Quote:The correct move is 8 Bxe7 Qxe7
9 Qd2 when the Black Queen Bishop is still undeveloped.
Quote:BDG theory suggests 8 Bxe7 as the best move here.
BDG Theory is certainly well ahead of Informant theory (I took the posted game from Informant and added my own comments). I can't find any advantage for Black after 8...Qe7 9.Qd2, and 8...Ne7 9.0-0 isn't a better idea.
[Event "Poysdorf op"]
[Date "1994"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Steindl, Helmut"]
[Black "Fuernkranz, R."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
1. d4 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. f3 exf3 5. Nxf3 e6 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Bd3 Nd5 8.
Bxe7 Nxe7 (8... Qxe7 9. Qd2 Nxc3 10. bxc3 ((10. Qxc3 Nc6 11. a3 Bd7 12. O-O O-O
is given as equal by Rybka but Black is very solid and should hold a slight
edge due to his extra pawn and the absence of threats by White.)) 10... O-O 11.
O-O f6!? 12. Rae1 Nc6 13. Qf4 Qd6 14. Qe4 f5 15. Qe3 and White has enough
compensation for the pawn.) 9. O-O b6 $6 10. Kh1 (10. Qe2) (10. Ng5! Nf5 11.
Bxf5 Qxg5 12. Qf3 c6 13. Rae1 with initiative) 10... Ba6 11. Ng5 Nf5 12. Bxa6? (12. Rxf5! exf5 13. Qh5 Qe7 14. Nd5 g6 15. Qh4 +-) 12... Nxa6 13. Nxf7 Kxf7 14. g4 g6??
(14... Qc8 15. gxf5 exf5 16. Qe2 Re8 17. Qh5+ Kg8 is fine for Black) 15. gxf5 exf5 16. Qe2 (No idea why the players agreed a draw here. After 16...Qc8 17.Rae1 White is winning.) 1/2-1/2
My conclusion is that 7...Nd5 is dubious as White gains sufficient compensation for the pawn. Black should prefer 7...Nc6 or 7...Nbd7.
Quote:Btw in the Euwe Defence I prefer 7.Qd2 when no path to advantage for Black has been found- and I disagree with giving 4.f3 a "?!". White's slight inaccuracy was at move 2 with e4 instead of c4, and after 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6, 4.f3 may well be White's best move in the position.
I don't trust 7.Qd2 because of 7...h6 in the following game:
[Event "Karl Mala Memorial op 07th"]
[Site "Griesheim"]
[Date "2003.07.25"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Drill, Frank"]
[Black "Donchenko, Anatoly G"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "2213"]
[BlackElo "2401"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2003.07.24"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2003.11.25"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e4 dxe4 4. f3 exf3 5. Nxf3 e6 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Qd2 h6 8.
Bh4 (8. Bf4 c6 ((8...a6!?)) 9. O-O-O Qa5 10. Ne5 Bb4 11. Nc4 Bxc3 12. Nxa5 Bxd2+ 13. Rxd2
O-O 14. Rg1 Nd5 15. Bd6 Rd8 16. Ba3 b6 17. Nb3 a5 18. c4 Ne3 19. Na1 Nxf1 20.
Rxf1 Ba6 21. b3 b5 22. cxb5 cxb5 23. Be7 Rd7 24. Bc5 Nc6 25. Nc2 Rc8 26. Rfd1
Bb7 27. Kb2 Ne7 28. Ne3 Nd5 29. Nxd5 Bxd5 30. Bb6 Ra8 31. a3 a4 32. b4 Rb7 33.
Bc5 Rd8 34. Re2 f5 35. Rde1 Kf7 36. Kc3 Kf6 37. Kd2 g5 38. Ke3 Rf7 39. Kf2 f4
40. Rc2 Rc8 41. Rec1 Rc6 42. Rc3 Kg6 43. Re1 h5 44. h4 g4 45. Re5 Rf5 46. Rxf5
Kxf5 47. g3 fxg3+ 48. Kxg3 e5 49. dxe5 Kxe5 50. Rd3 Rf6 {0-1 Herbrechtsmeier,
C-Lang,H/Zell 1977/EXT 1999}) 8... Ne4 9. Nxe4 Bxh4+ 10. g3 Be7 (White doesn't have enough for the pawn and two bishops because Black is solid in spite of his lag in development) 11. O-O-O Qd5
12. Bd3 Qxa2 13. c3 Nc6 14. Qf4 Qa5 15. h4 e5 16. Nxe5 Nxe5 17. dxe5 Be6 18.
Bb1 Rd8 19. Rxd8+ Kxd8 20. Nd2 g6 21. Nf3 Kc8 22. Nd4 Bd5 23. Rd1 c5 24. Nb5
Be6 25. Nd6+ Kb8 26. Qf3 Qa6 27. Be4 Rd8 28. Bxb7 Qa1+ 29. Kd2 Qxb2+ 30. Ke1
Bb3 31. Rd2 Qc1+ 32. Ke2 Bxd6 33. exd6 Bc4+ 0-1
As for 4.f3?!, you didn't check the game closely enough. White played 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 de4, and instead of securing a slight edge with 4.Ne4 (The Rubinstein Variation), White sacrificed a pawn with 4.f3, leading to the BDG, which is slightly better for Black.
___
In my next post I'll either continue looking at the Euwe Defence or examine a different variation depending on whether I can find an edge for Black after 7...Nbd7.