I don't see where you're being stupid, unfortunately, which means I may have omitted a move pair.  Even more unfortunately, the computer that has my analysis on it was wiped and reinstalled a week ago, and I haven't replaced the data, which is on an external drive for storage.  Well, good reason for me to get on that.

I can't really answer your question, as I only reach this position from the Saemisch move order.

OrangeCounty wrote on 09/07/11 at 16:02:00:


Well chess is a game of clashing ideas, and we all have different backgrounds.  That's what makes it great.  Still, with the "free" move ...h7-h5 for Black before White has sent his Knight to g3, I think White's position is very pleasant and somewhere between +/= and +/-, honestly.  Most authors discussing this from Black's point of view dismiss it as a minor sideline, concentrating on 6.Be3.  But those Kingside weaknesses are real.  Incidentally, I'd recommend Yusupov's and Sadler's games over Dreev for this precise line.

Anyway we're almost off topic, but don't think you can follow Bologan and be prepared for White's best ideas.  He follows Sadler - Fedorovic, 1988 as his main line with Ernst - Tal, 1987 in the notes.  Believe me, a lot has happened since then!  This is still a cornerstone of my repertoire that I have a HUGE score with (2 draws with an IM and wins in every other game over the last couple of years), so I'm not going to divulge specifics.  I just think it's an area where White has a definite edge if you do the research.

NeverGiveUp wrote on 08/24/11 at 08:25:27:


With the transposition to the Saemisch mentioned above, I suggest 8.d5 and playing like they did back in the 90s; in my opinion, this is still good for a White edge (though not a huge one).  Modern books really haven't treated it with any respect, either.  For instance, Bologan's treatment of this line is laughable and doesn't take into account any of White's best plans (see old games of Yusupov, Dreev, Sadler, and others).

NeverGiveUp wrote on 08/24/11 at 12:32:12:


I thought so, too, and followed Sokolov, which could not be a bad idea general. But chess these days, especially using engines in ICCF - tournaments, is very concrete.

Derdudea (2277) - Campant (2425) WS/MN/060 ICCF 2010
1.d4 Sf6 2.c4 g6 3.Sc3 Lg7 4.e4 d6 5.Lg5 h6 6.Le3 Sg4 7.Lc1 c5 8.dxc5 dxc5 9.Dxd8+ Kxd8 10.h3 Lxc3+ 11.bxc3 Sf6 12.Ld3 Sc6 13.f4 Kc7 14.Sf3 Td8 15.Lb1 Le6 16.f5 gxf5 17.exf5 Lxc4 18.Lxh6 b5 19.Kf2 a5 20.Le3 Sd5 21.Tc1 Sxe3 22.Kxe3 e6 23.f6 Ld5 24.Le4 Th8 25.a4 bxa4 26.Txa4 Tag8 27.Lxd5 exd5 28.Kf2 c4 29.Td1 Th5 30.g4 Txh3 31.Txd5 Txg4 32.Sd4 Sxd4 33.Txc4+ ½–½

Golubev recommended against 13...Kc7 14.f5 but here again Black is at least equal: 14....g5  15.h4 Se5 16.Le2 Ld7 17.Sf3 Seg4 18.hxg5 hxg5 19.Txh8 Txh8 20.Sxg5 Th1+ 21.Kd2 Lc6 22.Lf3 Se5 23.Ke3 Sxc4+ 24.Kf2 Se5 25.Lb2 Txa1

It wasn´t necessary to allow White to place his rook on d5 as in the game Sokolov-Berg. Without that, White has nothing.

derdudea wrote on 08/20/11 at 22:14:11:


I looked at this a bit and saw that Sololov is 2669 and Berg is 2610 - so surely these guys must know what they're doing!
Sokolov has actually played dc5: more than once with white and has done good shop with it.
To me it seems hard to believe that one move 13. ... Kc7 would make all the difference. Strategically white is doing quite all right here I would say with the bishop's pair and pressure along the d and f files. White's doubled pawns are hard to attack here so could constitute a strength rather than a weakness. I'm currently working my way through Sokolov's excellent book Winning Chess Middlegames and it will be interesting to see what he says about this pawn formation.

OrangeCounty wrote on 08/23/11 at 23:45:27:

Right guys we're moving on - I've had 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Be3 0-0 7.f3 c5 a couple of times. This is a critical line where black goes for Kasparov's pawn sac on c5 which is not very good for white to accept. Again the question here is if white can take advantage of black's premature h6. I think I would go 8.Nge2 Nc6 9.Qd2 attacking h6. White can still play d5 later if he likes transposing to a regular d5 type position but with black having to play h5 so limiting black's possibilities.
7.h3!? is interesting and tranposes to a favorable version of the 5.h3 line.
[7.Be2 transposes to the Averbach where black is quite allright by playing e5.] 
After 5.Bg5 c5 6.d5 h6 white can go 7.Bf4! with the idea Bd3, Nge2, h3 keeping the pressure on d6 and the better game. I think this is an idea of Larsen.
And finally after 5.Bg5 h6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bc1 0-0 white can go (a) 8.f3 Nf6 9.Be3; (b) 8.h3!? Nf6 9.Be3; (c) 8.Be2!? Nf6 9.f4 leading to a four pawns attack where again black will not be overly happy having played h6.