Paul Cumbers wrote on 03/10/11 at 12:53:47:
After 3...Nc6 4.Ngf3 Nf6 5.e5 Nd7, I recently faced 6.c3 f6 7.exf6 Qxf6 8.Bb5!? (instead of 8.Nb3/8.Be2/8.Bd3 given above). Having looked at this line in more detail, I'm finding it surprisingly difficult to generate winning chances for Black, i.e. 8...Bd6 9.Nf1 with 3 variations:
(a) 9...e5 - as played by Richard Palliser - but now 10.Ne3! exd4 11.Nxd5 Qe6+ 12.Qe2 Qxe2+ 13.Bxe2 dxc3 14.Nxc3 seems to give White an annoying tiny edge in a drawish endgame;
(b) 9...a6 - as played by Guimard himself - but now 10.Be2 e5 11.Ne3 exd4 12.Nxd5 Qf5/7 13.Nb4!? with good play for White;
(c) 9...0-0 was the move I tried, but I don't know what I would have done against 10.Ne3!, forestalling ...e5 (the game actually continued 10.Bg5 Qf7 11.Ne3 e5!). One problem is 10...Qg6 11.Bd3 Qh5 12.Be2 Qg6 13.Bd3 ½–½.
Anyone have any ideas on Black's best response to 8.Bb5?
...Further contemplation, and now I think I can answer my own question! The key is by comparison with a game mentioned by John Watson on ChessPublishing:
Matkovic-Jacimovic (Kladovo, 1991)
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nc6 4.Ngf3 Nf6 5.e5 Nd7 6.c3 f6 7.exf6 Qxf6 8.Be2 Bd6 9.Nf1 0–0 10.Ng3 h6 11.0–0 Qf7 12.c4 b6 13.Be3 Bb7 ½–½
Note the plan of ...Qf7 (covering d5), and ...h6 (preventing Ng5), getting ready for ...e5 (which, *ahem*, Jacimovic was about to play
). So in my line (b), after 9...a6 10.Be2, Black should continue to prepare the freeing move ...e5, e.g. 10...0-0 11.Ne3 Qf7 12.0-0 h6 13.Bd3 Nf6 14.Qc2 e5 (hooray!). The g6 weakness doesn't seem to matter too much. Other bishop retreats on move 10 can be met with the immediate 10...e5:
(b1) 9...a6 10.Bd3 (clumsy) 10...e5 11.Ne3 Nb6=;
(b2) 9...a6 10.Ba4 e5 11.Ne3 exd4 12.Nxd5?! Qe6+ 13.Qe2 Nc5! exposing the weakness of the bishop on a4.
So I reckon 9...a6! is Black's best response to 9.Bb5 (Guimard was right all along)