the Grunfeld is probably a better opening because of king safety. As for Semi-Tarrasch ... well I don't wish to play a whole game calculating sacrifices on my kingside! (which will be the case whether White chooses 6. e3 or 6. e4).
Also Bg7 goes nicely with ...c5 , but I'm not sure if Black can play ...f5 anytime soon after Bb7.

But the Semi-Tarrasch, like the Ragozin, is having a mini-revival, if only because Black does not equalise after 5.Bf4 and the QGD Vienna.

Hello,

Also found some information on 6e4 line at
http://www.kenilworthchessclub.org/games/java/summer05/stoyko-lasker-3.htm

and in Yermolinsky's "Road to chess improvement". Both of these support current orthodox view that opening is difficult for black. Don't know of any book that specialises in this opening.

Bye John S

Thanks, Smyslov_Fan.  It seems as though I already have the critical literature.  I wasn't sure if there were chapters on the Semi-Tarrasch in various QGD books, but I'll stick to the Khalifman book and my database...

HgMan wrote on 05/15/06 at 17:58:54:


I wonder if I might return to one aspect of the original post not discussed here.  While the theory of the Semi-Tarrasch is fairly clearcut and frequently serves as a vehicle for arriving at specific middlegame positions (a la IQP, which can be reached from a number of openings), where might I find the most current discussion of the Semi-Tarrasch in the existing chess literature.  Is there a good book on the QGD that provides good theoretical and explanatory coverage?

@hgman
Thx for the games. Playing 15...Na5 in combination with Qe7 looks quite solid.



1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 0-0 11.Bc4 Nc6 12.0-0 b6 13.Rad1 Bb7 14.Rfe1 Rc8 15.d5 exd 16.Bxd5 Qc7

First of all I might add that I overlooked your suggestion 17.Qg5. This seems to indicate that
I preferr  16....Qe7 over 16....Qc7.

Still I think black is not as bad after 16...Qc7 as you indicated:


17.Qg5! (an improvement on the move played by Nogeiras)
17...... , h6
18.Qh5         (end of the analysis by HgMan, white is better, but the assessment "desperate" is
                   to pessemistic ; I think Tal of all people would have seen this when playing Qc7
                   .....and evaluated that he could defend the position)
18......, Nb4
19.Nh4          Other moves don't seem better
                   19.Bxb7?!, Qxb7 20.Nh4,Nc2 21.Re2,Nd4! =
                   19.Bb3! (now black must be alert to a possible king side attack after e5-e6)
                      19.......  Qc5 20. e5,Bd5 and white's advantage is not very large
19......,Nxd5   
20.exd5,Rfe8
21.Nf5           White can achieve a sliqhtly better endgame after 21...Rxe1
                   22.Rxe1,Nxd5 23.Nxh6+,gxh 24.Qxd5,Qe7! but black should be able to draw
                   whithout too many problems

I agree Semi-Tarrasch is still a viable option - some players may fail to treat it with the respect it deserves, which is a bonus too 

there's some useful information on 6. e3 in this old semi-tarrasch thread:
http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1111573553/3#3

perhaps we shouldn't be creating so many new threads, and use older ones if possible for the sake of continuity. There're several games provided earlier in this thread in favour for the White cause...i think the onus is on black players to try and improve on the cited games. 

Incidentally, we're all massively off topic