I’m not finding it easy to discover the ways in which mainline Kalashnikov theory in the 6 c4 variation has moved on since Pinski & Aagaard’s 2001 book, and I wonder if anyone can help. Here are the sort of questions I’m interested in:
* In the 7 N1c3 a6 8 Na3 Be6 9 Nc2 Bg5 10 Bd3 line, P&A make [b]10 …h6[/b] (rather than 10 …Bc1) their main line. Is this because the latter is (still?) seen as second-best, perhaps on account of 11 Rc1 Nf6 12 0-0 0-0 [b]13 Nd5[/b], when Black’s best might be 13 …Bd5 14 cd Nb8? – which, however, is held to be OK!?
* Whatever the case here, shouldn’t [b]9 …Nf6!?[/b] be considered the best answer to 9 Nc2 (if it isn't), because whether White chooses 10 Be2 or 10 Bd3, he can’t prevent immediate counterplay by …Rc8 whereupon b3 is met by …b5? (...Nf6 looks perfectly fine on move 8 as well -- as played recently by Radjabov -- though 9 Bd3(!) steers play into the 7 Bd3 Nf6!? line.)
* In the 9 Nd5 Rc8 line, P&A commend 10 Bd3, whereupon 10 …Bg5 11 Nc2 Bc1 12 Rc1 Nf6 13 0-0 0-0 would transpose to 9 Nc2 Bg5 10 Bd3 Bc1 etc. (with 13 …Rc8 rather than 13 …Bd5 as given above). Should Black be concerned about this, and if so -- or even if not -- should he play 12 …Qg5!? here, or meet 9 Nd5 with 9 …Nf6? (These lines can also be reached via 9 Nc2 Rc8!? 10 Nd5, of course.) I also wonder what, if anything, is wrong with 9 Nd5 Rc8 10 Bd3 [b]Nf6!?[/b], which seems only to have been played once.
* What of the seventh-move options? Is 7 Bd3 generally no longer held to be stronger than 7 N1c3 because of 7 …a6 8 N5c3 (presumably!) Bg5, as played by Nataf and Fedorov and recommended by TonyRo above? Is 7 …Nf6 8 0-0 0-0 9 N1c3 a6 10 Na3 Bg4 now considered less reliable? (The recent Kramnik-Radjabov game -- see above -- might suggest otherwise, but that was a rapid game.)
It’s not easy to get a handle on recent thoughts and developments among strong Kalashnikov practitioners, because in most of these lines the sample is quite small. Can anyone offer any illumination? Maybe Jacob would care to comment?
PS. It'd be nice to have the misspelling in the subject heading corrected ...
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