J-dog wrote on 02/16/07 at 01:39:36:
After thinking about it, I think your best bet to steer the game into relatively safe waters is to go for the queenside castling plan. Adams and Anand have used it in some games and have not lost with it (to my knowledge). It's a fairly simple set up: Be7,Nc6,a6,Be6,Qd7,0-0-0, if a piece (usually knight) lands on g5, you swap it off, then play f6. Then you centralize your rooks on e8 and d8 and swap pieces down the open file. Also sometimes the move h5 comes into play.
What about white's plan with playing c3-c4, transferring the queen to a3 via c3 or d3 and playing c5 at the opportune moment? Black's queen is on d7 so there is a threat of cxd6 winning a d6 pawn (white bishops developed to f4 and e2 and a rook is on d1). Also there is a threat of bishop sacrifice B:a6 with attack, for example after black plays d6-d5 in response to c4-c5. I think there was a game of Kramnik (with white) against someone, featuring this plan. Any ideas how black should play against this?
As a whole this 5.Nc3 variation of Petroff gives an impression that white has very easy to understand strategic plans (which may or may not work) but black's defense/counterplay is based mostly on tactical nuances.
J-dog wrote on 02/16/07 at 01:39:36:
In the kinside castling formations, the Rb8,b5 plan is from Rublevsky-Shirov, Sochi 2006.
Random thoughts: the queen can usually enter the q-side via d7-c6(a4), or occasionally if the d file is sufficiently cluttered or abandoned (so your weak d6 pawn doesn't get picked on), you could open the back door with c6 to get the queen on a5. I think I saw an old Marshall or Pillsbury game with that idea.
Stormcrow, if you have those games handy could you please post them here (especially Shirov's game, my database seems too old).
It would be useful to compile a collection of (classical) games with various game plans in this variation for white or black.
By the way there is a recent Shirov's Chessbase DVD on Petroff defense, does he explain the 0-0, Bf6, Rb8, b7-b5-b4 plan on it?