Freelix wrote on 11/17/09 at 23:04:39:


Not much new for a black Leningrader, mostly ...e6 set-ups and some 'dangerous' h3 lines...

@MNb Thank you very much for the extensive overview! I will compare it with current practice and come back with my thoughts. 
For now, I notice that in your mainline Euwe's suggestion 16...e5 was played three times in correspondence by Nyman, scoring 2.5 out of 3.

@TalJechin: your mention of Christmas tree variation triggered a memory, and sure enough, "Trends in the Leningrad Dutch" calls it that giving a Zysk game. 
Interesting that it is the original Leningrad!

In the not so good old days, before Germany was reunited, there was Sportverlag (East-)Berlin. In 1980 it published a translation of a Taimanov opening book called Damengambit bis Holländisch.
At the other side of the wall some German opening books were published as well. For instance there is Rolf Schwarz' 1964 book on the Dutch.
Guess what? Both Schwarz and Taimanov analyse a game Tal-Botvinnik WCh 1960 and conclude that White is a little better.  What better place to start?

(123653) Tal,M - Botvinnik,M [A87]
Wch-23 Moskwa (19), 1960
[Schwarz/Taimanov]
1.c4 f5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d4 d6 6.Nc3 e6 7.0–0 0–0 8.Qc2 Nc6
-8...Qe7 9.e4 Nxe4 10.Nxe4 fxe4 11.Qxe4 Nc6 (11...Nd7 12.Re1 e5 13.Qe2 c6 14.c5 Re8 15.cxd6 Qxd6 16.Bf4 Qe6 17.Ng5 Qf6 18.Qc4+ Kh8 19.Nf7+ Kg8 20.Nxe5+ Qe6 21.d5 Nxe5 22.Rxe5 Qf7 23.Rxe8+ Qxe8 24.dxc6+ 1–0 Jansen,C-De Groot,A/Enschede op ch-NLD 1968 (24)) 12.Bg5 hampers the thematical e6-e5 Qf7 13.Rad1 Bd7 14.Qh4 Rae8 15.Bh6 Bxh6 16.Qxh6 Qg7 17.Qd2 b6 18.Rfe1 e5 19.dxe5 Nxe5 20.Nxe5 Rxe5 21.Rxe5 Qxe5 22.Qd5+ Qxd5 23.cxd5 1–0 Gligoric,S-Stoltz,G/Helsinki 1952/MCD (44);
-8...Nbd7 9.e4 c5 10.exf5 gxf5 11.Bf4 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Nb6 13.c5 dxc5 14.Ndb5 1–0 Avirovic,D-Rakic,T/Beograd 1959 (56)]

9.Rd1
-9.d5 Nb4 10.Qb3 Na6 11.dxe6 (11.Be3 Ng4 Tal) 11...Nc5 12.Qc2 Nxe6 (12...Bxe6 13.Ng5 Bd7 14.b4 Ne6 15.Rb1 Rb8 16.Nxe6 Bxe6 17.Nd5 c6 ½–½ Dobrzynski,W-Bednarski,J/Poznan 1971 (17)) 13.b3 Ne4 14.Bb2 Nxc3 15.Bxc3 Bxc3 16.Qxc3 Qf6 Filipcic,M-Kostic,B/Novi Sad 1945/HCL/½–½ (118)
-9.Be3 Qe7 (9...Ng4) 10.Rad1 Nd8 11.Bc1 d5 12.b3 Nf7 13.Nb5 Rd8 14.Ne5 Nd6 0–1 Tsvetkov,A-Stoltz,G/Marianske Lazne 1951/EXT 98 (49);
-9.b3 Qe7 10.Bb2 e5 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Nd5 Qd6 13.Rfd1 Nxd5 14.cxd5 Nb4 15.Qc4 b5 ½–½ Johannsson,I-Menvielle Lacourrelle,A/Havana 1966/EXT 99 (27);
-9.Bg5 h6 10.Bd2 e5 11.d5 Nb4 12.Qc1 Kh7 ½–½ Borisenko,G-Gaprindasjvili,N/Riga 1968/MCD (28)

9...Qe7
-9...Kh8 10.d5 Nb4 11.Qb1 e5 12.a3 Na6 13.b4 Nb8 14.Bb2 Qe7 15.Ne1 Nbd7 0–1 Feigin,M-Apsenieks,F/Kemeri 1937/HCL (49)

10.Rb1
-10.e4 fxe4 11.Nxe4 Nxe4 12.Qxe4 e5= 13.dxe5 dxe5 (13...Bf5 14.Qh4 Qxh4 15.Nxh4 Bxe5 16.Nxf5 gxf5 17.Rb1 f4 18.b3 1–0 Klein,J-Casas,F/Santa Fe 1960/MCL (38)) 14.g4 Kh8 15.h3 Be6 16.Be3² Rae8 ½–½ Podgajets,M-Tal,M/Alma Ata 1968/URS-ch (74);
-10.d5 exd5 11.cxd5 Nb4 12.Qb3 a5 13.Be3 Ng4 14.Bg5 Qf7 15.h3 h6 16.Bd2 Nf6 0–1 Etcheverry,E-Hoen,R/Varna 1962/MCD (53)

10...a5
-10...e5 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Nd5 Nxd5 13.cxd5 Nd8 14.b4² Euwe;
-10...Bd7 11.b4 Rae8 12.b5 Nd8 13.Ba3±

11.a3 Nd8 12.e4² fxe4
-12...e5 13.Bg5 c6 14.c5 Tal

13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Nf7
-14...e5 15.dxe5 Bf5 16.Qd5+ Qf7 17.Ng5² Euwe

15.Bh3 Qf6 16.Bd2 d5
-Suggestions by Euwe are 16...e5 and 16...Bd7;
-Taimanov gives 16...c6 and White is only slightly better

17.Qe2 dxc4
-17...Nd6 18.Ne5!

18.Bf4 Nd6
-18...b5 (Hans Müller) 19.Ne5ƒ (19.Bxc7 Bb7; 19.b3 c3)

19.Ng5
-19.Ne5

19...Re8 20.Bg2 Ra6 21.Ne4 Nxe4 22.Bxe4 b5 23.b3 cxb3 24.Qxb5 Rf8 25.Qxb3 Rb6 26.Qe3 Rxb1 27.Bxb1 Bb7 28.Ba2 Bd5 29.Bxd5 exd5 30.Bxc7 a4 31.Rd3 Qf5 32.Be5 Bh6 33.Qe2 Rc8 34.Rf3 Qh3 35.Bc7 Bf8 36.Qb5 Qe6 37.Be5 Qc6 38.Qa5 Ra8 39.Qd2 Rc8 40.Kg2 Qd7 41.h4 Qg4 1–0