Thanks for sharing this.

So it would appear that (after 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qd2 O-O 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. Bxc5 Nxc5 11. O-O-O Qa5 12. h4 Rd8) responding to the very real threat of ...d4 with 13 a3 is both too slow and too weakening - the weakeness of b3 gives Black tactical counterplay.

Maybe of more concern to Black is 13 Nd4, followed by Rh3 (or maybe White can insert h5 ...h6 first, with the plan of Rg3, f5, Qxh6). 13 Nd4 has been tried in a few games already.

Other ideas for White include Kb1 at some point to a) get off the c-file, b) threaten Nxd5 in some lines; However, the immediate 13 Kb1 fails to prevent the threatened ...Ne4.

Also Svidler's Qe3 idea should not be forgotten - getting off the d-file, putting pressure on the Nc5, and keeping an eye on the e4 square.

By the way, when I played this line with Black against an IM in blitz, his automatic reaction was to answer 11...Qa5 with 12 Kb1, followed by sticking his knight on d4.

Well, 18...Rac8 19.Bg2? Ba4 20.Bxe4?? is two weak moves in a row from White. Maybe someone would fall for this in blitz...

After 19.b3 (a safe move) Black has 19...Bb5!!? which incredibly works tactically. But there is still the issue of whether White can make something out of attacking the e4 pawn after f.ex. 20.Bxb5 Rxd4 21.Kb2. Alternatively 19...Be8 20.Rh3!?

White could also try developing the rook before the bishop with 19.b4 (19.Rh3?! Ba4!) Nc4 20.Rh3 but after 20...Ba4 21.Rc3 Nb6 22.Rxc8 Rxc8 I don't think White can be better with such a stretched pawn structure. So 19.b3 seems the best try for White.

Black could also look into the immediate 18...Ba4 but I haven't yet.

The last Sunday i played a crucial game in the first board of my team against a strong local player. I needed to win so my team to have any hopes of winning the match. So, i was preparing to play the Alekhine and be ready for a fight full of blood when a friend of mine informed me about a line he plays against my main weapon, the French.
  I knew that he preffered the Tarrash and has a good experience with this and i thought that i should avoid it. "No, no, he plays a line in the Classical Steinitz with O-O-O even against the 7...Be7 which you said it's not good for White!" said my friend. "Good news" i thought and i started to collect more information about the new repertoire choice of my opponent. The line i'm reffering to is

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 and now 7...Be7!? as Mc Donald reccomended in his recent French book. It seemed tha he plays now 8.Qd2 O-O 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Bxc5 Nxc5 11.O-O-O. I always thought that Black has great attacking chances after 11...Ba5! 12.Kb1 Bd7 and so on but i was informed that a recent chessbase magazine gives white the advantage after 12.h4 Bd7 13.h5!  
based on a recent game of Svidler which continued 13...Rb8 14.Qe3! i think with graet position for White which my opponent has used in many recent blitz games (we have a lot of blitz tournaments in my city!).

That was a shock for me because i worked hard to solve the problems Black faces after 8.Be2 and 8.g3 and now it seemed that i had to abandon the line with 7...Be7 all together because of this new attacking line for White! I was depressed and i tried to fing a new idea a night in a Pub with a good friend of mine and this worked!

Our idea was after 8.Qd2 O-O 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Bxc5 Nxc5 11.O-O-O Ba5 12.h4 Rd8! now the threat is d4! and 13.Kb1 is met by 13...Ne4!
I was suprised when my opponent reacted quickly with 13.a3 because this seems dubious but obviously Black cannot get b5-b4 easily! So, 13...Bd7 14.h5 h6! 15.g4 Ne4! was the idea we discovered at the pub and i was very lucky to be able to use it at once! The game continued 16.Nxe4 dxe4 17.Qxa5 Nxa5 18.Nd4 (if 14...h6 was not played then now Ng5 would be strong!) but now Black has a great idea in mind! I challenge you to find it and then i'll continue with the game and with the deviations earlier that we analysed in the post-mortem and earlier in the pub!