move order of 1.d4 Nc6 2.Nf3 d6 etc.:
http://www.kenilworthchessclub.org/kenilworthian/2006/03/panther-part-three.html

Your post encourages me to look more closely at Mestrovic's ideas. If anyone can compile some of his games at any chess servers he plays on, that would be most appreciated, since I only use ICC myself.

JEH wrote on 04/19/06 at 19:01:47:


I'll start by quoting myself from another thread on the Modern with Nc6. I think this line is more a Nimzo Defence than a Pirc/Modern, although is can transpose as Black my well throw in Nf6 and/or g6. 

It appears to be an (almost) independant and fully playable (well playable as the Pirc) system and I'd like to get the forum's ideas/comments/experiences with it.

Here's some of my thoughts . 

1. Some repetoire books (e.g. Khalifmann and Kauffman) recommend 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3. But I think with 2. ...d6, Black can head for a Pirc/Modern having avoided the Austrian and have some independant ideas available. Khalifmann, who seems to have left no maverick defences uncovered in his Anand series gives a whole chapter on it. I think I'd be ok with Black in the line 1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. h3 g6 with a Pirc like posiiton in largely uncharted waters, e.g. 

Dani,P (2125) - Sorin,S (2127) [B08]
Debrecen DEAC op Debrecen (7.4), 20.10.2002

1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Be3 Nf6 6.h3 0-0 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 b5 9.Bd3 Nb4 10.Bh6 Nxd3+ 11.cxd3 c5 12.Bxg7 Kxg7 13.d5 e5 14.Nh2 b4 15.Ne2 c4 16.Ng4 cxd3 17.Qh6+ Kg8 18.Ng3 Bxg4 19.hxg4 Qc8+ 20.Kb1 Qxg4 21.Rxd3 Qf4 22.Qh3 Rfc8 23.f3 Rc7 24.Ne2 Qg5 25.g3 Rac8 26.f4 exf4 27.gxf4 Qg4 28.Re3 Qxh3 29.Rexh3 h5 30.e5 Nxd5 31.Rd3 Rc5 32.Rhd1 Nxf4 33.Nxf4 dxe5 34.Nd5 Kg7 35.Nxb4 a5 36.Nd5 Rd8 37.Nc3 Rxd3 38.Rxd3 f5 39.Rd6 h4 40.Nd1 e4 41.Nf2 e3 0-1

2. Against e.g. 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d6 3. c4 heading for a QP like game (less comfortable for an e4 player), Black can head for KID like positions or play 3. ...e5 and rub that hole on d4. 

3. Against an Austrian e4/d4/Nc3/f4 set up, Black has options for an early e5 and develop the KBishop along the a3f8 diaganol

4. Against Classical set ups (White Knights on c3 and f3), Black can try a plan with Bg4, e6 and d5

So is this line worth a punt?