MNb wrote on 07/23/06 at 13:22:05:

I looked at some alternatives to White's 18th move in this line:

18.Qd3 can be met by 18...Rb8 and White has accomplished nothing.

18.Bxd7 Bxd7 19.Nc5 Qc6 20.Nxd7 Qxd7 looks pretty lifeless (and this method of play looks soulless).

18.c4 looks like a reasonable possibility, and it might be a slight improvement; then 18...bxc3 19.Nxc3 has to be examined.  This might be worth a look, and I will try to dig a little deeper.

Note: 11.h4 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 b5 13.Rh3 b4 14.Na4 Bxd4 15.Qxd4 a5 16.Bb5 is a main line, and 16...Rb8 (given in Watson's book) also looks like a good move for Black.

15...Qa5 is an promising alternative on Black's previous move.

From the look I've had so far, it seems that White might have a bit of trouble proving more than a tiny advantage (or even that much!) in the 11.h4 lines.  If there are no improvements for White in MNb's line (18.c4 above looks marginal, if it's even an improvement) then it looks like 11.h4 will not be my choice.

11.g3 was played in at least one important game (Enders-Knaak, Bundesliga 1999/0-1 (42), but this move doesn't seem consistent with White's general plan of attacking kingside and the game that I found does nothing to raise the status of this move.

11.Qf2 (currently the frontrunner), 11.Nb3 are still likely choices and I haven't ruled out 11.Kb1 (yet).  

If anyone has an idea to make 11.h4 more attractive than it looks right now, I'd love to hear it.  18.c4 seems unlikely to be strong enough to resurrect the line, but I will look a bit deeper at this before discarding it.

My 1st impression on looking at the posn was 11. NxN. Ya, it forces a few exchanges, but the thing is it can prevent b5 which isnt too pleasing to face at least for me,(depending on black's responses) or at least blunts/subdues its effects somewhat.

It may be a mistake, i dunno. i didnt really examine it deeply, but i'm also a bit mentally numb at the moment. But black's b5 is a source or concern, at least for me. And it does look, at least by 1st impressions, that black is better developed/coordinated for Q-side play compared to White on the K-side.

I can't help wondering, why Black's position should be better compared to 7...a6 etc. Black has already castled, while after 7...a6 his king often stays on e8 for a while. As White also has castled, it is his task to prove that Black has brought his king into unsafety.
a)Regarding 11.f5 I don't see it after Ndxe5 12.Nxc6 Bxe3 13.Qxe3 Nxc6.
b)11.h4 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 b5 13.Rh3 b4 14.Na4 (14.Ne2 a5 and 15...Ba6) Bxd4 15.Qxd4 a5 16.Bb5 Qc7 17.Kb1 Qb7 18.Bd3 Qc6 18.b3 Ba6 and White has made some undesirable concessions.
c)After 11.Nb3 I don't like b6 nor Bb4. As White's knight are quite far from the kingside and it looks, if he has lesser control of e5, I wondered if 11.Nb3 Be7 12.Bd3 f6 13.exf6 Nxf6 was playable. 14.Rhe1 b5 15.Kb1 Bd6 16.Nd4 Bd7 17.Nxc6 Bxc6 18.Bd4 might still be somewhat better for White. That leaves 11.Nb3 Bxe3 12.Qxe3 b5 13.Bd3 b4
c1)14.Na4 a5 15.Qh3 h6 (is f5 that bad? 16.g4 Nb6)16.g4 Ba6 17.g5 with a strong attack.
c2)14.Ne4 a5 15.Qh3 a4 16.Nd6 h6 17.Nd2 does not look good.
d)11.g3 is not consequent. Bxd4 12.Bxd4 b5 and where is White's play?
e)11.Kb1 also looks slow. Waht about Bxd4 12.Bxd4 b5 13.Qe3 b4 14.Na4 Nxd4 15.Rxd4 Qa5 16.Qb3 Rb8 17.Be2 Nxe5 18.fxe5 Bd7 ? And 12...Nxd4 13.Qxd4 b5 14.Bd3 Qb6 looks like some efficient vacuum cleaning again. Note, that the same position, but with the king on c1, might arise after
f)11.Qf2, when I suggest Bxd4 12.Bxd4 Nxd4 13.Qxd4 b5 14.g4!? Qb6 15.Qxb6 Nxb6 16.Bg2. 12...b5 13.Be3 b4 14.Na4 a5 15.Nc5 Nxc5 16.Bxc5 Re8 17.Bb5 and White has two active bishops.
I hope, that I have offered some food for thought. There are some difficult decisions ahead. It would probably take me a week to make the wrong ones!

10.g3 was a major option last move, but I don't know if 11.g3 has been played or suggested here.  I will take a look.

I'll adopt Smyslov_Fan's style for opening the discussion on White's next move (just call me Smyslov_Fan_Fan... ).

I'm going to wait until Monday evening to see what my allies have to say.

My main choices are: 

• 11.h4 (intending Rh3)
• 11.Qf2 (intending Bd3 and Qh4)
• 11.Nb3 (a relatively unexplored Nijboer 'patent' that Khalifman seems to like)
• 11.Kb1 (a useful waiting move in many 0-0-0 positions)
• 11.Something else.  (Please explain what that may be!)

Thanks for your help!  Let's get some discussion going before Willempie fetch's that cow...

(And the cow goes "mooooo".)

Aside, to Willempie:  

Fetchez la vache!

The game between Svidler and Bareev was played in the Russian Championship in 1997.  However, this was a knock-out game.  Officially (that is, according to ChessBase) it was in a "normal" time control.  But this appears to have been the 5th game in the match.  That would make it either a blitz game or a very fast one depending on the rules at the time.  I'll try to find out more later.