White has a few extra options.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.Rb1 and 7.a3.

Hello, friends of the QGDEx!

Having done some homeworks with friendly support by Houdini (my impression is that these engines are really strong in this type of position, when it opens up a little bit; nethertheless I won't give a pure computer output), here are some results of my research. The starting position is reached after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 0-0 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.Qc2 c6 9.Nge2 Re8 10.0-0 Nf8 11.f3 Nh5 12.Bxe7 Rxe7!? 13.Qd2



My impression is that 13.Qd2 is stronger than the immediate e3-e4, my doubts in 13.e4 were explained in an earlier post. Qd2 keeps some control over f4, in some variations it opens a way for the bishop to switch to the diagonal a2-g8, and, most importantly, it covers indirectly d4.

I've checked all the black moves which I've at least three games of in my database, these are 13...f5, 13...g6, 13...Be6, 13...Nf6, and 13...Ne6.

My analysis is included in the attachement (I hope it works!).

Some remarks:
The line after 13...Be6 is from Lautier, it seems to lead to a slight advantage for White. I haven't checked if a plan involving e3-e4 is possible and good.
If Black is too keen on stopping e3-e4, it might fire back, as the variation after 13...f5 shows (partly taken from Schandorff).
After 13...g6 and 13...Nf6 White can continue with e3-e4; due to the black queen still on d8 Black often does not take (immediately) on e4, but sometimes White can then exchange on d5, giving him the better bishop (this happens after 13...g6 14.e4 Ng7).
After 13...Ne6, the move e3-e4 needs more preparation, as an immediate 14.e4 doesn't seem to give White any advantage, because Black answers 14...dxe4 and White can't recapture with the pawn. Anyway, after some preparation this move is again possible.

I would be grateful for any comments!

Best regards,

Zwischenzugzwang

I'm not that au fait with the theory of this line, as I play 0-0-0 in the QGDx, but I always have the feeling that a very unpleasant way to play from a practical point of view is to delay e4 as long as possible...play all the preparatory moves, and then fiddle around some more. Poor Black has to cogitate about the 'threat' of e4 every move, make sure nothing's dropping off, or a flash attack arising out of the blue...in this case, ther threat really seems to be stronger than the execution. Hence, I would lean towards investigating 13 Qd2.

Although this thread is quite dead at the moment, there might still be some chess friends interested in this variation. As I'm actually revisiting my QGD repertoire, I'd appreciate your opinion!

After 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 0-0 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.Nge2 Re8 9.0-0 Nf8 10.Qc2 c6 11.f3 Nh5, we reach the following position:


Of course, White is more or less forced to exchange the bishops (12.Bxe7), and then Black has a choice what piece to recapture with. "Normal" is 12...Qxe7, but in about 25 % of the games he chooses the rook: 12...Rxe7.


(Sorry for providing another diagram after just two plies, I'm sure most of you would be able to imagine the resulting position also without it!)

Black's heavy pieces now look a bit clumsy, but one advantage of the rook move is a stronger control over d4.

From this position, Schandorff (Playing the Queen's Gambit, p. 24) cites one game of his own where he continued with 13.Qd2, but mentions that 13.e4 is "more straightforward" (indeed, it's the more common move) and also cites the game Aleksandrov-Denker, Reno 1999. There follows 13.e4 dxe4 14.fxe4 Bg4.

The last move is the reason why Lautier (in his CI-annotations to the game Lautier-Klovans, Germany [probably Bundesliga?] 1997) dismissed 13.e4.

In my opinion, 13.e4 is indeed dubious, but not so much because of 14...Bg4, but because of 14...Ne6. This move is also mentioned by Schandorff, but he continues only with "or 14...Ne6 15.d5 Nc5 16.Rad1":


I'm not sure what to think about the resulting pawn structure. Normally White tries to push the e-pawn, not the d-pawn, but that was not possible here as 15.d5 was forced because of Black's queen still on d8. In the resulting structure, the d-pawn might certainly become dangerous, but the e-pawn has lost all its mobility and is definitely a weakness. Now I like 16...Qb6 (removing the queen from the d-file with gain of tempo) 17.Kh1 Bg4 18.Bc4, as in I.Sokolov-Van der Sterren, Netherlands 1995, and now the novelty 18...Nf6:


This move covers the f-file and keeps also d7 under control in case White want to push his d-pawn. What is your opinion?

Best regards,

Zwischenzugzwang

Hello everybody, dear Ruslan

next year in February it'll be ten years since the last update of the QGD Exchange with Nge2 (QGD/8, QGD/9) .

I'd really love some new coverage of this line - it's nicely complex, but compared to other complex lines, in the QGDEx a lot still depends from understanding, and it always leads to interesting fighting chess! Even if it's not played at the highest levels at the moment, there are still some new games out there from strong players.

Best regards,

Zwischenzugzwang

agree on Botvinnik- Keres.

Aside from that 1988 game, the other one I immediately think of is Botvinnik-Keres.