FreeRepublic wrote on 04/18/25 at 20:48:12:

King devotes an entire chapter to 4.Bxc6. (He also has separate chapters on 4.Nc3 and 4.e5). After 4.Bxc6, King's main line is 4...dxc6 5.d3 g6 6.h3 Bg7 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Be3 b6. Now he covers three variations: 9.0-0, 9.a4, and 9.Qd2. The queen move, which is by far the most common according the the Mega Database, prepares 0-0-0, resulting in a sharp position with the kings castled on opposite sides. King says Black's chances in this line are no worse than White's, adding that the computer supports this assessment.

FreeRepublic - GM Daniel King has a bit of coverage of the variation in Reply #8 in his recent book, King's Anti-Sicilians for Black. It might be a bit surprising to see a book on Anti-Sicilians dealing with this position, but it comes about because King recommends meeting the Alapin Variation by transposing to the French Advance: 1e4 c5 2.c3 e6 3.d4 d5 4.e5 Nc6. He then goes for the Euwe Variation and answers 6.Be2 with the same line that you give in Reply #8:  5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Be2 Nge7 7.0-0 cxd4 8.cxd4 Nf5. Now after 9.Nc3, his recommendation is also 9...a6, which he describes as, "A useful move, taking away the b5-square from White's pieces. It's also a waiting move, watching to see how White commits." King mentions the ...Qb6-a7 idea as well in a possible continuation after 9...a6: 10.Bg5 Qb6 11.Na4 Qa7 12.Be3 Be7. He describes this line as "playable". This is apparently one of those positions where Stockfish and Lc0 exhibit a difference in evaluation, with the former giving White a slight edge, while the latter calls it equal. 

King actually prefers 10...Be7 instead of 10...Qb6, giving the following line: 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.Qd2 0-0. He concludes that "Chances are balanced".

I also checked The French Defense Revisited, another relatively recent book that recommends the Euwe Variation. In this case, there's no mention of 9...a6 or the ...Qb6-a7 maneuver since the authors prefer 9...Rc8.

dom wrote on 06/16/08 at 18:02:55:

Thanks for the interesting thread.

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bd7 6. Be2 Nge7 

7Bd3 is an interesting idea. 7. Bd3 cd4 8.cd4
Now 8...Nf5 is perfectly natural, but justifies White's play, as described in the initial post.
But 8...Qb6!? is better.
Here, Stockfish suggests 9. Kf1!? with equal play. 

So, 7Bd3 is not bad, but not best.

dom wrote on 06/16/08 at 18:02:55:


I'd say that's an understatement, since it appears that Black has a useful extra tempo on a line (the "withdrawn" Milner-Barry with 8. Bc2) which is perhaps already slightly better for Black.

I feel like an idiot.

7...cd4! should be the first choice for Black.  Fritz suggests giving the pawn up via 8.0-0, but still gives Black about 1/2 pawn advantage.  7.Bd3 really does throw the pawn away, and the N on e7 allows Black to play the gambit line more safely with an extra tempo.  I can't imagine that Black is worse here.  In fact, White will have to work extremely hard to save the game.

dom, what did you have in mind?

Just an impression, haven't even set the position on the board therefore the chance of my suggestion being crap is even higher than usual, but 7...Qb6 seems a better Milner-Barry to me.