Quote:


This seems quite accurate; thanks for the examples, OstapBender.  I guess I need to decide whether I can deal with this weakening, or should find another 7th move for Black...

I'd like to throw in the possibility of 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bd2!?

The idea is to get into the normal Bd2-lines with an extra ...h6 thrown in - this weakening of the black king side often favors White.

Ivanchuk,V (2740) - Dreev,A (2650) [B14]
Linares 14th Linares (3), 06.02.1997

1.c4 c6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 Nf6 4.Nc3 cxd5 5.d4 e6 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.Qb3 Qe7 10.c5 Ba5 11.Bb5+ Bd7 12.Ne5 Nc6 13.Bxc6 Bxc6 14.0-0 Bc7 15.f4 0-0 16.Rae1 Bxe5 17.fxe5 b6 18.cxb6 Rab8 19.Qd1 Rxb6 20.b3 f5 21.exf6 Rxf6 22.Rxf6 Qxf6 23.Qd2 Bd7 24.Nd1 Be8 25.Nf2 Rc6 26.h3 Bh5 27.a4 Kh7 28.Rf1 Qh4 29.Kh2 Bg6 30.Ng4 Bf5 31.Ne3 Qg5 32.Rf2 Be4 33.b4 e5 34.b5 exd4 35.Qxd4 Rc1 36.Ng4 h5 37.Qe5 Qxe5+ 38.Nxe5 Ra1 39.g4 hxg4 40.hxg4 Rxa4 41.Nc6 d4 42.Kg3 d3 43.Ne7 Kh6 44.Kh4 g5+ 45.Kg3 Kg7 46.Nf5+ Kf6 47.Nd6+ Ke5 48.Nf7+ Kd4 49.Nxg5 Ke3 50.Nf3 Bxf3 51.Rxf3+ Ke2 52.Rf2+ Ke1 53.Kf3 Rf4+ 0-1

is, I think one of the critical lines, prematurely (in my opinion) judged as equal in NCO after Black's 14th move, when White's position seems to improve quite a bit and the final result is mostly irrelevant.

I think that Black needs to deviate at move 9 -- 9...Bxc3+ seems like a good move, with one point being that 10.bxc3 0-0 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Qxd5 Re8+ looks like a very promising gambit for Black.

I know you said you weren't interested in earlier deviations but I am interested in the Anti-Benoni move order to which the original post refers.  

After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.e3 Black should be in no hurry to play ...cxd4 and ...d5.  3...g6! looks best keeping the idea of ...d5 in reserve.

Presumably you are getting there from 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.e3 then?

In my opinion, the Panov is nothing Black has to fear, Black just has to play accurately to neutralise White's initiative, and after exchanging pieces he has a clear engame advantage. But that's just my opinion 

regs

[Event "FIDE-Wch"]
[Site "Elista"]
[Date "1996.06.??"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Kamsky,Gata"]
[Black "Karpov,Anatoly"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Eco "B14"]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bd2 Nc6 9.Bd3 Be7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Qe2 Nf6 12.Ne4 Qb6 13.a3 Bd7 14.Rfd1 Rad8 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.Qe4 g6 
17.Be3 Ne7 18.Ne5 Nf5 19.Nc4 Qa6 20.a4 Bc6 21.Qf4 Bd5 22.Ne5 Qb6 23.Bxf5 exf5 24.Rd2 Bg7 25.h4 Rfe8 26.Qg3 Rc8 27.Nd7 Qc6 28.Nc5 b6 29.Nd3 Qd7 30.a5 Re4 31.Nf4 b5 32.Rdd1 Bc4 33.Rac1 h6 34.Rc3 b4 35.Rc2 Rc6 36.Rdc1 Bb5 37.Kh2 Kh7 38.Rxc6 Bxc6 39.Rc4 Bf8 40.Nd3 Qe6 41.d5 Bxd5 42.Rxe4 Bxe4 43.Bxa7 Bd6 44.Nf4 Qe5 45.Nh3 Qe7 0-1

In Starting Out: The Caro-Kann, Joe Gallagher claims that White would have been better with 14 Be3 Nd5 15 b4 with Rfc1 and Nc5 to follow...

I'm interested in hearing everyone's thoughts on:

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Bb4

I'm usually entering this line as Black from an 'anti-Benoni' move order, so I'm not particularly interested in earlier deviations, and it seems like this is often mentioned but never really analyzed in other threads here.

I don't have much to say about this at the moment, but I will soon, and I figured that this would at least start to collect the relevant opinions in one place.