Black should have a small edge in that line after 6... axb5 7. exf6 Nc6.

Stigma wrote on 04/24/11 at 18:12:55:



I haven't seen mentioned in this thread the line:  1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 g6!? 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nf6 5.Bb5 a6 6. e5

It's mentioned in my MCO-13...is it really not very good?  I've played it a few times.  I'm assuming a similar variation could be used with 2. Nf3?

Thanks.

Btw, I agree that the endgame resulting after 9.Nxc6 Qxa4 10.Nxa4 bxc6 should be ever so sligthly better for White, but I have hard time believing that this should scare Black away from playing 2...g6. Black seems to be in absolutely fine shape here, so maybe 5.e5 is better afterall, but even here im not really convinced...

I got the right guy, the game is even on the base, but indeed I could not find any game of him playing 2.Nc3 Nc6 Bb5. I don't know why but when he was in front of me I was sure I had seen him playing that line. Maybe I was just wrong. But this is not clear at all that:

-2.Nc3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 is bad for Black
-2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 (of course e5 is very dangerous but maybe still playable for Black) is bad for Black. Personnally, I got this line only once against someone of my level, he was prepared on this line and I wasn't. I have played 5..Nc6 6.Qa4 d6 7.e5 dxe5 8.Nxe5 Qd4 9.Nxc6 Qxa4 10.Nxa4 bxc6 improvised over the board and got a nice play but it seems to score quite bad on database.

I began to play 2..g6 because of the Rossolimo (and I hate that early Bxc6 in the g6 line) but I might consider returning if I can't enjoy/have good chances against 2..g6 3.Qxd4

This is what GM Andrei Sokolov did to me: he is a specialist of the line 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bb5. and as a Accelerated Dragon player, I have played 2..g6 to him and he replied with 3.d4. I was so afraid of the lines beginning with 3..cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nf6 5.e5 (which is really different here with with the knight on c3 instead of f3) that I decided to play 3..Bg7 and I lost anyway, I had no idea how to handle the position. Indeed, in the analysis he told me he would have played 5.e5 but home analysis says that 5..Nh5 is not that bad for Black. 5.Nc3 is indeed interesting too and quite critical for the 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 line.

Ametanoitos wrote on 04/24/11 at 17:03:18:


Yes, starting with 9.Nc4 White has a big initiative.

Ametanoitos wrote on 11/11/10 at 23:18:15:


I was under the impression that after 7.e5 that 7...dxe5 8.Ne5 Qd4 was satisfactory for Black but it's complicated and maybe I'm mixing up variations.

Cymantex wrote on 02/16/11 at 11:59:59:


As Black, I gave up 2...g6 due to 4.Qxd4 myself and even when I rarely play the line I go for 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 Bg7 !? which might lead to exchange sac by black with best play. Objectively after 4.Qxd4 black might be holding his own but I found out that it is not easy to play that kind of position with black pieces. I was using the line to avoid Rossolimo but now I believe it is much better to be ready to face Rossolimo than 4.Qxd4. Btw this discussion is sort of related to dragons section (as it tends to transpose to AD or even normal dragon ) and there is another thread there which you might find useful.

http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1278690133

You will also find the exchange sacrifice mentioned by Greet at the link.

Don't get me wrong, again  4.Qxd4 should not be disaster for black but I just find it difficult to counter.