kylemeister wrote on 07/30/06 at 09:24:07:

I have met him a few times though never really spoken with him when I was still in the youth circuit (in the stone age), also met Stellwagen when he was still a little kid and some others who are around IM nowadays. So not really much of an impression

A case of confusion/misremembering, plus inadvertently having my preferences set not to show location or flag, led me to think you were "over there" instead of "down there."  Sorry about that.    

MNb wrote on 07/30/06 at 02:07:53:


Hi MNb,

This is a bit off the top of my head, but I would think that the line you suggest involving 12. Bf3 would encourage ...a5 (such as after 14. a3) where Black would usually need to prepare that, most typically by getting his queen to b7.  But in such a case (like maybe after 12. Qg3 instead of 12. Bf3 and then having another move in in place of Bf3) holding the queen back on d8 could give Black the option of ...Qd7 or ...Qb8 (instead of the standard ...Qc7-b7) to prepare ...a5 and/or ...b4.  True, he might want/need to end up putting the queen on ...b7 anyway, but the queenside pawn advance(s) could be coming a move quicker, and it seems a bit of added flexibilty.

...Qb8 is also a thought (after ...b5 and a3) without the knight exchange on d4, with the thought of ...b4 and ...Qxb4 in case of ab.

Another way I think holding the queen back might work to Black's advantage is in some positions after ...Nxd4 and ...Bc6 and ...b5 met by a3, then if White is playing a plan with Qe1-g3 combined with putting a rook on e1, ...Nd7 (preceded by ...g6) would have the added point of threatening the skewer ...Bh4.

I'll append an offhand question:  one of the players whose games I've been following lately is a young GM from over there, Jan Werle.  Ever met this person (yes, I know it's not THAT small a country )/have any impressions of him?   

           

I think one interesting (and perhaps relatively solid/safe) way for Black to play in the Classical Schevy is like this:  1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cd 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 Nc6 7. 0-0 Be7 8. Be3 a6 9. a4 (or 9. f4 Bd7 10. Nb3 b5) Bd7 10. Nb3 Na5.  (This can be compared to similar positions with ...0-0 and f4 in, in which ...Na5 is rather strongly met by e5 due to the potentially hanging d7 Bishop.)  This has been played by a number of GMs, e.g. (the late) Petrosian, Polugaevsky and Yermolinsky.  I suspect White should choose (as he has in a number of games) 10. f4 (instead of meeting ...Bd7 with Nb3 as is "traditional", to avoid ...Nxd4 and ...Bc6) and then retake on d4 with the queen.

The pure Scheveningen move order does some have real advantages of course - 6 Bc4/Bg5 are fairly harmless and you get alternative (non a6 based) lines vs 6 Be2 & Be3 which might not be any better but are at least somewhat safer and avoid all the through traffic (and hence mega theory) from the Nardojf. 
I wouldn't touch the a6 based Be2 Scheveningen lines myself - there seems to be an awful lot of rather scary attacking lines at white's disposal all requiring a lot of preperation to simply survive.

Of course the Keres is a bit of problem  

As an alternative the e6, Nc6, d6 line does seem to make the Keres anologue (6 g4 anyway) a bit easier to deal with, but you do get the Taminov Hedgehog, Anti Taminov and the classical Sozin as extra lines.
The last of these is the only real problem since it is more or less as sharp and theorectical as anything going if maybe a little less dangerous in principle than the Keres.
(Thankfully there are ways to avoid the Velimirovic Attack but iirc they aren't any sensible Qb6 options since white can start with 6 Be3 & you need to be prepared for Bc4 or f3/g4 etc.).

I guess the main reason to allow it is also philosophical - deriving satisfaction from refusing to be frightened away from the most natural move order and defending a mildly down trodden opening!

(As a practical reason at lowish levels I suspect that not too many white players will be all that well prepared for the Keres attack (or the non a6 lines vs Be2/Be3 for that matter) since they're rather rare. This isn't a good reason to choose an opening on a regular basis this though ).

Hello,

In the old Kasparov book on e6,d6 systems, he preferred 6... Nc6 but only occurred in his games twice.
Looked like a very risky line, so maybe there have been some games, which have put this line in trouble.

Bye John S

FYI:

Yermolinsky has some nice discussion of Keres attack from Black's perspective in The Road to Chess Improvement.

Keres Attack is the repertoire choice for White against the Scheveningen in Beating the Sicilians - 3 by Nunn and Gallagher. (What is the line recommended for White in Experts vs. the Sicilian?)