MNb wrote on 01/07/09 at 10:21:07:
Thanks for the compliment, even though I haven't done my homework. No, I have never played such a setup neither researched it properly. I am just intrigued by a reference in an old book by Taimanov. That ....a7-a5-a4 plan is dangerous indeed and after a superficial look I can think of two remedies:
1) blockade with c4-c5 and Nc3-a4. This is not possible with knights on e5 and e4, as c4-c5 will lose a pawn then.
2) postpone castling a bit.
I am not sure what games of Neverov and Tseitlin you mean. As far as my database can see they both prefer castling kingside.
But I won't recommend against positional setups involving castling kingside.
Dear MNb, thanks for your suggestion: I agree with you and I've been working exactly in those directions. Infact this is the game of Neverov I mean:
[Event "Moscow Aeroflot op"]
[Site "Moscow"]
[Date "2004.02.23"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Neverov, Valeriy"]
[Black "Al Sayed, Mohammed"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A11"]
[WhiteElo "2527"]
[BlackElo "2446"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2004.02.17"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "RUS"]
[SourceDate "2004.11.15"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. b3 Nbd7 6. Bb2 Bd6 7. d4 Ne4 8. Bd3 f5 9. Qc2 O-O 10. O-O-O a5 11. g4 a4 12. Nxa4 b5 13. cxb5 c5 14. Nxc5 Ndxc5 15.dxc5 Nxc5 16. gxf5 Rxa2 17. Rhg1 e5 18. f6 Qxf6 19. Bxh7+ Kh8 20. Ng5 Ne6 21.f4 Nxg5 22. fxg5 Qe7 23. Kb1 Rxb2+ 24. Kxb2 e4 25. Bg6 Be5+ 26. Kb1 Qa7 27. Qa2 Qxe3 28. Rge1 Qxg5 29. Rxd5 Qxg6 30. Rxe5 e3+ 31. Kc1 Bb7 32. Qe2 Qh6 33. Kb1 1-0
Everything looks simple: the gm delayed castling and attacked the kingside. So far so good. It seems to me a very simple and straightforward plan. But if Black plays 13...cxb5 White is simply worse. I can't imagine what Neverov intended to play after this. But I'm a weak player...so I don't know. If you or someone else have a different opinion of the position, I 'm ready to change my mind.
So far I gave up the idea of long casting, and decided to follow the gm's most principled plan: short castle and attacking on the queenside. Top players play like this, maybe is not the most wild scheme of play, but in this way I can follow good and very strong path. I don't know which old book of Taimanov you refer to, but it could be useful.
James Ells