Markovich, I hear you, and I tend to agree.

For example, in the line:
7. Bxc4 e6 (declining the d-pawn)
White has relatively easy play compared to a number of comparable lines. 

However, in this concrete case, Black can play 7...Qxd4 if he's of a certain bloody-minded disposition (eg me   )

So White is committed to a rather murky pawn sac or the 7. d5 line...which brings me back to my original question: are the positions after 8 Bxc4 fully playable for Black?

Hi all,
I'd appreciate any thoughts on the following rare line:

1. e4 c6, 2. d4 d5, 3. ed cd, 4. c4 Nf6, 5. Nc3 Nc6, 6. Bg5 dc, 7. d5 Na5 (or Ne5), 8. Bxc4

Now Black has a number of options:...Rc8 / Qb6 / b5 / e6 / g6

I played down this line once as Black thinking it would all be alright on the night, but it's become clear to me that this line is quite a tricky one, and that Black can get smashed if he doesn't know what he's doing...especially wrt when / if to play ...e6.

Karpov and Podgaets give 8 Bc4?! offering 2 lines, neither of which look 100% convincing to me:
10...b5, 11. Qe2 Qb6, 12. Bxf6 gf
10...g6, 11. Bxf6 ef, 12. Nf3 Bg7, 13. 0-0 0-0, 14. Rfe1 Qb6

In both lines, arguably White could delay / avoid exchanging on f6.
For starters, in the first line 12. a3 b4, 13. ab Qxb4, 14. Nf3 Nxd5, 15. 0-0 would be quite unpleasant to face OTB.

On the other hand, the Caro-Kann e-book gives:
"10. Qxc4 is quite unpleasant for Black since the White d5 pawn has a cramping effect on his development becasue its not easy to find a safe way to move the e7 pawn forward to release the f8 Bishop" without citing any variations.

Any ideas what is Black's best in this line?

Thanks,
Dink