To say the least i don't think that Cox's coverage of the main lines after Bg5 is 100% bulletproof. One the other hand he got it right in the exchange variation and that is a very good point of the book. His Catalan coverage has some problems (in the sidelines), but in the absolute main lines his work is very good.

Last week I received DtGB amongst a few others. I like the book, it's a neat companion to Sadler's QGD and doesn't make it superfluous. Combining the two gives a very good impression of the state of affairs, though in both cases I am slightly less impressed by the treatment of the Exchange Variation.

What do people think of this line?
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 h6 6.Bh4 O-O 7.Nf3 Ne4 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.Rc1 Nxc3 10.Rxc3 c6 11.Bd3 dxc4 (Nd7 might not fully equalize after 12.cxd5) 12.Bxc4 Nd7 13.O-O e5 14.Bb3 exd4 (Cox cites Hebden, 14...Re8 15.Re1 leading to an endgame edge; there is 14...Rd8 too) 15.exd4 Rd8 16.Re1 Qd6 and the question is of course if White can convert the lead in development in something concrete. What about 17.h3 Nf8 (the standard plan; Black might play differently) 18.Ne5 Be6 19.Bxe6 Nxe6 (Qxe6?? 20.Nxc6) 20.Nxf7!? Kxf7 21.Qb3 Re8 22.Rf3+ Kg8 23.Rfe3 Qxd4 24.Rxe6 Rxe6 25.Rxe6 Kh8 26.Qxb7 ?
Black will win the pawn back, but I'm not sure if that guarantees equality.

huibui wrote on 08/07/11 at 19:44:43:


I don't know, but Sadler only states that 5 ...Bf5 loses a pawn. I don't think Black will have compensation, but somebody else might know?

I got the book yesterday, and it so far I like it very much. I have one question concerning a move order on page 152:

After 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd exd 5.Bg5, the move 5...Bf5 is called a "cheeky move order" to reach the endgame line (the idea ist that after 6.Qb3 Black plays ...Nc6, after which White's advantage is not clear). The repertoire move is 5...c6, however the idea seems to be a very nice practical weapon.

However, what is Black supposed to do after 6.Bxf6? After 6...Qxf6 7.Nxd5 Black doesn't seem to have much for his pawn, while 6...gxf6 7.e3 looks much better for White.

So, is there some kind of trick for Black, or should he just play the normal 5...c6?

Agreed, F22. For me, if the evaluation of the variation is "correct", but there are some "mathematical errors such as 21...Nc6 in the above discussion (on move 21, an IM made a mistake!), I am willing to all but ignore the error. 

This may not have been Cox' only error. It was the error that was pointed out as being egregious.  I don't find the error to be egregious at all, especially given that the variation had been played to an agreed draw on move 20.

If Cox' main lines are busted, that's a different matter. And by "busted", I mean the evaluation of the critical variation is just plain wrong and can't be fixed with a bit of cellotape and silicon magic.

Can you give me the name of a chess book that does not have any errors? 

I have read cox's previous works and I liked them. SO1d4 was a great book.

I would like to see his interpretations of some of the lines and I admire the fact that he has chosen to provide a line for Black against the catalan. At $20 or whatever I am still going to get a lot for my dollar.

plus, as someone who is now beginning to play the QGD I think it's required reading for now.

having said that, your logic is flawed. how do you know my motivations? why can't I be some rich bastard who buys every book on the market to find as many mistakes as I can to feed my kinky chess fetish?

I think it's not illogical for a Christian or Jew to read the Koran even if he isn't going to agree with what's in the book. I'll buy the cox book and enjoy it regardless. Thank you very much.

I am guessing you're a patzer from your flawed logic. let me guess, your rating is below 2300.